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I think it's a great book at that price.
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Oct 12, 2019 13:22
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snoremac posted:Is there any must-read Michael McDowell after Blackwater and The Elementals? I just read Cold Moon Over Babylon and found it paled in comparison, and the synopses of his other books don't seem that appealing. I liked Blood Rubies well enough, though I wouldn't call it a "must read".
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Oct 12, 2019 16:32
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Anyone read Scott Thomas and have any thoughts? I’m in the mood for haunted house books this Halloween season and Kill Creek and Violet both look interesting
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Oct 13, 2019 16:02
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While I loved Songs of a Dead Dreamer, I think Grimscribe is a mixed bag. There are individual stories I liked more than anything in SOADD (The Glamour, The Cocoons) but as a whole the collection is more plodding and same-y than the first book, and it became hard to remember where one story ended and the next began. I do want to read more of his stuff, but I need a little break (plus I want to read everything in chronological order, and most of his books are infuriatingly out of print and/or unavailable in ebook form.)
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Oct 13, 2019 21:11
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Bentley Little?
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Oct 14, 2019 01:09
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escape artist posted:Bentley Little? He's the quintessential midlist author. He's not pushing any boundaries but tends to tell a fun, if routine, story.
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Oct 14, 2019 01:31
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part of the everyday surrealist nightmare that is being ligotti must be the awareness that he is exactly the type of artist who becomes famous the moment he dies
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Oct 14, 2019 05:34
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I was reading a Ligotti interview where he mentioned Danny Gatton was one of his favorite musicians. You can imagine Ligotti listening to Penderecki or Schoenberg or whatever, but Gatton was an insanely talented, goofy country guitar virtuoso. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfBF4rr7FiA He was also famous for blowing his brains out.
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Oct 14, 2019 06:04
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Just read I'm Thinking of Ending Things in the course of two sittings tonight. Pretty good! It's clearly just a light thriller, but I think it's very well-crafted for what it does. I'm particularly impressed by the narrative voice; it does an excellent job foreshadowing the twist, which I picked up on fairly early on, just with the degree to which the narrator is a cipher vs. Jake being described in agonizing detail. The narrator is conspicuously nameless, has only sketchily-described "friends" and "work," and has next to no inner life or biographical details until the boundaries begin breaking down. She's a pitch-perfect fantasy girlfriend for a guy like Jake: smart enough to follow his conversations and find his work fascinating, but not smart enough to threaten him or have her own ideas that might contradict his. Like I think someone pointed out earlier in the thread, the detail where she needs him to gloss "smart" vocabulary words for him is spot-on, but so is the extended lab description sequences, where she just loves listening to his descriptions of his work and how smart he is by proxy. She's such a classic Manic Pixie Dream Girl, written with full awareness of how empty those characters are.
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Oct 14, 2019 11:13
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alf_pogs posted:just finished "The Inhabitant Of The Lake and Less Welcome Tenants" by Ramsey Campbell and its very enjoyable - but pretty meat and potatos weird Cthulhuverse fiction In his defense, those stories were all written when he was between the ages of 14 and 19! Owlkill posted:
Yes, Campbell wrote a lot of good stuff in the 70's and 80's, all set in the bleak, declining, post-industrial urban landscapes of the era. Lots of lonely protagonists trudging home in the dark, down streets of empty, condemned houses to their grim rented rooms, while something unspeakable (but strangely and horribly familiar) lurks behind them in the shadows.
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Oct 15, 2019 17:32
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Ornamented Death posted:He's the quintessential midlist author. He's not pushing any boundaries but tends to tell a fun, if routine, story. also almost all of his stuff has extremely weird sex poo poo
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Oct 17, 2019 20:02
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this is coming out this month and looks fun. ronald hutton is a legit academic who does a lot of work on british paganism, ancient and modern related is this record label im obsessed with atm. the aesthetic of all of their artists circle around weird 70s british PSAs and folk horror. the advisory circle, for example, has a record about how the english countryside is being manipulated and controlled by multidimensional machinery, and pye corner audio has one based in part on the Stone Tape (theory and film)
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Oct 21, 2019 22:42
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I just watched the Wounds movie, it was really bad
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Oct 21, 2019 23:24
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Traxis posted:I just watched the Wounds movie, it was really bad Can you expand on that take? I thought it wasn't perfect, but overall a really solid adaptation.
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Oct 22, 2019 18:19
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Lester Shy posted:While I loved Songs of a Dead Dreamer, I think Grimscribe is a mixed bag. There are individual stories I liked more than anything in SOADD (The Glamour, The Cocoons) but as a whole the collection is more plodding and same-y than the first book, and it became hard to remember where one story ended and the next began. I do want to read more of his stuff, but I need a little break (plus I want to read everything in chronological order, and most of his books are infuriatingly out of print and/or unavailable in ebook form.) I read My Work Is Not Yet Done right after SOADD and Grimscribe and it might be my favorite thing done by him. Also, Scrib'd has PDFs of pretty much everything Ligotti's done, including the X-Files episode screenplay. Lil Mama Im Sorry fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Oct 23, 2019 |
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Oct 23, 2019 00:56
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I’ve been reading I Am Legend for the first time and I kinda think it sucks. There’s some neat ideas in the concept, but it’s just bland writing about a desperate horny guy. Edit: are any of the other stories in the standard I Am Legend collection any good? Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Oct 24, 2019 |
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Oct 24, 2019 01:43
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doleful tom
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Oct 24, 2019 01:53
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Traxis posted:I just watched the Wounds movie, it was really bad Fire Safety Doug posted:Can you expand on that take? I thought it wasn't perfect, but overall a really solid adaptation. I just finished watching it, and only just read the story a couple weeks ago, so it's pretty fresh in my mind and I thought the movie was a pretty close adaptation. To the point that the bar scenes looked almost exactly how I imagined them looking when I was reading it. I remember someone here saying that they didn't like the main character, but I don't think you were expected to in the movie or the story. I think the thing I felt was it's biggest lacking from the story is that the other stories in the book seem to tie together in a pretty interesting and terrifying cosmology that you don't really get until the end, and there's nothing here to tie it back to that.
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Oct 24, 2019 03:12
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anilEhilated posted:No. Hellbound Heart is absolutely not just body horror. It rings more of a gothic ghost story that just so happens to be about a skinless escapee of some world of BDSM pleasures than anything else. It's far, far tamer than you might think it is (or remember it being). edit: And it's worth buying for a few quid, for sure. Drunken Baker fucked around with this message at 12:46 on Oct 24, 2019 |
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Oct 24, 2019 12:44
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Could be, I was like 14 when I read it.
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Oct 24, 2019 16:14
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Section 9 posted:I just finished watching it, and only just read the story a couple weeks ago, so it's pretty fresh in my mind and I thought the movie was a pretty close adaptation. To the point that the bar scenes looked almost exactly how I imagined them looking when I was reading it. I remember someone here saying that they didn't like the main character, but I don't think you were expected to in the movie or the story. I think the thing I felt was it's biggest lacking from the story is that the other stories in the book seem to tie together in a pretty interesting and terrifying cosmology that you don't really get until the end, and there's nothing here to tie it back to that. I just saw it, I'd agree with all of this.
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Oct 24, 2019 17:56
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Eleanor Scott's randall's round is very good if you like m. r. James and folk horror and have a high tolerance for early 20th century englishness
chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Oct 25, 2019 |
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Oct 24, 2019 21:32
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has anyone read the unfortunately titled we live inside your eyes?
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Oct 25, 2019 05:53
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I started lurking in this thread a few weeks ago, and it convinced me to read Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud. All I can say is it reminded me of how I felt after reading Clive Barker's Books of Blood for the first time as a teenager in the late 80's. The Butcher's Table is one of the best novellas I have ever read in my life. This was 100% my cup of tea. I am moving on now to his other collection, but I doubt it could touch what I just read. Also he is doing a reading at a book store that is 1.5 hours away from me this Halloween (he is from Asheville, NC). So tempted.
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Oct 28, 2019 22:35
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i finished Nick Cutter's The Deep the other day and enjoyed it immensely. it was less immediately satisfying than The Troop, but it's unrelenting in piling on mental pressure onto the few characters working their way through it. like, from start to finish, the characters have only a very, very slim chance that they're not completely boned. it all makes it a pretty crushing read. i've read a few online reviews being like "i wish this book was about the 'Gets, it's so interesting". but i'm glad it doesn't: it helps build up Cutter's universe as cruel beyond any measure we have of cruelty. and it helps establish a mood where Luke (the main character) is already second-guessing their mental state before they're dropped underwater. the dream-pools, the recurring horrifying bug imagery, the graphic and unsettling body horror - they're all great. the absolutely bleak hole he paints his characters into: also great. the chapter on the dog's death hit me in the same place the sea turtle scene from The Troop did. really rough stuff. anyway i guess i am all-in for whatever other stuff he writes. time to get Little Heaven on my christmas wishlist
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Oct 28, 2019 22:51
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nate fisher posted:I started lurking in this thread a few weeks ago, and it convinced me to read Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud. All I can say is it reminded me of how I felt after reading Clive Barker's Books of Blood for the first time as a teenager in the late 80's. The Butcher's Table is one of the best novellas I have ever read in my life. This was 100% my cup of tea. I am moving on now to his other collection, but I doubt it could touch what I just read. 
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Oct 28, 2019 23:14
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fauna posted:that one's my favourite 
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Oct 29, 2019 08:37
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I think Wounds, while very good, doesn’t hold a candle to the completely amazing North American Lake Monsters. But they’re very different in tone and scope and I could see someone enjoying Wounds more if the Clive Barker-ness is specifically what they enjoy about it. Has anyone read Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, edited by Ellen Datlow? It’s got a lot of new original short stories from Nathan Ballingrud and others like Paul Tremblay, which definitely caught my interest.
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Oct 29, 2019 14:36
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Are there any other books like Annihilation only good? I really like the style of someone writing about exploring someplace that's just wrong. The Navidson Record was the better part of House of Leaves and the SCPs about that are the best of them. Audiobooks would be preferred so I could listen in the car and at the gym.
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Nov 5, 2019 02:32
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Len posted:Are there any other books like Annihilation only good? I really like the style of someone writing about exploring someplace that's just wrong. The Navidson Record was the better part of House of Leaves and the SCPs about that are the best of them. Speaking of which, I just realized that there's a properly formatted eBook of the SCP archive: http://www.scp-wiki.net/ebooks
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Nov 5, 2019 03:06
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Len posted:Are there any other books like Annihilation only good? I really like the style of someone writing about exploring someplace that's just wrong. The Navidson Record was the better part of House of Leaves and the SCPs about that are the best of them. Roadside Picnic but I am not sure if in audiobook. Also I liked Annihilation 
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Nov 5, 2019 06:58
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Bilirubin posted:Also I liked Annihilation The book was decent, but I like the movie a lot more.
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Nov 5, 2019 09:10
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Yeah, there is a serious deadzone for that type of fiction it feels like. You would think it would have some more decent recommendations. Stuff like Rendezvous with Rama is out there but nothing super interesting that I know of.
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Nov 5, 2019 11:44
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I've been reading john ajvide lindqvist's "locations" trilogy. It has lots of weirdness but isn't quite what you are looking for. The 3rd isn't in english and I feel like it makes more sense to start with the second one tbh. edit: actually book 1 (i am behind you) is kind of what you are looking for. I still think it flows better if you read the second book first though.
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Nov 5, 2019 20:20
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Len posted:Are there any other books like Annihilation only good? I really like the style of someone writing about exploring someplace that's just wrong. The Navidson Record was the better part of House of Leaves and the SCPs about that are the best of them. the raw shark texts by steven hall the exploration is not the focus of the novel but a major plot point is the existence of something called the Unspace Exploration committee which searches out all the hidden nooks and crannies of the world also that books owns and the mood it creates is similar to HoL imo e: oh yeah and def roadside picnic
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Nov 5, 2019 20:24
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not a book but the lighthouse whips so hard oh my god
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Nov 5, 2019 20:24
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Looks like Grady Hendrix's books are on sale on US Amazon today, if anybody's interested. I feel like I have to give the caveat that you definitely should get Paperbacks from Hell in, well, paperback if you're going to get it. I think Horrorstor also loses a lot of what makes it unique in Ebook form too, but it's probably still a decent read. I personally wasn't blown away by My Best Friend's Exorcism but it's fine if you're into possession/exorcism stories. Haven't read We Sold Our Souls so I grabbed that in the sale.
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Nov 5, 2019 20:45
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chernobyl kinsman posted:not a book but the lighthouse whips so hard oh my god Wanna' see this. Might go check it out at the Sunday matinee
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Nov 6, 2019 06:54
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What are some literary sources that inspired or relate to The Lighthouse? It was hyped up with comparisons to Lovecraft, which is mostly a misguided comparison. I can see more inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson and some Algernon Blackwood, and it's hard not to think about Moby-Dick at points. Anyone else see any parallels to stories or authors? Eggers directly mentioned having studied the works of Sarah Orne Jewett, a Maine-based poet and novelist, and mentioned 'Tales of New England' and 'Strangers and Wayfarers', but those are mostly inspired by interviews and people she met. Not really horror or suspense. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Nov 6, 2019 |
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Nov 6, 2019 14:47
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One of the inspirations was the true story of the Lighthouse Tragedy of 1801, which took place off the west coast of Wales:"Smalls Lighthouse," Wikipedia posted:The old lighthouse brought about a change in lighthouse policy in 1801 after a gruesome episode. The two-man team, Thomas Howell and Thomas Griffith, were known to quarrel, so when Griffith died in a freak accident, Howell feared that he might be suspected of murder if he discarded the body into the sea. As the body began to decompose, Howell built a makeshift coffin for the corpse and lashed it to an outside shelf. Stiff winds blew the box apart, though, and the body's arm fell within view of the hut's window and caused the wind to catch it in such a way that it seemed as though it was beckoning. Working alone and with the decaying corpse of his former colleague outside Howell managed to keep the lamp lit. When Howell was finally relieved from the lighthouse the effect the situation had had on him was said to be so extreme that some of his friends did not recognise him. As a result, lighthouse teams were changed to rosters of three men, which continued until the automation of British lighthouses in the 1980s.
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Nov 6, 2019 18:53
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