Modern Horror.

[Guest]

Anyone recommend any good modern horror fiction? I was looking on the shelves in my local bigchain shop and recognised hardly any of the authors.

[boris]

Modern Horror.

Clive Barker's the man. Weaveworld is as good a book as any, but there's also the Books of Blood, Imajica, and, well, any of the others, really.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

I've read all of those, boris. I was thinking more of newer authors, people with maybe only one or two books under their belts.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

I used to like Poppy Z Brite, but she may be too old now too?

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

I've heard of her too, lyra. Maybe I'll just go to the shelves, have a lucky dip, and see how I get on.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

Well if you've not read her, I'd say it's worth looking at esp the short stories, I think the book's called Swamp Foetus. There's some really good stories in there.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

What about:
Night Watch: Sergei Lukyanenko

I wouldn't classify it as horror exactly, but some people do.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

The Joe Pitt novels by Charlie Huston. Brutal, twisty, vampire noir. As much crime as horror, but plenty of guesome fun however you classify them.

I haven't read it yet, but my girlfriend got very excited about Meat by Joseph D'Lacey.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

KD - I'd just finished reading Huston's excellentAlready Dead. That's why I was in the mood for some more horror.

Jane - I haven't read that one. How does it compare with the movie?

I've just started The Terror by Dan Simmons, who's primarily a SciFi author I think. Got a good feeling about this one. It's set in the Arctic in the 1840s, about an expedition trapped in the ice while some mysterious beastie is killing them off. Icy landscapes and endless night - I love that kind of stuff.

[Crusoe]

Modern Horror.

World War Z, Max Brooks (survivors describe their experiences ten years after mankind's war against the zombies).

David Wellington also writes some decent horror fiction. You can try it out free online - all but his most recent were posted as blogs first:

Monster Island - desperate mission to a New York overrun by zombies.

Monster Nation - prequel describing the fall of the US to zombies/

Monster Planet - the last few survivors in Somalia fight the zombies and their Russian undead leader.

Frostbite - woman becomes werewolf.

Thirteen Bullets - cops fight vampires.

Monster Nation and Thirteen Bullets are the best of these. A sequel to the latter, 99 Coffins, has just been published as a paperback. He's also written one about a plague turning people into zombies, but frankly it was just poor.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

Hi Fuzzy

I haven't seen the film Night Watch, but I have seen Day Watch (which is based on the last part of Night Watch in fact). The Day Watch film goes at such a cracking pace that you hardly have time to work out all the machinations, plots and connections - but in Night Watch book things are much clearer, you get into the character's head more and there is more time to develop suspense.

I personally like books which offer a coherent alternative world related to the real one but somehow giving a new view and Night Watch delivers on that score. The mean streets of new Moscow are a great backdrop. Very satisfying. I also liked the book Day Watch where we switch to the other side, although I found the plot got a bit bogged down in places. I will read the next one as well when I get time.

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

Hey Jane, I'll give those a try. does the Day Watch movie have the same fantastic subtitling as Night Watch?

I'll give your recommendations a go as well, Crusoe. My local library has those three Monster novels.

In Dan Simmons' The Terror, the first moment of real horror comes along early:

"In this cold, teeth can shatter after two or three hours - actually explode - sending out shrapnel of bone and enamel flying inside the cavern of one's clenched jaws. Crozier knows from experience, you can hear the enamel cracking just before the teeth explode."

Now, I don't know if that's true or just dramatic license but AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH FUCKIN' HEll!!

[Guest]

Modern Horror.

No, the 'Day Watch' film does not have the special subtitles, alough maybe on DVD.... Actually, the version I saw was dubbed into English with Russian accents.

Enjoy!