1. Stephen King
This may sound strange, but I am a firm believer that Stephen King, despite being the world's bestselling novelist, is terribly underrated as a storyteller. He has been lumped into the category of genre writer, horror writer, and spooky story writer. Let's be honest, he is all of those things, but he's also so much more. The reason his stories can be so jaw-droppingly, spine-freezingly, teeth-rattlingly frightening is because they are rooted in a real, believable world populated with characters so familiar they might just be our next door neighbors. Stephen King has written 50 novels, almost 200 shorts stories, and a number of screenplays, making his contribution to horror and fear nearly unparalleled. And, despite all odds, a very high percentage of those offerings are absolutely excellent. Stephen King knows fear because he knows our world, he knows our minds, and he knows what people are truly like--the good, the bad, and the terribly ugly. He pits these recognizable people up against incredible odds. Sometimes they persevere and come out on top. Sometimes, as in life, they don't. He can pull at your heartstrings until you're sobbing in your lap and then, in the next moment, rip those heartstrings right out of your chest, leaving behind nothing a bloody, empty hole. He's an absolute master of his craft, more so than anyone has ever been. If H.P. Lovecraft is the greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale, then Stephen King is the greatest practitioner of horror overall. And he is showing no signs of stopping, can you say amen, hallelujah, and gawd-bomb. Among the many great Masters of Fear, Stephen King is, for my money, the Greatest. What do you think? I had to narrow this list down from almost 150, so I know there are some entries that I'm already wishing I could have used. Who are some actors, writers, directors, and artists you're horrified that I didn't include? (For instance, I absolutely admit that the number of female entries is shamefully low...) Let me know in the comments below!