/lit/ Horror

[Anonymous No.12300256]

Hey guys, you all are a bunch of swell chaps, care to point me in the direction of some good horror books? I prefer anthologies, but any contemporary or classic horror recs would be much appreciated.
I’m familiar with most of the classics, but would love to hear of some new innovations in the genre.

[Anonymous No.12300263]

The fisherman. I haven't read it but it's on my list and the reception I have seen so far has been good.

[Anonymous No.12300282]

>>12300256
have you read the king in yellow and house on the borderslands?
they are what influenced lovecraft
basicly proto cosmic horror

[Anonymous No.12300292]

>>12300263

John Langan correct? Looks interesting, I’m adding it to my list, thanks Anon

[Anonymous No.12300295]

>>12300282
Oh sweet I have not, should check that shit out for sure. Big Lovecraft fan here

[Anonymous No.12300423]

[Anonymous No.12300430]

[Anonymous No.12300480]

Knew I could count on you guys

[Anonymous No.12301190]

Bumpin for that fear

[Anonymous No.12301454]

Been searching for a really well-written literary horror novel, something challenging that has depth worth digging for. It occurred to me that there are probably works of great literary merit that have elements of horror in them without having been marketed as horror novels. Can you folks recommend any like that? And any horror recs of literary merit in general would be appreciated as well.

I'm currently reading a short story collection of Matheson's work as well as Jackson's Hill House.

[Anonymous No.12301565]

>>12301454
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

[Anonymous No.12301581]

>>12301454
The Turn of the Screw was the first thing I thought of.
Henry James has a collection of ghost stories but I haven’t read anything but ATotS

[Anonymous No.12301593]

Ligotti is pretty good

[Anonymous No.12301594]

Lovecraft

[Anonymous No.12301726]

I’m going to downtown local bookshops tomorrow, some of which have a LOT of very old cheap books. Hoping I can find some of these authors and pick them up. These all sound like great recs

[Anonymous No.12301771]

Well, M. R. James is probably the most literary of horror writers I've had the chance to read, so I recommend you pick him up. There is a wonderful quality in the way the monstrous in his stories creeps up from annals and footnotes, manifesting itself in rapid, momentary instances of terror born out of a centuries-long gestation.

[Anonymous No.12301773]

>>12301594
I enjoy Lovecraft and have several collections of his stories. However his work is very much limited by its pulp origins. Very repetitive storylines, and I'm not overly fond of the disconnect between the protagonists and the actual horrific events that happen in the story (I've read a couple where the protagonist just reads about stuff the whole time and only sees or feels something for himself literally in the last couple of paragraphs). Shadow Over Innsmouth is my favorite because it doesn't do this for the whole story, and reading about the history of the town is really captivating. Haven't read At the Mountains of Madness yet.

>>12301593
I've heard he's good, but haven't read anything of his yet.

>>12301581
I've heard good things about this, but I've already seen the film The Others. Will that spoil the book for me? Can't remember if they're the same story.

>>12301565
Read it, fantastic book. Also a fantastic example of what I mean by horror but not marketed as horror. Any more?

[Anonymous No.12301806]

>>12301773
Also read quite a bit of Lovecraft and can completely agree with your gripes. Enjoy his work, but it does get very repetitive. I have one book that has everything and it’s a beast for sure.

[Anonymous No.12301839]

>>12301773
Have you read Dante's Inferno? Not as 'horror' as The Road but I found it deeply unsettling and absolutely fantastic. Same goes for Manfred by Byron

[Anonymous No.12302042]

>>12301839
No I haven't read Inferno, but you know I think I will read that next! And I love Byron, so maybe I'll check out Manfred as well.

[Anonymous No.12302237]

>>12302042
I have Inferno in a nice volume I need to read it

[Anonymous No.12303124]

Bump in the night

[Anonymous No.12303167]

>>12301773
The Others was influenced by The Turn of the Screw but they are not the same story

[Anonymous No.12303473]

Strangely I can read scary books but not watch scary movies..

[Anonymous No.12303771]

>>12301454
Ramsey Campbell is worth checking out if you enjoy Richard Matheson.

[Anonymous No.12303786]

>>12303473
how does a scary bf strike you, eh, sweetheart?

[Anonymous No.12303953]

If you are already familiar with the genre you’ve probably already heard of this but The Weird edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer is probably the best anthology of dark and fantastic literature. It goes from the early 1900s right to the mid 2000s.

Lately I’ve been obsessed with Ligotti. A lot of people say he is in the track of Lovecraft and while there is a similarity to how they view the world (as inherently terrifying on account of its chaoticness and unknowablility) they don’t really have similar styles or subject matters.

I think Teatro Grottesco is the best volume to get first. The penguin combined Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe is second.
It seems like The Town Manager is his most popular story but I’d say The Frolic, Les Fleures, or Bungalow House are all great places to start.

If you want to see Ligotti really flex a story like The Red Tower is just a sequence of disquieting images with no narrative at all. It’s some real contemporary ‘abstract’ horror

[Anonymous No.12304009]

>>12301773
Lovecraft is extremely overrated. There is an essential thing I definitely enjoy in his stories but he’s a frankly awful writer and I’d love to see a couple of his major works re-written by better stylists.

I’d also say Innsmouth is my favourite story but when I take a step back the structure of the narrative is awful. The majority of the story is split between three long naked exposition dumps followed by an all too brief suspenseful escape. The whole end part of the genealogical research feels tacked on because it’s completely after all physical jeopardy from the innsmouth people has passed.

A better writer would have had him uncover that genealogical story piece by piece while he was still in the town, and then had the reveal of his ancestry coincide with resolving the physical threat of the innsmouth people, or immediately afterwords.

Asides for the structural issues his prose just is awful so much of the time. I’m not an absolute adjective hater like some critics but I have my limits and Lovecraft blows past them constantly.

[Anonymous No.12304076]

>>12300256
Do you know the pseudopod podcast? It just horror shorts narrated, most of which are contemporary.

Ep 606 - The Fainting Game freaked me the fck out.

Ep. 433 - 20 Simple Step to Ventriloquism is very unconditional but I think it’s great.

There is one story about a guy that basically gets mind control abilities that really stuck with me but I can find the title, if i can later I’ll add that too.

The pod can be pretty hit or miss but I’ve definitely heard some really great stories on it so overall I’d recommend

[Anonymous No.12304081]

>>12304009
>Lovecraft is extremely overrated

srt

[Anonymous No.12304404]

I'd like to recommend The Summoning by Bentley Little for fans of 'Salem's Lot or to anyone who wants to read a vampire novel that doesn't suck.

[Anonymous No.12304815]

Pigeons from Hell is an awesome short story

[Anonymous No.12305240]

>>12300256
Pan Books of Horror Stories
Fontana Books of Great Horror Stories

[Anonymous No.12305446]

>>12303786
Not too well my fine feathered friend

[Anonymous No.12305481]

>>12304076
I think the closest I get to horror in podcasts is Lore, might be a little too close to TV or Movies for me to not actually be terrified. I’ll make note of it though!

[Anonymous No.12305492]

>>12301454
As well as Henry James and MR James, Melmoth the Wanderer springs to mind. Pic related is also great, similar to Turn of the Screw in it leaves just that little bit of ambiguity.

[Anonymous No.12305495]

>>12305492
Forgot my pic out of sheer terror

[Anonymous No.12305516]

>>12300256
Robert Aickman