[Atomic Rooster]

Do You prefer Dean Koontz, Stephen King or someone else that writes in this genre.

Just curious.

Thanx

[Peter]

Koontz. King takes so long "building" the scene

[MacosNerd]

Don't like Koontz at all. I do like King but some of his books were clunkers and/or really slow in starting.
I don't have a favorite author, if the book's premise is interesting, I'll generally by it. There's only a handful of author's that I'll not buy from and Koontz falls into that category.

[zro]

I've read more Koontz, so I guess I'll go with him.

[MacinTommy]

Chuck Palahniuk... you can always expect a @#&@ed up twist.

[Cipher13]

Koontz. He's an exceptional writer, one of the best of our time without doubt.

[mdc]

I'm a big Koontz fan and have read a lot of his books.
I have only read a handful of King and he is a great writer, but his stories didn't interest me as much as Koontz's have.

[andi*pandi]

I liked koontz's books at first, but then realized they were very formulaic and they got boring.

so King.

[cSurfr]

Originally Posted by MacinTommy 

Chuck Palahniuk... you can always expect a @#&@ed up twist.

I have his book "Haunted" though I haven't started reading it yet. Didn't he come up with Fight Club?

[MacinTommy]

Originally Posted by cSurfr 

I have his book "Haunted" though I haven't started reading it yet. Didn't he come up with Fight Club?

Yeah he did. I read a lot of his books in high school yet for book reports... I REALLY had to tone down my book reports.

[finboy]

Having read everything that both of them has ever written (or it SEEMS like it) and being a lifelong fan of both, I'm looking for a new set of folks.

King has absolutely lost it (he LIKED Frank Darabont's ending for "The Mist") and has absolute contempt for his fans, and the world in general. He's ended up bitter and disenfranchised, along with a bunch of boomers.

Koontz "Husband" just did it for me. The Frankenstein things were intriguing, but he's just at the end of his run, I think. I'm not sure he'll bounce back from the last few efforts.

So, when I get some time (when my kids are 18) I'll end up finding the next big read. Until then, I'm probably going to avoid these guys if I can manage to keep myself away.

[Railroader]

I chose Koontz. I like the Odd Thomas series and am looking forward to the next one.


But then this is very true...

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I liked koontz's books at first, but then realized they were very formulaic and they got boring.

[Jawbone54]

Koontz. I really liked Phantoms, which was the first book of his that I read.

I still have a few of his lying on the shelf, unread. Too many in the queue.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I don't think I've ever read a book by either that, when finished, didn't make me hate myself for wasting my time.

Actually, I'll consider King's Gunslinger series as "a book" for that purpose. The first few books were good-to-solid; the ones after his accident made me want to stab myself in the eye. Clearly had no interest in writing them at that point.

But I don't really have any other authors of that "genre" to offer. I think I just consider the entire genre a waste of time in general.

greg

[olePigeon]

Lovecraft.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

Lovecraft.

Argh, beat me to it.

[Face Ache]

Clive Barker for style.

Richard Laymon for gore.

[Atomic Rooster]

I liked King's latest, 'Cell'. I think it's his best in a while. He's had lots of clunkers. Christine and Maximum Overdrive come to mind. His short stories have been made into his best movies.

I just finished Koontz's 'Darkest Evening of the Year' which I thought was very good. His 'Odd' series and 'Seize the Night' are very good also. Just got into his books and luckily have many to look forward to.

I just wanted to find out from you guys some other writers of their genre so I can enjoy more reading stuffs.

[Cipher13]

Koontz and Lovecraft are the only authors in the genre that I read (and I've read just about everything either of them wrote), so I wouldn't mind finding some comparable authors also... however, I'm skeptical that I'd find anyone that came close to their writing styles. Both of them really are exceptional.

[AKcrab]

Koontz. I relate to the west coast settings.

[Rev-O]

Whoa, double post.

[Rev-O]

King is incapable of resolving a story without some trite crap ending. I once enjoyed his books but it occurred to that after I finished every book (Salem's Lot and The Shining aside) I thought "Huh, That ending was incredibly weak." After the pattern became more pronounced through the late 80's and into the 90's I just gave up. I find it implausible that he has become a good writer of horror books in the intervening time.
Koontz is better for the most part, but found his stuff tired after a while. Quit on Dean about a decade ago after False Memory, but don't have the same disdain for him that I do King. Stephen King. Gah. Just the name will keep me from buying a book or seeing a movie.
Give Dean the nod over Steve.

Clive Barker is at his best for me when he is epic: Weaveworld is among my all time favorites and Imajica was very very good. Barker's other stuff is very readable as well, but I love the dark fantasy horror epic that he can spin. I like Barker a lot.

Lovecraft. Pffft. Nothing beats Lovecraft.

[Shaddim]

We're talking specifically horror? Richard Laymon and Lovecraft.

If you mean Sci-fi/fantasy fiction, in general, Orson Scott Card, Robin Hobb, and George R. Martin (and I'm partial to Robert Jordan too, sue me).

[Apemanblues]

If you're talking about the 'Horror' genre, then I vote for HP Lovecraft and Clive Barker. No question.

[red rocket]

I'm surprised that so many people have brought up Clive Barker. As much as I like his work, he hasn't really written any horror since Books of Blood, it's mostly fantasy with some dark elements.

Palahniuk, I don't know. I think he's wildly overrated. Haunted wasn't horror, I'd call it gross‑out fiction, if anything.

King just sucks. Gunslinger and Eyes of the Dragon were okay, overall I find his characters boring and the plots predictable.

Don't know much about Koontz. I think I have a book or two by him somewhere, can't remember which. Saw an interview with him on TV at one time, interesting guy.

To be honest, I'm hard pressed to come up with any particular horror writer. Most of the books I have in the genre have been written by different people, each is usually the only book I have by that writer. I think I have more horror anthologies than I do single‑author works, actually.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

If you mean Sci-fi/fantasy fiction, in general, Orson Scott Card, Robin Hobb, and George R. Martin (and I'm partial to Robert Jordan too, sue me).

Consider yourself sued.

Did you know he died last year? So much for the Wheel of Time.

greg