Why am I passionate about this?

I'm perhaps the inevitable result of a lifetime spent on a steady diet of magical realism, literary fiction, science-fiction, and Spider-Man comics. Fortunately Iā€™ve been able to channel my simultaneous loves of storytelling and structure into a life as a developmental editor. And where my own work is concerned, Iā€™ve been able to do a lot of those things my childhood self might have hoped for: a novel in The Listeners, a feature film in Ape Canyon, and a litany of strange and usually distressing short stories. These days I do those things from my Washington, D.C. apartment with my wife and our two cats with a combined seven legs.


I wrote

Reptiles: A Short Story

By Harrison Demchick,

Book cover of Reptiles: A Short Story

What is my book about?

No one knew why the change happened, even now. It just did. The uncertainty turned quickly to fear, and thenā€¦

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of Nightmare At 20,000 Feet

Harrison Demchick Why did I love this book?

Richard Matheson is a horror legend for good reason, and most casual viewers of genre films and TV would probably be surprised at how much of his work theyā€™ve encountered in some form or another. The Will Smith movie I Am Legend is adapted from his work. Steven Spielbergā€™s first film, Duel, as well. The paranoid Nightmare at 20,000 Feet is best known as a classic Twilight Zone episode, referenced and parodied numerous times in the decades since, but Mathesonā€™s original reflects everything thatā€™s great about his work: a fairly practical, everyman sort of protagonist (for the 1960s anyway) undone by an impossible situation.

By Richard Matheson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Nightmare At 20,000 Feet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Personally selected by Richard Matheson, the bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, the stories in Nightmare at 20,000 feet more than demonstrate why Matheson's regarded as one of our most influential horror writers.

Featuring the story "Duel," a nail-biting tale of man versus machines that inspired Steven Spielberg's first film.

Remember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone, John Lithgow saw it in the movie-even Bart Simpson saw it. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that haveā€¦


Book cover of The Music of Erich Zann

Harrison Demchick Why did I love this book?

I donā€™t think most Lovecraft fans casual or devoted would single out The Music of Erich Zann, given the staying power of the Cthulhu mythos and everything associated with it. But what causes Lovecraftā€™s work to resonate so many decades later is his mastery over the disquieting, and this story about music channeled from a horrific place played on a street that doesnā€™t seem to exist by a violinist terrified and compelled to keep playing has stayed with me more than any of Lovecraftā€™s other stories in the years since I read it. Maybe itā€™s the musician in me, or maybe itā€™s the distortions of reality that tend to crop up in my own writing. Either way itā€™s striking, and a good introduction to the strangeness of H. P. Lovecraft.

By H. P. Lovecraft,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Music of Erich Zann as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An old mute man plays viol but his music has a terrible secret.
The Music of Erich Zann is a short horror story by H.P. Lovecraft.


Ad

Book cover of Kanazawa

Kanazawa by David Joiner,

Emmittā€™s plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of purchasing their dream home. Disappointed, heā€™s surprised to discover her subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo.

In his search for a meaningful life in Japan, and after quitting his job, he finds himself helping his mother-in-lawā€¦

Book cover of Pastoralia

Harrison Demchick Why did I love this book?

Specifically, I'm recommending the short story "Sea Oak." In the expanse of horror fiction, it has to be said that there are very few stories about a kindly old woman who returns from the dead as a pissed-off, vulgar, rotting corpse demanding her nephew start showing his cock (Saundersā€™s phrasing, not mine) for extra money so that his family can stop being pushovers and start earning some cash. George Saunders, it should be noted, is not remotely a horror authorā€”rather, one of the more offbeat, distinctive writers of short literary fiction of the last quarter centuryā€”and Pastoralia is determinedly not a horror collection. But itā€™s exactly this that makes ā€œSea Oakā€ the strangest, least likely zombie story, if you can call it that, that youā€™ll ever read.

By George Saunders,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pastoralia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Saunders is an astoundingly tuned voice - graceful, dark, authentic and funny - telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times' Thomas Pynchon

In PASTORALIA elements of contemporary life are twisted, merged and amplified into a slightly skewed version of modern America. A couple live and work in a caveman theme-park, where speaking is an instantly punishable offence. A born loser attends a self-help seminar where he is encouraged to rid himself of all the people who are 'crapping in your oatmeal'. And a male exotic dancer and his family are terrorised by theirā€¦


Book cover of The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories

Harrison Demchick Why did I love this book?

The Twilight Zone, again? Yes, The Twilight Zone again. There are tons of great stories here, but I'm highlighting Lynn Venable's "Time Enough at Last," which is arguably even more iconic than "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." While most would regard it as a science-fiction story more than a horror story, I think itā€™s one of the best examples ever put to paper of the principle that horror is personal. One personā€™s inconvenience is anotherā€™s world-ending nightmareā€”and vice versa. Lynn Venableā€™s broader body of work is not especially well known, but with this one story dropped into a genre dominated by men, Venable turned out one of the greatest and most memorable genre stories there would ever be. So check it outā€”you know, while thereā€™s still time.

By Martin Harry Greenberg (editor), Richard Matheson (editor), Charles G. Waugh (editor)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Twilight Zone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Collects thirty fantasy and science fiction short stories which were the basis for episodes of the Twilight zone television series


Ad

Book cover of Shadows of the Past

Shadows of the Past by Eric Goebelbecker,

It's 1915, twenty years after the Martian invasion chronicled in the War of the Worlds failed. The aliens left behind advanced technology and weapons, and now humanity is on the brink of a catastrophic war. Caught in the middle of the chaos are two unlikely heroes: Emil Zimmerman, a youngā€¦

Book cover of The Machineries of Joy: Short Stories

Harrison Demchick Why did I love this book?

"The One Who Waits," one of my favorite stories in this collection, would be regarded more commonly as science fiction, as it takes place during an Earth expedition to Mars. But Ray Bradburyā€™s story also pioneers the classic horror trope of a small group of people falling one by one to a mysterious creature they cannot seeā€”and with a means of disguise highly imaginative, beautifully written, and fundamentally terrifying. Bradbury is a phenomenal writer and itā€™s difficult to recommend any one story without feeling certain youā€™ve dropped the ball in not recommending another--you really can't go wrong with this entire collection--but the quick, clever, nuanced "The One Who Waits" is one of the best sci-fi/horror hybrids ever written.

By Ray Bradbury,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Machineries of Joy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Machineries of Joy Short Stories


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Reptiles: A Short Story

By Harrison Demchick,

Book cover of Reptiles: A Short Story

What is my book about?

No one knew why the change happened, even now. It just did. The uncertainty turned quickly to fear, and then fear to abject terror when it became evident that all who changed were pregnant women, and all pregnant women would changeā€”and then terror months later to relief, inestimable, joyous relief, when the hatched eggs turned out to produce completely normal, completely human babies.

Reptiles is a short work of dystopian horror inspired by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. All profits will be donated to UltraViolet, an organization fighting for reproductive rights and women's rights.

Book cover of Nightmare At 20,000 Feet
Book cover of The Music of Erich Zann
Book cover of Pastoralia

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,887

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

šŸ“š You might also likeā€¦

Book cover of Party Girl

Party Girl by Anna David,

When I first wrote Party Girl in 2005, it was before "Quit Lit" was a genre or such a thing as a "sober influencer" existed.

I, too, was quite a different person than I am todayā€” more conservative, you could say. "Far more boring" would be another way to putā€¦

Book cover of The Road from Belhaven

The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey,

The Road from Belhaven is set in 1880s Scotland. Growing up in the care of her grandparents on Belhaven Farm, Lizzie Craig discovers as a small girl that she can see the future. But she soon realises that she must keep her gift a secret. While she can sometimes glimpseā€¦

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the brain, Mars, and deadpan humor?

The Brain 170 books
Mars 78 books
Deadpan Humor 20 books