Source Material

[Bastet]

Hi people, Been guided here by a very kind (and unbelievably patient member),

Would be interested if anybody could guide me to the source (ie books, folk tales etc) of their favourite Horror movies.
Have read quite a bit-Poe, Angela Carter, Lovecraft, Barker, King, Herbert, Milton, Dante and Goeth. Also Read various Mythologies from Greece, Rome, Celtic and Egyptian Sources. Going to read Gogol next, but would be interested to find new (or ancient) stuff.
My favourite Source material and Film are Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and its adaptation as The company of Wolves
Also Loved Valerie and her Week of Wonders and Kafka's Metamorphosis (The Fly)
Thanks for reading this and look forward to some interesting reccomendations.

And thanks NE-think I have done it right this time :D

[neverending]

There's a segment in the 1963 film Black Sabbath based on a Tolstoy story. IMDB says it's titled Sem'ya vurdalaka.

Phantom of the Opera of course has a literary source. (Gaston Leroux) Of course there's the obvious- Dracula & Frankenstein.

J. Sheridan La Fanu wrote great ghostly & Gothic material- Carmilla and many others.

One of my favorite underappreciated authors is Algernon Blackwood. He was adapted more in the radio era, but his story "The Doll" is pretty much the the genesis of all evil doll stories. Rapacini's Daughter has also been adapted.

[Bastet]

Originally Posted by neverending

There's a segment in the 1963 film Black Sabbath based on a Tolstoy story. IMDB says it's titled Sem'ya vurdalaka.

Phantom of the Opera of course has a literary source. (Gaston Leroux) Of course there's the obvious- Dracula & Frankenstein.

J. Sheridan La Fanu wrote great ghostly & Gothic material- Carmilla and many others.

One of my favorite underappreciated authors is Algernon Blackwood. He was adapted more in the radio era, but his story "The Doll" is pretty much the the genesis of all evil doll stories. Rapacini's Daughter has also been adapted.

Love Sheridan Le Fanu- Carmilla has been the source for many films. Also His contemporary, Henry James.
Phantom is great.
Frankenstein (The Modern Prometheus) and Dracula are always by my bed.
Tolstoy-I haven't yet tackled but you have whetted my appetite.
Have heard of Algrnon Blackwood, but not read any of his work-will check it out on Amazon; thanks xx

[neverending]

Here's Blackwood's page on Wikipedia, to whet your appetite:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algernon_Blackwood

[Bastet]

Originally Posted by neverending

Here's Blackwood's page on Wikipedia, to whet your appetite:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algernon_Blackwood

Thanks-I will check it out. Just been over to Amazon and didn't realise I have a couple of his anthologies already on my wish list-but then there are over 4000 items on there!

Must find more 'me' time to get through some of them.

Very much intrigued by attacking Tolstoy, have read some Russian stuff-Loved Crime and Punishment, but he always seemed to write with a political stand point, which I can understand as a reflection of the times he lived in, but such Tomes.

As for non-fiction, Loved 'The Golden Bough' and 'A history of English Witchcraft' Which I finished at Christms. Also The Salem Witch Trials and Auswicz and The final Solution.

But to be honest, the best Horror fiction is probably my work entries-sometimes I feel as if I exist in a (Gothic) horror film; Oh, that reminds me, Asylum is a good book and film (with Joley Richardson and Ian McKellan.)Makes me think I should write about some of the things I have seen.

[Doc Faustus]

Originally Posted by neverending

There's a segment in the 1963 film Black Sabbath based on a Tolstoy story. IMDB says it's titled Sem'ya vurdalaka.

Phantom of the Opera of course has a literary source. (Gaston Leroux) Of course there's the obvious- Dracula & Frankenstein.

J. Sheridan La Fanu wrote great ghostly & Gothic material- Carmilla and many others.

One of my favorite underappreciated authors is Algernon Blackwood. He was adapted more in the radio era, but his story "The Doll" is pretty much the the genesis of all evil doll stories. Rapacini's Daughter has also been adapted.

I agree with you on Blackwood, but Rappacini's Daughter is a Hawthorne story, surprisingly enough.

[Doc Faustus]

Pan's Labirynth is blatantly influenced by Arthur Machen, Night of the Hunter is based on a novel by James Agee, which I hear is quite good, Duel, Last Man on Earth, The Incredible Shrinking Man and many others come from stories by the great Richard Matheson, who wrote many of the Corman Poe movies, so he's well worth your attention, Psycho was a great book by Robert Bloch, Night of the Demon was M.R James' Casting the Runes, Day of the Triffids and Village of the Damned were based on books by the great John Wyndham. But, if you're looking for eerie, atmospheric horror in the same vein as HP Lovecraft, check out Robert W. Chambers' The Yellow Sign.

[Straker]

Originally Posted by Bastet

But to be honest, the best Horror fiction is probably my work entries-sometimes I feel as if I exist in a (Gothic) horror film; Oh, that reminds me, Asylum is a good book and film (with Joley Richardson and Ian McKellan.)Makes me think I should write about some of the things I have seen.

Not wanting to derail the thread, but...

You got the wrong Richardson. I believe it was the late Natasha Richardson in Asylum. Joely would be the one from Event Horizon and Nip/Tuck. Haven't read the book, but the film had its moments.

Yes, I am a pedant. :cool:

[neverending]

Originally Posted by Doc Faustus

I agree with you on Blackwood, but Rappacini's Daughter is a Hawthorne story, surprisingly enough.

Ooops!

...................

[Bastet]

Originally Posted by Straker

Not wanting to derail the thread, but...

You got the wrong Richardson. I believe it was the late Natasha Richardson in Asylum. Joely would be the one from Event Horizon and Nip/Tuck. Haven't read the book, but the film had its moments.

Yes, I am a pedant. :cool:

You are right- wrong sister, but in my defence, i saw it a while ago. And the book is much better and atmospheric than the film. The idea of actually imagining the asylum was so much better than actually seeing it. Especially as I once worked in a place very similar many years ago, so could understand the protocol and the yearly 'balls' that patients had.

And Doc, I loved Wyndham-The Chrysalids is my favourite- the bit about the hanging still haunts me 20 years or so after reading it.