The One Book You Should Read. . .
 

OK - horror books is always a bit quiet - so I thought it might be interesting to have a thread where everyone recommends the ONE BOOK they think every horror fan should read!

It could be fiction, nonfiction, historical, collection. . . whatever. Just pass on to us the ONE book that every horror fan should read!

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
- i read this about once a year

Dune - Frank Herbert
- a complete visionary - he doesnt write books, he creates worlds.

The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
- this is a kids book that i still read .. its the book that turned me onto reading in the 1st place.

Summer of 42 - Herman Raucher
- the only book that ever made me laugh out loud

until ..his horror novel :

Maynard's House - Herman Raucher
- which also made me laugh out loud.

A Burnt Out Case - Graham Greene
- my favorite author - everything he's written is brilliant.

The Anderson Tapes
The First Deadly Sin
The Second Deadly Sin
The Third Deadly Sin
The Fourth Deadly Sin
The Sixth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment
The Eighth Commandment
Seventh Commandment
The Tomorrow File - all Lawrence Sanders
- a top 40 author .. not the kind i normally read but this guy is remarkably entertaining ...

in a similar vein check out anything by Trevanian.
- impossible to put down - quality storytelling


i'm sure I'll have several more to add..

ah .. thought of one already ..

anything by Carlos Castaneda - A Seperate Reality (or any other of his books)

hmm, i guess putting the word "ONE" in capitals didn't work. . . .

So Urge - which of those books would I choose if I could only read one?

(hey, and why aren't you ever up in General Forum anymore - we miss you up there!)

Something Wicked This Way Comes ... read that one .

I mentioned this a few times around here....

Falling Angel by William Hjortzburg [I probably spelled that wrong]

The film Angel Heart was based on this book, and as far as Im concerned it's essential reading just as the film is essential viewing. If you dont know the incredible twist yet, I recomend reading the book first as it delivers the ending in a much more unique fashion. The plot is great and original, the characters are great [Harry Angel = One of the coolest PI's of all-time], and as I mentioned, the ending will blow your mind. Even if you've seen the movie and already know the ending, the way it is delivered in the novel is beyond cool. On top of all that, it's relatively short, so it wont even take much out of your busy lives!

You must see the movie as well for the simple reason of seeing that a great book can be turned into a great movie. Absolute perfect casting, nobody but Rourke could have played Angel. He had the perfect look, the perfect voice, the perfect attitude...amazing. DeNiro, while far from stretching his boundaries, plays Cyphre to menacing perfection. For once, the changes to the plot and setting actually enance the original story, especially moving the action from New York to New Orleans. There were a few notable scenes missing of course, but not as many as in most book-to-film adaptions.

Great book, great movie. Falling Angel. William Hjortzburg. Read it now.

By the way, has anyone read any of his other novels? I always intend to order something else of his from the library, but I never remember. Worth reading?

i havent been able to find this book ..

Really? Have you looked around Public Librarys? Thats where I found it, a seeminly ancient hardcover. A bit of research shows it was re-released in paperback last November, dont know if that would help or not.

Songs of a Dead Dreamer by Thomas Ligotti