For anyone interested in horror writing, this is a list published about a decade ago by the Horror Writers Association of must-reads in order to familiarize oneself with the genre. I must admit I have only read about a third of this list. It’s subjective, of course. I would definitely add Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Peter Straub and others. Shirley Jackson definitely belongs here, particularly and most egregiously since the list features only one woman, albeit in the most important, lead-off position. Hope this is stimulating, at least.
Twenty-One Horror Classics (list by Robert Weinberg*)
1. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
2. Dracula by Bram Stoker
3. The Ghost Pirates by William Hope Hodgson
4. The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James
5. Burn, Witch, Burn! by A. Merrritt
6. To Walk the Night by William Sloane
7. The Dunwich Horror and Others by H. P. Lovecraft
8. Fear by L. Ron Hubbard
9. Darker than you Think by Jack Williamson
10. Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
11. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
12. Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
13. Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vols. I, II, III
14. Hell House by Richard Matheson
15. The October Country by Ray Bradbury
16. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
17. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
18. Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg
19. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
20. The Stand by Stephen King
21. Watchers by Dean Koontz
*source: “On Writing Horror: A Handbook b The Horror Writers Association” 2007 Writer’s Digest Books
Write Yourself Sane 