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Monday, October 26, 2020

TTT: Best horror fiction I've read

Top Ten Tuesday: The best horror books I've read from the Shortlist of 35 best horror novels ever written. (See list here). Admittedly I don't read many books in the horror genre, so I haven't read many of the books on this list, but I have read a few. I actually would debate with the creator of the original list that many of the novels aren't actually horror titles. See what you think.


1. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier---I just watched the updated movie of this atmospheric novel. It definitely has a spooky vibe and is considered a classic gothic novel. (1938)

2. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut---not sure why this book is on the list. It is a war story and the events are horrifying but not scary-frightening. (1969)

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding---once again a book that has a horrifying theme but it isn't frightening. Nonetheless it is on the list. (1954)

4. Coraline by Neil Gaiman---everyone's nightmare that somehow we will get lost from our family and can't find them. This one is truly frightening. (2002)

5. Beloved by Toni Morrison---indeed it is a ghost story but the haunting is unusual. (1987)

6. The Stranger by Albert Camus---I read this book in French so I'm not sure I understood it very well, but I just remember it being strange not frightening. (1942)

7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson---A definite thriller with very dark themes. (2005)

8. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood---definitely bleak and dystopian but horror. I think not. What do you think? (1995)

9. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood---sequel to Handmaid's Tale. Thrilling, not frightening. Your thoughts? (2019)

I've only read nine of the 35 books on the Shortlist. Take a look at it. How many have you read?What books are you shocked aren't on the list?

Here are some titles I expected but weren't on the list: Collected Stories of Edgar Allan Poe; Wuthering Heights; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; The Picture of Dorian Gray; more titles by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Shirley Jackson.

-Anne

32 comments:

  1. Ohhh. I haven't read Coraline, but I saw the movie. It was really creepy!
    http://www.readingbifrost.com/top-ten-tuesday-halloween-freebie/

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    1. I know. What a creepy book and I think it is written for kids.

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  2. I read 8, but I was surprised at how many were on here that I really wouldn't consider to be "horror," a genre that I studiously avoid at all costs. I guess the people who made the list considered the genre a bit more broadly than I would.

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    1. I know I don't really know the project. I think they have a very broad definition of horror to include horrifying, which I think of quite differently.

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  3. I don't read a lot of horror but I do like a good scare sometimes. A lot of them would freak me out but I'm curious about Dragon Tattoo!

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    1. If you looked at the list from Shortlist, I'm pretty sure you would agree that a bunch of the books aren't really horror titles at all. Of the nine I've read, I'd only consider one of them to actually be horror.

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  5. Some good books. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was really good.

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    1. Yes, but I don't think it was horror fiction. It was definitely thrilling though.

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  6. I thought Coraline was so creepy! The Scapegoat is my favourite spooky Daphne du Maurier, loved the TV version!

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  7. Love Coraline - some doors should not be opened!

    After a bonkers and hectic few weeks back at work, I've managed to find time for this week's Halloween TTT... hope you can pop by!

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  8. I want to read Rebecca so bad! I just bought it and want to read it before I watch the movie. I've heard nothing but good things about that story. Happy reading!

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  9. CORALINE totally creeped me out. I don't know why, but it did! I read it while I was home alone one day and I was SOOOO spooked. LOL.

    Happy TTT!

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  10. I'm shocked to see that I have read 15/35, and I don't like and don't read horror at all. I would call none of the books I read horror, titles including The Stranger, Rebecca, Lord of the Flies, and The Trial.

    I love lists, and this is one I've never seen.

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    1. I don't think the books I've read, with the exception of Coraline, are horror either. I haven't read the other books on the list but certainly Dracula, Pet Sematary (spelling intentionally wrong), Frankenstein, and anything by Shirley Jackson would qualify as Horror.

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  11. I read Coraline earlier this year and enjoyed it. I hated Lord of The Flies though, I had to read it for school and got SO BORED.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/top-ten-tuesday-287/

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    1. I think of Lord of the Flies just about every day because I warned if Trump would be elected that things would fall apart FAST and I was right. I knew it would happen because of how things fell apart in the book. Sigh.

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  12. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was kind of creepy at times. I forgot that about it. I didn't love that book until the end. I was kind of bored by it. The sequels were better, though.

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  13. I've read #s1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 from your list. I'll have to check out the full list. :)

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  14. Rebecca is an all time favorite of mine. Thanks for sharing!

    Check out my TTT

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  15. I have only read 4 from the list (okay, 3.5- I technically never read The Witches, but I was in a classroom where the students were reading it aloud and I absorbed it secondhand hah). The Hunger, which I totally agree with, and Handmaid's Tale, and Lord of the Flies though I barely remember it (manyyyy years ago for school hah). So you have done far better than me!

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  16. I always like seeing how other people classify books. There are a couple on here that I wouldn't necessarily call horror, but I can understand the argument for them! Coraline is one of my favorites—love seeing it on here!

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  17. I agree that some of these books aren't "horror," but some of them describe horrific experiences such as the Handmaid's Tale.

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  18. I agree with you. I don't think a lot of these are horror either.

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  19. I've read four of your books and the only one I would consider horror is Coraline. I've read only eight books off the main list. I would consider some of them "horrifying" but not necessarily horror. "Horror" implies some sort of supernatural element to me.

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  20. I think they have a broad umbrella for horror. A lot of classics that talk about horrific things and experiences but I wouldn't call them horror. Maybe disturbing but not horror. I've read 9 and most are more on the classic idea of horror. Interesting list. Thanks for sharing.

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  21. You beat me- I've only read 4 of those titles! While I don't mind creepy and atmospheric stories, I tend to avoid horror titles. My imagination is too good, and I have nightmares easily, it's not worth a weeks worth of bad sleep when I could read books that don't cause me any problems! I'm with a lot of people on here in saying that Coraline is a fantastic book, creepy- but not overtly so, which tends to be the level of scares I'm comfortable with!

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  22. Hmm, I've only read 7 on the short list, but I wouldn't consider many of those horror. I always think of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or classics like Frankenstein, Dracula, and Shirley Jackson as horror. Thanks for sharing this!

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  23. Wow, I've read 6 of these an didn't see any as "horror" - dark, dystopian maybe.

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