I have read several King novels, and they all had the same problem: Tjhey started out great and ended as a gore feast, which simply disgusts me, at least the way he does it. Take for example a book like "Needful Things": Such a fantastic start, and towards the end it goes downhill.As if the worst the neighbors could have done to each other was killing. I could have thought of many many more cruel things than that, everyday things.
If you are interested in gothic novels I have a few recommendations for you, some of them authors who write or wrote in German, but there are some good translations available of them. It is of course always best to read books in the originallantguage.
First of all there is Gustav Meyrink. I highly recommend "Der Golem" ("The Golem"), "Walpurgisnacht" (same title in English) and ""Der Engel vom westlichen Fenster" ("The Angel of the West Window"). Meyrink is a classic of the gothic novel and on the same level as Poe (he transdlated Poe's work into German, by the way).
Then there is Alfred Kubin. he is best known as a painter and illustrator (especially of Poe), but he also wrote one novel, "Die andere Seite" ("The Other Side"). The story starts slowly, but the horror gets worse and worse. An English translation of the book is available. It also features illustrations of the author. My favorite sentence from that book is this one: "Also endete Doktor Lampenbogen als ein Spießbraten, und zwar als ein schlechter: Auf der einen Seite war er ganz verkohlt, auf der anderen war er noch fast roh; nur in der Mitte war er schön knusprig" ("Thus Dr. Lampenbogen ended as a roast, and as a bad one: One side was completely charred, the other was almost raw; only in the niddle he was nicely crisp"). You can see the book is not without humor, albeit a grim one; indeed it is full of witty remarks, but with a lot of dark atmosphere.
Another excellent author of the fantastic is Leo Perutz; unfortunately only very few of his novels have been translated into English.
Then there is an excellent modern German author, Walter Moers. He started out as a comic artist and writer, but then he began to write novels. I highly recommend "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher" ("The City of Dreaming Books"), with illustrations by the author.
If you are interested in gothic novels I have a few recommendations for you, some of them authors who write or wrote in German, but there are some good translations available of them. It is of course always best to read books in the originallantguage.
First of all there is Gustav Meyrink. I highly recommend "Der Golem" ("The Golem"), "Walpurgisnacht" (same title in English) and ""Der Engel vom westlichen Fenster" ("The Angel of the West Window"). Meyrink is a classic of the gothic novel and on the same level as Poe (he transdlated Poe's work into German, by the way).
Then there is Alfred Kubin. he is best known as a painter and illustrator (especially of Poe), but he also wrote one novel, "Die andere Seite" ("The Other Side"). The story starts slowly, but the horror gets worse and worse. An English translation of the book is available. It also features illustrations of the author. My favorite sentence from that book is this one: "Also endete Doktor Lampenbogen als ein Spießbraten, und zwar als ein schlechter: Auf der einen Seite war er ganz verkohlt, auf der anderen war er noch fast roh; nur in der Mitte war er schön knusprig" ("Thus Dr. Lampenbogen ended as a roast, and as a bad one: One side was completely charred, the other was almost raw; only in the niddle he was nicely crisp"). You can see the book is not without humor, albeit a grim one; indeed it is full of witty remarks, but with a lot of dark atmosphere.
Another excellent author of the fantastic is Leo Perutz; unfortunately only very few of his novels have been translated into English.
Then there is an excellent modern German author, Walter Moers. He started out as a comic artist and writer, but then he began to write novels. I highly recommend "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher" ("The City of Dreaming Books"), with illustrations by the author.
A good friend and fellow Tolkien nut (even worse than me as she belongs to the Tolkien Society and goes to Oxenmoot every year! 
I read one of my mum's books by Alison Brennan. Never again! Argh! I nearly puked when I read it! 
)
