With the first blog post, I thought I might shine a spotlight on some of the most influential authors whose works have not only been a delight for me to read, but have also had a profound effect on how I write and also how I would like to grow as a writer.
I've become enamored with the stories delivered by today's horror writers and have not been able to put down anthologies, novellas, and novels by Barron, Langan, Files, Keisling, Patrick Burke, Lavalle, and many others. The tone and atmosphere delivered in these works will spirit any reader away from their daily troubles and into masterfully crafted realms where the troubles of daily life are but a fragment of the dangers that lurk beyond the periphery of civilized society.
This is what draws me. What lurks beyond the shadows obscuring our perceptions? One can't know until they venture out to discover the true nature of Lady Midday, or chance upon the remnants on a run in with Old Leech. Perhaps there's something more to the child crying in a grocery store, as Keelan Patrick Burke suggests, or is it Tremblay's assertion of how to halt the apocalypse--we don't yet know, but reading these tales delights me and I devour them with the same fervor the boy I once was did those of Crichton, Straub, King, and Koontz.
If nothing else, I recommend you try each of the authors I've discussed in this brief post. they are masters of the craft and a true testament to the crafted stories potential effect on readers. I'll also recommend reading any anthology edited by Datlow and please don't miss Nathan Ballingrud and Todd Keisling's works. They are masterful.