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/lit/ - Literature

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3043108 No.3043108[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

There have been no good horror authors after Poe and Lovecraft.
Prove me wrong /lit/.

>> No.3043124

I'm sorry. Thinking Lovecraft is good proves you're beyond hope.

>> No.3043122

thomas ligotti
robert aickman

>> No.3043132

>>3043124
I'll bite. Please explain.

>> No.3043140
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3043140

>>3043124
>not understanding the existentialist value of the cosmic horror genre

Full-blown pleb alert

>> No.3043139

>>3043124
pleb

>> No.3043141

>>3043132
Not who you were talking to but:
1. He wrote extremely purple prose.
2. While he was not a 'bad' storyteller, much of what he wrote was predictable pulp, quality akin to Stephen King (although I think even King is both better at storytelling and writing)

That said, Lovecraft is immensely popular on /lit/, so you are in good company. But I don't like him. I view him as a good idea man and poor executioner.

>> No.3043145

>>3043141
>caring about prose value

HURRRR SILVER AGE LATIN IS "BAD"

>> No.3043146
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3043146

>>3043139

>Lovecraft
>anything but pleb
ishyg

>> No.3043155

>>3043141
>comparing Lovecraft to King
Yes it was pulp. No it wasn't as bad as fucking Stephen King.

>> No.3043220

>mfw you don't know Joe R. Lansdale

>> No.3043222

Kafka

>> No.3043224
File: 43 KB, 900x1233, ligotti.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3043224

>>3043108

>> No.3043229

Well William S. Burroughs didn't mean to write horror but NAked Lunch is scary as FUCK

>> No.3043232

>>3043141

>1. He wrote extremely purple prose

Debatable. It always had a purpose -- to convey some sort of cosmic dread.

>much of what he wrote was predictable pulp

Problem is you can't read his work properly. Its like when people read Kafka and all they get is the literal story--"ok a guy turned to a beetle, this is sci-fi pulp so what--?"

>> No.3043364

>>3043232

Show me anything by Lovecraft that goes deeper than a literal level.

>cosmic dread
lol

>> No.3043368
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3043368

Fraaaaank....

... we had to hear it from your own lips....

>> No.3043374
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3043374

>>3043368
taek it!
iss yours!

i' always wass.

>> No.3043375

>>3043364
Not that guy, but the giant alien monsters that drive you mad are clearly a metaphor for the immense magnitude and power and complexity of the universe and humanity's complete insignificance relative to it. I don't know how anyone could miss that.

>> No.3043385

>>3043375
I'll repeat
>cosmic dread
lol

>> No.3043394

>>3043375
Ha, but that is still on a literal though. In some cases the GOOs are the universe themselves. That is at best a metonym, which is probably the weakest way to claim something is not literal. For it to be metaphorical it would have to reference something it is not a part of.

>> No.3043409

Well, Cthonic beings kind of represent immense universal forces (such as entropy) that will eventually devour us all. Not only did Lovecraft come up with uniquely abominable monsters, but he tapped into humanity's recognition that we are decaying meatbags that will suffer the inexorable fate of death at the hands of the monumental forces of the universe.

If that isn't your cup of tea, though, you could always try Ligotti.

>> No.3043511

>>3043385

Lovecrafts stories are almost always about mans condition and place in a vastly empty and unforgiving universe, the search for meaning and purpose, safety and beauty in a world that constantly thwarts our ambitions, desires, and so forth

your literal and naive reading of lovecraft is your own problem

>> No.3043526

>>3043108
Agreed, OP. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that anything post 1960's is utter shit (In all media, except games)

>> No.3043540

Stephen Ki-

...tehheh....

Stephenehehhe-

STEPHEN KIEHEHEHEHE

couldn't do it. couldn't even type it.

>> No.3043547

>>3043540

say what you will about his novels, but holy fuck did some of his short stories scare the shit out of me

>> No.3043554

>>3043108
>There have been no good horror authors INCLUDING Poe and Lovecraft.

FTFY

Horror is a stupid genre - it's impossible to be scared of something in a book. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but childish idiocy is another.

>> No.3043555

R.L. Stine. Check and Mate

>> No.3043558

>>3043555
trips do not lie

>> No.3043561

>>3043554

>horror is a stupid genre
>is a stupid genre
>stupid
>genre

Please leave.

>> No.3043564

>>3043554
>Horror is a stupid genre - it's impossible to be scared of something in a book

As a genre it is stupid in the same way all genres are stupid. But as a theme it's pretty cool if used right.

>impossible to be scared by a book

that's irrelevant

>> No.3043584

>>3043554
>can't be scared by a book

What the?... I'm pretty sure I pissed myself reading Lovecraft as a child... The ending of Dagon was the worst for me. "That hand! That hand!"

>> No.3043608

Also, gentleman. I call you all to answer the most important question of your lives.

There was a movie on TCM a few months ago. It was on the same night as "Divorce American Style". Though this one was from the 50's, in black and white, but was also about divorce. They are talking to a lawyer the entire time (A female lawyer, if it helps any) who asks them to retell the major parts of their marriage. Their son dies at the park, they had an idea for roller skate like shoes, and I believe the Wife came from a very wealthy family. Please help me ; _;

>> No.3043612

>>3043608
whoops, wrong thread. Sorry guys.

>> No.3043614

>>3043561

What's your problem you fucking baby?

>> No.3043636

RL Stine /thread

>> No.3043646

Borges.

>> No.3043648

>>3043636
>not R.U. Slime

>> No.3043653

>>3043554

*insert genre* is a stupid genre - it's impossible to be *insert emotion* of something in a book. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but childish idiocy is another.

>> No.3044086

House on the Borderland is a masterpiece

>> No.3044097

Yeah, the death of gothic horror was really the death of all horror.

>> No.3044231

>>3043108

Clive Barker is an absolute genius.

>> No.3044271

This nonsense again.

Horror is just as worthwhile an emotion to evoke with writing as any other. It has good authors and bad authors like any other genre, and there are books that will vanish into time and books that will stick around, like any other genre.

>> No.3044436

>>3043108

Bradbury had a few good horror stories. He also took lovecraft's cosmic horror and brought it to the small towns and the middle class. For good or ill. Something that king would copy later. I suppose bradbury could be considered an influential horror writer and not necessarily a "good" one.

>>3043122

Second both of those.

A little off topic: it still amazes me that poe and lovecraft invented their own genres, psychological horror and cosmic horror respectively.

>> No.3044439
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3044439

> tfw Susan Hill

>> No.3044452

>>3044439
I know one of her books was made into a movie recently but haven't heard of her otherwise. Is she worth a read?

>> No.3044455

>>3044452

hells fucking yes my nigger

The Woman in Black
The Man in the Picture
The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read

Holy fucking shitnards she's good.

Ignore the film, it's dog shit.

>> No.3044493

>>3044455
Thanks, I'll check her out. Are any of those three a better introduction to her work than others or can I not miss here?

>> No.3044523
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3044523

>>3043108
>Lovecraft
>good

>> No.3044540
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3044540

>>3044523
2deep4u

>> No.3044543
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3044543

Read some Ludmilla Petrushevskaya. She'll fuck you up.

>> No.3044597

Never thought Poe or Lovecraft really horrifying. Blindsight is true horror.

>> No.3044601

>>3044543
>"Petrushevskaya’s stories could easily be read as bleak grotesques, populated by envious neighbors, selfish adolescents, and parents who overcompensate with exaggerated love. But ultimately, Petrushevskaya’s skillful juxtapositions yield glints of light. Resilience and ingenuity thread through the hardship, whether in the form of forgiveness or love. Such traces of humanity are starker—and brighter—because of the darkness that surrounds them."

Would you say that's accurate?

>> No.3044606

Thomas Ligotti
Clive Barker
T.E.D. Klein
Ramsey Campbell
Mark Samuels

>> No.3044615

>>3043124
I would say troll harder, but I'm actually pretty mad. So, good job I guess?

>> No.3044619

In time, Thomas Ligotti will be regarded as important to the genre as Poe and Lovecraft. If he isn't already it's only because half his shit is out of print and hard to find.

>> No.3044626

Is no one going to mention The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers?

A romance author who steps out of his genre to write horror with a splash of prose, what's not to like?

>> No.3044627

>>3043108
>good and proof in the same sentence

Category error.

>> No.3044628

>>3044626

That was before Lovecraft, wasn't it? Chambers, Machen, Blackwood and others were the inspiration for Lovecraft's stuff.

>> No.3044630

horror gets no respect because "proper" literature is basically commedy of manners or personal, intimate accounts that exalt the power of the human spirit. no room for crazy cunts who write about unearthly stuff and disenchant the human race

>> No.3044631

Stephen King

I'll admit Lovecraft has a knack for writing eerie, disconcerting prose but
a fucking giant space octopus from another dimension living under the ocean? What's terrifying is that anyone ever thought that was a good idea.

>> No.3044632

>>3044628
yeah it was published in 1895, Lovecraft was born in 1890.

>> No.3044635
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3044635

>>3044231
i went to see Clive Barker's play "The History of the Devil" while bent on mescaline.

the scene at the end, when Satan realises God is dead and heaven is empty... and he screams in rage and rushes the audience. holy fucking shit, dude. bricks were shat. many bricks,

>> No.3044637

"It was too horrible to describe."

>> No.3044672

What's the best book to start with for someone who has never read anything by Lovecraft?

>> No.3044678

>>3044672
The Shadow over Innsmouth.
it was his only story ever published while he was still alive, and it is his biggest classic.

Here you go bro: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/theshadowoverinnsmouth.htm

>> No.3044684

>>3044678
Thank you my friend

>> No.3044695

>>3044684
Of course.

>> No.3044697

>>3044626
I remember reading that, I heard that he influenced Lovecraft and some other horror writers, so I bought it.

Three short stories in an it's romance.

I was confused as fuck.

>> No.3044705

>>3044678
He had lots of stuff published in magazines during his lifetime if I'm not mistaken.

>> No.3044747

>>3044086
Oh god yeah, though it was before Lovecraft I think.
I guess it depends on how OP was using after.

>> No.3044753

>>3044697
>Three short stories in an it's romance.
Keep reading.

>> No.3044770

>>3044626
He really should have made every story in it revolve around the king in yellow. The fact that half of the stories are fantasy instead of horror (although enjoyable fantasy) feels like a missed opportunity

>> No.3044772
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3044772

>>3043108
>>3043108
>>3043108
>>3043108
>>3043108

>> No.3044792

>>3043108
Stephen King. duh.

>> No.3045081

caitlin kiernan? even though she says she's not a horror writer

>> No.3045309

>>3044635

I found an autographed, hardcover copy of that playbook in a used bookstore in Mission Viejo for eight dollars. I even pointed out the autograph to the girl behind the counter, and her only response was something to the effect of 'lucky you!'

>> No.3046859

bump

>> No.3046870
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3046870

What now?

>> No.3047025

>>3046870
what is this? does it have to do with the game

>> No.3047422

bumpethsssssshh.....

>> No.3047437
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3047437

>>3045309
lick it! there might be Clive Barker DNA on it!!

>> No.3047456

>>3043108
House of Leaves.

>> No.3048676

schlump