Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cult horror fiction


If you've been to Booksale outlets in the metro lately, you'll get a pleasant surprise. Tucked away in one corner are horror paperbacks. And if you're a big horror fan (like me), you'll realize that these are the books you've long thought were out of print!

I spotted several titles by Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon, Tom Picirilli, Brian Keene, and Graham Masterton. Too bad I wasn't able to see Ketchum's most famous works -- Off Season and The Girl Next Door. I did, however, got hold of the sequel, Offspring.

Many people would certainly question the literary merits of these horror novels. For horror purists however, these horror novels have achieved cult status. They explore sexual perversion, cannibalism, torture, and pretty much anything that's considered taboo.

I do hope that younger generations of horror fans discover the thrill of reading these books. The vampires, werewolves, and serial killers in the current crop of horror novels are wimps as compared with the monsters Ketchum et. al. conjure.

2 comments:

Kelly said...

I'm one of those "tame" horror readers, I kind of like the vampire stuff..but not those wimpy vampires of the Twilight era...vampires who "sparkle" oh yeah...that's scary! But I'm too big on the squishy gooey gory horror..probably because I'm an older woman,and get grossed out by too much gore. I absolutely HATE the new horror genre--the misogynistic "lets see how many gross ways we can abuse, mutilate and maim women" genre. Again, probably a sign of my age, I grew up in the 70's and even though I'm the most middle of the road, mainstream stay at home mom, this type of stuff still pisses me off!

I've been meaning to stop by your blog and say thanks for following my blog! It’s a wee little thing, and I’m sure as heck not close to the level of blogger so many other book bloggers are, but I really appreciate it when people hit the “follow” button. Actually, I wonder sometimes how you great bloggers manage to have such terrific blogs, and still manage their lives, I figure I must be a real poor time manager, because I sure can’t seem to figure out how to do it all. It’s that pesky need to take time off for sleep that gets me!

Thanks again!
Kelly at The Novel Bookworm

Kelly said...

oops, I mean I'm NOT to big on squishy stuff....