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I've been reading House of Leaves (courtesy of being reminded it exists after watching MyHouse.wad explanations) and I really enjoy the format. Are there other horror books that are in a similar format like a documentary? Doesn't have to be about a house, but I like the interactive layout between the various appendices and character that seems to be reading alongside you.
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Jul 5, 2023 18:30
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| # ? May 29, 2024 06:53 |
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Chill la Chill posted:I've been reading House of Leaves (courtesy of being reminded it exists after watching MyHouse.wad explanations) and I really enjoy the format. Are there other horror books that are in a similar format like a documentary? Doesn't have to be about a house, but I like the interactive layout between the various appendices and character that seems to be reading alongside you. It's sort of a rare subgenre, most of the other similar things I can think of aren't really horror but if you like the format generally try: S. (or Ship of Theseus) by J J Abrams and Doug Dorst. Sort of a low-key thriller with a spooky/weird novel at the center. The gimmick is that it's a 1950s~ novel in a college library and 2 students use the margins to pass notes to each other and investigate a mystery about the author. It also has some ephemera tucked into the pages like ticket and postcards. It's neat conceptually and as an experience but I thought the plot with the students was bland in the end. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. A novel told in the footnotes to a lovely poem. It's not really horror but iirc it was not exactly uplifting either (the main POV character is basically a stalker iirc). I can think of a few other things that rely on footnotes (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, The Adventures of Eovaii) but really aren't horror at all or don't feel the same, not like you're reading someone's investigative notes. "Ergodic literature" is a phrase that's been used to describe that sort of book, though, so you might have some luck searching that up. I love it and am always on the lookout for it, but it can be hard to find, especially if you want it to also be horror (or any other specific genre).
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Jul 5, 2023 21:51
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I don’t think it’s horror—just suspense-y?—but lots of people compare HoL to The Raw Shark Texts, which has the fun addition of un-chapters hidden throughout the Internet, the real world, foreign translations of the book, the author’s hard drive, etc. Again, my understanding is it’s not a horror novel, but the word occult does mean hidden, so—!
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Jul 5, 2023 21:56
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Raw Shark Texts starts off in the tone of weird horror, but it explains/the narrator discovers what's going on very early on at which point it becomes a weird adventure with some neat formatting instead. Not a complaint, the book absolutely does this on purpose. I thought it was pretty good if not mindblowing. e: Though if someone took a stab at the same concept as a pure horror it could work pretty well. Would require the protagonist spending most if not all of the novel not sure what the hell is happening to him, so it would likely work better as short story or novella, but the main idea of there's a metaphysical predator eating your memories that normal walls don't work against, but certain kinds of media act like barriers against for reasons you don't quite understand, forcing you to act like an insane person to survive could definitely be spun off it a scarier direction. Big Mad Drongo fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Jul 5, 2023 |
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Jul 5, 2023 22:00
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I've heard it compared to Foucalt's Pendulum too
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Jul 5, 2023 22:14
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I picked up a collection of Edgar Allen Poe short stories while I was in Asheville, NC this weekend. Publishing date was 1961, but is in pretty good quality.
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Jul 5, 2023 23:18
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Thanks a lot for the suggestions. Will look up ergodic lit. I would think maybe something science fiction wrt discoveries might also be great in this format. Horror and sci fi would pretty much be like playing dark souls or resident evil or any number of emergent narrative games but in book form.
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Jul 6, 2023 13:52
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I certainly wish there were more books like HoL in terms of presentation and interleaving narratives but I get why there aren't. It's hard enough to write an effective horror novel without adding in the extra complexities. Even HoL doesn't always land some of the more unique aspects IMO. I don't know much about the modern interactive fiction scene but it wouldn't shock me if there's a few horror or sci fi standouts that do similar things, I think there used to be an IF thread in the games subforum somewhere though, might be worth asking there. Not quite the same experience as something like HoL but you'd probably get some cool approaches to storytelling and narrative presentation.
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Jul 6, 2023 15:38
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I finished The Tommyknockers today. Took about 5 days of reading but I swear I was tearing into the book by the end. My final reading session started today at 9:00AM and ended at 1:00PM. I completely forgot to each lunch. I'll say that the book was just as good, if not better than when I read it in high school. Honestly it moved me more than it did back when I was a teenager. Even got choked up a bit during the climax when Gard was confronting Bobbi about using her dog Peter as an energy source and was thinking "Peter loved, you, that's why he lasted so long in that tank." I kind of felt like the book had a 3 part metaphor over the course of the narrative. The first part was the affects of addiction on individuals, the next was addiction affecting the community, and finally the third part was the dangers of unchecked scientific advancement without being grounded by morality. I could pontificate more about the themes, but honestly I'm just sitting here still processing things. As dark as the final act got, I still felt like there was some element of hope and love that was keeping Gard moving forward to the end. I'm thinking I will start Pet Sematary or The Shining within the next day or two. I'm on vacation until Monday, so I reckon I could knock one of those books out over the weekend if I put my nose to the grindstone.
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Jul 6, 2023 20:06
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Vargatron posted:I finished The Tommyknockers today. Took about 5 days of reading but I swear I was tearing into the book by the end. My final reading session started today at 9:00AM and ended at 1:00PM. I completely forgot to each lunch. The Shining would likely go fast, it's pretty breezy compared to a lot of King's later doorstoppers. Pet Sematary moves at a pretty good clip too, but it's quite a bit longer iirc. Just uhh... not sure the best way to ask this... Have you read Pet Sematary before? And if not, do you have any particular no-go subject matter when it comes to horror? I feel like it's the one King book that can really do a number on people emotionally depending on what kind of things genuinely get to you in horror, enough that it might warrant some forewarning for some people.
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Jul 6, 2023 21:55
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I'm aware of the general plot and I'll be fine with it I think. I read enough King works in high school to know how bad some of the things can be. I appreciate the forewarning though.
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Jul 6, 2023 22:07
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I find the Shining to be so utterly dull that it was almost unreadable after seeing the Kubrick masterpiece. the hedge animals make me tired just to think about
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Jul 6, 2023 22:10
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Vargatron posted:I'm aware of the general plot and I'll be fine with it I think. I read enough King works in high school to know how bad some of the things can be. I appreciate the forewarning though. cool, yeah if you know what you're getting into and it doesn't put you off then you should be fine. A friend of mine read it not really knowing what it was about, and he chose literally the worst time of his life to read it, and it kind of hosed him up for a little bit as a result, lol
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Jul 6, 2023 22:19
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MockingQuantum posted:cool, yeah if you know what you're getting into and it doesn't put you off then you should be fine. A friend of mine read it not really knowing what it was about, and he chose literally the worst time of his life to read it, and it kind of hosed him up for a little bit as a result, lol Read it when my first kid was 3. Still the King book that haunts me most
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Jul 7, 2023 03:37
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The Polish Pirate posted:Read it when my first kid was 3. Still the King book that haunts me most It's the one that haunts King the most. He wrote the first draft in 1979 and promptly put it in the trunk because reading it took him to a very bad place. He only published it in 1983 to fill a contractual obligation.
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Jul 7, 2023 10:48
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escape artist posted:I find the Shining to be so utterly dull that it was almost unreadable after seeing the Kubrick masterpiece. the hedge animals make me tired just to think about
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Jul 7, 2023 12:01
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I got through the first 3rd of Pet Sematary today. If The Tommyknockers was about addiction, then Pet Sematary is themed around grief and mortality. I'm just at the point to where the family cat dies but is resurrected, and changed, but I feel like the story is about to quickly go off the rails.
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Jul 8, 2023 02:16
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Vargatron posted:I got through the first 3rd of Pet Sematary today. If The Tommyknockers was about addiction, then Pet Sematary is themed around grief and mortality. I'm just at the point to where the family cat dies but is resurrected, and changed, but I feel like the story is about to quickly go off the rails. Wild to not know basically everything about pet cemetery in 2023 just through cultural osmosis and references from other media, if not from the book/movie themselves. Kinda envious you’re able to go into it relatively blind
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Jul 8, 2023 02:24
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I stand by the statement that those 2 or 3 pages of Louis chasing Gage to the road is the scariest stuff King’s written
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Jul 8, 2023 03:08
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Good Citizen posted:Wild to not know basically everything about pet cemetery in 2023 just through cultural osmosis and references from other media, if not from the book/movie themselves. Lol I read it back when it was new and now remember zero about it (a benefit of getting old?) so I appreciate their effort to help me read it again for the first time!
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Jul 8, 2023 06:58
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Good Citizen posted:Wild to not know basically everything about pet cemetery in 2023 just through cultural osmosis and references from other media, if not from the book/movie themselves. I think I know the basic plot beats and ending, but not all the details. Like I know the burial ground bit is the central part of the book and bad poo poo starts happening when it gets used. Though I was shocked that Jud was the one who led Louis to bury Church in the Micmac burial ground. I think in the film, that part is essentially reversed or something. Edit: I'm not sure how required spoiler bars are on a 40 year old novel, but I figured I'd play it safe since I don't want to be spoiled on this stuff as I'm reading.
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Jul 8, 2023 13:50
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Any thoughts on: The Puppet King and Other Atonements Home Before Dark: A Novel The Secret Of Ventriloquism ? I have them saved to a list of potential Kindle purchases but I’ll be damned if I remember adding them or what might’ve spurred me to do so. The 1st & 3rd kinda’ ring a bell but I wanted to get some opinions before pulling the trigger on any of them.
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Jul 8, 2023 16:01
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drat, I got to the part where Ellie started crying after Norma's funeral and it had me crying too. My grandfather passed in February and I had the exact same delayed grief after the funeral. I was good until I wasn't. I know these are horror novels and all, but I can't help getting choked up at parts where the character's emotions really start coming through. It's like in Tommyknockers where there's a line "Peter held on a long time, because he loved you. The books are scary, yeah, but there's this emotional authenticity there. I think that's why I like King's books so much.
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Jul 8, 2023 17:06
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For all his faults he's an absolute master storyteller and he's earned his reputation for sure
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Jul 8, 2023 18:25
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C2C - 2.0 posted:Any thoughts on: The Secret of Ventriloquism is very derivative of Thomas Ligotti (openly so), but I did enjoy it and think it’s probably worth a read. It’s a short story collection but there are threads that tie the stories together that become more apparent the farther along you get in the book. I’m pretty sure I enjoyed Home Before Dark when I read it but I also can’t remember anything about it (and in fact grabbed it from the library a second time a month or two ago and got through 20-25 pages before realizing I had already read it). Not exactly a ringing endorsement but I can say that I at least liked it enough to seek out other novels by Riley Sager.
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Jul 8, 2023 18:34
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Opopanax posted:For all his faults he's an absolute master storyteller and he's earned his reputation for sure He's averaged more than a book a year for half a century and put out some of the best horror fiction of the 1980s while doing enough lines to make a sudoku. Even a few dips in quality can be forgiven.
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Jul 8, 2023 18:40
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Vargatron posted:Edit: I'm not sure how required spoiler bars are on a 40 year old novel, but I figured I'd play it safe since I don't want to be spoiled on this stuff as I'm reading. Holy gently caress! your making me feel old... I was about 14 when it came out & got it for christmas.
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Jul 8, 2023 20:13
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I finished Pet Sematary. I started the book yesterday but I couldn't stop reading it. I didn't feel so much horror as I did sorrow. Just absolute sorrow reading this book. In a way it was almost cathartic to me and was therapeutic, if that makes sense. I legit cried reading some of the dialogue from different characters just coping with loss and going through funerals. I 100% had these kinds of feelings when my grandfather died. Sadness, anger, willing to give anything to have him back again. Almost blaming myself for feeling relief at his death even though he had suffered a long illness. Just these emotions that people don't want to address but were poured out on the page. I'm not sure which book I'm going to pick up next, but I'm probably going to take the next couple of days off and mentally recharge. I think the book is going to stick with me not as a horror story, but just this raw knowledge that somebody else has felt this kind of pain.
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Jul 9, 2023 03:21
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DurianGray posted:I have! I thought it was a fine novella (might have been better if it was either a little shorter or a little longer), but I do like what I've read of Khaw's other work better. Firstly, I really enjoyed it, I think Khaw has an engaging writing style and its working with a mythology I don't know so well, so its fresh. But because of that, I was frequently lost, having to look up a lot of folklore that the reader is assumed to know. I also struggled to follow the action frequently. But mostly, why the gently caress are those people all hanging out together. The hostility and hurt is not even below the surface. Yeah people in conflict is real but, BUT.
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Jul 9, 2023 03:42
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Vargatron posted:I finished Pet Sematary. I started the book yesterday but I couldn't stop reading it. I didn't feel so much horror as I did sorrow. Just absolute sorrow reading this book. In a way it was almost cathartic to me and was therapeutic, if that makes sense. I listened to Pet Sematary on a long car trip over a weekend, and it served as a grieving bookend for me. At the time I had unexpectedly put my dog down about a year prior. It was my first pet I was solely responsible for, and it was a tough choice. Short version is she had some kind of mental issue that caused her to not be all there and just bark. It was a sad existence for her. Only other option the vet could think of was to give her daily sedatives for the rest of her life. Found myself second guessing myself for a long time. Then I came across Pet Sematary. It's morbid, but comforting for me and my saddest decision. "Sometimes, dead is better." And sorry for your grandfather. I hope the story also gave you some comfort. "Sorrow" hits the nail on the head.
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Jul 9, 2023 03:59
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gey muckle mowser posted:The Secret of Ventriloquism is very derivative of Thomas Ligotti (openly so), but I did enjoy it and think it’s probably worth a read. It’s a short story collection but there are threads that tie the stories together that become more apparent the farther along you get in the book. Good lookin' out! They're all pretty cheap on Kindle, but I just purchased TSoV as a starter.
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Jul 9, 2023 06:17
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Vargatron posted:I finished Pet Sematary. I started the book yesterday but I couldn't stop reading it. I didn't feel so much horror as I did sorrow. Just absolute sorrow reading this book. In a way it was almost cathartic to me and was therapeutic, if that makes sense.
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Jul 9, 2023 16:47
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Vargatron posted:The books are scary, yeah, but there's this emotional authenticity there. I think that's why I like King's books so much. Yeah, King is exceptionally good at character and emotion, which salvages a lot of very silly plots. Even the bad novels will usually have good character work -- I can't recommend Dreamcatcher on any level (and mostly finished it because I was on a school trip pre-smartphones and didn't have a lot of options), but the relationship between the four core friends resonated with me even as a bored teenager.
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Jul 10, 2023 00:33
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Antivehicular posted:Yeah, King is exceptionally good at character and emotion, which salvages a lot of very silly plots. Even the bad novels will usually have good character work -- I can't recommend Dreamcatcher on any level (and mostly finished it because I was on a school trip pre-smartphones and didn't have a lot of options), but the relationship between the four core friends resonated with me even as a bored teenager. Insomnia is an absolute slog which is a shame because the story of the widower Ralph Roberts is really emotionally engaging. I was inpatient in a psychiatric ward with limited books and I finished it out of spite.
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Jul 10, 2023 02:27
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MockingQuantum posted:I certainly wish there were more books like HoL in terms of presentation and interleaving narratives but I get why there aren't. It's hard enough to write an effective horror novel without adding in the extra complexities. Even HoL doesn't always land some of the more unique aspects IMO. I was looking around and found out about Bottom's Dream which seems like another great example of it. But that price 
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Jul 10, 2023 04:06
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escape artist posted:Insomnia is an absolute slog which is a shame because the story of the widower Ralph Roberts is really emotionally engaging. I was inpatient in a psychiatric ward with limited books and I finished it out of spite. Who the gently caress is putting horror novels in a psychiatric ward? And particularly that one?
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Jul 10, 2023 10:41
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DurianGray posted:
Thank you, yes. I liked Page Fire fine but I was really struck by how navel gazing and uninteresting the poem was. I actually wondered if that was maybe a layer of satire. Anyway, to get on topic, I've a question for the thread. Does anyone in this thread actually ever get scared when reading? If so what was it? I can't even fathom it, maybe because I'm not a particularly visual reader. I've been plenty creeped out by good audio books and plays, however.
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Jul 10, 2023 11:45
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upset, yeah. tense, yeah. scared, no. maybe only tangentially?
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Jul 10, 2023 11:49
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Whale Vomit posted:Thank you, yes. I liked Page Fire fine but I was really struck by how navel gazing and uninteresting the poem was. I actually wondered if that was maybe a layer of satire. (Oh yeah, the poem is definitely supposed to be terrible, it's part of the joke.) Unfortunately, I haven't been actually scared by a boook since I was 9 or 10. I haven't been able to figure out what the book was, but from what I remember, in the first half it was a bunch of "facts" about spooky stuff, like what ghost ectoplasm is, that vampires get distracted and have to count stuff if you leave it at their graves, etc. Not too scary. But the second half or so was just an abridged but pretty detailed retelling of the Amityville Horror and it scared the poo poo out of me (this was a book intended for children by the way). I had to put it down a few times before I could finish it because it was freaking me out. Since then though, fiction (movies, books, etc.) never really "scares" me (I guess maybe with the exception of the movie "Skinamarink," but that was more intense dread than fear?). And I really wish it did! I love horror, but sometimes it feels like I'm having a very good meal, but there's an extra flavor in it that other people can taste and I can't.
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Jul 10, 2023 13:01
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| # ? May 29, 2024 06:53 |
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I think we've talked about this upthread but yeah, I think that's the feeling I chase now- intense dread. I don't think I've been scared from a book in my adult life. There are a couple movies which have been unsettling but only momentarily. But I have gotten that dreadful feeling many times and enjoy it just as much as being afraid, I think.
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Jul 10, 2023 13:10
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