:thumb:

Have him share some of his favorites if he wants. There are some people in this thread that can offer him some good discussion.

That's the beauty of the golden age sci-fi stories, they stand the test of time. Long version of Algernon is so good, really moving. Glad to see you digging the HOF list.

Keep up the good work in here man.

I know it says sci-fi and fantasy books "only", but I'm looking for a good horror book. Something more creepy/spooky than gory. And not Stephen King (I've already read most of his).

Any suggestions?

Ever read Ghost Story by Peter Straub? It's pretty popular.


I haven't read that many horror books, but here are a few older short stories that are more spooky than gory that I like:

The Squaw by Bram Stoker
The Seed from the Sepulchre by Clark Ashton Smith
Pollock and the Porroh Man by H. G. Wells
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
The Tell-Tale Hear by Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe
It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby
The Invaders by Terry Tapp
The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson
The Playfellow by Lady Cynthia Asquith
Headlamps by Tony Richards
The Snake by Dennis Wheatley
Close Behind Him by John Wyndham
The Girl from Tomango by Rick Ferreira
The Tower by Marghanita Laski
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft


I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison is a great sci-fi story with a lot of horrific elements.


All of those are pretty old fashioned so caveat emptor.

Edit: For a more modern story, give "If You Take My Hand My Son" by Mort Castle is pretty good.

Awesome, thanks for the recommendations! I think Tell-Tale Heart is the only one I've read. So that list should keep me busy for a long time.

I'm going to give Space Force by Barry J. Hutchison a whirl. Light comedic sci-fi sounds good at the moment.

My favorite non-King horror authors are Brian Keene, Dan Simmons and Robert McCammon. McCammon's "Swan Song" is similar (and better than, imo) "The Stand" and Simmons' "Summer of Night" is in the same vein as "It" as is McCammons' "Boy's Life", though it has less of the supernatural stuff.

Holy shit the used hardcover editions of Swan Song on Amazon start at over $300 and go over $700. I ordered a used paperback for $16. Thanks for the referral.

Wow! It must be out of print now.

I take it you aren't a Kindle person? Swan Song is free with Amazon Prime on the Kindle. :D

You're right. I don't Kindle. I like the feel of a book. Also like having shelves full of books for lending, re-reading,and general atmosphere.

I wasn't a Kindle fan at first. However, as I've gotten older, it is so much easier on my eyes that regular books that I much prefer it. I still have a massive amount of actual books to read and I'll sometimes get used books instead of e-books because the prices on some of the e-books are stupid but I'll go with the Kindle when possible.

That makes perfect sense and I'll likely get there some day. Thank goodness for an option our forefathers did not' have.

I held out for a long time, but I finally bought a Kindle. I wish I had done so sooner because I love it. I bought mine for about 50 bucks, but it paid for itself within a month due to how much money I saved by being ebooks on sale.

It's lighter than a book, I don't have to have a lamp on to read at night, I can adjust the print size as needed, I can highlight passages without damaging the page, and I don't have to deal with boxes of books laying all over the house. Oh, and I can automatically get definitions of unfamiliar words, too. Not to mention not having to drive to a bookstore or wait weeks for Amazon to deliver a book. And I can use it as an internet browser, calculator, alarm clock, a little stereo for when I go walking, and it's great for audiobooks and old radio shows, too.

The previous message was brought to you by the Bezos foundation. Because too much money is never enough.

:p