I thought it might be fun to recommend some old school horror novels that were turned into great films and definitely influenced me in writing The Blessed.
Here comes the throwback:
Here comes the throwback:
The Exorcist: Still the scariest movie I’ve ever seen and an even scarier book! What is more frightening than the possession of a child by an evil force? The story unfolds slowly and in great detail. It’s the head-spinning and pea soup moments from the film and book that get the most attention, but the gradual creeping dread present on every page of this book is a testament to the incredible storytelling skill of William Peter Blatty. An underappreciated classic.
Carrie: I love all of Stephen King’s work, especially his early books. Carrie was YA before there was even a term for it. The angst of being a teenager, of wanting to be liked, of fearing rejection, of being bullied, of trying to please your parent at the expense of your own happiness , of just being a girl, is all there. And the explosion of rage from deep inside Carrie’s tortured body and soul at the end sets the standard for all teenage revenge fantasies that followed.
Jaws: The greatest horror novel not to be categorized as a horror novel. Like the Exorcist, the notion of this unseen, evil and deadly force hovering over everything, waiting to strike, in this case a great white shark hunting the waters around a New England town for careless tourists. The impact on readers is easy to calculate. Since reading this book or seeing the movie, has anyone ever looked at the ocean the same way again? Thank you Peter Benchley. I think.
Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe: Trippy, disorienting madness drips from every page of Poe’s stories. From the Fall Of The House Of Usher to the Tell Tale Heart to the Oblong Box and The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poe’s tales of revenge, torture, disease, unrequited love and murder are almost as reviled as they are beloved and for good reason. They are beyond scary and get right to the core who we are inside and what we are really capable of. Written over 150 years ago, they still feel completely modern and can still shock even the most jaded a 21st century sensibility.
Frankenstein/Dracula: It’s easy to overlook these Victorian era books when considering horror novels but have any two books every been more influential on pop culture? Doctor Frankenstein’s efforts to bring the dead to life as described by Mary Shelley pits science against God, and Bram Stoker’s embodiment of eastern European vampire legend in the cool, elegant and murderous Count Dracula is still the stuff of nightmares. These books are seminal horror writings, the beginning of our fascination with the Undead and still the best of the genre.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tonya Hurley is the New York Times best-selling author of the highly acclaimed “ghostgirl“ book series; creator, writer and producer of animated and live action hit television series; writer and director of independent films; writer and director of commercials for Playstation, Gameboy and Warner Home Video; and creator of groundbreaking videogames. Her new young adult trilogy, THE BLESSED, will be released by Simon and Schuster in Fall 2012.
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