I dug deep into the way back machine for horror books that I read as a child. I read everything. Horror really had no particular appeal to me, as it was, and still is, not my schtick. What did intrigue me with horror, and why I returned time and again, was the thrill of the craft. Horror, as a genre, has to find that fine line between reality and insanity. Too often do authors slip into the latter, borrowing little from the former, and you end up with a mess that cannot pretend to keep you interested. But when it's good - it's thrilling.
The first foray that I remember was drifting from paranormal books, which is a natural interest, then lapsing into horror via mystery. The first mystery stories I read in grade school were the ones that centered around a picture, then you had to figure out who the culprit was based on the combination of the graphic and the prompt. It was a back door into a reading comprehension quiz. But, not being a gifted problem solver, really, I appreciated the lengths of logic that threaded out to arrive at the resolution.
Before I could buy my own books, I had to find them at garage sales with my mother, or, if I was with my dad for a weekend, it would be at the used book shops near Huntington Beach. There I discovered Alfred Hitchcock, before I had ever seen a movie or TV show, with his anthology series. The most memorable was "Haunted Houseful". There was also "Ghostly Gallery". continued below...
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| Even in death you would have to imagine Alfred trying to scare people as much as possible. |
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| Short stories was a normal route for early King. |
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Years later, while in the Army, I turned to Stephen King books, more than likely because the small library we had in the Menden (Germany) barracks, which was nothing more than a large room in the attic of the building, had very few popular fiction choices but King. Luckily, I read Misery first, then moved on to his master work, The Shining. Both were tremendous reads, but, I think many of us would easily consider Shining such an artful balance of character, pacing and story. I read it twice while on a 'field problem' - where we had to spend at least a week or two in the field simulating a war exercise. One night was particularly eerie while trying to get through it, as a wind storm blew through an old farmhouse we were sleeping in. The attic was well over two hundred years old and full of dust. Its dark corners wouldn't lighten up even in the day.
From there, and the purpose of this post was short story, so Different Seasons. King's short stories are a hoot and, in his style, very quick and enjoyable.
Post-Army, when I could start buying my own books, I got into Clive Barker's shorts including In the Flesh. Barker is much more of a sadist than King, infusing his stories to cringe-inducing effects. However, it's when he lapses into the more subtle forms of horror do we feel that he understands this world very well.
In The Further Adventures of the Joker, which was a cross-over for me, as comics were a hot commodity from '88 through '95, of moving from graphic renditions of the Batman and Joker and to the written rendition. Of note was a particular story where, as the Joker was a child, he would lure kids into the forest and leave them dying in a water tower. Creepy stuff.
Lastly, and fairly recent, was an anthology of stories as part of The Twilight Zone. These original stories were in the spirit of what Serling did best: stories that are in the transcendent, rarefied air. Since I couldn't get enough Zone on television and probably watched each episode at least five times each, this anthology gave me 18 new stories to cull over. Interesting take away wasn't so much the stories, but the forward. It gives a brief story about Serling's Korean War experience that probably set the tone for his take on storytelling. Fascinating stuff. What will you read yourself this Halloween?
From there, and the purpose of this post was short story, so Different Seasons. King's short stories are a hoot and, in his style, very quick and enjoyable.
Post-Army, when I could start buying my own books, I got into Clive Barker's shorts including In the Flesh. Barker is much more of a sadist than King, infusing his stories to cringe-inducing effects. However, it's when he lapses into the more subtle forms of horror do we feel that he understands this world very well.
In The Further Adventures of the Joker, which was a cross-over for me, as comics were a hot commodity from '88 through '95, of moving from graphic renditions of the Batman and Joker and to the written rendition. Of note was a particular story where, as the Joker was a child, he would lure kids into the forest and leave them dying in a water tower. Creepy stuff.
Lastly, and fairly recent, was an anthology of stories as part of The Twilight Zone. These original stories were in the spirit of what Serling did best: stories that are in the transcendent, rarefied air. Since I couldn't get enough Zone on television and probably watched each episode at least five times each, this anthology gave me 18 new stories to cull over. Interesting take away wasn't so much the stories, but the forward. It gives a brief story about Serling's Korean War experience that probably set the tone for his take on storytelling. Fascinating stuff. What will you read yourself this Halloween?
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