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/lit/ - Literature

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11386575 No.11386575 [Reply] [Original]

What are some good "alternative" horror books. Things more focused on being eerie and weird than usual Stephen King / Dean Koontz schlock.

Pic related. Aickman and some Blackwood (The Willows specially) related too.

>> No.11386644

Laird Barron and Ligotti are solid and usually-recommended choices. I've not found anyone who quite scratches the same itch they do for me, tho. Wouldn't mind if any other /lit/ anon has recommendations in the same vein.

>> No.11386744

>>11386644
Is Barron any good? Any recs on where to start?

>> No.11386829

>>11386744
I like him. I started with his short fiction collections in chronological order, and it worked out for me. There's a lot of worldbuilding in them that crops up/pays off in later works. However, I definitely don't think that's necessary and if you want to start with something like The Croning, it's a solid choice too.

I would personally suggest not to start with X's for Eyes or The Light and the Darkness, though. I'd save them for after Occultation or Imago Sequence, or The Croning; they're... not weaker, per se, but different from his usual in the sense that X's is a pastiche of pulp writing, and unique in that way, and Light has a weaker last third as a novel than Croning. Which is not at all intended as a damning criticism; it's an earlier work -- but I could see it turning one off unfairly if it's one's introduction to the author.

>> No.11386844
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11386844

>>11386575
I was thinking of getting the NYRB Aickman, should I bite?

>> No.11386855

>>11386844
Sure, you can't go really wrong with Aickman, in my personal experience.
>>11386829
Thanks for the recomendations. I'll try to read him in chronological order, see how he develops over time. I did that with Ligotti and enjoyed it quite a lot.

>> No.11387660

Ben Marcus. Absolutely bizarre.