"I've read all sorts and love a good fantasy - total escapism! - but Steven King has never really been on my radar for fantasy - i've always felt he was more a Horror writer  - and that's one whole genre I completely avoid   not my cup of cha at all "

Ditto, so is the series mentioned above not a horror type?  Don't like Horror to read.

You wouldn't like the Tower Series Barbara. It's definitely horror and not his best work. The Stand was his best, still horror but better writing. My opinions only of course :)

Don't like horror to read or watch!

If you mean Shirley Jackson - no not horror, although it's often billed as such, nothing like Steven King or Herbert etc.  Her writing is more,....... off centre,  starting off in one way and shifting to something different..... it's difficult to explain.  Much of her work is short stories.

Try "Come Along With Me"  to get a feel for her style :)  The Lottery (short story) is a shocker, but the shocking thing is how normal everything seems (we all do the lottery - right?)  ;) nothing is actually revealed till the last paragraph.  Then you twig what the Lottery is and in the last sentence it's confirmed, but that's where SK etc would just about be getting into their stride ;) 

Sorry got my wires crossed there! LOL

I've always wondered why Steven King, James Herbert, Dean R Koonz etc. are billed as Sci Fi or Fantasy, they're no where near, definately horror! 

James Herbert and Dean Koontz have definitely veered away from horror over the past few years though their earlier books were always classed as such.

I loved horror when I was younger, John Saul was a favourite but haven't read any for years. I used to read all the religious/horror types too, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen etc (much more chilling to read than the films were!). my mum recently read Cell by Stephen King and said it was great, but I've not got round to it yet. I loved all the 'Death in..' books by MM Kaye (Far Pavilions) too but borrowed them from the library - would love to reread them someday, and Yargo by Jacqueline Susann (about the only Sci-Fi book i've read except for a few StarTrek novels!). I read all these years ago and often wonder if they would be as good as I remember. :-)

No way coudl I read horror, but do like th3 vampire rtype oens to watch.  Hate any of the seruial killer mad axe murderer blood and gore ones.

I love Star Trek etc to watch, but prefer fantasy to Sci Fi to read.

I'm finding it harder to find really good Sci Fi or Fantasy to read these days :(  Plenty of 'bandwagon' stuff but really good stories that make me pause for thought are thin on the ground :(

I dipped into a Koontz a few weeks ago, definately still horror as far as I'm concerned ;)