John Langan Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Bluford High Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

John Langan is an American author that became famous for his contemporary horror novels and short stories. For his efforts, the author has been awarded the International Horror Guild Prize and a Bram Stoker Award.

+Biography

John Langan isn’t the most open person, at least with regards to his personal life. The author is more than happy to interact with his fans on everything from the intricacies of his books to the thrilling aspect of famous monsters like Dracula.

However, that courtesy and level of openness is primarily restricted to the author’s public interests and professional life. When it comes to his personal life, though, particularly the nature of his upbringing, John Langan is a little more reserved.

Langan’s educational achievements include Masters Degrees in Arts and Philosophy from the State University of New York at New Paltz and The Graduate Center, CUNY. Even though he is best known for his literary fiction, John Langan is a teacher at heart, and this can be seen in the fervor he manifests when executing his role as an Adjunct Professor at Marist College, this along with instructing students at SUNY New Paltz.

John has always had an affinity for creative writing, which is why he studied the subject and eventually went on to teach it. Even before he made a name for himself writing fiction, John Langan had already begun piquing the interest of aspiring authors everywhere with his series of popular college textbooks.

John enjoys the process of developing materials that teach the skills of reading and writing in a clear way; he also enjoys delivering materials that achieve these goals in clever and unexpected ways.

The author’s penchant for creativity manifested at an early age. John Langan always knew that he wanted to write; maybe he wasn’t always certain of the path he would take. But, at the very least, John knew that he enjoyed telling stories and that he would pursue the hobby professionally at some point down the line.

There was a time when John thought that his abilities as a storyteller would be best put to use through the comic book medium. For the longest time, John thought that being a comic book artist would offer him the best opportunities to tell his stories.

Then the author encountered Stephen King, read novels like ‘Christine’ and quickly realized that the only way he would be happy is if he took to writing fiction.

John Langan has been publishing his work professionally since 2001. The author always endeavors to write books that can capture a reader like him. For John, the only good books in the world are the ones that you keep you up late at night because you cannot bring yourself to put them down.

That is what authors like William Faulkner, Henry James, Robert E. Howard and Peter Straub did to John as a young reader. And the author isn’t satisfied until he can deliver the same sort of addictive thrill to his readers.

Even though John Langan writes horror, he makes an effort to ground his ideas in reality. John wants readers to take his books as seriously as higher forms of literary fiction, and he doesn’t take kindly to his novels being dismissed as mere genre fiction.

+House of Windows

A young writer is perturbed when the waning hours of a cocktail party take an expected turn. It begins with a widow who corners the young writer. He intended to flee, to return to his wife and infant son.

But then the widow began to weave a captivating tale about a missing husband, a lost stepson and a mansion with striking features. The young writer is soon drawn into a ghostly tale of remorse and loss.

This book was highly anticipated when it first came out. Because John Langan’s fans had a particularly intense form of respect for his short stories, it was only natural that they would hunger deeply for his first full-length novel.

While some found that the book delivered on their expectations, others attested to being disappointed.

‘House of Windows’ revolves around Roger Croydon, a Dickens expert and professor who goes missing. A young writer thinks that he might learn the whereabouts of the professor from Veronica, the wife, who offers to tell him an engaging tale that could offer answers.

It soon becomes apparent that the answers lie in the complex structure that the Croydons call home. There are aspects of the book that feel a little too scholarly, though the book definitely endeavors to deliver a haunting tale.

Roger Croydon’s disappearance seems like it might be connected to the final words he shared with his son Ted shortly before he deployed to Afghanistan. Roger’s decision to marry Veronica, his former graduate student, essentially created conflict between the father and son.

The story that Veronica tells reveals the final days of a deeply unhappy family, leaving its members fractured beyond repair.

+The Fisherman

Abe and Dan are two widowers whose shared passion for fishing has allowed them to find solace from their grief. When they first hear the stories surrounding Dutchman’s Creek, a fast flowing source of fine fishing, they are quick to dismiss it as just another silly rumor.

It isn’t long before they are drawn into a disturbing tale that revolves around a figure only known as Der Fisher.

This is one of John Langan’s more popular novels, primarily because he seems to really lean into the horror aspects. The story is quiet and melancholic at the start as it explores aspects of loss and grief.

You have two men struggling to figure out how they can keep moving forward in the same manner as before after losing such important aspects of their lives. Then the frightening bits begin to fall into place, and the result is a frightening yet moving tale.

Everything begins and ends with the Dutchman’s creek, a mysterious location with a lot of history. John’s writing is at its best when he is describing fantastical scenarios and playing with odd yet wonderful imagery.

There are few books that are as effective at delivering a sense of dread as this one.