For the month of October The Book Babe will be featuring all things spooky! I've asked some friends and family to help me share book reviews and scary stories. First up, we have my friend Elizabeth Callahan who so kindly agreed to share her picks for her top five horror novels. Elizabeth is a mom and college student who lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. We met several years ago via Livejournal and have been online friends ever since.
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| Elizabeth Callahan |
Top Five Horror Novels
The Shining, by Stephen King
Quite simply put, The Shining is the best horror story I have ever read. It scared the crap out of me. I was eight years old the first time I read the shining, and it has always stuck with me. I have reread it many times, and even knowing what is to come, it still causes me to jump or gasp. More of a psychological horror rather than the supernatural, monster, ghost type that is usually associated with this genre, I would recommend this to anyone who would like to experience the most fearsome entity on the face of earth, the human mind!
The Haunting Of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” After an opener like that it is hard not to love this book, and want to read it. The haunting of hill house is slow to build up, but before long you will be on the edge of your seat, with hands shaking. It is a classic ghost story of a haunted house, one that you will not regret reading.
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
If you have not read Anne Rice’s Vampire chronicles, you do not know what you are missing. This book I could not put down, it brings you into the world of lestat. Lestat's story goes throughout the centuries, and he meets other vampires who tell their tales. This book is a fantastic pageant that goes back to Ancient Egyptian times, to classical Rome, to pagan Europe, to the times of the French Revolution, to an old, decaying Parisian cemetery and even up to the present time. The characters in this book stick with you, even years after reading this book.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
DRACULA is the classic Gothic vampire novel. I found this story to be intriguing and I found myself unable to put it down. Stoker uses many ways of approaching his subject. Occasionally the horror is direct; but once it is established, it is subtle, behind the scenes, in a way that may be even more frightening. This book is a must read for any vampire fan.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
I am sure a lot of people did not know the movie, I am legend, was based after a book written in the 50’s. The book follows Robert Neville, who is alone, in New York City. Everyone he knew and loved is dead (or are they?) after a disease sweeps through the world. This book will have you turning page after page, not wanting to put it down till the very end.
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