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escape artist posted:Everybody drop a controversial horror opinion that you don't always share for fear of being judged. Let's turn this into a safe space. I like horror novels better than short stories.
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Aug 21, 2024 17:26
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escape artist posted:Everybody drop a controversial horror opinion that you don't always share for fear of being judged. Let's turn this into a safe space. They should at least try to describe the cosmic horrors
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Aug 21, 2024 18:09
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Well, he has a squid face and wings. I guess it wasn't that indescribable after all.
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Aug 21, 2024 18:24
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value-brand cereal fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Mar 26, 2025 |
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Aug 21, 2024 18:55
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_9MOTHER9HORSE9EYES9 was the best piece of horror to come out of reddit and even that isn't worth reading past the halfway point
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Aug 21, 2024 20:04
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I don't give a poo poo about character psychology, writing quality or even if it's tense or scary at all - just in it for the monsters. If there isn't a monster, I lose interest. Dark Matter was a bust for me.
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Aug 21, 2024 20:57
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Good Citizen posted:They should at least try to describe the cosmic horrors Oh man, the cosmic horror I just saw? Indescribable. The least describable thing you can think of and then some. I could spend all day trying to describe it but it would be a waste of time. In fact even calling it "cosmic" is too descriptive.
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Aug 21, 2024 21:07
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value-brand cereal fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Mar 26, 2025 |
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Aug 21, 2024 22:21
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Tiny Timbs posted:_9MOTHER9HORSE9EYES9 was the best piece of horror to come out of reddit and even that isn't worth reading past the halfway point I remember that being real good. I don't recall it ever getting bad, but it's been a while and I was reading the updates live as they were found. It was never compiled anywhere and the author vanished after a while, right?
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Aug 21, 2024 23:08
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If we're doing hot takes: All the best horror I've read has also been science fiction, often explicitly.
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Aug 21, 2024 23:30
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LifeLynx posted:I remember that being real good. I don't recall it ever getting bad, but it's been a while and I was reading the updates live as they were found. It was never compiled anywhere and the author vanished after a while, right? I read it as an ebook that was made with this thing I think: https://github.com/cryzed/The-Interface-Series-e-book
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Aug 21, 2024 23:47
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Lukewarm take: Paul Tremblay's short story collections were awful Not only has this gotten a lot of good replies, I feel like we're all healing as a group
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Aug 22, 2024 00:18
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escape artist posted:Lukewarm take: Paul Tremblay's short story collections were awful I'm like three stories into Growing Things and I couldn't care less about it, which I guess shouldn't be a surprise since I don't think I'm ever gonna finish A Head Full of Ghosts either. I keep trying because a lot of people seem to like Tremblay, but goddamn I can't get into his poo poo at all.
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Aug 22, 2024 10:47
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Controversial horror opinion: Boy’s Life is a good set of vignettes with an embarrassingly bad plot/framing narrative that drags the whole thing down
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Aug 22, 2024 11:33
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zoux posted:I like horror novels better than short stories. I agree because what makes horror enjoyable for me is atmosphere and tension, neither of which a short story has enough space to establish. Short stories are good for horror premises/concepts but not plot imo. I tend to avoid story collections from horror authors because I'm apprehensive that it'll just be one interesting premise after another. Same with Lovecraft, I can't actually the Call of Cthulhu a story because it isn't one. It's a fictional essay.
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Aug 22, 2024 12:57
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Getting vaguely back on topic: I just finished The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry. It reminded me of Richard Laymon but without the dubious sex. Had some good mood building, and it was interesting to read a book set just after the pandemic lockdown, but it flubbed the landing. I don't know if I'd read any of her other books.
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Aug 22, 2024 13:11
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Wachter posted:Oh man, the cosmic horror I just saw? Indescribable. The least describable thing you can think of and then some. I could spend all day trying to describe it but it would be a waste of time. In fact even calling it "cosmic" is too descriptive. How euclidian was the geometry
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Aug 22, 2024 14:23
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caspergers posted:Listening to another book by Bird Box author called Incidents Around the House. I just finished and I hate it. What is the deal with horror books not having endings? I'm tired of the whole absurdism angle as a lovely excuse for poor writing. Night Film by Marisha Pessl was a frustrating ending but I guess it kind of had a point? This one kinda established what the metaphor of the story is about 80% in which is fine but then now that we know what's happening there's no reason to resolve it. Let's just have everyone die instead of learning anything. I get that evil can't be killed, but this whole "the ending is pointless because life is pointless! Did anyone else read Incidents Around the House? If so I'd like to hear your thoughts. At least someone who's better at rationalizing things
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Aug 22, 2024 14:41
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zoux posted:How euclidian was the geometry So many angles. Like, leave some for the rest of the entities, man
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Aug 22, 2024 14:51
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caspergers posted:I agree because what makes horror enjoyable for me is atmosphere and tension, neither of which a short story has enough space to establish. Short stories are good for horror premises/concepts but not plot imo. I tend to avoid story collections from horror authors because I'm apprehensive that it'll just be one interesting premise after another. Same with Lovecraft, I can't actually the Call of Cthulhu a story because it isn't one. It's a fictional essay. I think one thing I liked a lot about Ballingrud’s collections is that each story felt like a complete thought. He doesn’t seem to fall into this trap as much (that fallen angels story maybe qualifies).
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Aug 22, 2024 15:23
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value-brand cereal fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Mar 26, 2025 |
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Aug 22, 2024 19:06
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Tiny Timbs posted:I think one thing I liked a lot about Ballingrud’s collections is that each story felt like a complete thought. He doesn’t seem to fall into this trap as much (that fallen angels story maybe qualifies). Aight I'll check eem out (literally)
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Aug 22, 2024 20:57
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Tiny Timbs posted:Controversial horror opinion: Boy’s Life is a good set of vignettes with an embarrassingly bad plot/framing narrative that drags the whole thing down
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Aug 22, 2024 21:06
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anilEhilated posted:I don't give a poo poo about character psychology, writing quality or even if it's tense or scary at all - just in it for the monsters. If there isn't a monster, I lose interest. I've met writers who use subtext - they're all cowards
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Aug 22, 2024 22:54
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anilEhilated posted:I don't give a poo poo about character psychology, writing quality or even if it's tense or scary at all - just in it for the monsters. If there isn't a monster, I lose interest. ahahaha you and I are totally opposite people but I have a tremendous amount of respect for you
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Aug 23, 2024 00:34
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escape artist posted:Everybody drop a controversial horror opinion that you don't always share for fear of being judged. Let's turn this into a safe space. North American Lake Monsters was disappointing and some of those stories should have been more developed
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Aug 23, 2024 04:44
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anilEhilated posted:To be fair I think that's basically every McCammon. I wanted some gritty, grimy 1970s style horror so I read some of his early work, namely Baal and They Thirst and they are just nasty, violent, misanthropic works. Especially Baal. I read Swan Song probably 20 years ago and my memories of that is that the actual apocalypse going down was cool, but the post-apoc stuff dragged, and I thought the resolution was too pat.
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Aug 23, 2024 15:31
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zoux posted:I read Swan Song probably 20 years ago and my memories of that is that the actual apocalypse going down was cool, but the post-apoc stuff dragged, and I thought the resolution was too pat. The face transformation thing was absurdly silly
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Aug 23, 2024 15:38
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Tiny Timbs posted:The face transformation thing was absurdly silly One of the few details I can clearly recall, and agreed.
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Aug 23, 2024 16:07
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Randal posted:North American Lake Monsters was disappointing and some of those stories should have been more developed *grabs torch, pitchfork*
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Aug 23, 2024 21:09
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*thinks harder than I have ever thought in my entire life & writes* I have unlocked the key the the door of ultimate terror, harden your heart Hornsby, we ride Steel yourselves before i open the gate to the domicile of fear itself, the very origin of all nightmares Murdered? One of our party? There surely must be some logical, extremely bigoted explanation. Now Hornsby your airy suppositions will be proved farcical. Catholics? Capable of deduction? Preposterous. Upending these iron bars will surely lead us into the realm of the dammed, but it must be done against all protestations Aaaargh drat you Hornsby I'm being devoured to death by an obvious metaphor for being a self absorbed prick bastard curse you forever Also now you can marry my totally hot sister who is for sure not editing this, run. But thank you for sort of trying to save me -- fin -- "Wow did anyone else read that old book 'Doom House on Perdition Lane?' So scary, super good!"
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Aug 24, 2024 07:59
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Tiny Timbs posted:Controversial horror opinion: Boy’s Life is a good set of vignettes with an embarrassingly bad plot/framing narrative that drags the whole thing down That incredibly stupid plot point, where it turns out that The murdered man's restless ghost wasn't saying "I want you down in the daaaaark!", it just so happened that the killer's surname was Dehninaderke, which sounds very similar!! Jesus wept.
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Aug 27, 2024 08:25
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hmm I was correct not to continue with that one, I think Reading You Like it Darker - first three stories are meh but I just finished Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream. Very solid, classic King that reminded me of Bag of Bones for some reason.
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Aug 27, 2024 16:03
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I just finished The Imago Sequence. It was great fun. Barron can only write his One Guy but that's mitigated by his icky prose, and the pulpy plots take the edge off the relentless grimdark. I couldn't help but laugh at the realisation that, when you combine the physical nature of the Old One around which the stories revolve with the fact that almost all his protags are alcoholics, it's essentially a collection of stories about guys getting hammered and falling down holes
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Aug 27, 2024 23:41
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Just finished Private Rites by Julia Armfield. Not as good as Our Wives Under the Sea, but still terrific. Recommended if you enjoy books about the end times. Would love to read some more water/ocean related horror if anyone has recommendations.
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Aug 28, 2024 19:47
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monochromagic posted:Would love to read some more water/ocean related horror if anyone has recommendations. "The Deep" by Nick Cutter seems extremely divisive, but I liked it "From Below" by Darcy Coates was okay, good buildup and not-so-good payoff
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Aug 29, 2024 10:13
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szary posted:"The Deep" by Nick Cutter seems extremely divisive, but I liked it I would like to read some Darcy Coates, and forgive me for being so superficial, but those covers are awful and trick me into thinking they'll be bad
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Aug 29, 2024 12:31
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Who hates on Boy's Life for god's sake???
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Aug 29, 2024 14:05
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I won a prize in my library's summer reading challenge and this year they had something good on offer
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Aug 29, 2024 21:06
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value-brand cereal fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Mar 26, 2025 |
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Aug 29, 2024 21:19
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