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Ornamented Death posted:Stolze's Mask of the Other is pretty good.
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Jul 14, 2016 10:18
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End Of Worlds posted:adam nevill's been brought up a few times in this thread. just found out if you sign up for his newsletter you get a free ebook featuring a couple of short stories (as well as chapter excerpts) Jesus! gently caress that dude. Very upsetting! I've been trying to read apartment whatever for months and I keep having to stop because I'm a pussy.
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Jul 14, 2016 12:03
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Ooh, didn't realize this was the House of Small Shadows guy, that book was properly scary. Subscribed!
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Jul 14, 2016 18:19
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Peztopiary posted:That bibliography has stories I hadn't read before, thank you. Enjoy Ornamented Death posted:Stolze's Mask of the Other is pretty good. Was not aware of this till you posted it. Thanks ----------- Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis  I was alerted to this anthology by Ross Payton (goon name: clockworkjoe) of the Roleplaying Public Radio podcast series. http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2016/06/podcast-episode/rppr-episode-129-campaign-starters-and-parters/#comments Available at: http://martianmigrainepress.com/Cthulhusattva https://www.amazon.com/Cthulhusattva-Tales-Gnosis-Ruthanna-Emrys-ebook/dp/B01EVMC3D4 ($7 on Kindle) I was primarily interested because it contained a new story by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy whom I mentioned previously. Premise of the anthology: quote:When all is madness... there is no madness. Table of Contents quote:The Pearl in the Shadows — Bryan Thao Worra Is it good... Not finished with the whole book. Blitz thoughts: The Pearl in the Shadows — Bryan Thao Worra -- Page of irrelevant poetry Keys in Stranger Deserts — Vrai Kaiser -- Campy story with all the mythos references thrown in for idiots. Gag me with a spoon. Mr Johnson and the Old Ones — Jamie Mason -- Got bored of word salad. Have to come back to. Antinomia — Erica Ruppert - post cthulhu apocalypse. Boring story. Heiros Gamos — Gord Sellar -- The main character is violated by Shubby. I was violated by boredom. Mother’s Nature — Stefanie Elrick -- I'm on the fence on this one. Personally I think the over use of body horror is loving dumb. I was not impressed but some may like it. At the Left Hand of Nothing — Jayaprakash Satyamurthy - I wish I could say I like it but unfortunately it is way too short. Try his other works. The Litany of Earth — Ruthanna Emrys - Yes. Interesting thought experiment. What if worshipers of Cthulhu were treated like the Japanese and thrown into American interment camps? Thought the story could be better but the premise is really quite unique and I'd love to see further stories written in this world by the author. The Wicked Shall Come Upon Him — Kristi DeMeester -- post cthulhu apocalypse. not a very good story. not much happens. Messages — John Linwood Grant -- Yes. I liked it. Maybe I was searching too hard for something good to say about a story in this anthology but I think it delivers on it's novel interpretation of the mythos well. Also like all good short stories the last line has punch. Nicely done. That Most Foreign of Veils — Luke R J Maynard - Yes. Genuinely creepy and I think one of the better stories that embody the idea that the Mythos is "Dark Gnosis." I feel the writing/story could be improved and maybe the ending needs a little work, but a solid story. We Three Kings — Don Raymond - Jesus as a Cthulhu is an obvious idea. I wasn't too impressed by the premise but the story was moderately entertaining if short. -------------- Artist who made illustrations inspired by Ligotti's Teatro Grottesco. Also does Lovecraftian pieces. http://mcrassusart.deviantart.com/ The Red Tower  The Town Manager 
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Jul 15, 2016 09:46
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I imagined the Red Tower more like an ominous landscape dominating arcology; maybe not accurate but just the feel the description gave me, more than the specifics. And the places in Town Manager I just imagined as unremarkable real world small towns.
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Jul 15, 2016 17:46
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"The Litany of Earth" is one of my favorite short stories (novelettes, whatever) from the last few years. Glad to see it here.
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Jul 15, 2016 21:35
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Solitair posted:"The Litany of Earth" is one of my favorite short stories (novelettes, whatever) from the last few years. Glad to see it here. where did you hear about it originally?
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Jul 15, 2016 21:52
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I've never heard of the guy but "Noah Wareness" is a pretty great nom de plume.
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Jul 16, 2016 14:29
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Helical Nightmares posted:where did you hear about it originally? I read a few blog posts detailing how some people were turning against Lovecraft because of his racism, and IIRC "Litany" was brought up in one of them as a subversion of the Cthulhu mythos in light of how people's attitudes to race have changed in the decades since Lovecraft was alive.
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Jul 16, 2016 18:31
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"Litany" is great and available online. http://www.tor.com/2014/05/14/the-litany-of-earth-ruthanna-emrys/
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Jul 17, 2016 06:51
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Solitair posted:I read a few blog posts detailing how some people were turning against Lovecraft because of his racism, and IIRC "Litany" was brought up in one of them as a subversion of the Cthulhu mythos in light of how people's attitudes to race have changed in the decades since Lovecraft was alive. Having it star the Deep Ones is a particularly good pick. They've always been one of his more accidentally sympathetic races.
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Jul 18, 2016 01:21
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Atrocious Joe posted:"Litany" is great and available online. Nice catch -------------- anilEhilated posted:I've never heard of the guy but "Noah Wareness" is a pretty great nom de plume.   -------------- Another blitz review Lovecraft Unbound 20 story anthology edited by Ellen Datlow Tales inspired by the works of HPL https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013F8P3CS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 $9 on Kindle ToC : http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/04/toc_lovecraft_unbound_edited_by_ellen_datlow/ quote:“The Crevasse” by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud My opinions below. Haven't finished the whole book. “The Crevasse” by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud -- too short. could be developed further. entertaining though. “The Office of Doom” by Richard Bowes -- the author literally says "Thinking about it, I have no idea why I chose to write a story for Lovecraft Unbound". It loving shows. Crap. “Sincerely, Petrified” by Anna Tambour -- Very good. Not what Lovecraft fans would expect in that there are no aliens or manifested horrors. What puts in firmly in cosmic horror is that two human beings with the best of intentions stumble across what appears to be an unknowable cosmic force. An epistolary tale. “The Din of Celestial Birds” by Brian Evenson -- Short but good. Prose is hallucinogenic at times. A solid mythos story that does not use recognizeable HPL creations, ie a New Mythos story. “The Tenderness of Jackals” by Amanda Downum -- predictable. dumb “Sight Unseen” by Joel Lane “Cold Water Survival” by Holly Phillips “Come Lurk with Me and Be My Love” by William Browning Spencer “Houses Under the Sea” by Caitlín R. Kiernan -- Very good. Deep Ones done right. “Machines of Concrete Light and Dark” by Michael Cisco -- No. Word salad with barely there disjointed plot. “Leng” by Marc Laidlaw -- Very good. My only quibble is that the theme of fungus is hammered early and often; however the protagonist is an obsessive academic so it does fit. “In the Black Mill” by Michael Chabon -- Honestly I was not impressed. Seemed too predictable. Foreshadowing was heavy handed. “One Day, Soon” by Lavie Tidhar -- Too short but sort of interesting. Not really a Lovecraftian story. “Commencement” by Joyce Carol Oates “Vernon, Driving” by Simon Kurt Unsworth “The Recruiter” by Michael Shea “Marya Nox” by Gemma Files “Mongoose” by Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear - A scifi thriller. Feels like Lovecraftian references were just dropped in so it could be included in the anthology. However I really did enjoy the story on it's own merits. Vivid and unique world. “Catch Hell” by Laird Barron -- Good. Published elsewhere. “That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable” by Nick Mamatas Helical Nightmares fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jul 18, 2016 |
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Jul 18, 2016 02:15
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Lovecraft-themed anthologies are almost always uneven in story quality (the only really good one I can think of is The Book of Cthulhu, though the first Black Wings is also a contender from what I recall). When I read Lovecraft Unbound, what struck me most was that looking at the authors included was basically reading a greatest hits list from Datlow's last 20 years of editing "Year's Best" anthologies. Actually that tends to be a problem with any invitation-only anthology: even if the author submits a bad story, the editor is probably obligated (in some way) to include it.
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Jul 18, 2016 02:28
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Atrocious Joe posted:"Litany" is great and available online. Thank you for the link, this story is relevant to my interests (Username/avatar/post combo)
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Jul 18, 2016 03:12
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Pththya-lyi posted:Thank you for the link, this story is relevant to my interests 
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Jul 18, 2016 03:32
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The Interface Series is over, and I'm disappointed. There's so much good stuff there, but so much of it is unexplored and abandoned. And then there's a purposely vague ending.
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Jul 18, 2016 04:28
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So apparently, Thomas Ligotti wrote a script for the X-files. It's like Mulder and Scully going through Cosmic Horror 101.
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Jul 18, 2016 08:37
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sex (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 18, 2016 15:46
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Zartosht posted:So apparently, Thomas Ligotti wrote a script for the X-files. That was awesome. I wish they'd made that.
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Jul 18, 2016 18:03
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Laird Barron has a new collection out later this year.
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Jul 18, 2016 21:28
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Zartosht posted:So apparently, Thomas Ligotti wrote a script for the X-files. That was quite good. I've tried reading Ligotti (mostly his early stuff) and it didn't click--if I liked that screenplay, are there any collections/writing periods of his that are similar?
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Jul 18, 2016 21:29
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Yeah, I liked that as well.
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Jul 18, 2016 21:45
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Clipperton posted:That was quite good. I've tried reading Ligotti (mostly his early stuff) and it didn't click--if I liked that screenplay, are there any collections/writing periods of his that are similar? I very much liked the stories in Teattro Grottesco, and I'd say that they're similar.
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Jul 18, 2016 21:52
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Clipperton posted:That was quite good. I've tried reading Ligotti (mostly his early stuff) and it didn't click--if I liked that screenplay, are there any collections/writing periods of his that are similar? I was struggling to get into Ligotti as well but I read My Work is Not Yet Done (the collection, not just the story itself) and it was loving good as hell and got me to devour all his other poo poo, so if you haven't tried that I highly recommend.
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Jul 18, 2016 22:19
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 I'm looking forwards to being disappointed.  Found some online resources. Index of free Laird Barron stories online: http://www.freesfonline.de/authors/Laird_Barron.html Thomas Ligotti bibliography: http://www.ligotti.net/tlo/biblio.html
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Jul 18, 2016 22:28
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Skyscraper posted:I very much liked the stories in Teattro Grottesco, and I'd say that they're similar. hopterque posted:I was struggling to get into Ligotti as well but I read My Work is Not Yet Done (the collection, not just the story itself) and it was loving good as hell and got me to devour all his other poo poo, so if you haven't tried that I highly recommend. Will check them out, thanks!
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Jul 19, 2016 04:12
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Zartosht posted:So apparently, Thomas Ligotti wrote a script for the X-files. That was great. It took me 45ish minutes to read the entire thing, which is exactly how long an X-Files episode would have been without commercials. Neat.
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Jul 19, 2016 05:34
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End Of Worlds posted:If you guys haven't read Nathan Ballingrud's North American Lake Monsters you are grievously loving up. Poignant and weird, and only one of the stories is actually about a lake monster. I got this book ages ago after I read this post and finally got around to reading it and holy poo poo is it just a loving sledgehammer of just incredibly depressing, weird poo poo. I can't really describe it as cosmic horror, and it's not mythos related, and there's very little related to actual monsters or anything despite the title, it's just weird stories about people going through some real hard times. I highly recommend it. hopterque fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jul 19, 2016 23:27
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For anyone wanting to read the Flesh Interfaces stuff: https://www.reddit.com/r/9M9H9E9/wiki/narrative I won't be surprised if this turns out to be some published author's way of doing something like House of Leaves. But, it's pretty cool even though it might be publisher astroturfing.
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Jul 20, 2016 20:01
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i bought an old used copy of midnight sun online from britain and even though it wasn't advertised, it's been signed by ramsay campbell  unfortunately the book didn't really do it for me but if there are any like campbell super-fans itt let me know if you want it and i can mail it to you in return for an unban cert or something to cover postage cost
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Jul 22, 2016 11:36
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Is there no general horror book thread or did this thread devour it in its unquenchable world consuming hunger?
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Jul 22, 2016 16:02
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FreudianSlippers posted:Is there no general horror book thread or did this thread devour it in its unquenchable world consuming hunger? When I started this thread, there was a Stephen King one, but not much else. This has sort of become the de-facto horror book thread.
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Jul 22, 2016 16:47
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Cosmic horror and weird fiction covers just about all the horror stuff worth reading anyway, imo.
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Jul 22, 2016 17:27
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hopterque posted:Cosmic horror and weird fiction covers just about all the horror stuff worth reading anyway, imo. Nah, there are some writers doing interesting stuff with more traditional subgenres.
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Jul 22, 2016 17:33
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Ornamented Death posted:Nah, there are some writers doing interesting stuff with more traditional subgenres. Tell us about them!
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Jul 22, 2016 17:44
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Skyscraper posted:Tell us about them! I will when I'm not phone posting  Ok, back at a real computer now. Greg Gifune writes stories that are trippy as hell. His latest, Babylon Terminal takes place in a dream world; it's really hard to explain without spoiling major plot points, but it's a wild ride. A lot of his novels have settings similar to this, where the world as presented isn't what it seems. Going slightly older, his Lords of Twilight novella is about an alien encounter, and Apartment Seven...well I can't really tell you what it's about without spoiling it, but it is not cosmic or weird horror. Adam Cesare writes books that capture that 80s horror vibe. Tribesmen is a kind of ghost story meets cannibal encounter novella and is the right kind of crazy. Zero Lives Remaining is about a ghost that haunts an arcade and what happens when it goes evil. Michael McBride mostly writes various sorts of monster stories. They're all fun, if somewhat predictable at times. Tim Curran often falls into this category as well (though he writes a fair number of cosmic horror stories). The most recent winner of the Bram Stoker award for best novel, Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts is neither cosmic nor weird, and is loving amazing. Bryan Smith managed to squeeze a good tale out of the zombie apocalypse in Slowly We Rot, though to be fair, he did so by making the zombies part of the setting more than active antagonists. Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 17:47
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Everyone should go out and get Michael Wehunt's Greener Pastures The titular story, about a trucker who hears weird poo poo on his radio is really creepy. e: Adam Cesare has a new book in Kindle Scout right now called Con Season that looks good. ravenkult fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 23:41
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If there's an interest, I could poke one of the Book Barn mods to change the thread title to something more along the lines of general horror, see if we can't get more life in here. Or I could start a general horror thread. But I feel like that would only lead to two less-active threads.
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Jul 22, 2016 23:52
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Title change is probably the best option.
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Jul 23, 2016 00:18
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Non-cosmic horror: I just finished reading The Unquiet House by Allison Littlewood. It's a pretty drat good ghost story. The story is set in and around Mire House, a drab and dreary house in rural Yorkshire. The protagonist is a woman called Emma who recently lost her parents and is feeling pretty lost and lonely when she inherits Mire House from a distant relative she never really knew. She immediately falls in love with the house despite it being isolated and in extreme disrepair and decides to move in. This being a ghost story she of course soon finds out that she is not quite alone in the house. It's a pretty basic set-up but it's very well executed. Although Mire House isn't really a monster in itself in the same sense that the Overlook Hotel or Hill House it has this strange presence throughout the book casting its shadow even on the chapters set outside it. It's a pretty slow burn, it is very creepy and atmospheric and there is this constantly building sense of impending doom in each part where it becomes constantly more apparent that something horrible is about to happen to the characters.
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Jul 23, 2016 01:58
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