I'm sure there will multiple movie threads on this topic, but here's one for the book nerds.

In no particular order...

1. The Shining - What list like this would be complete without a Stepen King book? This was the one that hooked me on King years ago, so this had to be the one for the list. No explanation needed.

2. World War Z - Max Brooks has created something great here. This book is simply a selection of interviews with survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Sound kind of bland? It's not. Brooks takes all the zombie conventions and runs wild with them, even creating a few of his own along the way.

3. Hell House - Richard Matheson is one of the masters. More people should know his name. This haunted house tale is a fast read... one you won't stop until you've read it straight through. He's most known for "I Am Legend", but you've all heard of that (btw the movie does the book no justice).

4. The Watchers - Dean Koontz has become the James Patterson of horror writers. It seems like he tosses out 3 or 4 nominally scary books a year now, each with a different co-author. I'm not interested in checking out any of this new tosh, but back when he was on his game, this one kept me up for a week straight. I literally checked under the bed and in the closet before I went to bed. I left the lights on. I was 15, but this is one I credit for sparking my interest in reading for pleasure.

5. The Books of Blood - Clive Barker was another I started reading early. He's pretty out there. These stories are not for the squeamish, but the writing is top notch. If anyone can make the utterly horrific truly beautiful, this guy can.

6. Dracula - The classic that just may still be the best. Enough said.

7. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - This one is straight out of left field. Seth Grahame-Smith has written this new biography of Lincoln, that I'm sure will invalidate all others. Let me just say that slavery wasn't the only thing he had to abolish. Smith is also responsible for starting the horror-meets-classic literature genre with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

8. The Haunting of Hill House - I seems that I like haunted house tales. This is another classic that I had to include. This one doesn't go for the jugular. It slowly and subtly scares the socks of you. As soon as you read this one, You'll want to devour the rest of Shirley Jackson's work.

9. The Exorcist - Nothing to say about this one. I actually tried not to put this one on here, but just like a Stephen King book, I felt it was necessary.

10. House of Leaves - This may be my favorite book on here. Go into this one with an open mind. It will not be easy to get into. The form is bizzare and unconventional, but if you can just go with it, you will be rewarded with a unique and frightening experience. You'll get lost in this one (pun intended) and thank me for it.

Short story authors to read between novels or if you read with time restraints:

Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce

Authors to read if you're looking for ok story with no character development and so-so (maybe even bad) writing:

Richard Laymon, Brian Keene, Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), and Jonathan Maberry (He may be unfairly categorized here. His Pine Deep Trilogy was a pretty fun halloween read, I just felt the writing could have been a bit better).

Enjoy! Please suggest more or discuss.

This post was edited on 10/15/10 at 9:56 am