|
Kestral posted:
Ok thanks for validating that I'm not alone in this. I read North American Lake Monsters and got very tired how everything was a metaphor for the true horror that is man's inhumanity to man. drat man, why can't the spooky thing in the lake just be tje cast of failed experiment of an occultist who got ate by his own hell demon and now is hangs out in a lake eating horny teens? Or just spooky poo poo that's spooky because it DOESN'T conform to human pathos. Imma add that to the list and bump off some other stuff that seems like it's metaphorical.
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2023 00:38
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 8, 2024 15:27 |
|
|
I was about to start that but was on the fence as I expected more metaphor. I will give it a shot since the prosecutor is good. Thanks. As per usual, too much books
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2023 00:53
|
|
|
I don't know that you need to feel dumb. Some of the metaphors are so on the nose that I felt like I just be missing something because it was too obvious. Like the zombie one and guilty. Some of the others were so weird that I was just not interested in dissecting it. Like the angel one. And some were just... I dunno they seemed like they were meant to be part of something bigger. The werewolf one I felt could have done more though it was a great look at what PTSD can do to someone. It was mixed bag. I cracked Wounds and I'm digging the first two stories so far. This is more what I was looking for, just sharp little stories that offer just enough to beg questions but not heavy handed existential questions on regret. The lake story is very much a great set up to a bigger story but it stands on its own wel.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2023 02:27
|
|
|
escape artist posted:Ohhhhhh I'm so jealous you get to read The Butcher's Table for the first time... the audio version is well-acted... I would bet money the story gets adapted at some point. I've heard about that story in passing twice before you so my hype is high. Also the ebook I have has a big "soon to be a movie" on it so I guess some or all of the stories are getting adapted? I'd love to see a comeback of the multiple short form horror stuff in one theatrical release. I worked in a theater when that was big in the late '00s and early teens. Tiny Timbs posted:The werewolf one was by far my favorite. That was a really strong story in a lot of ways. The good husband was good. I've been on both sides of that situation so it didn't hit me as bad as I expected? They did adapt a few of them as a series called Monster Land on Hulu. It's actually how I found out about it. Most of the stories they adapt are tweaked.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2023 03:05
|
|
|
Opopanax posted:Wounds/The Visible Filth itself got made into a movie a few years ago Ok neat. I've avoided looking up anything more because the Internet is a cesspool. I'll check it out after the reads. Thanks
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2023 03:31
|
|
|
The true horror is the people we met along the way.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 11, 2023 17:37
|
|
|
Finished Wounds. All the stories were pretty good and the opposite of what I got from NALM. The world building was great, I can see why visible filth was picked up for a movie, it's the only story with enough character development plus an arc to actually work. The butchers table felt like pirates of the Caribbean but with hell cults. 4/5, I'll check his other stuff out too. There's been so much talk about Grady Hendrix I picked up Satan Loves You, just to see the begging. Its incredibly casual tone makes it a total breeze to fly through and it's a fun romp that I needed as a brain cleanser before reading more horror.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2023 03:24
|
|
|
Add another person to list of those absolutely raving about "Between Two Fires". I haven't been this engrossed in a book in a long time. This checks so many boxes and hits just the right chords for everything I've wanted, not only in stuff I want to read but in stuff I've tried to capture in my own writing. I'm normally one to skim read through set dressing because I'm in favor of plot and character, and I find the pages of description that don't actually add to anything to the story, have worn away my patience.So unless its actively moving the plot forward I tend to glaze over it. Sanderson and, to my shame, Tolkein, are stuff I just glaze over because its so many words that, to me, add little to the story bejng told. (Though in Tolkiens case I recognize that's a me issue as it's a travelogue.) But, in many ways, BTF is one as well and I found myself taking my time with descriptions because so many smaller stories were told in describing the landscape, or a row of trees, or even the lack of activity in the countryside. I was raised in an old country Catholic household, so a lot of the imagery in it, especially the scenes in Paris, hit me in ways that caught me off guard and in ways contemporary horror doesn't because of the over saturation of certain imagery. Seeing imagery that I grew up with, and imagery that I grew away from and left in my youth, used in the way it was used here was wild and savage and I loved it. Ever question that needs an answer is given one, and just enough is left open that it lets the reader fill in the blanks however they want. God drat what a banger this was and I can't wait to see what else this dude has in store.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2023 05:49
|
|
|
gey muckle mowser posted:Not sure if this is the best thread to ask, but what are some good spooky books for kids? My niece (about to turn 8) just started reading Goosebumps and is loving them, is there anything else along those lines out there? If you're looking to lean in and give your niece 1990s scholastic book fair PTSD, don't sleep on the animorphs. It's not horror unless you consider a 50+ book series about the horror of a secret alien war on child soldiers to be horror. GhastlyBizness posted:If you search "ST Joshi racism" you'll find a lot of stuff, much of it centred around a meltdown he had when the World Fantasy Award changed its physical trophy from a bust of Lovecraft to something more abstract. He tried to start a boycott, one of a few he's tried, but it didn't take. Good to know my initial introduction to the dude was so off putting that inactively avoided anything he's involved in because he seems like a dick bag. The entire argument is stupid, the cat is the only smoking gun you need to know.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2023 00:37
|
|
|
fez_machine posted:he was literally nominated for a Hugo award Ornamented Death posted:Chuck Tingle's nomination was absolutely wonderful because a group of rear end in a top hat did it to troll the Hugos but ended up being trolled relentlessly by Chuck instead. I should probably find out who Chuck Tingle is. I've seen his name but I've managed to avoid anything he's written and only learned, via osmosis, that he writes weird stuff?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2023 00:34
|
|
|
I'm far too sober for this.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2023 00:52
|
|
|
The high concept horror was the Golden Visa's eroding of the native area's identity and culture. Also, incentivizing the type of people who can afford to uproot their loves leads to the type of people who don't care about where they're headed and, as soon as they have the red passport in hand, gently caress right off. Leaving behind either empty buildings that are as bad if not worse than they were previously and are unsellable, thus driving prices up more. Or they rent them for a premium thus driving up prices more. There's a whole lot of discourse about this. So I guess it's really just, oops we did another colonialism.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2024 18:05
|
|
|
oh god oh gently caress posted:Haven't read Wounds but reading NALM felt like horror bojack horseman where it tried to be both horror and serious drama and ended up being bad at both. Like at least when Hereditary does the It's About Trauma thing it also remembers to actually be scary. Agreed, I mentioned a while back how much NALM didn't hit for me at all but Wounds was an absolute banger. Laird Barron feels like the JD Salinger of horror. Take that as you will.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2024 00:31
|
|
|
There are, just not in the same medium.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2024 19:16
|
|
|
zoux posted:Well? Berserk for Manga and Anime, though it's nowhere near as contemplative. In that vein Claymore does a lot more with the idea of identity and the balancing monster within versus the duty at hand. It's still anime though so YMMV. The Dark/Demon Souls games, thought it's mostly vibes there, it's light on direct narrative but captures the travelogue through a nightmare land with pockets of light throughout. Fire is a major driving force and handled with a similar touch as B2F but with different themes. Another pair of games; Dragons dogma 1 and now 2. It may seem too high fantasy but nighttime is no joke and I think actually maps to B2F really well in that regard. Specifically the non marrative parts of the game capture the sense of travel and survival in a dark fantasy setting. Has significantly more magic though, it's primarily "80s DnD through the lens of Japan" inspired but has a lot of influences from a range of high and dark fantasy threaded through ta DNA. Season of the Witch is actually really similar to B2F but it's a modern Nic Cage film. It's poorly regarded, but I enjoyed the poo poo out of it. Though I knew what I was walking into to. It's Nic Cage in medieval Europe dealing with a with, believe during a plague if not the plague. As for books, I've found a few I haven't read yet that I seem promising. I know Buehlman has a few other books so I want to read those too, but I found: Howls from the Dark Ages Buehlman wrote the forward for this. The Boke of the Divill It seems like it has similar vibes. Company of Liars These has the same "innocent child surrounded by lovely people who need redemption" vibe, also during the plague. Throne of Bones It's an anthology of various types of horror. It has an afterword by ST Joshi you can not read because he never has anything of value to contribute. ]
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 00:50
|
|
|
Tiny Timbs posted:the scene where a statue rolls into the house and fucks everyone up except it looks like a cat That scene, and the one the morning after, had me all hosed up for a while. I mean, I was raised Catholic and went to a Catholic school corrupt enough that I was pulled out and have a 9 month gap in memory in my preteen years so maybe that scene just hammered the right button for me.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 00:53
|
|
|
gently caress around at night. And bitter black island from the first game was not bright in any way.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 12:57
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:Howls from the Dark Ages had maybe 2-3 stories that were really good and the rest I thought was pretty mid. There's also a cheesy Cryptkeeper-y framing narrative with a museum curator that introduces each story, which isn't to everyone's taste, but is easily skippable at least. Not saying "don't read it" as much as "temper your expectations" (mine were maybe too high going in, so I ended up a bit disappointed). Good to know. escape artist posted:I actually DNFed the audio version because the cryptkeeper wraparound segment was too goofy. Definitely temper your expectations. It is not the brilliant genre work that Between Two Fires is. I mean, what is? B2F is like heroin. Never gonna capture that first high ever again. Just chase the dragon.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 18:00
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 8, 2024 15:27 |
|
|
SkeletonHero posted:Between Two Fires is one of the best books I've read but also Christopher Buehlman in his "Christophe the Insultor" persona once called me a masturbating gorilla in front of my friends and family so I'm afraid I'm honor-bound to rate it a 1 star on Goodreads. That sounds like a reason to give it five stars and hand out copies to all your friends and family.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 20:42
|
|