[QUOTE=Barry Lee Dejasu]Currently reading:

At the Mountains of Madness, by (you guessed it) H. P. Lovecraft. Absolutely amazing, and seriously unsettling. I can see why he considered it one of his favorites - it's the same case for me![QUOTE]

That story just kills me every time I read it. I'm not "right" for a day after I read it. Word on the street is that Guillermo Del Toro wants to do this after Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy 2.

I just finished reading King's "The Mist" again after I found out that Frank Darabont ("Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption" is going back to King. Can't wait. It's a great read. Scary as all get out and one of my favorite King works. I'm just about to start one of three books: Twilight Eyes or Midnight Eyes by Dean Koontz or Subterranean by James Rollins. Any suggestions?

[QUOTE=Kramerica Industries][QUOTE=Barry Lee Dejasu]Currently reading:

At the Mountains of Madness, by (you guessed it) H. P. Lovecraft. Absolutely amazing, and seriously unsettling. I can see why he considered it one of his favorites - it's the same case for me!

That story just kills me every time I read it. I'm not "right" for a day after I read it. Word on the street is that Guillermo Del Toro wants to do this after Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy 2.

It would be awesome to have the movie adapted to screen, hopefully not in the egregious manner done to so many of Lovecraft's works :mad:

Well, if you're in this forum and reading horror, I'll assume you read Midnight Mass. If so, then I have to recommend Vampire$, by John Steakley. I know, I know, I'm partial to Steakley and I admit it.

If by chance you saw the weak movie by John Carpenter based on Vampire$, pleast note that the novel was written first and is something quite different.

Why is there a DOLLAR sign in the title, Vampire$...? Because these guys get paid to kill vampires. You'll really like Felix.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I cannot see At the Mountains of Madness ever, ever, ever working as a film.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I cannot see At the Mountains of Madness ever, ever, ever working as a film.

Well, well, there is a certain problem in general with Lovecraft and his "filmability". Most of the work that has been done to date has been horrid and not at all representative of the genre. That particular story would have some tough points to solve, but I don't see it as impossible.

Well, well, there is a certain problem in general with Lovecraft and his "filmability". Most of the work that has been done to date has been horrid and not at all representative of the genre. That particular story would have some tough points to solve, but I don't see it as impossible.

I read an interview with Del Toro a year or two ago and he talked about adapting "At the Mountains...". Not sure where he stands now, but basically he said that if couldn't find a studio that would give him complete creative control and a sizable budget he wouldn't even attempt to do it. He was very serious about doing a faithful job of adapting the work. I really wish I could find that interview. I think it was on Dread Central back before they merged with The Horror Channel (and have subsequently removed themselves from THC and are on their own again).

Tim Curran penned a "sequel" to "At the Mountains...", here's a link:

http://shocklines.stores.yahoo.net/hibytimcubtr.html

I've heard it's very good, but I know a lot of die-hard Lovecraft purists wouldn't even consider it.

I'm currently about halfway through Creepers, by David Morrell.

David Morrell isn't exactly known as a horror novelist but he is a fairly well-published author. As for Creepers? I don't really know if it is a horror novel yet and the only reason I bring it up is because it is in a very creepy setting.

The Plot?

Oh.

One night five guys (including one woman) are exploring an old abandoned hotel in Asbury Park that was once very luxurious. Rats. Cats. Birds. Swimming Pool. Hidden Passages. Creepy rich eccentric owner (dead). A famous gangster once had a suite that has a secret vault.

Darkness. Decay. Dampness. Mold. Growing things. Noises.

If this isn't a good horror novel, someone should write a good horror novel based on this premise. Lots of potential.

I'm currently about halfway through Creepers, by David Morrell.

I tried reading that and couldn't finish it. The writing was good. The plot very intriguing. And it had some really spooky parts in it.

But I really didn't care about the characters. All of them could have died on the next page, and it wouldn't have mattered to me.

If I don't care about the characters -- love 'em or hate 'em -- then the story won't hold my interest. Creepers failed to establish any sympathy or empathy with the characters for me.

And don't forget the most recent: Necroscope: The Touch.

As for me, a few horror novels and stories that I can immediately and highly recommend include:

• Peter Straub's Ghost Story. It gets all sorts of praise as being extraordinarily creepy, and it is! For certain people it might not be very fast in getting to the darker parts, but it really does get damn creepy. Highly recommended.
  
• H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dreams in the Witch House." I feel about Stewart Gordon how FPW felt about Michael Mann, circa 1983, for the atrocious adaptation he made of it for Masters of Horror, so if you liked that (weirdo), odds are you won't like this. Very subliminally creepy, and definitely not something you should read if you wake up in the middle of the night (dreams...nightmares...get it??). Come to think of it, most of his works are this good.
  
• Joseph Citro. I've only read these novels written by him, but they all proved to be quite unsettling: Shadow Child, Lake Monsters (AKA Dark Twilight), and The Gore (AKA The Unseen). Goes for the jugular while peppering all sorts of disjointed clues throughout, and then everything comes together in the end...even as a person falls apart (sometimes literally).
  
• Stephen King's Pet Sematary. Forget how popular he is for a minute and actually give him--and in particular this book--a chance. You won't regret it...it has one of the all-time coldest, grimmest, most clutching-your-heart-in-an-icy-grip endings I've ever read.

Barry, did you ever see the earlier 1968 adaptation of "Dreams in the Witch House", "CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR"? Great cast (Boris Karloff, in one of his last roles, Christopher Lee, Barbara Steele, and Michael Gough), but done kind of jokey and without much of the Lovecraft "feel". It was adapted (uncredited) from HPL's story by Jerry Sohl, who did a lot of genre television scripts (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Star Trek, The Invaders, Alfred Hitchcock Presents), as well as another HPL film adaptation in 1965, "DIE, MONSTER, DIE!" - which also starred Karloff, and was based on "The Colour Out of Space". I don't think I've seen either since they were first released, I may try to watch them again.

I just watched the AIP adaptation of THE DUNWICH HORROR yesterday. Man, what a waste. Dean Stockwell was about as poorly miscast as Wilbur Whatley as you could get.