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I like Neville a lot but he has a big problem with maintaining consistent quality over the course of a book...the second half of a lot of his books take a big turn, where the plot, atmosphere, etc. go in a new, and worse, direction. Part of me does admire it, because maybe it does take some boldness, but I just feel like it's never as good. Anyway, if you like weird cult stuff, as I do, Last Days and Under a Watchful Eye are pretty good. The Ritual also has some really great and creepy parts, although a lot of people say they prefer the movie (which removes the new direction the novel takes about halfway through). e: Also, wanted to mention that Under a Watchful Eye is an expansion of one of the stories in Some Will Not Sleep ("Yellow Teeth"), since the person who brought up Neville mentioned that collection. julietthecat fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Sep 9, 2019 |
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Sep 9, 2019 13:39
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I personally enjoy the weird tonal shifts in Neville's books. As I said before, Last Days is my favorite despite the rather silly Aliens style ending. He really needs new ideas though, but sadly the description for The Reddening sounds like it'll be more of the same. I'll read it if/when it shows up in the library but I'm not exactly feeling hyped. bloom fucked around with this message at 14:08 on Sep 9, 2019 |
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Sep 9, 2019 14:02
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MockingQuantum posted:Seconding The Weird, I've had it for a couple of years and barely put a dent in it, it collects some fantastic classic weird fiction along with some authors I never would have heard of otherwise, and does a decent job of pulling a pretty wide net in terms of what authors are represented. It'll last you a long time. Thirding The Weird. Highly recommending the ebook version, because the print version is a cinderblock. Consistently excellent stories, and they include a lot of "used to be famous" authors to really enmesh the reader in the history of weird fiction.
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Sep 10, 2019 23:33
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Sono posted:Thirding The Weird. Highly recommending the ebook version, because the print version is a cinderblock. hah. I have the print copy and I mean it looks good sitting on a shelf, but you basically need a reading desk to hold the thing. it's a very good collection.
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Sep 10, 2019 23:39
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If you want a good workout, lug around copies of both The Weird and their big sci-fi anthology at the same time (they were doing a signing).
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Sep 11, 2019 01:03
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Ornamented Death posted:If you want a good workout, lug around copies of both The Weird and their big sci-fi anthology at the same time (they were doing a signing). I get ARCs of the Unfettered fantasy collections for some reason (seriously, not a publisher or reviewer, I just somehow got on the guy’s mailing list and don’t question it…) and between three of those and one The Weird, it takes up half a shelf on my bookcase. What a gorgeous-looking collection, though.
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Sep 11, 2019 02:04
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I read HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and it wasn't that good. Kinda like a soulless Stephen King, the whole book is basically mapped after Pet Sematary but generally didn't succeed in pulling me in. Some kinda gross parts and slurs also put me off a bit.
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Sep 13, 2019 21:22
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Before this thread started, I decided to give my thoughts on every single story in The Weird in the cosmic horror thread and got sidetracked after a hundred pages IIRC. I contemplated picking that back up but now there are two threads I could do it in.
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Sep 14, 2019 09:45
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That would be nice. I need more weird poo poo.
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Sep 14, 2019 16:11
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Solitair posted:Before this thread started, I decided to give my thoughts on every single story in The Weird in the cosmic horror thread and got sidetracked after a hundred pages IIRC. I contemplated picking that back up but now there are two threads I could do it in. I skipped ahead 100 pages in when I realized that I was reading The Willows for the millionth time.
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Sep 15, 2019 03:12
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Finally reading North American Lake Monsters. Second story... It takes place in Asheville, NC/deals with PTSD. I lived in Asheville for 5 years and have some PTSD tied back to that city so OH YEAH that’s like a shot to the heart hahaha. Currently sitting on my couch because I can’t sleep and trying to calm my anxiety. Great writing, btw, you were all so right recommending it. Just didn’t expect one story to hit home so directly.
Conrad_Birdie fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Sep 20, 2019 |
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Sep 20, 2019 04:07
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ravenkult posted:I read HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and it wasn't that good. Kinda like a soulless Stephen King, the whole book is basically mapped after Pet Sematary but generally didn't succeed in pulling me in. Some kinda gross parts and slurs also put me off a bit. I liked the basic thought behind it where this town has a malevolent entity and just stuff upper lips their way around it
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Sep 21, 2019 14:24
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Len posted:I liked the basic thought behind it where this town has a malevolent entity and just stuff upper lips their way around it That's the part of the blurb that got me to pick it up. Unfortunately I read later that he basically rewrote his book to take place in the US instead of Holland, so that kinda explains why I felt it fell flat.
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Sep 21, 2019 17:30
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ravenkult posted:That's the part of the blurb that got me to pick it up. Unfortunately I read later that he basically rewrote his book to take place in the US instead of Holland, so that kinda explains why I felt it fell flat. I liked everything up until the halfway point when it rocketed past any semblance of horror and into edgelord territory
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Sep 21, 2019 18:20
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I thought that was the translation more? I'm the original I believe it was centered in his home country with a much worse ending though. I did feel it was a decent book, fell flat near the end but that's like alot of authors that can't find the right way to send it off. The idea that she's been planning this for generations and choosing people to poke in just the right way was interesting.
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Sep 21, 2019 23:48
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like many horror novels it was almost really good but then became incredibly bad
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Sep 22, 2019 04:15
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Does anyone have recommendations for sea/underwater-themed horror? Don't mind whether it's short stories or longer-form stuff - just tried scuba diving for the first time and it have me a horrors-from-the-depths itch
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Sep 23, 2019 10:18
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I think HEX would have worked better if it was set in the 80s or something, so there's not a literal app that tracks the ghost.
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Sep 23, 2019 20:17
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Owlkill posted:Does anyone have recommendations for sea/underwater-themed horror? Don't mind whether it's short stories or longer-form stuff - just tried scuba diving for the first time and it have me a horrors-from-the-depths itch Tim Curran's Dead Sea isn't anything special but it's got the all the right ingredients.
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Sep 23, 2019 20:54
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Owlkill posted:Does anyone have recommendations for sea/underwater-themed horror? Don't mind whether it's short stories or longer-form stuff - just tried scuba diving for the first time and it have me a horrors-from-the-depths itch If you search “deep sea thriller” on Amazon you will find a whole series of Kindle books by various authors that scratch the creature feature itch; by just buying based on the description I’ve enjoyed most of them.
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Sep 23, 2019 21:06
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Technically The Deep qualifies.
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Sep 23, 2019 21:14
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Owlkill posted:Does anyone have recommendations for sea/underwater-themed horror? Don't mind whether it's short stories or longer-form stuff - just tried scuba diving for the first time and it have me a horrors-from-the-depths itch Starfish by Peter Watts. I think only the beginning is set in the deep sea, but it’s the most memorable part of the book.
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Sep 24, 2019 02:28
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Owlkill posted:Does anyone have recommendations for sea/underwater-themed horror? Don't mind whether it's short stories or longer-form stuff - just tried scuba diving for the first time and it have me a horrors-from-the-depths itch Last time I read "Sphere" was 20 years ago, but I remember being pretty creeped out by it.
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Sep 24, 2019 07:28
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Esme posted:Starfish by Peter Watts. I think only the beginning is set in the deep sea, but it’s the most memorable part of the book.
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Sep 24, 2019 19:41
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Cheers all! I see Peter Watts has kindly made Starfish (among other books) available free on his website so will check it out.
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Sep 26, 2019 11:20
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Owlkill posted:Cheers all! I see Peter Watts has kindly made Starfish (among other books) available free on his website so will check it out.
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Sep 27, 2019 05:00
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i like watts' atmosphere but his handling of sexual abuse is ehhhh e: actually i take that back (conditionally, i'm only just past 100 pages in), he's been restrained enough with the sex stuff and the abuse/abuser theme with the deliberate selection of the candidates is incredibly interesting. i'll withhold judgment until i finish the book the writing and scene-setting is great, which helps fauna fucked around with this message at 11:27 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 10:15
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Owlkill posted:Does anyone have recommendations for sea/underwater-themed horror? Don't mind whether it's short stories or longer-form stuff - just tried scuba diving for the first time and it have me a horrors-from-the-depths itch I liked 'Hell Ship' by Benedict J. Jones, 'Into the Drowning Deep' by Mira Grant was OK as well.
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Sep 27, 2019 10:37
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fez_machine posted:Brian Evenson has a new book out, Song for the Unravelling of the World. I just got through reading this. Are his other books pretty good too? I think I saw one of his other short story collections at the library, Collapse of Horses. Worth checking out?
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Sep 28, 2019 06:25
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:I just got through reading this. Are his other books pretty good too? I think I saw one of his other short story collections at the library, Collapse of Horses. Worth checking out? Absolutely.
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Sep 28, 2019 13:51
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:I just got through reading this. Are his other books pretty good too? I think I saw one of his other short story collections at the library, Collapse of Horses. Worth checking out? yeah collapse owns
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Sep 28, 2019 18:01
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chernobyl kinsman posted:yeah collapse owns 
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Sep 28, 2019 21:19
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Just finished Blackwater by Michael McDowell; enjoyed it although forgot I was reading a horror novel at times. Anyone have any thoughts on it? Thinking about trying The Elementals next.
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Sep 28, 2019 21:25
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General Ledger posted:Just finished Blackwater by Michael McDowell; enjoyed it although forgot I was reading a horror novel at times. Overall I'm intrigued by it, but am also finding it kind of padded. But since I haven't finished it yet, perhaps it will come together more for me as it progresses.
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Sep 28, 2019 21:46
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General Ledger posted:Just finished Blackwater by Michael McDowell; enjoyed it although forgot I was reading a horror novel at times. it was the BotM this time last year
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Sep 29, 2019 00:44
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starfish was disappointing  it had a great first half but then just didn't really go anywhere with it. and it set up this amazing character-driven psychological horror scenario and then just didn't follow through on that at all either. it all just kind of fizzled out!
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Sep 30, 2019 02:31
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i just read "The Troop" and quite enjoyed it. ghastly body horror, s where the writing was most evocative. is Cutter's other novel "The Deep" worth a go? also i read and quite enjoyed Fritz Leiber's "Our Lady Of Darkness", even if the character seemed kind of like Frasier Crane. the paranormal events in it are very compelling and unnerving, especially everything to do on the hilltop.
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Sep 30, 2019 06:01
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alf_pogs posted:i just read "The Troop" and quite enjoyed it. ghastly body horror, s where the writing was most evocative. is Cutter's other novel "The Deep" worth a go? The deep is good, so is little heaven. He tends to like pretty object horror that is more visceral and descriptive based. Also you might have noticed that his endings tend to be no one really wins which is a nice touch. His writing tends to revolve around how sometimes theres no winning option. Or a sacrifice is needed to return to the norm but not end the evil.
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Sep 30, 2019 09:02
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Wounds trailer is out. Can I post it here or should it go TVIV?
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Sep 30, 2019 15:47
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Bilirubin posted:Wounds trailer is out. Can I post it here or should it go TVIV? Oh poo poo, I saw a poster for that, is it based on the Balingrud book?
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Sep 30, 2019 17:41
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