I think we should have a horror fiction general. Since /lit/ doesn't take to kindly to genre fiction, /x/ would seem to be the best place to discuss it. This for actually published stuff, not creepypasta.
>Pic related is the only rec chart on the /lit/ wiki
Someone should make a new one for /x/.
>Currently reading
Occultation by Laird Barron, his best short story collection yet. His fusion of Lovecraftian cosmic horror and hardboiled fiction his really great.
I'd suggest Let the Right One In and Bloodkin to be added.
> Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
> The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
> The Voice from the Edge by Harlan Ellison
Clive Barker's Books of Blood is a good read, especially if you want to get into writing some pretty dark shit. It does a pretty good job making a lot of suspense out of some pretty cliché stories, but none of them are really that spooky.
>>17793014
Books of Blood are probably Clive Barker's best work. Surprised they haven't made an omnibus edition with all 6 (They just split it in half).
>>17793205
Yeah, they're pretty quick reads.
>>17792935
>Dave Brockie of GWAR wrote a book.
Welp. Brb. Going to Amazon. Wish I had known this a few days ago god dammit.
>>17793372
>>17793380
These are cool. Although I think we should make a chart with authors instead of specific books.
>>17793479
Or make a /mu/ or /tv/ chart.
I definitely want to make a big one with at least 100 books.
>>17793479
Go for it. We always need new charts.
>>17793493
Is there a chart generator website I can use?
>>17792935
I love Tim Currans books.
sadly steven kings new book are not as good as his old ones
>>17793530
I liked Revival. His new short story collection wasn't bad either.
I never see Robert Aickman listed on these lists, but he's written some of the scariest stuff I've ever read. It's more atmospheric than dumbass King type shit.
>>17793499
Nope. I just use mspaint.
>>17793568
I got a Mac, what would be a good equivalent?
>>17793562
Aickman is good, if you like him, check out Ramsey Campbell.
>>17793535
I read "Joyland" and i was pretty disappointed and now I'm reading "Full Dark, No Stars"
>>17793597
Joyland is a mystery novel, but I can I was still disappointed even when I read it that way. Full Dark, No Stars is good.
Just say no to generals.
>>17793651
Just say no to this guy.
>>17792935
I cant believe no one added Lovecraft. Him and Poe are the OG.
Hell House by Richard Matheson should be in these charts. Stephen King considered it to be one of the of the scariest books he had ever read.
How is there no Richard Laymon,Jack Ketchum, Kealan Patrick Burke, or Ronald Kelly in this thread?!?
>>17794839
I've heard its pretty much a rip-off of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
Also, Matheson's greatest tribute to horror probably is I Am Legend.
I dunno how accepting you guys are of anime/manga but there's one called Another. There's a novel, manga, and anime, all are pretty solid and I am very picky about my Japanese media, I tend not to buy into the weeb shit.
It's about a cursed high school class where one person in the class every year is a ghost and unless they observe specific rituals the students and their families die off final-destination style.
>>17796109
I watched the anime all in one sitting. I thought some parts of it, especially near the end, were really dumb, but I thought it was interesting overall. But when it gets brought up in /ax/ threads, everyone seems to hate it. No idea how much better the novel or manga would be received. I read briefly about them after watching the anime, so I know they're rather different, but I can't remember all the little details.
>>17796199
I mean overall it's not a particularly original story, but good horror anime are few and far between, and it had some good creepy moments. It's probably more of a mystery than a horror
>>17796205
I think its weaknesses stem from the overuse of certain horror cliches and the fact that some people just can't suspend their disbelief about certain parts of it. I've seen FAR worse, yet this one seems to get a lot of hate. I won't say it's the best thing ever, but I did think it was a decent story overall.
Anyone here a fan of Joe Hill.
>>17796293
I've only read one of his stories ("Best New Horror") and it was okay. Other then that I've heard different opinions.
>>17796442
Try 20th Century Ghosts
ITT: fictional horror and paranormal
*Snore* I still want to know who was phone
You guys prefer short stories or novels?
>>17793597
if you've read the shining, youd love Dr.Sleep.
>>17796109
i loved the manga, i didnt know there was a book.
The Great God Pan is good
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
The Terror and Drood by Dan Simmons were great
>>17797341
Really depends, if you like characters, novels are where it's at, if you want just the scare, go for a short story.
>>17797689
I haven't them read yet, but I hear his books Carrion Comfort and Song of Kali are really good.
on the subject of books, what are some of your favourite (horror) audiobooks? i do a lot of travelling and night work, curious if any have stood out to you
>>17797412
Dr sleep is a fucking disaster of a book
>>17792935
Joe Lansdale is one of my favorite authors, God of the Razor was the first short story read by him (not counting the Hellboy short that got me intro him.) I'd recommend The Drive In, it largely uses the horror of the unknown and human nature, and Lansdale's got that prefect mix of humor and horror at just the right moments.
Thank you very much for this thread, I got a lot to read now.
>>17797418
Book came first, in fact.
Robert Shearman does great short story collections, sort of a blurry line between horror and dark comedy but there's plenty of spoopiness.
Has anyone read The Castle of Otranto, its usually considered the starting point of the horror genre, does it hold up in any way?
I'm going to make a chart soon, be on the lookout.
The ritual by Adam Nevill is some spooky shit.
>>17796293
I love Joe Hill, read all his books except the newest one. Heart Shaped Box is the best, but N0S4A2 and Horns are also great. Now this might just be my opinion, but his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts fell flat. He doesn't seem to be much of a short story guy.
Another guy I've been reading lately is David Searcy. I've never heard anyone talking about him so maybe he's kind of an unknown, having only two novels under his belt, but Last Things was a great read. His writing style is just wonderful, and he has this great way of telling you everything and revealing nothing. It's creepy as hell but you set the book down and it's hard to pinpoint just why it is. His first book, Ordinary Horror was good for all the same reasons, just not quite as good.
Some other things I've read recently and recommend:
A Choir of Ill Children by Tom PIccirilli (next level southern gothic. Read this one and you'll be like an owl saying "Joe Lansdale WHOOO? Joe Lansdale WHOOO?")
The Collector of Hearts by Joyce Carol Oates (short stories, a bit hit or miss but the hits are hard)
Uzumaki by Junji Ito (most /x/philes should know this one, but I just finally read the whole thing and it's worth it)
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen and The King In Yellow by Robert W Chambers(both classics and often recommended but I'm throwing them in there)
Anything by Thomas Ligotti but particularly Teatro Grottesco
Hunt for the Skinwalker by Colm A.Kelleher and George Knapp (technically non-fiction but I actually found it to be pretty frightening at times and it's a damned interesting account)
If I think of more I'll add them later.
Support the small presses and horror mags when you can, fellas. Lamplight, Nightmare, The Dark, Cemetery Dance, Shadows & Tall Trees, Black Static, etc. all put out top tier stuff. I dare say we're living in another horror golden age, at least as far as the literature goes.
Pseudopod is tops for podcasts, IMO.
Among the newer crop of authors, I've really enjoyed the work of Nathan Ballangrud (North American Lake Monsters), Laird Barron (The Croning is good but I think his short fiction is better, all three collections kick ass), Paul Tremblay (Head Full of Ghosts), Gemma Files (Experimental Film), Stephen Graham Jones (After the People Lights Have Gone Off), and John Langan (The Wide Carnivorous Sky).
>>17793372
>The Blind Owl
Holy shit, I found this on /lit/, it's weird seeing it mentioned on /x/. I recommend it, it's a good surreal horror story. I feel like saying something is like a David Lynch movie has become a meme, but that's how I'd describe it, an Iranian Lynch-like story.
Weird question, does anyone know when horror started to be used as the description for a genre?
The earliest I can find is Lovecraft's essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature", but Lovecraft like horror weird fiction. According to some sources, people didn't use the word horror to describe the genre till the 60's, they would just use gothic or occult. Also sci-fi and fantasy if the movie had those elements.
>>17793380
I'm sure it's fine to start with whatever I find compelling, but many of his stories have intertwining lore right? Is it better to go chronologically?
>>17802263
No. The mythos isn't plot dependent, or chronologically organized, so you're free to find a good collection and wade in wherever you want. Some of his best stuff, IMO, isn't mythos connected at all.
That being said, for what it's worth, the three Penguin Classics collections edited and annotated by Joshi (the preeminent Lovecraft expert) are organized chronologically, if you prefer to go that route.
>>17796109
>>17796199
I've only ever seen the anime and personally I hated the last few episodes because of the ending. All that build up and it was so anticlimactic. The concept itself was interesting though. Just that they didn't do a good job of selling me that plot twist. Ig that's why people on /ax/ tend to hate it. That, and the kids slinging "muh edge" comments at the first sight of blood.
As for my recommendations, most of them have already been mentioned by other anons, however, I would like to emphasize Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. It's not straight up ghosts or anything obviously paranormal, but definitely not normal though. It's a collection of short stories that tie in together as a whole story. Lullaby is another good book by him, not outright spooky but more into /x/ territory.
>>17797520
This one.
>>17802263
Cthulhu Mythos anthologies are usually just stories inspired by Lovecraft, they don't have to contain his creations.
This guy reviews horror books from the boom period of the late 60s to the early 90s.
>>17803114
Forgot link:
http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/
>>17802895
Thanks mate.
>>17803555
Here's some other Cthulhu Mythos anthologies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos_anthology
What sort of horror books would you recommend to someone who enjoys Ligotti and Baudelaire?
>>17803813
Tricky request as I see those two writers at somewhat opposite poles (To my way of thinking, Ligotti is bloodless, cerebral, and dry whereas Baudelaire is visceral, passionate, and Romantic with a capital R).
Poe was a huge influence on both, so he's one obvious link. The first three of Clive Barker's Books of Blood share some of Baudelaire's raunchiness and Ligotti's talent for horrific fable and penchant for the grotesque.
Caitlin Kiernan has drawn some comparison to Ligotti, and her transexuality certainly puts her on Baudelaire's extreme end of the spectrum. Joshi had said with Ligotti's semi-retirement that Kiernan replaces him as the pre eminent voice in Weird Fiction. Your mileage may vary.
Poppy Brite, another trans author, comes to mind as well, specifically his/her novel Exquisite Corpse and his/her story "Calcutta: Lord of Nerves" which you can find here for a taste: http://talesofmytery.blogspot.com/2013/02/poppy-z-brite-calcutta-lord-of-nerves.html#.USXN1ZTUrvA
>>17792935
>Pet Sematary and IT but no The Shining
What the fuck is wrong with you?
/lit/ has always recommended The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson. Good god it's boring. Waiting for it to get good, but got distracted by Blood Meridian again and stopped reading it.
>>17792935
Blood Music by Greg Bear was the only book that ever actually scared me. Read it when I was about 17 and I couldn't sleep for like a week.
>>17804560
Horror short stories are IMO some of the best, most inventive horror stories out there. Feel like authors in general in any genre are more inventive and experimental when they write short stories. Best horror compilations I've read are:
Nocturnes - John Connoly
Skeleton Crew - Stephen King
Books of Blood - Clive Barker
Pleasant dreams: Nightmares - Robert Bloch
I also read a short story compilation of my dad's called "Monsters monsters monsters" and it actually had some really creepy stories in it, but I can't remember who it was by.
If you want short easy read horror, check out James Herbert, he's probably the best British horror author post 1950. Everything he wrote is great.
Also Simon Clark, his book "King Blood" was actually fucking cool
>>17804470
Yeah, who ever told you to read that doesn't know their stuff.
The Night Land was written to sound like it was written in the 1700s, but what ends up happening is the author's prose feels like moving heavy rocks.
Try The House on the Borderland, that's probably his best work.
Maybe someone can help me out here, Ive posted before but Ill ask again
Years and years back i rented a book of short horror stories from the library, I cannot remember if there was just one or multiple authors. And im sure of the publication date, but from what i remember, the stories seemed quite old.
The only story i remember to any detail was about a boy who went to live with his granparents for the summer. His grandparents lived miles from any neighbors and were surounded by the woods. The boy found out that a human sacrifice cult was living in the woods nearby and somehow ended up leading them back to his grandparents house by accident. The cult first killed all of the horses, then took the grandmother one night and the grandfather the next. The boy's only hope to escape was the mailman who only came like once a week. He did finally escape with the mailman just as the cult was coming for him but it was during a thunderstorm and the mailmans horse and buggy crashed and the cult got the mailman. The boy saw the mailman sprwaled out on a blood soaked rock altar in a field as a cult member stabbed with him a dagger. The boy escaped on the horse.
Thats as much as i can remember, any help would be greatly appreciated
What? No Hellbound Heart?
>>17805159
For some reason, I wanna say that's a Stephen King story, but I'm not sure.
http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/
Email this dude, he might help.
>>17797520
That thing's a fucking slog. A main book, another book in the damned footnotes, and then you have to deal with all the cutesy-wutsey clever-ass text layout.
The author's sister has a fairly decent album though.
>>17805175
I thought it was boring.
So what is everyone's favorite horror subgenre?
Lovecraftian/Cosmic/Weird?
Gothic?
Psychological?
Vampires?
Satanic/Occult?
Zombie?
Splatter/gore?
Sci-Fi?
Ghosts?
Dark fantasy?
>>17793372
Is the night vale book as tumblr as the podcast became at the end?
>>17805195
No its not King, Ive read pretty much all of his short stories, but thank ill give it a shot
Since people are talking anthologies, anyone have a favorite. I'm going through this one right now:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weird
All of the stories are weird, but in the most literal use of the term, not in the Lovecraftian/cosmic horror type way. Still a cool anthology though.
>>17809220
Also, I really want to track down the Dark Forces anthology:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Forces_(book)
>>17807014
I read part of it but I found it annoying and pretty much fucking stupid. Maybe it got better, can't tell you.
>>17809220
I collect horror anthologies. Not sure I can pick one but here are a couple faves...
>The Dark Descent, ed. by David Hartwell
Many years ago, I was lucky enough to take a horror fiction course at Harvard. This was basically our textbook. I've opened it so many times it's now held together with duct tape. Originally published as three different volumes, it collects masterpieces by just about every important horror writer of the 20th and 19th centuries.
>Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural,
ed. by Wagner and Wise
Part of the Modern Library series, this attractive hardback is another must have for anyone interested in the history and development of the genre. A hair more "literary" than Hartwell's anthol.
>Darkness or Fearful Symmetries, ed. Ellen Datlow
Datlow is the best horror anthologist ever, with dozens of awards to prove it. She has an uncanny ability to capture the state of horror whenever she puts out a collection and somehow manages to very disparate pieces feel "of a piece." Darkness did it in 2010 and Fearful Symmetries did it again in 2016.'
>Honorable Mention
The Weird, ed. by Vandermeer
999, ed. by Sarrantonio
The entire Borderlands series, ed. by the Monteleones
American Gothic Tales, ed. by Oates
>>17809231
Forgot about that one as it was lost on my mass market shelf. Thanks for reminding me. Awesome collection, with stuff not found elsewhere. Definitely should have been on my list. Bunch of used copies for a few bucks on Amazon, if you're in the US.
>>17810344
Sorry, I just bought Fearful Symmetries this year. It actually came out in 2014.
>>17809220
Lots of straight up Lovecraftian anthols. coming out these days (too many, I'd day). FWIW, Black Wings of Cthulhu is prob. the best of the bunch.
>>17810396
I got the first Black Wings vol., and I only really liked two stories jn it, Laird Barron's (it has my favorite story by him in there, "The Broadsword") and Caitlin Kiernan's (she did a really good sequel to Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model, called "Pickman's Other Model). Michael Shea's story in it was okay ("Copping Squid").
>>17810917
He did make an anthology that I liked, American Supernatural Tales for Penguin Classics. Even if he picked a bad King story, the anthology was pretty good.
>>17810344
I've got the fourth Borderlands but haven't read it yet, curious on how "avant-garde" the stories will be.
What's /x/'s opinion on "'Salem's Lot" as both a vampire novel and as a horror work in general?
>>17811073
It's very good, one of King's best works, it's basically Peyton Place mixed with Dracula and shows King's excellence at characters and characterization.
So, what's Dean Koontz's best book and should I read it?
>>17811345
Phantoms from what I've heard.
But people also recommend Odd Thomas but I didn't like the movie so...
Kafka is pretty much a horror writer, a really enjoy his stuff.
I like the yearly anthology that has an introduction showing what's in horror for that year, even include obituary or something of people connected to horror for that year.
>>17812145
Ellen Datlow's best horror of the year?
>>17804593
Fucking Survivor Type from Skeleton Crew is my jam
>>17811778
What's the one about the guy who can see these monsters that disguise themselves as humans? He works on a circus and discovers a conspiracy of these fake humans leading right up to the Presidency. Read it years ago and liked it quite a bit. I was about 14 though, maybe I'd hate it if I re-read it.
I'm reading these stories by Algernon Blackwood, a big inspiration of Lovecraft's. The Willows is straight-up Lovecraft, I thought it was great.
>>17815907
The Willows was Lovecraft's favorite story.
>>17815907
I actually heard Blackwood read some of Lovecraft's stories and didn't like them. I feel bad for Lovecraft.
>>17816388
Don't. Lovecraft was a cunt. It wasn't so much the stories they didn't like, as HPL's personality. Blackwood wasn't a bad guy, he just didn't put up with HPL's bullshit, and he wasn't the only one.
>>17806502
It's well written and well describes the happenings for a novella.
>>17816488
Expand on HPL's personality please.
>>17817316
He just wanted to make America great again.
>>17817316
basically he was a racist self righteous prick. Well not so much racist as mush as he just hated cultures he deemed "alien".
Then again he did marry a jew. He had super low self esteem and spent basically his whole life alone inside so thats probably something to take into account.
>>17807006
>Lovecraftian/Cosmic/Weird?
>Gothic?
>Psychological?
>Vampires?
>Satanic/Occult?
>Zombie?
>Splatter/gore?
>Sci-Fi?
>Ghosts?
>Dark fantasy?
if you could somehow fit all of that into one book/genre then its basically my shit
>>17817368
He apparently separated from his wife to live with his aunts.
>>17817374
THEN LOOK NO FURTHER!!!
>>17817377
well yea but that was for completely different reasons. He was a massive downer and just kind of a dick and she had enough of his shit.
>>17792935
Obligatory
https://www.amazon.com/Ass-Goblins-Auschwitz-Cameron-Pierce/dp/1933929936
>>17805206
I liked the text layout, it explains it if you read the book.
>>17807006
Everything except Satanic (too hokey) and Splatter (too over-the-top). Vampires and zombies have been done to death recently, but at least the classics are still good
Anyone know of any good innawoods horror novels?
>>17817442
Classic: The Willows, Algernon Blackwood
Modern: The Ritual, Adam Nevill
>>17809220
Can confirm that this is a good anthology, some of the stories are kinda meh but it is filled with great ones. I read the whole book on a 20+ hours train trip and loved it.
Absolutely terrifying.
>>17817923
I would actually call it a surrealist anthology, not a horror one.
>>17807014
My roommate told me about Welcome to Nightvale since I'm into spooky gory occult shit, but she's SJW as they come. Is it worth looking into or full tumblr?
>>17814825
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten_O%27Clock_People
The Ten O'Clock People?
bomp
