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GrandpaPants posted:I ordered this based on the quote about bars. I really like that line, and the general ability of cosmic horror to instill this feeling of dread into the mundane. It's like you don't have to look for the horror, it's already there and you just need someone to point it out for you.
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Mar 22, 2016 18:07
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Hughlander posted:I feel I asked this before. I had a recommendation for a weird tale. Radio telescope finds souls traveling after death to another planet where they are trapped in aliens bodies that drive them crazy due to their sense of id. Really want to reread it. Did you ever figure out which story that was? It sounds interesting.
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Mar 22, 2016 19:08
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Man With No Name is eeehhhh. I actually liked The Light is the Darkness and Xs for Eyes, but Man With No Name I thought compares unfavourably, and just felt like some Barron by the numbers without anything interesting. Some dreamlike weirdness, some hulking antediluvian brute imagery, a manly protagonist involved that would fit in a noir crime story. I LIKE those Barron stories, generally, but there has to be a little more to them . This was a brief story, and there wasn't enough about the characters or about the cosmic horror to make it interesting. The bonus material at the end involving a Frankenstein girl living with her mad scientist creator was actually cooler and more interesting, and was actually something I hadn't seen Barron write before.
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Mar 23, 2016 04:59
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Reading Stephen King's Revival reminded me of another novel that was described to me, but whose title or author I cannot remember. It may have been described in this thread: After a near-death experience, the protagonist discovers what really happens to everyone after they die. (It isn't a good thing.) And he isn't the only one who has learned about this.
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Mar 23, 2016 08:46
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Daler Mehndi posted:Reading Stephen King's Revival reminded me of another novel that was described to me, but whose title or author I cannot remember. It may have been described in this thread: After a near-death experience, the protagonist discovers what really happens to everyone after they die. (It isn't a good thing.) And he isn't the only one who has learned about this. "World of Hurt" by Brian Hodge, part of his Misbegotten mythos. You can (and should) get all the stories in the Worlds of Hurt collection.
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Mar 23, 2016 12:30
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Seriously. Worlds of Hurt is insanely good. Hodge might be my favourite currently active horror writer. Unusually good characters which he fills out extremely well within short page constraints, excellent tension, and some creepy ideas. He's said he's doing more in the Misbegotten Mythos, which I am jazzed for.
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Mar 23, 2016 13:54
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Finished reading Biogenesis by Tatsuaki Ishiguro (MD). Relatively unknown in the West, Biogenesis contains five short stories, four of which come at cosmic horror from a very interesting, uniquely scientific perspective. Not going to lie. All of his stories will be challenging to some and one in particular is very well explained but is more thoroughly enjoyed (and understood) with a undergraduate's understanding of molecular biology/evolution. At the end of reading his work I firmly placed this book on my shelf next to Ligotti, Lovecraft and Barron. Translators: Brian Watson and James Balzer Publication Year: 2015 (America); 1994, 2000, and 2006 (Japan) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZNG4MA0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1 Here is what some Japanese authors say about Ishiguro's work. quote:“A metaphor of perdition, on the level of all of humanity, is concretized as a small, imaginary animal via the mediating factor of incurable diseases that bring death to two doctors of medicine. In our nation, such excellent conceptions used to belong to Kobo Abe.” – Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel Laureate in Literature  From Amazon quote:Told in the manner of scientific reports, this collection of science fiction stories explores the allegorical overtones about the precariousness of species. *This is a description of the first (and most challenging) story “It is with the deepest sincerity that I offer prayers …” Four stories are included in Biogenesis: “It is with the deepest sincerity that I offer prayers …”, Snow Woman, Midwinter Weed, and The Hope Shore Sea Squirt. The first three I would describe as hard science fiction, bridged with folklore that evokes the sensation of cosmic horror. All of the stories in Biogenesis deal with unique species that are approaching extinction. Though the stories are presented in report and documentation form ( “It is with the deepest sincerity that I offer prayers …” is the most dry and technically challenging) there is a certain delicate fragility evoked about the species discussed and to a greater extent life itself in his stories. Dr. Ishiguro is a master of storytelling in a field I have never seen anyone else even attempt. The cosmic horror comes into play when there is speculation on the purpose of a species and the unknown forces of nature study with our limited tools of science have uncovered; or in Ishiguro's sprinkled references to folklore that quietly suggest a link between these rare species and the impossible origin in some hidden world of the divine or spirit. Dr. Ishiguro does not use description of the alien or supernatural like Lovecraft; simply suggestion and in some places, a total absence of answers. In some ways this literary negative space clawed at my mind and was more effective at capturing my imagination than outright describing a gibbering horror. Some excerpts “It is with the deepest sincerity that I offer prayers …” quote:…but it was on September 11, 1989 that the winged mouse disappeared from the face of our planet. Snow Woman A love story. Bittersweet and strange. A tale of sacrifice, obsession and devotion. quote:There is a condition known as hypothermia. The term comes from the Greek for “low body temperature” and usually signifies a pathological state where a loss of body temperature can end in freezing to death. It also, however, refers to a rare instance where the patient’s metabolism stabilizes as lower body temperature. “idiopathic hypothermia” has been reported only sporadically worldwide, and an accurate portrait of the condition does not exist at the moment. Although the prevailing view is that the decreased metabolism leads to a longer lifespan, there is a high incidence of death from accompanying illnesses, and unlike with “idiopathic hyperthermia, “ which has been shown to have no bearing on lifespans, as of yet no statistical data on the average convalescent is available. Midwinter Weed This is also very interesting in that the story weaves a narrative of Japanese citizens and their feelings of loyalty towards their country during World War 2. This is not a perspective I have seen often. quote:The event sponsors, who had taken notice of an article of mine published in the August 15 edition of the Japan Newspaper of Science, entitled “Plant-life Acquires Radiation,” had made a rush decision to include the plant after planning for the event was already underway. Biogenesis is challenging, but try it. Start with Snow Woman or Midwinter Weed. More on Tatsuaki Ishiguro Born in Hokkaido in 1961, Tatsuaki Ishiguro has served as a lecturer at Tokyo University and as an assistant professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and currently practices at a clinic in Tokyo. As the author of a unique brand of science fiction, he has been nominated for the Akutagawa Award, the Yukio Mishima Award, and the Seiun (Nebula) Award. Biogenesis is his first work to appear in English. Helical Nightmares fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Mar 31, 2016 |
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Mar 31, 2016 20:33
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It's not cosmic horror, but if you like esoterica you might enjoy Gustav Meyrink's The Golem. It's loosely based on the story of the Golem of Prague, into which Meyrink weaves deep occult, supernatural and mystical themes. It's a surreal, dark, odd book.
chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Apr 1, 2016 |
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Apr 1, 2016 13:39
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Literally popped in here to ask what people thought about Biogenesis. That all seems relatively challenging, but now I'm even more excited to give it a go. Also, I saw someone recommend Authority for its bureaucratic horror, and I'll second that.
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Apr 2, 2016 17:18
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I just finished The Cipher the other day and didn't really find it horrifying or interesting. It felt like it imitated the attitude it seemed to be taking a stand against in a lot of ways with regards to pretentious artsy fartsy crap. "This Hole is too complicated for you to understand, you will never understand it like I understand it." Maybe that was the point of the book, and maybe artsy types get more enjoyment out of it.
Doorknob Slobber fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Apr 3, 2016 |
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Apr 3, 2016 18:37
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Reason posted:I just finished The Cipher the other day and didn't really find it horrifying or interesting. It felt like it imitated the attitude it seemed to be taking a stand against in a lot of ways with regards to pretentious artsy fartsy crap. "This Hole is too complicated for you to understand, you will never understand it like I understand it." Maybe that was the point of the book, and maybe artsy types get more enjoyment out of it. I finished it recently, too, and thought it would have been much better as a short story or a novella. So much of the novel is completely unnecessary.
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Apr 4, 2016 03:39
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I'm pretty opposite, I wrote a big post earlier about what The Cipher is about (but chickened out of posting it), and what impressed me is that it's very hard to explain what that book's doing without replicating a lot of the text — it's very hard to compress! I think the book quite definitely answers all the questions, but some of the questions are encoded not in direct exposition but in the characters, their relationships, and the language used around the funhole.
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Apr 4, 2016 03:54
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General Battuta posted:I'm pretty opposite, I wrote a big post earlier about what The Cipher is about (but chickened out of posting it), and what impressed me is that it's very hard to explain what that book's doing without replicating a lot of the text — it's very hard to compress! I'd be interested in reading that because I am not a clever man and subtext is lost on me.
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Apr 4, 2016 04:24
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General Battuta posted:I'm pretty opposite, I wrote a big post earlier about what The Cipher is about (but chickened out of posting it),
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Apr 4, 2016 07:02
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Reason posted:I just finished The Cipher the other day and didn't really find it horrifying or interesting. It felt like it imitated the attitude it seemed to be taking a stand against in a lot of ways with regards to pretentious artsy fartsy crap. "This Hole is too complicated for you to understand, you will never understand it like I understand it." Maybe that was the point of the book, and maybe artsy types get more enjoyment out of it. if a pulp horror novel from the 90s comes anywhere near whatever you think 'artsy fartsy crap' is you might want to call it a day on the whole reading thing
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Apr 4, 2016 12:41
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General Battuta posted:I'm pretty opposite, I wrote a big post earlier about what The Cipher is about (but chickened out of posting it), and what impressed me is that it's very hard to explain what that book's doing without replicating a lot of the text — it's very hard to compress! I just finished this as well. I think this is partly because it's such a tightly written novel. It's very much the opposite of the purple prose that is often adopted in tribute to Lovecraft in the genre. On an unrelated note before this I read and very much enjoyed your novel. I figured out the twist about a third of the way through but I'll be dammed if you didn't commit so thoroughly the the deception you talked me back out of it and I was still surprised by the ending. I look forward to your future work.
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Apr 4, 2016 13:35
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Okay, here is my quick and dirty version: what is the funhole The funhole is a process. It changes and corrupts (or exalts, depending who you ask). It wants to make Nick into a process too: alienation and alteration and mutation and dissolution, all incarnate, an entity that is nothing in itself but which bends and warps what's around it. The funhole wants Nick. No one else. This is because Nick is the one character in the novel who is most willing to bend, distort, injure, and negate himself for others. He is the most like a process. The funhole can't take Nakota and doesn't want Nakota, because Nakota knows who she is, she is not mutable. The book shows us, again and again, that she is vividly alive and certain of what she wants. Near the beginning of the story, the funhole fucks up some bugs and blows up a mouse. Nakota is fascinated. Nick goes along with it because he loves Nakota, who doesn't love him. Malcolm and his fellow art-idiots view the funhole as a source of authenticity and prestige. It shows them something new, something capital-r Real, a violation of the greasy headache hangover reality they're all trying to escape. Malcolm values the funhole because it makes him valuable, and he tries to control the interpretation of the funhole. The two people who are generally kind to Nick, I forget their names, are drawn deeper and deeper into violence and terror. Eventually Nick has to send them away, because it's that or see them consumed by abuse. The tape recorded inside the funhole shows a figure beckoning, promising: but only to Nick. This is what you will become. Nick gets a mini-funhole in his hand. From this point on the novel becomes as much about control of Nick as it is about control of the funhole. The climax has everyone banging on the storage room door, trying to get at the funhole and at Nick: tactically they are now identified. Let us in, Nick. Let us control you. Let us define who you are. The funhole wants Nick because he is the most easily abused. His act of resistance is denying the funhole's desire to consume Nakota, who encourages Nick's abuse and wants to dive into it headfirst. Love is a hole in the heart. You can also read a lot about art in this book, and about how art should be experienced viscerally, not through gatekeepers and critics. Also you can read it as a book about a man getting a vagina in his hand. I dunno. There's a lot to say about language, too, but I gotta go work!
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Apr 4, 2016 15:18
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General Battuta posted:
Interesting! Is this process directly symbolic or characteristic of a particular thing in nature or the real world, or is it meant to be read directly as paranormal corruption from without, like the devil?
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Apr 4, 2016 16:33
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General Battuta posted:Nick gets a mini-funhole in his hand. The dream of every 14 year old boy.
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Apr 4, 2016 17:00
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Skyscraper posted:Interesting! Is this process directly symbolic or characteristic of a particular thing in nature or the real world, or is it meant to be read directly as paranormal corruption from without, like the devil? I don't think it's quite either! I think it's asymbolic, in itself: it is just what it does to others. The funhole has no traits except for the effect it has on those around it. But it's not a moral, personified force, and it has no good-or-bad valence in itself: it just transforms things, radically and abusively. Note that all the major characters in Nick's life are imitated by the funhole: Malcolm is represented by a mask jabbering nonsense, speaking over Nick, and ultimately his face is transfigured by the funhole. Nick's fairly kind buddy the towtruck (?) dude is reflected by his animated statues, which facilitate Nick's interactions with the funhole by making poo poo worse and enabling awful choices. Nakota has no analog...except for the funhole itself, which shares her desire to make Nick 'lose it', to open up his full hosed-uppedness.
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Apr 5, 2016 03:17
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General Battuta posted:I don't think it's quite either! But it's not a moral, personified force, and it has no good-or-bad valence in itself: it just transforms things, radically and abusively.
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Apr 5, 2016 16:03
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General Battuta posted:Okay, here is my quick and dirty version: what is the funhole Thanks for this, it doesn't change my mind on the book at all, but its at least interesting to read. Maybe its because I went to an art school that had a lot of the type of people in this book that I just don't like it(teachers taking close up pictures of their vaginas and hanging them in the school gallery type of school). I came out of the book hating almost every single character for a whole bunch of reasons except tow truck guys girlfriend. My quick and dirty interpretation of the fun hole was essentially that it represented an abusive relationship. Nick won't leave it even though its clearly hurting him, he has to be there for it to occur, it leaves him physically and mentally scarred. Still think the book itself imitates the attitude of the art-idiots, but again maybe that was intended.
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Apr 6, 2016 18:15
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Amazon is telling me to read Jonathan Janz. Is he worth checking out?
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Apr 17, 2016 10:20
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Neurosis posted:Amazon is telling me to read Jonathan Janz. Is he worth checking out? He writes more pulp type horror, but he's pretty damned good at it.
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Apr 18, 2016 02:20
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General Battuta posted:I'm pretty opposite, I wrote a big post earlier about what The Cipher is about (but chickened out of posting it), and what impressed me is that it's very hard to explain what that book's doing without replicating a lot of the text — it's very hard to compress! The characters are, in my opinion, by far the most grating part of the whole book. I've read several other novels in the time it's taken me to crawl through only a couple chapters of The Cipher because, as I said in my last post, every loving page makes me want to punch the protagonist in the face. The not-so-great writing style of the author doesn't help either. I like the basic idea of the story enough that I haven't totally given up on the book but every time I sit down to read it again my brain starts thinking of other things I could be doing or other books I could be reading.
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Apr 19, 2016 03:30
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Would it help if I told you The Cipher was actually an extremely sideways story set in Wayside School
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Apr 19, 2016 04:00
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Buca di Bepis posted:Would it help if I told you The Cipher was actually an extremely sideways story set in Wayside School Wayside School did have that one floor which didnt exist, taught by a teacher who didnt exist, which was some kind of pocket dimension where all the students lived in a horrifying forever-limbo from which there was no escape thats hosed up imo
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Apr 19, 2016 12:40
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I read 3 newish Lovecrafty books here recently and thought I'd throw up quick reviews. Carter and Lovecraft by Jonathan L Howard - Carter is private detective who receives a mysterious inheritance from an unknown uncle. It turns out to be a bookstore staffed by a descendant of HP Lovecraft. They are soon dragged into the investigation of a series of mysterious and possibly occult murders. I enjoyed this one, though there weren't as many tentacles as the cover would have you believe. The opening was definitely spooky, it hit a number of Lovecraftian tropes, and I liked the conclusion. Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff - This focuses on a black family in Jim Crow America who becomes the focus of machinations by a secret cult. It hits a lot of the classic tropes with cults, forbidden books, windows to other worlds and more, but also focuses heavily on racial issues of the era with sundown towns, redlining, and a Safe Negro Travel Guide. It's the sort of thing where maybe the scary monster in the woods isn't the shoggoth, but the sheriff. This was a good, rather different, take on things, though the racial focus probably leaves it lacking solely as a means of scratching a Lovecraft itch. The Ballad of Black Tom by Vcitor LaValle - This short book is a rewrite of The Horror at Red Hook, this time focusing on Tommy Tester, a con man from Harlem as the protagonist. This was my favorite of the 3. It was excellent, recasting some of Lovecraft's racial issues, and also maintaining an eerie feel to the whole thing. Would recommend.
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Apr 19, 2016 21:37
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End Of Worlds posted:Wayside School did have that one floor which didnt exist, taught by a teacher who didnt exist, which was some kind of pocket dimension where all the students lived in a horrifying forever-limbo from which there was no escape that gross smelly kid who wears multiple raincoats is finally revealed to be, underneath all the coats, Brown Jenkin.
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Apr 20, 2016 06:21
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Thought you guys might be interested in some oddness going on over at reddit. It has moments that somewhat remind me of Liminal States. E: The wiki has a more linear layout with external links to references if you're into that sort of thing. https://www.reddit.com/r/9M9H9E9/wiki/narrative Dr. Benway fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 20:09
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clockworkjoe posted:Get some Delta Green fiction for pay what you want today: http://theunspeakableoath.com/home/2016/04/delta-greens-latest-operation-international-tabletop-day/ This gets you Delta Green: Tales from Failed Anatomies and Extraordinary Renditions. Both are short stories collections and both have real gems worth buying. I've said it plenty of times but I'll repeat it: Drowning in Sand is fantastic (in Tales) Helical Nightmares fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 20:20
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This thread is a good resource for weird fiction authors. Good. A. Merritt's The Dwellers in the Mirage and The Face in the Abyss are good. Merritt has interesting ideas and unique settings, and like Lovecraft he writes about highly motivated elder evils. They were contemporaries and have similar styles, but Merritt is more pulpy, and has some actual humans as characters who tend to be more relatable than Lovecraft's sexless robot people.
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May 1, 2016 03:38
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Dr. Benway posted:Thought you guys might be interested in some oddness going on over at reddit. It has moments that somewhat remind me of Liminal States. This is pretty good. Not as good as Parsons's better stuff, but I really want to see where it goes from here. Parts of it made me a bit worried about the author's mental state, which I suppose in this genre counts as a win. I assume other redditors have been producing tons of lovely fan fiction in between attempts to doxx the author?
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May 2, 2016 06:19
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Dr. Benway posted:Thought you guys might be interested in some oddness going on over at reddit. It has moments that somewhat remind me of Liminal States. That's crazy, I didn't want it to end. The parts about the Marines on the Japanese island and the ones about the Mansons were the most disturbing. The last two posts, and the dog one I guess but that could be a character's metaphor/dream, don't seem to have anything to do with the narrative presented so far. I do get a sense that they're a potential future as whatever these flesh interfaces are connected to start to take hold. The author does hint earlier that The Mother is going to take over through human slavery by information technology and bioengineering, and people either living as willing human-batteries of The Matrix to get their Facebook fix 24/7 or drinking themselves into a stupor to forget the world is a logical progression towards that. But yes, the comments fall into either praise or fan-fiction that pretends to be an authorized companion to the story. Of course _9MOTHER9HORSE9EYES9 isn't going to break character just to deny the fan-fiction writers, and I imagine there was a knowledge going in that this sort of thing would happen when it was on Reddit.
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May 4, 2016 05:04
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While trying to hunt down another story tonight I was looking through the author lists from the Borderlands series and was reminded that the story that really stuck out in my mind was "The Pounding Room" by Bentley Little. So I checked into him and found he had a ton of stuff. Is most of his stuff as goofy/weird as "The Pounding Room" and "The Potato"? Can anyone recommend any of his books based on liking at least those two stories?
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May 7, 2016 05:26
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Section 9 posted:While trying to hunt down another story tonight I was looking through the author lists from the Borderlands series and was reminded that the story that really stuck out in my mind was "The Pounding Room" by Bentley Little. So I checked into him and found he had a ton of stuff. Is most of his stuff as goofy/weird as "The Pounding Room" and "The Potato"? Can anyone recommend any of his books based on liking at least those two stories? I really enjoy Bentley Little. A lot of his stuff is "seemingly mundane thing is really hosed up." Two of my favorites are University (about a hosed up college) and The Store (pretty much Wal-Mart is the antichrist.) I don't think I would call them cosmic horror but weird? Definitely! One caveat though, in my opinion he can't seem to write a satisfying ending to his long-form stuff to save his life. The journey there is pretty messed up, though.
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May 7, 2016 07:28
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Bargain bin Dean Koontz.
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May 7, 2016 15:59
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ravenkult posted:Bargain bin Dean Koontz. The bargain bin Dean Koontz is Dean Koontz.
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May 7, 2016 17:09
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Clipperton posted:The bargain bin Dean Koontz is Dean Koontz. Koontz is bargain bin Stephen King.
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May 7, 2016 17:16
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BJPaskoff posted:That's crazy, I didn't want it to end. The parts about the Marines on the Japanese island and the ones about the Mansons were the most disturbing. The last two posts, and the dog one I guess but that could be a character's metaphor/dream, don't seem to have anything to do with the narrative presented so far. I do get a sense that they're a potential future as whatever these flesh interfaces are connected to start to take hold. The author does hint earlier that The Mother is going to take over through human slavery by information technology and bioengineering, and people either living as willing human-batteries of The Matrix to get their Facebook fix 24/7 or drinking themselves into a stupor to forget the world is a logical progression towards that. Yeah, I wish there was more too. That island invasion one is probably the most memorable for me too, just something about the imagery in that one sticks with me. The Manson stuff is a highlight for me too, along with the Philip K Dick part and the Vietnamese village. I hope whoever the author of that is releases a novel or larger collection of stories based around the whole flesh interface/LSD concept.
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May 7, 2016 18:18
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