/lit/ - Literature

>>19213047
Scary that people can do this to each other.

>>19213047
what kind of scary are you looking for?
>spoopy
>disturbing
>creepy
>thrilling

>>19213274
give 1 of each

>>19213274
Disturbing I guess. Something that will stick with me and haunt me.

>>19213304
Not anon, but this chart should help you find disturbing novels. Books like The Girl Next Door, and Hogg, are deemed pretty disturbing.

>>19213304
flies by robert silverberg
the box & the rifle both by jack ketchum
the book of revelation & the secret book of john
nine billion names of god by arthur c clarke

kind of a wierd list but i liked all these and i didnt want to reccomend the girl next door because it was too disturbing

>>19213082
Wait until you deal with the Great Patriotic War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqONgYHYo88

>>19213672
Thanks anon that's a great chart.

At the bottom it mentions a horror chart also existing, do you happen to have that one as well?

>>19213047
Hog by Samuel Delany

>>19213047
Hogg as already mentioned and The Consumer by Michael Gira

>>19214543
Yes! There are a few horror charts, I'll post the ones I have

>>19214543
>>19214591
The first chart is probably the best one, but just for the people who are interested

>>19214543
>>19214599

>>19213047
Not boo scary but the Voyeur is the most sinister book I’ve read. It contains these objective, geometric descriptions of mundane objects that are somehow simultaneously precise yet ambiguous, interspersed with cold blooded and highly insidious intrusions pertaining to the rape and murder of a young girl. Everything is said plainly and factually, yet these facts are constantly under revision, creating this disorienting effect of constant questioning what it is you’re really reading. A very schizophrenic experience

>>19214543
>>19214605

King in Yellow was great.
I especially enjoyed the Repairer of Reputations from that book.
Loved the feel of uneasiness the story gave from not knowing whether there was a huge conspiracy or the narrator was completely crazy. I would love some recommendations like that.

>>19214543
>>19214612
This last one is gothic literature, and while it's not horror it's closely related (and might be of interest)

>>19213047
There are disturbing books (e.g., Selby's The Room), and upsetting books, but when you get past a certain age, it's hard to find genuinely scary books.

As I've mentioned on past such threads - you may have seem my remarks - *if* you're spooped by the idea of demons and demonic possession (and not everybody is), give Malachi Martin's Hostage to the Devil a try. Likewise, Blatty's The Exorcist, which, even if you don't find it scary, is quite a good read.

Matheson, The Incredible Shrinking Man. The title sounds dumb, and the movie is dated, but the book... well, the book is very intense. Matheson is *very* good at putting you into the mind of the protagonist, and the journey the protagonist goes on is quite disturbing, to say the least.

>>19213672
Ordeal by Lovelace was disturbing, if true.
I remember Haunting of Hill House as being scary when I read it a few years ago.

>>19213047
Well I’m not so well versed in horror fiction. But I guess my answer would be At the Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft. I wouldn’t say it’s scary, but it’s got that unsettling feeling. That feeling that these characters are way in over their head and don’t know what they’re getting into, and even you don’t know what they’re getting themselves into, but you know it isn’t good.

>>19214585
What I like about Giras work in writing is that you can see the same exact evolution he’s made in music through the writing. The Consumer is indicative of the kind of music he was making at that time, while The Egg, a much more recent short story collection, feels much more in line with what he’s doing now musically.

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood creeped me out and is one of the only books to genuinely scare me. I feel like you need to read it alone in bed at night and in one sitting though. I read half of it in one night and was scared but when I finished it the next night it had lost its grip on me. It's only about 100 pages long so I would recommend trying to finish in one sitting.
When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom is another book that creeped me out, but only the first novella in the book. It's not so much scary as it is twisted and fucked up.

Bump

>>19213047

Bump

Final bump for interest

>>19213047
>What is legitimately the scariest book you've ever read?
You just posted it.

>>19213672
Redpill me on Wasp Factory?

>>19213047
Is King scary?

>>19213047

Pickman's Model by H.P. Lovecraft

for me it's Teattro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti

>>19217449
More sick and fucked up than outright scary, also has a weird twist at the end. It's a little bit similar to Lord of the Flies or Shirley Jackson's stuff with its themes of isolation and weird ritualistic behavior

>>19217453
No it is nonsensical and not really a book. It is a collection of unconnected short stories from an era where "ghost go boo" was apparently legitimately terrifying to the common reader.

Some of the short stories would actually be good if they were longer. There is potential for creepiness there. But in the end King in Yellow is a collection of magazine trash that I don't think Chambers actually cared about.

The fisherman, was great, it was the story within the story that was most interesting to me, I wonder what became of reiners book

This frightened the life out of me when I was ten. I wonder if it still holds up.

>>19213082
I found a signed copy of that in a secondhand store

>>19219454
I wish I were that lucky.

>>19213672
Disturbing yes, horror is debatable.

>>19214692
where can one find The Egg

>>19219597
That chart is specifically made to not include straight horror books.

>>19213047
The Shining scared the shit out of me when I was 13.
I don't want to read it again, because I feel that I'll lose the nostalgia I have attached to it.

>>19219627
I guess. I feel is one of the few topics that need to be experienced rather than written about. Or maybe I just haven't read an actually horror book.

>>19213082
Very poorly written--it's on par with a B+ undergraduate research paper. It's not even proper history really--just "this happened and then this happened...then THIS happened" sans any analysis/contextualization or connective tissue.

There's not much out there as far as the Nanking massacre goes--I hope a decent historian eventually writes something about it so we aren't left with only the work of a precocious 20 something an hero to reference.

>>19213047
Pic gave me a mild existential crisis for about a week. It isn't in the same vein as Western horror as far as theme goes and isn't for plotfags; but it does work with one of Japan's most common horror themes (i.e. social isolation/detachment) and if you're familiar with their tropes you'll recognize a few. It's thematically similar to/deals with similar subject matter as I'm Thinking of Ending Things (if you want to know what you're in for...but it's Japanese so instead of mental illness you have social pressures). Aside, the Charlie Kaufman film is a lot better so don't bother with the book unless the movie filters you.

If you want something that's more straightforward/less artsy--Ring by Koji Suzuki is pretty good. You could also check out Yoko Ogawa; I've only read Revenge (which I really enjoyed) so I can't directly recommend her other work (but if you're looking for horror I'd probably go with The Diving Pool).

Horror as a genre is fairly embedded within a given culture's identity when it comes to the types of themes and ideas that are expressed. If you're looking for something new I recommend going outside the Anglosphere and looking for thematic/conceptual patterns belonging to other cultures (if you're jaded and desensitized to the tropes of your own, examining how an alien culture conceptualizes/constitutes terror can renew the genre for you).

>>19220259
Wait so it's a good book Knut don't read it because the movie is better?

>>19220660
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a better movie than it is a book (it's also a 'horror' novel but I didn't want to recommend it). I read it when I found out Kaufman was going to adapt it and was disappointed. I figured it was fairly well known and only referenced it so people would know the type of 'horror' they could expect from Dunes. Apologies if that wasn't clear.

The Woman in The Dunes is a great book. There's also a highly acclaimed film version of it (I believe the director adapted a few of Abe's books) but I haven't seen it.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Disappointing book...solid film).
The Woman in the Dunes (Great book...acclaimed film I haven't seen).

>>19220684
Oh ok, thought you meant dunes movie was better. I like Japanese existentialism like no longer human, so I might add this to my reading list.

>>19218040
Hell yeah man

>>19217449
>Redpill me on Wasp Factory?

>>19220690
Be forewarned that Abe isn't similar to Dazai though (i.e. Abe gets compared to Kafka quite a bit--he's more similar to Haruki Murakami but with a lot more depth and quality--Abe is probably the author HM wishes he could be).

I generally don't like magic realism-type stuff; I'm ok with it if it's part of the overall logic of the novel but I don't care for it when it's used as a flourish or ornament. Dunes definitely has a dream logic to it so if you go into it expecting something like No Longer Human you might be disappointed. So--if you're like me and generally lean toward realism you might still like Dunes; just don't expect a plot-driven story or a realistic character study--physical and psychic geographies are blended.

>>19221203
I've heard the phrase magic realism thrown around a bit but I've never actually read a work of the field, I'm only familiar with the art style. Perhaps it is just the book I'm looking for. Appreciated and noted.

>>19221216
It's the hallmark of Latin-American lit but I think it developed in Germany? Anyway, I don't know very much about how it came into Japanese lit (if it was homegrown or came in from European influences) but it seems to be a fairly common feature in the work of certain Japanese authors. Also, I'm not well educated on the subject in general (I haven't read much literary theory stuff and can only go off of individual authors/novels I've read)--with Abe it's evidenced by a fantastical setting that blends with realism toward the effect of an existential metaphor (it's kind of like J.G. Ballard but toned down significantly with less emphasis on atmosphere and inner-psychology...Abe isn't fantastical or alien-like as Ballard is; he's more grounded). Someone else more knowledgeable can comment but I think it would serve as a good intro into that type of writing (even if it isn't specifically or explicitly employed in the way it's most often associated).

>>19219343
I literally just finished The Fisherman, it was a great story and I enjoyed it a lot. The detailed descriptions of landscapes, forests and oceans really painted a great picture. Both the story-in-a-story aspect, and the horror mystery were both straight up my alley.

>>19221216
Re >>19221370
>I think it developed in Germany?
developed out of Germany/European movements like expressionism (it was made prominent in Latin America and become a key feature of that culture's literary output).*** (Sorry, I'm not being very clear).

>>19213082
>6000 years of Han raping the shit out of everyone around them
>Occasionally get raped back
>NOOOUUUU IT'SU ZA HOROCAUSTO!

>>19213047
i'd like to ask if there's any piece that comes close to a pathetic sort of horror, where the fear exists but it is drenched in a very pitiful atmosphere. Abominations are sorrowful.

>>19221490
Frankenstein is the obvious answer.

Are there any books which capture a similar ethos as End of Evangelion?

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
I remember listening to a reading of it when I was a kid and I just got a physical copy and am reading it again. There's just something about it that is so visceral and real, it's hard to describe. I get chills at the end of every chapter, and cry for reasons I don't understand.

>>19221731
Steppenwolf. It's kind of a bit more like the last two episodes of the TV series though.
Childhood's End is kind of like EoE.

>>19221731
CotC

>>19214616
King in Yellow is one of my favorite books. As for something similar, try Ambrose Bierce and Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, especially the first arc which works as a self contained story.

>>19222138
I've never "read" Higurashi -- I've only seen the show. But I consider it one of the best horror stories I've ever experienced.

The only issue, like all weeb fiction, is that it drowns itself in uguu loli XD faggot bullshit to the point where it is completely ruined. If a westerner had written it and left out the nip retardation, it would be widely lauded as a masterpiece.

>>19222137
That had better not stand for what I think it does.

>>19222240
no dessert until you've finished your hours of card games nano desu

>>19222346
Captcha: GR8 VD

>>19222240
I think it works in Higurashi's favor because it makes the sudden character and tone shifts that much more jarring.

>>19213047
I really liked "No one gets out alive" by Adam Neville. Brisk as fuck, with little to no fat, and some genuinely scary bits.

Also the amount of classics in this thread is a bit off putting. While Poe, Lovecraft, Machen, and Blackwood are worth reading, and absolutely should be read from an acedemic standpoint, I really hesitate calling anything they wrote "scary" by today's standards (except Blackwood, The Willows is legitimately frightening).

I'd also suggest Dean Koontz "Phantoms". The actual prose leaves something to be desired, but the story itself is intense as all hell.

>>19221386
I second The Fisherman. I wouldn't say I found the story "scary" by any means, I did find it really interesting and couldn't put it down. I'd u ironically love to see a movie of it done by someone with actual filmmaking talent.

I'm gonna piggyback this thread and ask for a horror with some comedy/lightheartedness, but still horror. Like 30% comedy, 70'% horror. Like pic-related.

>>19221366
GOATED

>>19223492
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but Coraline?

>>19214607
Are you referring to Voyeur by Francesca Reece?

>>19222138
I have actually a watched a season of that years ago.
Thinking about it, it does fit the bill pretty well.

>>19224646
From the description in >>19214607 it's The Voyeur by Alain Robbe-Grillet.

>>19223492
fright night has a ridiculously good soundtrack for what it is