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Hello all, As you conclude your reading of the, er, insistent to make you believe Communion, we are at the time when thoughts of the next book should be made. Since its October, the spoooOOOoooky month, our options should be towards a weird and horrific inclination. Over on the discord one poster in particular was full of ideas, and that has gotten me to move on an idea I've been toying with since succeeding HA: occasional BotM curators! That is, one poster will be made IK for the month and a bit in order to run the book show. Think of it as a Book Barn Guest Curator. So, with that, please welcome our guest host Gertrude Perkins! They will be running the show, which makes it extra scary! So please provide them your pumpkin spiciest suggestions for October's readings!
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Sep 17, 2023 16:04
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| # ? May 5, 2024 11:24 |
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Thanks Bill! "Horror" can mean a lot of things, from monsters to bloodshed to creeping dread. I am excited to see everyone's suggestions!
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Sep 17, 2023 20:24
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So to kick us off I'm going to suggest the Scottish hitchhiker story from last month be carried over, it sounded really cool. I also have this book on my shelf called Bad Cree. Its another in a growing literature of Native American/First Nations magical realism (like Son of a Trickster and The Only Good Indians) that I have been enjoying in recent years. Its a newer book so that goes against HA always trying to keep things affordable and accessible, but it is more likely to be in libraries as a result of its recency.
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Sep 18, 2023 15:51
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bear with me as I often have a loose definition of horror: The Willows by Algernon Blackwood - an atmospheric novella (therefore short!) Aura by Carlos Fuentes - a ghost novel on the shorter side that made me sad The Day of the Triffids and The Island of Dr Moreau - sci-fi elements, lots of fun stuff I haven't read: kind of wondering about Kaiju Preservation Society as a laidback entertainment option. how about Viy by Gogol. I tend to be curious about movie material...The Body Snatchers. The Midwich Cuckoos (which became Village of the Damned). Make Room! Make Room! (Soylent Green)
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Sep 18, 2023 16:03
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We could always read Wolfen to keep a Whitley Shreiber streak going. Looking through my library it appears I prefer my horror in short story format, but we've set precedent for short stories with Lord Dunsany. I have complete collections by Poe, Lovecraft, and Robert E. Howard, but those are probably too long for a book of the month. For shorter and more modern, could do something like Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti, Occulatation by Laird Barron, or even Skeleton Crew by Stephen King.
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Sep 18, 2023 16:42
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:bear with me as I often have a loose definition of horror: just fyi this was done just a year or two ago. I still have it on my kindle to read in fact
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Sep 18, 2023 20:32
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AngusPodgorny posted:We could always read Wolfen to keep a Whitley Shreiber streak going. a Laird Barron collection would be great. Would probably be more widely enjoyed than Ligotti
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Sep 19, 2023 01:46
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:bear with me as I often have a loose definition of horror: I have a suggestion that is so extraordinarily me that I'm amazed I never put it forward myself. Also, I am probably the only person who would read it. quote:
Kipling, Wells, Sayers, Wodehouse all have references to the Ingoldsby Legends -- basically anybody writing anything in the late 18th or early 19th century would've grown up reading them. I bought the Arthur Rackham version and the first story was a ghost story that fell somewhere between Conan Doyle and Dickens (or maybe Pickwick), and the second was a long poem about the Hand of Glory! Downside is . . . like, there are clearly reasons that this died out and isn't read as much any more. These are not deep or complex stories . . . at best they're quality pulp / children's literature, except that even a casual flip through the text found plenty of stuff that you would not want a child today reading. Definitely interesting if you're a student of victorian fiction, but more interesting than "good," and not exactly literature either. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Sep 19, 2023 |
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Sep 19, 2023 07:25
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I actually went ahead and pulled a copy off Project Gutenberg, so that's one other person that'll read it. I don't expect it to get the votes to win, but "once influential but now nearly forgotten" is one of my favorite genres.
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Sep 19, 2023 15:49
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AngusPodgorny posted:I actually went ahead and pulled a copy off Project Gutenberg, so that's one other person that'll read it. I don't expect it to get the votes to win, but "once influential but now nearly forgotten" is one of my favorite genres. Seconded
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Sep 20, 2023 01:28
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This is where the the hand of glory comes from? The severed hand with candles on the fingers you used to rob houses? I would read that.
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Sep 20, 2023 02:54
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Glimpse posted:This is where the the hand of glory comes from? The severed hand with candles on the fingers you used to rob houses? I would read that. It originates in folklore before that, but Ingoldsby popularized it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ingoldsby_Legends https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59236 The Hand of Glory story is here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59236/59236-h/59236-h.htm#THE_NURSES_STORY Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Sep 20, 2023 |
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Sep 20, 2023 03:09
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Hey, horror books! Horror is such a broad category but as someone who spends most of their time reading this garbage, here's some stuff from across the spectrum. Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud: A short story collection where all stories revolve around encounters with hell, and a horror thread favorite. The last story in the collection is especially well liked. Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle: The first horror novel by the beloved purveyor of tinglers! It revolves around a gay conversion camp in an isolated Montana religious community where things clearly aren't quite what they seem. I just read this on a long flight and it was pretty good and I'd recommend. Carrier Wave by Robert Brockway: A signal from the stars drives (almost) everyone to fall into a couple different categories of unique violent insanity. Kind of on the long side for a BotM, but one of my favorite books of the last few years. Also has a severe tone-shift like halfway through so maybe you don't even need to finish it? Once the pig shows up you can just choose to bail and no one will judge you. The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand and James A Moore: It's Jurassic Park but with spooky monsters instead of dinosaurs and it rules. More B-movie gory thrill ride than straight spooky horror, but executes perfectly on that theme. Jeff Strand can be a bit grating with his too-witty dialogue if left to his own devices but James Moore counterbalances him pretty well to the point where this one feels perfect for the silly premise. Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix: It's a haunted Ikea analogue with cutaway Ikea-esque ads that get more deranged as the story goes on. It's not high art but Grady Hendrix does a great job of picking an absurd theme and really committing to the bit. Really any Grady Hendrix book could go here but this one is probably his most well known. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman: Dark ages knight in France become bandit encounters a girl who's maybe a prophet/messiah and decides to help her reach her destination and crazy poo poo ensues. You've probably already heard of/read this book, but if not it's something you should try. I don't really follow BotM but a link to this thread got posted in the General Horror thread so hopefully someone enjoys these suggestions. Even if none of these get picked, they're all solid selections (imo) to read during the spooky month! Also consider this an ad for the General Horror thread which you should stop by if you're already into this stuff or just want more suggestions to read during October
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Sep 24, 2023 08:45
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Good Citizen posted:Hey, horror books! Horror is such a broad category but as someone who spends most of their time reading this garbage, here's some stuff from across the spectrum. Thanks for the suggestions! They are good ones--I liked Wounds myself very much. We actually did Carrier Wave a year or two ago. I know the IK has some additional ideas as well. We should have some good reading options for spooky time!
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Sep 24, 2023 23:31
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