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fauna
Dec 6, 2018


Caught between two worlds...
phantoms was good because the cute dog was directly involved in the most memorably horrific scene

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Everyone
Sep 6, 2019

by sebmojo

fauna posted:

phantoms was good because the cute dog was directly involved in the most memorably horrific scene

That... is true. Granted that I can't recall the "memorable" scene in question, I accept as a horror axiom the idea that any time something cute leads to something horrific, it's a good thing for horror.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Anyone in here read Caitlin R Kiernan? Because I finished the Drowning Girl yesterday and it's not horror, but it doesn't really fit into any other thread here. It's haunting me. The imagery and mood of it was just devastating and I keep thinking about it.

Also I don't know if I've ever seen an author insert not one but two full short stories into a work before and they're seamless.

Xotl
May 28, 2001

Be seeing you.
I really enjoy her writing. She's someone who understands how to make a Mythos story work, with a strong voice of her own.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


StrixNebulosa posted:

Anyone in here read Caitlin R Kiernan? Because I finished the Drowning Girl yesterday and it's not horror, but it doesn't really fit into any other thread here. It's haunting me. The imagery and mood of it was just devastating and I keep thinking about it.

Also I don't know if I've ever seen an author insert not one but two full short stories into a work before and they're seamless.

I too liked Drowning Girl, and have a copy of The Ape's Wife and Other Stories in the to read pile.

a foolish pianist
May 6, 2007

(bi)cyclic mutation

StrixNebulosa posted:

Anyone in here read Caitlin R Kiernan? Because I finished the Drowning Girl yesterday and it's not horror, but it doesn't really fit into any other thread here. It's haunting me. The imagery and mood of it was just devastating and I keep thinking about it.

Also I don't know if I've ever seen an author insert not one but two full short stories into a work before and they're seamless.

Agents of Dreamland was an excellent horror novella, and I enjoyed both Black Helicopters and Dear Sweet Filthy World (albeit a bit less than Agents). She's got some real horror talent.

pospysyl
Nov 10, 2012



StrixNebulosa posted:

Anyone in here read Caitlin R Kiernan? Because I finished the Drowning Girl yesterday and it's not horror, but it doesn't really fit into any other thread here. It's haunting me. The imagery and mood of it was just devastating and I keep thinking about it.

Also I don't know if I've ever seen an author insert not one but two full short stories into a work before and they're seamless.

I'm a big fan of her short fiction, less so of her novels and novellas. I did read The Drowning Girl and I thought the passages where the protagonist's gamer girlfriend taught her about Halo were pretty funny.

GladRagKraken
Mar 27, 2010

StrixNebulosa posted:

Anyone in here read Caitlin R Kiernan? Because I finished the Drowning Girl yesterday and it's not horror, but it doesn't really fit into any other thread here. It's haunting me. The imagery and mood of it was just devastating and I keep thinking about it.

Also I don't know if I've ever seen an author insert not one but two full short stories into a work before and they're seamless.

I thought The Red Tree was great, you might want to check that out, too

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

I have the Red Tree and almost every other novel she's written, and I've got a few short story collections arriving in the mail soon. Kiernan's writing really, really impressed me and I want to devour all of it.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



I loved Agents of Dreamland, and I liked Black Helicopters, but I wish they hadn't tried to make them into a pseudo-series after the fact (they, in this case, probably being the publishers rather than Kiernan). If I hadn't gone into Black Helicopters expecting what I got from Agents of Dreamland I think I would have liked it better.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

MockingQuantum posted:

I loved Agents of Dreamland, and I liked Black Helicopters, but I wish they hadn't tried to make them into a pseudo-series after the fact (they, in this case, probably being the publishers rather than Kiernan). If I hadn't gone into Black Helicopters expecting what I got from Agents of Dreamland I think I would have liked it better.

Oh in that case I'll read it instead of waiting for Agents of Dreamland to arrive. Thanks!

Also y'all should be aware that she has a new novella up for preorder at this small horror press.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



StrixNebulosa posted:

Oh in that case I'll read it instead of waiting for Agents of Dreamland to arrive. Thanks!

Also y'all should be aware that she has a new novella up for preorder at this small horror press.

I mean, I think it now does explicitly reference some things from Agents of Dreamland (someone who's read it more recently would have to double-check me on this). If I understand it correctly, Black Helicopters was written well before Agents of Dreamland, but either didn't get picked up or got picked up for a limited run, then after Agents of Dreamland was released and was pretty well received, Black Helicopters was slightly re-written (there's at least one chapter that Kiernan said was written shortly before the release) to fit in the same world/storyline.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

MockingQuantum posted:

I mean, I think it now does explicitly reference some things from Agents of Dreamland (someone who's read it more recently would have to double-check me on this). If I understand it correctly, Black Helicopters was written well before Agents of Dreamland, but either didn't get picked up or got picked up for a limited run, then after Agents of Dreamland was released and was pretty well received, Black Helicopters was slightly re-written (there's at least one chapter that Kiernan said was written shortly before the release) to fit in the same world/storyline.

Looking through my copy of Black Helicopters in the back Kiernan explains that she wrote it in 2012, then added scenes, then added one more scene that only occurred to her after Agents of Dreamland. How much of this was publisher mandate I have no idea and I doubt we'll ever find out.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



StrixNebulosa posted:

Looking through my copy of Black Helicopters in the back Kiernan explains that she wrote it in 2012, then added scenes, then added one more scene that only occurred to her after Agents of Dreamland. How much of this was publisher mandate I have no idea and I doubt we'll ever find out.

Ultimately it doesn't matter, they're both good. I think one of the added scenes is kind of unnecessary but interesting, other than that it's a good read.

chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat
im reading starve acre and its still very atmospheric but it seems to be an improvement over devil's day and the loney in that things actually happen

remigious
May 13, 2009

Destruction comes inevitably :rip:

Hell Gem

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.

Sorry I’m a few pages behind, but I just finished Hex as well and found it kind of offputting and tonally strange. Also the sentence “she was a nice girl, didn’t wear make up” pissed me off to probably an unreasonable degree.

chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat
it's not good

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



It's one of those books where I really liked the concept and on paper should have loved the book, but the actual execution wasn't very good and the ending in particular was a huge mess. I love the idea of some kind of ghost or horrific thing just existing in a small town and everybody sort of dealing with it, and how that would go in a world that's terminally online, but ultimately the book didn't handle that idea very well. I don't think I hated it as much as a lot of people but I'm not sure it's one I'll ever come back to.

Everyone
Sep 6, 2019

by sebmojo

MockingQuantum posted:

It's one of those books where I really liked the concept and on paper should have loved the book, but the actual execution wasn't very good and the ending in particular was a huge mess. I love the idea of some kind of ghost or horrific thing just existing in a small town and everybody sort of dealing with it, and how that would go in a world that's terminally online, but ultimately the book didn't handle that idea very well. I don't think I hated it as much as a lot of people but I'm not sure it's one I'll ever come back to.

If you like that sort of thing, you might want to check out Binscomb Tales by John Whitbourn.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Finished Black Helicopters. I need to read that again. I loved it. That is everything I love in a strange story. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to read a story where the supernatural elements in it are real, so to speak, and there are sci-fi elements and it's so hosed up in the right ways. I hope Agents of Dreamland is as good, because drat.

Traxis
Jul 2, 2006

Has anyone read Adam Nevill's new book, The Reddening? Last Days was okay but I didn't enjoy The Ritual so I'm on the fence.

chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat
starve acre is really good. hurley's best by far. also 260 small pages so a very quick read.

ravenkult
Feb 3, 2011


Am I the only one convinced that The Ritual was a novella that he was forced to expand into a novel? It's just two different books smashed into one.

C2C - 2.0
May 14, 2006

Dubs In The Key Of Life


Lipstick Apathy
Anyone read the collection A Mountain Walked? Just stumbled across it on Amazon and it's got some heavy-hittters contributing (Ligotti, Keirnan, Gaiman, et al)

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Finished Agents of Dreamland, loved it loved it. I think I love Black Helicopters more because there's more to chase around in my head there, but god what a perfect duology, they're X-Files episodes but if X-Files was actually deadly serious about the horror and conspiracy instead of more interested in short stories about 90s weird things. Which is cool, don't get me wrong I like X-Files, but I have always wanted more and these two books are IT.

Also I looked up the author's twitter, which directs you to her livejournal of all things, and I found this:

quote:

"I began work on The Tindalos Asset on June 13th, 2017, almost two years ago. I have no idea why this one took me so long. It will be published by Tor.com, the third book in the trilogy that began with Black Helicopters and Agents of Dreamland. It is a very loose sequel to both. I'm guessing it will be out sometime in 2020. There's still a lot of editing to be done.

The "final" word count on the ms. is 41,928, and that will easily go to 42k or even 43k after editing. Unless I cut something big. It's a considerably longer novella than either of its predecessors. For comparison, Agents of Dreamland came in at only 23,186 words and the expanded "final cut" of Black Helicopters that Tor published came to 37,891 words. So, yeah. It's longer."

So I am thrilled, mostly because I know it will answer nothing and I will devour it eagerly.

unpacked robinhood
Feb 18, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Are you supposed to be able to piece together wtf happens in Black Helicopters because I sure did miss a lot of things.
Why do we get a chapter on someone attacking a Mars colony with a biological weapon ? Do I care about Whitsby and her weird experiment reuniting a twin into a single body, did this even happen ? What's with the stream of consciousness guy shooting snuff in a hotel ?

unpacked robinhood fucked around with this message at 11:49 on Nov 24, 2019

the_enduser
May 1, 2006

They say the user lives outside the net.



You had me at X-Files.

I'm checking these out immediately.

Edit: lol after playing a ton of Death Stranding, checking the synopsis of Agents of Dreamland, I see Signalman and I'm definitely :getin: now

the_enduser fucked around with this message at 12:40 on Nov 24, 2019

MeatwadIsGod
Sep 30, 2004

Foretold by Gyromancy

Tertius Oculum posted:

You had me at X-Files.

I'm checking these out immediately.

Edit: lol after playing a ton of Death Stranding, checking the synopsis of Agents of Dreamland, I see Signalman and I'm definitely :getin: now

There's also a Charles Dickens short story by that name and it's excellent

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

unpacked robinhood posted:

Are you supposed to be able to piece together wtf happens in Black Helicopters because I sure did miss a lot of things.
Why do we get a chapter on someone attacking a Mars colony with a biological weapon ? Do I care about Whitsby and her weird experiment reuniting a twin into a single body, did this even happen ? What's with the stream of consciousness guy shooting snuff in a hotel ?

Yes and no. You've given just enough information to make a semi-coherent picture and it's great. I need to reread it to pick up all the bits I missed beforehand.

As to your questions:

- Because that someone is the White Queen, and she is once again being pursued by the Egyptian, it's meant to show that the cycle has not stopped. Also that biological weapon is a sample of what happened in Maine, so she's basically trying to restart that.
- Yes, of course you care, this is how the White Beast becomes the White Queen. It's the culmination of both Ivoire and Bete, and a fascinating consequence of everything in Maine. Did it even happen? gently caress if I know.
- Snuff TV man meets the White Queen, but honestly these were the most confusing parts of the novel so I can't answer this completely until I reread it a few more times.

e: Oh and as for what the White Beast/Queen actually IS, uh, aside from a powerful psychic/font of chaotic power, I'm not sure. Important, yes.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer
I... huh. I need to re-read those.
Anything similar in theme but a tad more coherent out there?

ThePopeOfFun
Feb 15, 2010

Just read Clive Barker's Hellbound Heart. Id link it, but :filez:

I thought this one was great. Everyone knows Hellraiser, but it's worth a read anyways. Horror rooted in human nature is always better imo. Like, the characters cannot help but to bring the horror upon themselves/others, and are then helpless against it.

The good stories make you afraid because the characters are you, if your stops gave out/failed.

Anyways, Clive chat a couple pages ago got me to read this one.

Pistol_Pete
Sep 15, 2007

Oven Wrangler
Just finished John Lindqvist's 'I'll Always Find You' and, well, that was a chilly and uncomfortable read. It's highly autobiographical and Lindqvist claims in the book that everything he's writing about actually happened. This means that you're never sure where the truth ends and the fiction begins and you're left with the unsettling feel that rather more of it is accurate then you'd like.

Lindqvist writes his best when he's drawing on the grim experiences of his early life and there's a horrible authenticity to the events that he describes.

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord
How is the first book in that series, "I Am Behind You"?

Pistol_Pete
Sep 15, 2007

Oven Wrangler
It's well worth reading but lacks the rawness of I'll Always Find You. The narrator of the later book is basically an older Oskar who never got to meet Eli: lonely, isolated and embittered. Let The Right One In was itself highly autobiographical and it's jarring to see some of the characters and locations from that novel reappearing in a book that the author assures us is completely true this time.

I am Behind You is a bit more Twilight Zone: you can read it as an enjoyable supernatural thriller without having to squirm through the author's unflinching accounts of screwing up his relationships or getting arrested for shoplifting (I found these harder to read than the horror bits lol).

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

"They are afraid of us. They were already old when those rocks were mud and slime, and they are terrible, but they are as afraid of us as we are of dying."

Threshold doesn't have the zing of Drowning Girl or the tor novellas but it's real good anyways and I'm getting close to the end and getting real worried for every character in this thing

chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat
here's something odd

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


Big sale on
https://pspublishing2.com/?fbclid=IwAR1OiPoYkAZiACzfWm_EVlI3Ig5Pbczt2RAMnKS93Tqx6kMvK5HJ0cgfEzo

fauna
Dec 6, 2018


Caught between two worlds...
i'm dreaming of a ligotti family christmas

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord

fauna posted:

i'm dreaming of a ligotti family christmas

Everyone shivering in separate corners of the dining room, yelling incoherently with tear-filled eyes unfocused, and a jester marionette dancing on the dinner table?

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chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat

fauna posted:

i'm dreaming of a ligotti family christmas

tree nonsense

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