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you guys are both thinking of papa Matheson
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Apr 20, 2021 19:14
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ravenkult posted:I think he's one of the greats. I Am Legend and Hell House are solid. Stir of Echoes is pretty good and so is What Dreams May Come. It’s his kid Daddy Matheson is wonderful His son wrote a lot of “micro horror.” Literal “short” stories that could be like a paragraph to two pages in length. A lot of it feels like the “oh I’m so clever” garbage that clogs up r/nosleep
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Apr 20, 2021 19:17
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Hell House was really good, but was another one of those books that introduces all of these neat ideas and mysteries only to leave them unresolved at the end.
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Apr 20, 2021 22:39
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It's been so long since I've read it that I can't really disentangle Steven Spielberg's Duel and Matheson's original short story to say whether the story is good or not in and of itself (though Matheson did also do the screenplay), but Duel is fantastic, and if we're comparing Spielberg flicks, a better Horror/Suspense thriller than Jaws
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Apr 21, 2021 01:33
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I really enjoy Matheson the younger’s short stories. Digestible little morsels of weird ideas.
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Apr 21, 2021 22:14
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finished The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson JRJ is one of my favorite pulpy authors and the book is decent enough, but unfortunately i'd read Carrier Wave earlier this month, which is basically the same idea with much better execution The Loop also tries to present some kind of class-based allegory that could have been fairly impactful but sort of jukes away from it to get back to a story about psychopathic octopus-cyborg hive minds, which somehow isn't as fun as it sounds
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Apr 22, 2021 00:17
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Is "Carrion Comfort" by Dan Simmons worth sticking with? I enjoyed The Terror (did a very good job of making me feel very cold) but finding Carrion Comfort a bit underwhelming so far. Maybe I've just had enough of vampires after ploughing through The Passage trilogy earlier this year. That could have done with a severe amount of editing.
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Apr 23, 2021 20:13
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I found it really cringy and stupid. Like I remember some of the details, but mostly that I just hated all the characters, and the writing, and the plot.
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Apr 23, 2021 21:38
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Read Simmons’ Summer of Night instead.
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Apr 23, 2021 22:12
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I read it during college and loved it but also looking back I realize the length and epicness was more exciting rather than the actual quality of the writing which is uhhhhhh p bad
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Apr 24, 2021 02:16
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Gambrinus posted:Is "Carrion Comfort" by Dan Simmons worth sticking with? I enjoyed The Terror (did a very good job of making me feel very cold) but finding Carrion Comfort a bit underwhelming so far. Maybe I've just had enough of vampires after ploughing through The Passage trilogy earlier this year. That could have done with a severe amount of editing. For what it's worth, it's one of the few Simmons's books that sticks the landing.
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Apr 24, 2021 05:03
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This is going to be a weird one, but are there any decent horror novels that evoke a similar feel to the Resident Evil games? There's a teen in my after-school D&D group who I've been gently encouraging to try reading for pleasure rather than just for school, and he's expressed an interest in horror broadly and wondered if there were any books like Resident Evil, since he apparently loves that series. I'm at a loss, having never played a RE game.
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Apr 24, 2021 07:21
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Kestral posted:This is going to be a weird one, but are there any decent horror novels that evoke a similar feel to the Resident Evil games? There's a teen in my after-school D&D group who I've been gently encouraging to try reading for pleasure rather than just for school, and he's expressed an interest in horror broadly and wondered if there were any books like Resident Evil, since he apparently loves that series. I'm at a loss, having never played a RE game. There's RE novels They're bad but I enjoyed them in middle school
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Apr 24, 2021 09:54
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Specifically what does he enjoy about the Resident Evil games???
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Apr 24, 2021 18:00
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I'm reading Blackwater by Michael McDowell and loving it. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and really enjoying how it's less of a horror novel and more of a family saga with spooky vibes. The real horror is Mary-Love's control of her family and the struggle between her and Elinor is mostly domestic instead of supernatural.
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Apr 24, 2021 18:10
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PsychedelicWarlord posted:I'm reading Blackwater by Michael McDowell and loving it. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and really enjoying how it's less of a horror novel and more of a family saga with spooky vibes. The real horror is Mary-Love's control of her family and the struggle between her and Elinor is mostly domestic instead of supernatural. We love Blackwater and McDowell in this thread!!!
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Apr 24, 2021 21:17
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Conrad_Birdie posted:Specifically what does he enjoy about the Resident Evil games??? It's tricky to get good self-reflective descriptions out of teens sometimes, but my impression is that the appeal is fast-paced body horror with a military aesthetic. Zombie fiction would probably work too, although I can't think of much in that vein that's decent.
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Apr 25, 2021 03:10
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Kestral posted:It's tricky to get good self-reflective descriptions out of teens sometimes, but my impression is that the appeal is fast-paced body horror with a military aesthetic. Zombie fiction would probably work too, although I can't think of much in that vein that's decent. Carrier wave, maybe?
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Apr 25, 2021 03:25
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Kestral posted:It's tricky to get good self-reflective descriptions out of teens sometimes, but my impression is that the appeal is fast-paced body horror with a military aesthetic. Zombie fiction would probably work too, although I can't think of much in that vein that's decent. http://www.jonathanmaberry.com/joeledgerseries.cfm Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series might be his speed.
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Apr 25, 2021 13:20
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Kestral posted:It's tricky to get good self-reflective descriptions out of teens sometimes, but my impression is that the appeal is fast-paced body horror with a military aesthetic. Zombie fiction would probably work too, although I can't think of much in that vein that's decent. I found this series only “Eh, serviceable” but a teen video game fan might really dig em- The “Ex” series by Peter Clines. It’s superheroes vs zombies in the post apocalypse. Honestly kinda video game-ish in structure. There’s teams, and missions, and military action involved. There’s literally like a “boss” the heroes have to fight at the end of every new book. World War Z if he hasn’t read that. Annihilation if you want to throw him a curveball.
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Apr 25, 2021 14:56
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PsychedelicWarlord posted:I'm reading Blackwater by Michael McDowell and loving it. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and really enjoying how it's less of a horror novel and more of a family saga with spooky vibes. The real horror is Mary-Love's control of her family and the struggle between her and Elinor is mostly domestic instead of supernatural. Yeah, every other page in this thread has Blackwater chat. Eager to hear what you think about the whole experience after you finish the book.
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Apr 26, 2021 18:18
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Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone  My taste in horror leans in the "spooky ghost" and "cosmic" directions so I was rather adrift here. Fingers crossed we get another reader. I really need to get around to Carrier Wave myself, especially since it's apparently getting an audiobook.
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Apr 27, 2021 01:59
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While I originally found myself at odds with The Elementals, I was obsessed with Blackwater and genuinely felt sad when it ended, like I was seeing loved ones for the last time or something. I've since made my way through about everything else he's written and love his stories and the way he tells them. Can I get recommendations on authors whose writing style and content is reminiscent of McDowell's?
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Apr 29, 2021 17:10
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Does anyone have any recommendations for something like John Dies at the End? Like, edgy, dirtbag loser type horror?
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Apr 29, 2021 17:21
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The cipher for sure.
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Apr 29, 2021 17:32
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ravenkult posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for something like John Dies at the End? Like, edgy, dirtbag loser type horror? The Cipher ticks all three of those adjectives (edgy dirtbag loser) but it doesn't have the humor of the David Wong books. Ballingrud's Visible Filth fits as well. EDIT: Older Clive Barker might be what you're looking for, especially the Books of Blood stories.
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Apr 29, 2021 17:35
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ravenkult posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for something like John Dies at the End? Like, edgy, dirtbag loser type horror? Skullcrack City by Jeremy Robert Johnson fits that bill, and I liked it better than John Dies at the End
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Apr 29, 2021 17:43
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ravenkult posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for something like John Dies at the End? Like, edgy, dirtbag loser type horror? Most anything by Skipp and Spector with the caveat that their books meet your criteria but lack the humor of JDatE. Comedy option: Have you heard of Edward Lee?
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Apr 29, 2021 18:41
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Ornamented Death posted:Most anything by Skipp and Spector with the caveat that their books meet your criteria but lack the humor of JDatE. I'm okay with the humor missing, but not much into gore/violence.
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Apr 29, 2021 19:03
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Idle Amalgam posted:While I originally found myself at odds with The Elementals, I was obsessed with Blackwater and genuinely felt sad when it ended, like I was seeing loved ones for the last time or something. I've since made my way through about everything else he's written and love his stories and the way he tells them. I've been brainstorming on this myself after getting sucked into McDowell. In my mind one of the things that sets him apart from other authors in the genre is the way the setting plays such a huge part in his stories. The climate, culture, economy, and history of the deep South provide so much context to his characters and plots, and adds a ton of nuance that creates this awesome atmosphere. The only other horror author who I can really think of who regularly uses the setting in a similar way is Stephan King.
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Apr 29, 2021 19:14
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It's not horror, but a generational novel I liked was Barkskins. Maybe it'll scratch some of that itch?
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Apr 29, 2021 19:21
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gey muckle mowser posted:Skullcrack City by Jeremy Robert Johnson fits that bill, and I liked it better than John Dies at the End Skullcrack City owns and really matches the tone of JDatE
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Apr 29, 2021 19:31
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I own and read a couple of pages of that but set it down again, don't remember why. I'll pick it back up tonight and report back.
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Apr 29, 2021 19:35
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ravenkult posted:I own and read a couple of pages of that but set it down again, don't remember why. I'll pick it back up tonight and report back. It really is the best answer to your question.
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Apr 29, 2021 19:43
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Paddyo posted:I've been brainstorming on this myself after getting sucked into McDowell. In my mind one of the things that sets him apart from other authors in the genre is the way the setting plays such a huge part in his stories. The climate, culture, economy, and history of the deep South provide so much context to his characters and plots, and adds a ton of nuance that creates this awesome atmosphere. I haven't gotten to Blackwater yet, so maybe I'm wrong about how it's written, but have y'all check out some classic southern gothic lit? It's basically what you're describing, minus the supernatural.
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Apr 29, 2021 20:43
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ravenkult posted:It's not horror, but a generational novel I liked was Barkskins. Maybe it'll scratch some of that itch? Seconding this. Very weak ending though which soured me on it for a while. It seemed like Proulx had no idea what to do with the characters who take the story up to the present day. But in retrospect it's incredibly strong for most of it's length, and being mostly made up of fairly self-contained episodes, the crap ending doesn't diminish the good parts that much.
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Apr 29, 2021 22:30
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Outside of horror I'd also recommend Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child and To The Bright Edge of the World. Supernaturally inflected historical fiction with strong senses of place, the former trends kind of cosy, but the latter dips it's toes into spookier waters (and there are a couple of horror adjacent set-pieces in this that blindsided me in a similar way to many of the poo poo's going down moments from Blackwater did).
High Warlord Zog fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Apr 29, 2021 |
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Apr 29, 2021 22:43
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ravenkult posted:I'm okay with the humor missing, but not much into gore/violence. A couple people suggested it before this caveat, but I must say you should not read Cipher. It's awful, awful people being loving awful, but the things that happen are pretty gory. I still think about it and it makes me feel sad.
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Apr 30, 2021 00:34
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I'm about halfway through Carrier Wave and it's mostly just made me feel sad
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Apr 30, 2021 00:55
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High Warlord Zog posted:Seconding this. Very weak ending though which soured me on it for a while. It seemed like Proulx had no idea what to do with the characters who take the story up to the present day. But in retrospect it's incredibly strong for most of it's length, and being mostly made up of fairly self-contained episodes, the crap ending doesn't diminish the good parts that much. the ending was the culmination of the ecological devastation that had been happening in the background of all the personal drama going on through the last several centuries of narrative. proulx knew exactly how to end it - with the barkskins' final descendent desperately trying to assure herself that there must still be a way for them to undo the damage they've caused, as the seas quietly continue to rise barkskins is the best environmentalist novel i've read and probably in my top five books overall
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Apr 30, 2021 01:00
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