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Is there anything out there like Lake Monsters? I started Wounds and I'm not crazy about it. Too much like Ligotti's weirder cosmic puppet stuff. If there are other short collections in line with Lake Monsters or, for example, Ligotti's short The Bungalow House I'd be eager to check them out.
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May 5, 2019 00:54
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I'm doing research for a project involving Tennessee (specifically the southeast border) and I'm looking for some creepy materials on rural southern Appalachia. Works by people native to the area would be a huge plus. Anything worth checking out? The exact location is kinda important, the border of the Tennessee Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains is fairly significant to the work I'm doing and contains a lot of natural diversity. Really though, anything Appalachian is a thumbs up, fiction or otherwise. Classic ghost stories, monster stuff, hillbilly horror, all good good good. Also Ballingrud will never top Lake Monsters. It's his Teatro Grottesco.
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Mar 17, 2021 03:23
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Wow, I did not expect such thoughtful responses! Thank you all! I apologize for the vagueness of my post, I've been working on this thing for 3 years or so and it's become something incredibly complex, and I want to make sure I cover all my bases with genuine information. It's a little hard to describe exactly what I'm looking for, because I'm essentially looking for everything. The last time I set foot in the US was upper NY state maybe 15 years ago (it was dire) so lately I've been poring over topo maps from USGS, old DoD maps, JSTOR, journals about the area's ecosystem, and archived news articles. It's been surprisingly difficult to find books that aren't primarily about the aftermath of the industrial decline. All that's left is the spooky stuff, and you guys have nailed it in one.Xiahou Dun posted:I don't have books I can point to (they live in a box right now), but anything on Appalachian/Scotch-Irish folklore is gonna be a good start. Check out the Anthropology section out at your local library, or even better, a good college book-store. The Scots-Irish folklore tip is a good one - it's a little embarrassing, my family being Scots-Irish, but I wasn't fully aware of the significance of Ulster Scots settling in America and there's a lot of great folklore and folk magic to sift through. It brings an entirely different dimension into the mix I wasn't prepared for - but it's a very welcome one. Conrad_Birdie posted:Hmm my mind immediately went to the Tailypo folktale, but that's one of the more famous Appalachia horror stories. Do you know it? I do know Tailypo but really only the standard "man gets mauled after maiming a scary demon dog" story. Looking deeper into the origins and themes has been honestly enlightening, I didn't realize how rich the history of the legend was. nate fisher posted:That is my home area. My family is from the mountains of WNC and I grew up mostly in East TN (Johnson City/Jonesborough area). Are you interested in non-supernatural stuff also? I assume you know about Murderous Mary (the elephant) and her hanging in Erwin. Two recent true horrifying stories are the Lillelid murders back in the 90's (family murdered by teenagers at a rest area on the way back to Knoxville from JC), and one of the sickest true accounts I have ever read in my life (I want to bleach my mind of it) is the Christian and Newsome murders in Knoxville. Also there is an insane story from Mountain City, TN about a girl who catfished (as a CIA agent) her mom and dad to brutally kill a couple she was jealous over. You've definitely added a whole lot I didn't know, and may PM you in the future if that's alright. While I'm definitely looking for supernatural tales the true crime you've brought out is fascinating and helpful beyond belief. It's a facet I wasn't expecting to explore but now that it's in front of me it's like, duh, this fits my needs and then some. The shout out to Michael Hardy is something I'll be following up on for sure. Thanks for sharing your own experiences and local legends. Fitzy Fitz posted:Please be writing a haunted account at Lake Winnepesaukah. Or about this thing: https://goo.gl/maps/2Tpo9BWWrSPuhuqK9 Hah, Fields of the Wood happens to be less than an hour from where I've been gathering most of my regional information  . I actually do have a few books Foxfire has published, and they've been a great help as well as just being good reads overall. I'm working through one of the folklore collections, but Appalachia in general is just fascinating. Also, the ghost plant is very very interesting and now I'm on a quest to find more examples of weird flora.For the sake of the thread I'll actually contribute as well. I've been on a real classics kick lately, going back over M R James stories, R W Chambers, just a bunch of weird fiction before Lovecraft showed up. Some of them hold up surprisingly well, I had forgotten just how eerie James' stories could be. I have to give A Head Full of Ghosts another try, I couldn't really get into it a few years ago and it sounds like it'll be a complete 180 from the late 19th/early 20th century stuff I've been into recently. The contrast could end up being really good or really awful and that's kinda exciting on its own.
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Mar 18, 2021 01:23
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Lil Mama Im Sorry posted:Aberration in the Heartland of the Real Someone asked about actually being scared by books, and stuff like this is the closest I've ever gotten. Aberration in the Heartland of the Real, The Devil's Chessboard, and CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties are all conspiracy heavy but they are well written, researched, and will definitely put something in your brain that's hard to get rid of. Also, Ligotti.
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Jul 13, 2023 02:10
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I didn't know The Troop had a reputation at all. Around the time it was published I picked it up at random, thought it was ok I guess, and never thought about it again until now. I didn't know anyone else had even read it
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Aug 21, 2023 18:17
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Count Thrashula posted:Is there anything out there that's as bleak and nihilistic as Ligotti? "For sale: clown shoes, never worn."
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Sep 13, 2023 04:50
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i think teatro grottesco is more approachable but grimscribe has the last feast of harlequin so it's impossible to say
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Sep 17, 2023 05:13
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szary posted:Bay's End by Edward Lorn i'm 1/4 through this and it kinda reads like a goosebumps book but with dialogue cornier in ways i thought not possible, awkward swears, and uncomfortable writing about horny children. anyway i'm also reading Reza Negarestani's Cyclonopedia and i think it's giving me schizophrenia
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Oct 6, 2023 20:33
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I finally got around to reading Between Two Fires a couple days ago and it was very, very good. All the comte and seigneurie talk was funny to see, I had just come off the back of a lot of French genealogy work. I immediately went into Red Rabbit and I'm gonna be real sad when I'm finished that too. Any more period pieces along the same lines? ----------------
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Oct 11, 2023 20:51
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BioTech posted:Hollow by Bryan Catling Good Citizen posted:Howls From the Dark Ages Great now I gotta pick which one comes first  I found copies of Rod Serling's Night Gallery books recently too and I'm extremely excited - Serling has been a hero of mine since I was a kid. I still fall asleep with The Twilight Zone on in the background. ----------------
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Oct 12, 2023 15:28
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I'm about halfway through Adam Nevill's Last Days and I'm digging it so far, love some evil cult business. My only hangup, not even sure if it's a spoiler but oh well: Professionals using the members' corny rear end demon names instead of their real ones is insanely goofy to me. I cannot possibly imagine a grizzled old southern cop constantly call a dude "Moloch" but maybe that will make sense later, I have no idea where the second half might go. I planned to start with House of Small Shadows but switched gears when folks here mentioned Last Days
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Jan 4, 2024 05:30
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Big Mad Drongo posted:I've been reading horror! drat this destroyed me. Is their other work this good too? I remember really liking His Face All Red when it was making the internet rounds. For that matter, are there any graphic novels or comic omnibuses that might scratch a horror itch? I just finished Harrow County, it was pretty great, but grounded spooky hauntings and a generally heavy atmosphere are my poo poo. I've searched reddit for recommendations but it's hit or miss and usually there is very little if any context or description provided
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Apr 17, 2024 00:39
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Good Citizen posted:The thing with horror in comic form is it tends to be action focused, edgy to the extreme, and/or rely heavily on an existing source material due to the serialized format. So you end up with a lot of the Walking Dead, Crossed, and a million variations on the Aliens franchise, and not too much atmospheric stuff outside of short-run indie label comics that are more horror-adjacent than full horror. Yeah, I've got all Junji Ito's hardcovers put out by Viz. And yeah the problem with action and ridiculous fantasy have been a real problem for me. Something starts off a spooky little mystery and all of a sudden there's a super hero demon killer with a big fuckoff gun running around
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Apr 17, 2024 01:14
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ty for the graphic novel/comic recommendations, i've started with Gideon Falls and Something is Killing the Children, enjoying both so far. in non-picture books i'm also working on Hollow (Brian Catling), which i think was recommended earlier itt, it's been on my list for a while. decent Between Two Fires vibes but i already know nothing will ever get close. dropped The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler and Other Strange Stories (Reggie Oliver) super hard because imo it takes really interesting concepts and ruins them almost every single time. feels like if M.R. James wrote HORRORS by Ben Biddick
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Apr 25, 2024 23:21
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