Books like The Books of Blood Volume 3 — picked by fans

As a reader of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I believed when the Creature drifted away on an ice raft and was never to be seen again, the Creature did not die. I even thought about writing a sequel myself. Well, Dean Koontz beat me to it in 2004 with the first novel of his Frankenstein trilogy. 

This is a modern update and sequel to Shelly’s book that uses elements of not only horror but also fantasy and science fiction. The novel is set in present-day New Orleans and follows the activities of Victor Frankenstein, now going by the name of Victor Helios, who is using modern technology to create more creatures. Unbeknownst to Victor, his original Creature is still alive and looking for revenge.

Dean Koontz is the King of Exposition and in-depth storytelling. If you like an imaginative, updated take on a classic horror tale with detailed plots and… show more.

This is my all-time favourite book.

I own two physical copies – one paperback and a special edition hardback that released for a recent anniversary. It’s Stephen King’s debut, but you wouldn’t know it since he was already so comfortable with his writing and understanding his voice. I love that the story isn’t told through conventional means but using news reports and journals.

Carrie White is a character I can relate to, not because I secretly have powers – I don’t, I promise – but because she is the oddball, the type of person who doesn’t fit in. She’s the exaggerated poster child of why bullying is bad, but the book holds one very special message at its core – what does it cost to be nice?

Carrie is shown throughout as this sweet and simple girl who longs for connection, and we see the slow breakdown of her character… show more.

Solid anthology but the cream of the crop standout is bar none, "Dog" by Joe R. Lansdale. A tale about a man on a bike being chased by a dog is like Cujo on steroids. Highly intense and fast-paced, the story never lets up from the first page. It never slows down and the poor character’s bike trip just gets worse and worse. This one will keep you on the edge of your seat and thinking about it long after.

I recommend this book above other Stephen King anthologies for one specific story. "Mile 81". I grew up around Mr. King and he even came and read from one of his books in our high school auditorium. We all know him and there are a million to pick. But I chose this for both readers and authors. The story is about a car that is not what it seems. (Yes, a car.) The reason I believe even writers should study it, is how well it takes a concept and sticks with it and makes it real. The story is fun, gross, and tense, but also a masterclass in storytelling.

This little gem of an anthology is shorter than most I read but boy is it packed with superstars in horror. But the story that stands out here is "The Playhouse" by Bentley Little. I could have included his own collections here, and you should consider reading them, but this unique tale really stands out in a solid anthology, so I wanted to recommend this. Bentley Little has always been one of my influences even though I came across him later in my horror journey. His no-nonsense storytelling drags readers in quick and takes them along for the ride. In this a realtor discovers a playhouse on a property she is to show, and everything goes wrong from there. While a horror tale, it also deals with vestiges of youth and the passage of time. A truly remarkable tale.

Like the title suggests, this anthology is for those on the outside. It is a weird blend of strange works from well-known authors in the industry. I tend to like anthologies such as this because it creates work somewhat out of the norm for the writers. The standout story here is from Tanith Lee. I do not recommend it purely for the story as I do not consider it the best of this bunch. What did strike me was the prose. From her first words the reader knows they are in the hands of a master. It is simply impossible to stop reading once one starts because of the incredible descriptions and tone of the story. It is technically an excerpt from one of her novels but it does wow with the beauty of the words on the page. If someone believes horror cannot be literary they have not read… show more.

The two most influential writers of the 19th Century, who perfected the art of writing revenge stories were French-born Guy de Maupassant and American Edgar Allan Poe. Maupassant is the quintessential go-to Gothic storyteller for revenge and considered the greatest master of the short story in world literature. This collection has all his classic tales like “La Vendetta,” a tale about a grieving mother’s need for revenge, and my favorite, “The Hand,” about an avenging appendage. Plus, many more tales. 

Poe was the first writer I read as a kid, and “The Cask of Amontillado,” to me is the penultimate story of jealousy and revenge that is as suspenseful as it is horrifying. Plus, there are two other tales of revenge and painstaking cruelty within this anthology: “Hop-Frog” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”.

This is classic revenge writing from the Gothic master, no offense Guy de Maupassant.

This book originally consisted of six short collections of novellas and stories, but they’ve since been gathered into a two-volume set, so I’m hoping I can count them as one. They go together, and I think they’re nearly all excellent.

When I was a kid, these stories helped build a bridge for me, from the likes of Stephen King (whom I still adore) to new imaginative worlds of horror that include all kinds of transgressive imagery.

I love how Barker combines the fantastic with the visceral, blurs lines between the monstrous and the human, and makes desire dark, dirty, and wonderful. I also love these stories for all they taught me and helping usher in modern extreme/hardcore horror.

The Wild Boys is at once dystopian and utopian, featuring a band of boys who’ve gone rogue and have perfected strange and poetically beautiful sex rites which allow them to ritually and meditatively conjure or reproduce more wild boy offspring. At once science fiction and fantastical in its imaginative scope, it is also, like all Burroughs’s work, a profound exploration of social control, the excesses and assumptions inherent in state and religious terror, and the sexual and erotic oppression and misunderstanding that is the real enemy of freedom. Fearless and experimental, Burroughs inspires me to be bold, blunt, and not afraid to disturb or offend in exploring the poetic and erotic relationships between all manner of ideas.