Literary Horror discussion

Hi, I've only just joined so I'll do the honours and introduce myself. I'm a British reader and writer of speculative fiction and poetry and I like my spec fic dark and literary.

Hey! I joined a while back, but then life away from my keyboard exploded. I'm a Canadian reader, longtime lover of horror.

Hello and thank you Randolph for starting this up. I enjoy literature of all kinds, particularly in the genre of weird fiction. I am always on the look out for new authors and publishers that are able to write high quality stuff in this genre.

I also love collecting books, particularly published by small presses like Ex Occidente, Tartarus, Centipede, etc.

I started reading "horror" (which I don't think is an entirely fitting label) when I first discovered Stephen King in college, and devoured "The Stand" in less than a week. I've been a HUGE King fan ever since, and still haven't read everything he's written. :-) I've branched out, however, and am currently reading a lot of lesser-known 19th century Gothic fiction as well as working my way through the complete stories of HP Lovecraft. I'm also an ordained minister, occasional teacher of theology at the college level in various international contexts, and am working toward a PhD in church history dealing with Constantine and 4th cent. Christianity.

Hello my name is Teddy, I'm 28 from Israel. I've always loved horror. My father used to tell us stories from the Greek mythology in all their gory details, my mother had me read strange scary books unfit for children, and my older brother set me on Lovecraft at an early age. I discovered Robert Aickman 6 years ago (which was a big event in my life). I try to read diverse genres but I always come back to horror. I also write and illustrate comics in Hebrew, somewhat influenced by horror.

I just started reading The Monk a couple of weeks ago, trying to get a head-start on it for discussion group on this website running through September.

I saw a trailer for a movie about it as well. I wish film-makers would leave books alone, and come up with their own stories. Still, the film looked pretty interesting. It will likely focus on all the salacious details in a way the novel probably does not, but what do I know?

Andrew wrote: "I saw a trailer for a movie about it as well. I wish film-makers would leave books alone, and come up with their own stories. Still, the film looked pretty interesting. It will likely focus on all ..."
The novel was pretty salacious for it's time!

A relatively new user of Goodreads, but a long-time reader in the horror/supernatural field. Within the genre, I have a tendency to gravitate towards “quiet” horror, but I do try to be at least a bit diverse in my reading choices.

Looks like a nice place here; hope I can contribute.

Hi, Canavan!

Hello Caravan:

If you are interested in "quiet horror", here are two writers I suggest: Robert Aickman and Simon Strantzas. Both have excellent prose styles, and are masters of the uncanny tale.

Ronald wrote:

If you are interested in "quiet horror", here are two writers I suggest: Robert Aickman and Simon Strantzas. Both have excellent prose styles, and are masters of the uncanny tale.

Thanks so much for the tips, Ronald. I have two of Simon’s collections, Beneath The Surface and Cold to the Touch and have generally been impressed by their contents. (I haven’t yet gotten around to reading Nightingale Songs .)

I’m almost afraid to admit this, but I have a bit of a problematic relationship with Aickman. I read quite a few of his “strange tales” back in the late 70’s and have revisited a few of them from time to time, but I find I have to really push myself to do so and have to be in the right frame of mind (if that makes any sense). His stories are, I find, not quick and easy reads and trying to fully grasp the author’s intentions is sorta like trying to grab hold of smoke.

Happy Samhain all. I'm in rainy Toronto. I'm reading Edogawa Rampo's (If you say his name out loud you can hear his tribute to Poe) Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Written in 1956 they are a fun and spooky read. Thought I'd share that with everyone.

Randolph wrote: "I have always considered Charles L. Grant to be the master of quiet horror. He isn't enigmatic like some perhaps more literary purveyors of the horror genre but to me he is the ideal Halloween read."

Agreed. I read Dialing the Wind last year and it was perfect.

Karen wrote: "Happy Samhain all. I'm in rainy Toronto. I'm reading Edogawa Rampo's (If you say his name out loud you can hear his tribute to Poe) Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Written in 1956 they a..."

Hi Karen. I have that book and really should read it soon.

Randolph wrote: "Now all we have to look forward to is Walpurgisnacht."

At least in 2012 there was the possibility of an end of the world apocalypse.

Randolph wrote: "I guess if you are in the UK there is Guy Fawkes (I'm too lazy to look up the date) but that always seemed like an inferior macabre holiday since all the Gunpowder Plot conspirators wanted to do wa..."

It's November 5th, but as it's the weekend the fireworks have already started. If it helps, the executions of the conspirators were pretty grisly.

Hello, I'm Karl, It's nice to read your posts to this site. I enjoy collecting books, and some of these small press creations are a joy to own and hold. My current obsession authors are R.B. Russell, Reggie Oliver, Mark Valentine, Rhys Hughes, and Brendan Connell

Randolph wrote: "Karl wrote: "Hello, I'm Karl, It's nice to read your posts to this site. I enjoy collecting books, and some of these small press creations are a joy to own and hold. My current obsession authors a..."

Have you seen Mr. Russell's tour of his library and views on collecting books on youtube ?

A Mild Case of Bibliomania

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h7-aI...

That is a great video.

Maybe if we had more game threads.

Hello and welcome, Karl!

Karl wrote: "Randolph wrote: "Karl wrote: "Hello, I'm Karl, It's nice to read your posts to this site. I enjoy collecting books, and some of these small press creations are a joy to own and hold. My current ob..."

I love this video. My library pales in comparison. But... still, one can aspire...

Charlene wrote: "Hello and welcome, Karl!"

Hello, Glad to have found my way here, I went to your blog, and I must say that I love the picture of your Library.

Benjamin wrote: "Karl wrote: "Randolph wrote: "Karl wrote: "Hello, I'm Karl, It's nice to read your posts to this site. I enjoy collecting books, and some of these small press creations are a joy to own and hold. ..."
The Reggie Oliver and Mark Valentine Library tours are well worth seeing also.

LOL, Thanks, Karl! I truly do wish I lived in that library. :)

Randolph, at least you have one. I do have a spare room that I could turn into one, but I would rather be reading. :)

Randolph wrote: "My library is a disaster. It consists of piles and boxes of books in every imaginable place in the house. A picture of it would remind you of a homeless person with a library in a cardboard box. ..."

I shudder even to think this, however, I had a problem a number of years ago ... beware of Termites, they can come through the walls and reek havoc, They appear to have enjoyed my Harlan Ellison books most fervently.

Randolph wrote: "Karl wrote: "Randolph wrote: "My library is a disaster. It consists of piles and boxes of books in every imaginable place in the house. A picture of it would remind you of a homeless person with ..."

You are a wise man. The vermin are bigger book lovers than we are.

I really like your group!
Can you join my group called For the Love of Horror? If you love anything horror, syfy, fantasy, trillers then you'll like this we have it all. I'm trying to get more people involved with it. Can you promote my page on your group? Please? I can do the same one my group. We also are picking authors that are unknown to be give the chance of submitting their work to a fold so they can be picked to be that months book. It's really neat.
Spread the word.
Thanks.

Randolph wrote: "Katharine wrote: "I really like your group!
Can you join my group called For the Love of Horror? If you love anything horror, syfy, fantasy, trillers then you'll like this we have it all. I'm tryi..."

Okay that's great. I wasn't trying to spam people. Sorry. I just wanted to get my group out there so more people know about it.

Welcome, James.

Hello to All. I see the discussion here of "quiet horror." My preference as well. I did a quiet horror tribute to Charles L. Grant on my blog in September (the anniversary of his death) and to other quiet horror authors.

I'm a writer and reader of quiet horror, literary horror, and adore classic horror short stories.

I love it that this group is smaller than some of the other horror groups on GR. Small ponds are more my speed.

Nice to see you here, Paula.

Randolph wrote: "Somebody new either joined or someone came back from the grave since we now have 112 members again."

I joined today.

Just joined this group as I am fan of classic horror, particularly ghost stories. M.R. James and J.S. LeFanu are among my favorite writers.

Hi I'm Michael, and aspiring author but more in for the love of reading than I am about anything else to be quite honest but if anyone wants to spend money and time on it I won't complain at all haha I look forward to discussions here:)

A belated "Hi" to you Michael.

Welcome, Michael.

The same to you J.S Canavan and Randolph delighted to meet you all

I see from your bio, Michael, that you currently hail from Kandiyohi County in Minnesota. I have fond memories of that general area dating back to 70’s. I hear you guys have had quite the snowstorm.

Canavan wrote: "I see from your bio, Michael, that you currently hail from Kandiyohi County in Minnesota. I have fond memories of that general area dating back to 70’s. I hear you guys have had quite the snowstorm."
yeah not my place of birth but i'm here and yes the snow is not leaving anytime soon haha one day of sun next full week of snow. it's never ending haha definitely not enjoying it

well doesn't this place just look like a place to meet Minnesotans haha

I can't believe that, was in texas born and raised, never really many readers but then again not the best area to find readers lol

oh damn seems like i'm trying to follow in your footsteps or something haha

Just a general question about GR if anyone knows - whats the story about secret reading groups ??

when you try and go there you get ->

Sorry, that group is secret

the group is Famous Five's Explorations in Literature

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Karl asked (in part):

Just a general question about GR if anyone knows - whats the story about secret reading groups ??

According to one source I found, the following groups exist:

Public. Anyone can join the group, see the group information and discussions.

Restricted. New members must verify they own an email in a particular domain (e.g., a UWCSEA Google Apps for Education account -- @gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg).

Private. Anyone can ask to "Join" the group by answering a "challenge" question, such as "Who is your mentor/teacher?" -- but new members must be approved by the group moderators. Anyone can see the group information, but only members see the polls and discussion boards.

Secret. New members must be invited to join and approved by the group moderators. The group will not appear in search results. Only members can see the information.

Canavan wrote: "According to one source I found, the following types of GoodReads groups exist:

Public. Anyone can join the group, see the group information and discussions.

Restricted. New members must verify..."
Thank you for the information, I would have never guessed.

Randolph wrote: "Karl wrote: "Just a general question about GR if anyone knows - whats the story about secret reading groups ??

when you try and go there you get ->

Sorry, that group is secret

the group is Famou..."

When I ran across this "secret" stuff I just became curious. the idea of reading and secret just don't converge. If some folks are ashamed of reading unconventional (those bound in human or nonhuman parts) books, then more power to them.

Hello All,

Kelson Hargis here. I am an IT professional and author who writes short fiction. I do literary short fiction but have gravitated more toward writing horror lately. I love Stephen King, Joe Hill (aka Joe King), H.P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker, and many others.

I look forward to chatting with all of you!

~Kelson