Deborah Woehr

I’m going to date myself by saying that I read my first horror novel in 1981–Dean Koontz’s Whispers. From that point, I got swept up in the horror boom of the 80’s and read all the crap my weekly allowance would allow. My tastes have evolved since then. I expect a good plot with plenty of nailbiting suspense.

Psychological horror is one of my favorite genres. How many of you read Dean Koontz’s Intensity? He couldn’t have picked a better title. I finished the book in two days, wanting to know if the girl was going to escape the killer. Koontz surprised me with the killer. After I finished reading this book, I loaned it to my sister. She returned it, saying that it was too scary for her to finish. What a wimp!

Another book I read quickly was Stephen King’s Misery. Okay, that got kind of gory when Annie chopped off Paul’s feet and soldered the ankles so he wouldn’t bleed to death. But he did a fantastic job with the psychological aspects of being penned up in a bed with a psycho for a nurse. Can you imagine yourself in that situation?

Douglas Clegg is another favorite horror writer of mine. In fact, he’s risen above Stephen King, IMHO. If you love ghost stories, grab Nightmare House. He really knows how to put his characters through psychological torment. Is this real, or am I imagining things? Love it! The Dark Game is another must read by this guy.

Gore and sex just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Unless the author is describing wounds for the police and/or coroner to examine, it’s pointless filler. As for sex, that also must make sense. Will the sex scene give clues to the antagonist’s MO, if he/she is a serial killer? Will a love scene between a couple be a prelude to anguish or extreme terror when one (or both) of them is placed in great danger or possibly killed?

So, there you have it. Psychological wins for me. What about you? Who are your favorite authors and why?