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chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat

Necrotizer F posted:

James Lovegrove wrote a three books "alternate history" in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson encountered the Cthulhu Mythos, starting with The Shadwell Shadows. I thought he did a pretty good job of bringing those not entirely dissimilar worlds together.

horp. blorp. huoorggh

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

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chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat
thats a nice aesthetic category you've got there. be a shame if we pumped it full of idiot nerd bullshit and wallowed in the same half-dozen ideas for 9 unbroken decades

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine
I'm not sure if it really counts as "Cosmic Horror" but The Immortal Hulk has definitely been leaning in that direction at times, especially with the most recent issue

chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat

drrockso20 posted:

I'm not sure if it really counts as "Cosmic Horror" but The Immortal Hulk has definitely been leaning in that direction at times, especially with the most recent issue

aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAa

Everyone
Sep 6, 2019

by sebmojo

anilEhilated posted:

That may be, but it's not horror. They're bog-standard adventure romps with props borrowed from Lovecraft. The premise of the Holmes stories being sanitized versions of what really happened is cool but the books never capitalize on it.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I thought the books did an excellent job of creating and maintaining a Lovecraftian atmosphere of dread and not quite hopelessness. It was interesting to see Watson contrasting the way things appeared in the stories with the hosed up circumstances of how things actually were. The trilogy kind of makes me want to head over to RPoL.net and see if I can find a Cthulhu by Gaslight game that's active and accepting players.

I figure that if True Detective Season One and The Immortal Hulk count, this trilogy (and it is a trilogy with a beginning middle and end) should certainly count as well.

Meanwhile I'm expecting the latest in Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series to arrive Nov. 5 After starting out as an action/syfy-horror series, it's introduced several elements that seem to be slowly turning it into something out of Delta Green.

That is very much a good thing.

Everyone fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Oct 30, 2019

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


chernobyl kinsman posted:

horp. blorp. huoorggh

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

well he's not wrong Hieronymus

Relevant Tangent
Nov 18, 2016

Tangentially Relevant

chernobyl kinsman posted:

aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAa

BotL got banned, let people read and recommend what they like.

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

Relevant Tangent posted:

BotL got banned, let people read and recommend what they like.

Oh when did that happen?

Deptfordx
Dec 23, 2013

Back in the spring as I recall, around March-ish.

Drunken Baker
Feb 3, 2015

VODKA STYLE DRINK
Just a little thing I was pondering the other day thinking back on Brian Hodge's "World of Hurt". What's the crossover where theological horror becomes cosmic?

And what I mean by that is, in World's of Hurt the driving force behind the events of the book is that God has abandoned us and something else has taken his place. Angels are summoned, people have visions of Jesus statues coming to life and those who have had near death experiences are terrified of dying again because Heaven isn't heaven any more. It's all very rooted in the known but I still classify it as cosmic horror because it's dealing with an unknown factor so beyond us.

I also put myself through King's Resurrection because it dealt with a similar theme. loving hell, that took some doing. Did we really need an entire chapter dedicated to our main character's first boner, King?

Everyone
Sep 6, 2019

by sebmojo

Drunken Baker posted:

Just a little thing I was pondering the other day thinking back on Brian Hodge's "World of Hurt". What's the crossover where theological horror becomes cosmic?

And what I mean by that is, in World's of Hurt the driving force behind the events of the book is that God has abandoned us and something else has taken his place. Angels are summoned, people have visions of Jesus statues coming to life and those who have had near death experiences are terrified of dying again because Heaven isn't heaven any more. It's all very rooted in the known but I still classify it as cosmic horror because it's dealing with an unknown factor so beyond us.

I also put myself through King's Resurrection because it dealt with a similar theme. loving hell, that took some doing. Did we really need an entire chapter dedicated to our main character's first boner, King?

The path to cosmic Ant Hell runs through the boner.

Drunken Baker
Feb 3, 2015

VODKA STYLE DRINK
I'd never argue that it wasn't a well written chapter about youth, innocence lost and getting the horn for the first time. I'd never take that away from the man.

Chas McGill
Oct 29, 2010

loves Fat Philippe
I'll never forget King's foreword to the unabridged Stand where he writes a (long) defence of long-winded storytelling. I don't think he ever topped Carrie, personally, and it's one of his shortest books.

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

Chas McGill posted:

I'll never forget King's foreword to the unabridged Stand where he writes a (long) defence of long-winded storytelling. I don't think he ever topped Carrie, personally, and it's one of his shortest books.

I've got a copy of that one, and you could probably maim someone with it if you swung it hard enough or dropped it from a high enough point, though it's far from the largest book I own

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


julietthecat posted:

Jon Padgett's collection The Secret of Ventriloquism. It's predictably derivative of Ligotti (Padgett runs Thomas Ligotti Online), and the last story, "Escape to Thin Mountain" is obviously a reference to Ligotti's "Ten Steps to Thin Mountain." But I thought it was really excellent. This is heresy, but I've always preferred Ligotti's philosophy and universe to the experience of reading the stories themselves, and they've sometimes felt like a slog to get through. Padgett operates in the same universe, and fleshes out the same ideas without adding anything really original, but I found his stories more enjoyable. Padgett is a former ventriloquist himself, incidentally, and the stories are loosely connected. Standouts: "Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown" and "20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism."

Just read his chapbook The Infusorium (also has a ventriloquism angle). It was alright. Not great.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


Shiloh by Philip Fracassi on the other hand, I recommend. The second story, the Soda Fountain, in particular, I really enjoyed.

Helical Nightmares
Apr 30, 2009
If you ever wanted to try Laird Barron's Lovecraftian horror short stories, his collection The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All is only $2 on Kindle US https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Thing-That-Awaits-All-ebook/dp/B07H48PYJC

I highly recommend it.

abske_fides
Apr 20, 2010
Just read Blood Will Have Its Season by Pulver Sr. after having it for many years. Why is he considered a good author? Most of the stories were completely uninteresting to me and the prose was poor to put it mildly. I was also astounded as to the number of typos throughout the book. Am I really just missing something here? I love Ligotti and some of the authors in Vastarien but Blood was one of the few books I didn't manage to get through.

Ornamented Death
Jan 25, 2006

Pew pew!

Joe had a weird style that's very much an acquired taste. If it clicks for you, you're going to love his stories; if not, you'll be left wondering why folks love him.

Beyond that, Joe was a genuinely nice guy AND edited a ton of stuff, two things that may have resulted in other authors going a lot easier on him than they otherwise would have.

SniperWoreConverse
Mar 20, 2010



Gun Saliva
Here is a small weird tale I found, in comic form



Powerful stuff. I feel like there's probably a shitload of comics that are that kinda weird, probably should hit up the batman forum

Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




I asked a version of this question in the general horror thread, but are there any non-short story cosmic horror novels or series?

I read the first laundry files book and didn’t like the humor / office politics and bureaucracy stuff.

I want to read a multi book epic about elder gods trying to eat the world. Am I gonna have to write it myself?

Secret Machine
Jun 20, 2005

What the Hell?

ketchup vs catsup posted:

I asked a version of this question in the general horror thread, but are there any non-short story cosmic horror novels or series?

I read the first laundry files book and didn’t like the humor / office politics and bureaucracy stuff.

I want to read a multi book epic about elder gods trying to eat the world. Am I gonna have to write it myself?

Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin Kiernan is a multi book series. I only read the first book which is short but if left me wanting to read the others.

Relevant Tangent
Nov 18, 2016

Tangentially Relevant

The Laundry books rapidly get away from fun office politics with a smattering of eldritch horror and towards the breakdown of reality.

AstraZenmaster
Jun 28, 2004
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

ketchup vs catsup posted:

I asked a version of this question in the general horror thread, but are there any non-short story cosmic horror novels or series?

I read the first laundry files book and didn’t like the humor / office politics and bureaucracy stuff.

I want to read a multi book epic about elder gods trying to eat the world. Am I gonna have to write it myself?

Probably not the first thing to come to mind as "cosmic horror", but the Three Body Problem books by Cixin Liu have plenty of world imperilment by misanthropic forces, and certainly tick the "multi-book epic" box!

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


Secret Machine posted:

Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin Kiernan is a multi book series. I only read the first book which is short but if left me wanting to read the others.

They are three novelettes (Agents of Dreamland, Black Helicopters, and The Tindalos Asset), of which the first two are best IMO. The third gets that cosmic flair but seems to be somewhat incomplete to me. They aren't really connected story wise.

Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




Secret Machine posted:

Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin Kiernan is a multi book series. I only read the first book which is short but if left me wanting to read the others.

thanks! I'll check this out


Relevant Tangent posted:

The Laundry books rapidly get away from fun office politics with a smattering of eldritch horror and towards the breakdown of reality.

Thanks! I've heard they get better and I will attempt to keep going.


RagingTux posted:

Probably not the first thing to come to mind as "cosmic horror", but the Three Body Problem books by Cixin Liu have plenty of world imperilment by misanthropic forces, and certainly tick the "multi-book epic" box!

the only time I've been more disappointed by a novel I'd been hyped to read than TBP was Annihilation. I love Liu's short stories, but TBP just fell flat.

Secret Machine
Jun 20, 2005

What the Hell?

Bilirubin posted:

They are three novelettes (Agents of Dreamland, Black Helicopters, and The Tindalos Asset), of which the first two are best IMO. The third gets that cosmic flair but seems to be somewhat incomplete to me. They aren't really connected story wise.

Thanks! I’ve been looking to add them to the queue so that helps.

I just finished Lagan’s
The Fisherman which is the first story of his I’ve really enjoyed. His other stuff just kinda falls flat for me but the Fisherman nailed incomprehensible beings for me.

Helical Nightmares
Apr 30, 2009

ketchup vs catsup posted:

the only time I've been more disappointed by a novel I'd been hyped to read than TBP was Annihilation. I love Liu's short stories, but TBP just fell flat.

I know this is a tangent, but I picked up The Three Body problem recently and I'm curious to know which of Liu's short stories you think are really good.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


Secret Machine posted:

Thanks! I’ve been looking to add them to the queue so that helps.

I just finished Lagan’s
The Fisherman which is the first story of his I’ve really enjoyed. His other stuff just kinda falls flat for me but the Fisherman nailed incomprehensible beings for me.

It took me a while to warm to the overly vernacular voice Langan starts with but once we got to the story within the story I was pretty hooked. Er, pardon the pun. The end was satisfying too.

OP this is also a cosmic horror novel you should consider IMO

Deptfordx
Dec 23, 2013

For those with access to BBC podcasts, the third season of The Lovecraft Investigations just dropped for download.

If you don't know it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08y46bf

The conceit is it's one of those 'True Crime' investigation shows. Think Serial, Tiger King, etc.

Only they find themselves investigating a modern take on a classic Lovecraft story.

It's really well done and I highly recommend it.

Relevant Tangent
Nov 18, 2016

Tangentially Relevant

Hey this was neat, thanks for linking it.

Flopstick
Jul 10, 2011

Top Cop
Yeah, I rather like the attempt to tie disparate strands of the Mythos into a unified whole. Usually that doesn't pan out well, but they manage to make it more-or-less work. (Though I haven't listened to s3 yet. I'll save that for a long car journey.)

e; not being interrupted by adverts for socks and mattresses is a bonus, too.

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Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




Helical Nightmares posted:

I know this is a tangent, but I picked up The Three Body problem recently and I'm curious to know which of Liu's short stories you think are really good.

I enjoyed the "wandering earth" collection - in particular the title story and whichever one was about the world made of sand

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