Introductions

[Tim]

Hello everyone. I’m Tim and I’m new to the group (shock given where I’m posting, no?). I enjoy most genres, but am a big fan of horror, fantasy and mysteries (with a love of Japanese literature as well). Long time horror fan, but hadn’t joined any groups on the subject. Picked this one as I saw you all were reading Our Lady of Darkness next month and have been meaning to give the author a try.

[Marie-Therese]

Tim wrote: "Hello everyone. I’m Tim and I’m new to the group (shock given where I’m posting, no?). I enjoy most genres, but am a big fan of horror, fantasy and mysteries (with a love of Japanese literature as well)."

Welcome, Tim! Make yourself at home. I'm another fan of Japanese literature so I'm very glad to see you here. I look forward to your thoughts on 'Lady of Darkness' and other future reads.

[J.S.]

Hi Tim, Welcome aboard!

[Tim]

Mimi wrote: "Hi Tim, we already know each other, look forward to hearing your thoughts 'Our Lady of Darkness'."

Nice to see you hear as well. I didn't know you were part of this group. Looking forward to seeing you thoughts on Our Lady of Darkness as well!

[Tim]

Marie-Therese wrote: "Welcome, Tim! Make yourself at home. I'm another fan of Japanese literature so I'm very glad to see you here. I look forward to your thoughts on 'Lady of Darkness' and other future reads. "

Always glad to see another Japanese literature fan (the only other book club here I ever try to actively participate in is a Japanese literature one, as I like the random finds they come up with). Any particular favorite authors? Right now I've been getting into Fuminori Nakamura, who I find both consistently overwhelmingly nihilistic, yet brilliant all at once. :)

[Bill]

On recent Japanese lit, in case you haven't already seen these, I enjoyed Yukiko Motoya's The Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories. (So did Marie-Therese.)

Taeko Kono's Toddler-Hunting & Other Stories is also worth a look.

[Tim]

Bill wrote: "On recent Japanese lit, in case you haven't already seen these, I enjoyed Yukiko Motoya's The Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories. (So did Marie-Therese.)

Taeko Kono's [book:Toddler-Hunt..."

I've heard of both of those, but have not read them. Thanks for the recommendations. :)

[Tim]

Randolph wrote: "Edogawa Rampo"

I've read some of his short stories, some are absolutely fascinating. I've been meaning to check out one of his longer works at some point.

[Scott]

I liked Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination. There have also been at least a couple movie adaptations.

[Marie-Therese]

Tim, I think I know the group you speak of; they're an excellent group of people and they come up with some fascinating reading suggestions.

Kind of on topic here: have you read anything by Kyōka Izumi? He is one of the very greatest Japanese writers of the fantastic and strange; a supreme stylist, he skillfully wove traditional themes into more modern forms, creating a unique body of work. His stories are remarkably beautiful and powerful, dreamlike and melancholy. If you haven't read him yet, I highly recommend doing so.

An even older author I'd suggest for our group theme is Ueda Akinari Tales of Moonlight and Rain is essential reading.

I see that, like me, you're a fan of Fuminori Nakamura. Since you enjoy psychological mystery, you may like The Master Key. Check my review for more details. Villain is another good book in the same vein, more contemporary, more like Nakamura.

While I find her work variable, Yōko Tawada is a force to be reckoned with. My favourite book by her probably remains The Bridegroom Was a Dog but I haven't read all of her recent work so she may have surpassed that. Hideo Furukawa is another writer working in a variety of styles who is worth checking out.

Recent Japanese writers in a warmer, more naturalist style that I like include Hiromi Kawakami and Toshiyuki Horie. Yōko Ogawa can be good too, although I find her most popular work too sentimental. Among writers working in a more formal or experimental style are Minae Mizumura, Mieko Kanai, and Tomoyuki Hoshino

Looking through what I've catalogued here on Good Reads, I realize I'm missing a lot. I have much more Japanese literature at home than I've listed here. I guess I need to get it listed so I can make better recommendations. I'll get back to you later with an updated list.

[Tim]

Wow. Thanks for the reply! Of the authors you've mentioned I've read some of Kawakami and Ogawa (I actually enjoyed both of them, despite usually disliking overly sentimental stories, both of them work for me).

I actually just finished' Masako Togawa's The Lady Killer (same author of The Master Key). I found it entertaining, but not quite reaching the potential of what was set up.

I'll certainly be checking out several of those suggestions. Tales of Moonlight and Rain in particular looks like something I would like (and seeing it was the inspiration for Ugetsu is quite intriguing, as I really enjoyed that film).

[Marie-Therese]

Tim wrote: "Wow. Thanks for the reply!"

You're welcome! I love talking about Japanese literature with someone equally enthusiastic about it.

I actually just finished' Masako Togawa's The Lady Killer (same author of The Master Key). I found it entertaining, but not quite reaching the potential of what was set up.

Agreed on 'The Lady Killer'. I felt like there was potentially more there than Togawa ultimately used and that was a bit disapointing. I think 'The Master Key' was an even richer, more complex story and one clearly close to her own heart (she grew up in a similar "working women" building with her single mother) and Togawa uses a more sophisticated structure (multiple narrators and overlapping points of view) to tell it, resulting in a much more satisfying book. I recommend reading it if you come across it.

[Bill]

Marie-Therese wrote: "While I find her work variable, Yōko Tawada is a force to be reckoned with. My favourite book by her probably remains The Bridegroom Was a Dog but I haven't read all of her recent work so she may have surpassed that."
I liked Bridegroom Was a Dog, and also Where Europe Begins. I've been kind of wary of her recent books, based on the blurbs and goodreads reviews.

[Tim]

Randolph wrote: “You fool, Harley is dead!”

As far as statements go, that’s a good one. :)

[J.S.]

Randolph wrote: "Announcement. Announcement Announcement Announcement

Due to the large number of personal attacks lately I’m going to have to vet every Literary Horror group member before we move on. I’m going to..."

Happy April Fool's Day! :-)

[Russell]

Hi guys,

Name is Jason Guinn, I'm a writer and a lover of everything horror. You can check out my novel, THE WRETCHED, over on Amazon. Its a book so wickedly yummy it was banned by Barnes and Noble after a single day!

I'm a huge horror fan, and by horror I mainly mean stuff from the 70's - 90's. Having lived overseas for a decade and having a kid, I haven't seen as much horror as I would like - but I love horror. Looking forward to getting to know you guys.

[J.S.]

Welcome aboard Jason. We're an interesting collection of readers (all) and some writers (not all). Hence the writers amongst us try to be careful where we promote ourselves as per Randolph's advice. Hope you enjoy the reading and discussion side of things round here.

[Bill]

Randolph wrote: "This technically belongs in the author promotion topic, not here. "

Randolph, I thought you were going to vet all new members. Might I suggest a tissue ablation session for serious abusers?

[Russell]

Randolph wrote: "Jason wrote: "Hi guys,

Name is Jason Guinn, I'm a writer and a lover of everything horror. You can check out my novel, THE WRETCHED, over on Amazon. Its a book so wickedly yummy it was banned by ..."

Sorry about that - new to the site. I'll tread more carefully! :)

[Russell]

I'll delete the link!

[Zach]

Hello! New to the group / glad to be here. I see the current book to read is Our Lady of Darkness. Might just be an app error, but mine has the same start / end date of Apr 15? Wanted to get a brief synopsis of how this group works if anyone has a sec. Thanks in advance!

[Scott]

It says May 15 on the desktop, so it's probably one of many things that is broken in the app.

[Marie-Therese]

Zach wrote: "Hello! New to the group / glad to be here."

Welcome, Zach! Glad to have you here. Make yourself at home.

We are still reading Our Lady of Darkness as a group so feel free to chime in anytime. We're also the kind of group where new thoughts are always welcomed. If you see an old post that strikes your fancy, feel free to renew/refresh it with a response. The hard core members here are likely to chime in no matter how old the post is.

[Zach]

Sounds good Marie. Thanks so much.

[Andrew]

Hello everyone. I'm new here. I've jut finished writing my first horror novel. I thought it was about time I got mingling with other horror writers.

I've previously written two comedies. I've been mingling for years with the comedy chaps, but the scary folk, the horror freaks, I am yet to make your acquaintance.

So this is me saying hello. If you want to connect on social media look up AndyChapWriter on Twitter and Instagram. It's easier to reply on the road on those sites.

[J.S.]

Andrew wrote: "Hello everyone. I'm new here. I've jut finished writing my first horror novel. I thought it was about time I got mingling with other horror writers.

I've previously written two comedies. I've been..."

Hello Andrew. Welcome aboard. We area friendly crowd. A number of us here are writers as well as readers, though this group is more about the reading and appreciation of horror than the writing of it. Having said that, there are specific sections and threads available for us writerly types to chat away about things that concern us, including our books.

[Colin]

Hello all, just joined and looking forward to being able to contribute to the discussion, and discovering new and erudite publishers of the weird and horrible. I have in the past managed to scrape together enough coppers to buy a few tomes by Egaeus and Sarob Press, but hope to find more here to trouble my bank account.

I've written a handful of short stories over the years for a variety of publishers that have quickly gone bust or become moribund, facts which are probably not unrelated. I was lucky enough to contribute a poem to the Egaeus Book of the Sea, a fact which I never tire of telling people although the sentiment is rarely reciprocated. To my detriment I write across genres - horror, fantasy, supernatural, just plain odd - which has probably ensured I have few fans and even less success, but it does provide me with a certain cache among people on public transport and less discerning colleagues.

My general interests are horror (literary rather than gore-splattered), ghost stories, folk horror and a certain amount of fantasy, although I prefer the more real world type (as exemplified by Alan Garner and Robert Holdstock). I once managed bookshops for a living, which led to a wholly unreasonable book collection; these days I tend to spend more on non-fiction but do like to keep a small and lovingly curated shelf for literary horror and ghost stories.

And that's it really - glad to be here!

[Marie-Therese]

Colin wrote: "Hello all, just joined and looking forward to being able to contribute to the discussion, and discovering new and erudite publishers of the weird and horrible."

Welcome, Colin! What a lovely (and witty) introduction! We have a couple of writers in the group; it's nice to have another.

My general interests are horror (literary rather than gore-splattered), ghost stories, folk horror and a certain amount of fantasy, although I prefer the more real world type (as exemplified by Alan Garner and Robert Holdstock). I once managed bookshops for a living, which led to a wholly unreasonable book collection; these days I tend to spend more on non-fiction but do like to keep a small and lovingly curated shelf for literary horror and ghost stories.

Based on your tastes (which are very similar to mine and to others in the group) you'll fit right in here. Unreasonable book collections, no matter how acquired are, of course, a requirement for membership ;-)

And that's it really - glad to be here! And we're glad to have you! Please feel free to jump right in and contribute on any thread that strikes your fancy.

[Colin]

Marie-Therese wrote: "Welcome, Colin! What a lovely (and witty) introduction! We have a couple of writers in the group; it's nice to have another. "

Thank you Marie-Therese! Very much looking forward to it and already working my way through group discussions.

[Lydia]

Hey everyone!

I'm Lydia, and new here. I absolutely LOVE all things Horror, so I am so super happy to be included in this group! Looking forward to interacting with you all!

[Ronald]

Lydia wrote: "Hey everyone!

I'm Lydia, and new here. I absolutely LOVE all things Horror, so I am so super happy to be included in this group! Looking forward to interacting with you all!"

Welcome to the group, Lydia, from one of the moderators.

[Ronald]

Chris wrote: "Hello, everyone my is Chris. And my favorite genre of literary horror is Gothic ghost stories. I look forward to interacting with everyone."

Welcome to the group, Chris, from one of the moderators.

If you are interested in contemporary writers of ghost stories, I recommend Reggie Oliver and Steve Duffy.

[P.D.]

Hello everyone. I just joined the group, happy to be here. I'm a dark fiction, literary and scifi author. A few of my all time favorite authors and books are Lovecraft, Poe, King, Frankenstein, Ray Bradbury and Dracula. I enjoy silent and classic horror films. I'm definitely desensitized from all the horror programming I've subjected myself too, so if i'm a bit off don't judge. Thank you

[J.S.]

P.D. wrote: "Hello everyone. I just joined the group, happy to be here. I'm a dark fiction, literary and scifi author. A few of my all time favorite authors and books are Lovecraft, Poe, King, Frankenstein, Ray..."

Hello P.D. You've referenced Bradbury, so you're okay by me.

[Marie-Therese]

A belated but hearty welcome, Chris and P.D.!

Make yourselves at home. I look forward to getting to know you both better.

[Peter]

I just joined the group. I'm a writer and filmmaker and just finished my first horror novel which is definitely in the "literary" lane. I used to write for Tales From the Darkside (dating myself) and you can check out my very dark and weird web series Sister Mary Martha's Martyrology on vimeo. Thanks!

[Benjamin]

Welcome Peter, from one of the group's mods. I hope I'm not dating myself either but I have enjoyed many Tales from the Darkside episodes. One in particular was from a Bob Leman short story, 'Window'.

This group has a lot of different boards for posting, one of those being the author promotion board. Feel free to post any updates on your new novel there... =)

[Nathanimal]

Hi. I'm Nate, known in these parts as Nathanimal.

I'm here at the encouragement of Bill and because the handful of folks I get on with on Goodreads seem to be pretty active here.

I'm probably more "Literary" than "Horror." Honestly, I'm kind of a fraidy cat. But I do enjoy some writers that might have currency here. Shirley Jackson, Emily Brönte, Brian Evenson, Lovecraft, Kafka (anyone? Maybe that's too far of a stretch.)

Anyway, hello, and happy to be here and to venture into some new reading territory.

[Ronald]

Nathanimal wrote: "Hi. I'm Nate, known in these parts as Nathanimal.

I'm here at the encouragement of Bill and because the handful of folks I get on with on Goodreads seem to be pretty active here.

I'm probably mor..."

Welcome to the group, Nate.

This group has read Shirley Jackson and Kafka.

[Bill]

Good to see you here, Nate! I wouldn't consider a Brian Evenson fan a "fraidy cat". Look forward to your thoughts on the DeMeester collection.

[Peter]

Benjamin wrote: "Welcome Peter, from one of the group's mods. I hope I'm not dating myself either but I have enjoyed many Tales from the Darkside episodes. One in particular was from a Bob Leman short story, 'Windo..."

Thanks for the heads-up. I will check out the authors board. Best. Peter

[Nathanimal]

Thanks for the welcome, guys. I'm looking forward to talking about DeMeester when I'm a bit deeper into the collection.

[Marie-Therese]

Welcome, Nate and Peter! Lovely to have you here as you both seems to have interests that align with the majority of the most active members. Make yourselves at home and feel free to jump in anywhere.

[Peter]

Benjamin wrote: "Welcome Peter, from one of the group's mods. I hope I'm not dating myself either but I have enjoyed many Tales from the Darkside episodes. One in particular was from a Bob Leman short story, 'Windo..."

Hi Benjamin. You mentioned an Author Promotion Board but I can't find it. Does it go by another name? Thanks. Peter

[Peter]

Mimi wrote: "Hi Peter, if you look at the column to your right on this page, click on group home which takes you to a listing of all the 'Literary Horror' sections, scroll to the bottom and you'll find a sectio..."

Thanks!

[Tim]

I just joined this group. My first one. I am not sure what the etiquette is but I thought I'd leave something I wrote elsewhere on the site as an icebreaker. Just read Robert Aickman's The Late Breakfasters and wanted to leave some positive feedback on it:

I do not think I have ever read anything of Aikman's that did not enchant me and that often disturbed me. This book was no exception. The stories were for the most part familiar to me. My favorite one was "Larger than Oneself" which is something of a mystical vision of another realm that is neither a heaven nor a hell but suggests bits of both and about the very ordinary but odd people who brush up against it. Each of the stories is typically ambiguous and elusive but only typical for Aickman: many have tried to mimic what his idiosyncratic fiction accomplished but none could possibly succeed because his writing style appears to be directly emergent from his characteristic and unique unconscious. Most of his stories do not lend themselves to explanation or understanding, any more than dreams do. They suggest and allude rather than relate a coherence of narrative that would be appreciated by collective apprehension. There are some stories that appear entirely different upon rereading after many years, almost different stories. Reading his books is a bit like looking into a personal dream journal and Aickman is unapologetic in his refusal to make such material accessible to a more rational "waking" consciousness. The title story is his only novel published during his life. There are bits of weirdness scattered throughout but it is not so much of a "supernatural" story as most of his others, at least until the very end. The ending does make it a rather bent fairy tale after the odd but mainly ordinary narrative presented up until then. It does not chill as so many of his other writings do but leaves one with a poignant irresolution. Patient Griselda never experiences the fulfillment of what she has longed for throughout the novel, but something stranger and very lovely takes its place. Even this apotheosis, it is suggested, cannot last, yet there is also a hint that it is somehow eternal. A marvelous story and as long as the reader can let go of the demand for a coherent narrative where there are understandable occurrences in explainable sequences, then he or she may be enchanted. Aickman is not for everyone but for those who can engage him, he is a perennial delight, even if a dark one.
Tim

[Tim]

Thanks Mimi, I just saw the discussion page after you pointed it out. I'll post any future entries on that. Right now I am reading Algernon Blackwood and John Buchan. I'm an older guy and so I guess that's why I gravitate to older literature! Also love Shirley Jackson and, although she is not primarily a horror writer, Muriel Spark. I'll keep exploring this group and figure out the different ways to navigate it. Best, Tim

[Tim]

Now that sounds up my alley. I haven't read anything of Schwob's in years (decades, actually). I'll get a copy and start reading. I'm assuming these group reads are also under "Discussion." Thanks for the tip.

[Marie-Therese]

Tim wrote: "I just joined this group. My first one. I am not sure what the etiquette is but I thought I'd leave something I wrote elsewhere on the site as an icebreaker. Just read Robert Aickman's The Late Breakfasters and wanted to leave some positive feedback on it"

Welcome, Tim! I read the 'The Late Breakfasters' (the novel alone, not the edition with the short stories) a year or so ago and just loved it. As you note, it's quite different than most of Aickman's other work but it's so lovely; it may well be my favourite work by him. Have you read The Model' yet? If not, you might like that too. It's a bit more fairy-taleish but has some of the lighter, enchanting character found in 'The Late Breakfasters'.

You'll find a diverse group here, including a fair few "older" folk with tastes very similar to yours (*cough*like me*cough*). Feel free to jump right in wherever you feel comfortable.

[Tim]

Thanks, Marie-Thomas. I read "The Model" when it was released in the late eighties. I really enjoyed it but I did find it oddly "camp" at the time. A lot of English novels from the '30s have that flavor. All inspired to some extent by Lord Dunsany to some extent. I no longer have my copy but it is in Tartarus Press' edition of "Night Voices," and I would do well to get a copy. Thanks for the reminder!