1.  Edward Lee:  This guy is the chainsaw wielding freak of the genre--no joke!  He is willing to take his novels down to the depths of hell & show you a gory, sexual, visceral view of humanity, demons & the occult.  His backwoods tales of rednecks being chomped on by creatures belched up from hell's sulfur pits or the demented side of the trailer park are pure camp & a lot of fun!  Read him & you'll be amazed at what this guy puts down on paper--saying to yourself:  "Did he really just write that?  No way!"  Here's some books of his I highly recommend if you want something wild & so far out there:  City Infernal, Monstrosity, Creekers (my favorite!), Infernal Angel, Coven, Flesh Gothic, Slither & Messenger.  These are the ones I've read but he has many more & they're far sicker then the ones I've mentioned (I'm still trying to get my hands on a copy of Header, Goon, Succubus & Incubus).  King & Koontz would never tread in the territory Lee does.  They're wimps & are afraid to not pull their punches when compared to this far out horror novelist.  Keep 'em comin', Mr. Lee!

2.  Bentley Little:  Even King admits this guy is really, really good.  I found out about him when I was searching for Ed Lee's books.  He too crosses boundries meant not for the faint of heart.  His best novel of his I ever read was Dominion.  I tells the tale of a teenage boy who doesn't know he is the vessel of the greek god, Dionysus, the diety of wine & ecstasy.  & when he & his mother move to Napa Valley, a certain vineyard--run by demented female occultists--wish him to mate with their teenage daughter to unleash the most horrific orgy of sex & violence; all in the name of ecstasy!  It is one truly sick tale & I loved it!!  Start with this book & you'll know why I put Little on this list.  After that read:  The Vanishing, The Store, The Town, The Mailman & Revelation.  Each one is a smash-your- face-into-the-wall horror novel meant to be read... lightly.  Second to Ed Lee, make no mistake, Little will creep you out & churn your stomach with revoltion.

3.  Clive Barker:  Now openly gay, he is the british answer to H. P. Lovecraft, but with a modern twist.  His short stories--I think--are better than his novels.  Find the collected short stories of his in these volumes:  The Books of Blood (volumes 1-3), The Inhuman Condition, In the Flesh, Cabal.  In these books you'll find the chilling tales:  "In the Hills, the Cities", "Rawhead Rex", "Cabal" (the inspiration for the movie, Nightbreed) & many, many more.  As for his novels:  Weaveworld is incredible--a Alice In Wonderland meets Hellraiser kind of book--while Imajica is a horrific epic that spans spheres of different realms of reality.  His books are also very erotic in their approach to horror but after Imajica, I found his subsequent books lacking.  I felt he lost his "edge" when he & his life-partner became parents.  Hopefully, that edge will come back... soon!

4.  Robert McCammon:  This guy wrote the novel King wishes he wrote after everyone said The Stand is the best apocalyptic horror novel--Swan Song.  Instead of a superflu called Captain Tripps(!?!--why would you name a disease after Jerry Garcia?--oh!  I just answered my own question) wiping out almost the entire planet, McCammon uses a more devestating method--nuclear war.  Not only do the survivors suffer, but the planet does as well & the Man with the Scarlet Eye finds it to be the perfect playground for his quest to wipe out humanity.  But a little girl named Swan stands in his way.  & McCammon doesn't cop out by having the world saved by the Hand of God--literally.  Throw away your copy of Kings "epic"--a complete waste of time, by the way--& pick up Swan Song.  After that, read Stinger.  This guy rocks & really knows how to spin a tale of terror.  His books really do manage to make you feel uncomfortable.

5.  H.P. Lovecraft:  Not so much a horror novelist, but more of a horror prose writer, Lovecraft is revered by every horror-fantasy-sci-fi writer to date!  He is the man who broke new grounds in every way; introducing the world to the great dark god, Cthulhu, who waits, sleeping, in his submerged city of R'lyeh to one day come back & claim the earth (& its inhabitants) for the Old Ones.  Stories such as:  "The Festival", "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", "The Hound", "The Color Out of Space", "Dagon", "The Dunwich Horror", "The Whisperer in Darkness", "At the Mountains of Madness", "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward" &, of course, "The Call of Cthulhu"--all deal with cosmic beings coming down from the stars to reclaim a world that was once theirs eons ago.  To look upon these beings would drive a normal person insane, thus mental asylums are commonplace in his stories as well--but are no safe haven from Lovecraft's cosmic beasties.  His monsters don't go bump in the night--they shred it!  Many horror writers have tried to copy him (Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Conan scribe: Robert E. Howard; to name a few)--none have ever achieved what the master as put down on paper.  Read him & feel his dread!  & also discover why so many people are obssessed with him (including me).  He's incredible!

5.  Brian Keene:  Somewhat of a newcomer to the horror scene, Keene won the Bram Stoker Award for his first novel, The Rising--a new take on the zombie genre.  Instead of a typical Romero Night of the Living Dead rip off, Keene had his zombie corpses possessed by evil spirits who are prepping the world for the true horror that is to come.  When scientists accidently open a portal to The Void, out comes the evil that reanimates corpses--ANY corpse; human or animal--to rip the living to pieces so they can release the evil that will burn the world to a cinder--literally.  It was effective, intensely gory, horrific &, ultimately, spawned its sequel, City of the Dead--picking up where the first book left you cliff hanging.  The scene in City of the Dead where a character is attacked by a swarm of undead birds is truly gut wrenching--blinding him & burrowing into his stomach cavity to eviscerate the poor man.  Find these books.  They're mindless fun.  Others by Keene are The Conquerer Worms--an apocalyptic vision of floods & massive, gigantic title monsters is fun, as well as, Keene's return to the zombie genre in Dead Sea.  Keene is closing in on the level of Lee or Little, & he's getting closer to their top shelf status on the gore meter.  The Rising is a must!
6.  Richard Laymon:  Considered to be a great horror novelist of the Splatter Punk movement, Laymon hasn't achieved the honor he deserves here in America.  Rather, his novels were all bestsellers in the UK where his name can be found at the top of lists of great twisters of terror tales (topping even Stephen King himself).  His books are unapologetic in their approach to making stomach churning events--severed body parts, graphic sadistic rape, canabalism, inbred human monstrosities, serial killers (who could forget Milo of After Midnight?), disembowelments, torture, extreme forms of bondage, sex, creatures that-go-bump-in-the-night, demented stalkers (alive & undead!) etc., etc.  One can see where he inspired the authors Ed Lee, Brian Keene & Bentley Little in many, many ways.  I love him.  I thought I wasn't going to but after reading The Woods Are Dark, I came to my senses & realized he was truly a master of schlock horror (which is a GOOD thing!).  The novels of his I have read are:  The Cellar, Beware, The Woods Are Dark (one of his best), Ressurection Dreams, Dark Mountain & After Midnight (another great one).  Will I read more?  Damn right I will!  Not all of his books are winners, but you'll never forget them.  He's one of the masters of pulp & should get more attention here in the states than overseas.  Alas, he has since passed away & like all good artists of pulp, destined to be found later than sooner.  He would've loved the attention.  His novel, Flesh, is soon to be re-published later this fall 2009 & is one I'm looking forward to--I will DEVOUR it!