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Horror Fiction |OT| For all things that go bump in the night

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eagledare

Member
Horror Fiction-GAF, I've just published a suspense/horror novel on Amazon ("Saint Nellie") and it's free to download until Saturday, 3-29. The story is about a young girl being asked to spend time with the town "witch" while dealing with the racism still lingering in some Southern (US) towns. Fans of occult fiction with a side of real social issues will probably get a kick out of it. The first chapter should give you a good idea of what to expect.

This is a cross post from Horror OT, but I probably should have put it here first. Hopefully you guys don't mind. Feedback, questions, or comments are encouraged!

You can get it here if interested.
 
Horror Fiction-GAF, I've just published a suspense/horror novel on Amazon ("Saint Nellie") and it's free to download until Saturday, 3-29. The story is about a young girl being asked to spend time with the town "witch" while dealing with the racism still lingering in some Southern (US) towns. Fans of occult fiction with a side of real social issues will probably get a kick out of it. The first chapter should give you a good idea of what to expect.

This is a cross post from Horror OT, but I probably should have put it here first. Hopefully you guys don't mind. Feedback, questions, or comments are encouraged!

You can get it here if interested.

I downloaded it broham. Probably can't get around to reading it until late April when I'm on vacation though :(

Congrats on the book!
 

bidguy

Banned
not much of a reader here but i read clive barkers book of blood series when i was younger

"pig blood blues" and "in the hills, the cities" were absolutely terrifying to me back then
 
Have you guys checked out Shock Totem? It'a magazine with bunch of short stories.

http://www.shocktotem.com/

Shock_Totem_8_-_Curious_Tales_of_the_Macabre_and_Twisted_(Cover).jpg
 

Parch

Member
For added effect, get the audiobook and listen to it in the dark. Suspenseful stuff in absolute pitch black is freaky.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
I recently (like, 2 months ago, but we'll overlook that!) purchased copies of Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door for $1 each, both of which I am excited to read. Be gentle with me, friends, for I am a horror literature noob, being much more familiar with film & manga incarnations of the genre. But it is my favorite, and I'm not lacking in enthusiasm, so I'm looking forward to dabbling in more of the stuff recommended ITT.

Welcome! And good choices!

Like always, if you want recommendations, or have recommendations, please let the thread know!
 
I recently (like, 2 months ago, but we'll overlook that!) purchased copies of Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door for $1 each, both of which I am excited to read. Be gentle with me, friends, for I am a horror literature noob, being much more familiar with film & manga incarnations of the genre. But it is my favorite, and I'm not lacking in enthusiasm, so I'm looking forward to dabbling in more of the stuff recommended ITT.

Joe Hill and Jack Ketchum are among my favorite authors. I hope you enjoy the books.
 
Finished Horns earlier this summer. What a wonderful book. It was a wonderful book that took an interesting path between past and present that actually made me really emotional. Can't wait for the movie in October.

I've always been a huge Stephen King fan, but I think Joe Hill has definitely rose above the shadows of his father. Heart Shaped Box Just came in, my partner will be gone for the weekend, and I plan on taking that time alone to read the book. So excited!
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Finished Horns earlier this summer. What a wonderful book. It was a wonderful book that took an interesting path between past and present that actually made me really emotional. Can't wait for the movie in October.

I've always been a huge Stephen King fan, but I think Joe Hill has definitely rose above the shadows of his father. Heart Shaped Box Just came in, my partner will be gone for the weekend, and I plan on taking that time alone to read the book. So excited!

I REALLY need to read more books by Hill. I have read NOS4A2, which I enjoyed a ton, and even met the guy! He signed my book. I am reading Haunted by Palahniuk(which is excellent so far, I highly recommend it), maybe when I finish this, I will check out Heart shaped box.
 

Dascu

Member
Tried to read House of Leaves, but it had seemingly severe ADD.
Persevere. If nothing else, skip through Truant's chapters and focus on the Navidson Record. I love the entire novel, but the story about the actual house is genuinely terrifying and very atmospheric. It's like P.T. and The Blair Witch Project merged into one.
Buzzwords to get your attention, now lay off Shattered Memories and stop lying that its plot twist is "undeserved".

I REALLY need to read more books by Hill. I have read NOS4A2, which I enjoyed a ton, and even met the guy! He signed my book. I am reading Haunted by Palahniuk(which is excellent so far, I highly recommend it), maybe when I finish this, I will check out Heart shaped box.

Don't forget 20th Century Ghosts. There's an absolutely lovely modern Lovecraftian tale in there.
 
Tried to read House of Leaves, but it had seemingly severe ADD.

I got about half way through the book and got distracted by real life stuff. I've been tempted to go back to the book. I'm looking for other Ergodic Style horror books. The design is absolutely awesome, creating an atmosphere that heightened my anxiety and claustrophobia. I'm actually using it as part of my thesis talk for my upcoming thesis show.

At the beginning of the book, I was turned off to the style, felt it was trying too hard, etc. But as I got further into it, I was completely imersed in the style. I'm pretty unconnected emotionally towards books, but when reading the correspondence between
Johnny and his mother
, the book genuinely made me feel terror especially taking the time to decipher the code.

I REALLY need to read more books by Hill. I have read NOS4A2, which I enjoyed a ton, and even met the guy! He signed my book. I am reading Haunted by Palahniuk(which is excellent so far, I highly recommend it), maybe when I finish this, I will check out Heart shaped box.

I REALLY want to read NOS4A2, its probably why I've owned Heart shaped box for a week and havent touched it. I'm dying to read it after reading horns. Also, I made a post recently on the Hannibal book subreddit asking for recommendations. Palahniuk was recommended, how is his horror?
 
Persevere. If nothing else, skip through Truant's chapters and focus on the Navidson Record. I love the entire novel, but the story about the actual house is genuinely terrifying and very atmospheric. It's like P.T. and The Blair Witch Project merged into one.
Buzzwords to get your attention, now lay off Shattered Memories and stop lying that its plot twist is "undeserved".

You know me too well, sir. But okay. I'll give it another shot. Are Truant's chapters really that disconnected? There are no details in them that would make the Navidson element better? Just seems weird.

I got about half way through the book and got distracted by real life stuff. I've been tempted to go back to the book. I'm looking for other Ergodic Style horror books. The design is absolutely awesome, creating an atmosphere that heightened my anxiety and claustrophobia. I'm actually using it as part of my thesis talk for my upcoming thesis show.

It did seem neatly designed, I'll give it that. I may get back into it this weekend as my slate is pretty clean.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
I REALLY want to read NOS4A2, its probably why I've owned Heart shaped box for a week and havent touched it. I'm dying to read it after reading horns. Also, I made a post recently on the Hannibal book subreddit asking for recommendations. Palahniuk was recommended, how is his horror?

I am not far in haunted yet, but it opens with an extremely disturbing story, and that made me very excited to keep going. Previously I had only read Choke boo him, so I don't know how his other horror is, if it even is horror. Haunted was recommended to me by another fan whose taste I respect, she likes the really messed up stuff.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Surprised R.L. Stine didn't make the list in here. I guess it makes sense, being a children's horror author.
Will there is a children's section. And R L Stein wrote at least one novel for adults, Superstitions.

Honestly, I just forgot about him. I was older when Goosebumps came out and never read them.

Edit: Actually I did mention Goosebumps in the children's section.
 
Persevere. If nothing else, skip through Truant's chapters and focus on the Navidson Record. I love the entire novel, but the story about the actual house is genuinely terrifying and very atmospheric. It's like P.T. and The Blair Witch Project merged into one.
Buzzwords to get your attention, now lay off Shattered Memories and stop lying that its plot twist is "undeserved".



Don't forget 20th Century Ghosts. There's an absolutely lovely modern Lovecraftian tale in there.
I'm glad other people saw the similarities between pt and house of leaves. Playing the pt made me think of house of leaves. I started the book a year ago before grad school and the anxiety and pressure was too much for me. By the way, has anyone read stephen kings latest, mr mercedes? It was a decent detective book but only an average king novel... I'll still pick up the sequel, as I love serial killer books and am dying for a new horror series. I'm a huge hannibal/Thomas Harris fan and have been looking for similar recommendations.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
By the way, has anyone read stephen kings latest, mr mercedes? It was a decent detective book but only an average king novel... I'll still pick up the sequel, as I love serial killer books and am dying for a new horror series. I'm a huge hannibal/Thomas Harris fan and have been looking for similar recommendations.

I read Mr Mercedes recently. First King book I have read in years. Actually really reminded me of being 12 again, and furiously reading every King, Koontz and John Saul book I could find in my library.

What are you looking for in a serial killer book? Mystery/thriller? Something more gross ok?

Off the top of my head, Graveworm by Tim Curran, or Endless Night by Richard Laymon perhaps.
 
Bookmarked for horror novel suggestions.

One that's not mentioned in the OP (I think) that I would definitely have in is Wuthering Heights.

Yes, Wuthering Heights is a horror novel.
 

besada

Banned
I haven't read horror in awhile, with the exception of the occasional King novel, which is just barely horror these days.

Back in the day, I loved Barker. Not just Books of Blood, but Weaveworld, Imagica, Great and Secret Show, Abbarat, etc. The stuff that was considered "dark fantasy".

Is there anyone good working in that space these days? I find that a lot of traditional horror leaves me bored. Body horror does nothing for me, as an example. Once you've read a hundred scenes of people getting ripped up in horrible ways, they tend to lose their thrill value.

I've read Hill, and Danielewski's HoL, and everything by King and Barker, and all the Koontz I can bear. Everything by Straub. Lovecraft, Machen, and AshtonSmith, too. Ramsey Campbell, is lovely, but not what I'm looking for.

Any suggestions?
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
I haven't read horror in awhile, with the exception of the occasional King novel, which is just barely horror these days.

Back in the day, I loved Barker. Not just Books of Blood, but Weaveworld, Imagica, Great and Secret Show, Abbarat, etc. The stuff that was considered "dark fantasy".

Is there anyone good working in that space these days? I find that a lot of traditional horror leaves me bored. Body horror does nothing for me, as an example. Once you've read a hundred scenes of people getting ripped up in horrible ways, they tend to lose their thrill value.

I've read Hill, and Danielewski's HoL, and everything by King and Barker, and all the Koontz I can bear. Everything by Straub. Lovecraft, Machen, and AshtonSmith, too. Ramsey Campbell, is lovely, but not what I'm looking for.

Any suggestions?

Try Conrad Williams. His books feel very barker-esque to me, with something like The Unblemished, One, or Nearly Human, and its sequel The Scalding Rooms.

Individual novels like Curran's House of Skin, or The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot might also be what you are looking for.

I will add more if I can think of some.
 

besada

Banned
Try Conrad Williams. His books feel very barker-esque to me, with something like The Unblemished, One, or Nearly Human, and its sequel The Scalding Rooms.

Individual novels like Curran's House of Skin, or The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot might also be what you are looking for.

I will add more if I can think of some.

Thanks, I'll check these out.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
I am looking for a horror novel that takes place in space...like a space station or a starship. Anyone have any suggestions?
 

besada

Banned
I am looking for a horror novel that takes place in space...like a space station or a starship. Anyone have any suggestions?

Greg Bear's Hull Zero Three
A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination - unknown. Its purpose - a mystery.

Now, one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home - a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms - he finds himself wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger.

All he has are questions -- Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to Hull 03?

All will be answered, if he can survive the ship.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Great question. I'd like some recs for that too. Since you've already read Hull Zero Three how about ..

Ship of Fools (My favorite space horror novel so far)


Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo

and ..

Crescent (not great but it fits the bill)


Crescent by Phil Rossi


Crescent is actually what made me think about this. I came across my copy yesterday, and remember that when I read it a few years ago, I thought it didn't quite live up to what it could have been.

Yesterday I did buy Ship of fools. I also (don't laugh) bought Dead Space Martyrs. It is actually written by Brian Evenson(Mentioned him in the OP) who is actually a really really great literary horror author and have been meaning to read his dead space novels for a while now. Not to mention he was Mormon, and ran into trouble with the church, and his novels have a really interesting Mormon imagery in them, and thought that might work well with the dead space religion.

Someone else also sent me this list, but I haven't had a chance to look through it yet:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/17148.Space_horror
 
Crescent is actually what made me think about this. I came across my copy yesterday, and remember that when I read it a few years ago, I thought it didn't quite live up to what it could have been.

Yesterday I did buy Ship of fools. I also (don't laugh) bought Dead Space Martyrs. It is actually written by Brian Evenson(Mentioned him in the OP) who is actually a really really great literary horror author and have been meaning to read his dead space novels for a while now. Not to mention he was Mormon, and ran into trouble with the church, and his novels have a really interesting Mormon imagery in them, and thought that might work well with the dead space religion.

Someone else also sent me this list, but I haven't had a chance to look through it yet:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/17148.Space_horror
Added the Dead Space book to my wishlist and bookmarked the Goodreads link. Thanks for the info.

Update: just bought Blindsight and Dead Space Martyrs
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Added the Dead Space book to my wishlist and bookmarked the Goodreads link. Thanks for the info.

Update: just bought Blindsight and Dead Space Martyrs

From that goodreads list I just finished reading The Void by Talley (http://amzn.com/1936564432 ), and it was exactly what I was looking for. Part Lovecraft, part Event Horizon, and does a really good job of making space seem terrifying and completely alien, just by being space.

I highly recommend it.
 
From that goodreads list I just finished reading The Void by Talley (http://amzn.com/1936564432 ), and it was exactly what I was looking for. Part Lovecraft, part Event Horizon, and does a really good job of making space seem terrifying and completely alien, just by being space.

I highly recommend it.
Nice that sounds good. Gonna add that to my wishlist.

I can not recommend Blindsight for space horror. It's good as sci-fi but there's nothing 'horror' about it. Not sure why it's #1 on that list.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Nice that sounds good. Gonna add that to my wishlist.

I can not recommend Blindsight for space horror. It's good as sci-fi but there's nothing 'horror' about it. Not sure why it's #1 on that list.

I am always looking for some good sci fi anyway, I will add it to my to read list.

But yes, some of that list's selections are a little strange, I started reading "The Hope" and it has nothing to do with space. Not a bad book so far though!
 

Aizo

Banned
[/LIST]
Single Novel Recommendations
Sometimes it is not an author that is great but just a single novel, from someone that doesn’t write many books, or doesn’t typically write horror novels.
  • The Pilo Family Circus - Will Elliott
  • Zombie - Joyce Carol Oats
  • Anno Dracula - Kim Newman (Dresden)
  • In The Miso Soup - Ryu Murakami (kmm182)
  • The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart - Jesse Bullington (Maklershed)
Holy shit! That's a friend of mine. Is he well known in the Horror scene? I just asked him for a recommendation of one of his books the other day!
 
Holy shit! That's a friend of mine. Is he well known in the Horror scene? I just asked him for a recommendation of one of his books the other day!

Get out. I love that book. Since the first time I've read it I now try to read it every October. I sing its praises whenvever I can here on GAF. Does he have anything on the way?

BTW - just read Dead Space Martyrs. Pretty creepy actually. Unfortunately, its set underwater and not in space. I highly recommend it to anyone that even slightly enjoys Dead Space and is curious about the origins of events/items/characters in the game.
 

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
So I have been into creepypasta for a couple years, and recently it's been sprouting up some legit authors and books out of it. If you're unfamiliar with creepypasta, it's basically first person scary shorts. A lot of them are meh, and circle around the same tropes over and over again, but there are quite a few gems.

Anyway one of the books created by a decent creepypasta writer is The Laws of Nature by Ashley Franz Holzmann. It's a dark collection of short stories, and a lot of them are pretty good. Not all of them are strict 'horror' but all are incredibly dark, and will leave you shocked and disturbed.


Some good Creepypasta's to recommend that could easily be considered quality short stories:
1999
On a Hill by Micheal Whitehouse. It's a novella you can find on amazon, or watch a reading here
And the infamous Penpal series by 1000vultures/Dathan Auerbach and later turned into a book. The original shorts can be found here and the book here
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Bumping this for October. Anyone read anything spooky recently?

I always am!

I recently read and greatly enjoyed:
Exquisite corpse - Poppy Z Brite
Harvest Home - Thomas Tyron. Slow moving and very old school horror, and I LOVED it.
Corpse Rider - Tim Curran's newest Novella is a great ghost story with a fleshy theme.
We Live Inside You - Jeremy Robert Johnson A collection of short stories that reminded me of the great times of Clive Barker.
Sour Candy - Kealan Patrick Burke Weird, surreal and really creepy.
 

Brakke

Banned
Cool, Hilbert. I'll peep at those and add some to my stack.

I read a book earlier this year called The Blizzard, by Vladimir Sorokin. I don't know if I'd characterize it as explicitly a horror novel but it was weird and unsettling and bizarre in the kind of ways I like horror to be.

Also, I have a couple specific questions:

* Anyone read this book "Star Maker" by Stapledon? I can't remember why I picked it up but I think it was a GAF recommendation? Anyway the Kindle version is screwed up and renders apostrophes as 'f's for no good reason. I never got around to finding a paper copy, wanna know if I should.

* I've always been interested in this Junji Ito dude but I never read a manga so I don't know how to approach. Amazon has this three volume hardcover of the spiral one for $15, should I just jump in with that?

Bought The October Country.
I really liked Bradbury's sci fi, lets see now how he is as a horror writer.

I love this book. Pick it up every couple years. It's a little scattershot (The Emissary isn't even really a horror story) but stuck with me.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Cool, Hilbert. I'll peep at those and add some to my stack.

I read a book earlier this year called The Blizzard, by Vladimir Sorokin. I don't know if I'd characterize it as explicitly a horror novel but it was weird and unsettling and bizarre in the kind of ways I like horror to be.

Also, I have a couple specific questions:

* Anyone read this book "Star Maker" by Stapledon? I can't remember why I picked it up but I think it was a GAF recommendation? Anyway the Kindle version is screwed up and renders apostrophes as 'f's for no good reason. I never got around to finding a paper copy, wanna know if I should.

* I've always been interested in this Junji Ito dude but I never read a manga so I don't know how to approach. Amazon has this three volume hardcover of the spiral one for $15, should I just jump in with that?

I love this book. Pick it up every couple years. It's a little scattershot (The Emissary isn't even really a horror story) but stuck with me.

Hmm, never read Star maker. I will check out blizzard.

Spiral is a great place to start, it is where I started. Only possible problem is it is his best work, so when you find more, it doesn't quite measure up(Although the tomie stories are damn great too)

Does october country have that story about the guy who is having problems with his bones? My other sister read that to me long long ago, possibly before I was old enough to read. Scared the CRAP out of me.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Finished up The October Country by Bradbury recently. Quite a good collection of creepy and weird short stories by the author in his younger Weird Tales years.

"The Jar" and "The Next in Line" are my favorites.
 

Brakke

Banned
Does october country have that story about the guy who is having problems with his bones? My other sister read that to me long long ago, possibly before I was old enough to read. Scared the CRAP out of me.

Yuuuuup. I love how bizarre that one is. Also, jellyfishman is a really evocative image.

Does writing a spooky book count? ^_^

Actually I wrote a spooky "book" this year, too. Quit my boring job and spent some time in a cabin in the woods writing. I dunno if I'm going to do anything with it though. It's novella length right now and desperately needs a couple edit passes, but it was fun to do.

It's so hard to write horror without accidentally becoming comedy. It's so easy to overdo it, really gotta keep an eye out for the line.
 
Actually I wrote a spooky "book" this year, too. Quit my boring job and spent some time in a cabin in the woods writing. I dunno if I'm going to do anything with it though. It's novella length right now and desperately needs a couple edit passes, but it was fun to do.

It's so hard to write horror without accidentally becoming comedy. It's so easy to overdo it, really gotta keep an eye out for the line.

Nice! What's the premise? Absolutely do something with it! Especially for Halloween. This is a great opportunity to give it a spin out in the wild, especially since you went all in and quit your job to write (ballsy!).

I totally know what you mean about the comedy thing, though. I wanted to do a really creepy horror novel, but I ended up with something more akin to black comedy. It actually worked pretty well, though. Gallows humor and all that. But, seriously, October is golden for us. I say go for it. I'm definitely going to take advantage with a Goodreads giveaway and some other fun.
 

Brakke

Banned
Started that Uzumaki today. Just a couple chapters in, I thought the girl with the forehead scar was lame but the cochlea story was damn excellent. More hits than misses so far, excited to see where this goes.

Nice! What's the premise? Absolutely do something with it! Especially for Halloween. This is a great opportunity to give it a spin out in the wild, especially since you went all in and quit your job to write (ballsy!).

Heh I didn't quit my job *to* write. I quit my job and then thought "how do I want to spend a month off" and the answer was to go live in the woods and write a book. The long-term plan is to go to grad school.

The premise is that the protagonist believes they have a curse. Without actually being religious, it's a twisted Jesus-thing where the protagonist thinks they can shoulder the sins of the world in pain instead of death. So if there's a hurricane approaching, they might inflict serious pain on themself to power a spell to divert the landfall away from a city or break the storm outright. The bigger the impending tragedy, the more pain it requires. But if they succumb and pass out or lose will or whatever, the spell fails. So at first it's just a self-mutiliation / body horror thing but eventually it spirals out of control as they try and prevent all the tragedies in the world by hurting themself proactively even without an impending disaster in mind. I tried alternating chapters between melodramatic stream-of-consciousness poetical writing from the protagonist and then regular prose from coworkers / friends interacting with this person and eventually figuring the self-mutilation out. On a whim, I tried to avoid identifying the protagonist at all (didn't even gender them, the name is neutral and nobody ever uses a gendered pronoun) but I dunno if that actually works or if it was just a cute writing exercise that I got caught up in.
 

scotcheggz

Member
This thread is perfect.. ish I think...

I've started a youtube channel that has my horror and mystery stories on it. Well, the basic premise is along the lines of the twilight zone, however it's set in a fictional country called Moya and the videos are basically old tape recordings taken from the Moya state radio station. It's really new but I plan to flesh out the Moya back story by slipping in hidden links in white noise etc that will lead to websites and unlisted videos that will be all backstory of the meta world. Sort of like role playing some creepy stories. If you're interested I'd love for gaf to check it out and any feedback appreciated: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCIx44bxKU5QGULoCJEJ3-Q
 
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