Horror Literature General

[Anonymous No.16485279]

1st of October, officially the spookiest month of the year, in this thread please discuss your favourite spooky literature. What gives you goosebumps, what puts you in the mindset of Halloween. Recommend, request and relax!

[Anonymous No.16485594]

Bump for visibility

[Anonymous No.16485635]

Reading Melmoth the Wanderer right now and it's comfier than I expected it to be desu.

[Anonymous No.16485748]

>>16485279
If anyone enjoys contemporary stuff, centred around cults, this is great

[Anonymous No.16485802]

Young Goodman Brown is probably my favorite short stories that put me in the mood for Halloween. It has an incredible atmosphere in a comfy New England setting

[Anonymous No.16485939]

Bump

[Anonymous No.16485977]

Umberto Eco's On Ugliness. An art book with a discourse on ugliness and the horrible. Also has tons of excerpts from horror writing through the ages.

Anyone read Neuropath? It's about a serial killer who uses quirks in cognition to kill.

[Anonymous No.16486072]

>>16485977
>Neuropath
never heard of this, will check it out, thanks anon.

[Anonymous No.16486561]

>>16486072
I haven't read it. I swear I had the same idea a year before this came out while I was a neuroscience major though.

The author is great though. R. Scot Baller's the Darkness that Comes Before is hands down the best fantasy I've ever read. It could qualify as horror too, although most of it is more fantasy. The three original books anyhow, but they have both heavy grimdark horror and metaphysical horror. His second series taking place years later basically is horror now that I think about it.

[Anonymous No.16486573]

>>16485748
I have that book but I never read it. Is it good or did I fucking waste money? It's not some fucking slown burn "horror" is it?

[Anonymous No.16486767]

>>16486573
Not who you asked, but I also read it. I didn't think it was "great," but it's a good read and has some very good scenes. I enjoyed it, and I say that as a fan of horror books. It's thankfully *not* a slow burn.

It could probably lose about 50 pages, but the excess weight doesn't wreck it.

[Anonymous No.16486881]

some recs of stuff I've liked:

>Robert Aickman - The Wine-Dark Sea
>Colin Wilson - The Mind Parasites
>Arthur Machen - The Great God Pan & Other Horror Stories
>M.R. James - Collected Ghost Stories
>Ambrose Bierce - Can Such Things Be?
>Clive Barker - Coldheart Canyon
>Reza Negarestani - Cyclonopedia
>Ray Bradbury - October Country
>Otto Bierbaum - Samalio Pardulus

[Anonymous No.16486942]

>>16486881
How is MR James, I'm concerned that he may feel dated

[Anonymous No.16486972]

I would like to suggest The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria. It's an example of the Weird tradition outside of UK/US.

[Anonymous No.16487075]

Here's two horror books I've written, which are totally free.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KFLTQQD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KFP46ZM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Enjoy.

[Anonymous No.16487213]

>>16486942
eh, he's a little dry and dated but still mostly fun to read

[Anonymous No.16487225]

Also I am Legend, which is not like the movie

[Anonymous No.16487251]

I liked these as a kid. They're quick reads. Rehashes the games but then there are original ones included.

[Anonymous No.16487280]

[Anonymous No.16487334]

>>16487280
Arthur Machean tends to be a bit overwritten and dallies a bit, but when he's good, he's great

[Anonymous No.16487369]

Have another one.

[Anonymous No.16487382]

I would like to recommend Valley of the Dead by Kim Paffenroth, wherein Dante, in his exile, encounters a plague of zombies. This is not a spoof. It is a straight horror novel of unusually high quality.

[Anonymous No.16487813]

One more.

[Anonymous No.16487818]

>>16487280
house of leaves instantly discredits a chart
>>16487369
this is probably better but less horror

[Anonymous No.16487868]

>>16487813
this has good stuff too. i have no mouth is a great story but a bad collection. its short and mostly bad stories. and the good ones are on other collections. also peacable kingdom by jack ketchum should probably be there

[Anonymous No.16488107]

>>16485279
How could someone make a list like that and not have Castle of Otranto right at the beginning?

[Anonymous No.16488187]

>>16487818
House of Leaves is gimmicky to the extreme, but the main story has some good parts.
>>16488107
Depends on your personal preference but I think that gothic literature has limited appeal to most people today, so long as you've read a couple examples of it you probably get the gist and don't need to read more.

[Anonymous No.16488198]

>>16485594

[Anonymous No.16488216]

any good contemporary horror? Or any fantasy/sci-fi with horror elements?

[Anonymous No.16488219]

>>16486573
>>16486767
What's wrong with slow burn horror?

[Anonymous No.16488229]

>>16485279
I'm reading a short horror book called Dark Matter and, despite the shitty title, it's pretty good. Horror is a weird genre where there are only a handful of books generally recognized as high quality, I've only read fifty or so horror books but that means I've read the majority of almost all of the charts posted in this thread. Yet every year there are horror awards given out to modern authors, and I bet there are a bunch of quality works that don't get attention in a place like /lit/. Other genres like sci-fi and fantasy have a constant general thread, but horror doesn't have that same kind of active fanbase here, and I'm not entirely sure why.

If you haven't read it I recommend The Haunting of Hill House.

[Anonymous No.16488263]

>>16488219
Everything. Slow burn "horror" is not horror. It's low effort trash trying to masquerade as more then it is when has neither the ingenuity or imagination to terrify. So it settles on the most boring filler aspects and drags it out to an often weak and underwhelming pay off. I can't remember a single slow burn horror that had anything that stood out.

[Anonymous No.16488280]

>>16487280
>>16487369
>>16487813
Thank you!

[Anonymous No.16488288]

>>16488263
I like it in movies, but I've never read a book like that. It's easy to imagine it doesn't work well in written form though.

[Anonymous No.16488665]

>>16487382
do I need to have read divine comedy to understand it? I want to read divine comedy but I've been lazy and just reading a bunch of shorter novels

[Anonymous No.16488991]

>>16485635
The story of the spanish was endless, but I loved Immalee's time in the island.

[Anonymous No.16489008]

>>16488107
I made a shitty gothic chart in a hurry a few months ago.

[Anonymous No.16489082]

>>16488219
>What's wrong with slow burn horror?
Based on long experience, I've come to associate slow burn horror with shitty horror because it usually doesn't work.

Sometimes it does. Wm. Hallahan, The Search for Joseph Tully comes to mind of a good example of slow burn horror that has enough going on in terms of mood and atmospherics that it makes for a first rate horror novel. I'm sure there are other examples. (I might add, there's no guarantee with "fast burn" horror, either.)

[Anonymous No.16489773]

whats a really mysterious horror novel or story? the kind that makes you feel like youre going down a creepy interesting rabbit hole on the internet, or just something that revolves around a mystery

[Anonymous No.16490509]

bumping the only good thread

[Anonymous No.16491267]

>>16489773
Check out Brian Evenson, he tends to weave a lot of detective fiction into his novels

[Anonymous No.16491408]

>>16488263
Slow burn horror in film or television series works quite well imo

e.g. The Outsider miniseries (Stephen King adaptation) imo are far scarier and it is without adrenaline dump

...

but I can't say the same with horror fiction. Weird fiction like Ligotti's works have more injection of pessimistic, atmospheric dread rather than the tolling of blunt scare and horror

[Anonymous No.16491420]

>>16487868
>peacable kingdom by jack ketchum
I loved Off Season and The Girl Next Door, how does his short stories compare to them?

[Anonymous No.16491481]

>>16485279
non-fiction spook

[Anonymous No.16491495]

>>16491408
I wonder what it is that actually mean by horror as an adjective,

is it lies in the assault to the reader's thought whom which naive from the subsequent exposure of horrifying incident, plot and/or subject?

if we take a trip into a small world, timeframed in the darkness act where moral and beauty is excusable - i think we often cannot escape, nor to be acutely desensitized and we are continuously to be terrorized either way

more general definition of subject which can induced horror signiture in reader are basically the realism in which aesthetic beauty is subverted, alligned with unacceptable morals - these two elements need to synchronize, to give rise the impression to the reader that the Damnation is real

[Anonymous No.16491497]

In my personal experience, this guy is the best horror writer

[Anonymous No.16491506]

>>16485279
Bump

[Anonymous No.16491588]

>>16491495
Supernatural elements or dark fantasy/black fantasy, easily can be absorbed and used as tool to horrify and terrify, due to it is easier for us to invent and to implant ugly and evil (immoral) subjects

good horror required good reasoning - which supplanted by cohesive narrative that support the argument that the subject is really is the Damned.

things can be chaotic, but in the end, it must be evil, it must has an intention from it or from whatever that it is causing the creation of it - for the intention is to harm and to degrade peace

as in cosmos there is always something that unable to procure in itself in any way a sensible forgiveness, both the dead and the living came for revenge to dispute life of the livings.

the discourse of horror engages in the destruction of the living and the impossibility of the dead

[Anonymous No.16491608]

>>16489773
I had this feeling with The Elementals, but the ending was really rushed and crappy.

[Anonymous No.16491656]

>>16489773
I'm Thinking of Ending Things

[Anonymous No.16491671]

>>16491656
That’s not horror, it’s a bad thriller with some good scattered insights about incels.
I think anyone buying it thinking they were getting a horror novel would be pissed

[Anonymous No.16491744]

>>16491671
it's both, genre pedant

[Anonymous No.16491757]

>>16488665
No, you don't have to have read it; although if you have read it (specifically, the Inferno), the "intertextuality" aspects add to the reading experience. It does help to know at least a little bit about Dante's life, but no more than what you'd learn from perusing his Wikipedia page. To wit: Dante's adult life was spent in forced political exile from Italy.

>>16489773
>whats a really mysterious horror novel or story? the kind that makes you feel like youre going down a creepy interesting rabbit hole on the internet, or just something that revolves around a mystery

A lot of Ramsey Campbell's stuff is like that. Or at least The Grin of the Dark is. A solid horror novel, and solid piece of writing. I actually haven't read a *lot* of Campbell's work; tbqf, the stuff I have read creates such disconcerting feels that it kind of diminishes my enthusiasm to read more. That cat weirds me out like nobody else. And he is a helluva writer. Grin, for instance, among other things, has a *great* feel for the personality and character of internet discussion boards, *and* a great feel for silent movie weirdness. Campbell is really a kind of virtuosic writer in some respects.

[Anonymous No.16491819]

>>16487225
>Which movie?
All of them.

[Anonymous No.16491902]

>>16485279
This incarnation is going to fail as well.

[Anonymous No.16491968]

>>16491902
?

[Anonymous No.16492084]

>>16491819
>All of them.

Do you mean all of the adaptations of I Am Legend? The Vincent Price version is reasonably close, if memory serves.

[Anonymous No.16492099]

>>16491968
He probably means trying to create an /r/horror subreddit on /lit/

[Anonymous No.16492253]

>>16488216
Nick Cutter is pretty good, The Troop in particular

[Anonymous No.16492460]

Any of you guys like Grady Hendrix and/or the paperbacks from hell reissues he does?

I just finished a couple of his novels and I dug em a lot. Reading Stage Fright from the reissue series right now. it's gory 80s schlock and I love it

[Anonymous No.16492548]

>>16491968
A horror general has been tried many times before.

[Anonymous No.16492627]

>>16489773
Anything written by Robert Aickman. Particularly Ringing The Changes or The Hospice

[Anonymous No.16492701]

>>16492548
bit more appropriate now considering its autumn and halloween

[Anonymous No.16492712]

>>16492701
Turns out those happened last year as well and so did this.

[Anonymous No.16492744]

>>16488216
I don't know if it exactly counts as horror but Alastair Reynolds' hard sci-fi always has a dark mood to it. The Revelation Space trilogy goes more space opera. Chasm City (the best one) is more a noir. But the Prefect (second best one) has a pretty suspenseful hard sci-fi horror vibe.

Skip Pushing Ice.

[Anonymous No.16492997]

>>16492460
>Any of you guys like Grady Hendrix and/or the paperbacks from hell reissues he does?

Haven't read any of the reissues, but I liked Paperbacks from Hell a lot. I enjoyed We Sold Our Souls. It's a solid horror novel; not great, but an enjoyable read.

[Anonymous No.16493169]

W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw

Really an excellent horror story. If you've never read it, give it a try. Excellent Halloween vibes. It's a little masterpiece.

[Anonymous No.16493611]

>>16485279
Conversations in a dead language is the best Halloween short horror story.

[Anonymous No.16494022]

The real horror this Halloween is our President’s chances of survival, amirite?

[Anonymous No.16494238]

>>16493611
Ive never really enjoyed Ligotti. While the dread he evokes is entertaining, I find most of his stories feel the exact same. This odd listless feeling that just isn't interesting

[Anonymous No.16494266]

This any good? I heard it was horror and I like the cover

[Anonymous No.16494291]

>>16494238
As a person who enjoyed Ligotti, I think my life always have the similar aural of dread like what Ligotti stories possessed. However, I am not holding the philosophy or metaphysical position held by Ligotti in Conspiracy Against Human Race as the truth, instead I can say that I appreciate his stories and non-fiction even more as they are slightly relatable in comparison to let say Kafka which is mostly about powerlessness against a system, against a bureucracy.

[Anonymous No.16494350]

>>16488219
Writers foregoing suspense and pacing, the keys to effective horror, for le atmosphere and worldbuilding.

[Anonymous No.16494358]

>>16493611
>>16493169
ill read these tonight
>>16492627
these are short stories right? if there on the collection on libgen ill read those tonight too
>>16491757
>Ramsey Campbell
have you read the hungry moon? i might return to campbell now that youve said
>the stuff I have read creates such disconcerting feels that it kind of diminishes my enthusiasm to read more
>>16491656
that ended up punching me while i was down, not exactly horror but interesting
>>16491671
>insights about incels
its much more universal than that. stop being reductive to feel detached
>>16491608
is it still worth reading? it got a lot of praise. is it actually scary?
>>16491420
some definitely do like the rifle or the box. im halfway through it and some have been just cute. im sure it has heavier stuff down the line but so far its a lot less soul crushing to read than something like the girl next door.
>>16491267
what would you rec from him?

[Anonymous No.16494361]

Recently read The Fisherman and it was kinda underwhelming. I liked it until the story within the story started, which I didn't care for. The part afterwards, where the present-day horror starts, also didn't appeal to me, but the aftermath was pretty good, at least until the very end which was a stupid "shocking" twist. Nevertheless, the atmosphere in general and especially the beginning was good. I'd be glad about recommendations which are similar in those two regards.

[Anonymous No.16494363]

>>16494350
Why can't you have both

[Anonymous No.16494401]

>>16489773
I second Auckland, but would say that The Same Dog is the most fitting story for this purpose. Or maybe Meet Mr. Millar.

[Anonymous No.16494856]

>>16494358
>have you read the hungry moon?

No, but I just looked at a short synopsis, and it looks like it might be fun. Any good?

[Anonymous No.16494875]

>>16494358
>stop being reductive
It’s funny because it’s the one positive I always describe when I talk about the book. I read it back in 2016 and it’s one thing that I still remember about it. There’s entire genres dedicated to catering to young women’s idea of romance. But this was the first modern book, that I‘ve read at least, that did a good job portraying what a lonely young man like that would think about when he thinks about women.
Via the way he describes her perceptions of him- how smart he is, etc was totally different than the axe-body-spray-commercial oversimplification caricature that you see a lot more often.
It’s easily the best aspect of the book and probably the only good one.
So no, I won’t reconsider because I think I’m right, and I don’t think you would really want me to because if you take that away it makes a bad book irredeemably terrible. I think you got filtered by your own favorite.

[Anonymous No.16495014]

Is there any pulp horror that has the vibe of Castlevania box art?

[Anonymous No.16495023]

Tell me: Dracula or Ligotti?

[Anonymous No.16495152]

I got a few books in preparation of spooky season
Collected Ghost Stories of Ambrose Bierce
The Great God Pan and other Stories by Arthur Machen
Pig Island by Mo Hayder (didn’t like the first two pages. Not sure if I should stick with it. Seems very cliche so far.)

[Anonymous No.16495165]

>>16495023
dracula is a character, ligotti is an author

[Anonymous No.16495173]

>>16494875
its definitely not my favorite. im not saying be positive about the book, i just meant you sholdnt reduce the novel to "insights on incels" so thank you for expanding on your thoughts a little. its a high concept debut novel and i dont think its that incredible either but for me it did have something more universal in it. everyone feels lonely and everyone projects their desires on others whether its the imaginary gf or your real relationships. but the cold truth that no matter how objective you try to be you still end up living in a delusion is harsh and real. Im not asking you to reconsider lol, your opinion is valid

[Anonymous No.16495177]

I need a book with Over the Garden Wall’s aesthetic. Any help?

[Anonymous No.16495186]

>>16494358
>What do you recommend by him
The Open Curtain

[Anonymous No.16495346]

>>16495014
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson is sort of in keeping with the feel of that picture, excepting the sword & sorcery character in the foreground.

Circa WW2, high in the Carpathian Mountains, *something* in the ancient castle is killing off German soldiers.

It's a pretty good read -- good on mood and atmospherics. Really not bad at all, although the plot has a few unwelcome twists in the last third or so. Was made into a decent movie.

[Anonymous No.16495350]

>>16486942
good and gets points for having been a medievalist by profession instead of a pulp writer churning out pages for cash

[Anonymous No.16495376]

>>16494358
check out windeye by brian evenson, it's his best imo

[Anonymous No.16495622]

>>16485279
>>16495611

[Anonymous No.16495705]

>>16495376
>>16495186
at least theyre short. im really overwhelmed by all the reading i wanna do and thats just after this thread. i wanted to read Pnin in preparation for this month's pale fire reading :( guess ill shut up and go read. ill definitely check those out tho thanks. they look appetizing

[Anonymous No.16495724]

What are other stories that are like The Great God Pan? That story scared the shit out of me and it fucked up how I see things. I loved it. Any recs like it?

[Anonymous No.16495988]

>>16495705
There's no need to beat yourself up about not reading fast enough

[Anonymous No.16496131]

>>16485279
>Horror
>Literature
pick one

[« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » No.16496158]

>>16495724
Is that a Beksinski or someone channeling him and Barlowe?

[Anonymous No.16496218]

>>16496158
Prolly someone channeling that vibe. Found it in google

[Anonymous No.16496469]

>>16494358
>is it still worth reading? it got a lot of praise. is it actually scary?
Mixed feelings. The build up is great, setting is unique and the creatures are very interesting. But in the last third... it just falls off. Some plot points end up having no contribution at all to the story, and it seems like he didn’t know how to end it. But it does get a lot of praise, so maybe it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I recommend it, if only to see if someone else share my opinion.

[Anonymous No.16496482]

>>16494361
Opposite reaction here. Went with low expectations and enjoyed it immensely. Even got his shorts story collections, but I’m afraid they won’t hold up.

[Anonymous No.16496532]

>>16492997
You really oughta check out some of the reissues they do. Highly recommend The Nest and Nightblood

[Anonymous No.16496786]

>>16486942
He’s comfy

[Anonymous No.16496807]

>>16496131
Literature:
>My definition
>Your definition
pick one

[Anonymous No.16496864]

>>16487818
House of Leaves is the best horror novel of the 2000’s.

[Anonymous No.16496977]

>>16496864
this.

[Anonymous No.16496989]

>>16487382
This book is actually fucking top tier.

[Anonymous No.16497044]

>>16493169
>>16493611
i read both and both were more depressing than id thought, almost to the point where they werent horror.

monkeys paw is definitely a classic and surprisingly grim. i like the minimalness of that folk story style but usually the premises arent as interesting as monkey.

but ligottis an edgelord. i wouldnt call it bad though. it scratches the depressing itch like houellebecq

[Anonymous No.16497105]

>>16496864
>>16496977
i was really excited for it and i loved the concept but i felt like all the attempts at stream of consciousness and the pointless academic parts didnt mesh well with the story. what was the point of having all that together? anything with truant was really cringy and overdone. the main story doesnt go in an interesting direction with the house... etc

it tries too hard to be wierd and cool but it only frustrated me because all i could think of was the writer going "oh this is cool ill put that in". it didnt serve a cohesive aesthetic intent, and even its parts were bad in isolation.

i enjoyed the gimmicks and the cover is really smart. also the mothers letters were actually impactful. the rest was both uninteresting and badly written. it just doesnt feel mysterious when you can see through the façade. i guess im a bit bitter cuz i was dissapointed, but i really hope that HoL isnt the best the 2000s have to offer.

[Anonymous No.16497192]

>>16497105
That's true, though there are parts that were underwhelming, I really loved the concept of the book.

It just goes to show how little we know about fear and horror. Truly a start to an era of new horror.

[Anonymous No.16498580]

Bump

[Anonymous No.16498970]

>>16495376
How is last days?

[Anonymous No.16499839]

Are there good slasher novels?

[Anonymous No.16500411]

>>16491656
All I could think of when I finished the book was how anyone could seriously pull off a twist ending like this in 2016. I liked some parts of the book, especially the general atmosphere of rural Canada and the section that took place in Jake's parents' house, but the ending kind of ruined it for me. Reid's other novel, Foe, is even worse in that regard.

[Anonymous No.16501270]

bump

[Anonymous No.16501284]

>>16485279
I would be very interested in some Horror literature in French. A chart or simply some recs would be nice !

[Anonymous No.16501299]

>>16498970
>How is last days?

It's a solid horror novel that in its best parts wraps you in impossibly distant, then encroaching, then altogether too intimate tentacles of dread. Like most horror novels, the climactic sequence is a bit of let-down, and not the best part of the book.

See also:
>>16485748
>>16486767

[Anonymous No.16501336]

>>16490509
>>16490509
Why don't you Bump my ass into ejaculation ?

[Anonymous No.16501420]

>>16501299
Are you >>16485748? What are some of your favorite horror novels?

[Anonymous No.16501440]

>>16495177
There's an anthology book, called folklore in American literature, read the stories about ghosts and the devil

[Anonymous No.16501908]

>>16501336
bump

(pic is u rn)

[Anonymous No.16501953]

>>16501420
>Are you...
No.

> What are some of your favorite horror novels?
Let's see.
The Great God Pan
The Haunting of Hill House
William Hallahan, The Search for Joseph Tully
Salem's Lot
Pet Semetary
Desperation
Nevill, The Ritual was quite good, although I didn't really like the last third or so.
Peter Clines, 14 (enjoyable frolic)
Jeff Strand, Wolf Hunt (ditto)

Although I haven't been into them as much of late, I went through a longish zombie novel phase. I think it's a great genre, or sub-genre, that, among other things, affords talented writers endless scope for (potentially quite complicated, see, e.g., Night of the Living Dead (the movie)) psychological and physical conflict. Favorites include:
McKinney, Flesh Eaters
McKinney, Dead City
Maberry, Dead of Night
Keith C. Blackmore, Mountain Man
Stephen Knight, Left with the Dead
Charlie Higson, The Enemy (young adult, but I liked it; shoot me)
Jacobs, This Dark Earth
Z.A. Recht, Plague of the Dead
T.A. Donnelly, Wild Strawberry
V.M. Zito, The Return Man
Jason H. Jones, Trailer Park Zombies

[Anonymous No.16502048]

>>16486881
I had to read Great God Pan for class recently

It was p good
Ambiance was spooky esp in the last chapter

[Anonymous No.16502110]

>>16501908
Sorry I meant could I bump your ass into ejaculation?

[Anonymous No.16502118]

>>16501908
>>16490509
Read the sticky newfag. Think of it as our version of subreddit rules.

[Anonymous No.16502411]

The Tomb by Lovecraft will always fill a special place in my heart. The mood and tenuous grasp on the passage of time makes for an eerie sense that no other work has grasped for me.

[Anonymous No.16502465]

>>16502411
Anything other of Lovecraft's that is special to you?

[Anonymous No.16502630]

>>16488216
Malazan

[Anonymous No.16502789]

>>16499839
Not really good, but kind of fun: There's Someone Inside Your House

[Anonymous No.16504740]

>>16502118
bump

(pic is u now)

[Anonymous No.16504864]

You are disgusting, fag.

[Anonymous No.16504971]

>>16499839
Cabal by Barker

[Anonymous No.16505264]

>>16494238
I've read Songs of a Dead Dreamer, My Work is Not Yet Done, Grimscribe, The Awful Ressurection of Victor Frankenstein, parts of Teatro Grotessco and parts of Noctuary. I've also skimmed The Spectral Link and Conspiracy Against the Human Race.

I don't know how anyone could read Les Fleurs, The Last Feast at Harlequin, The Chymist, Alice's Last Adventure, The Frolic, Professor Nobody's Discussions on Supernatural Horror, The Red Tower and Nethescurial and find how anyone one, if any of them, are the same. They vary in plot, in story structure, in perspective, in voice and in how they evoke fear. They vary in environments, in themes and in how language is used.

While I do agree there is definitely an overall tone for his work because I'm not a fucking idiot, I don't see this sameness you're talking about. The same guy who writes The Chymist and who also wrote 'Notes On the Writing of Horror' and 'The Red Tower' is simply not a samey writer. They're different in about every way they could be as fictional narratives.

[Anonymous No.16505286]

>>16487225
I finished I am legend two days ago. Honestly, it never felt scary, emotional sometimes but never really scary scary.

[Anonymous No.16505505]

b

[Anonymous No.16505530]

Occultation by Laird Barron was pretty decent for an anthology.

[Anonymous No.16505546]

>>16505530
>Occultation by Laird Barron
Got the book for christmas last year from my mom.

[Anonymous No.16505551]

>>16495346
First 2/3rds of this book were excellent in terms of atmosphere

[Anonymous No.16505580]

>>16499839
Off Season by Ketchum
The Summer i died
Kin by some guy called Kealan Patrick Burke
Especially the last one has the RE7 crazy redneck vibe

[Anonymous No.16505590]

terrifying

[Anonymous No.16505630]

>>16505530
>>16505546
How is Occultation compared to THe Imago Sequence? I read The Imago Sequence, The Royal Zoo is Closed, Procession of the Black Sloth, Shiva Open Your Eyes and Probiscus. I liked SOYE, Prob and Procession for most of the stories but whenever I got to the end, they fucking ended abominable. The only one that stayed consistenly decent (even though it was for the majority of it very good) was The Imago Sequence. Royal Zoo was fucking awful though.

Overall I got the impression that Barron has decent ideas, excellent openings but his stories gradually fizzle out because he's not good at making the horror come across as horrific when its fully unveiled. Is this a fair intrepretation of him?

[Anonymous No.16505656]

>>16505630
>he's not good at making the horror come across as horrific when its fully unveiled

very true

his strength is building dread

[Anonymous No.16505666]

>>16505656
I can see that because the old women were creepy as fuck in Procession, as was the indications of how fucked up the Imago Sequence art piece was but the endings for each (it's hell and 'look you're turning into one of us and go kill yourself even though we never give an audience an idea of what that means) were disappointing.

It does make me wonder is his long form fiction better or worse .

[Anonymous No.16505900]

>>16505505
u

[Anonymous No.16506237]

>>16497105
These criticisms are good. The book to me was generally disappointing and I don't recommend it to people.

[Anonymous No.16506314]

These charts are pretty long, in your opinion what are the absolute best 3-5 horror books that would convince someone to delve further into the genre? Preferably specific things and not 1500 page anthologies of mixed quality.

[Anonymous No.16506326]

>>16485279
Lovecraft is fucking terrible. People would really shit on Horror less if he wasn’t memed so much

[Anonymous No.16506366]

>>16506314
IMO the only contemporary horror writer worth reading is Ligotti. Start with Grimscribe. If you don't like it move to Teatro Grottesco.

[Anonymous No.16506372]

No Henry James, what the hell ?
The turn of the screw was pretty scary yet mesmerizing and poetic, the ghostly rental too

[Anonymous No.16506386]

>>16506314
Dracula, Frankenstein, The Haunting of Hill House, The Exorcist, I Am Legend

[Anonymous No.16506433]

>>16506314
>>16506366
Also you asked for something specific, so I'll recommend his story The Clown Puppet, which is in Teatro Grottesco. It's my favorite of his and I think it gives a good sense of his style.

[Anonymous No.16506443]

Has anyone here read Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman? It sounds cool.

[Anonymous No.16506464]

>>16506386
Is this a joke anon ?Do you think I am a child ? Ffs mate when will you grow up. I want some grown up books.

[Anonymous No.16506465]

>>16506366
He's probably the only one you've fucking read.

[Anonymous No.16506481]

>>16506464
not sure what you're getting at, i guess i can't understand your grown up brain

[Anonymous No.16506490]

>>16506314
If you can’t read a chart, nobody is gonna waste their time selling you on a genre lol. We really don’t care; recommendations is someone doing you a favor not the other way around

[Anonymous No.16506524]

>>16506464
ok then The Bible

[Anonymous No.16506525]

>>16506386
>>16506433
>>16506366
Thanks. Gonna start with Teatro out of these, looks cool.
>>16506490
Well clearly other people aren't as stuck up as you and like to share the things they like.

[Anonymous No.16506600]

>>16506481
>>16506524
Like Frankenstein and Dracule, nigga come on that aint gonna spook me.
Give me some Top WTF spooking book that will give me some epic spooky moment.

[Anonymous No.16506621]

>>16506366
>>16506465
>>16506433
I'd recommend Songs of A Dead Dreamer first, then Grimscribe. I've never heard anyone like him if they start with Grimscribe.

Others you might like are;
Caitlin R Kiernan
Jon Padgett
Peter Watts (Blindsight)

[Anonymous No.16506628]

>>16506525
>well these recommendations are long, does anybody have anything that won’t waste my time?
Yeah, i’m stuck up lol

[Anonymous No.16506632]

>>16487382
I'm not being scammed if I buy this am I, the premise sounds so stupid but you guys are saying its a surprise

[Anonymous No.16506636]

>>16506621
I think Songs of a Dead Dreamer can be a bit too "normal". Like take The Frolic for example, which is a fairly standard horror story. It has some of Ligotti's imagery but that's about it. It's the first story in SoaD and I definitely wasn't impressed.

[Anonymous No.16506718]

>>16506632
Of course, I can't guarantee you'll *like* the book, but my remarks (>>16487382) reflect my honest opinion. You can "look inside the book" at this link to see whether it's your cup of tea:
>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DTMTXQ/

[Anonymous No.16506722]

when the topic of the scariest books is discussed, the bible usually comes up (sometimes as a joke) but i wanted to say the book of revelations is an actually terrifying read. im barely scared of anything and im not religious at all but re-reading even the lego version fills me with that cosmic horror dread. if you like lovecraft or dont like him because you cant take him seriously, this is the real deal. if you have recs for something similar, id appreciate it.

http://www.bricktestament.com/revelation/index.html

[Anonymous No.16506738]

>>16506636
That's why I'd recommend Songs of a Dead Dreamer first. The Frolic is the perfect opener because it starts as a pastiche of Thomas Harris with the serial killer in jail, the psychologist and discussing his psychology state but as you read further into the story, you see that not only does John Doe defy the conventions and ideas that the doctor tries to ascribe to him but the story itself is avoiding and dodging those narratives before it finally builds to its ending. This is compounded by the fact that the next story, Les Fleurs, is totally different in style and presentation to most of the concepts of the previous story and in conventional horror. Not only that, SoaDD has the greatest variety of perspectives, concepts, voice and premises for the stories thrown into it and it feels experimental, undefinded and varied so when you finally get to Grimscribe you see the various ideas and concepts he was tweaking crystalise.

Another reason it's better to read SoaDD is it has the most pastiches compared to the rest of his work.

Nethescurial = Call of Cthulhu
The Frolic = Red Dragon/Silence of the Lambs
Drink to Me Only With Labarythine Eyes = The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Masquerade of a Dead Sword = Conan/The Conqueror Worm
Alice's Last Adventure = Alice in Wonderland
The Last Feast of Harlequin = The Festival

There's more reasons than just those but I think either SoaDD or My Work Is Not Yet Done are the best starting points for him.

[Anonymous No.16506743]

>>16506722
I don't see how it's scary. A big red dragon burns the earth with an army of lion-like locust bug men.

[Anonymous No.16506764]

>>16506743
because it's true

[Anonymous No.16506772]

>>16506738
You make a good argument and I won't try to argue back. I will say though that Nethescurial and Harlequin are in Grimscribe, though.

[Anonymous No.16506779]

>>16506772
I wanted to list all of the ones I'm currently aware of. Most are in SoaDD, but not all of them.

[Anonymous No.16506798]

>>16506443
Haven't read that one, but I read two other Buehlman books:

The Suicide Motor Club
Those Across the River

Both were good, but I *really* enjoyed SMC. I started to read The Lesser Dead. It was solid, but it just didn't hold my interest.

PS: I also read The Necromancer's House. It was pretty good, but it's not a horror story, more fantasy, I guess (actually, I'm not sure what genre I'd put it in); the book is not really in my wheelhouse.

I will say this. Buehlman is an *excellent* prose stylist, and a very polished writer.

[Anonymous No.16506820]

>>16506743
the god parts are scarier imo. the lamb, the torture the deception and mistrust towards both sides. and the absolute hatred thats apperant in the writing. its like john of patmos writing his wish fulfillment but with actual very odd and specific visions of the divine.

[Anonymous No.16506848]

>>16487251

fucking hell I read all of those when I was 13-14. The terrible writing, awful dialogue, callbacks to the games. they were great.

[Anonymous No.16506850]

>>16506798
Yeah I read Those Across the River, it was really good. He’s an excellent stylist.
I’m thinking i’ll read SMC or Necromancer’s House next. Probably SMC based on what you said

[Anonymous No.16506896]

>>16506600
Those trips are being C H E C K E D .
And Ok now THIS ia an Epic Posting moment !

[Anonymous No.16507770]

>>16506718
Ah seems like its got enough potential, I'll pick up a copy

[Anonymous No.16508119]

>>16485279
hard sci fi horror, where is it

[Anonymous No.16508925]

>>16508119
what like The Martian?
what you're asking for almost doesn't even make sense

[Anonymous No.16508953]

>>16508925
not that guy, but I have also had an eye out for sci-fi horror. Eg, a book equivalent to Event Horizon. Seems like a sci fi/horror mash-up has a lot of potential. (Now that I think of it, the HAL sequence in 2001 at least *verges* on sci fi/horror.)

[Anonymous No.16509162]

>>16508119
The closest is probably Blindsight. Maybe some Warhammer books?

[Anonymous No.16509265]

>>16485279
It's not strictly in the horror genre, but this read like a dream that keeps dipping in and out of nightmare. The whole thing has this sparse, sorrowful vibe, and it explores a level of self-abstraction and alienation and suppressed dread in a world where it's too late to do anything.
It's classified as a dystopia, but I really think that's just a convenient vehicle. The themes have almost nothing to do with power or politics, or values. It's just a tragically beautiful moment in a world waiting to die.
Same author also did a horror-lite short story collection called Revenge. If you dig Japanese people pretending they're not on the edge of a psychotic break, you might be into it.

[Anonymous No.16509266]

Is Laird Barron any good? I have The Corning on my backlog

>>16508119
>>16508953
Blindsight. A group of augmented humans and a lab-created vampire travel to outer space in search of an alien species. It has a very horror feeling.

[Anonymous No.16510505]

>>16485279
is treasure island horror?

[Anonymous No.16510756]

>>16509266
Just bought it, thanks for suggestion

[Anonymous No.16511436]

>>16508953
sci-fi horror sure, but HARD sci-fi and horror are almost at odds by definition

[Anonymous No.16511540]

>>16509266
>Blindsight.
Thanks.

>Is Laird Barron any good?
His short stories are uneven but the best ones are quite good (albeit, he rarely has a really satisfying ending).

Three stories I particularly like are Old Virginia, Blackwood's Baby and The Men from Porlock. Frontier Death Song and Hand of Glory are also pretty good. More Dark is an example of Barron in a rather cheeky mood; I found it fairly amusing (it's not a horror story, but rather a story about horror story writers), but I gather that not everyone does.

I have not read The Croning. It seems to inspire a *very* mixed response in readers.

[Anonymous No.16511569]

>>16509266
stop recommending that absolute garbage, sffg got me with that.

[Anonymous No.16511712]

>>16511569
I’m about ten minutes into chapter 2 and it’s so so thus far, in reading the suggestion when they mentioned there was a bioeng vampire I thought that’s kind of gay, but the way it’s portrayed so far is cooler than I anticipated

[Anonymous No.16511721]

>>16511712
the mc is gay enough for everyone it the novel. Most other characters dont exist, the alien is cool tho

[Anonymous No.16511736]

>>16511712
>>16511721
I tried to read it once but the prose was literally incomprehensible. Just me?

[Anonymous No.16511739]

>>16511721
The character I have the least empathy for is the retard who got bullied in the intro, the main protagonist beating the kids bloody with a rock was alright though

[Anonymous No.16511770]

>>16511569
>stop recommending that absolute garbage, sffg got me with that

Yeah, me too. Went to sffg looking for sf/horror, was tipped to Blindsight. Gave it the old college try. Did not dig it.

Alien, in particular, but also Event Horizon are top-tier sf/horror screenplays (plus, arguably, The Thing). It just surprises me that a little cottage industry in publishing sf/horror has not arisen from that fact, but evidently it has not; or if such books have been published, no one on /lit/ is hip to them.

[Anonymous No.16511836]

>>16511569
Please enlighten us with some recommendations

[Anonymous No.16512154]

>>16506738
The Small People from The Spectral Link is one of the best Ligotti's short fiction works imo

[Anonymous No.16512313]

>>16511770
The alien vessel has been warning the crew from earth not to approach it, multiple times, a linguist on board doesn’t think it understands their language and is talking via patterns, well they got within 1km of the alien ship and now it’s telling them they’re going to die and Susan is first

It sure seems like it knows what it’s saying now

[Anonymous No.16512329]

>>16512313
I think it chose Susan to die first cause she told it to suck her hairy dick(which she said to it when she first theorized it couldnt understand her)

[Anonymous No.16512367]

>>16512154
I wish the Spectral Link was larger because he's started to experiment again and I love whenever he does weird things with structure or motivation. I think that's why I dislike Mystics of Muelenburg so much. It feels... Oddly conventional for him and the pay off is like a less horrifying version of the dream in Nethescurial.

[Anonymous No.16512394]

>>16512329
Which is an ode to the Chinese room argument/philosophy, good suggestion so far, on lunch break, will go back to it on next shift

[Anonymous No.16512404]

Has anyone read this series? I've seen it in shops every now and then and sounds absolutely batshit crazy

[Anonymous No.16512422]

>>16512404
Necro’s cope, the story of a dead mans denial while awaiting judgment in purgatory

[Anonymous No.16512442]

>>16512422
If gender is biological and you lose all biology when you die what does your conscious do? Assuming it lives on that is

And without a body and with death no longer a looming threat what does procreation mean? And how would you satisfy lust if you lack the extremities to experience it outside of emotion

And let’s say you die as an infant, is your conscious sealed at that age forever? What language do you learn In the afterlife? Is math and other subjects still relevant? If so why

[Anonymous No.16512652]

>>16512442
It seems to me that consciousness is independent of gender, before and after death.

[Anonymous No.16513547]

Graeme Reynolds, High Moor is an enjoyable traditional werewolf novel

Jeff Strand, Wolf Hunt is an offbeat but high-energy take on werewolves. Very clever, a lot of blood. A good read.

David Wellington, Frostbite is a traditional werewolf story. Wellington is a good horror writer, but this one didn't hold my interest.

[Anonymous No.16514058]

>>16512394
The book gets even better when they reach Rorschach and the vampire steals the spotlight

[Anonymous No.16515213]

What are some Halloweeny books in a similar vein to Coraline and The Graveyard Book?

[Anonymous No.16515550]

>>16485279
that lovecraft quote is kind of based

[Anonymous No.16515667]

>>16513547
Any more Werewolf recs?

[Anonymous No.16515715]

>>16515667
It’s been mentioned but Those Across the River by Buehlman is a good werewolf book, really well written

[Anonymous No.16515747]

>>16509265
This sounds great anon

[Anonymous No.16516033]

>>16487818
I made that chart ages ago and I included a lot of stuff I didn’t think was necessarily was good, just influential, original or widely read. I think Heart Shape Box was trash but it’s one of the more widely read and discussed horror books of the 00s.

[Anonymous No.16516299]

>>16512442
Skeletons are the absolute pinnacle of being. There limitless time for the pursuit mathematics and soul magicks, once one is freed from the tyrrany of flesh. Math is independent of the physical quantities it describes, and soul magicks are the only way the Skeleton can get around. Lust, and drives more broadly, are purely chemical quirks of the wicked flesh sack binding the Skeleton throughout the sorry experience of life.

Or more seriously, most realists would accept that all knowledge and memory is experiential and stored in the brain. Souls wouldn't know anything specific you accumulate in life, regardless of what age they died. They wouldn't have sensory experiences comparable to the ones you get from your body, and wouldn't experience any bodily drives or emotions as we know them. It's unclear to me what a soul is supposed to do. Most descriptions I've heard make them either epiphenominal or totally functionless.

[Anonymous No.16516500]

>>16516033
what are your favs that are preferably well written and original? this goes out to anyone in the thread really