90s Horror Books

by Jacy

Now that October is here, it is officially Spooky Season! Horror is a wonderful genre, but scary movies can be a bit too terrifying for some people (like me). Reading some super spooky books is a good alternative to nightmare inspiring horror movies. This list can give you some spine chilling options, with a fun retrospective twist!

Interview with the vampire

Anne Rice

FICTION Rice, Anne
Fiction, Horror

"Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force–a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write." (Amazon summary)

This one may not technically be published in the 90s but the series is so long it spans decades, and how could I not include Anne Rice? I also haven't read this book, though I've heard enough good things to add it to my reading list! Who doesn't love a classic vampire novel during spooky season?
- Jacy

Practical magic

Alice Hoffman

FICTION Hoffman, Alice
Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

"For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic..." (Goodreads summary)

While this novel is less scary and more witchy, it still is a good spooky season read. I'm about halfway through and it's a huge departure from the movie (with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) but I'm interested to see how the sisters end up coming home in this version.
- Jacy

Books of blood : volumes one to three

Clive Barker

FICTION Barker, Clive
Fiction, Horror

"These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them." (Goodreads summary)

While this is another "to be read" on my horror list, I've heard many great things about these short stories. If the summary and other's accounts of these three volumes are to be believed, any fan of King and graphic horror will immediately be a fan of Clive Barker after reading these nightmare inducing tales.
- Jacy

The regulators

Richard Bachman

FICTION Bachman, Richard
Fiction, Horror

"There's a place in Wentworth, Ohio, where summer is in full swing. It's called Poplar Street. Up until now it's been a nice place to live. The idling red van around the corner is about to change all that. Let the battle against evil begin. Here come...The Regulators." (Goodreads summary)

This book is best read in partnership with Desperation by Stephen King. They aren't in a series together; they are separate stories that use the same pool of characters and the same evil entity. Recently I started to re-read this one; my favorite part that separates it from the other version is how King slows down time to really describe the gory details of the more intense scenes.
- Jacy

Desperation

Stephen King

FICTION King, Stephen
Fiction, Horror

"There's a place along Interstate 50 that some call the loneliest place on Earth. It's known as Desperation, Nevada. It's not a very nice place to live. It's an even worse place to die. Let the battle against evil begin. Welcome to ... Desperation." (Goodreads summary)

This book is best read in partnership with The Regulators by Richard Bachman (Stephen King). They aren't in a series together; they are separate stories that use the same pool of characters and the same evil entity. I haven't read this one in a few years, but I remember the setting vividly. It's in a remote town along the highway, where the evil Tak has essentially taken over, and some truly chilling things happen.
- Jacy

The call of Cthulhu and other weird stories

H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft

SCIENCE FICTION Lovecraft, H. P.
Fiction, Horror

"I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." -Stephen King "Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft's preeminent interpreter, presents a selection of the master's fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as "The Outsider" to the overpowering cosmic terror of "The Call of Cthulhu." More than just a collection of terrifying tales, this volume reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical- and visionary-American writer." (Amazon summary)

Now this book was definitely written before the 90s, but the edition we have at the library was published in 1999 so I couldn't pass up including this classic. I've actually listened to the audiobook version that we also have in the collection, which was creepy and weird in true Lovecraft fashion. If you've ever heard reference to a mysterious being called Cthulhu, this is a must read!
- Jacy