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my library system doesn't have NALM so i got Wounds instead lmao, skullpocket i haven't enjoyed a piece of fiction so much in at least 25 years
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Nov 13, 2020 17:03
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FPyat posted:Is there any good apocalyptic/disaster/all-of-society-is-hosed-up horror? I find a horror story's predicament to be more unsettling if it endangers a larger number of people, the fear not being isolated to a cabin or location but ever-present - specifically, I have in mind the way an entire town is doomed in Junji Ito's Uzumaki. One thing that seems like it'll appeal to me is the podcast I Am In Eskew. There's Bird Box which focuses on a smaller group but has the whole world falling apart.
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Nov 13, 2020 18:01
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I just finished reading the atrocity archives and I like the idea of a series about a government agent who fights technological lovecraftian demons. What I didn’t like were the bad attempts at humor, the focus on humdrum office politics and bureaucracy, and the super outdated technology references - I’ll give that last one a pass cause the book is ~20 years old now, but it really pegs the story at a particular time. Is there a series that doesn’t have the above? Feels like lovecraftian stuff is mostly confined to short stories but I’d like to read a longer narrative about saving the world from other realms’ horrors.
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Nov 16, 2020 03:28
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Bonaventure posted:my library system doesn't have NALM so i got Wounds instead Wounds is cool as hell
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Nov 16, 2020 03:39
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ketchup vs catsup posted:I just finished reading the atrocity archives and I like the idea of a series about a government agent who fights technological lovecraftian demons. If you haven't already, read "colder war" by the same author. I skipped that series, but his short stories are usually quite good
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Nov 16, 2020 03:44
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ketchup vs catsup posted:I just finished reading the atrocity archives and I like the idea of a series about a government agent who fights technological lovecraftian demons. Sadly I don't but I'd love to hear if someone else does. I will say the books get much, much better about your critiques as they go on. The dumb nerd-humor sticks around for a bit but rapidly becomes more of Bob's coping mechanism and less of a thing. Also once he starts changing POV characters for uh reasons, it mixes it up a lot. The first books are specifically aping individual spy authors which is cute as an idea but kind of hamstrings the writing sometimes (except for Jennifer Morgue ; fight me). The old tech however only gets as good as when the book came out, because obvious reasons based on the linearity of time. The most recent book is in 2015 and it has, well, you know, tech circa 2015. It's a little unfair to criticize Pride and Prejudice for the lack of iPhones.
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Nov 16, 2020 03:50
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I finished North American Lake Monsters, which was excellent! Want to ask if Wounds is as, shall we say, despair-inducing and bleak or is it a different flavour of horror? Because NALM is excellent but it was such a heavy read
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Nov 16, 2020 05:33
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Artelier posted:I finished North American Lake Monsters, which was excellent! Want to ask if Wounds is as, shall we say, despair-inducing and bleak or is it a different flavour of horror? Because NALM is excellent but it was such a heavy read Its much less heavy and has a bit more of a fantasy structure to it. Its also good but different
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Nov 16, 2020 07:25
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Artelier posted:I finished North American Lake Monsters, which was excellent! Want to ask if Wounds is as, shall we say, despair-inducing and bleak or is it a different flavour of horror? Because NALM is excellent but it was such a heavy read Wounds is more Clive Barker
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Nov 16, 2020 15:19
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The Vosgian Beast posted:The titular story for Greener Pastures is the scariest story I've ever read. I don't know why it creeps me out on the level it does, but it really works on me. i've always been sort of fixated on the imagery of roadside gas stations in their little isles of light and this story hosed me up
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Nov 16, 2020 16:03
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Bilirubin posted:I just started The Road, not sure whether it would qualify as "horror" yet or not Nearly done and I can report there are some horror elements, and it is beautifully written. If you like postapoc lit this is it
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Nov 17, 2020 05:43
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Bilirubin posted:Nearly done and I can report there are some horror elements, and it is beautifully written. If you like postapoc lit this is it It's a good book. I remember I read the whole thing on one rainy day and then just like sat there and contemplated for a while.
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Nov 17, 2020 06:21
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Bonaventure posted:my library system doesn't have NALM so i got Wounds instead I thought I would hate skullpocket because it seemed kind of twee at first, but now it’s one of my favorite short stories!
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Nov 17, 2020 06:43
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remigious posted:I thought I would hate skullpocket because it seemed kind of twee at first, but now it’s one of my favorite short stories! It's a lovely heartfelt journey that has a nice payoff. It's extremely Clive Barker in tone, which I think works really well.
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Nov 17, 2020 16:31
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What's the consensus on the Southern Reach trilogy? I just finished Annihilation, and I liked it, but it felt a little too loose and meander-y, despite being so short. I'm always intrigued by "explore mysterious location" stories, but I don't know if I want to invest the time in two more books.
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Nov 17, 2020 17:13
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Lester Shy posted:What's the consensus on the Southern Reach trilogy? I just finished Annihilation, and I liked it, but it felt a little too loose and meander-y, despite being so short. I'm always intrigued by "explore mysterious location" stories, but I don't know if I want to invest the time in two more books. I really enjoyed the second book, even more than the first, but found the third kinda boring.
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Nov 17, 2020 18:15
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I really enjoyed all three, but agreed that the second is the best and the third is the weakest.
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Nov 17, 2020 18:21
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Hell I liked the third just as well as the second. They are all very different in narrative scope though so horses for courses
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Nov 17, 2020 19:16
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Huh, I assumed everyone liked the first one best. I enjoyed all three. There are some more fun reveals but they never get bogged down in explanation, which I appreciated.
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Nov 17, 2020 20:37
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With the second book, I thought the first two-thirds was the worst part of the trilogy but the last third or so was the best, truly a novel of contrasts.
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Nov 18, 2020 18:36
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Apologies for dropping in like this in a thread where I'm not a regular, but I'd like to invite everyone here to the 2020 TBB Secret Santa. The more, the merrier!
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Nov 20, 2020 23:15
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OK so I'm several stories into Books of Blood (all volumes are combined--these are the first from volume 1) and I have to post up. I've never read Clive Barker before but he's funny, engaging, sympathetic, entertaining, also loves him some gore and gross imagery. Protagonists are just as likely to persevere and survive just fine as die in gruesome, horrible ways. Usually both in sequential stories. After all of the psychological horror I've been reading this hits in the gut in just the right way. Really really enjoying this so far
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Nov 22, 2020 01:28
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Back in 1990 I wrote a poem for an assignment in high school that was me combining (ripping off) Pig Blood Blues with Scapegoats. It made no sense, but I thought I was being deep like only a 17 year old can. It ended up with me have a conference with my guidance counselor and the teacher who assigned it to make sure I was ok in the head. I don’t have a point telling that story except The Books of Blood opened up my young mind in so many ways. Love those volumes.
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Nov 22, 2020 02:14
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I wrote the above just after reading Pig Blood Blues in fact
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Nov 22, 2020 03:47
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Sham bam bamina! posted:Apologies for dropping in like this in a thread where I'm not a regular, but I'd like to invite everyone here to the 2020 TBB Secret Santa. The more, the merrier! my impulse to send someone some real weird poo poo is tempered by my hesitance to share my real address and name
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Nov 22, 2020 06:25
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Good Citizen posted:my impulse to send someone some real weird poo poo is tempered by my hesitance to share my real address and name I've done it before and it's pretty safe. You're not like doxxing yourself, just sharing the bare minimum of information for someone to send you a gift.
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Nov 22, 2020 09:35
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I have updated the rules. I don't think that there's a compelling reason to ask for people's real names, so that's been removed. Addresses are obviously necessary.
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Nov 22, 2020 20:46
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Bilirubin posted:OK so I'm several stories into Books of Blood (all volumes are combined--these are the first from volume 1) and I have to post up. I've never read Clive Barker before but he's funny, engaging, sympathetic, entertaining, also loves him some gore and gross imagery. Protagonists are just as likely to persevere and survive just fine as die in gruesome, horrible ways. Usually both in sequential stories. After all of the psychological horror I've been reading this hits in the gut in just the right way. Really really enjoying this so far There's a reason Barker was super huge in the 80s. When he had it, he had it.
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Nov 24, 2020 23:55
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Holy poo poo the short story Dread
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Nov 26, 2020 02:56
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https://twitter.com/alloy_dr/status/1330142369438715906?s=20
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Nov 26, 2020 16:30
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Does anyone know of any haunted house/ghost stories with a strong cosmic horror element?
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Nov 27, 2020 22:37
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Yesh posted:Does anyone know of any haunted house/ghost stories with a strong cosmic horror element? The House of Frozen Screams by Thana Niveau
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Nov 27, 2020 23:16
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Yesh posted:Does anyone know of any haunted house/ghost stories with a strong cosmic horror element? Seems you don't have PMs, but I actually published just such a story a few short weeks ago -- you can get it on a 'pay what you're feeling' basis from Smashwords if you're interested.
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Nov 28, 2020 14:26
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Bilirubin posted:OK so I'm several stories into Books of Blood (all volumes are combined--these are the first from volume 1) and I have to post up. I've never read Clive Barker before but he's funny, engaging, sympathetic, entertaining, also loves him some gore and gross imagery. Protagonists are just as likely to persevere and survive just fine as die in gruesome, horrible ways. Usually both in sequential stories. After all of the psychological horror I've been reading this hits in the gut in just the right way. Really really enjoying this so far Clive Barker is/was a very gifted writer. It's a bit of a contentious issue sometimes here on the forums but I personally think his short stories are way stronger than his novels. Books of Blood are dope. I just saw a film on Hulu called Books of Blood that's anthology horror but I don't recognize the stories as being from Clive Barker, are they? It was okay but only the first story was really strong IMO.
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Nov 28, 2020 23:15
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Zwabu posted:Clive Barker is/was a very gifted writer. It's a bit of a contentious issue sometimes here on the forums but I personally think his short stories are way stronger than his novels. Books of Blood are dope. i haven't seen it but from what i read it was in fact adapted from Barker's writing.
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Nov 30, 2020 01:01
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It's a podcast reading of a short story but I really enjoyed this: https://pseudopod.org/2020/11/27/pseudopod-733-late-sleepers/ If you'd rather just read it the full text is on the page as well.
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Nov 30, 2020 13:06
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Just read a bunch of Space Horror, here’s my reviews: Ship of Fools/Unto Leviathan: Extremely good. Satisfying ending, very creepy alien ship, a sexy priest. Very cool depiction of a generation ship. Also has several disabled characters in key roles, including the protagonist, if that kind of representation is your thing. Hull 03: Deeply strange, almost dreamlike, doesn’t really cohere into a narrative until the second half of the book. It all kind of made sense by then, but I’m not sure it was worth the wait. The Last Astronaut: Good story, creepy aliens, some gross body horror, and a satisfying mystery. Also a good side plot about the relationship between a near-bankrupt NASA and not-Elon-musk’s space company. I thought it was hurt by the framing narrative of the book being a retrospective documentary, just telling the story straight up would have been better. The Burning Dark: Apparently this is book 1 of a trilogy? The book was...fine. But that’s about it. There was a lot left unexplained, in a way that was more confusing than creepy. It seemed like there were some ideas that didn’t go anywhere, and the creepy-stuff scenes seemed disconnected from the rest of the book, the characters would wake up the next day and not seem really shaken by all the horror. Currently reading Blindsight, open to any recommendations that are about creepy poo poo in space. Basically anything that reminds you of event horizon.
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Dec 2, 2020 18:28
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Just finished White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi and really enjoyed it. Very slow paced and I think the first half could have been cut down significantly, but overall a good read. I've heard some people complain about the bluntly racist haunted house and the fact that it is one of the book's several narrators, but I think Oyeyemi does a good job weaving that element directly into the supernatural parts, which makes them stand out from fiction I've read with similar themes.
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Dec 2, 2020 20:00
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von Metternich posted:Just read a bunch of Space Horror, here’s my reviews: The Dry Salvages by Caitlin R Kiernan is short and kind of Event Horizon-y. I think you've otherwise hit all of the big ones, though, which bums me out. fake edit: wait I haven't read Salvation Day but I think that's another
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Dec 2, 2020 20:13
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von Metternich posted:Just read a bunch of Space Horror, here’s my reviews: I also like space horror so while I don't have much to add I'm glad you brought it up so I can see any others. (Blindsight owns, btw.) Not a book, but Pandorum is probably the best, recent sci-fi horror film around. It has problems but we only get so many entries in this niche genre so I will stan it to my dying breath.
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Dec 2, 2020 20:42
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