High Fantasy/Swords & Sorcery books with horror?

[Starman]

Does anyone know any titles that fit this description? I'm looking for S&S or High Fantasy books with a strong horror or dark fantasy element. Think Army of the Dead crossed with Lord of the Rings.

 

[svalbard]

Silverthorn by Raymond E. Feist should hit the mark for you. Of course you will have to read the first book Magican, which is no bad thing

 

[dask]

Seems to me some Conan would fit the bill.

 

[Starman]

I've read the Riftwar books. Hmm, I don't recall Silverthorn having a horror element that was more prominent than the usual High Fantasy.

 

[j d worthington]

Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series. Kane himself is often quite a dark character, given to maleficent sorcery; he can also be rather a terror at times. Also his Howardian pastiches, such as Legion from the Shadows (dealing with Bran Mak Morn, and a direct sequel to "Worms of the Earth") and Conan: The Road of Kings, (which uses a lot of the more horrific elements from, e.g., "Beyond the Black River") both tend to have a larger horror/weird element than is usual.

While not quite fitting the description above, you might look into Storm Constantine's Wraethu books as well.

 

[Fried Egg]

I think you might also consider Robert Howard's "Solomon Kane" stories although the protagonist does wield flintlocks as well as swords. Also, C. L. Moore's "Jirel of Joiry" stories probably fit the bill.

If you are prepared to widen your scope to consider any kind of fantasy mixed with horror, you might be interested in many of the short stories by Algernon Blackwood and Clark Ashton Smith as well as many of the books by William Hope Hodgson (such as "House on the Borderland" and "The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig'").

 

[Randy M.]

I'd second the C. L. Moore and Clark Ashton Smith recommendations. Smith's Zothique stories are very good, but the Moore might be closer to what you're looking for.

A bit off the beaten track, The Throne of Bones by Brian MacNaughton. This was a World Fantasy Award winner for collection back in 1998 that I probably wouldn't have even heard of if the SF Book Club hadn't had an edition. Really strong story-telling.


Randy M.

 

[Gramm838]

Richard Morgan's "The Cold Commands" has most of those elements...I'll let you decide about how relevant the hero's sexuality is.

As is typical for Morgan, it's ultra-violent!

 

[A J Dalton]

If you don't mean 'dark fantasy' particularly, then I'd second the Richard Morgan stuff. Terry Goodkind's books get into horror around books 4 and 5, etc, but it'll take you a while to get there. Then there's always the Necromancer's Gambit series (ahem - sorry, poor behaviour on my part).

 

[BAYLOR]

The Dark World by Henry Kuttner