More Like This?

[Anonymous No.18399396]

I write horror short stories and found a lot of inspiration in Roadside Picnic, both for the style the writing is delivered and how the setting is explored. I'll break down what I'm looking for in a few meme arrows.
>The writing and dialogue comes off as very personal to the characters, tending to shy away from trying to be flashy/pompous and instead reading as a very genuine insight from the characters perspective (It really feels like reading from the PoV of a struggling russian man in an uncertain world changed by some event)
>The setting and how it's explored doesn't spoon feed the reader, and instead lets you draw your own conclusions as to exactly what has happened based on the characters thoughts as things come up or in dialogue as things are discussed.
I have gotten a lot of inspiration from Lovecraft and Poe (save your memes), mostly because I like that a lot of it invokes a feeling that you've stumbled upon some diary or journal from the (flawed) perspective of the author. It allows you to question everything you are given, down to whether you can even take the "Author/Narrator" at face value on how they view the occurrences they are subject to.

TL/DR: More Like This?

[Anonymous No.18399480]

shameless self bump before i let this die and cross post

[Anonymous No.18399502]

I enjoyed Dark Water by Koji Suzuki

[Anonymous No.18399526]

I also really loved Roadside Picnic.

It's not as ambiguous by the end, but Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" does a good job of creating an atmosphere of uncertainty around the setting and events that led up to it.

Based on what I've heard, McCarthy's "The Road" might also fit some of those points. I read a couple chapters in high school before bailing on it because I had high school boy reptile brain. From what I recall it is deeply personal, much like Roadside Picnic, and not much light is shed on how the world actually ended.

[Anonymous No.18399528]

>>18399396

You open to trying UFO 'non-fiction'? The Mothman Prophecies is one of my favorite 'horror' reads because that line between truth and fabrication is muddled from the start.

[Anonymous No.18399557]

>>1839939
southern reach

[Anonymous No.18399558]

>>18399502
>>18399502
thank you anon, anything not about ghosts/spirits? I tend to steer away from "paranormal activity" subject matter and more into a transrealism approach (that is, to explain potentially fantastic circumstances with a grittier, more realistic PoV). Anything cosmic, scifi, or even more grounded like discovering lost, ancient history of man, or before man. i will check it out if not just for the delivery of the author.
>>18399526
thank you i will look into both. The Road seems closer to what I'm looking for, i'll probably end up reading this through.
>>18399528
this is an idea. it could help with a more realistic delivery of the character.

[Anonymous No.18399611]

>>18399396
yeah man stalker was a really good game

[Anonymous No.18399618]

>>18399611
i've never played it, but an older edition of this story can get quite expensive

[Anonymous No.18399628]

>>18399557
don't know what you were replying to but i just saw this, i will check it out

[Anonymous No.18399650]

>>18399396
op, big shout-out to riddley walker, i believe you'd find it to your tastes
it's written in a crazy dialect (some kind of postapocalyptic dorset?) which will filter you for the first couple of chapters, but persevere past that and you may find it rewarding
also, this might be too much in the vein of classic/old-school sci-fi for you, but consider taking a look at the chrysalids (john wyndham)

[Anonymous No.18399677]

>>18399396
The short story “Hinterlands” in Gibson’s Burning Chrome is the only thing I’ve ever found that really scratches the same itch as Picnic. I hear Lem’s Solaris is also good but haven’t gotten to it yet.

[Anonymous No.18399688]

>>18399650
wow both seem like excellent reads, grazie. a lot of these suggestions seem rooted in a post-apocalyptic scenario, which is fine. anyone have anything a bit more unnatural to chime in with?

[Anonymous No.18399699]

I got this book for free and started reading. I was looking forward to it but only saw some dudes selling alien parts. Does it get better?

[Anonymous No.18399730]

>>18399677
>I hear Lem’s Solaris is also good but haven’t gotten to it yet.
solaris is great, as mysterious as picnic but a bit 'cleaner' (less cyberpunk, if that's even the word) than it (and hinterlands)
but very good, prob my favourite sci-fi novel, not that i've read dozens of them

[Anonymous No.18399745]

>>18399396
you would probably enjoy M. John Harrison's Kefahuchi series

[Anonymous No.18399749]

>>18399396
>a feeling that you've stumbled upon some diary or journal from the (flawed) perspective of the author
oh, and have you read borges, op? he does this a lot. And he also satisfies
>>18399688
>anyone have anything a bit more unnatural to chime in with?

[Anonymous No.18399759]

>>18399628
meant to reply to op
but vandermeer has come out saying southern reach is 'definitely not a roadside picnic homage' because the similarities are so striking
alien or just Other influence on a section of land- lots of mystery- people exploring alienaffected land
having read both i say SR is better, it approaches the concept from a (couple of) different angle(s)

[Anonymous No.18399788]

>>18399749
suggest a borges title to me.
>>18399745
>>18399730
>>18399677
a lot of interesting suggestions here. it's going to be difficult to narrow this down.
>>18399759
excellent, i've already decided SR is a definite read so far. probably Riddley Walker and Solaris as well. Possibly Chrysalids.
>>18399699
really comes down to if you're looking for a more "fantastic" story or an immersive one. it's definitely the latter.

[Anonymous No.18399805]

>>18399788
>suggest a borges title to me.
short stories: blue tigers, the library of babel, the lottery of babylon. He happens to have a lovecraft pastiche, there are more things, but i didn't think it was that good.

[Anonymous No.18399822]

>>18399805
hmm looking now for a collection that has all of these. Are Blue Tigers and Dreamtigers the same or are these different works?

[Anonymous No.18399873]

>>18399822
>Are Blue Tigers and Dreamtigers the same or are these different works?
no, different, he was just that obsessed with tigers.
>a collection that has all of these
yes, sorry, they're scattered from throughout his career, but a lil penguin edition called the mirror of ink happens to contain all three. It's petite and should be cheap if you can get hold of it (i'm not sure how available it is outside the uk)
otherwise if you want to go for one of his actual collections as originally published then probably best just go with labyrinths or ficciones (whichever has the library of babel; i can't remember)
enjoy!

[Anonymous No.18399935]

>>18399873
much appreciated. i managed to snag a used copy of Mirror of Ink. definitely interested in seeing how he frames the events in short stories. i'm not huge into describing "unnecessary" background/filler sections of stories, which is why i prefer the short story format so i can just stick to the major events for the reader to experience. i find it makes them more enjoyable for successive reads as well once you've poured through the story once and now have all the context to piece together a picture.

[Anonymous No.18400004]

>>18399935
nice, I think you'll enjoy it.
>i'm not huge into describing "unnecessary" background/filler sections of stories
borges is quite good on this sort of thing: his stories tend to be pared back to the essentials, but the few terse unnecessary details he does include are always laconically suggestive.
Of the stories i mentioned, blue tigers is probably closest to the style you seem interested in. (Now i want to go and re-read it myself.)

>>18399557
i think i'll check out southern reach based on this thread.

[Anonymous No.18400864]

>>18399805
>>18399788
Seconding library of Babel, the aleph is also good.

[Anonymous No.18401713]

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delan
I'm not done reading this book yet, but it has a similar setting with a zone like area.

[Anonymous No.18402351]

I've only read Strugatsky's in russian, so not sure about the translations, but The Doomed City was my favorite from them.

[Anonymous No.18402379]

>>18399396
Were the Strugatsky's atheists?

[Anonymous No.18403795]

>>18402379
Yes, as was everyone at that time.

[Anonymous No.18403824]

>>18399699
>Does it get better?
no. that's all it is. a guy selling ufo parts. that's literally why everyone who reads it raves about it, why it's considered a classic and why it has inspired so many others. because it doesn't get get any better after the first chapter.

[Anonymous No.18404138]

[Anonymous No.18404237]

>>18399396

SPOILERS

The real road side picnic was the historicity of the Revolution, 5YP and GPW.