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Ornamented Death posted:Either way works. I suspect that a general horror thread would attract more discussion and be more useful, though it will likely kill this one. Ok, I figure I'd link to this one for Cosmic Horror and to the Stephen King thread as well since they're both large threads with their own thing going on.
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May 7, 2015 20:29
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I've been reading a lot of YA lately, so I'm looking forward to settling back into horror anthologies. I've still got to finish The Weird and The New Weird, a ton of Ligotti, and my wife got me a Chaosium anthology that is quite pleasing.
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May 7, 2015 20:33
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Talmonis posted:Is this the thread for general horror discussion, or should I make a thread for it? People tend to discuss normal horror in this thread as well. A title change to encompass other horror would be ideal, but whatever. I'm 60% through Nick Cutter's The Deep. It's pretty good. Cutter manages to tap into the senseless fears experienced as a child really well. It's also extremely bleak. As in, the first 30% was totally frontloaded with horrifying stuff the protagonist had experienced without even getting into anything unusual.
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May 8, 2015 08:13
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Talmonis posted:Is this the thread for general horror discussion, or should I make a thread for it? I'd be in favor of a general thread, if for no other reason than I like really well constructed OPs where people can find recommendations/starting points, and I have neither the time nor the compunction to do one for this thread at the moment. I'm okay if this thread dies out because of it.
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May 8, 2015 20:51
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Dr. Benway posted:Can anyone comment on Tim Curran's The Hive vs. The Dead Sea? I finished The Dead Sea a bit ago and while I enjoyed it I felt it could have been about a hundred pages shorter without him mentioning that, "There's seaweed everywhere and this place is creepy. No, seriously, it's really creepy.", every other paragraph. Dead Sea is his best book and has made me purchase a lot of his other work. Blackout was very good. Deadlock was short and generic. Hive 1/2 was interesting. Doll Face was good until ending it's basically silent hill though. Night crawlers i can't remember think it was ok. (I don't mind weird being explained a lot I read to see the weird situations anyways:) )
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May 11, 2015 15:02
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NickRoweFillea posted:It's not books specifically, but do you guys have any creepy podcast recommendations? I liked "Crescent" by Phil Rossi, among others I've listened to that one stuck with me. http://podiobooks.com/title/crescent/ Scott Sigler is a pretty prolific horror/gore-porn author who likes to name drop other authors' shows, I'd recommend him, although his persona on his show is a bit over the top.
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May 14, 2015 01:20
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I just got through the Area X trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer. It's not necessarily cosmic horror but I think it falls into the weird category, anyone else have the pleasure of reading these?
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May 14, 2015 18:40
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fishhooked posted:I just got through the Area X trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer. It's not necessarily cosmic horror but I think it falls into the weird category, anyone else have the pleasure of reading these? I liked them a whole lot, yeah. e: I'm glad I read them as a trilogy though, because the first book left me completely in the dark about basically everything and I was a lot happier with it after being able to read the second and 3rd books and shed some light on something. hopterque fucked around with this message at 19:04 on May 14, 2015 |
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May 14, 2015 18:51
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hopterque posted:I liked them a whole lot, yeah. This reminded me that I should put the second and third books on the top of my to-read pile, I liked the first one but was kind of skeptical of where it could go.
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May 14, 2015 22:31
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a foolish pianist posted:For my money, Windeye is the best single-author weird tale collection out there. Wind Eye is also a rather cool supernatural novel by Robert Westell.
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May 16, 2015 17:53
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hopterque posted:I liked them a whole lot, yeah. I feel the exact opposite. I'd have preferred just the surreal and mysterious trip of the first one.
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May 22, 2015 11:38
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Bolverkur posted:I feel the exact opposite. I'd have preferred just the surreal and mysterious trip of the first one. I mean, I liked it for that aspect, but I felt like there wasn't really a payoff to the novel, at least not in a way that I would have enjoyed. Basically it felt very much like the first novel in a trilogy.
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May 22, 2015 20:05
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MockingQuantum posted:I mean, I liked it for that aspect, but I felt like there wasn't really a payoff to the novel, at least not in a way that I would have enjoyed. Basically it felt very much like the first novel in a trilogy. Yeah, that's what I mean, I think. I really liked the first book and the lack of explanation but I would have been pretty unhappy if that had been the end of it. I mean, by the end of the 3rd book basically everything is still unexplained anyway, just with more background and some theories about why area x exists and what it is.
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May 23, 2015 01:43
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If you were compiling a ''best of'' Lovecraft collection, what would make the list? Novellas are out. This is what I have: The Statement of Randolph Carter Nyarlathotep The Music of Erich Zhan Haunted of the Dark From Beyond Dagon Cool Air The Strange High House in the Mist Rats in the Walls Necronomicon Lurking Fear The Thing on the Doorstep. I didn't include any Dreamlands stuff.
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May 24, 2015 00:41
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The Rats in the Walls The Colour Out of Space The Music of Erich Zann The Dreams in the Witch House The Festival The Outsider The Terrible Old Man
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May 24, 2015 04:26
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ravenkult posted:If you were compiling a ''best of'' Lovecraft collection, what would make the list? Short stories typically lauded as 'core' Lovecraft generally include: The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour out of Space, Dagon, The Dreams in the Witch-House, The Dunwich Horror, The Festival, The Haunter of the Dark, Nyarlathotep, The Music of Erich Zann, The Rats in the Walls, The Thing on the Doorstep, and The Whisperer in Darkness. But given how often it's been adapted here, there, and everywhere, you probably ought to make a length-execption for The Shadow over Innsmouth, too. Of all the items in your initial list, The Lurking Fear is probably the one that has aged the least well. Even by Lovecraft's "high" standards, it is basically "I'm Terrified of Dark People: the Story."
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May 24, 2015 10:46
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I'm not a fan of The Festival. Is it significant in some way? My updated list: The Statement of Randolph Carter Pickman’s Model Nyarlathotep The Music of Erich Zann The Haunter of the Dark From Beyond Dagon Cool Air The Strange High House in the Mist The Rats in the Walls History of the Necronomicon The Thing on the Doorstep The Colour Out of Space Dreams in the Witchhouse The Call of Cthulhu Might throw in Dunwich Horror in there.
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May 24, 2015 11:10
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ravenkult posted:I'm not a fan of The Festival. Is it significant in some way? One of the first mythos stories; the place that Kingsport first appears; first establishes Lovecraft's theme of monsters hidden behind masks of humanity. It's mainly that last item that gives it what significance it has, as that's been a fairly enduring post-Lovecraft theme. But it's not as if people will shout at you for leaving it out.
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May 24, 2015 12:01
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Ages and ages ago there was a thread in GBS , I think, of goons reading Lovecraft. There weren't many entries, but some of them were pretty well done. Does anyone happen to have these? I'm sure the links are long dead (or perhaps just eternally sleeping).
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May 24, 2015 17:44
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Ghostwoods posted:One of the first mythos stories; the place that Kingsport first appears; first establishes Lovecraft's theme of monsters hidden behind masks of humanity. It's mainly that last item that gives it what significance it has, as that's been a fairly enduring post-Lovecraft theme. But it's not as if people will shout at you for leaving it out. It also has that whole narrator faints from terror and wakes up in the hospital to find the places he described earlier in the story haven't existed for hundreds of years. That's probably my favorite thing in that story. pixelbaron fucked around with this message at 18:41 on May 24, 2015 |
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May 24, 2015 18:38
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ravenkult posted:I'm not a fan of The Festival. Is it significant in some way? Personally I would swap Cool Air for Dunwich Horror, I've never been that big a fan of the former. History of the Necronomicon isn't that entertaining of a read either, IMHO, though I understand why you'd want to include it.
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May 24, 2015 19:38
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How about The Shadow Out of Time? That's a pretty well-known Lovecraftian bit.
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May 25, 2015 12:04
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I recognize the importance of The Call of Cthulhu and it's got a great opening sentence, but the story itself is kind of boring. Dagon isn't great either, but it's shorter and holds together better as a story than Call. They're both 'core' Lovecraft stories but really aren't particularly good. Sucks that novellas are too long for the compilation, but The Shadow Over Innsmouth and the The Shadow Out of Time are both some of Lovecraft's best. Haven't read most of his stuff for a few years, but I like to go back and reread these every now and then. For the life of me, I can't remember a single thing from Dunwich Horror, except for occult academicians chasing a giant wad of intestines across the countryside. I guess that's peak Lovecraft, but since I can't really remember it I can't personally recommend it. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am on this.
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May 27, 2015 18:24
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Venusian Weasel posted:I recognize the importance of The Call of Cthulhu and it's got a great opening sentence, but the story itself is kind of boring. Dagon isn't great either, but it's shorter and holds together better as a story than Call. They're both 'core' Lovecraft stories but really aren't particularly good. I actually started this thread years ago because I was attempting to read all of lovecraft's writing in publication order (havent finished, somewhere in the middle of Unknown Kadath atm) and I barely got through Call. it's basically a story of a story of a story, and it's not a particularly engaging one. A friend wanted to start his Lovecraft reading with it, and I ended up warning him away from it. I'd only include it and Dagon if you feel like you absolutely have to.
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May 27, 2015 19:21
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Venusian Weasel posted:For the life of me, I can't remember a single thing from Dunwich Horror, except for occult academicians chasing a giant wad of intestines across the countryside. I guess that's peak Lovecraft, but since I can't really remember it I can't personally recommend it. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am on this. The Dunwich Horror is massively important for Lovecraftiana. That story is the inspiration and Trope Zero for the Call of Cthulhu RPG. Regardless of it's quality as a story (I've always liked it), it's had a huge knock-on effect culturally.
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May 27, 2015 19:59
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Thinking about The Call of Cthulhu I'm wondering if anyone has every actually been surprised by the 'twist' that Cthulhu is real. What expectations would the audience have in 1928. It's nowhere near significant but I'm really partial to Through the Gate of the Silver Key. It actually works really well as a finale to Randolph Carter's story and the Lovecraft cycle as a whole, even if he didn't intend it to be.
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May 27, 2015 22:39
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ZeusJupitar posted:Thinking about The Call of Cthulhu I'm wondering if anyone has every actually been surprised by the 'twist' that Cthulhu is real. What expectations would the audience have in 1928. I can assure you that nobody was surprised by that twist. "Mundane people unwilling to accept supernatural explanation" is an old old horror trope. In Dracula (1897), the Victorian characters should be familiar with the concept of the vampire through serials like Varney the Vampire (1845-47) and Carmilla (1871-72), but they can't figure out that the Count is a blood-sucking fiend on their own; they need Van Helsing to explain it to them. Lovecraft's characters just don't want to admit that they live in a universe where something like Cthulhu can exist - the revelation would (and does!) drive people mad - so they try to exhaust all the logical explanations before reluctantly accepting the truth.
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May 28, 2015 00:05
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Has there been anything that beats "The Events at Poroth Farm" or Midnight Sun as far as cosmic horror goes yet?
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May 28, 2015 16:00
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I'm going to be publishing some Lovecraft books on Amazon, which is the reason I'm compiling these. I'm doing a Best Of, Mountains of Madness with a few stories included, The Novellas, the Dreamlands stuff on their own and then The Complete Lovecraft.
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May 28, 2015 21:20
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If you're up for throwing a few bucks on an OOP paperback, Miskatonic University has some fun stories (notably "Teachers", a tribute to Robert Bloch, and "Ghoulmaster", which I understand is part of a series) and some serious failures (the overlong "Her Misbegotten Son" is soooo bad and doesn't justify the 70 pages it eats), but hidden toward the back between a mostly unremarkable story and an amusing story about a play gone wrong (and not the one you're thinking of) is "The Sothis Radiant", by Will Murray. It's one of the best comic horror stories I've read and it's a loving shame the only place it was ever printed is here.
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May 29, 2015 02:17
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Effectronica posted:Has there been anything that beats "The Events at Poroth Farm" or Midnight Sun as far as cosmic horror goes yet? Brian Hodge's Whom the Gods Would Destroy is probably up there. His Worlds of Hurt is even better, though calling it cosmic horror may be a bit of a stretch. Actually everyone just go read some Brian Hodge, the guy is an amazing writer.
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May 30, 2015 02:38
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How do I get Poroth Farm on my Kindle? UK goon.
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Jun 1, 2015 11:48
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Evfedu posted:How do I get Poroth Farm on my Kindle? UK goon. Buy the Cthulhu Mythos Megapack. It's only 99 cents and it has Poroth and a bunch of other stories on it.
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Jun 2, 2015 02:54
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Buy the Cthulhu Mythos Megapack. It's only 99 cents and it has Poroth and a bunch of other stories on it. Wow, this is a surprisingly solid anthology. I'd be jealous it's for Brits only if I didn't already have most of the stories collected in various other anthologies.
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Jun 2, 2015 03:11
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Ornamented Death posted:Wow, this is a surprisingly solid anthology. I'd be jealous it's for Brits only if I didn't already have most of the stories collected in various other anthologies. It's not UK only, actually. I just grabbed it myself and I am very much within the US. I make no guarantees for Canadians.
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Jun 2, 2015 07:29
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48p? loving done son. Thanks!
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Jun 2, 2015 12:33
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I didn't like The Shadow out of Time - the twist was too telegraphed and not scary enough. Cosmic horror should not leave you going 'wait, that's it?'. The Colour out of Space is Lovecraft's masterwork, and the rest of his famous stories are all pretty good (especially Innsmouth), but I want to throw out a shout for one of his more obscure and unpromising pieces, Beneath the Pyramids. Yes, it stars Harry Houdini and is set in Egypt (with the expected racism), but it's hella atmospheric. The Unnameable is also pretty great for seeing Lovecraft do self-parody.
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Jun 2, 2015 13:15
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Darth Walrus posted:I didn't like The Shadow out of Time - the twist was too telegraphed and not scary enough. Cosmic horror should not leave you going 'wait, that's it?'. The Colour out of Space is Lovecraft's masterwork, and the rest of his famous stories are all pretty good (especially Innsmouth), but I want to throw out a shout for one of his more obscure and unpromising pieces, Beneath the Pyramids. Yes, it stars Harry Houdini and is set in Egypt (with the expected racism), but it's hella atmospheric. The main problem with that story is that body-hopping, time-and-space-bending librarians are not so much scary as they are totally awesome. (See also: Deep Ones. :iamafag:)
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Jun 2, 2015 20:41
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The Shadow Out Of Time feels more like background for someone's RPG campaign than something trying to be scary.
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Jun 2, 2015 22:54
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Pththya-lyi posted:The main problem with that story is that body-hopping, time-and-space-bending librarians are not so much scary as they are totally awesome. (See also: Deep Ones. :iamafag:) Right, yeah. There was this huge dissonance between the glamorous and somewhat sympathetic perspective we got on the alien monsters and how they and their actions kept being described as scary, monstrous, and so on. The showing really conflicted with the telling.
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Jun 3, 2015 00:45
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