Sad and shocking: I can't believe we've lost yet another horror fiction writer! Prolific Maine author Rick Hautala died of a heart attack today; he was 64.
 

Stephen King isn't the only Maine horror writer: there is also Rick Hautala, whose novels for Zebra Books were mainstays of bookstore shelves throughout the 1980s. These are some classic '80s covers, replete with holograms, creepy kids, dolls, dark woods, cats, and skulls! For a nice appreciation of Hautala, check out the always great Phantom of Pulp. Hautala's still writing; check him out.

Anyone else in need of some chilling horror fiction with appropriate cover art to fend off the coming summertime blues? I've said before that freezing temperatures and blinding snow are settings for great horror. Two classic tales from the first half of the 20th century, At the Mountains of Madness and "Who Goes There?", help prove my point, while two classics of the vintage era, The Shining and Ghost Story, nearly secure it. But wait - there's more. Ahh, that's the stuff.