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I've been trying to get into A Head Full of Ghosts, and does this pick up at all? I'm about ten chapters in, right after the dad has confessed to taking Marjorie to a priest instead of her psych appointment, and it's not bad but I'm not gripped. The sibling stuff isn't clicking with me -- all I can think is that this is very watered-down We Have Always Lived In The Castle, which may just be because of the younger sister being named Merry, IDK
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Jul 6, 2022 23:55
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Antivehicular posted:I've been trying to get into A Head Full of Ghosts, and does this pick up at all? I'm about ten chapters in, right after the dad has confessed to taking Marjorie to a priest instead of her psych appointment, and it's not bad but I'm not gripped. The sibling stuff isn't clicking with me -- all I can think is that this is very watered-down We Have Always Lived In The Castle, which may just be because of the younger sister being named Merry, IDK Imo it does ratchet up the dread but without trying to spoil anything you're a lot closer than you think with that comparison. I didn't enjoy the ending. It is very grim, but was in dire need of some editing.
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Jul 7, 2022 00:47
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Antivehicular posted:I've been trying to get into A Head Full of Ghosts, and does this pick up at all? I'm about ten chapters in, right after the dad has confessed to taking Marjorie to a priest instead of her psych appointment, and it's not bad but I'm not gripped. The sibling stuff isn't clicking with me -- all I can think is that this is very watered-down We Have Always Lived In The Castle, which may just be because of the younger sister being named Merry, IDK I haven't read it, but that's a pretty damning summary for me. I thought We Have Always Lived in The Castle was already some pretty weak tea, so this might just be borderline homeopathic.
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Jul 7, 2022 01:21
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Yeah, WHALITC really only works because the characterization is so drat good (and generally because Shirley Jackson's writing is a treasure), and especially that the kid voices feel real. These kid voices don't quite work for me? I dunno, I'm not to the DNF point, but this might be a "finish it and send it straight to Half-Price" book for me.
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Jul 7, 2022 01:55
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I thought WHALTC was a very well written story, but the actual story part sucks. It’s like an elegantly painted still life : great on all the mechanics, but I’m just never gonna get emotionally invested in some peaches in a bowl.
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Jul 7, 2022 02:03
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I liked Head Full of Ghosts but the writing is pretty grating
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Jul 7, 2022 02:13
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any good investigative horror recs? Just finished The Relic and its sequel and while they were kinda fun, they also were a bit boring. I did like Agent Pendergast's vibe but it looks like the rest of the series dips away from horror and im not sure I will like them. The second book started to lose me when the characters were firing grenade launchers at homeless mole-people, never really felt tense id also prefer if the novels werent explicitly pro-cop, but I imagine that can be difficult to find in the investigative genre
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Jul 7, 2022 17:01
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good investigative horror recs? Just finished The Relic and its sequel and while they were kinda fun, they also were a bit boring. I did like Agent Pendergast's vibe but it looks like the rest of the series dips away from horror and im not sure I will like them. The second book started to lose me when the characters were firing grenade launchers at homeless mole-people, never really felt tense O hey I read all those at a clip, drunk in Taiwan. Have you checked out Night Film? That’s all investigation, no cops and more of an actual book-book. Not perfect by any means, but very entertaining and seems up your street.
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Jul 7, 2022 17:33
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good investigative horror recs? Just finished The Relic and its sequel and while they were kinda fun, they also were a bit boring. I did like Agent Pendergast's vibe but it looks like the rest of the series dips away from horror and im not sure I will like them. The second book started to lose me when the characters were firing grenade launchers at homeless mole-people, never really felt tense John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series? Not strictly horror, I suppose, but very dark supernatural goings-on.
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Jul 7, 2022 18:56
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good investigative horror recs? Just finished The Relic and its sequel and while they were kinda fun, they also were a bit boring. I did like Agent Pendergast's vibe but it looks like the rest of the series dips away from horror and im not sure I will like them. The second book started to lose me when the characters were firing grenade launchers at homeless mole-people, never really felt tense anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jul 7, 2022 |
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Jul 7, 2022 18:58
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good investigative horror recs? Just finished The Relic and its sequel and while they were kinda fun, they also were a bit boring. I did like Agent Pendergast's vibe but it looks like the rest of the series dips away from horror and im not sure I will like them. The second book started to lose me when the characters were firing grenade launchers at homeless mole-people, never really felt tense Twenty Days of Turin is a little bit like that, investigative but from a non cop perspective. It's a weird little book, I'm not sure it's exactly what you're looking for.
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Jul 7, 2022 19:14
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thanks for the recs everyone. Sorry I was pretty vague, but yeah, was looking for investigative horror novels with quirky or otherwise interesting detectives Ill take the time to go through them and try to report back if i end up reading any of the books. Right away, The Devil and the Dark Water looks pretty cool tho
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Jul 7, 2022 20:44
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I recently signed up for Scribd (it fuckin whips, by the by) and I now have so many books to read that I'm dealing with some choice paralysis. So I leave my hobby in your hands, horror thread. What am I reading next? I've not read any of these books, and mostly added them based on thread recommendations. The Chill - Scott Carson The Flood - Meghan O'Flynn Billy Summers - Stephen King Elevation - Stephen King The Institute - Stephen King The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All - Laird Barron Carrion Comfort - Paul Finch Blackwater: The Complete Saga - Michael McDowell Cold Moon Over Babylon - Michael McDowell Pontypool - Tony Burgess Some of Your Blood - Theodore Sturgeon Experimental Film - Gemma Files The Auctioneer - Joan Samson Toy Cemetery - William W. Johnstone The Elementals - Michael McDowell Let the Right One In - John Lindqvist Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay Little Heaven - Nick Cutter After the People Lights Have Gone Off - Stephen Graham Jones
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Jul 8, 2022 06:33
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My picks would be the beautiful thing that awaits us all, pontypool, and the elementals
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Jul 8, 2022 13:31
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Experimental Film is up near the top of that list for me. Gemma Files is fantastic.
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Jul 8, 2022 21:54
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Has anyone read anything by Brom? I'm a little ehhh at the pretentiousness of a single name, but people seem to like their stuff (especially Slewfoot), but I'm curious if it's come up in here.
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Jul 8, 2022 22:09
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Well if it makes you feel any better he was an artist/illustrator first so that's where the single name business comes from. Not really that pretentious.
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Jul 8, 2022 23:08
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a foolish pianist posted:Experimental Film is up near the top of that list for me. Gemma Files is fantastic. Could also be a decent recommendation for an investigative book that doesn’t foreground cops, seeing as how it’s about a research project instead.
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Jul 10, 2022 02:49
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Untrustable posted:I recently signed up for Scribd (it fuckin whips, by the by) and I now have so many books to read that I'm dealing with some choice paralysis. <snip> I'd start with Let The Right One In. If you like it, move on to most of the rest of Lindqvist starting with Handling the Undead and Little Star then probably the Himmelstrand trilogy. It's easy to look at his work as the horror equivalent of those Swedish novels starring sweater-wearing detectives, but the more consistent theme is slotting horror into a world that determinedly remains normal.
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Jul 10, 2022 14:11
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value-brand cereal posted:
I just read this and it starts strong and while has some creepy, propulsive charm, none of the adult characters behavior really made any sense at all and the late attempt to explain it by introducing an unchangeable prophecy element was very dumb! Also if you're going to have every single adult in the town be in on it, you can make a pretty effective scene out of that. What you can't do is go one by one and have each chapter end with a twist of 'this person was in on it!' over and over again. I was straight up laughing at it by the fourth or fifth time. Has anyone read the sequel? I'm mixed on continuing because I found the ending unsatisfying and if the second ends with another pseudo cliffhanger I'll just pass.
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Jul 11, 2022 20:15
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I think y'all are the people to ask. I want to reread Dracula, maybe an annotated edition. What's my best bet for that? I'd prefer a physical book if at all available, but if not my kindle awaits.
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Jul 13, 2022 02:28
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I read The Haunting of Hill House and A Head Full Of Ghosts over the last three days and man; Hill house was witty and fun to read, but the story was just nothing, while HFOG kept me gripped with the plot but almost made me hurl at the dialogue
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Jul 13, 2022 02:39
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StrixNebulosa posted:I think y'all are the people to ask. I want to reread Dracula, maybe an annotated edition. What's my best bet for that? I'd prefer a physical book if at all available, but if not my kindle awaits. Dracula https://a.co/d/cjYlWE7 ???? I’m not trying to snark, I literally just don’t understand the question. It’s a public domain book and super famous, copies are everywhere. The link is 20$ cause it’s a pretty hardcover but I scrolled by a bunch of 7$ paperbacks if that’s more your jam. There’s even an illustrated one but I wasn’t wowed by the art. Here’s an annotated, illustrated one : The New Annotated Dracula (The Annotated Books) https://a.co/d/49lpKMb Or if you’re in continental US I’ll happily send you one of my (at least) 2 copies. Plus a Xiahou Dun original Dracula drawing, just for funnsies. Again, seriously not being lovely, just honestly confused by the request and sincerely trying to be helpful.
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Jul 13, 2022 02:44
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Xiahou Dun posted:Dracula https://a.co/d/cjYlWE7 Aha, no, you're good! I should be more explicit: to my knowledge there's nothing wrong with the public domain edition of the book - it's not like it needs a translation or w/e. But I figured asking in case there's a notorious bad edition of it somewhere would be useful. Even moreso with the annotated ones, there's like 3+ flavors and well, does anyone know which annotations are the most interesting/informative to read? I'd like to reread the book once, not three+ times. Also I appreciate the offer, and I am in the continental US, but I'll pass on the free book. My mod star has made me extra paranoid about sharing my personal info - it's not you, it's the terrors of the internet. (Which sucks, as in the past few years I've actually been financially able to participate in the secret book santa but don't feel comfortable due to doxxing concerns.)
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Jul 13, 2022 02:49
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StrixNebulosa posted:Aha, no, you're good! I should be more explicit: to my knowledge there's nothing wrong with the public domain edition of the book - it's not like it needs a translation or w/e. But I figured asking in case there's a notorious bad edition of it somewhere would be useful. Even moreso with the annotated ones, there's like 3+ flavors and well, does anyone know which annotations are the most interesting/informative to read? I'd like to reread the book once, not three+ times. No worries. It was 30% wanting to be helpful and 70% an excuse to draw some draculas. The Klinger one I linked is usually regarded as the best for full glory of giant sprawling annotations that go on cool derails about Victorian technology and etiquette and stuff. It doesn't quite reach my preferred level where the annotations occasionally crowd out the actual story, but it goes into quite some detail and Leslie's a good writer and giant nerd.
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Jul 13, 2022 02:57
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Xiahou Dun posted:No worries. It was 30% wanting to be helpful and 70% an excuse to draw some draculas. Klinger seems to have annotated everything. I know they annotated The Sandman, presumably why the Gaiman foreword to that Dracula.
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Jul 13, 2022 12:03
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Xiahou Dun posted:No worries. It was 30% wanting to be helpful and 70% an excuse to draw some draculas. Awesome, thank you! That sounds like exactly what I want.
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Jul 13, 2022 14:01
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I subscribed to Dracula Daily and am just reading it for the first time like that. sure, there are long weeks where Jonathan is too busy cowering to update his diary or Mina hasn’t yet written back to Lucy or whatever, but I love it as a no-attention-span-friendly way to get engaged, it’s a very cool thing you can only do with an epistolary novel, and the “chapter” titles are amusing (“somebody’s got an amazing skincare regimen”)
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Jul 13, 2022 15:33
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Pretzel Rod Stewart posted:I subscribed to Dracula Daily and am just reading it for the first time like that. sure, there are long weeks where Jonathan is too busy cowering to update his diary or Mina hasn’t yet written back to Lucy or whatever, but I love it as a no-attention-span-friendly way to get engaged, it’s a very cool thing you can only do with an epistolary novel, and the “chapter” titles are amusing (“somebody’s got an amazing skincare regimen”) I had no idea this was a thing, but it is exactly and perfectly what I want in every single way. Subscribed the gently caress out of that. Thank you.
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Jul 13, 2022 15:37
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happy to help! make sure you read from the beginning to catch up, we’re in a lull right now while Dr. Seward studies Renfield
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Jul 13, 2022 18:11
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I probably will anyway, just because I can, but it's not like I don't know the plot of Dracula from the other 8 times I've read it or however many it is.
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Jul 13, 2022 18:16
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Untrustable posted:I recently signed up for Scribd (it fuckin whips, by the by) and I now have so many books to read that I'm dealing with some choice paralysis. Blackwater is legitimately one of the best books that I've ever read, and will bounce around in your head for a long time after you finish. Be advised though - it's a stretch to call it a horror novel, and you really have to be in the right place before you dive into it. It's a brick of a novel.
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Jul 13, 2022 22:44
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Paddyo posted:Blackwater is legitimately one of the best books that I've ever read, and will bounce around in your head for a long time after you finish. Be advised though - it's a stretch to call it a horror novel, and you really have to be in the right place before you dive into it. It's a brick of a novel. Agreed on all counts. I was late to work a couple times cause I was listening to it in the car and couldn't turn it off.
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Jul 13, 2022 22:45
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Count Thrashula posted:Agreed on all counts. I was late to work a couple times cause I was listening to it in the car and couldn't turn it off. That narrator was amazing!
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Jul 13, 2022 22:48
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Imo Blackwater is plenty horrific and gothic and revolting and don’t let it also being a soap opera dissuade you from reading. One of the best written novels, start to finish, that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Incredible character writing, and so much of it still lingers in my mind a year+ later
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Jul 14, 2022 00:30
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As mentioned upthread, the Charlie Parker books really do get into some horror spaces there are clearly terrible, demonic entities masquerading as human throughout the series and some amazingly unpleasant things occur that are supernatural Watching a man hit the very bottom and then as he claws his way back, realising that things are not and never have been what he thought really builds an effective sense of dread. I would love to see these filmed with proper care and attention. The other characters are also fully formed and well realised instead of just plot devices. One of the few series I just jab buy on initial release.
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Jul 14, 2022 13:27
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ClydeFrog posted:As mentioned upthread, the Charlie Parker books really do get into some horror spaces I really like this series. They’re very competently written in a genre where a lot of books are airport-reading level trash. Connolly’s writing reminds me of the best of Stephen King (who can be very good or very bad)—he’s really deft at getting the reader to care about side characters and places and history, which I normally find boring. Also, I haven’t caught up to the last few books and probably won’t have time. Did we ever find out if Parker was one of the fallen angels? Or is he just a dude? The books seemed to be hinting at it but then reversed course. I lost track right around then.
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Jul 14, 2022 14:19
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newts posted:I really like this series. They’re very competently written in a genre where a lot of books are airport-reading level trash. Connolly’s writing reminds me of the best of Stephen King (who can be very good or very bad)—he’s really deft at getting the reader to care about side characters and places and history, which I normally find boring. It's left kind of vague, for the reader to decide I think but I'm weighing on the side of him being a nephilim of some kind - especially given how his dead daughter very specifically exists in another realm. It's as if he's cut off from 95% of what he once was and is here to combat others of a similar ilk If you stopped at Black Angel I can recommend picking them up again at some point. There's a new book of two stories in August that I'm very much looking forward to.
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Jul 14, 2022 14:50
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I think I read through to The Wolf in Winter and then stopped. Mostly, because after I had kids, I just couldn’t deal with reading anything about kids in danger, even if they were fictional kids. The Black Angel was one of my favorites of the series. And I also remember really liking The Lovers. Perfect balance of supernatural and detective stuff for me.
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Jul 14, 2022 15:13
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Xiahou Dun posted:No worries. It was 30% wanting to be helpful and 70% an excuse to draw some draculas. Not a horror book, but I wanted to say I've been reading an annotated version of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler that is exactly like this, and it's been a great experience. The annotations go into the slang, dress, customs, prices of things/salaries etc. of the time and it really adds a lot. There are a shitload of notes, often 2-3 per page, but I read on my Kindle so i can either click the hyperlink on the page that takes me right to the annotation, and then go back to the text, or just read on to the end of the chapter where all that chapter's annotations are laid out before the start of the next chapter. I think it'd be great to read Dracula this way.
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Jul 14, 2022 18:30
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