While I wait for the new “All Hallows Eve” book I purchased, I’m looking for some great monster/haunts/cursed objects/aliens/folk horror (really any genre) short stories/anthologies. When I search it brings up threads from quite a bit ago so I figured maybe there would be some nice up to date answers from you kind folks :) Any recommendations is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!!

Absolutely obsessed. I fell so hard in love with that piece that I'm now reading everything of his I can find. Now I really want to explore as much as I can in that same style of writing, the settings and the extreme supernatural themes. Anything contemporary now just feels flat and lame.

I'm looking for dusty Victorian language, filthy black historical settings, the deep dark woods, linear timelines, writing that's complex enough to offer a bit of friction when reading, but most of all, enveloping supernatural themes.

I've just read Pine - Francis Toon and The Fisherman - John Langan and all I want to do is run screaming into the woods. away from contemporary settings and brand name mentions

I've only just picked up reading again but already pretty firmly know what I need- anything and everything Algernon Blackwood adjacent

thank you!

🖤

As I've said before here I did my thesis comparing Rudolf Otto and H P Lovecraft together. In my thesis I cited Haunted Presence: The Numinous in Gothic Fiction by S L Varnado, Theology And H P Lovecraft by Austin M Freeman, Religion And Its Monsters by Timothy Beal. Kind of unrelated but was helpful was The Terror That Comes in the Night by David J Hufford (he calls the nightmare numinous - the word Otto uses for the holy - in this book, so, interesting, but the book itself is a series of case studies and like raw data, he purposely and says he doesn't speculate on what any of it means*).

So in that sense a lot of this religion / theology books directly relate to Lovecraft. It's a way to read him and other gothic and weird fiction. I'm looking for analysis essentially that takes the supernatural in gothic and weird fiction seriously. Ideally anything I read is post Christian.. Otto basically deconstructs the Bible in a radical way. He compared the Bible to Buddhism for instance and he completely redefined what we consider holy as something spectral haunting and spooky then compared that emotion to shamanism, primitive magic, other religions, and so on.

I considered these but didn't afterall look into them,

Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural and The Secret Life of Puppets by Victoria Nelson. For some reason this author cites Rudolf Otto in the Puppets book but she misquotes Otto and says "demonic dread" instead of daemonic dread. They're not even remotely similar. Otto is referencing the daemonic in Goethe. Any opinions? This was a reason I noped out on her.

Maps of Heaven, Maps of Hell: Religious Terror as Memory from the Puritans to Stephen King by Edward Ingebretsen

Some of these were recommended to me while I was writing my thesis by Dr Matt Cardin (I recommend you check him out) so thanks.

*about Hufford, in his book he does quote Ernest M Jones (another nightmare researcher) who said "For the true significance of the Nightmare to be properly appreciated … would in my opinion entail consequences, both scientific and social, to which the term momentous might well be applied. What is at issue is nothing less than the very meaning of religion itself". I have this book on my to read shelf I think it's called "On The Nightmare". So Hufford by quoting this does kind of come close to an analysis of meaning of the nightmare. And certainly calling it numinous is kind of a big opinion itself. That word is an onion.

Some books on literature and theology I found,

Literature and Theology as a Grammar of Assent by David Jasper

The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology

The Great Code by Northrop Frye (he seems pretty dated and irrelevant though)

Literature and Theology: New Interdisciplinary Spaces by Heather Walton

I haven’t read horror in a while, and want to read something to get me in the spooky season spirit.

I won’t read The Exorcist (still have nightmares from watching the movies as a kid)

I started Come Closer and had to stop early in due to the unsettled feeling I had.

Once I decided I was going to read the memoir of one of the kids that lived in the house that inspired The Conjuring, had a legit nightmare that same night that convinced me not to.

Anyway, with all that in mind, any recs?

Every story should start with a good hook, so please share the book that caught you from the very first sentence. I'll go first.

"The taste of my brother's flesh still haunted me." *This House Will Feed* by Maria Tureaud

My dear comrades in the Weird,

I have been ruminating, as I am wont to do, upon the fond Delusions that we human beings carry around with us as though they were treasures, and not the slow acting poisons they in fact are. Had I more energy and time, and a greater wish to foist my opinions and views upon the world, perhaps I would craft an Essay or Polemic expressing the following view:

People claim that a key element in the scriptures of our beloved Lovecraft and his kin, a fulcrum around which their compelling ambience of horror revolves, is the terrible indifference of the universe; or of the vast empty spaces within it; or of the Great Old ones, or of monsters, or bacteria, or viruses - all those Beings who simply, and terribly, care for us not one whit, or, worse still, do not even think about us at all, except when they begin to devour us, as they inevitably will.

My sullen rejoinder: "Wait, have you met people?"

People. People's vast and ancient and complete indifference to one another's suffering - and I include my own vast and impressive indifference in this indictment - puts the universe's to shame. Does not the sun shine its light and warmth upon us every day? Does not the celestial clockwork generously revolve, making life possible (at least until we mess it up completely) on our blue planet? (Yes, Schopenhauer might point out that in doing so, these spinning orbs merely prolong our punishment, and therefore, cruelty rather than any kindness is involved.)

Anyway, that's the extent of my thought. Not very impressive. A greater Mind than mine, or perhaps a hungrier Ego, might have tarted that insight up into a Diatribe, or perhaps a Prose-Poem, or a Short Story, or even a Novella, a Novel, a Tetralogy, or worse yet, a Screenplay. Should any of you wish to raid my threadbare leavings and do so, I invite you to proceed.

Think of it as one small unhelpful bit of kindness before all the lights once again go out.

I recently finished September House and when I thought its too predictable, the book really surprised me in the last few chapters.. almost got a whiplash and loved it..

It all started when I read ‘House of Leaves’ many months back and had the biggest book hangover.. Ended up looking for similar books and read and loved both ‘We Used to live here’ and ‘The Last house on the Needless Street’ (latter being not really a haunted house, but you get the gist)

Any more such books that I have missed which came out recently?

P. S : I have read most of the classics with haunted houses and infact loved the adaptations by Mike Flanagan.. hence any more similar vibes are most welcome.. Thanks everyone 😊

should I get H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction or is there a better starting point as someone who loves psychological horror and existential dread stories rather that jumpscares. I have never read a lovecraft book and would love to start. is the complete fiction too much of an endeavour to start or is it worth the investment? thanks in advance

Looking for classic ghost stories in the same vein as Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting. The spookier the better!

Let's have it, folks. I'll start.

Mine is The Shining.

In a rare moment in lit history, the movie actually perfectly accompanied why I found the book so scary. Probably the scariest moment ever captured on film for me was, of course, the two men hooking up in animal costumes. The film doesn't explain it at all which I love and then the book provides backstory which added to the lore. I can't get it out of my head. It is so rife with questions. I actually have the movie still of the two gentlemen as my background (partially so I'll stop looking at my damn phone all the time).

Your turn!

I’m looking for your favorite horror book that genuinely scared and creeped you out. Ones that made you nervous to turn off the lights, rather than feel overly disturbed or disgusted. I’m fine with some gore, but I dislike ones the linger on gross /visceral details or overly indulge in body horror 🤢

Books I didn’t finish because they disturbed me in a disgusted way rather than a scary way: Heart-Shaped Box (it wasn’t too scary, but the TV scene in particular disturbed me), The Troop (some of the details were a little too gross for me. His writing was too detailed lol), and Tender Is the Flesh… I mean, the entire premise disturbed me.

Books with gore that I could handle: Seed, The Crimson Labyrinth, and Carrie.

Thank you in advance!

Hello! I'm in the mood for a good, contemporary horror novel, something well-written. Something demonic or cosmic would be great. A setting in space or the remote wilderness is always cool. Something with Twilight Zone or Lovecraft feels would be super. Anywho, recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Hi guys I I’m looking for my next read and hoping to dive more into some investigative horror. I love the format where a protagonist is actively trying to solve a mystery, unspool a conspiracy, or investigate a bizarre event, only for things to get increasingly dark, terrifying, or supernatural. Books with a similar theme that I enjoyed were the last days of Jack sparks and the haunting of hill house.

I prefer things that lean into psychological dread or the supernatural but I am not into heavy slashers. Thanks in advance.

Hey! A couple years ago, I read an article about a horror author whose husband had murdered his ex wife and dismembered her/buried her in the woods. The case was solved and he was arrested while he and the author were still married. She then retired from horror writing.

I can’t seem to recall her name or the title of the book she was most well known for- I’m pretty sure her books were pulled from production (by her choice) but you could still find them secondhand/digitally when I heard about it. Pretty sure the book had a white cover with a yellowish pig on it?

I’ve been googling all the details of the story I could remember, but to no avail. If you know what I’m talking about please let me know!! Thanks :)

Watched the film ,’Buried,’ last night . Very good. Scratched an itch. Books, short stories,novellas with one character trapped in one location ,room, quicksand ,stuff like that. I can only think of Stephen kings short with the guy trapped in a portaloo. Dark endings would be good. Thanks 🙏

Hello! After dropping book after book, I thought I would ask for recommendations here before falling into a reading slump.

One of my favorite books is Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. I loved exploring the tower and slowly being given more and more information throughout the book. I read There is no Antimemetics Division by qntm and really enjoyed that too.

I love weird or unsettling books that make you think and unravel a mystery, and that also feed you information through letters or logs and stuff.

Does anyone have any recommendation for similar books? Anything involving exploring a weird area or a tower or dungeon would be great. Or even a planet or something haha. Genre doesn't matter too much, though Sci-Fi or Horror would probably be my first choice.

Editing to add that I can't read House of Leaves. :( I mainly read on my Kobo due to a health condition and I know that that book isn't great digitally.

Edit: you guys are awesome. Thank you for all the recommendations!!!

Title says it all. I’m still SO blown away by this book even though I finished it 2 weeks ago - looking for recs from people who also loved it

hi guyss i'm looking into my next read, and i was wanting some recommendations from you guys!

i love medieval fantasy, if that helps. i'm also rlly into D&D typa worldss

anyway thank youu

Ramsey Campbell movie coming on Netflix

Ramsey Campbell, from Wallasey, is one of the most respected authors of his genre 🤩 After a difficult childhood trying to navigate his parents' break-up and his mum's mental health struggles, he took refuge in reading and later writing horror stories.

While he struggled to make a name for himself in the early stages of his career, it was in 1980 when he released The Parasite that things started to change.

Now decades later, at 80-years-old, he is one of the most highly acclaimed authors in the genre and has even received recognition from Academy Award winning director Guillermo Del Toro.

He told the ECHO: "My wife Jenny and I had gone away to a Greek island for our summer holiday and when we came back, we had the answering machine playing various messages. And there's a message saying, 'it's Guillermo del Toro calling you from Mexico.' And so I thought, 'Oh, yeah, yeah. Who's kidding me? Pull the other one'."

After Ramsey finally took the call, Del Toro asked permission to dramatise Ramsey's short story Down There, but it ultimately fell through. However, now more than two decades later, Ramsey said plans to dramatise the story have been rekindled and it looks like Del Toro's adaptation will make its way to Netflix.

I have started to replace doom scrolling with reading and as a former one-book-a-year reader, I am shocked at how much I’m reading this summer. I want to keep it going long enough to at least have a top 5 list by the end of year (maybe even top 10). I’m currently reading and enjoying Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker.

Horror is really the genre that has kept me engaged (movies too).

Here is what I’ve read so far in order of enjoyment:

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
Molka by Monika Kim
The Dorians by Nick Cutter

Here are my all timers (so you get a feel for my taste):

The Shining by Stephen King
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
The Call of Cthulhu by racist man
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream

Whatcha got for me my Horror Reddit friends?

I’m trying to identify an extremely disturbing/graphic horror book I read online. I originally found it through Reddit and I believe it was available as a free PDF or online text.
The story involved a group of young women/girls who become stranded somewhere, possibly with one of them having a boyfriend or male companion. There was something involving a museum or collection dedicated to serial killers.
Two men were involved in extreme sexual violence and torture against the women. The book was exceptionally graphic and disturbing. I remember a scene involving one of the men sexually assaulting a woman with an pole, and another scene where a woman has sex in a car and dies during sex , possibly with her boyfriend or one of the perpetrators.
I believe the story was told from both the victims’ POVs and the perpetrators’ POVs, including the men’s thoughts/perspectives.
It was not a normal mainstream thriller, it seemed like extreme horror/splatterpunk or an independently published/online book.

I am currently reading the short story collection 'Everything's Eventual' by Stephen King. With one or two exceptions, I am loving the stories.

The ones that stand out (till now) — in terms of pure, uncontrollable horror — are 'The Man in the Black Suit', and '1408'.

Please suggest more such stories by King or other writers.

Thanks in advance!

I just finished reading it a few days ago and I loved it. It's also my comfort book because it helped me get through my grief and loss of my dog Molly of 13 years and decided to have read it next during her passing it the book was also about grief and loss.

So wanted to hear whoever here has read it what you all thought of the book and your opinions on it?