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Xiahou Dun posted: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.) It has been a while since I've read it but from what I remember Hull 03 is pretty similar in tone to Pandorum. von Metternich posted:Just read a bunch of Space Horror, here’s my reviews: I also just finished this and I agree that the framing device didn't really add anything to the plot. Also it could have used less traveling around scenes where almost nothing happens. Something I did find funny about the book is how one chapter ends with the NASA guy going "Alright, you need to train these three people to actually be astronauts!" and then the book just skips all the training and just goes straight to the crew in space.
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Dec 2, 2020 22:09
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von Metternich posted:Currently reading Blindsight, open to any recommendations that are about creepy poo poo in space. Basically anything that reminds you of event horizon. Check out Obscura by Joe Hart
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Dec 2, 2020 23:04
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Traxis posted:Check out Obscura by Joe Hart haven't read this so can't offer an opinion but i just looked it up on amazon and the ebook is 99 cents and you can get the audiobook with it for $1.99.
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Dec 2, 2020 23:08
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Seconding the Obscura recommendation, also the best space horror-adjacent movie is Sunshine
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Dec 3, 2020 01:35
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I picked up Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims. He's the guy who writes the horror podcast The Magnus Archives so I slam bought his first novel when I saw it dropped. I'm a slow reader and only in chapter three but so far it sounds like it's going to be a spooky haunted apartment book?
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Dec 3, 2020 04:21
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szary posted:Seconding the Obscura recommendation, also the best space horror-adjacent movie is Sunshine Sunshine is excellent space horror, definitely recommended.
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Dec 3, 2020 21:16
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Traxis posted:Check out Obscura by Joe Hart Alright it was .99 cents so I'm cool with that. I'm spending too much on Kindle books. I bought some more Paul Tremblay and an Ellen Datlow anthology for my vacation to the mountains and I just ended up reading John Dies At The End and it's sequel. I should pick up the third one but drat my backlog now!
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Dec 4, 2020 15:04
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I finished T.E. Grau's "The Nameless Dark". Overall quite good. I was consistently impressed with his ability to voice such varied and colorful characters, and fill out the setting so quickly. Tubby's big swim: probably my favorite story in this book. Great story and great characters The screamer: really good lovecraft-inspired work. Not sure if the physical/environmental events/disasters add much though. I think I would have preferred it all to be purely psychological Clean: super uncomfortable, but still good. Billy felt written a little too mature? Which is the point, maybe, but compared to Alden from tubby, it felt off. Return of the prodigy: very fun b-movie romp Expat: felt really obvious from the start, along with the author constantly noting how silent they were and how they avoided touching anything, etc., every couple lines. Standard conceit, sub-par execution. The truffle pig: fine, I guess. I'm not really a fan of turning historical events into some kinda conspiracy. Haven't introspected enough to quite say why. I initially thought it was going to be all made up in the character's head, and I do enjoy reading about someone's descent into madness, but it didn't really go there. I was genuinely surprised the protagonist was a woman (which now that I think of it, isn't an uncommon theory) so props to the author. Beer & worms: excellent. Sets the bait then reels you in. White feather: decent swashbuckler with a lovecraftian twist. I had some trouble finding the setting, especially temporally, at the start. Which was unusual since the rest of the stories are quite good at it. Ending fell a little flat. Mr. Lupus: Fun take on fairy tales, just in time for Christmas, too. Was a little too long and winding I guess, but far from the worst story in the book, imo Free fireworks: fine. Very warhammer 40k Love songs from the hydrogen jukebox: good up until the ending, where it just became kooky. I guess I can pretend the ending was just the guy drugged out of his mind Twinkle, twinkle: okay. It should've ended with him getting the call back, or done something similar to Tremblay's "It’s Against the Law to Feed the Ducks". Really didn't need the omniscient cutaway to boring ol tentacles. The mission: eh, didn't like it. Felt stuffed with too many references and weird racism. The action scenes were really weak/poorly written, which is unforgivable for a western
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Dec 5, 2020 02:49
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Traxis posted:Check out Obscura by Joe Hart Got through this one today, it was quite good, thank you! The second Blindsight book was not as good, unfortunately.
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Dec 6, 2020 07:30
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Finished Growing Things by Paul Tremblay and God drat dude can write. It's all very grandiose but not like, in a lovely, forced way. It's not overwrought. All the stories are excellent except the dog walkers one, that one got a bit self-indulgent. I guess I'll start on Obscura.
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Dec 9, 2020 13:52
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Untrustable posted:Finished Growing Things by Paul Tremblay and God drat dude can write. It's all very grandiose but not like, in a lovely, forced way. It's not overwrought. All the stories are excellent except the dog walkers one, that one got a bit self-indulgent. I guess I'll start on Obscura. I liked the dog walkers one, yeah it's self indulgent but I also thought it was really funny. If every story in the book had been written like that it would probably be insufferable but as a standalone I think it works. Unrelated, I just finished The Wise Friend by Ramsey Campbell and really enjoyed it. It's not essential or anything but I'm a sucker for stuff with witchcraft and the occult. I know I've read some short stories of his, but I believe that was the first novel. What other novels of his are worth checking out?
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Dec 9, 2020 14:44
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I also read Obscura based on the recommendations. I liked it overall but I was expecting it to be more of a metaphysical horror rather than psychological. Mainly based on the weird way the people on the station were acting.
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Dec 23, 2020 18:06
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Read The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand and James A Moore and it's basically Jurassic Park with a lot more violence and spooky monsters instead of dinosaurs. It's definitely got some serious B movie vibes with the too snappy dialogue and some silly set piece sequences but if you're looking for a horror adjacent splatterfest rollercoaster ride then you could do a lot worse.
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Dec 23, 2020 23:53
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Just finished The Immeasurable Corpse of Nature and it was pretty perfect imo if you’re the kind of depressed person that can only find comfort in getting more depressed. It’s a nice little mix of your NALM / Wounds grief & trauma horror with Thomas Ligotti’s cosmic pessimism (but slightly more mournful in contrast to Ligotti’s coldness). I think it really excelled at dodging some of the more whiney philosophy 101 pitfalls that’s inescapable in a lot of horror lit/weird fiction that’s become popular post-True Detective season one.
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Dec 24, 2020 03:05
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Good Citizen posted:Read The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand and James A Moore and it's basically Jurassic Park with a lot more violence and spooky monsters instead of dinosaurs. It's definitely got some serious B movie vibes with the too snappy dialogue and some silly set piece sequences but if you're looking for a horror adjacent splatterfest rollercoaster ride then you could do a lot worse. Lil Mama Im Sorry posted:Just finished The Immeasurable Corpse of Nature and it was pretty perfect imo if you’re the kind of depressed person that can only find comfort in getting more depressed. It’s a nice little mix of your NALM / Wounds grief & trauma horror with Thomas Ligotti’s cosmic pessimism (but slightly more mournful in contrast to Ligotti’s coldness). I think it really excelled at dodging some of the more whiney philosophy 101 pitfalls that’s inescapable in a lot of horror lit/weird fiction that’s become popular post-True Detective season one. Snapping both of these up from the library right now because that's exactly what I want during the holidays. Thanks!
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Dec 24, 2020 03:28
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Just finished The Hollow Places by Ursula Vernon/T Kingfisher. I enjoyed it quite a bit though it's similar to her previous The Twisted Ones. The Twisted Ones sprung out of Machen's The White People and this comes out of Algernon Blackwood's The Willows. A woman takes care of her uncle's crazy homemade museum and discovers a portal to a....place. It's more of a mood piece than anything and the narrator may not be for everyone. But it's a quick, run read. Spite fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Dec 31, 2020 |
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Dec 31, 2020 04:42
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I'm tempted to read it because I love Blackwood, but I did not like The Twisted Ones at all. It felt like she wanted to write a love letter to this deeply weird, fascinating early horror story but did it in the most bland, straightforward way (with, imo, a very grating main character). It felt like a book with a lot of potential, but it just never got close to paying any of it off. Does The Hollow Places have the same problems? I think a lot of my issues might boil down to Kingfisher/Vernon's writing style in general. This may be selling her short, but The Twisted Ones read, to me, like she didn't quite succeed in making the jump from writing kids/YA books. It just reads as very shallow.
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Dec 31, 2020 06:55
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I'm halfway through the new John Langan and it's pretty good, but I don't know if it's gonna magically appeal to people who aren't fans of his, mostly cause I don't understand the criticisms. And as a side bonus he has stories not set in the Hudson Valley for a change. (He still has some, but they're more like references and not literally the whole setting.)
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Dec 31, 2020 07:24
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Xiahou Dun posted:I'm halfway through the new John Langan and it's pretty good, but I don't know if it's gonna magically appeal to people who aren't fans of his, mostly cause I don't understand the criticisms. Honestly the criticism I hear most often of Langan, and one I'd agree with, is just that he's pretty inconsistent in quality, and I don't know that I'd disagree. When his stories land, they land hard, but he has a fair few that are just kind of... there. Not like that's unusual for horror short story collections, though. That said, I haven't read The Fisherman and I know that was divisive.
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Dec 31, 2020 07:32
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MockingQuantum posted:Honestly the criticism I hear most often of Langan, and one I'd agree with, is just that he's pretty inconsistent in quality, and I don't know that I'd disagree. When his stories land, they land hard, but he has a fair few that are just kind of... there. Not like that's unusual for horror short story collections, though. O yeah sure. I click with his writing so I might be upping it a letter grade, but it's variable like any author's works. There's certainly some much better stories than others. I just was referencing that there are people in the thread who've said they don't like him and letting them know the new book won't magically convert them cause it's more of the same. Which is cool and good and everyone has a license to different tastes. (Although I loving love The Fisherman but I admit to horrific bias since it takes place in my home region so I might be wearing the largest rose-colored glasses ever made.)
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Dec 31, 2020 07:56
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My girlfriend got me this for Christmas: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49121739-miscreations So far I really loved 'One Last Transformation' by Josh Malerman. My Google is failing me is there anything else by this author I should check out?
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Dec 31, 2020 13:34
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Bird Box is his most famous work; Netflix made a movie based on it. It's decent, and there's a sequel.
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Dec 31, 2020 15:56
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Is anybody writing throwback 80's movie style horror novels? I've read Final Girls and Camp Ghoul Mountain whatever, and neither were really what I'm looking for, assuming what I'm looking for even exists. Basically I'm looking for somebody who is doing what Puppet Combo is doing, only in novel form rather than games. Campy, self-referential, but still genuinely scary homages to peak 80s horror.
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Jan 1, 2021 00:51
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My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, maybe?
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Jan 1, 2021 01:03
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MockingQuantum posted:Is anybody writing throwback 80's movie style horror novels? I've read Final Girls and Camp Ghoul Mountain whatever, and neither were really what I'm looking for, assuming what I'm looking for even exists. Adam Cesare may be writing what you're looking for.
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Jan 1, 2021 01:04
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Traxis posted:My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, maybe? I've read it, but yeah that's in the same ballpark. Ornamented Death posted:Adam Cesare may be writing what you're looking for. I knew there was someone doing that sort of thing, I just couldn't remember his name and search wasn't turning up anything. Thanks!
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Jan 1, 2021 01:18
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MockingQuantum posted:Is anybody writing throwback 80's movie style horror novels? I've read Final Girls and Camp Ghoul Mountain whatever, and neither were really what I'm looking for, assuming what I'm looking for even exists. It wasn't perfectly up my street but Creatures is a bunch of short stories that might scratch your itch. It's got the one Clive Barker I like. Unfortunately I vaguely remember another a book that would be even better but can't recall it. All I remember is the opening chapter had chupacabres and it's probably in a box from my last like 4 moves.
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Jan 1, 2021 08:31
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MockingQuantum posted:Is anybody writing throwback 80's movie style horror novels? I've read Final Girls and Camp Ghoul Mountain whatever, and neither were really what I'm looking for, assuming what I'm looking for even exists. Bunny by Mona Awad doesn't quite match what you're looking for but it's in the ballpark, sort of in the same way Heathers is adjacent to Scream
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Jan 1, 2021 11:07
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MockingQuantum posted:Is anybody writing throwback 80's movie style horror novels? I've read Final Girls and Camp Ghoul Mountain whatever, and neither were really what I'm looking for, assuming what I'm looking for even exists. Maybe 'Scapegoat' by Adam Howe/James Newman
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Jan 1, 2021 17:20
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Enough time has passed that I’m rereading Worlds of Hurt and I’m getting just as much out of it now as I did before. Really fantastic writing.
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Jan 3, 2021 21:58
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I read Ghost Story by Paul Tremblay and I liked it a lot
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Jan 4, 2021 02:35
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Phi230 posted:I read Ghost Story by Paul Tremblay and I liked it a lot But not enough to get the title right  I kid, I kid.
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Jan 4, 2021 04:01
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm tempted to read it because I love Blackwood, but I did not like The Twisted Ones at all. It felt like she wanted to write a love letter to this deeply weird, fascinating early horror story but did it in the most bland, straightforward way (with, imo, a very grating main character). It felt like a book with a lot of potential, but it just never got close to paying any of it off. I found the (2) main characters in this book annoying as hell and I don't know why the author went down this path. The Hollow Places could have been an excellently creepy book but it's horribly marred by having protagonists who seem to have wandered in from a sitcom. Having these two stumble through an alien world having 'wacky' exchanges and amusing domestic mishaps sure is an interesting way to build atmosphere. And yeah, it was all just a bit 'young adulty', too, like the author didn't want to go all in on the horror but keep it diluted with more reassuring stuff, so as not to unsettle the readers too much. I give the Hollow Places 3 stars for effort, minus 1 star for awful protagonists and minus another star for screwing up the atmosphere.
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Jan 4, 2021 16:44
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Traxis posted:My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, maybe? Speaking of Grady Hendrix I liked We Sold Our Souls. Also, nonfiction but Paperbacks from Hell is a fun read, it's about the horror novel boom of the 70s and 80s. Going over how trends changed over time and talking about notable examples.
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Jan 5, 2021 18:59
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm tempted to read it because I love Blackwood, but I did not like The Twisted Ones at all. It felt like she wanted to write a love letter to this deeply weird, fascinating early horror story but did it in the most bland, straightforward way (with, imo, a very grating main character). It felt like a book with a lot of potential, but it just never got close to paying any of it off. Yup you probably won't like it then. The main character is effectively the same person in both. You can tell they were written by someone who spends too much time on the internet and has appropriated "quirky" as their personality.
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Jan 5, 2021 22:49
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Ornamented Death posted:But not enough to get the title right Lol I got my stuff confused. Ghost Story by Peter Straub
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Jan 6, 2021 04:14
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I think Joe Hill's novels (with the exception of NOS4A2) are poo poo, but his shorter stuff usually shines. If you have Amazon Prime, his collection of 4 novellas, Strange Weather is free to read right now. I thought all 4 were solid. I guess I'll move on to Obscura or something. I keep putting that book off for some reason. Also, I've read a lot of Paul Tremblay and I'm wondering if I should read Survivor Song or Cabin At The End Of The World next. Recently finished Disappearance at Devil's Rock and drat that book gets heavy. Head Full of Ghosts definitely #1 Tremblay for me, but I really liked the stories in Growing Things as well. Edit: Anyone have thoughts on Adam Cesare? I've never read them but Clown in a Cornfield is a helluva title. It's a top seller in teen and young adult country life books though...so is it YA garbage or actually good? Untrustable fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Jan 10, 2021 |
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Jan 10, 2021 14:55
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Its not bad, but not nearly as good as his other stuff (Cesare).
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Jan 10, 2021 17:05
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Finally started North American Lake Monsters, only a few stories in so far but holy poo poo 
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Jan 26, 2021 17:47
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I read Brian evenson's "Solution"; it's fun and topical. That it's a little pulp-ier and longer than his other short stories makes it, from personal experience, perfect bathroom reading material
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Jan 31, 2021 00:15
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