Anybody into some good weird fiction? I'm in the mood. Favorite authors? Novels? Short stories? I quite enjoy Brian Evenson and Stephen Graham Jones.
Pic related was okay. I just really dig the cover.
>>7862142
Well I've read a couple books by China Mieville (Perdido Street Station and Looking for Jake, both prety good books) if that counts, and I've got City of Saints and Madmen on my shelf (got the gf to gift it to me). Worth a read, you think?
If this thread is willing to branch into Bizarro fiction, I'll say that Carlton Mellick isn't that bad. Read Succubus and the Dildo of Enlightment, they were nice novellas. Not groundbreaking or anything, but definitely better than what most fuckers put out today.
On a somewhat correlated note, somebody got any Blake Butler or Gary Shipley books to share? I've been dying to read Crypt(o)spasm for the last couple of years, bastard ain't gonna publish it again I think.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mees,_kes_teadis_ussisõnu
Check this out "a man who spoke snakish"
>>7862142
Other language covers are better but it's pretty good.
Just read Roadside Picnic.
>>7862188
OP here. I liked City of Saints and Madmen. The imagery and concepts were pretty imaginative. It's been quite a few years since I've read it, but some stuff has definitely stuck with me.
I'm not a huge fan of Bizarro personally but I've only read a few stories. I hate to use buzzwords but even at 16 or 17 it felt kind of edgy and try hard. Different strokes, though.
>>7862232
Think I'll pick up City etc. again soon enough, I'm overdue my dose of imaginative world building. Thanks for making me remember it, OP!
As for Bizarro fiction well - I know it's somewhat of a sensitive subject, since it's essence it's about being as unabashedly edgy as possible, but I feel there's eomthing worthiwhile in a few stories. Admittedly, I may have read some of the finest examples of the genres (if such a thing does, indeed, exist), but some of the themes of the Dildo etc. stuck with me for a long time. If you feel like giving the "genre" another chance, try the Doom Magnetic Trilogy - the author is far more skilled than Carlton Mellick, and the book is more than palatable.
Extending the discourse (do feel free to ignore this bit of the post) what do you all think about non-literary "weird" storytelling? Thinking about Fallen London/Sunless Sea mainly, but also stuff like Begotten or maybe Cyclonopedia. I'm feeling like there's a narrative vein still largely left untapped, someone should definitely get going on that.
The covers in that trilogy have top aesthetics. Unfortunately the story sucked. First two books dragged on and when I got to the third I was barely hanging on, only trying to reach the finish line. Then I read the first chapter and found out the lighthouse keeper has a gay lover and at that point I was done. Shame too, since his other books are fantastic. City of Saints and Madmen along with Finch fall into the same historical fiction/mushroom cult universe which has masterful storybuilding. Veniss Underground is way out there, macabre and strange but regardless I was still fascinated. Overall City of Saints and Madmen is undoubtedly his best and the Southern Reach trilogy should be avoided despite the pretty covers.
>>7862300
Would you rec Veniss Underground to a guy who's actually living and studying in Venice?
Dhalgren by Samuel Delany
>guy wanders around a misty city , lots of confusion time skipping and confusing shit
i liked the southern reach trilogy but thought it could've been condensed to 2 books. i think marketing forces were probably at play.
idk if m john harrison's light counts as weird enough but i thought it was fantastic.
>>7862327
Is there gay sex in it?
>>7862425
there might be, there's certainly a bit of sexiness in it, but at best/worst a single scene
VanderMeer (with his wife) edited The Weird, a ~1100 whopper of "weird" short stories and novellas from 1900 to now, some stuff previously out of print. You're sure to find some new authors in there!
Personal fav: Jean Ray
>>7862453
I forgot Bruno Schulz, get his Street of Crocodiles
Short stories? "Guts" by Chuck Palahniuk. Good luck! http://chuckpalahniuk.net/features/shorts/guts
Rather disturbing!
>>7862306
No relation
One of the few stories that almost scared me into a panic attack. It's fantastic if you can bare with the infinite amount adjectives.
>>7862271
My pleasure. Hope to learn about some more authors here. I used to shy away from the short story format for some reason, but I think the genre, along with horror, tends to benefit from the brevity.
