Book Sand Worm

I was tagged by A Reciprocal Love Affair With Books!

What are your favorite books about the following supernatural creatures and why?

• Vampire - There are a lot of answers for this one that I could give. But I think I'm going to go for the one you might not see coming, not as much as what are considered the vampire classics. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I even love this more than the Swedish film adapted from it, and I love that film a lot, to give you an idea of just how much I love the book. It was what put Lindqvist on my radar, and he has to be one of the best horror novelists I've ever read. He has that thoughtful, character-driven aura around his writing that makes it especially bleak and frightening.
• Werewolf - This is an easy one: Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King. I love everything about that book, including the amazing illustrations by Bernie Wrightson of Swamp Thing fame. I even love the adaptation, Silver Bullet, that most people... do not love. But then of all the creatures on this list, werewolves are my favorite. There is a depressing lack of fiction concerning them, even in films. If vampires and zombies have over-saturated the market, then werewolves are the exact opposite of that.
• Zombie - I've watched many zombie films but haven't read any zombie books really. So I'm going with the easy standby: Cell by Stephen King. This novel has one of the most explosive openers. Everyone's phone rings. Everyone answers it. And they all go ballistic, tearing each other apart. While the one guy in the crowd without a cell phone watches in horror and runs for his life. If that doesn't sell you... cell you. Hehehe.
• Ghost - I'm not one to find ghosts scary. It's just one of those things where ghosts often seem ridiculous to me, and I struggle to enjoy those stories. But I do have those books that I cannot deny were scary. Books that made the thing I shrug at actually frightening. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a good example. The atmosphere, the wrongness in the air, permeates this whole book. There's a reason that so many horror authors, usually anyone who attempts a haunted house story, point to her as inspiration. She did it best.
• Witch/Wizard - The Walking by Bentley Little. One of the most original witch stories out there, but that's typical of Little. He can never do anything the way anyone else would do it, and it's what always draws me to him. Especially well done in this book are the flashbacks to ye olde west times, wherein we see how all this started. And while the villain in this story is a witch, there are also good witches in this story, which I especially liked.
• Fairy - The only thing I've read for this category is The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. But they aren't particularly scary, though I know fairies in other stories certainly can be. I own a couple of books where they appear to be more mischievous, but I haven't read those yet. So Sandman it is!
• Demon - The book I'm currently reading has demons in it. It's actually called Demons by John Shirley. And I'm loving it. But then it's very satirical with some pitch black humor thrown in. Still can't deny that it's also bloody and violent and scary.
• Angel - Wracking my brain here, and the best I can do is Weaveworld by Clive Barker. There's a supernatural creature who thinks he's an angel and calls himself Uriel. So... I'm counting it. Especially when he was kind of scary, so it fits with the "creatures of the night" theme. And hey, wait. How in the hell do angels count as creatures of the night?
• Alien - I'm gonna go with one that never gets talked about: Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. Was it a perfect book? No. But it was really enjoyable. And the idea of people you know being replaced, and you can tell in some vague way that they aren't right, but you can't put your finger on it, and no one believes you... That's a nightmare.
• Super-powered Human - I read a lot of comics, so this is easy. I'm going with the easy answer of Watchmen by Alan Moore. Mainly because there is a sinister vibe to it. It's more realistic in its approach to the politics and personalities surrounding people who are vigilantes and, in the case of Dr. Manhattan, ridiculously super-powered.
• Reaper - Can I cheat and say Sandman again? But then that version of Death isn't scary. That's sort of the point of her. Death isn't scary. Or shouldn't be.
• Necromancer - I wouldn't have had an answer for this if A Reciprocal Love Affair With Books hadn't reminded me of Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee. Yes. That. Very good answer.
• Serial Killer (Adding one because I can) - Now I get that serial killers are human, but can you think of someone who is a serial killer without the word "monster" lurking in the back of your mind? And for my own category, I am listing Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Jame Gumb specifically is who comes to mind. He is a pastiche of real life serial killers, like Ted Bundy and Ed Gein, with their most heinous parts mashed into one, terrifying and twisted person.

If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged.