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Antivehicular posted:Just read You've Lost A Lot of Blood in a single sitting (it's a pretty quick read), and... I'm not sure how I feel about this? It all feels a little half-baked, maybe a touch first-draft-y. Maybe I'm just not inherently interested in serial killers? I feel like the thing that's most interesting about it -- the concept that (huge ending spoilers) the "artistic" serial killer is a rampant plagiarist who's never created anything and kills the men whose art he steals, and that the various convoluted explanations he provides for his crimes are just excuses -- is kind of intriguing, but it goes by really fast, and there's not really a cohesive through-line to the whole thing. I'm also not sure LaRocca's prose is quite good enough for all the weight he's putting on prose and voice over plot and character. Maybe the language being slightly janky is character voice stuff? I dunno. Don't regret reading it, but I'm not sure I'm going to go hunting for other LaRocca. You pretty much said how I felt about THGWSWLS (and in a better way than I could). I guess I will not be trying the other books.
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Apr 20, 2022 14:56
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Flopstick posted:Lemme guess: already optioned as a trilogy by New Line Cinema? Mick Garris has a bland Tuna salad ready to go
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Apr 20, 2022 15:14
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You all are breaking my heart on ...Lost A Lot of Blood but your criticisms are legit. I just enjoyed the ride and especially the revelation at the end. I am a big fan of serial killers though, which probably matters. As far as the through line, I felt like there was a consistent theme of people not being who they seem, false identities. The novella was about a clone believing she was the original person, a fake entity feeling real, which, I guess is what Martyr Black wanted in some sense. I feel like it deserves a second read to see what clues I missed on the first read. I really found it all to be a breath of fresh air, similar to how I felt when I read Negative Space.
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Apr 20, 2022 20:45
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Jon Padgett is hosting a Thomas Ligotti event in Orlando Florida. https://www.orlandoweekly.com/music...spring-30986600 quote:Orlando venue the Abbey will be ground zero for fans of adventurous literature and music in May with an evening themed around the writings of modern horror master Thomas Ligotti. Anybody going to this? I have it on good authority that another fan favorite will be attending the event. Already got my ticket.
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Apr 21, 2022 00:41
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I have an occasion where I need some trash in my life, and Fantasticland does in fact deliver some high octane trash that is helping me greatly to waste some painful annoying time. Thank you, thread. It ain’t great art but it’s some excellent brain popcorn and I’m a sucker for anything epistolary. Plus I think the interview format actually works well as a narrative construction. Fake pirate fake cage fight induction ceremony! FAKE PIRATE FAKE CAGE FIGHT INDUCTION CEREMONY!!!
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Apr 21, 2022 04:49
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I recently finished Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell , and it was pretty excellent. It does indigenous horror very well, and the epilogue includes a short essay written by the author on what it means to write indigenous horror as a non-indigenous person, and how to do that responsibly. So, I really respect that. I'm about a third of the way through Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehle, and I LOVE it. It's sort of a mix between historical fiction and Dark Souls, and I'm absolutely looking for more of that sort of thing. [edit-- apparently my brain shorted out at the end of that last sentence] Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Apr 21, 2022 |
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Apr 21, 2022 05:00
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Count Thrashula posted:I recently finished Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell , and it was pretty excellent. It does indigenous horror very well, and the epilogue includes a short essay written by the author on what it means to write indigenous horror as a non-indigenous person, and how to do that responsibly. So, I really respect that. After 150hours of elden ring this sounds badass
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Apr 21, 2022 13:23
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How do people feel about Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show? I'm about 50% through and I'm finding it to be a chore to read compared to his other books and short stories I've read.
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Apr 21, 2022 15:35
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Count Thrashula posted:I recently finished Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell , and it was pretty excellent. It does indigenous horror very well, and the epilogue includes a short essay written by the author on what it means to write indigenous horror as a non-indigenous person, and how to do that responsibly. So, I really respect that. zoux posted: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?
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Apr 21, 2022 16:40
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Wonderful thank you!
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Apr 21, 2022 16:59
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Dr.D-O posted:How do people feel about Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show? e: Actually I liked Weaveworld.
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Apr 21, 2022 19:40
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Langan's got a new collection dropping in a month, along with a reprint of Mr. Gaunt!
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Apr 23, 2022 01:03
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nate fisher posted:I do have a copy of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, and I found the best thing about it was the artwork on the cover. Underwhelming might be the best way to describe it and I didn’t find it disturbing at all. Shame because starts it decent, but it just lacks any real depth at all. I agree, I ended up just donating my copy. The cover is undeniably arresting!
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Apr 23, 2022 06:12
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Nate Fisher, want to sell your copy?
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Apr 23, 2022 22:53
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anilEhilated posted:I remember thinking it was in desperate need of some pretty radical editing. But that's my general reaction basically all of post-Hellbound-Heart Barker. Yeah, I liked Weaveworld as well. It's kind of sad that Clive Barker was such a good horror writer and just went off the deep end into over-long fantasy nonsense.
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Apr 24, 2022 19:27
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escape artist posted:Nate Fisher, want to sell your copy? The book collector in me (I have thousands) is like no and this book is hot right now ($88 lowest prize in Amazon). That said I promised my wife I would slim down my collection some and gently caress people who trying to sell it for $88 (bonus I love your Brother Mouzone avatar). Trade for Sticky Fingers on vinyl? PM if yes.
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Apr 26, 2022 01:11
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nate fisher posted:The book collector in me (I have thousands) is like no and this book is hot right now ($88 lowest prize in Amazon). That said I promised my wife I would slim down my collection some and gently caress people who trying to sell it for $88 (bonus I love your Brother Mouzone avatar). Trade for Sticky Fingers on vinyl? PM if yes. So like, $27? I can order it for you with Amazon Prime and have it sent directly to you. Just give me a few days and I got you. PM sent escape artist fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Apr 26, 2022 |
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Apr 26, 2022 03:35
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Dr.D-O posted:How do people feel about Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show? TGASS has a lot of interesting ideas in it, but it could have stood to be shorter. It's also the first book in a never-completed series and the second book is awful.
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Apr 26, 2022 14:14
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escape artist posted:So like, $27? I can order it for you with Amazon Prime and have it sent directly to you. Just give me a few days and I got you. See my PM, there has a been misunderstanding (change your signature link lol) and you don't have to send me a record. Sorry for thread spam. To add to the thread, but does anyone have cult type horror/thriller recommendations? I recently read Children of Demeter and Harvest Home, and want to see what else is out there.
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Apr 26, 2022 16:22
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nate fisher posted:To add to the thread, but does anyone have cult type horror/thriller recommendations? I recently read Children of Demeter and Harvest Home, and want to see what else is out there. I can do an anti-recommendation and say avoid Those Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero. I found it pretty bad and boring.
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Apr 26, 2022 16:26
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Franchescanado posted:I can do an anti-recommendation and say avoid Those Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero. I found it pretty bad and boring. I liked it  nate fisher posted:See my PM, there has a been misunderstanding (change your signature link lol) and you don't have to send me a record. Sorry for thread spam. Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn
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Apr 26, 2022 18:32
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So once I wrap up Necroscope 4 I'm gonna read some Titus Crow. Should I do The Compleat Crow before The Burrowers Beneath?
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Apr 28, 2022 00:39
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You should read better books  Really, though, Lumley is bottom-tier horror.
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Apr 28, 2022 03:39
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I will never read a good book.
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Apr 28, 2022 03:57
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Ornamented Death posted:You should read better books That depends on how big the bottom tier is. I've re-read Lumley, but there's some authors that I wouldn't even want to finish their books once.
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Apr 28, 2022 16:17
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Shitstorm Trooper posted:I will never read a good book. Same, buddy
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Apr 28, 2022 17:27
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Has anybody read Lair of the White Worm? I've always heard it's really bad, but I've never been certain if it's because it's conceptually kind of bad or if it was poorly written. I love Dracula as a novel so there's part of me that's always been curious about it despite its poor reputation. Also has anyone read T. Kingfisher's The Hollow Places? I read The Twisted Ones and was pretty lukewarm on it. For those who haven't read it, it's Kingfisher/Vernon's take on a sort of modern retelling or loose "sequel" to Arthur Machen's story "The White People." I thought it was kind of a so-so horror novel, the writing often felt a little juvenile, the main character came off a little too broad and lolrandom, but it did have some interesting atmospheric moments, even if it wasn't often all that tense or scary. The biggest complaint I have about it is that it almost seems to completely miss what makes "The White People" so weird and compelling, or at least doesn't succeed in recreating the dreamlike alien feel of the story. All that makes me both curious and really hesitant about The Hollow Places, since going by what I can find online, it sounds like it's almost certainly doing the same thing (modern retelling/sequel/allusion) with Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows" which is one of my favorite bits of weird fiction. Part of me wants it to be good but I'm skeptical after The Twisted Ones missed the mark pretty badly. In general I have mixed feelings about Kingfisher's new trend in this sort of half-adapting, half-retelling of classic horror or weird fiction stories, since I think her new one coming out later this year is doing the same for "Fall of the House of Usher," another favorite of mine. It's an approach that could be really interesting or compelling, but at least in The Twisted Ones she doesn't really do anything particularly novel with the source material, it's just used as a kind of loose thematic backdrop, and occasionally feels like it descends into a weird sort of fanfiction.
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May 2, 2022 16:48
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MockingQuantum posted:Has anybody read Lair of the White Worm? I've always heard it's really bad, but I've never been certain if it's because it's conceptually kind of bad or if it was poorly written. I love Dracula as a novel so there's part of me that's always been curious about it despite its poor reputation. The story itself didn't enthrall, and there are some big oofs to be had with regards to race and other issues. Imo it's both conceptually bad and poorly written, and that's from someone who also enjoyed Dracula.
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May 2, 2022 17:15
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MockingQuantum posted:Has anybody read Lair of the White Worm? I've always heard it's really bad, but I've never been certain if it's because it's conceptually kind of bad or if it was poorly written. I love Dracula as a novel so there's part of me that's always been curious about it despite its poor reputation. I will never read another Kingfisher after The Twisted Ones. Oof. Had to spite-finish it.
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May 2, 2022 18:16
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escape artist posted:I will never read another Kingfisher after The Twisted Ones. Oof. Had to spite-finish it. I think I may have as well, I read it right after it came out and I mostly remember disliking a bunch of it, so I honestly couldn't remember if there were many parts I did like, lol. I mostly remember the main character was supposed to be in her mid-thirties or something like that, but talked like what an out-of-touch Gen Xer thinks zoomers sound like, or something along those lines. Just aggravatingly self-centered but also insightful but also fun but also self-deprecating but also etc etc. It toned down a bit as the book went on, but holy poo poo did the narrator voice badly undercut every possible moment of tension.
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May 2, 2022 19:29
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re T. Kingfisher's The Hollow Places? The antisemitism and author's hardon for fanfic poo poo turned me off to it. Like... look at this. quote:"And they’re right there reading it, so they’re practically accomplices, unless they’re one of those people who decide to leave comments telling you that shipping those two characters makes you worse than Hitler. " No that's not The Worst Thing Ever. But I don't want to come across antisemitic juvenile fandom poo poo in legit published works that aren't from the 'fanfics with the serial numbers scraped off' side of the publishing industry. That the character in this one and The Twisted One came across like a lolrandom immature 30yo fandom mom didn't help. The gay side character felt like a token one off, to me. Not that people like that don't exist in real life, it just felt like the MC needed a sidekick to bounce ideas off of, and we got a gay man for diversity points. The mechanics of the otherworld and the inhabitants were kind of interesting. Not enough to forgive the rest of the book, though. It was almost Outer Limits levels of interesting and hosed up, but that was about it. It also felt like a very shallow book. The author has stated that horror or media in general should have some comedy to alleviate tension. I may be misquoting / misremembering the context, but that sort of plot does not vibe with me. I was very confused to look this up and discover it was not intended for the YA genre. This read like it was a retelling of classic literature but with the yucky problematic parts carefully excised because the author can't handle difficult, morally grey or generally unpleasant topics. Like the christian bible turned into a manga, if you will. Or those fuckers who rewrote Shel Silversteins 'The Giving Tree' to have a happy ending. If I had to put it on a scale, this is the opposite of LaVelle's 'The Ballad of Black Tom' in terms of quality prose and literature retelling / reframing. If you don't like one book, you will not like other books from this author. Most of their other works in YA / middle school, and she does not know how to write for an adult audience, much less one that doesn't have fandom brainrot.
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May 2, 2022 20:13
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value-brand cereal posted:re T. Kingfisher's The Hollow Places? Thanks for this, I suspected that'd be the case but I was willing to at least do some research since The Twisted Ones felt very much like a first attempt at adult horror fic from an otherwise mostly YA writer. I was hoping that some experience and feedback might have elevated this one a bit but it sure doesn't sound like it did at all. Honestly I have so many horror books I want to read at this point I'm pretty okay with having a good reason to skip a few.
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May 2, 2022 21:33
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So what's everyone reading? What's cutting edge? I am thinking of getting The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones. An old serial killer book of his from 9 years ago or so. What's cutting edge right now? Anything new coming out that shouldn't be missed? I know Langan has a new short story collection coming out at the end of the month too. MockingQuantum posted:I think I may have as well, I read it right after it came out and I mostly remember disliking a bunch of it, so I honestly couldn't remember if there were many parts I did like, lol. I listened to it in audiobook form (with immersion reading) so I had to hear the voice of that horrific main character. (It also means I bought the book twice, in ebook and audiobook form) escape artist fucked around with this message at 01:02 on May 3, 2022 |
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May 3, 2022 00:59
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If anybody wants to read good horror instead of bad here's a scan of Jean Ray's Ghouls in My Grave. The Mainz Psalter is a great "ship sails into another dimension" tale ala The Butcher's Table, but with more quiet dread than hellish action, and The Shadowy Street is just some classic weird urban horror. Those two are also in The Weird so probably everyone has read them but the rest of the book is great fun too, most in that pulpy 30s way but with a few other standouts.
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May 3, 2022 01:06
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escape artist posted:What's cutting edge right now? The Fervor by Alma Katsu just came out last week, positive reviews so far. Haven't started it yet myself but I thoroughly enjoyed The Hunger so I'm looking forward to it.
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May 3, 2022 01:22
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I just finished the Hunger this last weekend, actually. It was mostly enjoyable. A page turner with horror qualities, but to me it misses some of the dread I look for when I read horror. Which is ironic because the whole book is dread-based, it's the Oregon trail, but I think the narrative just didn't ever feel like it was playing for keeps. There were too many characters to make any deaths or serious consequences impactful.
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May 3, 2022 01:58
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sephiRoth IRA posted:I just finished the Hunger this last weekend, actually. It was mostly enjoyable. A page turner with horror qualities, but to me it misses some of the dread I look for when I read horror. Which is ironic because the whole book is dread-based, it's the Oregon trail, but I think the narrative just didn't ever feel like it was playing for keeps. There were too many characters to make any deaths or serious consequences impactful. That was my issue with it too, I think Katsu is generally a good writer but she has the classic historical fic writer issue of wanting to show all of her homework. There were so many characters that could have been completely excised with no real loss to the narrative and it would have left a much tighter and engaging book, and the only reason to argue for their inclusion is that they were actually there. Which, I get that's reason enough to include them from a historical perspective, but I guess when all was said and done, I sort of wish I got a book inspired by the Donner Party rather than based on the Donner Party, if that makes sense. I think it would have resulted in a better horror novel. Big Mad Drongo posted:If anybody wants to read good horror instead of bad here's a scan of Jean Ray's Ghouls in My Grave. I forgot about The Mainz Psalter, I really liked it! I also really liked The Other Side of the Mountain from The Weird... and The Butcher's Table... I think I may have a type. escape artist posted:So what's everyone reading? What's cutting edge? I am thinking of getting The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones. An old serial killer book of his from 9 years ago or so. I'm totally out of the loop so I'm not sure what shouldn't be missed or has just come out, but this seems like a useful list: https://tornightfire.com/all-the-horror-books-were-excited-about-in-2022/ It's from Nightfire (Tor's horror-ish imprint) but the majority of books on the list aren't published by Nightfire, and they state clearly which ones are from them, which is cool. The only recent things I've read that I can think of were: - Last House on Needless Street which I didn't enjoy much, it felt like it had an extremely obvious "twist" and some questionable characterization. There's a lot of information withheld from the reader, in what feels like it's trying to ape Shirley Jackson or someone similar, but mostly just feels like you're out of the loop in a way that doesn't achieve the desired effect. I could see some other person reading this book and loving it, but to me it felt mostly obtuse and clumsy. - I'm currently reading The Lake of the Dead which is on that Nightfire list, but it's sort of more of an early Nordic Noir/mystery novel than a horror novel. It reminds me of And Then There Were None with more of a sinister (maybe supernatural?) aspect to the story. I'm not sure I'd recommend it immediately if someone was looking for a horror novel, but I'm enjoying the atmosphere of the novel quite a bit.
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May 3, 2022 03:51
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MockingQuantum posted:Thanks for this, I suspected that'd be the case but I was willing to at least do some research since The Twisted Ones felt very much like a first attempt at adult horror fic from an otherwise mostly YA writer. I was hoping that some experience and feedback might have elevated this one a bit but it sure doesn't sound like it did at all. Honestly I have so many horror books I want to read at this point I'm pretty okay with having a good reason to skip a few. Oh yeah you're welcome! Sorry to poo poo on the book(s) or author if anyone does like them. They're not bad and I know they fill a niche as they have plenty of positive reviews, which I'm glad of. I just do not vibe with the stories. I also read 'Last House on Needless Street ' after I read 'Sundial' by the same author and was also disappointed in terms of the story. Not bad, just underwhelming. Sundial also touched on mental health themes, but the plot which hosed up and intense enough to support them, for me. I appreciate the attempt at utilizing Dissociative Identity Disorder as a plot and portraying the child abuse that caused it in a fairly reasonably, not entirely ableist manner. I saw the plot twist straight away and had to check spoiler reviews to make sure it wasn't a hot mess of ableism. The only plot twist for me was the villain not being the villain, but simply a victim in the wrong place as usual. Which can certainly be chalked up to my own ableism and assuming the author is ableist as well. So like. It's a decent horror story where the mentally ill character, for once, isn't the evil villain. I'm a singlet, meaning I don't have DID, so I'm not saying this is a great depiction of DID, that the author is totally absolved of any tactlessness. I guess I'm trying to say that I appreciate a realistic attempt at portraying mental illness in horror that isn't stale tropes, and humanizes the people who are unwell. Does this make it a great book? Not on its own. The last book I read was a novella from Tade Thompson, called 'Gnaw'. It's part of a series called 'Five Stories High Books', by K.J. Parker, Tade Thompson, Robert Shearman, Jonathan Oliver, Sarah Lotz, Nina Allan. Each novella is written by a author so there's a neat showcase her. quote:Tara and Harry Newton have just bought the beautiful Irongrove Lodge, an ideal place to raise their children, Cory and Adrienne. But they are far from the first inhabitants of this house. I liked the paranormal aspect and the multiple hauntings going on. The gore was pretty cool too, and I liked the mechanics of the supernatural aspect. It wasn't the typical christian / catholic exorcism shindig. I also recommend The Murders of Molly Southbourne and The Survival of Molly Southbourne, both by Tade Thompson. They're more contemporary scifi than horror, but have a creepy doppelganger horror plot that has stuck in my head. I really want more doppelganger horror now. God Tade Thompson writes so well.
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May 3, 2022 04:46
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Re: That list on Tor Nightfire and ones I've read so far: Manhunt was really good. It's gross and brutal but the characters are written with a lot of empathy. Dead Silence fell really flat for me. The premise of haunted space ship Titanic got my attention, but the execution didn't keep it. I'm only about 1/4 into All the White Spaces but enjoying it so far (Antarctic exploration is an interest of mine and you can tell the author did their homework in that respect). That said, it hasn't really given me any horror vibes yet? I guess/hope it'll be more of a slow burn or something. Not sure why they included Where the Drowned Girls Go on that list since I wouldn't really considered the Wayward Children series horror (it's mostly a sort of meta portal fantasy, though it has some horror elements/themes sometimes). I enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed other entries in the series, though.
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May 3, 2022 16:14
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DurianGray posted:Re: That list on Tor Nightfire and ones I've read so far: That's so disappointing about Dead Silence, I absolutely love the (fairly small?) subgenre of "haunted spaceship" horror sci-fi, but there's not a whole lot of books that do it well. I might try reading it even knowing it's not great, lol. I feel like the last book in that genre that I enjoyed was Ship of Fools, and that's been out for ages at this point. Obscura was also in a similar vein but that one fell pretty flat for me. Re: Where the Drowned Girls Go, for some reason all kinds of Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant stuff that is pretty clearly not horror ends up on horror novel lists all the time. I don't know why, I'm guessing it's like you said, there's just enough horror flavor or themes that they get included.  I haven't read All the White Spaces, but on the subject of Antarctic horror, if you haven't read Michelle Paver's Dark Matter it is excellent. That goes for everyone in the thread, really, it's probably one of the better or best horror novels I've read in the last couple of years. Nothing groundbreaking, just solid and tense and entertaining. It's not even new, I think it came out in the early 2010s, but for whatever reason I never really heard anything about it until the last couple of years.
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May 3, 2022 18:01
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