6. Mark Z. Danielewski (Author)
While none of his work is specifically horror, I feel the need to include him due to the profound effect his novel “The House of Leaves” has had on me.
This book makes me so angry I can hardly stand it. It makes me angry because I desperately wish I had written it. Well, half of it. I will give you the set up that my friend gave me when he told me to read it… He said ,”It’s the story of a man who finds a documentary film about a photographer who one day discovers this house is one inch larger on the inside than it is outside.”
I feel that saying much beyond that could potentially spoil the experience. And when I say “experience” I mean it. This is a book that has to be read in physical form. Otherwise it will not work. As far as I know no one has replicated it in a digital format, as doing so would be remarkably difficult.
The following is easiest way for me to describe the book:
Imagine a full on panic attack, liquefied and put on a constant IV drip for about a week. No one has mild feelings about the book, they love it and it will fester in the backs of their heads for the rest of their lives, or they hate it and don’t understand it’s appeal.