Summer Thrills and Chills

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: It’s been hot here in New York City — probably where you are, too. (We know it is in Texas for Debs, but at least she has her inflatable tub!) August generally is a long, hot, sticky month and, for some reason, I associate it with the thrills and chills of horror novels.

Well, maybe the association isn’t so random. I remember staying at a friend’s cottage one summer when I was twelve or so and discovering a shelf of well-thumbed paperbacks, mostly Stephen King — Cujo (why I was afraid of dogs for so long), Christine, Pet Cemetery, etc. You know, old-school Stephen King. I remember reading on the porch at night, cooled by breezes from Lake Erie and a glass of iced tea, scared out of my pre-teen mind.

This summer, as I work on THE QUEEN’S CONSPIRATOR, about a 1942 Blackout Jack the Ripper, I’ve been rereading a lot of classic horror for inspiration — Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s been all kinds of creepy shivery fun.

I don’t think of myself as a horror fan per se, but as I look through books that I’ve absolutely loved — Donna Tart’s The Secret History, Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger, Alice Hoffman’s The River King — there’s often a supernatural element.

And then there are the TV shows. I’m a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, True Blood, Hannibal (will Hulu pretty please pick it up for season four?), and, most recently — and thanks to Kristopher of Bolo Books —Penny Dreadful. Love Penny Dreadful.


Reds and lovely readers, do you think horror chills help beat the summer heat. Is it a genre you read or watch? And, if so, what are your favorites?


HALLIE EPHRON: I do like a dab of supernatural, anything that makes that Twilight Zone music go off in my head (love Alice Hoffman and Jennifer McMahon).  

But horror, not so much. Stephen King is another category entirely. He's just a great writer and I'll read anything (or almost anything) he writes.


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Oh well, Stephen King. Of course. I stayed home from work in 1980 — I mean, called in sick when I wasn't sick! — to read The Stand. (At the Edgars, I told that story to Stephen King — I was quivering with starstruckness the entire time. He said: Good for you!)  I am a huge Twilight Zone fan--it's all about the writing, right? And as for the X-Files, well, I just wrote an X-Files short story that'll be included in Jonathan Maberry's coming authorized anthology! SO that's cool.... 
I guess... I don't like gruesome. Just suspense. (And we are watching The Whispers, I'll admit. But no more Strain. 

I have to say, we read Dracula when I was in college. I clearly remember thinking--how scary can anything like this be? It's just a BOOK. Wrongo. I slept with my arms crossed across my chest--figuring the vampire would be put off by the "cross"--for weeks. I was beyond terrified.


JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I can't watch viscerally graphic films and I hate what my family calls "pop-ups" - the sudden jolt when the bad guy/innocent person/dead body jumps into view, so I prefer subtle movie scariness. I adored CONTAGION, and went around for a week afterwards with a gallon of Purell in my purse! Loved the X Files, and the first season of THE WALKING DEAD. I haven't seen anything in the past couple of years and would love some recommendations! Anything with that creeping sense of something wrong will capture me as an audience member. 

Books: THE STAND, of course, which I read as a college freshman while my roommate and I both had bad colds (we were sure it was Captain Trips.) SALEM'S LOT - good think I met Ross many years after reading this, or I never would have agreed to move to Maine! THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE  and WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE, two delicately creepy masterpieces by Shirley Jackson. Oh, and the horrifying/funny/scathing/haunting WORLD WAR Z (which has nothing in common with the movie except for the name.) It's been nine years, and I don't think he's really published anything since then, but Max Brooks will be a horror giant based on that one work alone.

LUCY BURDETTE: I can't do horror--too easily scared! though I really must read THE STAND, and I too love Jennifer McMahon's books — they're a little creepy, but not enough to keep me up nights...

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Yes, Stephen King's The Stand!  I remember working for King's editor at Viking/Penguin in the early 90s when the miniseries came out and he treated us all to a screening — soda, popcorn, candy and everything. No work! We all that that was pretty darned terrific. (I once fetched him a BLT sandwich, too....)

Of course, Hubby would say: "Oh right, the book where all of humanity is wiped out except a few straight white people — and two 'mystical negroes' who are too old to reproduce?" (He kinda has a point there...)

And in recently rereading Dracula I find myself laughing at unexpected places — for instance: "Note to self: must get chicken paprika recipe for Mina."

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am loathe to admit this, but I've never read a Stephen King novel. I have tried, really, I have. But I just couldn't get going on them. I have promised my self that I will read The Stand, since everyone I know loves it.

There's a very fine line between horror and supernatural, isn't there? And is there a distinction between supernatural and paranormal? I could never watch straight "horror" movies. The only one I can think of that I not only sat through but liked was John Carpenter's The Thing. And not the remake--the 1982 original with Kurt Russell. And absolutely no slasher movies for me. Ugh. 

But, like Susan, I loved Buffy and Angel (will watch anything written by Joss Whedon--can we talk about Firefly sometime?) I liked True Blood but didn't keep up, I'm afraid. I was a HUGE X-Files fan (Hank, so cool!!!) I loved an odd UK series called Being Human (starring Aidan Turner who you now see galloping across your screens as Poldark). Now I'm going to look up Penny Dreadful.

Books. I LOVE Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels. LOVE Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, and have just read a terrific YA series called The Shades of London by Maureen Johnson. The first book is called The Name of Star, and Susan, it's a very interesting contemporary take on the Ripper. You should read it! 

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I will! And, Debs, I'd love to talk Firefly with you any time — and please let me know what you think of Penny Dreadful (it took me a few episodes to get into it). Lovely readers, do you cross genres to read horror? If no, why not? And if so, what are your favorites? Please tell us in the comments!