Stephen King said that 'Carrion Comfort' was 1 of the 3 greatest novels of the 20th..

[fan1408]

"Carrion Comfort" is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that." -- Stephen King. - My question is, What are the other two? I have put this question out there before. I have read some of the other posts about book recommendations made by Stephen King. But, I don't know if any of them might be the other two. I don't read 'Entertainment Weekly'. Except maybe in a waiting room area. But, maybe he has wrote something about his recommendations of the "greatest" books. I don't know. I would love to know. I bought the book, 'Carrion Comfort', by Dan Simmons. Stephen King is right. This book is Great. I love the descriptive details. I did read the 'Introduction' in the book, and it made me laugh. I too recommend this book. :smile2:

[sam peebles]

Not sure exactly if this is correct, but I think King would consider Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hillhouse as one of the other top three greatest horror books of the twentieth century. You may want to pick up Danse Macabre. It doesn't definitively list his top three favorites, instead, it lists about fifty (though not all of them are from the twentieth century).

[fan1408]

Thank you Very much. I do remember some comments SK made in the past about Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting of Hillhouse'. I will also check out 'Danse Macabre'. Thanks again! :smile2:

[HELLTEXter]

Actually every single book by Dan Simmons is worth a recommendation, in my humble opinion.
Btw, he dedicated his novel "Darwin's Blade" "to Wayne Simmons and Stephen King. For my brother Wayne, who is involved with accident investigation every day, admiration that your sense of humor has survived; for Steve, who felt the cutting edge of Darwin’s blade via someone else’s lethal stupidity, gratitude that you’re still with us and willing to tell us more tales by the campfire."

Dirk.

[Snaggletooth]

If memory serves, SK's other 2 "best books" were The Exorcist and Ghost Story, but this was stated several years ago during an interview. I would not have chosen Exorcist, Ghost Story I agree with. Simmons' Song of Kali (his first novel) was a better book, IMO; Carrion Comfort could have been just as good at about 400 pages instead of 600. It took me forever to read it; longer doesn't necessarily mean better.

[Mr Nobody]

The thing to remember when reading Danse Macabre is that it's now about 30 years old or something like that, and there are bound to be newer books he'd rate by now.

[ChipOfftheBloch]

Hey all,

I'm about 200 pages into Carrion Comfort and am enjoying the hell out of it. I bought it for two reasons, one: Kings Recommendation and two: Simmon's introduction to the new edition, which I frankly found to be an amazing inspiration. especially as someone who is trying to write.

Can't to see where its going to take me.

[TriggerHappy]

Stephen King could not have possibly praised The Exorcist! Quote from Danse Macabre:
"two novels of the Humorless, Thudding Tract School of horror writing are Damon, by C. Terry Cline, and The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty—Cline has since improved as a writer, and Blatty has fallen silent…forever, if we are lucky."
He did praise William Friedkin's movie version (who wouldn't?), but never the book.

[staropeace]

I think "Summer of Night" by Dan Simmons was fantastic too.

"Boys Life" by Robert McCammon would make the mark for me.

I think Stephen mentioned Lord of the Flies,too.

[Er0tic NeUr0t1c]

I believed he enjoyed Ray Bradbury when he was younger as well and was influenced a little by him, don't remember where I picked that up from but it was written somewhere or maybe just because of several references he's to Bradbury in his books.

[deroche]

I believed he enjoyed Ray Bradbury when he was younger as well and was influenced a little by him, don't remember where I picked that up from but it was written somewhere or maybe just because of several references he's to Bradbury in his books.

I believed he has quoted in saying Ray Bradbury was one of his major influences. He has praised "Something Wicked this way comes" as one of his most influential books. His works are kind of similar to Ray Bradbury too I notice.
I Love reading Ray Bradbury's stuff too. He rocks :cool::cool:

[jane wolfe]

thanks for starting this thread; it caused me to check out Dan Simmons and many of the books mentioned in the subsequent posts.

[E.Freemantle]

Dan Simmons' "Carrion Comfort" was the most memorable darkly conspiratorial quasi- Bilderberger meeting type book( Non King) I ever read. So many great memorably, cruel and kind-all determined- 3-dimensional- pro and antagonist characters ,long spans of time, chilling motivations. I agree, Bram Stoker Award winning,maybe Nebula as well-one of the Best Fiction Novels of The 20th Century. It sticks in my head like a brain tattoo. Haunting stuff. Such Devilish puppeteering. It is Dan Simmons' best -to me- in my humble opinion. If you have not read it- pause find one- and prepare to be "shown a wonder". E. Freemantle

[DanishReader]

King also wrote - or began writing or was supposed to write - a screenplay adaptation of Carrion Comfort. I believe one single page was found at the Fogler library.

[randallFlaggfan1]

Carrion Comfort is one of my many books "to be read," hopefully some time this year. I read some of Simmons' introduction, which intrigued me even more. And Sai King's high recommendation is ALWAYS a plus. Also, thank you, Ubasti! :blush:

[randallFlaggfan1]

Yesterday, we took a trip to Spokane, and I acquired a copy of Carrion Comfort. Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to this one!

[Haunted]

Flashback by Dan Simmons due out July of 2011:

Flashback, it's a drug that lets you relive your most blissful moments. Most Americans are addicted to it (to hell with society, which is collapsing all 'round), and because of it Det. Nick Bottoms has lost his job and his son. Unfortunately, he's been wallowing in flashback since the death of his wife. Then he's hired to investigate the murder of a political bigwig's son, and he could just get the country back on track. A nicely different approach to the apocalyptic novel from the author of The Terror

[fushingfeef]

Sounds like that Kids in the Hall movie, "Brain Candy".

[Chelle71]

Stephen King wrote a review on the back of a book called The Story of Edgar Sawtelle...I read it based on his recommendation...it is one of the greats!

[Art Turner]

Here's a list King wrote for The Book Of Lists #3 (1983) of his "Ten Favorite Horror Books or Short Stories":

GHOST STORY - Peter Straub
DRACULA - Bram Stoker
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE - Shirley Jackson
DR. JECKYLL AND MR. HYDE - Robert Louis Stevenson
BURNT OFFERINGS - Robert Marasco
"Casting the Runes" - M.R. James
"Two Bottles of Relish" - Lord Dunsany
"The Great God Pan" - Arthur Machen
"The Upper Berth" - F. Marion Crawford
"The Colour Out of Space" - H.P. Lovecraft

Hope that helps. :smile2:

[Doc Wilson]

Once again, an awesome recommendation coming from the SKMB leads me to another great author. I just read his first, and started his second. This guy is on a level with McCammon and King, IMO. Thanks to everyone.

[randallFlaggfan1]

Yesterday, we took a trip to Spokane, and I acquired a copy of Carrion Comfort. Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to this one!

Wow, I just realized that I'd forgotten about this particular thread.
Well, I finally finished Carrion Comfort about a week or two ago.
It's hard to imagine this book being much better, let's put it that way..

[OldDarth]

Simmons is a fantastic writer and very intelligent too. Highly recommend his Hyperion series. The Shrike is one of the greatest fictional characters ever created. Note this is a SF series and not horror.

[randallFlaggfan1]

I have also heard great things about Simmons' Hyperion series.
I'm not sure if it's true, but he apparently wrote the the entire series as a single project, so to speak, and only later divided the story into said novels.


("All things serve the Beam")