Suggestions for adult books for Goosebumps/Fear Street lovers?

Even though I am in my twenties I have yet to find a series or author who writes books like R.L. Stein's Goosebumps or Fear Street series. As a child and preteen, I was obsessed with these books. As an adult, I am still looking for that one author who writes adult-aged supernatural books similar to these that I just can't put down.

I like Stephen King's stories better than his lengthy novels. His earlier stuff I enjoyed better than his recent books. Dean Koontz is somewhat comparable to Stein, however his novels seem to focus on detectives and not necessarily the spooky, supernatural stuff as R. L. Stein.

I am just curious what others would recommend to a person looking for adult-level R.L. Stein-ish books. Suggestions?

I'm a semi-fan of R. L. Stine, but I'm not really sure of any similar writers. Christopher Pike or Richie Tankersley Cusick or Diane Hoh, maybe? They all do some type of young horror.

I know exactly what you mean, I think. I read a lot of horror, and it never seems to be as effective as the stuff I read as a kid. I always wonder whether I'm jaded or the writing's just not as good. *shrug*

You might want to try Jonathan Aycliffe, for creepy ghosty stuff. (He also has a few books that are more demon-related.) I was going to suggest Alexandra Sokoloff, but I see you've already got her in your library. Actually, I see most of my suggestions in your "Books You Share" list.

Christopher Pike has a few books for adults, but I've never tried them.

Thanks for the suggestions.

It is somewhat difficult to articulate exactly what I mean. As an adult, I haven't found any adult-level author or series where the writing and/or plot is addictive like when I was a child/preteen. I'm sure one could argue some psychological/philosophical point that reading is *new* when you're younger (also things are scarier, etc.). Maybe I have read too much horror and seen too many scary movies to be really surprised any longer. =o( I just wish I could stumble across an author/series that gave me that same excitement as when I was younger and read the Goosebumps/Fear Street books.

I too had heard that Christoper Pike wrote some books for adults but I haven't tried them either (nor have I heard others who have).

This might be too obvious, but have you tried Stine's three 'adult' novels? There's Superstitious, Eye Candy and The Sitter. I haven't read them yet, but I have 'em all.

Have you tried any Robert Aickman or H.P.Lovecraft?

I see you have on Thomas Ligotti book. How do you like his work?

#5
I did read Superstitious. I don't think I finished it because it started to get silly. For whatever reason, i thought thta was his only adult novel but I will have to check out the others you mentioned.

#6
I do love Lovecraft! His work is a little more classic than was I was looking for. I'll have to do some research on Aickman, though. I've not heard of him. And as For Liogotti, I have a short story collection of his in my "wish list" collection. I haven't been able to track the book down yet (it isn't in my local or regional library system).

I am an ILL librarian and it takes a lot of discipline not to run rampant requesting leisure books for myself. As I work at an academic medical library, fiction ILL requests are seldom seen and would draw a lot of attention! =o)

If what you want is horror which plays more on psychological fear rather than some of the more visceral ones then Ramsey Campbell might be worth looking for (although he also has written some Lovecraftian fiction).

It might also be worth getting hold of one of the annual Best New Horror (or similar) anthologies to look for authors whose writing you like.

You might enjoy the supernatural horror fiction of Fritz Leiber, discussed in this thread.

ETA: I see you have Conjure Wife, so perhaps you've already decided that's not quite what you're after.

#7 I am an ILL librarian

At first reading I thought you meant you were sick, but then the penny dropped. :-)

Both Ligotti and Aickman are difficult enough to get. Short stories would be their main output, in fact, Aickman only wrote one novel to my knowledge and I don't think Ligotti wrote any.

Good luck with your hunting.

There's always the danger of course that your enjoyment of those Goosebumps books had to do with you at the time you read them rather than the qualities of the books themselves.

Having said that, I just started The House on the Borderland and something about the writing (there is a general sense of eerieness even though nothing outright scary has happened) reminds me of the old ghost stories I used to read as a kid.

Try Phil Rickman

I was born way too early for Goosebumps so I may be barking right up the wrong tree but I take it you're looking for somethng that still works to give you the creeps as an adult? I do agree that you're probably jaded - it's incredibly rare that I ever get scared by a horror book these day - bin there, seen it, done it, tee-shirt, etc but there are a couple that have worked for me lately. The most recent of those was A Dark Matter by Michelle Paver - okay, it didn't exactly scare me but it does have a delicious creepy feeling and is one of the most atmospheric books I've read in a long time.

Also, I don't know which Stephen King books you have read but you might like to know that his early books are a million times better than his later ones; anything from around the time of The Dead Zone, Salem's Lot, Firestarter might well do it for you if later ones aren't really working.

Or you might find that your grown up self just prefers horror that doesn't have the supernatural element. In that case, you'd be doing yourself a big favour by trying something like The Collector by John Fowles.

Ed for typos

Oh, The Dead Zone and Firestarter are two of his books that I liked the least. Then again, I liked The Tommyknockers.

However, everyone seems to agree on 'Salem's Lot. Try that one before you decide if King is for you or not.

If you want something that's not supernatural try Endless Night by Richard Laymon.