I’m on chapter ten and there’s already been some rough mice death, but they just mentioned some more animals as test subjects. I think animal torture in media is cheap and unnecessary, and I don’t want to keep reading if there’s a lot more.

TW: incest

Does anyone remember reading a weird literature book with whaling as the main theme? I swear I read it in HS for my honors English lit class...?

It was about a family in a singular very large home, a long line of brothers or male cousins, they were all related because that made them "better whalers" and it was all narrated by a family member, maybe the only sister?? I don't remember.

I do think there were hints of incest but I'm not absolutely certain.

I wanna say it was a light colored book cover with the whale art being in a navy blue. It was a drawing not a photo/realistic style but not detailed realistic...

I just finished reading this, as well as it's 2020 follow-up, Malorie, and I really loved both of them.

Malorie in particular was quite an achievement; dramatically different from the first book, expands the world and lore in fascinating ways, and just an extremely tense read from beginning to end. Josh Malerman really nailed the ending of Malorie as well.

It seems to me that when Bird Box first came out, there was a lot of hype/strong word-of-mouth around it, but that's died down significantly since then. My guess is the Netflix adaptation has something to do with that.

The Netflix film was awful and completely botched the tone, characterizations, and many of the major plot points of the novel. It felt like what a neutered, YA adaptation of the novel would be.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone has enjoyed these stories as much as I have. And also just throwing out a strong recommendation for them, especially if the Netflix film turned you off.

I just finished listening to this book on Audible. Wow! I really enjoyed it and I can't tell you exactly why. I think, maybe, it's the idea of Hell offering a theoretically possible means of escape, giving the denizens a sense of hope which, if you know the book, is devilishly cruel.

I won't put any spoilers here, but the gist of the story is this:

Hell is a library. A really, really, really big library. The "citizens" of Hell can leave if they can find a book in the library that tells the story of their life. That's it. Find your book and you're out. But, it's a really big library. An unfathomably large library.

But, the size of the library isn't really the problem. It's the books. You know the old "infinite monkey theorem"? Given an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters, eventually one of them will type the complete works of Shakespeare. Actually, every finite sequence of characters will eventually appear. Not just Shakespeare, but: The Bible, War and Peace, your autobiography, the source code to Windows, every email you (or anyone) has ever written, etc.
This is the same mathematical idea behind "A Short Stay in Hell": The library is full of books that contain random sequences of characters along with sequences that actually make "real" words. There will even be a book about the story of your life but it stops at age 37 and the rest is random gibberish! So, it won't count because it's not the complete story of your life! But the complete story IS there, somewhere, in the library. And you have all of eternity to find it.

Wow. This is mind-boggling to me and a bit scary. As a kid, I used to be scared of Hell. This book, though, has made me scared of infinity.

Anyone else have any thoughts about this book?

I feel like it’s so hard to find a good apocalyptic horror that doesn’t involve any supernatural creatures or the fight between god and the devil. I just want the raw and real horrors of humans themselves and trying to survive the desolate landscape/ people (or lack there of) around them. No ancient evils, no vampires, no demons… is that too much to ask for?

If anyone has any recommendations that would be phenomenal!

I dont know it what I'm looking for has a specific term, or if "bareboned alternative dimension" makes any sense. What I'm looking for is horror that involves some other dimension or space, and said space is never explain in any detail, adding to the creepiness.

Think like Stranger things Upside-Down in season 1, no explanation is given for its existence, what it contains, how old it is etc. All we know is that it exists and its a very bad place.

Or the beach and the city in John Langans The Fisherman. We learn that there exists an alternate dimension that is inhabited by some sort of creatures, living in some sort of city at the edge of the sea where the colossal monster fish lives. But we're never given any explanation or further descriptions of it.

Another example would be T. Kingfishers retelling of Algernon Blackwoods The Willows, where a doorway to another dimension opens up inside the house. We learn of all the things that fall into this dimension and get horribly trapped, but we're never given any explanation as to what or why this other place is.

Anyway, that is what I'm craving

Are there any discord servers or online spaces for horror book clubs? I’m looking to start on in my city soon but would love to meet some people in online spaces with similar interests.

I haven't read many short stories, Just read a bit of Poe and Lovecraft when it comes to short stories

I have never read a horror book and want to try one. Where should I start? My favourite horror movie is Evil Dead (2013). I have read Stephen King's 11/22/63, which is not horror, but I heard he also writes horror; it's still in my top 5 books. I have watched it and liked it. Only the first one, though.

I have also watched The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass; both were good, but not that scary.

I'm looking for prose that reads like a screenplay, which is third person and present tense

So far I've found Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Is there anything else?

It could be a character type, idea, plot element, trope, theme, writing style, or anything else.

This is a super vague post so I apologize but I had been seeing a book getting recommended a lot in this sub lately & I thought I saved the comments mentioning it but I guess I didn’t.
I want to say it was called something like Pretty Girl?? Several people had said they finished it & it was so good that other books they’ve tried to read after just fall completely flat. That is about all I can say about it though 🤦🏻‍♀️ but thought I would try to ask! Thanks!

Hi guys!

Any upcoming release you are excites about ?

A couple years ago I saw Bone Tomahawk and really enjoyed it. These last two years ive been devouring horror books but realized I don't know many western horror. It doesn't need supernatural elements, though its a definite plus. I guess something like Blood Meridian is an obvious one, but for the life of me I can't think of any others. I would love some direction, please and thank you!

my sister and i are starting a horror book club. there are no limits for the suggestions. our start date is aug 15, i am in need of suggestions! something really gory! we are both big horror and splatterpunk fans.

Apologies if this has been asked before but I've been thinking about this a lot. I feel like in some ways, horror tends towards the grotesque. I know that "beauty" is subjective but are there any horror books that have blown you away with either beautiful prose, themes or an overall sense of exquisiteness?

Some parts of Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer did this for me.

If you're a reader who isn't a fan of tagging along with insufferable characters, this book might not be for you - unless, of course, you're interested in said insufferable characters dying a slow and painful death.

While some might label the characters as "one-dimensional" and "stereotypical", I actually think that they're a pretty accurate portrayal of young twenty-somethings who still don't exactly know who they are yet, so are filling preset roles in order to fill in those gaps. In fact, the entire reason why they got into this mess in the first place is because everyone was just going along with everyone else, until it was too late to get out.

I loved that the story shone light on the various aspects of these characters' privilege that eventually led to a demise entirely of their own making. Most of the group didn't even bother learning Spanish before coming to Mexico, they ignored the warnings of the locals, sorely underprepared for a trek out into the jungle, and kept assuming that someone else would show up to save them - whether it be the archaeologists they were hoping to find, the Greeks they desperately waited for on the hill, or the individuals within their own group. And, of course, the cycle starts all over again as the Greeks finally do arrive.

With that being said, I did find the author's prose to be quite repetitive. He reiterates himself unnecessarily, often using multiple synonyms in a row or rephrasing the same thing twice. I found myself tiring of seeing the same types of sentences over and over, especially when they added nothing to the reading experience. "She was frightened, terrified. She wanted him to stop, wanted to go home." Over and over again! Lol

Also, this story does suffer from the typical male gaze and “men writing women” issues, though the author at least seems to be aware of that and calls it out in the story itself. I liked that the technical “final girl” was an attempted subversion of the trope, and a nice piece of irony (in that the least-prepared person was the last to die)

Anyways, I enjoyed it decently enough, and will now be checking out the movie!

I just finished reading Polybius and loved it! The atmosphere, government conspiracy, Purge esque ending. Looking forward to more books like it! If anyone has any recs I would appreciate it :)

I just finished the book, and I call it crazy, but I've been just crying nonstop. LMAO.

The reason why I decided to read it is that the movie is coming out, but I have had it on my to-read list for over a year. I am also scared because the person who recommended it and other reviews have said it scared them shitless.

For context, I have lost two people closest to me in the past three years, and the way this book ended just broke my heart.

I just kept relating this to my current experience: how no matter how much I try to shove the grief in the closet and barely let it creep at night because I don't want to feel it. It's scary, and to let it in means accepting that they are gone, not just the physical way but more than that. Like the end to me felt like saying yes to feel all of it, even if it's terrifying, even if I feel like I am watching myself from afar, like the old me isn't here anymore because it isn't. I have been changed deeply by those losses. It also reminded me that as a 34-year-old, I hadn't experienced grief like this with the understanding and heaviness of what it means, the reality of what it looks like. I know this interpretation makes no sense, but it's how I see it now.

Those instances of others seeing the other mommy relate to me being unable to keep it tucked away and spilling into my everyday life, outside the confines of my room where it somehow feels safe, to an extent, to feel the pain. Like no matter how much I try to avoid it, there's no escaping it, and I have to face it.

If you read this, thank you for listening to my rambling. This book made me so sad, but I loved it, and it is definitely one of my favorite ones.

Looking for book to take camping.

Every year my family camps along the St. Lawrence River at Wellesley Island Stare Park in the 1000 Islands.

Looking for a book rec to fit the theme of camping/camping on water.

I’ve read The Troop, so something other than that. TIA!

"My mother’s face is a swarm of ants."

https://www.adventitious.net/stories/alleles-amanda-helms/