I started this spooky season with Stephen King's IT, Thomas Tryon's The Other, and The Exorcist. In all 3 of these I thought the antagonist was absolutely FANTASTIC while also not taking away from the more human elements of the story, the social issues tackled, or the internal conflicts. (I'm not sure if Pazuzu is considered a great character rather than just an effective monster but Blatty's narration in the audiobook absolutely oooozed a weird kind of demonic charm imo)
Anyhoo these villains were too good and now I'm finding some of the more modern horror I'm reading (Bat Eater and the Other Names of Cora Zeng, The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, My Best Friend's Exorcism) play up the human elements and real social issues (which aren't inherently bad in of themselves, i love fiction taking stances on things) so much that there's kinda not room for a memorable villain. And the villains that ARE there in my opinion lack a certain…oomph?
This is all subjective of course but yeah I really need at least one more story with a good villain before Halloween lol
by jesster_0