With all the horror fans here, am interested in who is reading horror novels and who your favorite authors are?

I see mentions of the good ( King) and the bad ( Koontz) but not much else.

I think Leisure Books is hands down the leader in contemporary horror publishing. Look at their roster:

Richard Laymon ( r.i.p; thank goodness Leisure is getting his great books to a wider audience with their reprints)
Douglas Glegg
Graham Masterton
Bryan Smith
Edward Lee
Jack Ketchum
Brian Keene

And that's just a few. Also writing good stuff for Signet is Bentley Little.

I lost interest in Anne Rice years and years ago, I think she'd done more damage than good  :P    Laurell Hamltion finally had huge crossover success some years back with her Anita Blake novels, and spawned a cottage industry of " hot chick fights the supernatural" type books...my God there's a new series in this (pardon the pun) vein every time you turn around.

So who's reading what ?

I'm not sure if these can be classified into horror but Bret Easton Ellis and Patrica Highsmith are good writers. I've read almost everything of Ellis and only the Talented Mr. Ripley collection of Highsmith, but they've shown real talent. Edgar Allan Poe is also a good choice. Classic Horror writer there. A collection of Alfred Hitchcock stories.

What I'm currently reading is King's "four past midnight".

Gabe  

Thanks Gabe - yeah agreed that we wouldn't classify Highsmith as horror although her characters do some horrific things ! Great mystery crafter however. And of course Poe, Lovecraft, Bloch, Matherson, Wade-Williams, etc.

I was curious as to more contemporary authors but apparently no one is reading them ;)

That's the thing though. For me, i stick with an author until I get done with all of their work and then move on. Theirs an established trust there. Or I usually watch something and then have to read the book. For example, "No Country for old men". But I really got to move out this style of reading authros lol, since it prooves to not be productive. But this is me. lol

Gabe  

I just finished reading "The Ruins" by Scott Smith because I like reading the novels that movies are based on before I see the movie. I had heard good things about the novel and I mostly agree with them. I haven't seen the movie yet. I will probably pick up Smith's other novel, "A Simple Plan", which was also adapted.

Hey Cam...The Ruins was a pretty eerie  book, and you'll enjoy A Simple Plan...it's the best meditation on the nature of good and evil I've read in years. A brilliant, grim tale. The movie is also an overlooked gem as well.

I know this is an older topic, but what the hell I love horror books!

I am suprised no-one mentioned Clive Barker..who I happened to think is one of the greatest horror writers of our time.

For great ideas I'd recommend F. Paul Wilson (The Keep, was made into a film, but the rest of his stuff is just as good, culminating in a great finale of a novel)

Hey Pippo, yeah the topic doesn't seem too popular.

I'd read The Keep before the movie was shot and was stunned at what happened there. But I admit, haven't read a Wilson book since, although have toyed with starting his Repairman Jack books.

Jack Ketchum's stuff is getting re-issued at a pretty good rate these days, if you haven't picked up his books like

Off Season
The Girl Next Door
The Lost
Red

..to name a few...they're all great.

Bryan Smith's "House Of Blood" is also a good twisted and odd horror novel, as well as the sequel, Queen Of Blood.

Thanks for the heads up mikep. Definitely try the repairman jack ones...am currently reading The Tomb (for the third time) and I love it (even if I do know how it ends).

If you like really visual books try Daemonic by Stephen Laws. It's the only one of his I've read, but it's got great imagery and is completely off the wall.