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value-brand cereal
May 2, 2008

IIRC from the sci fi thread, they mentioned 9/11 broke Simmon's brain and he went off the rails, much like many other notable authors. Anyways. I don't read too much scifi but I think some of these may be horror / scifi blended enough to be intriguing?

Stranded by Bracken MacLeod
Arctic scifi horror. It reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode, the kind where Rod finishes it with going 'well wasn't that hosed up and unfortunate. Haha well good night folks!'

Constance by Matthew FitzSimmons
Kinda softcore scifi that's more like 'hey this is basically modern times albeit without covid and with some technological fuckery'. More mystery than horror, but there are some horror / paranormal aspects to it.

Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
A good ol plague on space ship novel.

Armageddon House by Michael Griffin
Still not sure what to make of this, but it was interesting enough. Imagine that bunker from LOST but something cosmic horror-y is going on. Or is it?! Dun dun dun.

The Breach by M. T. Hill
Parasite horror, if the cover doesn't clue you in. More modern day sci fi rather than 30XX years into the future.

Frozen Hell by John W. Campbell Jr.
The original manuscript for the The Thing movie. If you watched the movie it may be boring to you. I thought the novel had enough variation and wasn't a one to one adaption, to keep my interest in it.

Oh! And while it's not scifi, Dark Matter by Michelle Paver is some historical arctic horror.

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remigious
May 13, 2009

Destruction comes inevitably :rip:

Hell Gem

Bonaventure posted:

i thought the humor sucked the life out of the otherwise compelling premise, every character talked like they were in a fuckin joss whedon show

Yeah I couldn’t finish it :(

RestingB1tchFace
Jul 4, 2016

Opinions are like a$$holes....everyone has one....but mines the best!!!

anilEhilated posted:

Yeah, don't ruin your experience of Simmons by any reading more of his stuff. Hyperion particularly becomes retroactively worse with each sequel you read.
Oh, and he's a shithead.

Anyhow, if you like sci-fi horror, my go-to recommendation is Unto Leviathan/Ship of Fools by Richard Russo.

Oh, I didn't mind The Rise of Hyperion or the Endymion books. None even close to the level of Hyperion. And yeah....I unfortunately have heard about Simmons being a shithead.

Adding recs to list.

Flaggy posted:

The Last Astronaut.

Will add to list.

Kerro posted:

I really really liked The Terror and to a lesser extent, Abominable but they are very heavy in detail about their respective settings and focus (Arctic exploration and travel, and mountaineering respectively) so if you don't have an interest in those aspects they're possibly a bit of a slog. They're my favourite of his however.

I liked 'The Terror'. The historical fiction stuff that he's written is not bad depending on what you pick up. I thought 'Illium' was pretty solid if it weren't for the concluding part, 'Olympos' being mostly trash. 'Drood' was 100% a slog. Zero reason for that book to have clocked in at nearly 800 pages.

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



I just assumed Drood was a doorstopper to fit with the whole Dickens thing.

Blindsight by Peter Watts is more scifi than horror but it’s certainly horrific and has horror elements ; one of the characters is a god drat vampire. His short story The Things is also good if you wanted a cute alternate take on The Thing. Both of those are free with a quick google.

Annihilation et al if you somehow missed those.

Like fully half of Charles Stross’s stuff has scifi and horror elements.

You could try The Deep and settle a thread debate from pages ago on if there are in fact dick bees in that. (I swear there are, I’m not losing my mind.)

Huh, I thought I had more than that off the dome. This is usually my jam. I’ll think about and see what pops out.

Good Citizen
Aug 12, 2008

trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump
No matter the answer, the thread title should be updated to confirm or deny the existence of dick bees

Also for sci-fi horror I can again recommend the hematophages if you can go in knowing the ending sucks

Also Times of Trouble as a time travel focused horror short story collection I really enjoyed

Good Citizen fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Apr 5, 2022

Fire Safety Doug
Sep 3, 2006

99 % caffeine free is 99 % not my kinda thing
Dick beads??

SniperWoreConverse
Mar 20, 2010



Gun Saliva
The things was ab interesting take but I really dislike the end pretty completely

Mighty Eris
Mar 24, 2005

Jolly good show, eh old man?

Xiahou Dun posted:

You could try The Deep and settle a thread debate from pages ago on if there are in fact dick bees in that. (I swear there are, I’m not losing my mind.)

I regret to inform you that I have searched through the book for every mention of bees, and there are no dick bees.

HOWEVER, the book does say

They came quickly after that. From my arms and legs and neck and cheeks. From my toes and thighs and buttocks and a few very small specimens from the thin vein-strung flesh of my scrotum.

In summary, bee is stored in the balls.

Good Citizen
Aug 12, 2008

trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump
General Horror Thread - I regret to inform you there are no dick bees

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



Mighty Eris posted:

I regret to inform you that I have searched through the book for every mention of bees, and there are no dick bees.

HOWEVER, the book does say

They came quickly after that. From my arms and legs and neck and cheeks. From my toes and thighs and buttocks and a few very small specimens from the thin vein-strung flesh of my scrotum.

In summary, bee is stored in the balls.

Ah! That's what I must have been thinking of.

Sorry, thread. For confusing what part of the male genitals, in specific, demon bees emerged from, I am ashamed.

Skyscraper
Oct 1, 2004

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming



Mighty Eris posted:


In summary, bee is stored in the balls.

:v:

UwUnabomber
Sep 9, 2012

Pubes dreaded out so hoes call me Chris Barnes. I don't wear a condom at the pig farm.
Brian Lumley loving loves invincible creatures trapped underground as a punishment for being naughty.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Shitstorm Trooper posted:

So I guess I could talk about Necroscope here instead of the What Did You Just Finish thread. I finished the first one today and started the second and I said to myself "These are fun. How many of them are there?"



This is absurd. How many of these do I actually read? Should I stick to the Necroscope series itself or should I just give up on that at some point too?

I just answered this in that thread because I haven't read this one in a while, but to copy myself: it's like Dune. Read in chronological order till you hit one you think is bad then stop. For me personally that was The Lost Years volume 1; the decline is steep from there. But the original five and the Vampire World trilogy all have some good stuff in.

And yes, Lumley likes immuring as a punishment for immortal regenerating creatures. Let's face it, though, it's about the only way to deal with a creature like that if you want it put in a position where you don't want it dead.

UwUnabomber
Sep 9, 2012

Pubes dreaded out so hoes call me Chris Barnes. I don't wear a condom at the pig farm.

Jedit posted:

And yes, Lumley likes immuring as a punishment for immortal regenerating creatures. Let's face it, though, it's about the only way to deal with a creature like that if you want it put in a position where you don't want it dead.

I was thinking about this earlier. I have a copy of The House of Cthulhu kicking around here somewhere because my friend died while I was borrowing it from him. I'm pretty sure Cthulhu buries an intruder into Rlyeh in a landslide so he can kill him without getting out of bed.

I'm starting to really like this rogues gallery of dead antagonists commenting on the ongoing events of the story, too. I was gonna miss Thibor a lot.

Chas McGill
Oct 29, 2010

loves Fat Philippe
I pre-ordered a medieval horror anthology with Buehlman, Evenson et al in it. Can anyone recommend horror novels set in the middle ages (or earlier)? Doesn't matter where in the world they are.

DurianGray
Dec 23, 2010

King of Fruits

Chas McGill posted:

I pre-ordered a medieval horror anthology with Buehlman, Evenson et al in it. Can anyone recommend horror novels set in the middle ages (or earlier)? Doesn't matter where in the world they are.

I'm only about halfway through it myself, but The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington is a medieval horror with supernatural stuff (witches, demons, etc.) in a similar vein to Between To Fires by Buehlman (which I assume you've already read, but if not, definitely read it).

Chas McGill
Oct 29, 2010

loves Fat Philippe
Nice, it looks extremely dark. Yeah I really liked Between Two Fires.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


Chas McGill posted:

I pre-ordered a medieval horror anthology with Buehlman, Evenson et al in it

Yo, name this one

hopterque
Mar 9, 2007

     sup

Chas McGill posted:

I pre-ordered a medieval horror anthology with Buehlman, Evenson et al in it. Can anyone recommend horror novels set in the middle ages (or earlier)? Doesn't matter where in the world they are.

What's this collection called? I LOVED Between Two Fires and I'd be interested in some more stuff

DurianGray
Dec 23, 2010

King of Fruits
https://twitter.com/HOWL_Society/status/1512575944229154817?t=7gp2_z3Kr49ebqsIf9cLXg&s=19

This one I'm pretty sure. Looks like Buehlman is maybe just doing an introduction and not an actual story though?

Chas McGill
Oct 29, 2010

loves Fat Philippe
Yep that's the one. Pity he doesn't have a story in it, but I'm totally on board with medieval horror so I'm looking forward to it.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


Sweet, it’s only $4 too.

UwUnabomber
Sep 9, 2012

Pubes dreaded out so hoes call me Chris Barnes. I don't wear a condom at the pig farm.
$4? Yeah I'll preorder that. I found a copy of Between Two Fires too.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


I'm most of the way through North American Lake Monsters and drat. I'm not sure I fully get all of these but they're so beautifully written that I don't mind. How was Monsterland? Seems like it got mixed reviews and I can see how alot of the really good stuff wouldn't necessarily translate off the page too well

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Chas McGill posted:

Nice, it looks extremely dark. Yeah I really liked Between Two Fires.

BTW if you really liked Between Two Fires check out The Son of the Morning by Mark Alder. It's not horror but it is angels and demons in the 100 years war. Also English class satire?


Opopanax posted:

I'm most of the way through North American Lake Monsters and drat. I'm not sure I fully get all of these but they're so beautifully written that I don't mind.

I read Wounds and liked it a lot, but some of these NALM stories just seem to end without any kind of resolution or closure. Specifically the werewolf one, the nazi horse killer one, and the Antarctica one I don't need to have everything explained or tied up neatly, but it feels like some of these stories are missing a couple of pages, so abrupt is the ending.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


zoux posted:


I read Wounds and liked it a lot, but some of these NALM stories just seem to end without any kind of resolution or closure. Specifically the werewolf one, the nazi horse killer one, and the Antarctica one I don't need to have everything explained or tied up neatly, but it feels like some of these stories are missing a couple of pages, so abrupt is the ending.

I kind of dig it, it's like all these big stories are happening but the book focuses on these smaller pieces. I particularly liked it in the Werewolf one, but I think it has more of a point there. It's all about this misplaced aggression and him trying to feel like an Alpha male in a world that is constantly beating him down in ways he can't fight back on, so he finally bucks up his courage and goes to face this thing and try to erase his mistake, but it's too late by then.

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



zoux posted:



I read Wounds and liked it a lot, but some of these NALM stories just seem to end without any kind of resolution or closure. Specifically the werewolf one, the nazi horse killer one, and the Antarctica one I don't need to have everything explained or tied up neatly, but it feels like some of these stories are missing a couple of pages, so abrupt is the ending.

I would die on the hill defending those endings.

Generally, I dislike those kinds of endings where it just suddenly stops and there's not even an effort to show that it's a purposefully abrupt conclusion, but the endings on those do a great job of underlining the themes of the stories and how they're snap-shots of episodic nihilism and futility.

I'd argue that a big part of the whole collection is showing that the gribblies and spook-'em-ups aren't the scary part, and it's actually how humans are terrible and we live in a giant pointless morass of pain where our actions mean nothing and can do nothing.. Having more traditional endings would cut this off at the knees.

Big Mad Drongo
Nov 10, 2006

Opopanax posted:

I kind of dig it, it's like all these big stories are happening but the book focuses on these smaller pieces. I particularly liked it in the Werewolf one, but I think it has more of a point there. It's all about this misplaced aggression and him trying to feel like an Alpha male in a world that is constantly beating him down in ways he can't fight back on, so he finally bucks up his courage and goes to face this thing and try to erase his mistake, but it's too late by then.

Xiahou Dun posted:

I would die on the hill defending those endings.

Generally, I dislike those kinds of endings where it just suddenly stops and there's not even an effort to show that it's a purposefully abrupt conclusion, but the endings on those do a great job of underlining the themes of the stories and how they're snap-shots of episodic nihilism and futility.

I'd argue that a big part of the whole collection is showing that the gribblies and spook-'em-ups aren't the scary part, and it's actually how humans are terrible and we live in a giant pointless morass of pain where our actions mean nothing and can do nothing.. Having more traditional endings would cut this off at the knees.

Yeah for Wild Acres in particular, which was one of my favorites, the werewolf is the one that directly caused the pain but it's ultimately small potatoes to the forces that are actually running/ruining his life and fighting back against it rather than digging deeper was never going to have a satisfying end. I would also argue that the book's overall theme is people lashing out against the injustices of modern life/capitalism specifically rather than life as a whole but that may be because I was reading a bunch of Ligotti around the same time and Ballingrud is downright hopeful compared to Ligotti.

Also in remembering the name of the story I found a take that the MC "becomes" the werewolf himself when he confronts his wife's co-worker which... well, I think that's stretching the metaphor to its breaking point but I can at least see where they're coming from.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Well I could do with some drat less metaphors and some more pirate feasts in the broken open skull of a colossal dead angel!!!

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


Big Mad Drongo posted:


Also in remembering the name of the story I found a take that the MC "becomes" the werewolf himself when he confronts his wife's co-worker which... well, I think that's stretching the metaphor to its breaking point but I can at least see where they're coming from.

I think it’s more that that’s supposed to be his “triumphant” moment, fighting back against the guy being an rear end in a top hat and a creep, but instead it just makes him look like a lunatic and makes everything worse, and once the adrenaline passes it deflates him even more.

Overall the stories seem to be about rejecting traditional masculinity and traditionally masculine people trying to deal with that and reconcile life in these worlds of wonder and terrible things.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



zoux posted:

Well I could do with some drat less metaphors and some more pirate feasts in the broken open skull of a colossal dead angel!!!

Seriously I didn't realize how badly I wanted "horror-flavored historical fiction" until reading "The Butcher's Table" and Between Two Fires. I'm looking forward to that anthology somebody linked, give me more of that straight into my veins.

Big Mad Drongo
Nov 10, 2006

zoux posted:

Well I could do with some drat less metaphors and some more pirate feasts in the broken open skull of a colossal dead angel!!!

It's incredible how that whole book was firmly "okay but not as good as NALM, kind of a sophomore slump of short stories" and then you get to The Butcher's Table and suddenly holy poo poo! gently caress yeah! YEAH!

UwUnabomber
Sep 9, 2012

Pubes dreaded out so hoes call me Chris Barnes. I don't wear a condom at the pig farm.


These vary from comedy to horror and several places in between. I've read them before but I am so ready.

Edited because I noticed the huge bag of weed in the picture.

UwUnabomber fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Apr 12, 2022

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


Fantasticland is on sale today. Haven't read it yet (because I've been waiting for a sale) but it's come up favourably in the thread before

Good Citizen
Aug 12, 2008

trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump

Opopanax posted:

Fantasticland is on sale today. Haven't read it yet (because I've been waiting for a sale) but it's come up favourably in the thread before
This definitely seems like my jam and the price is right, so I grabbed and it put it next in my reading queue after my current read. Will report back soonish

Shitstorm Trooper posted:



These vary from comedy to horror and several places in between. I've read them before but I am so ready.

Edited because I noticed the huge bag of weed in the picture.

repost the nugs

UwUnabomber
Sep 9, 2012

Pubes dreaded out so hoes call me Chris Barnes. I don't wear a condom at the pig farm.

Good Citizen posted:

repost the nugs



It's the corner of this, which I received as a tip.

Kerro
Nov 3, 2002

Did you marry a man who married the sea? He looks right through you to the distant grey - calling, calling..

value-brand cereal posted:

*stumbles into the thread in a daze* Hey y'all read Sundial by Catriona Ward. A lot of heavy themes like explicit domestic abuse, child abuse, animal cruelty / experimentation. If none of that is off putting, definitely dive in. It's REALLY good. She also wrote Rawblood if the name seems familiar.

Yeah just finished it and completely agree, it's really really good, probably one of the most enjoyable horror novels to me since The Fisherman. I realised partway through that it was the same author who wrote The Last House on Needless Street which I also liked a lot, though there is something about both books that I feel pretty uneasy about in its portrayal of trauma and the effects it can have. It's kinda a shame cos I did enjoy the plot twist in Sundial that she's focusing on the wrong daughter, but in terms of a realistic portrayal of trauma and the messaging in the book, in some ways it would have been much stronger if it finished a few pages earlier with the takeaway message being that it's the environment that you're exposed to that shapes who you are and how you behave, not some weird genetic trait that makes you a psychopath. If it had ended with Rob realising that there was no such thing as genetic markers for evil/psychopathy and that indeed her abusive husband was the problem, I feel that would have been a more solid resolution in many ways.

It's all kinda messy, but as a therapist who has worked with a lot of trauma and who has had plenty of mental health issues myself I feel really conflicted about these themes in horror. On the one hand, psychological horror is probably my favourite and I absolutely love stuff that blurs the line between reality and a character's internal perceptions if it's done well and particularly when it's used to explore themes like grief, trauma etc. At the same time it can feel kinda icky how it comes across, particularly when there's any sort of sense that characters with mental health struggles or trauma experiences are irreparably damaged by them or worse, become evil/bad people because of it.

All of that aside, I loved the book and the weird setting and the fact that in their own ways pretty much all of the characters were sympathetic and just doing their best in a godawful situation. Looking forward to checking out her other work now - Little Eve sounds super interesting as well.

Edit: ^^^ That's a solid tip

Kerro fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Apr 14, 2022

Bonaventure
Jun 23, 2005

by sebmojo
I thought Wounds was tremendous compared to North American Lake Monsters which I found stylistically tedious and thematically over-obvious, and I worry that the more favorable critical reception of the former will discourage Ballingrud from proceeding in the style he has developed.

the_american_dream
Apr 12, 2008

GAHDAMN
Probably a good a place to ask as any

Just finished the North American Lake Monsters story in NALM and I’m missing what actually happened. Over my head. Anyone mind explaining what the ending is supposed to mean?

the_american_dream fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Apr 15, 2022

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Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


the_american_dream posted:

Probably a good a place to ask as any

Just finished the North American Lake Monsters story in NALM and I’m missing what actually happened. Over my head. Anyone mind explaining what the ending is supposed to mean?

What I got was going back to the first story, that line “Do you think it’s possible for something beautiful to come out of an awful thing?”

He’s an rear end in a top hat who keeps screwing up. He wants to do better and be better but he also doesn’t know how to be anything else. The monster represents that, this horrible, awful thing that looks hideous and stinks and ruins everything around it, but then this beautiful lights comes out of it and makes him think He’s capable of something better.

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