Don't know if many people read sci-fi or occult books much but my favourite author has to be Phillip K Dick. Many people may recognise his name from films based on his stories such as Blade Runner, Minority Report etc but also Red Dwarf 'borrowed' a lot of his plots for the 2nd and 3rd season IMHO. His novels are not really well written but the amount of ideas he crams into each one keeps you reading.
I suppose my favourite occult author would be John Keel, he reported the events of which the 'Mothman Prophesies' movie were based on. The happenings in the book are even weirder than what they put in the film. His books are very strange but are also compelling.

Having read The Mothman Prophecies I was looking forward to the film, but I was really disappointed. They took a fascinating story and turned it into a cheap B-movie that left out most of the interesting stuff in the book. The people I saw it with couldn't even work out what it was supposed to be about!

My favourite John Keel book is Operation Trojan Horse. When I was a UFO investigator years ago I had a couple of run-ins with the Men in Black (yeah, I know that sounds stupid!), but nothing on the scale that Keel claims to have experienced.

that happens quite a lot with films nisse you read the book and then see the film and are left wanting
and if you see the film first you know its then spoilt the book for you

ho hum

I thought the mothman film was good, and if I now read the book I will think the film was not so good, so I dont think I will!!!!

I like reading and get just as annoyed if I am disturbed over the last few pages as if it was the last few minutes of a film!

The problem with the Mothman movie was that they had to try and tie all the 'happenings' together with a story. I like Keel's books a lot, he throws everything in and there's always something fascinating there. Jacques Vallee, is another good ufo writer.
Nisse could you tell us more about your MIB experiences please?

I like:

Dean Koontz

and

Stephen King

James Herbert

Shaun Hutson

One S King....

Peter F Hamilton

i could go on you know

I like James Herbert books - anyone read 'The Others'?

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein is a good book too, must read it again soon as it's been years since I last read it.

Moon ... yeap

Yip Heinlein is good, Space Puppets, Starship Troopers etc. I also love Ray Bradbury's Mars stories too.

What, nobody likes Niven? I doubt anyone will be better than Heilein

Hmmm... Not so much Niven (except maybe The Flight of The Horse) but put him together with Jerry Pournell for a rolling grandeur to their stories that can be breathtaking. Add the two of them to Barnes and you have Legay of Herot etc. Some of my favourite tales. Of course I'm missing the Dream Park tales which inspired me to write the mechanics for a competitive, team RPG.

Papa Heinlein for making my early teens more bearable, a place I still like to visit.

Lets not forget Alan Dean Foster, leave aside naff screen plays and you have some good novels.

On the Occult side, I'll go for Lumley both for the Necroscope and Psycomech. Kurtz and (embarrasingly forgotten) for the Adept sequence, its got some of the more 'realistic' applications of 'magic' that I've read. But top marks to Robert Faulkon (Holdstock with a funny hat on) for his Night Stalker books (grim unremitting stories of revenge and desperation - I want more).

Of late I touch my forlock to Chadbourne for his 'Age of Misrule' books.

And loads and loads more.

Ogre

The Necroscope series is brilliant. Brian Lumley served in the army I think. What a man!