Best books… Reece Shearsmith
The actor and comedian Reece Shearsmith, co-creator of The League of Gentlemen, picks his favourite books. He is appearing at Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Suffolk, 14-17 July (www.latitudefestival.com)
Pet Sematary by Stephen King, 1983 (Hodder £8.99). The most frightening of all King’s novels. He famously thought of the worst thing he could imagine happening and wrote Pet Sematary. When a man’s young son is run over, he brings him back to life via a pet cemetery that is said to have supernatural powers. The story is horrific, but as a study in grief it is quite unparalleled in the genre.
The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson, 1959 (Penguin £9.99). One of the great ghost stories. Jackson has created the Mount Everest of haunted houses. Upon arriving at Hill House, one of the guests (freed for a weekend from her
domineering sister) is actually excited to be there – until she sees the house. “The house was vile.” The line stops you dead in your tracks.
Carter Beats the Devil by
Glen David Gold, 2001 (Sceptre £9.99). This book is a treat for me, because it encapsulates so many of my interests. It’s a thrilling mystery that captures the world of magic and stage illusion in the 1920s. A gripping, cosy delight from beginning to end.
Hannibal by Thomas Harris, 1999 (Arrow £7.99). People were wary of this follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs,
partly because we were going to get a lot more of Dr
Hannibal Lecter. Would his monstrous character be ruined by having too much of a good thing? Not at all. Harris wrote a horror story on an operatic scale, with characters and plot that made this book a sumptuous feast.
The Life and Death of Peter
Sellers by Roger Lewis, 1994 (Arrow £17.99). Roger Lewis writes with a passion for his subject that lifts the book beyond the usual biographical drudgery. Peter Sellers is painted as a cruel, disengaged tyrant. One is left reeling at the darkness that inhabited one of our funniest character actors, the tantalising roles he didn’t do, and his death at the age of 54.