/hfg/-Horror Fiction General

[Anonymous No.20950937]

Notable Authors: H.P. Lovecraft, Thomas Ligotti, Robert Aickman, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, William Peter Blatty, Robert Bloch, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Edogawa Rampo, Arthur Machen, Ambrose Bierce, M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Brian Evenson, William Hope Hodgson, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, Ramsey Campbell, Caitlin R Kiernan, Laird Barron, Jack Ketchum, Stefan Grabinski, and many many more

Discuss your favorite horror tales in both short and long form. What have you read lately? What do you want to read? What's a work of horror fiction or an author who you want to recommend?

[Anonymous No.20950990]

Previous Thread:
>>20919234

[Anonymous No.20951297]

try this if you're looking recs

[Anonymous No.20951992]

>>20950937
>M.R. James

Favorite stories from him? For me it’s the mizzotent , number 13, count magus and that school story.

[Anonymous No.20952008]

>>20951992
Story of a disappearance and an appearance
Oh whistle and I'll come to you my lad
The barchester cathedral

[Anonymous No.20952046]

Still reading through Horror’s Call after anons recommended the series to me in the last thread. You guys have no idea how nuts these books are. I’m not finished reading through all of them but so far it’s the single most insane series I’ve ever read.

[Anonymous No.20952119]

RIP Peter Straub

https://locusmag.com/2022/09/peter-straub-1943-2022/

[Anonymous No.20952296]

At /hfg/'s recommendation I picked up Between Two Fires. Here's what I thought:
The good: It was fun, quite a page turner and I got through it quickly. The monsters were generally pretty cool and a lot of the horror scenes hit the right notes. My favourite chapter would be the one with the weird feast near the start.
The bad: This book just didn't aim that high. The prose was just functional, effectively written at a YA level. The faux-medieval dialogue style (people saying stuff like 'whoring x') didn't really land with me, and neither did the faux-biblical style he used at certain points. It all felt a little gimmicky. It was written like it was made to be a tv series. Simply put, it could have done more with what it had. Also, an anon here was very right, like the author gracelessly shoehorns modern moral standards into the book every so often.
The verdict: Decent fun, if you want an episodic horror / dark fantasy. But it's not literature.

[Anonymous No.20952430]

The last thread had Song of Kali in the OP. I had an idea of what a the story might be about but when I looked up a summary it was not that. Are there any stories of a Hindu deity coming to our world and wreaking havoc? Completely taking over a region of the world and playing with people, fucking with time, doing hood rat stuff with humanity?

[Anonymous No.20952784]

>>20951992
Casting the Runes

[Anonymous No.20952809]

>>20950937

>21st Century Horror: Weird Fiction at the Turn of the Millennium by S.T Joshi


>The literature of terror and the supernatural has been experiencing a renaissance over the past several decades, and with the advent of the new millennium a diverse cadre of writers have expanded the bounds of weird fiction and enriched it with their penetrating visions. This book is the first to present a broad analysis of horror fiction as written by writers in their forties and fifties. S.T. Joshi, one of the leading authorities on weird fiction, divides his book into thee categories, based on his judgment of the varying merits of the authors in question.

>Among the »Elite« are such writers as Michael Aronovitz, a master of metaphysical narratives that intensely treat the emotional traumas of his characters; Adam Nevill, author of expansive novels that use the classic work of M. R. James, Arthur Machen, and others as a springboard; and Jonathan Thomas, who has found in the work of H.P. Lovecraft a touchstone for his cynical views of human foibles. Among the »Worthies« are the grimly pessimistic writer Nicole Cushing; Reggie Oliver, who has revived the ghost story; and Clint Smith, whose tales are distinguished by his lyrical prose.

>Controversially, Joshi has established a category of »Pretenders« -- authors whose work, in his opinion, is not commensurate with their reputations. Here we find Laird Barron, whose distinguished early writing is now confounded by mediocrity and preciosity; Joe Hill, author of bloated potboilers all too reminiscent of the unimaginative work of his father, Stephen King; Brian Keene, the prototypical hack writer; and Jeff VanderMeer, author of a trilogy whose confused premises and tiresome length try the patience of the most indulgent reader.

>Whatever one may think of Joshi's views, his writing remains lively, provocative, and sure to promote discussion.

[Anonymous No.20952816]

>>20952809

[Anonymous No.20952930]

>>20952816
>>20952809
dont care
KEW mogs them all despite being dead for over thirty years
KEW is on par with howard and lovecraft, miles above hacks like barron, ligotti and stephen king

[Anonymous No.20952939]

>>20952296
This book seriously made a part of me consider converting to Christianity. I doubt that was the author's aim but oh well. I still love the book, it reminded me of Berserk.

[Anonymous No.20952982]

>>20952930
He is also dead.

Let see what S.T Joshi has to say about him.

[Anonymous No.20952998]

>>20952939
It reminded me of Berserk a bit too, although Thomas is a less substantial / interesting character imho.

[Anonymous No.20953078]

>>20952982


>Karl Edward Wagner (1945–1994) was a well-respected and well-liked
figure in the field whose early death inspired widespread lamentation, but his
actual literary work is more than a little uneven. Much of it falls outside the strict
domain of the supernatural, as in his numerous sword-and-sorcery tales and
novels, modelled upon the work of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. His own
weird short fiction was collected in In a Lonely Place (1983) and other
collections, but it is a decidedly mixed bag. Although Wagner is deft at evoking
the topography, human and natural, of those regions of the South (chiefly
Tennessee and North Carolina) in which he spent much of his life, the stories
themselves are often weak in motivation and disappointing in their dénouements.

[Anonymous No.20953227]

I'll recommend Dead Sea by Tim Curran.

If you like deep sea horrors of every description menacing sailors trapped in a forever fogbound sea then this book is for you.

[Anonymous No.20953469]

Why are most modern creepypastas so stale compared to the old ones like Ted the Caver? Now all you get is ‘I Found a Button that Claimed to Kill My Dog, When I Pressed It, It Killed My Dog’ and ‘Never Hate the Anti Christ on June 19 in Sneedville, Tennessee’. What the fuck are these writers drinking? I’ve read so many of these stories, to the point that I’ve begun to find them hilarious or otherwise cringeworthy in reading rather than scary.

[Anonymous No.20953558]

>>20953078
>>20952982
joshi is a hack, everybody knows this already

[Anonymous No.20953697]

>>20953469
Some of the old high profile stories were bad and formulaic too but they had a lot more soul I think

[Anonymous No.20953796]

>>20952998
Are there other books with a setting or tone that is reminiscent of Berserk?

[Anonymous No.20954356]

>>20952809
I can't find this one online anywhere yet but Joshi is based and has good taste in general, very funny to see him rag on Stephen King so hard

[Anonymous No.20954431]

>>20953558
He kinda is, yeah. His Lovecraft biography was amazing except for the parts where he starts riding Lovecraft's dick over his atheism, those parts were jarring to say the least

[Anonymous No.20954437]

I HATE HORROR!!

I'm afraid, that /is/ the case.

[Anonymous No.20954455]

>>20953796
Well Vagabond obviously springs to mind, but I'm sure you're aware of that. Some of the Cnaiur parts in the Bakker books reminded me a bit of Berserk. But to be honest with you I don't read a lot of fantasy so yeah not the best person to ask.

[Anonymous No.20954741]

>>20954437
chicken! bok bok bok!

[Anonymous No.20954808]

>>20952296
>>20952939
>>20952998
fucking dogshit book that gets shilled on here constantly with suspiciously large amounts of inspiration from a nearly forgotten 80's short story collection that the plebs on this board have never heard of
between two fires is fucking shit, le grizzled war veteran with innocent little girl trope is played out and was never good, read a better book

[Anonymous No.20954828]

>>20950937
im currently going through all of lovecrafts works and i got filtered hard by the nameless city.
i have no idea what the hell was going on in that one.

[Anonymous No.20954977]

>>20954828
its about a city....thats nameless!

[Anonymous No.20955085]

>>20950937
this print is nostalgic
my dad had this collection of lovecraft prints and I read them as a kid. good thread

[Anonymous No.20955289]

What are some good scary/bloody murder misteries?

[Anonymous No.20955362]

Can someone recommend me something like this?

[Anonymous No.20955817]

>>20954431
What parts of the biography are those so I can skip those sections, I usually like Joshi but I find his self congratulatory atheism exhausting

[Anonymous No.20956042]

Any spoilers on Stephen King Fairy tale yet?

[Anonymous No.20956120]

>>20950937
I forgot what board I was on, but someone brought up Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath for some reason.
And someone pointed out how it begins with him descending a lot of stairs. 70 then 700 to deeper slumber. Then it ended on the plateau of Leng.

A plateau is just another giant step, but it's too big for a mortal.

[Anonymous No.20957171]

>>20955289
Agatha Christie has some great ones, especially if you like the creative kills like in giallo films, And Then There Were None (hilariously originally titled Ten Little Niggers and then later changed to Ten Little Indians is the way to go

[Anonymous No.20957556]

>>20954808
>gets shilled
In my review of it I said that it wasn't that good. That isn't shilling anon. Also what was that nearly forgotten 80's short story collection?

[Anonymous No.20957575]

What's the longest Horror piece you've read that wasn't falling apart at the end? I've yet to find anything that I really find unsettling that can reach even a novellas length.

[Anonymous No.20957689]

uuuh..OP? you do realize Lovecraft was extremely racist and antisemitic, right?

[Anonymous No.20957696]

>>20957575
The manuscript found in saragossa. But that’s not even horror. But it’s Just a pynchonesque hybrid of gothic horror, historical fiction, comedy, and erotica. Overall its around 600 pages. 2nd Longest book, which is around 300 pages, that i loved was the monk by Matthew Lewis.

[Anonymous No.20958032]

>>20957689
yeah

[Anonymous No.20958040]

>>20954808
OK, I'll bite. What's the forgotten 80s short story collection?

[Anonymous No.20958056]

>>20954828
I just it finished last night. From what I can understand the protagonist descends into the depths of the city and discovered the display and mural of an ancient race. He also sees an ethereal light that is even deeper into the depths. This light happened to be a colossal unnameable being. The protagonist crawls back through the passage and looks behind and sees the scurrying of the ancient reptilian beings.
I'm sure there are lovecraft experts here, did I get it right?

[Anonymous No.20958072]

>>20953558
joshi is generally correct in his assessments. hes not wrong about kew. kews most famous novel starts out inexplicably detailed in nature description that had no relation to the rest of the story, and definitely has a mixed execution in its themes. he is forgettable. he took too many drugs and was unfocused.

[Anonymous No.20958312]

Am I the only person on earth to have read this?

[Anonymous No.20958406]

>>20958312
you and that guy from Observer

[Anonymous No.20958520]

>>20957556
>>20958040
i won't deign myself to tell you its name
french knight gets seduced by witch, is dammned by the devil and spends 10 or so stories wandering about europe and the east encountering the weird and supernatural

[Anonymous No.20958544]

>>20958072
>kews most famous novel starts out inexplicably detailed in nature description that had no relation to the rest of the story, and definitely has a mixed execution in its themes
the forest descruption in bloodstone is related to the rest of the story by showing how bloodstone gets found, how its nature is contrary to the suroundings it is found in, and how ancient and evil it is
>and definitely has a mixed execution in its themes
How does it? It's a sword and sorcery novel mixed with supernatural otherworldy horror, and it ticks every one of those boxes
> he is forgettable. he took too many drugs and was unfocused.
he is forgettable which is why both the blair witch and true detective had to steal from him. and if not for the work of arkham house then lovecraft would be completely forgotten just like wagner
>he took too many drugs and was unfocused
some of the greatest authors were drug addicts and alcoholics and i'd rather have a great unfocused novel than a soulless polished one

[Anonymous No.20958565]

>>20958520
Are you talking about We Are All Legends by Schweitzer? I was actually interested in that one after having read The Mask of the Sorcerer, but alas couldn't find it anywhere on the internet.

[Anonymous No.20958583]

>>20958565
bingo

[Anonymous No.20958892]

why is every board devolving into generals these days? quality of discussion in these eternal circlejerks is universally terrible.

[Anonymous No.20959243]

>>20958892
It's all bots reply to each other.

[Anonymous No.20959250]

>>20958565
>couldn't find it anywhere on the internet
https://www.amazon.com/Are-All-Legends-Darrell-Schweitzer/dp/1880448831

[Anonymous No.20959802]

>>20959250
yeah its cheap and far better than beyond two shitty fires which probably took more than a fair amount from we are all legends

[Anonymous No.20960092]

I'm in dire need of the help from some literate Anons

a couple years ago (about 15 give or take) I read a book thet was called something like "in the time of the monsters", "at the time of the monstes" or something like that

the book follows a group of scavengers who live in a settlement away from the monsters and go on a supply run where they encounter one of such monsters, who are kinda like werewolves or some shit like that
is is a pocket book with shape and size like the old "goosebumps" ones. it is also a teen/young adult book as far as I remember

does anyone know what book I'm talking about? any author or Editorial? I really want to get my hands on a copy even if it is in pdf form but so far I haven't even found it yet

please, help a soul in need anons

thanks in advance

[Anonymous No.20960097]

>>20959250
>>20959802
I kinda meant as an e-book. But I looked again, and for some reason it's available on Google Books and without restrictions.

[Anonymous No.20960441]

>>20958892
It’s alot better then having the 4000th thread about neetch crying at a horse thread

[Anonymous No.20960553]

>>20952939
>considered converting to Christianity

[Anonymous No.20961171]

thanks to whoever recommended The Cook in the last thread, really enjoying it so far

Anyone have other stuff kind of like this?

[Anonymous No.20961198]

What’s the best Stephen King short story collection?

[Anonymous No.20961329]

Thank you guys for signal boosting Valancourt, I never knew about them until last thread and now I have several books on my wishlist

[Anonymous No.20961383]

I started the Descent and have gotten like a 100 or so pages in. Its kind of eh, should I keep going or drop it?

[Anonymous No.20961393]

>>20961383
From what I remember, the beginning was the best part by far.

[Anonymous No.20961405]

>>20961393
yeah I liked the first chapter, but as it went along it’s starting to lose me. The lib feminist white savior nun was really funny, it feels like the book was written by a 90s lib Hollywood screenwriter.

[Anonymous No.20961408]

>>20960441
It's the same, except the Nietzsche thread won't be up at all time, and when it pops up you can have a great time insulting and making fun of people who clearly don't even read. You try the same thing in the /ncaah/ general and the fags act like they're in a gated community and you're somehow out of line for intruding on their private business.
>if you don't like it, why not go to one of the other generals :)
It's circlejerk culture on fucking imageboards on all places. At that point why even come here?

[Anonymous No.20961468]

>>20961198
Skeleton Crew. I'd rank Everything's Eventual second and FDNS third

[Anonymous No.20961556]

>>20950937
Nice General, any books to get started. ,

[Anonymous No.20961580]

Any recommendations for beginners to get started?

I was thinking about H.P. LoveCraft but is there any more writers that i shoud read?

[Anonymous No.20961597]

How does his horror stories compare to the ones of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith?

[Anonymous No.20961603]

>>20961597
Worms of the Earth is pretty damn good, haven't read much of his other horror stuff so I can't comment on those

[Anonymous No.20961609]

>>20961580
Poe and M.R. James are very good starting points.

[Anonymous No.20961611]

>>20961556
>>20961580
H.P. Lovecraft is by far the best place to start
some other writers I can recommend of of the top of my head are Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Clark Ashton Smith, and Ambrose Bierce

[Anonymous No.20961644]

>>20961611
Thanks.

[Anonymous No.20961656]

>>20951992
Count Magnus
A Warning to the Curious
Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You

[Anonymous No.20961666]

>>20952816
I’m glad to see so few female authors mentioned

[Anonymous No.20961687]

>>20955289

[Anonymous No.20962095]

NIGGERMAN HELP ME AHHHHHHHH

[Anonymous No.20962160]

>>20961666
He thinks of Caitlin Kiernan very highly

[Anonymous No.20962288]

>>20960097
Just buy it from the author himself on ebay for 4 dollars

[Anonymous No.20962481]

The Ring novel is seriously one of the best I've read. It's a great mix of mystery and horror. It even beats the Japanese movie. The descriptions are perfect. I work in a bookstore and I've gotten a few people to pick it up.

[Anonymous No.20962571]

>>20961556
>>20961580
Seconding Poe, I think he's the best place to start. Move on to Lovecraft from there.

[Anonymous No.20962649]

>>20962481
>The Ring novel
I should really get around reading that.

[Anonymous No.20963442]

>>20962649
I need to grab the Dark Water collection

[Anonymous No.20963526]

>>20962160
As long as it’s just one exceptional freak and the rest of the femoids are allowed to starve in the gutter like schweinhunds then I am content.

[Anonymous No.20963975]

>>20952046
holy shit I have one of those but haven't gotten round to reading it did you see the author schizo posting in his description on amazon? I can't believe anyone else knew about it

[Anonymous No.20964940]

>>20962481
I never even knew that was based on a novel, or that it's part of a series. I think I'll read it next month for Halloween, thank you for the rec. Do you know if the sequels are worth reading also?

[Anonymous No.20964969]

>>20963975
Call of the Crocodile? That book has been a meme here for years.

[Anonymous No.20966302]

>>20964969
>69
Nice

[Anonymous No.20966304]

bump

[Anonymous No.20966403]

>>20963526
The joke is it's a MtF tranny. Good writer though

[Anonymous No.20966579]

>>20966403
I’ve always said that the one good thing about the population explosion of trans women is that we might finally get fiction by women that’s actually interesting

[Anonymous No.20966601]

>>20964940
the sequels turn into sci-fi with false realities and other bullshit

[Anonymous No.20968093]

>>20966579
You're forgetting that all trannies are capable of thinking about is trannyism.

[Anonymous No.20968284]

>>20950937
lmao these niggas be reading to be scared

[Anonymous No.20968316]

>>20950937
>getting scared by books
nigga just close them. how has horror literature dealt with this crucial problem?

[Anonymous No.20968336]

>>20954808
>le grizzled war veteran with innocent little girl trope is played out

Nope. It's an evergreen trope. Of course, everything depends on the individual author's execution.

[Anonymous No.20968658]

>>20961198
An empty bookshelf

[Anonymous No.20969136]

>>20968658
But that’s /lit/ in general.

[Anonymous No.20969307]

>>20954808
>trope is played out
leddit argument

[Anonymous No.20970289]

>>20950937
What do think about Necroscope by Brian Lumley? I wanted to read the literature that influenced the Vampires from the World of Darkness.

[Anonymous No.20970465]

>>20950937
>Clive Barker
is he /lit/ or trashy pulp horror? i've seen the first 2 hellraiser movies but never considered actually reading him.

[Anonymous No.20970581]

>>20970465
Read his Books of Blood series, they're great.

[Anonymous No.20970717]

Anyone read this? How is it?

[Anonymous No.20970867]

>>20961597
On par with Smith, better than Lovecraft.

[Anonymous No.20971187]

>>20970289
Never knew it inspired WOD, will absolutely read the series

[Anonymous No.20971217]

How good are his horror stories?
Anything worth reading?

[Anonymous No.20971335]

>>20971187
I think it just inspired the Tremere clan.

[Anonymous No.20971656]

Just finished song of kali.
I don't recommend it

[Anonymous No.20971673]

>>20971217
The pear shaped man is pretty good and quite gross

[Anonymous No.20971674]

>>20971656
I will probably get burned for saying this, but Dan Simmons is crappy lefty writer.

[Anonymous No.20971679]

>>20971674
I don't think it was lefty at all. I don't have an issue with the way he described Calcutta or Indian culture in general, but he seems quite conservative. Also lefty lit nerds seem to despise him.

I think hes just shit in general.

[Anonymous No.20971806]

>>20970289
I keep meaning to, cold war spies and vampires is such a fun premise

[Anonymous No.20971829]

>>20971673
Is that a book he wrote or a description of him?

[Anonymous No.20971911]

>>20970289
>>20970717
Looks like good reads

[Anonymous No.20972239]

>>20953796
Unironically Bakker

[Anonymous No.20973136]

I'm a real big fan of slasher films, can someone list me, or point to a list of, some good slasher-y novels?

[Anonymous No.20974358]

>>20971656
i also just finished, i do recommend it. it's pretty engaging and at times the descriptions really get to you, the stench and despair of the city

>>20971679
>hes just shit in general
why? he is not joyce or anything but it's fine