Literary Horror discussion

Our March 2020 monthly read is Lisa Tuttle's A Nest of Nightmares.

Valancourt has reissued this, with inexpensive copies available from various vendors on bookbinder.com. It's also an ebook.

A couple reviews (the first has extended excerpts, might be a good idea to skim to avoid spoilers):
http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot....
https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/look-o...

And for a change of pace, a video review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDf_n...

Let's start close to next weekend.

Excellent! I have the ebook so I'll start after I've finished off a couple of books I'm nearly finished with.

I'll try to get this soon.

I will jump in as soon as I can.

I enjoyed "Bughouse". The writing is a bit loose but consistent with older horror fiction, but the narrator's voice is nicely done. I was surprised by the reference to (view spoiler)[the tarantula hawk wasp, which certainly made an impression on me as a child when I saw a clip on a nature TV show! (hide spoiler)] The climax felt excessively cruel given the setup, but I guess that's the point.

Funny, I'd just watched the movie "Come To Daddy", also about a protagonist visiting an aging relative, getting into uncomfortable social situations, then bad things happen.

"Dollburger" is a cute trifle, almost like a Twilight Zone episode.

I am getting a late start today. I was all ready too begin when my husband called and sent me out on a wild goose chase for toilet paper. Apparently, it is a valuable and quickly disappearing commodity. How much do people need?! (I found some. I can't spare a square.)

Janie wrote: "I was all ready too begin when my husband called and sent me out on a wild goose chase for toilet paper."
The neighborhood stores in San Francisco are still pretty well-stocked. I guess the panic hoarders tend to raid big chain stores.

Sigh. Panic hoarders make everything worse. They have no excuse to disturb my reading schedule.

I have read "Bug House" before in Hot Blood. Need to read it again though.

I see "Flying to Byzantium" in this collection. I loved this story when I read it in Twilight Zone magazine in the 80s. If I remember correctly it really freaked me out. Looking forward to revisiting it. (I still have the magazine but it's buried in me closet.)

I'm fairly certain that I've read "Bug House" before. The ending still surprised me (view spoiler)[with its parasitic element. (hide spoiler)]

"Dollburger" was ok; it too had a bit of a surprise ending. Who knew there were (view spoiler)[cannibal dolls? (hide spoiler)]

I just started this morning and finished Bug House. I enjoyed it but as Bill perfectly put, the climax felt excessively cruel.

Things were a little more subtle in the early going and the, ‘Yes, dear, it’s very nice to have you here. We welcome you.’ was suggestive and creepy.

"Flying to Byzantium" is also in a rather chatty style, but it works ok here and I'm getting used to it. Tuttle works well with that uncomfortable social situation that deteriorates horribly. (I guess I enjoy reading about these in fiction, because I'm quite terrified of such.) The depictions of the conventioneers seem rather cruel, but then I hung out with people in college who were not that far off. And I love the final entrapment (view spoiler)[the airline ticket magically turns into a one-way flight, ha (hide spoiler)], and the hopeful resolution.

Bill wrote: ""Flying to Byzantium" is also in a rather chatty style, but it works ok here and I'm getting used to it. Tuttle works well with that uncomfortable social situation that deteriorates horribly. (I gu..."

I felt terrible for Sheila, though I didn't really care for her. I had that sinking feeling in my stomach as the story progressed. This was a perfect story for The Twilight Zone Magazine, which Scott mentioned earlier.

Or just hop in the shower after...

There is Trump toilet paper if you change your minds.

Janie wrote: "There is Trump toilet paper if you changes your minds."
Ha.

So is everyone done with "Flying to Byzantium"? Shall we continue?

Yes, I'm ready.

The setup of the turf maze and uncanny goings-on in "Treading the Maze" seem rather Aickman-esque to me, down to the title. But the treatment is a lot more chatty and gentle, the characters are quickly sketched, and we do not dwell on what happened to Phil.

The ending is also quite crisp. And I do appreciate Tuttle's resistance so far to over-explain using overused tropes.

It was a quiet yet atmospheric piece. I liked the idea of the turf maze - I had never heard of them before.

I'm starting this book tonight and expect to be three or four stories in by tomorrow evening. Looking forward to it!

"The Horse Lord": a chatty, fairly straightforward domestic horror tale that's not my thing. I do like how the ending cuts off; if only Tuttle cut more of the exposition.

Personally, I didn't care for "The Horse Lord." The premise was too familiar to me, though I did find it interesting that (view spoiler)[the spirit didn't want any other being to play the role of "master," and would attack them through their "servants." (hide spoiler)]

"The Other Mother" held my attention, but I generally prefer less spelling out of the background details and motivations. (Tuttle is actually not excessive by period standards, but I still prefer tighter treatments.)

I looked up Ceridwen; interesting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceridwen

There's also an "Other Mother" in Neil Gaiman's Coraline, apparently inspired by Lucy Clifford's The New Mother, which I find more cryptic and creepy.

I read "The New Mother" recently in The Color of Evil.

(view spoiler)[There was a moment early in the story when the little girl asked her mother if she was "good mommy" that day, which made me question the mental stability of the mother. (hide spoiler)]

The Wiki article about Ceridwen is fascinating - good catch, Bill.

Now I'm interested in reading Lucy Clifford's story.

I really disliked "The Other Mother". Any story where (view spoiler)[ a parent hurts a child is just not for me. (hide spoiler)]

I finished "Need" and that was much more to my tastes.

Of the next few stories, my favorite is "A Friend in Need". I love the central idea (view spoiler)[meeting someone who shouldn't exist (hide spoiler)], which I find quite disturbing. But I also wish Tuttle had kept things more ambiguous, instead of (view spoiler)[spelling out the "imaginary friend" idea, and having Jane disappear into thin air at the end (hide spoiler)].

I thought "Need" was rather predictable. "The Memory of Wood" had some interesting ideas, but too much telegraphing for my taste. I do like the idea behind "Stranger in the House", but it didn't seem to come together for me.

Coincidentally, "A Friend in Need" was one of my favorite stories. I thought it was imaginative and engrossing.

"Need" was a decent, simple ghost story, but nothing special to me.

I thought the "The Memory of Wood" was a nice little creeper.

I’ve started!

I'm about 3/4 through this and am pretty much loving every single one of these stories. Yes, they are slightly old-fashioned, and somewhat predictable (probably far less so at the time they were initially published), but they are, to my mind, so warm and humane and fully-fleshed out that they are a tonic; so much better than much of what I've read lately. These really speak to me as a female reader of a certain age.

Marie-Therese wrote: "Yes, they are slightly old-fashioned, and somewhat predictable (probably far less so at the time they were initially published), but they are, to my mind, so warm and humane and fully-fleshed out that they are a tonic"

I agree with all that. I'm enjoying these stories despite wishing the treatments were a little different.

I'm two stories from the end; will probably wrap up by tomorrow.

Bill wrote: "I'm enjoying these stories despite wishing the treatments were a little different."

FWIW, the more recent stories I've read by Tuttle are considerably more subtle and less predictable but still have that characteristic warmth and genuine interest in humans, what they do, and how they feel. Plus the feminist undertone too.

Marie-Therese wrote: "FWIW, the more recent stories I've read by Tuttle are considerably more subtle and less predictable..."

Interesting. I checked isfdb.org. My favorite stories (Flying to Byzantium, A Friend in Need, The Nest) are from the 80s, and the ones I'm more grumpy about are earlier. Is there a later Tuttle collection that you would recommend?

I'm not a fan of "Sun City". But "The Nest" is ending the collection on a high note! It's probably no less chatty than the other stories, but I'm more forgiving of this when it's a first person narrative (or maybe I was in that bleary insomniac state). The atmosphere of creeping unease is nicely built up and maintained, and the sisterly interactions are well-executed as I realized that (view spoiler)[the narrator is not the most reliable (hide spoiler)]. But most of this is constructed from what's left unsaid, which is what I prefer from my favorite stories.

Bill wrote: "Of the next few stories, my favorite is "A Friend in Need". I love the central idea [spoilers removed], which I find quite disturbing. But I also wish Tuttle had kept things more ambiguous, instead..."

"A Friend in Need" was a secondhand nostalgia trip. I enjoyed it a lot actually. Though I agree with you about it needing a little more ambiguity. It felt a little like a daydream you have about childhood friends or a first love.

This collection overall was well ordered, I think. Of all the stories, "The Horse Lord", "Community Property", and "Sun City" were my least favorite. Regardless, I think it started strong and ended stronger. The end of "Bug House" was harsher than I had anticipated, but it was well executed. Then by the time I finished "The Nest", I had questions left, but none which ruined the story by going unanswered.

Clara wrote: "The end of "Bug House" was harsher than I had anticipated, but it was well executed. Then by the time I finished "The Nest", I had questions left, but none which ruined the story by going unanswered."

I also liked the unanswered questions at the end of "The Nest". I generally prefer more open-ended stories.

Last call for April monthly read nominations. I'd like to set up the poll later today. Please post suggestions here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Bill wrote: "Is there a later Tuttle collection that you would recommend?"

I've mainly encountered Tuttle's recent short stories in anthologies but this question led me to look for a recent collection and I found Ghosts and Other Lovers, which looks really good. There's also Memories of the Body which was first published in 1992. Ash Tree started a series of Tuttle's supernatural fiction in 2010 but does not seem to have continued it, as far as I can tell: Stranger in the House: The Collected Short Supernatural Fiction: Volume One.

If you're interested in reading a longer work by Tuttle, I highly recommend The Pillow Friend Really weird, haunting, ambiguous and melancholy. It blew me away when I first read it in the '90s and I've been a fan of this writer ever since.

The Pillow Friend was very good. I also loved Lost Futures.

April 2020 poll is up!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Since we only had two nominations, I took the liberty of including a couple items from the last two polls.

Please chime in by Saturday. Again, please keep in mind that if you vote, and your choice wins, you will commit to participating in the discussion.

Thanks for the Lisa Tuttle recommendations, M-T and Scott. Will check them out in a bit...

Poll for our May monthly read is up:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Please vote by Friday (May Day)!

A reminder: if you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the discussions.

I finished the book tonight. I liked almost everything apart from "Sun City," which didn't come together for me. Maybe I missed something?

Before my bookstore got the paperback for me, I dug out that old Twilight Zone Magazine and re-read "Flying to Byzantium." Bit different than I remembered (it's been 35 years) but close enough, and still quite unsettling. That idea of not being sure what your reality is is a big existential fear. I also think this story is the reason travelling makes me anxious.

My other favorite was "A Friend in Need." I love the idea of each woman being (view spoiler)[each other's imaginary friend (hide spoiler)]. It reminds me of a story by Jeffrey Ford I read years ago.

If I have one criticism, it's that the protagonists in most of the stories felt a bit samey, when reading them all together.