American Gods ?

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KennyLucius

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Is American Gods horror? Certainly Neil Gaiman is a Dark Fantasy author, but after reading American Gods I was surprised to learn that it won a Stoker and was nominated for an International Horror Guild award. AG had a few dark elements, but on the whole seemed rather light.

I really haven't read much horror, so I realize that may be a stupid question. If there are many "horror books" like AG, perhaps I should widen my horizons a bit. Any recommendations?

BTW, AG is the most honored book in Horror according to Book Award Annals.
 
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Well you can expend first to other Neil Gaiman novels. But yes, doesn't strike me too as horror, a lot less than his comics Sandman and Books of Magick (which are still readable if you don't like too gory).

Anyway, supposing that you'd like dark story without too much gore, you can either go back to the basics : Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stocker's Dracula or Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.
Or have a look at some of the "vampire", "werewolfs" current stories : Bitten, Chealsea Quinn Yarbro, some Anne Rice's Chronicles.

Peter Straub and Stephen King's Talisman or Clive Barker's Galileo (not as bloddy as some of his previous works) could be good too.
 
I heard it won a Hugo for best Science Fiction; but the Horror community are going NUTS over this book, they love it.

Anyone care to do a review, with mild spoilers? I'm very curious about it now.
 
You could try Brian Lumley's Necroscope series, Clive Barker is another good author.
Graham Masterton actually does his research and his occult horror has its roots firmly in historical fact, Masterton is one o fmy favourite horror writers.
Stephen King tends to go for the long winded approach and I don't find his work that horrific or even disturbing.

In the old guard I enjoy Poe but pay special homage to H.P.Lovecraft who spawned an entire sub-genre within the horrow field. His prose isn't too marvellous but he manages to convey an otherwordly feel in all of his writing that seeps into you as you read.

If you fancied combining horro with Sci-Fi you could look for The Nights Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton, this is a fairly large trilogy and is most definately a Horror Space Opera.

F.Paul Wilson is a good author to look out for, I enjoyed 'The Tomb' and William Peter Blatty is another.
 
It's possibly because Neil Gaiman uses a mixture of the mystical, mythical, and psychological. It's not gore, but he won't shy from touching blood.

I enjoyed the Sandman series in majority, but found that his shorter Sandman stories were especially rich - some of the longer ones could get lost in themselves, as the series ultimately did towards the end.

Not read any of his novels - often been uncertain that he could write his stories at novel length, but possibly I'm being just plain old stingy. :)
 
Frankly Brian if you like his comics you'd love his novels. I'm fond of Tim Hunter (Book of Magicks) but Neil Gaiman IMO is first a novelist and then a comic writer.

Have to read Coraline soon.
 
Horror? To be honest, it doesn't suprise me greatly. Its very dark in some places. More so than, say, the Dark Tower series, and thats classified as horror, I believe...

Everyone should read American Gods at least once in their lives. It's an incredable book. When I leant it to the girl who was then my girlfriend, she read it two times through before even putting it down once. And I'm not exaggerating! (luckily I had work to do then anyway;))
I've read Neverwhere, which isn't up to the quality of American Gods, but still worth a read if you enjoyed AG. Haven't read Coraline, but I know he's publishing a new one later this year. Worth a look:)
 
No idea how 'American Gods' won a horror but still don't think it's as good as 'Neverwhere'. I've never read any of the Sandman stuff apart from the 'The Book of Dreams' which did confuse me a little as wasn't totally sure of the whole 'Sandman' world. Love 'Smoke and Mirrors' and yet to try 'Stardust', still waiting for it as it was meant to be a birthday present. Sorry if i've babbled, just saw the mention of Gaiman and had to make my own contribution :eek: as he's the author who got me interested in more adult fantasy thanks to 'Neverwhere'. Oh, and 'Good Omens' is one of the funniest books ever. :)
 
I have to agree with pisces--I think I was expecting too much of American Gods and was pretty heavily dissapointed. I liked Neverwhere and Stardust better. Although I couldn't stand Good Omens, I put most of that down to Prachett....
 
I'm another who was disappointed with American Gods...I thought it was alright, very good in parts and I was really into the character of Czernobog (sp?) but overall I thought it lacked a certain, oh, I don't know, je ne sais quoi.

That said, I was never a Gaiman fan in the first place (not read much of his at all, a bit of Sandman, Good Omens is it) so I didn't have a yardstick to judge by, unlike most of the posters in this thread.

So where should I start with Gaiman?
 
polymath said:
So where should I start with Gaiman?
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Well, I suppose American Gods was as good a place as any although I really enjoyed Neverwhere which is very good and has been adapted into a BBC drama (it's available on video) and I hear it's being turned into a film also, the adaptation being written by Neil Gaiman himself.

His book of short stories Smoke & Mirrors is very good and gives you an idea of his range and Stardust is a lovely short storie based in Faerie.

Unlike others on this forum I also really enjoyed Good Omens (his collaboration with Terry Pratchett) but I suppose you do have to like Pratchett to enjoy it.

On Topic: I can see why American Gods it's classified as a Horror, it's a very dark story, not scary as such, but gruesome and gritty, the characters were written with venom and punch which gave it an almost maniacal feel. They are very bloodthirsty creatures.

It was the first book I read by Gaiman and I enjoyed it immensley, of course, unlike others, I had no expectations whatsoever and it spurred me to read his other works, luckily for me, my partner's a huge fan and has quite a few of his Sandman Graphic Novels and a couple of books too!
 
As an aside, I believe the BBC adaptation for Neverwhere came first, and Gaiman was so unhappy with it he wrote the novel. It was originally based on his screenplay, so he just novelized it.
 
I saw an episode of the BBC programme (after reading the novel). It was poor.

I'm not surprised Gaiman didn't like it.
 
I think basically Gaiman is getting recognized for all these awards because his earlier works (eg. Sandman) did not receive much critical attention (except for World Fantasy Award.) Now he's the coolest kid on the street, everyone has awknowledged how awesome his earlier works were, so everyone wants to give him stuff.
Just my theory.
I might sound bitter because I was temendously disappointed by Anasi Boys. Just seemed overall poor and rushed (like it should have been a short story that horrifically got extended, and Neil felt like he had to reference every English comedic writer he was ever influenced by.) Coraline is also fairly derivative - SPOILERS-



alternate version of self in alternate universe has been around for a long time, but maybe I've just read to many comic books. I think I read my first comic book with an evil doppleganger from an alternate universe when I was about 8. (It was SUperman and the Flash teamed up to stop someone from destroying the Universe, and everything is fixed by Superman pushing the world around backwards one full rotation - thus back in time - if anyone can tell me what issue and comic that was, it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 
I'm reading American Gods right now. I picked it up because it was compared to my work on a couple of occasions. I'd read Sandman comics years ago, but none of his novels. I don't think it's horror specifically, but it's one of those things that crosses over genres a lot. I'd classify it as Dark Fantasy, which has elements of horror, paranormal and pure fantasy. It's a very good read and only just over halfway through at this point.
 
i dont really see it as horror but still they will classsify it in what genre's they wish i suppose we should just be grateful that they know a good book when they read it!!!

can anyone suggest another good NG book ive read coraline, AG, anansi boys, fragile things and good omens
 
Neverwhere's a good one Freak, give that one a go. Stardust is also good.

xx
 
I said:
Not read any of his novels - often been uncertain that he could write his stories at novel length, but possibly I'm being just plain old stingy.
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I posted something similar elsewhere on this Forum, saying that the (long) novel doesn't seem to be Gaiman's best format. The plot becomes unclear, and the story episodic.

But that didn't prevent me from enjoying his style a lot.

G. really wants to be the modern R. Zelazny (the one of: Lord of Light). I adored LdL, and I read it twice, but don’t ask me what the plot is, even though I remember the pitch, such a brilliant one.

I feel the same about American Gods. I’ll have to read it another time. I will enjoy it again, even more than I did, but I’m not sure I would be able to recite the whole story and the dénouement if my life depended on it.
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