Sometimes there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book. While ingesting movies and TV shows is easy, it doesn’t leave a whole lot to our imagination since the vast majority of visuals are given to us on a silver platter screen. But a book requires imagination. A book requires the reader to draw upon their own experiences and memories to create unique mental paintings to accentuate the words on the pages.
We don’t get to talk too much about books on Bloody-Disgusting so I feel it’s appropriate to once in a while bring up the medium to show that it’s something we not only approve of but also love wholeheartedly.
To that end, I wanted to do something a bit fun and take a look at five renowned horror authors and recognize their first published works. If you’ve read them, tell me your thoughts! Also, definitely let us know your favorite horror novel in the comments!
Michael Crichton – “Odds On”/”Andromeda Strain”
So, Michael Crichton might be a bit of an odd name on here as he’s not known primarily for his horror works. Rather, he’s most recognized for his thrillers, which mainly relied upon a medical foundation. After all, this was the guy that created “ER”, which was incredibly celebrated and acclaimed during its 15 season run.
However, don’t forget that Crichton is the man responsible for not only “Jurassic Park”, “Congo”, “Sphere”, and “The Lost World”, two of which produced massively successful films and the other two, well…let’s just pretend that those movies didn’t happen, shall we? So the man definitely has a strong grasp on horror.
Interestingly, Crichton’s first novel, 1966’s “Odds On”, was actually released under the pen name John Lange and was about an attempted robbery in Costa Brava in Spain.
His first actual novel under his own name was the 1969 virus thriller “The Andromeda Strain”, which was adapted into a film in 1971 as well as a miniseries in 2008. It was a best seller upon release and cemented Crichton as a writer to pay very close attention to.
Stephen King – “Carrie”
The modern master of horror himself, King’s first novel was 1974’s “Carrie”, which followed the growth of the repressed and bullied Carrie White as she realizes that she has telekinetic powers that grant her the ability to take revenge on those who have maligned her for years.
The book was turned into a movie in 1976 with Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie as well as a remake in 2013 with Chloë Grace Moretz. There was also a sequel to the original in 1999.
“Carrie” almost never happened, believe it or not. King wrote several pages but threw them out thinking them terrible. His wife found them and urged him to finish the novel, which he did. The rest, as they say, is history as the book went on to sell over a million copies in its first year of release.
Since then, King has released dozens of novels, scores of short stories, and his works have been adapted into countless films, TV shows, comics, and more.
Clive Barker – “The Damnation Game”
While Barker’s “Books of Blood” were written and released in 1984, “The Damnation Game” was the first full length novel that Barker published.
The novel follows Marty Strauss and the Faustian tale that he is drawn into. While Stephen King had already crowned Barker as “the future of horror” with the aforementioned “Books of Blood”, it was “The Damnation Game” that proved Barker could intertwine horror with fantasy, drama, and romance, creating novels that are an epic journey that should not be missed.
Dean Koontz – “Star Quest”
Another author that mixes additional elements into horror, such as fantasy, thrillers, and sci-fi, Koontz has written dozens of novels and scores of short stories, many of which have been adapted into film, such as Phantoms, Odd Thomas, Demon Seed, as well as others.
Koontz however first got his name out with the sci-fi novella “Star Quest”, which followed the rivalry between two warring interplanetary factions. The Wiki description talks about the rebel Tohm, who was, “…forcibly changed into a fearfully armored instrument of mechanical warfare—the man-tank Jumbo Ten“, which sounds pretty horrific. Definitely some body horror action going on there!
H.P. Lovecraft – “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”
Oooh, boy. Lovecraft is a bit of a doozy. The man was most known for his short stories, of which there are many. In fact, that’s really where he got his start, beginning with 1917’s “The Tomb”, which wasn’t published for five years. His second short story is “Dagon”, which was turned into a fantastic and, in my opinion, underappreciated movie by Stuart Gordon.
After years of short stories, it wasn’t until 1927 that Lovecraft would write his first novella, “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, which followed the titular character as he investigates his mysterious and possibly supernatural lineage.
Lovecraft was apparently not too thrilled with the overall finished product, electing to not push too hard to get it published. As a result, it was only released after the author’s death.
