Glad to join the Express!

[Stygian Underground]

Heyo fellow horror fans! The name's Andrew...decided to go by Stygian Underground because it's my blog name...and I like how it sounds haha.

I had an interest in the bizarre and macabre since a young age, but I really didn't get into horror as a genre until high school, especially due to George Romero's works. I got into fantasy, especially Terry Brooks, much earlier. That lead me to read Stephen King and I was hooked. Especially IT which I think is still my favorite book he's done so far.

I watch a lot of zombie movies (I probably have about nineteen on my shelf as we speak,) but really I watch just about any horror movie I can get my hands on. The only ones I don't really care for are torture porn (like Hostel, although I did like the first couple of Saw movies.)

I also have trouble watching movies about possessions. The Exorcist scared the crap out of me 0_o.

I write horror myself. I'm trying to do a book of short stories for Kindle and Nook. It's nearly done. I do a blog called Stygian Underground, as I said, that is dedicated to the darker side of life. Serial killers, monsters, weird places, and odd occurrences. Just about anything will make the cut. Thinking about starting to do movie reviews as well.

I'm looking forward to being part of the community!

[Francesco Dellamorte]

Welcome
Have you read Stephen King's The Stand? IMHO a better book than It.

[TheLurkingFear]

Welcome to Stygian Underground!

Yes, the Stand is a tour de force King novel. for sure; IT is great also. Is either of you a fan of the Dark Tower novels? I love them but was seriously let down by the ending; I think King panicked and jumped the gun, pun intended!:lol:

[Miss Italy]

Hi there and welcome! :)

[ghostman]

Big hello, and welcome to HE Forum! :teeth:

[Francesco Dellamorte]

Yes, the Stand is a tour de force King novel. for sure; IT is great also. Is either of you a fan of the Dark Tower novels? I love them but was seriously let down by the ending; I think King panicked and jumped the gun, pun intended!:lol:

I haven't read The Dark Tower novels, I could be wrong but isn't Randell Flagg in them? I find Stephen King to be very hit & miss. When he is on form (The Stand, It, Different Seasons) he is amazing, when he is off his game his books are awful (Duma Key, Insomnia, Christine)

[TheLurkingFear]

Yeah, I think a lot of people feel this way about King, Francesco.

Randy Flagg is in the Dark Tower novels; he also features in the Eyes Of The Dragon, a kind of childrens fable which is a great King book.

I did like Duma Key, and Christine; but it's true that they lack that ellusive magic.

Are you a fan of Clive Barker? Weaveworld, Cabal, the Damnation Game, Great and Secret Show and Everville, Imajica: classics all!!

[Francesco Dellamorte]

Yeah, I think a lot of people feel this way about King, Francesco.

Randy Flagg is in the Dark Tower novels; he also features in the Eyes Of The Dragon, a kind of childrens fable which is a great King book.

I did like Duma Key, and Christine; but it's true that they lack that ellusive magic.

Are you a fan of Clive Barker? Weaveworld, Cabal, the Damnation Game, Great and Secret Show and Everville, Imajica: classics all!!

I liked Duma Key up until the ending which I thought was kinda lame. I am a fan of Clive Barker's work. I have all six volumes of The Books Of Blood with the original artwork by Barker himself on the covers. Cabal was another great book (I enjoyed the movie too) If you haven't read it, The Hellbound Heart is a great read.

[TheLurkingFear]

I have read the Hellbound Heart. I'm a big fan of Barker's art, as I'm an artist myself. I love the Books of Blood too; have you seen Candyman, which is based on the Forbidden? I haven't seen Midnight Meat Train yet or the Book of Blood movie.

His book the Thief of Always features more of his artwork, don't know if you've read this one...

[Francesco Dellamorte]

I have read the Hellbound Heart. I'm a big fan of Barker's art, as I'm an artist myself. I love the Books of Blood too; have you seen Candyman, which is based on the Forbidden? I haven't seen Midnight Meat Train yet or the Book of Blood movie.

His book the Thief of Always features more of his artwork, don't know if you've read this one...

I am an artist too (well to a certain standard) I have seen Candyman but like you I haven't got around to seeing The Midnight Meat Train yet (Vinnie Jones kind of puts me off the movie somewhat) My favourite story was allways either In The Hills, In The Cities, Down, Satan! or The Age of Desire. I haven't read The Thief Of Allways. I love horror fiction but I just never get enough freetime to read as much as I would like.
One book I would recomend is We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, awesome novel.

[TheLurkingFear]

I know what you mean about Vinnie Jones!:lol: The Books of Blood are a treasure trove of great stories, there should be more films made from them! I read them all years ago but still dip in quite regularly; I never tire of them.

Finding the time to read new stuff is always a problem, I know. I am recently starting to use oil paints and working on much larger works of art, but have always kept sketchbooks and worked with pastels. Influences are varied: HR Giger, a lot of comic books artists like Bernie Wrightson. How about youself?

I've heard of Lionel Shriver; will check out the book you mention.

[Francesco Dellamorte]

I know what you mean about Vinnie Jones!:lol: The Books of Blood are a treasure trove of great stories, there should be more films made from them! I read them all years ago but still dip in quite regularly; I never tire of them.

Finding the time to read new stuff is always a problem, I know. I am recently starting to use oil paints and working on much larger works of art, but have always kept sketchbooks and worked with pastels. Influences are varied: HR Giger, a lot of comic books artists like Bernie Wrightson. How about youself?

I've heard of Lionel Shriver; will check out the book you mention.

That is the beauty of The Books Of Blood, short stories that you can dip into for an hour or so after work. Same with H.P Lovecraft, another favourite author of mine.
I mostly do pencil portraits. For some reason I just seem to be utterly inept with a paintbrush. I have tried but I just don't seem to be able to get a decent level of detail with a brush.
I love Giger's work. I also love Mark Ryden's work & Chris Scalf's digital work.

[TheLurkingFear]

Chet Zar is another favourite artist at the moment, and Brom. Chet Zar has worked on numerous films like Hellboy, such a unique vision. Will check out the artists you mentioned.

I'm a big fan of Lovecraft also. I'm even named after one of his stories!:lol: His prose style can be a bit heavy sometimes though, but he had such a unique imagination. I'm a big Poe fan too. Have you read any Ramsey Campbell?

[Stygian Underground]

I have read the Stand and loved it! I still sort of lean towards IT as my favorite of King's books but I don't really know why, haha. I think sometimes King's problem is he pumps out a new book every year give or take. You're bound to run dry when you're that prolific.

Anyone here read Stephen King's Danse Macabre? He analyzes horror as a genre from about 1950 to 1980. Fascinating read, and a great list of novels and movies to check out in the appendix.

I'm a big Lovecraft fan too! Working my way through the Necronomicon...and yes his prose is a bit dense, but I think some of that is part of the affect of the work. He uses the dense prose to sort of bludgeon you over the head with all the information he's throwing at you haha

I've yet to read Clive Barker but I've seen some of his movies. I like a lot of zombie movies and stories. There's a big book of zombie stories creatively enough called Zombies available for like ten bucks at Waldens. Has a great variety of stories, some of them even managed to turn my stomach! (that's a feat: I have a cast iron gut lol)

[TheLurkingFear]

Danse Macabre was my Bible throughout my youth, I must say. I first discovered writers such as Shirley Jackson and Ray Bradbury from reading it. I urge anyone who is just getting into horror to seek it out.

[Miss Italy]

Hey! :)

I also just recently found out that when Stephen King first began to write that he wrote under a different name and was known as Richard Bachman. Did anybody know? I had no idea!!

[TheLurkingFear]

Yeah, he wrote the Long Walk, Rage, the Running Man under the Bachman name, Miss Italy!!

[Francesco Dellamorte]

He also wrote Thinner as Richard Bachman originally.
I have never found H.P. Lovecraft's novels to be prose heavy. I think he is one of the few authors who can create genine tension & atmosphere in his writing. Stories like The Dunwich Horror & The Call Of Cthulhu seem to build such an atmosphere of impeding horror. The one thing I detest about Lovecraft's work is the blatant & unpaletable racism that is common thoughout his stories. It may have been the attitude of the time but it spoils some truly great fiction.

[TheLurkingFear]

Lovecraft was definitely a racist. It's always a shame to learn that people you admire are this way. He also had a phobia about dogs, apparently; and I read somewhere that his mother actually dressed him as a girl for the first few years of his life!

Favourite stories are the Outsider and Pickman's Model.

Have you read any Ramsey Campbell, Francesco?

[Stygian Underground]

Lovecraft was definitely a racist...I try to look past it as much as possible. He also had a problem with women: I guess female genitals inspired some of his monsters (so I read somewhere during my travels on Stumbleupon.) Anybody know if that's true?

He also had a thing for architecture. I noticed all his characters seemed to be scientists of some sort, or have something to do with architecture or archeology. I guess you write what you know and he must have had some sort of interest in that. It's fascinating how he incorporated the science of the time into his stories, and stretched them to their limit. He really sort of melded sci-fi and horror until they're nearly inextricably linked.

And the Long Walk was such a crazy book! He also did the Regulators, which was a rewrite of Desperation, as Richard Bachman.

Roadwork was really interesting I thought...different than King's usual fare.

I will have to look up Barker's works....gotta widen my horizons a bit I think!

[Miss Italy]

I wonder why he did that?

[Stygian Underground]

He said that at that point in his career going under the pen name of Richard Bachman allowed him to do different stories. They were somehow even more morbid and pessimistic than usual. He said in his other stories the average joe usually won out, but not so much in the Bachman stories. They allowed him to tap into an even darker side as it were.

[Francesco Dellamorte]

Lovecraft was definitely a racist. It's always a shame to learn that people you admire are this way. He also had a phobia about dogs, apparently; and I read somewhere that his mother actually dressed him as a girl for the first few years of his life!

Favourite stories are the Outsider and Pickman's Model.

Have you read any Ramsey Campbell, Francesco?

I read about his mother dressing him as a girl too. Lovecraft's racism was ironic being that it included anti semitism, yet he married a jewish woman. My favourite Lovecraft stories would be The Call of Cthuhlu, The Shadow Over Innsmouth & The Dunwich Horror.
Ramsey Campbell is someone I haven't got round to reading yet.

[TheLurkingFear]

Yeah, I read about his marriage to a Jewish woman too. Lovecraft was a strange, complex person indeed; who knows what he was thinking! Like you said, I think his racism was probably a result of the time and environment he lived in, and deep in his secret heart he wasn't prejudiced at all.

I agree about the stories you mention, all of them classics of the genre. Have you read any Arthur Machen? His Great God Pan story is good. I recommend Ramsey Campbell too; his early stuff is heavily influenced by Lovecraft, but his later books develop a style that is all his own, yet there are still Lovecraftian echoes. He's one of my favourite writers. The Doll Who Ate His Mother would be a great place to start.

[Miss Italy]

Did you ever read any of King's work as Bachman?

[Stygian Underground]

I've read the Regulators, Thinner, the Long Walk, and Roadwork all which King wrote as Bachman. Great stories all of them!

I'll have to check out Arthur Machen and Ramsey Campbell as well!

My reading list is already expanding and I've not even been on here that long haha

[Francesco Dellamorte]

I will check out the Ramsey Campbell novel you recomend & Arthur Machen who TBH I have never heard of.
I find there are so few decent new horror authors out there lately. Max Brook's zombie books are great. Chuck Palahniuk books are great, if not strickly horror & Katherine Dunn's Geek Love is well worth reading.

[TheLurkingFear]

Machen is well worth a look if you enjoy Lovecraft; also T.E.D. Klein's novel the Ceremonies is a great modern vision of the Lovecraft mythos.

[Francesco Dellamorte]

Machen is well worth a look if you enjoy Lovecraft; also T.E.D. Klein's novel the Ceremonies is a great modern vision of the Lovecraft mythos.

I will check them out, thank you.

[Stygian Underground]

Max Brook's World War Z is one of my favorite books of all time! Rumor has it that it will be made into a movie, and Brad Pitt will play one of the leads (he's a zombie fan, who knew?)