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MockingQuantum posted:Having spent the day combing for anything that fits, I can agree. It's kind of surprising, given how much American horror entrenches itself in distinctly American folklore or urban legend or whatever. You'd think an era from the US's history where we were literally terrified of the possibility of witchcraft would get some play (I know that's oversimplifying things, I'm no historian) I would think that's a large part of it though. No one seems to know much about that time period anymore so no one writes anything about it.
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Sep 6, 2017 01:52
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HIJK posted:I would think that's a large part of it though. No one seems to know much about that time period anymore so no one writes anything about it. There's a huge amount of scholarship on it if you dig, though. Sure, a great deal of it is speculation or trying to piece together some idea of a sequence of events from a collection of letters or accounts written after-the-fact, but I would think that would make it more ripe for fictional interpretation, not less. When I was in college as a dumb theater major we did The Crucible, and the research we collectively came up with was staggering. Almost every character in the play has a robust historical basis, including a judge who was an ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne, interestingly. Hawthorne was so embarrassed by the connection that he changed the spelling of his name to try and disassociate himself (it was originally "Hathorne"). So rambling aside, I think it's a cool opportunity for some interesting horror. It's also kind of saddening that it's not a part of American historical awareness anymore, at least as anything more than a footnote.
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Sep 6, 2017 15:33
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Whoops double post. Help me, cosmic horror thread: I read a short story in the last couple of years that I want to track down, but I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or what collection it was in, and I blew through quite a few in recent memory. The only thing I can really remember is the story had something to do with a family moving into a new home and discovering the staircase had more steps going up than it did going down, or something like that.
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Sep 10, 2017 00:08
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Speaking of short stories, it never occurred to me to post it here, but here's a story about the cosmic horror of caring about poo poo
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Sep 10, 2017 00:17
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MockingQuantum posted:Whoops double post. Help me, cosmic horror thread: I read a short story in the last couple of years that I want to track down, but I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or what collection it was in, and I blew through quite a few in recent memory. The only thing I can really remember is the story had something to do with a family moving into a new home and discovering the staircase had more steps going up than it did going down, or something like that. That could be the framing story for the Shadows Edge anthology. However, that seems like something that would be a fairly common trope, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was the basis for any number of stories.
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Sep 10, 2017 05:21
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Ornamented Death posted:That could be the framing story for the Shadows Edge anthology. However, that seems like something that would be a fairly common trope, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was the basis for any number of stories. Shadows Edge doesn't ring any bells. I think it may have been a plot point in a Strantzas story, possibly in Nightingale Songs. Not at all positive, though, since I don't have a copy of the book and I stopped subscribing to Kindle Unlimited. Edit: I remember saying ITT that I didn't find a lot of the stories in Nightingale Songs to be either that memorable or unique, and yet as I'm looking through a sample of it it's surprising how much of the book I'm still thinking about a year later or however long it's been. MockingQuantum fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Sep 14, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2017 17:12
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MockingQuantum posted:Shadows Edge doesn't ring any bells. I think it may have been a plot point in a Strantzas story, possibly in Nightingale Songs. Not at all positive, though, since I don't have a copy of the book and I stopped subscribing to Kindle Unlimited. Shadows Edge was edited by Strantzas and he wrote the framing story, so it's entirely likely it was also included in one of his collections. Edit: I just looked at various ToCs. The story I'm thinking of is "The Nineteenth Step" and it doesn't show up in either Nightingale Songs or Burnt Black Suns. Double Edit: I checked Strantzas's webpage and "The Nineteenth Step" was also included in The Year's Best Weird Fiction Volume 1, so you may have read it there. Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Sep 14, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2017 17:52
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Ornamented Death posted:Shadows Edge was edited by Strantzas and he wrote the framing story, so it's entirely likely it was also included in one of his collections. Yep, I'm 95% sure that's the one. This is the difficulties with short story collections, read enough of 'em and you have no clue where the ones you like ended up. On another note, just finished From a Buick 8 and it was really quite good. Not really at all what I expected, honestly, but it was well plotted and had some very creepy moments in it. It may be one of my preferred King books, and I've read a good clutch of them at this point. The ending does kind of... just happen, but that's not too unusual for King. Now on to Dark Entries since I've had it forever and someone mentioned it just the other day.
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Sep 14, 2017 19:22
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From a Buick 8 is the best thing King wrote for a long time after the accident. It's drat near perfect as a weird tale.
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Sep 14, 2017 19:28
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anything good drop in the last couple of months?
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Sep 17, 2017 23:07
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chernobyl kinsman posted:anything good drop in the last couple of months? It's been fairly quiet, at least for the authors and publishers I follow. Jeffrey Thomas's Haunted Worlds came out in August. I'm a huge fan of Thomas and this is one of his stronger collections. It has a nice mix of various types of horror. The Best Horror of the Year Volume 9, edited by Ellen Datlow, came out in July. With Stephen Jones's annual anthologies being more annoying to get (at least in physical form) nowadays, Datlow's annual "best of" anthology is my go-to. Beyond that, my own tastes line up better with Datlow than Jones anyhow. The Delirium Brief (Stross) also came out in July. Not much more to say here, if you're following the series, you probably already have it. Shadows & Tall Trees Volume 7, edited by Michael Kelly, was released in June. Kelly's anthologies are full if quiet and literary horror. The big upcoming thing is Paperbacks From Hell, which comes out tomorrow. It's a history of horror in the 70s and 80s and is getting a lot of positive buzz.
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Sep 18, 2017 16:58
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The movie adaptation of Nevill's The Ritual came out. Doesn't really count but I figured it was worth mentioning anyway.
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Sep 18, 2017 17:19
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Ornamented Death posted:books books books Well I could do with not eating this week anyway. MockingQuantum posted:The movie adaptation of Nevill's The Ritual came out. Doesn't really count but I figured it was worth mentioning anyway. Holy smokes, yeah, I forgot all about that. I'll have to get the book the trailer looked real decent. Drunken Baker fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Sep 19, 2017 |
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Sep 19, 2017 08:59
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Drunken Baker posted:Well I could do with not eating this week anyway. Whoops, my mistake, turns out The Ritual just showed at Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix just bought rights to it, but I also saw that maybe it'll be in select theaters on October 13th?
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Sep 19, 2017 22:02
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Might be it's just showing in England. The trailer did give an "October" release date. The book any good? Fair few reviews are saying its a bit long and draws itself out a bit thin.
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Sep 20, 2017 11:09
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the book has a good first half, a jarring and abrupt transition, and a bad and weird second halfOrnamented Death posted:It's been fairly quiet, at least for the authors and publishers I follow. thanks! you should do this all the time.
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Sep 20, 2017 15:07
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Drunken Baker posted:The book any good? Fair few reviews are saying its a bit long and draws itself out a bit thin.
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Sep 20, 2017 15:27
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Drunken Baker posted:Might be it's just showing in England. The trailer did give an "October" release date. I wasn't a huge fan of the book, but some in here did like it. I found the main character to be pretty bland, and it's not a book that stands well on its own if you're not rooting for him. And yes the back half of the book goes on too long, is too much of a sharp right turn, and (imo) didn't have anything like a satisfying payoff. I like Nevill, but I'd go for House of Small Shadows over The Ritual any day, hands down. Though that one definitely has the problem of a main character who's just a plot prop, at times.
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Sep 20, 2017 15:57
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Anyone read Nick Cutter's last book Little Heaven? I liked The Troop, but liked The Deep a little less... Just wondering if his next book was worth it or if I should find something else for my Halloween Horror.
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Sep 26, 2017 02:46
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:Anyone read Nick Cutter's last book Little Heaven? I liked The Troop, but liked The Deep a little less... Just wondering if his next book was worth it or if I should find something else for my Halloween Horror. I thought it was solid but not great, but The Deep is my favorite Nick Cutter, so YMMV. I liked The Acolyte more.
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Sep 26, 2017 16:16
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Skyscraper posted:I thought it was solid but not great, but The Deep is my favorite Nick Cutter, so YMMV. I liked The Acolyte more. Good to hear, I'm gonna start The Deep soon. Just finished The Elementals by McDowell. It's one I'd heard of in passing a couple of times but I was always surprised I could never find it, it seems like it's been frequently out of print since it came out. Lo and behold, it just recently got a Kindle version. Yay ebooks for making out-of-print horror novels more accessible! As for the book itself, it had some really good moments of dread and a few good scares, but something about the pacing near the end felt wonky and I didn't get drawn in as a result. Overall really good prose, and some good characters, though others felt a little flat at times. Now on to Algernon Blackwood's The Willows. I'm finding I have a soft spot for older ghost story/horror stuff so I'm guessing I'll like it.
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Sep 26, 2017 19:03
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The Willows is genuinely my favorite piece of weird fiction ever. It just really connected for me for whatever reason.
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Sep 26, 2017 23:07
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Skyscraper posted:I thought it was solid but not great, but The Deep is my favorite Nick Cutter, so YMMV. I liked The Acolyte more. I read the Deep when I was depressed and hoo boy... I like cosmic horror when I'm feeling lovely, properly done the gothic feel makes my problems feel small and insignificant. The Deep never left the personal level, though, despite having major cosmic elements. So it did not work for the escapism. I though it was pretty good though. Same with The Troop and The Acolyte, with the last probably being my favourite.
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Sep 27, 2017 00:06
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Ornamented Death posted:The Delirium Brief (Stross) also came out in July. Not much more to say here, if you're following the series, you probably already have it. I'm about 2/3 through this right now. When did reading Stross's novels become such a chore? I'm getting nothing positive about it. Craig Schaefer churns through novels and still seems like he's having fun with it; the Laundry Files just feel rote in comparison.
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Sep 27, 2017 03:52
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TheGreasyStrangler posted:I'm about 2/3 through this right now. When did reading Stross's novels become such a chore? I'm getting nothing positive about it. Craig Schaefer churns through novels and still seems like he's having fun with it; the Laundry Files just feel rote in comparison. Neurosis posted:I read the Deep when I was depressed and hoo boy... I like cosmic horror when I'm feeling lovely, properly done the gothic feel makes my problems feel small and insignificant. The Deep never left the personal level, though, despite having major cosmic elements. So it did not work for the escapism. I though it was pretty good though. Same with The Troop and The Acolyte, with the last probably being my favourite.
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Sep 27, 2017 05:11
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JUST started the Southern Reach trilogy and the trailer for Annihilation drops. Looking forward to reading this. edit: Yeah, couldn't post the trailer because I'm in work. Cheers, Hopterque. Drunken Baker fucked around with this message at 12:43 on Sep 28, 2017 |
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Sep 28, 2017 10:42
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Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufaDurSCKOk Looks pretty promising.
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Sep 28, 2017 11:12
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That trailer was great, I was skeptical of how they'd capture the tone of the books but looks promising. There are also clearly scenes out of Authority in there.
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Sep 28, 2017 13:45
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Danger posted:There are also clearly scenes out of Authority in there. I seem to recall Vandermeer saying this was planned as a standalone movie, so that's not surprising. He's also writing a prequel novella, due out next year.
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Sep 28, 2017 14:47
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It will be a miracle if the movie manages to scrape any kind of decent story out of those books, i normally like VanderMeer's work, but it felt like he was on some sort of heavy medication when he wrote Annihilation. And from the summaries on wikipedia the two others aren't much better.
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Sep 28, 2017 16:53
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Actually the books are good to great and Authority is the best of the bunch.
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Sep 28, 2017 17:39
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The weird acid trip half remembered dream feel is a big reason why they're so good to. They're just so out there and when the real poo poo happens it hits like a ton of bricks. The scene in Authority where everything goes from slow, weird buildup to suddenly everything goes loving crazy from like one moment to the next is a particularly incredible moment IMO.
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Sep 28, 2017 17:53
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hopterque posted:The weird acid trip half remembered dream feel is a big reason why they're so good to. They're just so out there and when the real poo poo happens it hits like a ton of bricks. The scene in Authority where everything goes from slow, weird buildup to suddenly everything goes loving crazy from like one moment to the next is a particularly incredible moment IMO. Authority just nails it's tone. It's more Kafka and Kubrick than Lovecraft, but the cosmic horror is there leaking out between the bureaucratic mess and mundane office setting. Like all the facade is in place but you have this cloying dread that something is fundamentally wrong with the architecture underneath. Like if you give it a reread, try to map out the Southern Reach facility when they describe it at times. The interior layout makes zero sense and can't possibly exist the way it is explained. The whole area is fundamentally compromised by Area X in a way that no one can realize or see, because they have been in it's influence the entire time and have zero actual understanding of it's perimeter or function. The border is an illusion.
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Sep 28, 2017 17:58
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Danger posted:Authority just nails it's tone. It's more Kafka and Kubrick than Lovecraft, but the cosmic horror is there leaking out between the bureaucratic mess and mundane office setting. Like all the facade is in place but you have this cloying dread that something is fundamentally wrong with the architecture underneath. Like if you give it a reread, try to map out the Southern Reach facility when they describe it at times. The interior layout makes zero sense and can't possibly exist the way it is explained. The whole area is fundamentally compromised by Area X in a way that no one can realize or see, because they have been in it's influence the entire time and have zero actual understanding of it's perimeter or function. The border is an illusion. Yeah and then everything loving snaps into place all at once and its like ohhhhhhhhhhh gently caress. I'm gonna reread them again I think.
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Sep 28, 2017 19:07
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Heads up, everybody: Michael McDowell's Blackwater is the Book of the Month on these here forums, and it's ostensibly kind-of horror (consensus so far is that it's not really meant to be scary, but has horror story elements) so might be a good time to check it out. Ebook on US Amazon.
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Oct 4, 2017 16:10
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I'll give that a go. Cheers. Hey, so is the consensus that nothing ever gets explained in the Southern Reach trilogy? I really enjoyed Annihilation for all the weirdness and yeah, I don't want to be spoon-fed every last little detail, but are the other two books as odd? No idea how they're going to turn this into a film.
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Oct 5, 2017 10:02
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Drunken Baker posted:I'll give that a go. Cheers. They are as odd. Enough gets explained for the series to feel satisfying but the actual why or what or how is completely unknown even by the end. You know about the series of events and the people involved and how things went down but the central mystery of what is area x/how does it function/etc is never really explained.
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Oct 5, 2017 12:07
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hopterque posted:They are as odd. Enough gets explained for the series to feel satisfying but the actual why or what or how is completely unknown even by the end. You know about the series of events and the people involved and how things went down but the central mystery of what is area x/how does it function/etc is never really explained. It's...partially explained. An alien terraforming device attached itself to the lighthouse. Area X itself is what the terraforming is doing to Earth. The aliens that created the thing are likely dead. What isn't explained is what, exactly, created the barrier that held Area X back for so long.
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Oct 5, 2017 14:09
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Ornamented Death posted:It's...partially explained. my take away was the it was extra-dimensional terraforming and not space aliens and the barrier was the result of some kind of malfunction but those books were so amazingly surreal and out there its hard to really draw conclusions
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Oct 5, 2017 17:25
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You also start to learn a lot more about what's going on in the first book basically immediately in the second.
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Oct 5, 2017 21:11
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