Horror Recommendations

[Xiaobai_xoxo]

I'm looking for a good horror story, something like Stephen King or those old-school creepypasta stories. I don't really have a preference. Gore, ghosts, psychological weirdness, anything that messes with my head a little works for me.

 

[kosamsel]

I really liked Last Days by Adam Neville, although the ending wasn’t my favorite lol. 70s cults, supernatural and psychological horror, etc.

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana is a shorter read, atmospheric, a bit gruesome, about a woman who goes on a journey at the behest of her serial killer pen pal

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum is a very short body horror novelette about a woman who’s treating her dying husband as his body falls apart

And Dear Sweet Filthy World by Caitlin Kiernan is an anthology of some great horror short stories

 

[Xiaobai_xoxo]

I really liked Last Days by Adam Neville, although the ending wasn’t my favorite lol. 70s cults, supernatural and psychological horror, etc.

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana is a shorter read, atmospheric, a bit gruesome, about a woman who goes on a journey at the behest of her serial killer pen pal

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum is a very short body horror novelette about a woman who’s treating her dying husband as his body falls apart

And Dear Sweet Filthy World by Caitlin Kiernan is an anthology of some great horror short stories

Thank you so much! I will go check those out now.

I really liked Last Days by Adam Neville, although the ending wasn’t my favorite lol. 70s cults, supernatural and psychological horror, etc.

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana is a shorter read, atmospheric, a bit gruesome, about a woman who goes on a journey at the behest of her serial killer pen pal

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum is a very short body horror novelette about a woman who’s treating her dying husband as his body falls apart

And Dear Sweet Filthy World by Caitlin Kiernan is an anthology of some great horror short stories

You should check out The Cannibals of Candyland by Carlton Mellick III, they are cannibals made out of candy and eat children.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

My favorite was Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. The movie is good too, but apart from the basic premise they're almost nothing alike.

 

[Xiaobai_xoxo]

My favorite was Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. The movie is good too, but apart from the basic premise they're almost nothing alike.

Any cannibalism like Off Season and Tender is the flesh?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

You mean novels? Short stories? Collections? Webnovels? Can't recommend any of the latter offhand - the few I've seen that were good either stalled early on, or wound up behind paywalls.

For novels, always liked The Count of Eleven (kind of psychological horror as the MC devolves into a serial killer) by Ramsey Campbell.
For that matter, about 75% of the short stories I've read by Campbell were at least good if not excellent.

One of my favorite horror writers of all time is Robert Bloch - especially his short fiction ("Notebook Found in an Abandoned House," "The Very Bad Friend" - the story Psycho was based on, at least according to him - at least a dozen others), but some of his novels were really good (his two sequels to Psycho were both great, especially the twist in the first one; Psycho House may be a bit too predictable if you've read the other sequel and know the original story).

Most of the stuff I've read from Clive Barker (though, ironically, I prefer his non-horror - his horror does frequently come back to a theme of "Yes, there are monsters, but we are worse" - probably the best example is the title story in Cabal - which is the basis of the movie Nightbreed), Dennis Etchison (one of his stories is occasionally compared to King's It and for good reason) or T. E. D. Klein was good too (though The Ceremonies felt like I had read it all before - and, in a sense I had - one of the sections was expanded from the first short story I'd read by the author, and another segment was the basis of a Call of Cthulhu game adventure, so only a third of it was not familiar going in!).

Some of my favorite anthologies were the three Razored Saddles ones I've read (I believe there were five made but I've only found three - Strange Tales with a Western Theme, including one where the real reason that Texas rebelled against Mexico was because Mexico outlawed cross-dressing and all the heroes of the Alamo die in drag - so it's not all horror but all WEIRD, and all edited by Joe R. Lansdale), a Holiday Horrors collection (with one horror story for each major holiday - New Years, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc. - just some fun, crazy dark stuff...)

 

[Xiaobai_xoxo]

You mean novels? Short stories? Collections? Webnovels? Can't recommend any of the latter offhand - the few I've seen that were good either stalled early on, or wound up behind paywalls.

For novels, always liked The Count of Eleven (kind of psychological horror as the MC devolves into a serial killer) by Ramsey Campbell.
For that matter, about 75% of the short stories I've read by Campbell were at least good if not excellent.

One of my favorite horror writers of all time is Robert Bloch - especially his short fiction ("Notebook Found in an Abandoned House," "The Very Bad Friend" - the story Psycho was based on, at least according to him - at least a dozen others), but some of his novels were really good (his two sequels to Psycho were both great, especially the twist in the first one; Psycho House may be a bit too predictable if you've read the other sequel and know the original story).

Most of the stuff I've read from Clive Barker (though, ironically, I prefer his non-horror - his horror does frequently come back to a theme of "Yes, there are monsters, but we are worse" - probably the best example is the title story in Cabal - which is the basis of the movie Nightbreed), Dennis Etchison (one of his stories is occasionally compared to King's It and for good reason) or T. E. D. Klein was good too (though The Ceremonies felt like I had read it all before - and, in a sense I had - one of the sections was expanded from the first short story I'd read by the author, and another segment was the basis of a Call of Cthulhu game adventure, so only a third of it was not familiar going in!).

Some of my favorite anthologies were the three Razored Saddles ones I've read (I believe there were five made but I've only found three - Strange Tales with a Western Theme, including one where the real reason that Texas rebelled against Mexico was because Mexico outlawed cross-dressing and all the heroes of the Alamo die in drag - so it's not all horror but all WEIRD, and all edited by Joe R. Lansdale), a Holiday Horrors collection (with one horror story for each major holiday - New Years, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc. - just some fun, crazy dark stuff...)

Holiday Horror sounds like a fun read

 

[ElijahRyne]

I'm looking for a good horror story, something like Stephen King or those old-school creepypasta stories. I don't really have a preference. Gore, ghosts, psychological weirdness, anything that messes with my head a little works for me.

Do you read VN’s? If so I have a few recommendations.
1. Higurashi when they Cry, even if you have seen the anime the VN’s are a totally different beast. In a small town, the newest resident starts to realize his new friends are lying to him. On the day of the Watanagashi festival the one who pointed this out dies. It is a slow burn psychological thriller/mystery. There are no choices to make, it is essentially just a novel. If you do decide to play/read I recommend installing the 07th mod for a full experience. It brings better character sprites, an easier reading experience, and voice acting for pretty much all dialogue. https://07th-mod.com/

2. Chaos;Head NOAH, this is a fast paced psychological horror/thriller firmly in the denpa subgenre. You are sent a message by a mysterious person named shogun. In it is a picture of a dead body, on your walk home from school the next day, you come across the scene of that body. It was as if the picture predicted the future, are you the next victim?If you do decide to play/read you will need to mod it. Unlike Higurashi and Umineko where the mod is optional and generally just improves the experience. The English release of C;H is heavily censored, somewhat buggy, and has a poor translation. http://sonome.dareno.me/projects/chn-patch.html

3. Umineko when they Cry, is the second series in the When they Cry universe. It is a detective horror/thriller. A family gathering is held on a private island. Is it a massacre performed by a human or the islands witch? You don’t need to play/read Higurashi before hand for the full experience. You don’t make any decisions until the final chapter. If you do decide to play/read I recommend the Umineko Project mod. It gives better animated character sprites, and a better translation. https://www.umineko-project.org/en/

PS
If you cannot afford or otherwise play/read these novels, there are playthroughs of them on YouTube. If you would prefer this direction, I will send you links to playthroughs I recommend. However you should play/read the novels yourself if you have the ability.

PPS
Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head NoAH are part of the same series. C;H is the first game in it.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

Any cannibalism like Off Season and Tender is the flesh?

No

 

[Xiaobai_xoxo]

Do you read VN’s? If so I have a few recommendations.
1. Higurashi when they Cry, even if you have seen the anime the VN’s are a totally different beast. In a small town, the newest resident starts to realize his new friends are lying to him. On the day of the Watanagashi festival the one who pointed this out dies. It is a slow burn psychological thriller/mystery. There are no choices to make, it is essentially just a novel. If you do decide to play/read I recommend installing the 07th mod for a full experience. It brings better character sprites, an easier reading experience, and voice acting for pretty much all dialogue. https://07th-mod.com/

2. Chaos;Head NOAH, this is a fast paced psychological horror/thriller firmly in the denpa subgenre. You are sent a message by a mysterious person named shogun. In it is a picture of a dead body, on your walk home from school the next day, you come across the scene of that body. It was as if the picture predicted the future, are you the next victim?If you do decide to play/read you will need to mod it. Unlike Higurashi and Umineko where the mod is optional and generally just improves the experience. The English release of C;H is heavily censored, somewhat buggy, and has a poor translation. http://sonome.dareno.me/projects/chn-patch.html

3. Umineko when they Cry, is the second series in the When they Cry universe. It is a detective horror/thriller. A family gathering is held on a private island. Is it a massacre performed by a human or the islands witch? You don’t need to play/read Higurashi before hand for the full experience. You don’t make any decisions until the final chapter. If you do decide to play/read I recommend the Umineko Project mod. It gives better animated character sprites, and a better translation. https://www.umineko-project.org/en/

PS
If you cannot afford or otherwise play/read these novels, there are playthroughs of them on YouTube. If you would prefer this direction, I will send you links to playthroughs I recommend. However you should play/read the novels yourself if you have the ability.

PPS
Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head NoAH are part of the same series. C;H is the first game in it.

I loveeeee VN. I have played a lot of horror VN as well

 

[ElijahRyne]

I loveeeee VN. I have played a lot of horror VN as well

Have you read/played those three?

 

[Xiaobai_xoxo]

I haven't. I have played NG, Spirit Hunter, Paranormal sight, Corpse Party to name a few.

 

[Echimera]

Do you read VN’s? If so I have a few recommendations.
1. Higurashi when they Cry, even if you have seen the anime the VN’s are a totally different beast. In a small town, the newest resident starts to realize his new friends are lying to him. On the day of the Watanagashi festival the one who pointed this out dies. It is a slow burn psychological thriller/mystery. There are no choices to make, it is essentially just a novel. If you do decide to play/read I recommend installing the 07th mod for a full experience. It brings better character sprites, an easier reading experience, and voice acting for pretty much all dialogue. https://07th-mod.com/

Higurashi is one of the best horror stories I can think of. It actually takes its time to establish the non-horror live of the characters and slowly brings in the horror elements and works so well for it.
In contrast, some movies can't seem to wait to bring in the horror, but it's all jump-scares and gore, rather than real horror at how wrong everything has become.

 

[ElijahRyne]

Higurashi is one of the best horror stories I can think of. It actually takes its time to establish the non-horror live of the characters and slowly brings in the horror elements and works so well for it.
In contrast, some movies can't seem to wait to bring in the horror, but it's all jump-scares and gore, rather than real horror at how wrong everything has become.

Agreed. Have you read/played Umineko? If not it is written by the same guy, and takes place in the same universe. If you liked Higurashi you will probably like Umineko.

 

[ZombieHat]

I'm looking for a good horror story, something like Stephen King or those old-school creepypasta stories. I don't really have a preference. Gore, ghosts, psychological weirdness, anything that messes with my head a little works for me.

You can check out Rigor Mortis, a world where no one can die turns depraved, but Death has finally come. Grimd-dark fantasy western with horror elements inspired by slasher icons.

Rigor Mortis: Death of the Southern Star - Chapter 1 | Scribble Hub

www.scribblehub.com