Anything by James Herbert I`d recommend, but without a doubt, his best book (& the best horror I`ve ever read) goes to....

*drum roll*

Nobody True.

That book is bloody (tee hee ;p) brilliant, it`s the only horror book I`ve finished & instantly wanted to read again. That surprise ending....WTFWOW!? 8D

This^

"The shadow over Innsmouth" by HP Lovecraft.

Agreed on Pet Semetary. I would also recommend Cell.

Lovecraft's books of course :)

"Hell House" from Richard Matheson ("I'm a legend" is smarter and better, but I liked this one too)

Take a look too at Clive Barker's work ;)

Clive Barker's The Thief Of Always
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32638.The_Thief_of_Always

Everyone should read this one. It's kind of Ray Bradbury-ish but darker...

its not really a horror though
more a dark fable

but in my opinion barkers best book

Precisely. The reason why I suggested Pet Semetary is that I remember it as the only book that had vaguely frightened me. The only one I consider 'horror'.

I had been close to suggest IT, for instance, as it may be my favorite King novel. But, while it had its epic creepy moments, I still consider it more 'adventure' than 'horror'. I like Lovecraft a lot, but his writing isn't very good (bloated with clumsy efects), and I find him more poetic than horrifying. He's an important author than one has to read, but maybe not ideal to experience a 'horror' feel. Likewise, I hesitated to mention Ramsay Campbell's The Hungry Moon, but was it really 'horrifying' or just 'cool' ?

Dracula and Frankenstein have been mentionned, and they are indeed excellent books, that I had read out of curiosity and without expectations, and that had surprised me with their quality (especially given that other old classics didn't age that well). So, I had also been close to mention them (especially Dracula, which is less of a philosophical thriller than Frankenstein), but did they horrify me ?

It's all a bit subjective, but while there are a lot of wonderful books in the general 'horror' category, very few really hit the 'horror' feeling on the nail.

But I haven't read any Clive Barker.

I would recommend "Watchers" by Dean Koontz. Very nice suspense building and grisly moments. Another pretty good book from Koontz is "Dragon Tears". Check them out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchers_%28novel%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Tears

EA's License Agreement.

On a more serious note, "Nightflyers" by George Martin.

Anything written by Clive Barker. My favourite was The Damnation Game. I can also recommend Imajica, but it is very big book :)

I've always thought H.P. Lovecraft was the best horror writer I've read. Most stories he left the gory details to your own imagination and rarely did anything receive closure. I've found that approach usually scares me more than detailing it, but maybe part of that is my own vivid imagination.

Clive Barker's Imajica or Cabal or anything else by him.

Carrion Comfort

To quote Stephen King......“CARRION COMFORT is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that.” --Stephen King

That looks interesting, thank you :)