Literary Horror discussion

Welcome to the first Literary Horror New and Notable Discussion thread. We hope you'll like our selection of new and interesting books and will feel free to add your own suggestions for new releases and rereleases in this quarter

This thread will cover the first quarter (January-March) of 2021, along with a few especially notable books from late last year.

The rules for the New and Notable threads are simple. A moderator will post the first thread in the quarterly discussion, noting some upcoming releases and rereleases of interest to the group and inviting discussion. Users are encouraged to add any new releases or rereleases they believe fit the group's general outline. They may also note which books look like possible group read material or solicit other readers for a buddy read. Authors may advertise a new release, fitting the group's remit, once in the appropriate quarter.

Without any further ado, here are the books that seemed particularly new, notable, and horrific to me which are scheduled to be released this quarter:

Some slightly warmed-over but still delicious treats from late last year:

On the shoulders of OTAVA by Laura Mauro Gingernuts of Horror Review
The Best of Michael Marshall Smith by Michael Marshall Smith Publishers Weekly Review
Where We Live by Tim Cooke Sublime Horror Review
Bring Me the Head of Quentin Tarantino: Stories by Julián Herbert Publishers Weekly Review
The Blade Between by Sam J. Miller

New or rereleased this quarter (in no particular order):

Tartarus Press:
Ezra Slef: The Next Nobel Laureate in Literature by Andrew Komarnyckyj (It's debatable whether this is "horror" but, hey, it's Tartarus, so why not?)
The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales by Angela Slatter

Valancourt Press: Two new releases for the 'Monster, She Wrote" series
The Bishop of Hell and Other Stories by Marjorie Bowen
The Dead Hours of Night by Lisa Tuttle

Grimscribe Press:
In That Endlessness, Our End by Gemma Files Publishers Weekly Review

Snuggly Books:
The Blonde Tress and The Mask by Gilbert-Augustin Thierry
The Witch of Ecbatana and The Virgin of Israel by Jane de La Vaudère

Small Beer Press:
Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap Publsihers Weekly Review

Subterranean Press:
The Best of Elizabeth Hand by Elizabeth Hand Publishers Weekly Review

Penguin Random House:
The Ghost Variations: One Hundred Stories by Kevin Brockmeier Kirkus Reviews

Two Dollar Radio:
Night Rooms by Gina Nutt Publishers Weekly Review This is non-fiction and a volume of essays but Nutt uses the tropes of horror fiction and film to illuminate her ideas. I think it sounds fascinating but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Do any of these sound interesting to you? Are they on your TBR? I'll be buying the volumes by Isabel Yap, Gina Nutt, Laura Mauro, Lisa Tuttle, Kevin Brockmeier, and Andrew Komarnyckyj for certain and am interested in a few others.

If you know of any other interesting books that fit our theme to be published this quarter, please feel free to add them here.

Happy Reading!

Thanks for the list, I downloaded a Kindle sample of "Ezra Slef" and read the first couple chapters. Doesn't seem like horror at all, but definitely intriguing and funny. Only thing putting me off a bit is the concern that not getting the literary references in the book might result in missing out on the more subtle humor.

I just got the Hand collection. I remember reading one of the stories and loving it, but I think the rest are new to me.

What a great idea, Marie-Therese! Thank you for doing this.

I'll be reading Ezra Slef about four books from now. Also looking forward to The Witch of Ecbatana and The Virgin of Israel by Jane de La Vaudère (huge fan of her work) and The Blonde Tress and The Mask.

Thanks for starting this, M-T! Wow, that's quite a treasure trove for this quarter. I wasn't aware of most of these. I have Isabel Yap on order, and will probably check out the Slatter book as well.

I love this topic, will be following into the future.

The only one of these I have is the Gemma Files. I had 2 others on my TBR, and now have 4 thanks to this thread.

Thanks, everyone! I am so glad you've found this helpful. I'm still open to ideas as to what you want this to be and how you'd like it organized (I plan to be a bit more chronological next quarter), so feel free to let me know what you'd like to see in these posts and, of course, please add your own posts if you have news of something you feel is new and notable.

This is a great thread idea, thank you Marie-Therese! Especially helpful for people like me who are bad at keeping up with new releases...

A couple recent items that might be of interest:

Karin Tidbeck's The Memory Theater is probably more dark fantasy than horror. But it's often cruel and horrific and unsettling.

Al Columbia's The Biologic Show is a repackaging of his amazing work from almost 30 years ago. Came out late 2020, but only available in the US recently. (The original comics have been fetching exorbitant prices online for years.)

The Bram Stoker awards 2020 shortlist was voted on last month, but we have to wait till May to know the winners. In any case, here are the nominees:
https://www.sfadb.com/Bram_Stoker_Awa...

We read Kathe Koja's Velocities and Stephen Graham Jones' The Only Good Indians as a group earlier. I just started Patricia Lillie's The Cuckoo Girls. The two stories I've read so far are pretty good.

Fantastic idea for a thread Marie-Therese.

W/R/T 'Night Rooms' Gina Nutt has a nice interview on Wake Island which is worth listening to.

Should we add 2021 Q2 releases here or start another thread?

Bill wrote: "The Bram Stoker awards 2020 shortlist was voted on last month, but we have to wait till May to know the winners."

Stoker award winners, from Patricia Lillie's blog post:
https://patricialillie.com/2021/05/24...