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What Else Are You Reading?
message 101:
by
Marie-Therese
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Feb 16, 2019 11:06PM
Bill Hsu and I will be reading Brian Evenson's Last Days as our February buddy read. Please join us!
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Sean wrote: "I just finished reading The Opal (and Other Stories), a collection of Gustav Meyrink's mostly Victorian Gothic tales, often with a satirical touch."That sounds really interesting, Sean. I have read some Meyrink beyond 'The Golem' and liked his voice, so I will have to check this out. The fact that the volume's available as an ebook makes it even more attractive to me.
Rereading Bo Huston's wonderfully dark and strange Horse and Other StoriesSome vaguely LH-themed highlights from the past few weeks:
Yukiki Motoya's The Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories
Federico Andahazi's The Merciful Women
Hans Henny Jahnn's The Living Are Few, the Dead Many: Selected Works of Hans Henny Jahnn
Its not horror, but I just started the The Decagon House Murders. Thus far it had a nice introduction/history of the locked door mystery genre in Japan and the book proper seems a loving homage to such stories. Currently enjoyable... also interesting that when they mentioned Orczy, they used The Old Man in the Corner rather than The Scarlet Pimpernel as an example of her writing (which I know doesn’t fit the mystery theme, but is honestly the only book I could have named by her had anyone asked).
Mimi wrote: "I didn't know the 'locked-door' form was so widespread, interesting to know. I haven't read very many but quite enjoyed 'The Hollow Man'; although I came across a reference to another similar Japan..."Locked door mysteries (or the Honkaku sub-genre as it's referred to Japan) actually have a fascinating history. They became popular when authors from Europe and America started getting translated (in particular Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen) and then began to go out of fashion when noir/police procedurals became the mystery norm in terms of translations... with a resurgence beginning again in the 80s. The most interesting aspect discussed in the introduction is how in many ways it's viewed less as a literary genre and more like a game, as they MUST be fair play mysteries with all clues given to the reader (including in many cases graphs and blueprints of the locations). As such characters are more often stock character types and less three dimensional, because the game aspect is more important than character development and plot. It's an interesting spin on it, and I would have to read more to see how truly accurate such statements are, but I will say the one I'm currently reading certainly falls into this.
Tim wrote: "Locked door mysteries (or the Honkaku sub-genre as it's referred to Japan) actually have a fascinating history. They became popular when authors from Europe and America started getting translated (in particular Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen)..."I'm trying to recall my teenager trashy Christie binge days, but I don't recall a lot of locked room mysteries from her. Quite a few from John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson though...
I recently enjoyedThe Silk Road
Mercury's Choice
Not so much:
Staring Into the Abyss
I Wish I Was Like You
Randolph wrote: "...I’ve been reading Fritz Leiber but have been finding the Lankhmar stories tough going. I’ve read plenty of Michael Moorcock’s S&S but this Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stuff just isn’t working for me..."If you didn't like the original story "Ill Met in Lankhmar", you probably won't like the rest of the series. I suggest moving on to other Lieber. Have you read Our Lady of Darkness or Gather, Darkness!?
Yeah... I really enjoy Leiber’s horror and Sci-Fi oeuvre. I have little appreciation for sword and sorcery fantasy... even Leiber’s fantasy output.
For what it's worth, Fritz Leiber is considered a top Weird writer by this website: http://weirdfictionreview.com/2013/11...
Currently reading The Bridegroom Was a Dog which is a collection of three surreal short works. I've finished the first one, and it certainly was entertaining. Often humorous, frequency bizarre, while still following a very fairy tale-like logic of its own. It managed to say some interesting things about perceived "proper" relationships. Looking forward to the other two stories in the collection.
Tim wrote: "Currently reading The Bridegroom Was a Dog which is a collection of three surreal short works. I've finished the first one, and it certainly was entertaining."I remember enjoying this, especially the title story.
I'm enjoying Adjei-Brenyah's Friday Black. Some of the stories, with their wacky and horrific extensions of current realities, remind me of early George Saunders, but with a personal perspective and more sympathetic characters.
Nominees for 3 of the 6 categories of the Shirley Jackson awards have been announced:https://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org
I don't know why the nominees for Short Story, Single Author Collection (my favorite category), and Anthology haven't been posted. But I assume they're coming.
I've only read one of the nominees (Garza's The Taiga Syndrome, which I really enjoyed). Of the other names that I recognize, I tend to have less than positive impressions. Will do some exploring soon.
I recognize a couple of the names, but have not read any of them.
Well after reading descriptions and reviews of the 2018 Jackson nominees, I can't say I'm terribly excited.But then the 2017 nominees were impressive! David Demchuk's The Bone Mother, Samanta Schweblin's Fever Dream, Lindsay Drager's The Lost Daughter Collective, Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties, Nadia Bulkin's She Said Destroy, Chavisa Woods' Things to Do When You're Goth in the Country: and Other Stories, for starters.
Just wrapped up Thomas Stromsholt's The Sorrows and the FuriesShort stories a bit on the shorter side... but outstanding.
I just read the first short story in Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell. It was a great combination of horror and noir on the bayou. Looking forward to seeing what else this collection will bring.
Tim wrote: "I just read the first short story in Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell. It was a great combination of horror and noir on the bayou. Looking forward to seeing what else thi..."Very cool! I just read that Hulu is making an anthology series based on North American Lake Monsters.
Tim wrote: "I just read the first short story in Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell. It was a great combination of horror and noir on the bayou."How does Wounds compare with Ballingrud's earlier collection? I wasn't that excited with North American Lake Monsters (I'm probably one of the few who weren't totally convinced), and am not sure about checking out the new one.
Bill wrote: " I wasn't that excited with North American Lake Monsters (I'm probably one of the few who weren't totally convinced), and am not sure about checking out the new one."*Gasp!* That's it, Bill! You are off my Christmas card list! ;-p Seriously, though, I loved "North American Lake Monsters' and didn't remember you weren't a fan. I haven't checked out 'Wounds' yet but plan to soon. I'll let you know what I think when I do. Interested to hear what Tim thinks as well, as he and I share similar tastes and favourite authors.
Whitney wrote: "I just read that Hulu is making an anthology series based on North American Lake Monsters"Yes! I just saw this too! Very exciting news.
Marie-Therese wrote: "*Gasp!* That's it, Bill! You are off my Christmas card list! ;-p"Me and my big mouth! (Umm, fast fingers.)
I will keep an open mind about Wounds, and make a decision after reading reviews here.
I'm making my way through Secret Europe. I think Howard and Valentine's later, similarly themed collection, Inner Europe, is much stronger. I did enjoy "Prince Aziz" (wasn't there another "secret homoerotic" story in Inner Europe?), and the Aickman-esque "The Atelier at Iaşi".
Bill wrote: "How does Wounds compare with Ballingrud's earlier collection? I wasn't that excited with North American Lake Monsters (I'm probably one of the few who weren't totally convinced), and am not sure about checking out the new one. "I actually have not read his first collection, so I can't compare the two. I will say that I'm two stories in and I'm enjoying it so far. The first story "The Atlas of Hell" is a very creative noir/horror combo that feels like something Barker would have written. It focuses on a rare book dealer who is stuck working for some mobsters who are looking for the Atlas after a small time crook starts making a huge profit by selling artifacts from Hell. It's a story with some disturbing imagery, but really succeeded in how unique some of its ideas were presented (the atlas itself is truly unique).
The second story "The Diabolist" is... different. It takes a rather strange narration route, in that it is a first person narrator, but the narrator is speaking to the reader the entire time as if they are a specific character in the story. It's not as good as the first story, but again I'm impressed with the ideas at play here. Both have felt like fully cohesive stories, but with just enough mysteries left that I would loved to have read more about either of them.
The most interesting aspect to me thus far is that each of them gives you just a glimpse of the Hell that Ballingrud is creating. The subtitle of "Stories from the Border of Hell" is appropriate, as he seems to be building his own hellish mythology, but one where you have to place the stories together to get a larger picture of the inner workings of hell.
Nominees for all 6 categories of the Shirley Jackson awards are now on the website:https://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org
I don't remember a lot of overlap with our group members' favorites of 2018 earlier.
I've only read Garza's Taiga Syndrome, which I loved, and Michael Griffin's The Human Alchemy, which left me cold. From one (two?) of Sharma's stories that I've read, and also some quick skimming of her collection, I can't say she's high on my list to check out. But I'll do some exploring of the other nominated collections. Also about to start Brooke Bolander's novella.
Bill wrote: "Nominees for all 6 categories of the Shirley Jackson awards are now on the website:https://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org
I don't remember a lot of overlap with our group members' favorites of 2018..."
'Robots vs Fairies' was nominated for the anthology award..?
*trying not to be overly snarky*
Er... I thought the Jackson award was actually a more serious award... no?
Benjamin wrote: "I thought the Jackson award was actually a more serious award..."I think so.
I don't know anything about "Robots vs. Fairies". Maybe the title is ironic. The Jackson shortlists are not always free of items that I might find dubious. But they do tend to be more interesting than other horror awards that I've come across.
I think I have only ever paid minor attention to the Stoker and Jackson awards, and if there are any other awards for the genre, I wouldn't know. Every now and then, I will see a publishing house or an author that I am keen on, get nominated (and maybe also win)... but most of the time, I have never heard of about 90% of the nominees. I think for this year, the only author I have read is DP Watt. I am actually aware of Undertow Publications, and while I have not read the Silent Garden Journal, I have heard good things about it. Never heard of Priya Sharma or her collection.
Benjamin wrote: "'Robots vs Fairies' was nominated for the anthology award..? *trying not to be overly snarky*
Er... I thought the Jackson award was actually a more serious award... no?..."
I haven't read it, but I don't know why the idea that something can't have humor and still be meaningful is so tenacious among some readers. As hundreds if not thousands of books and movies from Jonathan Swift to Jordan Peele show, that idea is simply wrong. And if you look at the table of contents, I have almost zero doubt that this is a quality anthology. It's like a who's who of some of the best writers in SF and fantasy working today.
Whitney wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "'Robots vs Fairies' was nominated for the anthology award..? *trying not to be overly snarky*
Er... I thought the Jackson award was actually a more serious award... no?..."
I h..."
*shrugs*
No doubt there are many of literary endeavors that are both comedic and also meaningful. I definitely like a fair amount of satire and dark humor in the books that I read.
I too read through the TOC of Robots vs Faeiries and didn't see anything I was blown away by. Frankly though... this anthology title reminded me of a hilarious, fun, and silly card game called Smash Up... tons of fun... just not serious.
Then again... I did go through a number of the older SJ nominees and saw a number of titles that I had read and was very surprised to see some had passed the smell test for potentially "award winning".
I am currently reading The Night Comes On by Steve Duffyhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
It is a collection evil spirit and occult short stories. So far no story is below3.5 stars for me.
Mimi wrote: "As usual reading a bunch of books at the same time and about to embark - currently dipping in and out of - Sylvie Germain's trilogy starting with 'The Book of Nights' very strange novel with bizarr..."Oh, you may be the only other person I know who's read anything by Sylvie Germain. Really curious to read what you think.
Bill wrote: "Nominees for all 6 categories of the Shirley Jackson awards are now on the website:https://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org"
I have the Tiny Crimes: Very Short Tales of Mystery and Murder anthology and keep meaning to start it (Lincoln Michel is an excellent editor and all round nice guy). I also have Judderman, the Bolander novella, Everything Under, Social Creature, and have read 'The Taiga Syndrome' (loved it). Since the 'Robots vs Fairies' anthology actually includes one of the nominated stories by Maria Dahvana Headley, an author I've found pretty remarkable every time I've read anything by her, I'm interested in checking it out. Overall, I think this looks like an interesting awards slate and one I'm going to look into further.
While they're not precisely horror, I think some readers here might be interested in the novels of Pola OloixaracOloixarac's works are slightly dystopian and Dark Constellations is science-fiction with a focus on the near future. Her work is verbally playful and baroque; exuberantly, even grossly, scabrously, erotic, and overflowing with theory and rhetoric. It's frequently hard to tell the real from the fictional in her work, and she sometimes reminds me of Pynchon (but more carefree, less obviously needing to signal seriousness). I find I sometimes get lost in her arguments and can't vouch for their persuasiveness, but I never have less than fun reading her. She's a hoot, and a special, nose-thumbing, forthrightly female voice among a bunch of po-faced, male academics who can't seem to wrap their pre-conceived notions of female-authored fiction around her robust Rabelaisian novels.
Marie-Therese wrote: "While they're not precisely horror, I think some readers here might be interested in the novels of Pola Oloixarac"Another Argentinian! What do you recommend as a starter, especially for one with picky tastes?
Benjamin wrote: "I did go through a number of the older SJ nominees and saw a number of titles that I had read and was very surprised to see some had passed the smell test for potentially "award winning". "I usually go through the single-author collection shortlist, read everything that I haven't already, and grumble about my disagreements and their omissions. I've made some fine discoveries that way, like David Demchuk's The Bone Mother.
Bill wrote: "Another Argentinian! What do you recommend as a starter, especially for one with picky tastes? "Not sure how Oloixarac will work for you, Bill. She's only written novels as far as I know. I think, for you, Dark Constellations would work best, but still not certain it's your kind of book. Wild stuff, but verbose and maybe too padded for your taste.
Bill wrote: "I usually go through the single-author collection shortlist, read everything that I haven't already, and grumble about my disagreements and their omissions. I've made some fine discoveries that way, like David Demchuk's The Bone Mother."Yes, 'The Bone Mother' was superb! A real find. And I likely would never have heard of it otherwise.
Bill wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "I did go through a number of the older SJ nominees and saw a number of titles that I had read and was very surprised to see some had passed the smell test for potentially "award wi..."Yeah... that makes sense. I think I generally go with a editor or publishing house that I have come to like/trust.
After poking around the 2018 Shirley Jackson shortlist, I picked up single-author collection nominee Quartier Perdu, by Sean O'Brien. I'm about a third of the way in, and mostly enjoying the stories. The mostly English characters are skillfully sketched. They deal with stressful situations and loss in nicely evoked dark (mostly) English landscapes, with often unexpected outcomes. For example, in its few pages, "Change for Low Rixham" surprised me more than once with its shifts in tone. The premise could be quite ridiculous. But O'Brien refuses to spell out the details, and I was laughing with him at the end. "The Good Stuff" is beautifully inconclusive in a similarly Aickman-esque way, complete with Aickman-esque femme fatale.
I think I can recommend this to fans of John Howard and Mark Valentine's "Europe" books. So far it breaks no new ground, but is well-executed and enjoyable. In the first couple stories, the writing is occasionally old-fashioned and slightly longwinded. But the collections tightens up afterwards, at least so far.
(I'm surprised this only has a handful of ratings and reviews, hmm.)
Thanks for the rec Bill. I have never heard of Sean O'brien or Coma press. Looking over their website, this is definitely not a press that would have come up on my radar... their publishing interests are wildly eclectic.
Currently starting up the newly published Jonathan Wood folk horror novella from Ex Occidente , The Deepest FurrowAlso making headway on the John Gale collection from Egaeus Press, Saraband of Sable
Benjamin wrote: "Thanks for the rec Bill. I have never heard of Sean O'brien or Coma press."Me neither. Hope you enjoy the book if you decide to give it a try. Most of O'Brien's stories are not tied to specific historical settings, unlike the Europe books. But they share a kind of English gothic sensibility, updated to more recent times, and well-crafted writing.
As I read further, O'Brien is showing some range. The opening of "Ex Libris" approaches slapstick (!) I really enjoyed the first half, then it kind of petered out less successfully.
Literary Horror
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