Summer is rapidly approaching, and many
readers are already considering where they can find a spot of sunlight to bask
in while enjoying a good book. However, the sun might be warm and bright, but
many folks are still aware that out to the horizon lies a cold, dark sea that
is just as willing to embrace them. This is why horror is great beach reading. When
reading about the deepest, darkest oceans, it’s always good to have a reminder
that there’s always a way out, always the brightly-lit surface just above your
head. For readers that long to do a deep dive into something terrifying this
summer, here are five stories that remind you why it’s better to stay on the
beach and read.
5) Duma Key by Stephen King. Begin with a man struggling to overcome a terrible
accident through rest, relaxation, and art therapy. He soon finds an inspiring
oasis on the Florida island of Duma Key where he meets an assortment of
colorful locals. What he also meets is a supernatural, underwater-dwelling
entity that seeks to use his art, and the powers it gives him, to harm those on
the surface. The creator of Castle Rock, Maine fills this Florida island with
quirky yet three-dimensional characters even as he explores the breakdown of a
man who’s slowly drifting away from sanity.
4) The Devil and the Deep edited by Ellen Datlow. I enjoy anthologies because it
gives me a chance to sample new creative voices and tantalizing terrors, and
Datlow is well-known for editing anthologies that serve as a showcase of
horror’s most talented. This anthology offers up tales tied together by the sea,
from a man trapped on a very special deserted island to a woman discovering her
legacy lies beneath the ocean. Featuring stories by Stephen Graham Jones and
Christopher Golden, this is a great way to savor some bite-sized chunks of
horror goodness that could lead into lifelong love affairs with an author’s
works.
3) Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant. Mermaids don’t always sing with animated sea
life or offer something tantalizing and forbidden to sailors who have been at sea
too long. Mira Grant’s series follows a ship and its documentary crew out to
prove the existence of mermaids. The production brings the standard equipment
for capturing the perfect shot, as well as women dressed as mermaids complete
with realistic-looking fish tails. However, the crew is ill-prepared when the
real thing comes along. Fans of disaster flicks will love to watch this trip
spiral out of control and the next book in the series Into the Drowning Deep delves deeper into the mystery.
2) The Deep by Nick Cutter. Nick Cutter as an author is like Stephen King with a
more sadistic streak, willing to inflict emotional pain and nausea-inducing
description on his readers. A master at coming up with the most beautifully
poetic sentences describing flayed corpses and nightmarish monstrosities,
Cutter pulls his readers deep underwater, deep beneath the Marinara Trench,
where the ocean is no longer blue but black, where Luke, brother to certified
genius Clay and father to missing son Zack, is trapped miles under the ocean with
an ancient evil while a disease rages topside. The dark and the pressure of the
ocean become as physical and soul-crushing an obstacle as Luke does his best to
survive with his sanity intact.
1) Jaws by Peter Benchley. Don’t act surprised.
Not when most recognize the tagline “Just when you thought it was safe to go
back in the water” from the movie adaptation of this book. Ignore the movies
that used more of the rubbery-looking shark and bad CGI, forget the hurdles of
logic that hurt your head when you thought of a shark specifically seeking
revenge, and read the original tale of man vs. nature. Looking for a more
modern tale and a bigger shark? Give Steve Alten’s Meg series a try. And yes, the crew looking to capture this shark
will definitely need a bigger boat.
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