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Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




Flaggy posted:

Its okay-ish, it seemed like airport fiction, the show wasn't half bad, but suffered in the 2nd season. But to be fair, thats just my opinion.

I watched the first 3 episodes and read so far about 20% of book 1 - airport fiction is right (almost literally), I kept thinking this was Tom Clancy writing a vampire book

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Lester Shy
May 1, 2002

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!
Speaking of Ballingrud, I finally finished Wounds today. Overall, it was pretty disappointing as a followup to NALM. Aside from "The Maw," none of the stories really grabbed me. Didn't help that I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator for Skullpocket was complete dogshit.

Fire Safety Doug
Sep 3, 2006

99 % caffeine free is 99 % not my kinda thing

Lester Shy posted:

Speaking of Ballingrud, I finally finished Wounds today. Overall, it was pretty disappointing as a followup to NALM. Aside from "The Maw," none of the stories really grabbed me. Didn't help that I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator for Skullpocket was complete dogshit.

Personally I prefer Wounds, I just love Ballingrud’s whole Hell mythos. The Butcher’s Table didn’t do it for you at all?

nate fisher
Mar 3, 2004

We've Got To Go Back

Fire Safety Doug posted:

Personally I prefer Wounds, I just love Ballingrud’s whole Hell mythos. The Butcher’s Table didn’t do it for you at all?

Me too. The Butcher’s Table is the best thing I have read in years. As I said before the whole collection reminded me of how I felt when I read Barker’s Books of Blood the first time back in the 80’s.

alf_pogs
Feb 15, 2012


I read Wounds first and I think I like it more. the blend of fantasy stuff surprised me but man The Butchers Table stuck with me hugely.

sucks to hear the narrator for Skullpocket was bad. I really liked the grim little world it built

Rolo
Nov 16, 2005

Hmm, what have we here?
Sounds like the general consensus is I should get Wounds if I liked most of NALM?

alf_pogs
Feb 15, 2012


Rolo posted:

Sounds like the general consensus is I should get Wounds if I liked most of NALM?

it's different but absolutely.

Tiny Timbs
Sep 6, 2008

I liked Wounds better than NALM because at the time I read them I was not remotely in the mood for the dreamy metaphors for the American condition in the latter and totally in the mood for the creepy hell skulls in the former.

Rolo
Nov 16, 2005

Hmm, what have we here?
I am definitely down for hell skulls.

I’m finishing Devils Creek today so I’m looking for what’s next. It was good, not amazing. It’s a fun easy read but I’m at the end of the book and I don’t really care much about any of the characters or the town.

I was much more invested when I read Hill House, The Shining or The Elementals. Finishing those was bittersweet, this one not as much.

Thom and the Heads
Oct 27, 2010

Farscape is actually pretty cool.

Fallom posted:

I liked Wounds better than NALM because at the time I read them I was not remotely in the mood for the dreamy metaphors for the American condition in the latter and totally in the mood for the creepy hell skulls in the former.

Well I'm sold

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord
Yeah like, even if you don't like one of the collections as much as the other, they're both still Ballingrud which puts than head and shoulders above a lot of stuff

There were a couple stories from NALM that made me sob on a deep existential level (a lot of that was thanks to Nathan's prose) - The Monsters Of Heaven and The Good Husband. I hope either of those are done justice in the new show.

Robot Wendigo
Jul 9, 2013

A friend recommended The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. I like his writing style but the animal stuff may stop me from reading much more of it.

escape artist
Sep 24, 2005

Slow train coming

Robot Wendigo posted:

A friend recommended The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. I like his writing style but the animal stuff may stop me from reading much more of it.

How bad is it? That's all I hear about when this book is brought up

Robot Wendigo
Jul 9, 2013

escape artist posted:

How bad is it? That's all I hear about when this book is brought up

Not sure what constitutes a spoiler, but to be safe The level of cruelty in a hunting trip is what sets up the revenge aspect of the novel, which is something I wish I'd known before I started reading. The details of the hunt are disturbing--dying pregnant animals, knives being shoved into deceased young animal's mouths, that sort of thing. . I also had to skip parts of Kafka On The Shore for similar reasons. I'm probably not going to continue with it.

ravenkult
Feb 3, 2011


So the last few GBS ghost threads haven't really worked out and generally sucked. But would a PYF creepypasta (*shudder*) thread be interesting? I like to delve into r/nosleep once a year and pick out some decent, more subtle than usual stories, if there's interest I can make a thread.

the_enduser
May 1, 2006

They say the user lives outside the net.



Always down for r/nosleep gems, haven't been there in years but I remember the last cool one was that mold town series. Thought it was pretty cool.

E: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1yimq3/infected_town/

drat it's been 6 years

the_enduser fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Aug 10, 2020

Len
Jan 21, 2008

Pouches, bandages, shoulderpad, cyber-eye...

Bitchin'!


the_enduser posted:

Always down for r/nosleep gems, haven't been there in years but I remember the last cool one was that mold town series. Thought it was pretty cool.

E: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1yimq3/infected_town/

drat it's been 6 years

My fiancee linked me to this before we started dating. Apparently it actually got an ending at some point? https://www.reddit.com/r/vainercupid/comments/a85h3u/infected_town_the_complete_saga/


ravenkult posted:

So the last few GBS ghost threads haven't really worked out and generally sucked. But would a PYF creepypasta (*shudder*) thread be interesting? I like to delve into r/nosleep once a year and pick out some decent, more subtle than usual stories, if there's interest I can make a thread.

There was this one recently that kind of fizzled out, i would for sure follow either this or a new one if something got made.

edit: it helps to add the link
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3934061

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant
There was a really fun reddit or 4chan poster talking about secret experiments and flesh portals a few years back, in completely unrelated threads.

Was some cool meta-horror story and I wonder if it ever resolved because a bit after Stranger Things came out and it was all fleshportals.

uber_stoat
Jan 21, 2001



Pillbug

FilthyImp posted:

There was a really fun reddit or 4chan poster talking about secret experiments and flesh portals a few years back, in completely unrelated threads.

Was some cool meta-horror story and I wonder if it ever resolved because a bit after Stranger Things came out and it was all fleshportals.

flesh interfaces:kheldragar:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9MOTHER9HORSE9EYES9

immolationsex
Sep 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW I ENJOY RUINING STEAK LIKE A GODDAMN BARBARIAN
I checked this out. The writing on the first dozen or so entries is pretty bad, but it picks up quickly, so don't let that be the thing that makes you drop it.

unpacked robinhood
Feb 18, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Is it compiled somewhere ? I'm really not down scrolling through reddits ui.

e: found this

unpacked robinhood fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Aug 13, 2020

Thom and the Heads
Oct 27, 2010

Farscape is actually pretty cool.
Finished Wounds today. Good poo poo, loved it. Thanks to everyone who recommended it. Enjoyed all of the stories but The Maw, The Butcher's Table and Skullpocket are probably my top 3. Reading NALM next.

PawParole
Nov 16, 2019

read all of bob lemans stories, and I particular loved Window and Instructions.

does anyone have a horror novel that are like those two stories?

Anyone?

Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




I finished the strain book 1 and cannot remember a more poorly paced story.

I’m also watching season 1 of the series and it’s much better then the book.

Thom and the Heads
Oct 27, 2010

Farscape is actually pretty cool.

Thom and the Heads posted:

Finished Wounds today. Good poo poo, loved it. Thanks to everyone who recommended it. Enjoyed all of the stories but The Maw, The Butcher's Table and Skullpocket are probably my top 3. Reading NALM next.

I finished North American Lake Monsters last night. I liked it a lot - I think Wounds is definitely the better collection but I think The Good Husband might be the most affecting story I read out of the two.

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord

Thom and the Heads posted:

I finished North American Lake Monsters last night. I liked it a lot - I think Wounds is definitely the better collection but I think The Good Husband might be the most affecting story I read out of the two.

That story is incredibly heartbreaking. Both collections end on incredibly strong notes.

escape artist
Sep 24, 2005

Slow train coming
Anyone read Gateways to Abomination or Creeping Waves?

I really like the Leeds universe

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


escape artist posted:

Anyone read Gateways to Abomination or Creeping Waves?

I really like the Leeds universe

Yeah loved Gateways. Also recently read If it Bleeds. I like what he does

escape artist
Sep 24, 2005

Slow train coming

Bilirubin posted:

Yeah loved Gateways. Also recently read If it Bleeds. I like what he does

Check out Creeping Waves. It's the follow-up to Gateways and is similar in style, but at least twice as long. Follows up on a lot of the ideas started there.

escape artist
Sep 24, 2005

Slow train coming
new John Langan short story collection dropped

ravenkult
Feb 3, 2011


I'm trawling r/nosleep but it feels like the direction the sub has taken plus a new influx of wannabe fiction writers had made stories a whole lot worse. Most of the titles sound like Buzzfeed articles (I found an old book and you won't believe what happened next!) and whenever a story gets mildly popular it spawns 500 copycats.

Anyway I'm compiling a few to post but it's mostly middling stuff.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



ravenkult posted:

I'm trawling r/nosleep but it feels like the direction the sub has taken plus a new influx of wannabe fiction writers had made stories a whole lot worse. Most of the titles sound like Buzzfeed articles (I found an old book and you won't believe what happened next!) and whenever a story gets mildly popular it spawns 500 copycats.

Anyway I'm compiling a few to post but it's mostly middling stuff.

I'd say the thread idea could expand to creepypasta and internet horror phenomena in general, but I honestly don't know if there is much of that these days, it feels like that all peaked about 10 years ago (dear god, 10 years).

Goldskull
Feb 20, 2011

ketchup vs catsup posted:

Is The Strain series worth reading? Wondering if I should read them before watching the series.

Like others say, it literally is airport fiction, I read the first two flying back & forth to the US about 9 years ago. Can't remember the first one having pacing issues but they're easy to read and far better than the lovely TV series which I gave up on in season 2.

Ariza
Feb 8, 2006
I saw it mentioned somewhere in this thread, so I bought The Cipher. God, that book is disgusting. Not the horror so much, just everyone in it and how they live and treat each other.

Anyone get Adam Cesare's new book? I bought it on Audible and quickly realized that I hate teenagers. Going to try to make it through the prologue again tonight, but I'm wondering if it's worth bothering with.

Ornamented Death
Jan 25, 2006

Pew pew!

Ariza posted:

Anyone get Adam Cesare's new book? I bought it on Audible and quickly realized that I hate teenagers. Going to try to make it through the prologue again tonight, but I'm wondering if it's worth bothering with.

I got it, but haven't started it yet. You know it's a YA book, right? The teens aren't going away.

Ariza
Feb 8, 2006

Ornamented Death posted:

I got it, but haven't started it yet. You know it's a YA book, right? The teens aren't going away.

I know. I just got excited. I think I'd be fine with it in book form so I'll probably just buy it on Kindle. The lady reading just does a really good job being a teenager. I've listened to plenty of YA audiobooks and this was the first one I've turned off in a long time.

uber_stoat
Jan 21, 2001



Pillbug

Ariza posted:

I saw it mentioned somewhere in this thread, so I bought The Cipher. God, that book is disgusting. Not the horror so much, just everyone in it and how they live and treat each other.


i have no idea if this is true but I get the sense that all the people in that book are based on real people the author knew. which makes it even more horrible and/or funny.

Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




Goldskull posted:

Like others say, it literally is airport fiction, I read the first two flying back & forth to the US about 9 years ago. Can't remember the first one having pacing issues but they're easy to read and far better than the lovely TV series which I gave up on in season 2.

I am 30% through book 3 and nearing the end of season 3 of the show.

The books are bad, but the show, while trashy, is lots of fun. Doing them together has been instructive too, in the ways stories get warped to fit different mediums.

EDIT: finished season 3 of the show, the story choices they made for TV make it MUCH better than the books. season 3 ends at roughly the same place as the end of book 2.

Edit 2: the strain tv show absolutely nailed the ending. Highly recommended.

Fate Accomplice fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Sep 3, 2020

the_enduser
May 1, 2006

They say the user lives outside the net.



Nothing new but I recently got a copy of an anthology book called Lost Signals edited by Max Booth III I guess. Deals with spooky radios and signals. Not all gold but some really good ones in here. I think I just dig the creepy signal stuff. I'm only a third way through so it all may end up poo poo but so far not terrible. Some decent cosmic spookies.

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ravenkult
Feb 3, 2011


Let me know what you think of Darkhorse Actual.

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