[raybbr]

Peter Straub, Dean Koontz and Clive Barker's earlier novels put little stevie to shame.

[Prodigal Son]

This, of course, is your opinion. For my money, Barker isn't a horror writer- his work (in my opinion) is more fantasy than horror. Fantasy with strong homosexual undercurrents at that. I never liked Koontz that much. I read the Watchers but couldn't really get into any of his others. I can see where some would prefer those writers to King but I think it's a bit of a stretch to say they put King to shame.

[Jonah Hex]

Richard Matheson is a master of intelligently written scary tales. With screenplays for "Twilight Zone" and Corman's Poe movies, he also wrote some scary stuff like "Last Man on Earth" and "Hell House".

[Unassuaged]

Peter Straub IS Stephan King.