|
I'm reading Michael MacDowell's The Amulet, the audiobook, and it's pretty great Oops, lovely snipe. It's really creepy and I think I might like it a little more than the Elementals. Help a goon out! Lots of books - horror, nonfiction, classics and more for sale.
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2022 14:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 07:11 |
|
|
The Amulet is much better imo. McDowell is great at writing a particular brand of awful old southern woman that is super accurate. Anytime Jo talks you just wanna reach into the book and strangle her.
|
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2022 15:24
|
|
|
The Best of Richard Matheson ebook has been on sale for very cheap. I bought it on my nook for $3. Seems like amazon has it too
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2022 08:22
|
|
|
SEX HAVER 40000 posted:i just finished devolution and it was completely Fine. it somehow didn't include any of the things that make isolated-community type stories interesting? like, the characters are too broad--there's not really any interplay or sharing of skillsets aside from "somehow the lovely husband is suddenly a handyman" and "the foodies have good knives". it just seems like it's meant to be hammered out into a screenplay more than anything. exciting, though. Weeks late, but how does he "turn into a handyman"? He's like, lifting things and stuff. That's not a transformation, that's just like, doing basic poo poo. But yeah, the characters are paper thin to the point of being all but non-existent. If you hang out with enough boomer and late gen X hippies you'll see some very specific stereotypes in there but that's all it is. They're puddle-deep and only exist to move the action forward, but at least Brooks is being honest about it and the action is decent.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2022 17:41
|
|
|
Read The Grip of It and I can't remember the last time I disliked a book as much as this. Very minimal horror elements, the increasingly stream of consciousness writing style was annoying and the main characters were both flat as hell. Did anyone read it? Have a positive opinion on it?
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2022 11:20
|
|
|
Shaman Tank Spec posted:Read The Grip of It and I can't remember the last time I disliked a book as much as this. Very minimal horror elements, the increasingly stream of consciousness writing style was annoying and the main characters were both flat as hell. I don't remember much of it, which probably speaks to how much I liked it, but my vague recollection was similar to yours, where I felt it lost the thread toward the end and I started skimming a bit. I wouldn't say it's the worst thing, but it didn't really do much for me. A few unsettling beats but that's it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2022 15:18
|
|
|
Felt like rereading Carrier Wave the other day and got up to the end of the chapter in the Costco (just before the first pig chapter) and decided ‘the world is just like this forever now’ ~THE END~ and book is good
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2022 16:40
|
|
|
Just finished Jawbone by Monica Ojeda, translated from Spanish by Sarah Booker. Great, great book, probably my favorite I've read this year. It's much more literary than I expected picking it up, but it definitely has the goods. Basically, it's cosmic horror where the ancient unknowable evil is women's bodies and puberty.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2022 22:02
|
|
|
Halfway through We Are Here To Hurt Each Other; loving it! It’s very Clive-Barker-meets-Poppy-Z-Brite so far which is my jam. Any reccos for The Puppet King and Other Atonements? It’s a pretty frequent suggestion via Amazon; most of my Kindle stuff swings from Ligotti to Langan to Ballingrud.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2022 01:04
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:I've got a few chapters left in The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. Never heard of this book before so I looked it up and it’s based on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sylvia_Likens  The gently caress is wrong with people 
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2022 05:45
|
|
|
MLSM posted:Never heard of this book before so I looked it up and it’s based on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sylvia_Likens O her. Yeah that's not a fun wikicrawl. Whole thing is just a giant trap for curious people. You will gain nothing of value, it's just a long list of hosed up poo poo referencing other hosed up poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2022 05:53
|
|
|
MLSM posted:Never heard of this book before so I looked it up and it’s based on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sylvia_Likens This is standard Ketchum stuff.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2022 16:24
|
|
|
Hello, horror thread. This yea'rs TBB Secret Santa is on, and I invite all here to participate. It went excellently last year, with horror being noticeably represented among the gifts received, and I'd love to see a repeat!
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2022 00:04
|
|
|
Xiahou Dun posted:O her. The coolest part is how little punishment all of them caught for this.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2022 04:27
|
|
|
The Amulet was awesome. I liked it more than the Elementals although I can see how the Elementals is the more popular of the two. I did both of these in audiobooks and they were fantastic.
Help a goon out! Lots of books - horror, nonfiction, classics and more for sale.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2022 18:16
|
|
|
I finished Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. I know it's a bit more of a thriller than horror, but I feel like so much of the novel is built on dread and the violence and the almost supernatural aspects of the Red Dragon killer push it into horror. Either way, it was an excellent book.SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:The coolest part is how little punishment all of them caught for this. This makes adapting the story into a novel even more complicated. The crimes in the book are more gruesome than was was detailed in the trial, but the novel also has a greater punishment for the characters and their crimes. But yeah, the actual adult woman in charge of all of it got released because she was a "reformed Christian woman". Even though she denied the crimes originally by saying she was a "good Christian woman". escape artist posted:The Amulet was awesome. I liked it more than the Elementals although I can see how the Elementals is the more popular of the two. I did both of these in audiobooks and they were fantastic. I'm halfway through the audiobook for The Amulet. I put it on while doing chores and I listened for 5 straight hours. It's been fun so far. Jo is awful. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Nov 7, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2022 19:15
|
|
|
I read a handful of books for spooky season, and here's what turned out. The Color Out of Time: I'm mixed on this one, mostly because of how it misses the thematic mark as sequel to the original story. It feels kind of small and reductive to go from an unknowable, weird lifeform to something petty and vengeful. I enjoyed the dynamic between the over-the-hill professors and a bunch of normie campers who reject their attempts to harsh their good times with facts and figures. Our protagonists are absolutely sloshed with alcohol throughout the story, so I think it's with good reason that everyone dismisses them as cranks in the lead up to a climactic showdown. As a pastiche, it rings authentic, except for the inclusion of a woman as a protagonist! TLDR: we live in a society Fellstones: Ramsey Campbell's latest is familial abuse as horror. It's a real slow burn of a weird tale and it really drags in the middle. But I also think that's kind of the point with a protagonist suffering from arrested development. Ghost Story: I think at the time this was meant to be a modernization of the classic ghost story (ghosts are memories of guilt and trauma!), but in 2022 it's such a throw back. There's good stuff here for sure with lovely prose and a terrific job done of making the town a character in a story about generational trauma infecting an idyllic community. But in a story that explores the toxicity of masculine archetypes it really falls on it's face when the best solution is violence against women. Also those crimes and abuse against women that set up the story are totally fine because they were ghoulies. I watched the 1980s adapted film, and it's even worse in its theme because it doubled down on the woman scorned trope. I did actually enjoy that movie for it's amazing cast and old- school sensibilities, anyway. Something Wicked this Way Comes: I get why people balk at the florid prose, but this was such a pleasure to read. This is less of a throwback and more of a tour through an earlier time -- though admittedly idealized for it's innocence. My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror These were a blast to read. They're super exploitative and nihilistic, but still a great romp through neoliberalism run amok. Dracula: I revisited this with the Dracula Daily substack sending me emails for each journal entry date since last May. It just wrapped up today. Enough has been said about this book already, but I'll say if you've only ever seen movies there's lots of great stuff here that's never been adapted. Whale Vomit fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Nov 8, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2022 05:36
|
|
|
Just finished The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. What an utterly terrifying, atmospheric story. The detail of the region they were stuck in was incredible. It’s quite surreal when you realize this was written in 1907! I can see why this was Lovecraft’s favorite story. I think I’ll do The Wendigo next.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2022 20:23
|
|
|
MLSM posted:Just finished The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. What an utterly terrifying, atmospheric story. The detail of the region they were stuck in was incredible. "The Wendigo" is my favorite horror short story. Just like "The Willows" it's perfectly paced and is the pinnacle of, like, "wilderness horror" but imo "The Wendigo" has stronger character writing. It's the best.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2022 01:41
|
|
|
MeatwadIsGod posted:"The Wendigo" is my favorite horror short story. Just like "The Willows" it's perfectly paced and is the pinnacle of, like, "wilderness horror" but imo "The Wendigo" has stronger character writing. It's the best. I just finished The Wendigo 10 min ago! It owned, and the sense of both scenery and dread in both stories is remarkable. I really admire his ability to imbue descriptions of the natural world and the environment with a veneer of malice and dangerous foreboding. I’ll pick up his collection “Incredible Adventures” next. ST Joshi says it’s the best collection of horror stories published in the 20th century so why not
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2022 02:02
|
|
|
Lovecraft repeatedly called The Willows his favorite weird story in various letters. The Swede (?) companion guy in the story all but defines the "old weird," genre-wise, when stuff starts getting spooky. It's also one of the most nature-y weird stories I've read. The pastoral descriptions of the river were nice.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2022 17:40
|
|
|
Has anyone read any of the Hexslinger stuff by Gemma Files?
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2022 20:46
|
|
|
Carrier Wave is pretty neat.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2022 17:26
|
|
|
Carrier Wave has one of the worst tone shifts that I've ever seen. The first half was super bleak and kind of interesting, but then Princess Sparkle Pig out of nowhere...
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2022 01:26
|
|
|
Paddyo posted:Carrier Wave has one of the worst tone shifts that I've ever seen. The first half was super bleak and kind of interesting, but then Princess Sparkle Pig out of nowhere... Oh no... I guess I haven't gotten far enough 😬
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2022 05:28
|
|
|
You'll definitely know when you get there! Will be interested to hear your thoughts.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2022 21:17
|
|
|
Paddyo posted:Carrier Wave has one of the worst tone shifts that I've ever seen. The first half was super bleak and kind of interesting, but then Princess Sparkle Pig out of nowhere... Yeah that book needed an editor to rein it in, there was a good novel inside it somewhere.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2022 00:29
|
|
|
Recommending this method againGood Citizen posted:Felt like rereading Carrier Wave the other day and got up to the end of the chapter in the Costco (just before the first pig chapter) and decided ‘the world is just like this forever now’ ~THE END~ and book is good
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2022 00:59
|
|
|
Currently reading Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes and, ugh, it's not good. The premise is really intriguing: in 2149 AD, a repair crew in space stumble upon a luxury space vessel (basically a cruise ship, but in space) that disappeared two decades prior. They decide to investigate and things go south real quick. I'm halfway through and I'm dragging. The dialogue is annoying and poorly written, the descriptions of the science-y stuff is confusing, and there's not enough spooky stuff. Wondering if I should quit or press on. Next up in my reading queue is Mexican Gothic, which I've heard good things about.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2022 19:58
|
|
|
OhAreThey posted:Currently reading Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes and, ugh, it's not good. The premise is really intriguing: in 2149 AD, a repair crew in space stumble upon a luxury space vessel (basically a cruise ship, but in space) that disappeared two decades prior. They decide to investigate and things go south real quick. I read the whole thing around when it came out and wish I hadn't. If you're not liking it so far, it honestly only gets worse. The reveals to the mysteries are all pretty cheesy or just deflate what interesting parts did exist, imo. I had really wanted it to be good (maybe my expectations were too high), but was left really disappointed. I did like Mexican Gothic a lot, though! It's maybe not a 5/5 but it's really solid and has some good Shirley-Jackson-esque (but more outwardly paranormal) spooky bits.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2022 20:27
|
|
|
I really need to get around to Mexican Gothic, the author is a friend of a friend so it's been sitting on my list for a long time
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2022 20:54
|
|
|
i liked carrier wave at the time but it definitely got too comfortable with its own premise
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2022 23:35
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:I read the whole thing around when it came out and wish I hadn't. If you're not liking it so far, it honestly only gets worse. The reveals to the mysteries are all pretty cheesy or just deflate what interesting parts did exist, imo. I had really wanted it to be good (maybe my expectations were too high), but was left really disappointed. Thanks for your thoughts! Sounds like Dead Silence will be a DNF for me.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 01:29
|
|
|
After finally getting around to playing through the Dead Space trilogy this year, I wanted to find some books that would scratch that same 'weird tense space horror' itch and picked up a few purely based on recent lists I found on Reddit, Goodreads etc. Dead Silence was one of those and unfortunately I have to agree with others here that it definitely fell short. It started off alright, easy to get into, but I was eventually disappointed with where the narrative decided to go. As for the others, I just finished Greg Bear's Hull Zero Three and while this one ended up being lighter on the horror that I wanted, it ended up being kind of a thoughtful little story, if a bit vague. Some reviewers were comparing it to the film Pandorum, I can see a bit of that in it. Next up for attempt #3 is Richard Paul Russo's Unto Leviathan (also seen it around as Ship of Fools), only a few chapters in and the setting already has my interest. The blurb alone has so much promise aaaaah please live up to expectations.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2022 07:35
|
|
|
Sphyrnidae posted:Next up for attempt #3 is Richard Paul Russo's Unto Leviathan (also seen it around as Ship of Fools), only a few chapters in and the setting already has my interest. The blurb alone has so much promise aaaaah please live up to expectations. I have some good news for you...
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2022 12:50
|
|
|
Sphyrnidae posted:After finally getting around to playing through the Dead Space trilogy this year, I wanted to find some books that would scratch that same 'weird tense space horror' itch and picked up a few purely based on recent lists I found on Reddit, Goodreads etc. Dead Silence was one of those and unfortunately I have to agree with others here that it definitely fell short. It started off alright, easy to get into, but I was eventually disappointed with where the narrative decided to go. The actual Dead Space books are pretty good
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2022 15:36
|
|
|
Decided to read Cabin at the End of the World in anticipation of the movie and I really liked it. First time in a long time I stayed up too late because I couldn't stop reading. Not sure how I feel about the ending, but it was better than I expected, You can really only end something like this a couple ways and none of them are very narrativly satisfying, so leaving it ambiguous was probably the best choice. I also really liked the first/third person narrative shifts in the last chapter, that was a cool trick
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2022 23:46
|
|
|
I've been trying to remember a horror story and maybe you folks can help. It was online and was presented as a series of journal entries (I think). The protagonist was a scientist at a base studying a slowly expanding zone of weirdness. It's not Annihilation but had things like green and red zones and an underground structure of some sort.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2022 06:04
|
|
|
Ham Cheeks posted:I've been trying to remember a horror story and maybe you folks can help. It was online and was presented as a series of journal entries (I think). The protagonist was a scientist at a base studying a slowly expanding zone of weirdness. It's not Annihilation but had things like green and red zones and an underground structure of some sort. Sounds like The Sick Land to me, though I only ever encountered it as a blog, I don't think it was ever published in a traditional format. http://thesickland.blogspot.com/2013/03/last-day.html?m=0
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2022 06:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 07:11 |
|
|
MockingQuantum posted:Sounds like The Sick Land to me, though I only ever encountered it as a blog, I don't think it was ever published in a traditional format. Is it any good?
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2022 06:50
|
|