Literary Horror discussion
Monthly Reads
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Monthly Read Suggestions
Always happy to have you along on these literary journeys, Bill... grumpiness and pickiness included... ; )As for Vastarien, it is really geared for those who Like Thomas Ligotti's works, as well as topics/themes that are more or less Ligottian. If Thomas Ligotti is not your thing, Vastarien might be decidedly less interesting for you.
How many votes did Kill Creek get? Just curious about the ratio... I know folks have had concerns about low levels of participation despite voting.
Thanks Benjamin. I'm actually highly ambivalent about Ligotti. I like what he's trying to do, but I also feel the urge to copyedit many of his stories.Kill Creek received 6 votes. Ronald was not one of the 6 supporters in the poll.
Marie-Therese and I used to hold occasional Buddy Reads. But after the Kill Creek experience, we tried to have regular Buddy Reads to encourage activity in the group. The group reads also picked up after that, which is great.
I'd love to get your take on what you mean by copy-editing Ligotti's stories... but let's save that discussion for a Vastarien or Ligotti thread... =)Vastarien is not a particularly lengthy journal, issues come in around 220 pages. This might be a good length to be able to commit to a read and discussion once every 4 months... we'll see if there is enough interest.
Some ideas:Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 5
Karen Russell, Orange World and Other Stories
I'm also keen to read the new Helen Oyeyemi, but it's getting very mixed reviews.
Scott wrote: "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror"I would definitely be up for a Ligotti collection... like Teatro Grottesco... but I'm neither a pessimist nor an anti-natalist... I think I can pass on Ligotti's non-fiction musings.
Is The Ceremonies in the voting pool for novel?
I have zero interest in reading Ligotti again (we read the Grimscribe collection last year IIRC). I just find him antipathetic in every way and have too many books by writers I like to waste my time on him. But I fully support others reading more by him if they'd like and I can sit out the group read on occasion. I very much want to read the Russell book but can wait until it's more widely available. I second Bill's suggestion of the Year's Best Weird Fiction Volume 5.
Have to put my thinking cap on and ponder what else might be of interest.
I have always been curious in reading Roald Dahl's darker tales for adults. This one strikes me as a bit Conte Cruel-ish,Cruelty.
Was my suggestion declined because it wasn't fiction, or because people didn't like it?
I just saw the poll go up. Randolph... I noticed that its a mix of novel and anthology/collections. I thought we had a poll for anthologies/collections and separate poll for novels. Didn't we have separate ones the last couple times?
Randolph wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "I just saw the poll go up. Randolph... I noticed that its a mix of novel and anthology/collections. I thought we had a poll for anthologies/collections and separate poll for novel..."
Gotcha... ; )
Benjamin and Scott, feel free to propose buddy reads. When Marie-Therese and I started announcing buddy reads, we didn't expect more than the two of us to be interested...
Well... I think if the Dahl doesn't get selected I'll propose it as a buddy read. It is short and probably very accessible to all.
Mimi wrote: "I remember reading some of his adult stories quite a while ago, wonder if this has the one set in the pig processing factory? Very satisfying from a vegetarian perspective anyway."I have heard about his adult fiction, but have never gotten around to reading it. I have been wanting to for some time.
I think, as adults, it perfectly fair to analyze a children's book in this way. I just think most kids will find Dahl's stories simply darkly humorous, silly, interesting, etc. I haven't read any Dahl in a very long time, but I do recall the tremendous amount of enjoyment I got from reading these stories as a kid and I can positively say that whatever baggage Dahl brought to these stories from his own biases and conservative outlook was completely lost on me as a kid. I can imagine my son reading about Augustus falling in a river of chocolate and being entirely tickled by the event. =)
Benjamin wrote: "Well... I think if the Dahl doesn't get selected I'll propose it as a buddy read. It is short and probably very accessible to all."I read some of his work a while back and a few of them were actually quite... disturbing. It was rather surprising given that I only knew of his children's work before hand (though if anyone has read The Witches, I really should have known better :D).
So June is just around the corner and I am new in this group.Is there a group book of the month to read chosen here? Is there a poll somewhere?
Richard wrote: "So June is just around the corner and I am new in this group.Is there a group book of the month to read chosen here? Is there a poll somewhere?"
Welcome to Literary Horror, Richard! Sorry I didn't catch your post earlier.
In general, for group polls, there's a link on the group homepage, top right hand corner, marked "polls":
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...
For June, we're reading:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Bill wrote: "Welcome to Literary Horror, Richard! Sorry I didn't catch your post earlier."No problem! Thanks! :-)
Hey Randolph... looks like we are in the 3rd week of June. Are you going to be taking suggestions for the July group read?
Hmm maybe Randolph is busy. But I don't think it hurts to throw a few suggestions out there.Based on the enthusiasm for the Kristi DeMeester story in our June Monthly Read, I suspect there'll be some support for
Everything That's Underneath
Not to be predictable, but I'm very keen to start Brian Evenson's new collection, Song for the Unraveling of the World
I think I would like to give something a little more old school a try + it’s already in my TBR. I’m nominating Schwob’s The King in the Golden Mask and Other Stories
I just read a great review of the The St Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires by Eric Stener Carlson. This one is available in electronic and paperback from the Tartarus website. Its in my TBR... definitely would be interested in doing this one as a group read. It seems to be a pretty short novel under 250 pages... search for hidden/occult knowledge, old bookstore hunts in Buenos Aires.
Mimi and Benjamin, I'd also be up for reading something by Carlson. A couple of days ago, Tartarus Press published a blog post about a Swiss metal band that based an entire album around his novel, Muladona: Rorcal's Muladona Metal's not my thing (although I do have a sneaking fondness for Motörhead), but I might just give this a listen after I've read the book.
Oh that’s very cool, Marie... yup Muladona is also sitting on my shelf beckoning. I would up for either of the Carlson titles. I have read some of his short stories before, and I really enjoyed what I read.
Mimi wrote: "I'll have to look up that album, not a mainstream metal fan but have a weakness for industrial metal like Jesu and similar. And can see the attraction of Motorhead! But it sounds from the opening l..."Mimi, what do you think of the Japanese "stoner" metal band, Boris? I love them! Mainly because of Wata, their amazing female guitarist, but overall they've made some really terrific, diverse records.
Mimi wrote: "They're great fun, wasn't their music used in a Japanese horror film? (Before a mod tells us off for digression). Also really love bands like Shonen Knife, their Ramones cover album is a favourite."I adore Shonen Knife! I'm a big Ramonescore fan in general.
Marie-Therese wrote: "Mimi and Benjamin, I'd also be up for reading something by Carlson. A couple of days ago, Tartarus Press published a blog post about a Swiss metal band that based an entire album around his novel..."
That is awesome. I am a metal fan and new nothing about this. I’ll be giving it a listen. Thanks for posting that!
Ok, we have some intriguing proposals for the July monthly read. Randolph, are you planning to organize the poll? If you're too busy, I'm happy to take care of it.
Ok, I set up the poll and sent out a broadcast message. Hope Randolph doesn't mind. Let me know if you don't see it, or if it looks weird.I think I included all the proposals, though I selected one of the two Carlson books. Otherwise they're competing against each other, which seems like a handicap.
Thank you, Bill! I've been offline the past few days and am just catching up (always so behind lately!) but think you've put together a splendid list. While I voted for the DeMeester, I'm also game for the Carlson. And, of course, Evenson is always swell.
Schwob got my vote... but I would definitely be game for the Carlson. If I can get either the Evenson or Demeester from my local library, I would give those a shot as well.
All but one of these was on my TBR, and I added the remaining one. Didn't vote since I'm happy with any of them.
Mimi wrote: "Maybe we could do what Randolph did before and if votes are close carry one of the titles forward to next month?"Good idea. We're a little behind organizing the polls at the moment, so I'm all for streamlining the process through August.
Marie-Therese and I have also been chatting about proposing the Evenson as a buddy read this month, before we started the poll.
Ok, it's close enough to August. Time to prepare for the August monthly read.I'll be traveling the first week and a half in August, and can't take care of setting things up. Which of you other moderators will handle this? What I would do ASAP:
1) set up a forum for discussing the August book (Schwob)
2) broadcast a message to all LH members confirming the August book, with a link to the forum, and approximate start date.
3) around the start date, post some "warmup" messages to the forum, to nudge people into action
Good luck.
Bill wrote: "Ok, it's close enough to August. Time to prepare for the August monthly read.I'll be traveling the first week and a half in August, and can't take care of setting things up. Which of you other moderators will handle this?"
The group read is the Schwob right? I'd be happy to set things up or Benjamin might wish to as I believe it was his suggestion. We can work it out between ourselves so you can vacation carefree, Bill.
Thanks for helping with the August Monthly Read!Yes, this is the book (2nd in the July poll): The King in the Golden Mask and Other Stories
It's actually more like an obli-cation, less of a vacation :-)
Hey MT... just getting to threads I haven't yet replied to. Thank you for offering to put the Schwob thread together. I don't mind doing it... afterall, I did nominate it, and voted for it... =).I'll put it up today... Enjoy your time away Bill!
Thanks!
Benjamin wrote: "Hey MT... just getting to threads I haven't yet replied to. Thank you for offering to put the Schwob thread together. I don't mind doing it... afterall, I did nominate it, and voted for it... =)."Wonderful, Benjamin! Thanks very much for shepherding this group read. My volume of the book (the 2018 Wakefield press edition) just arrived in the mail today. I am looking forward to reading it with you, Mimi, and others.
No problem! I just created a thread in our monthly read's board. I figured we can give folks a week or so to get a copy. I have the Tartarus press edition sitting on my shelf... I'm definitely looking forward to reading it with you guys too. I am curious if there is a difference in TOC between the different editions... =)
Benjamin wrote: "I am curious if there is a difference in TOC between the different editions... =)"Supposedly the Carcanet edition translated by Ian White is only half of the original 1892 book. I'm not entirely sure about Tartarus but I believe it is an update of the Carcanet edition. The afterword of my Wakefield edition claims it is the first complete translation into English of this book.
I tried looking online but couldn't find a Table of Contents for the Tartarus edition. How many stories are listed in your volume? The Wakefield edition has twenty-one stories, beginning with the titular "The King in the Golden Mask" and ending with "Bargette".
Please join Marie-Therese and me for our August Buddy Read, Brian Evenson's Song for the Unraveling of the World!Forum for discussion:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Ok, I know we're in the thick of two intriguing books right now. But it's probably time to start planning our next Monthly Read.A few ideas:
Karen Russell, Orange World and Other Stories
Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nightmare
Rafael Ferlosio, Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanui
Of the four books nominated in our last poll, we've managed to read/start reading 3 of them, but never got to the 4th. I've read Eric Stener Carlson's St Perpetuus since, but would be up for Muladona.
Other ideas?
Greatly enjoyed Arabian Nightmare when I read a few years ago. I don't think I would be up for reading it a second time though, given the multitude of titles in my TBR.I think the only one I would be interested in is Muladona.
All four of those choices sound good to me! I’ll read whatever is chosen bc I like reading and learning about the genre with you guys :) I did see someone’s review saying the Russell has 8 stories, 5 of which have already been published (no idea where though). I’ve not read any of her work yet so not a problem for me but might want to keep that in mind in case others have.
Benjamin wrote: "I think the only one I would be interested in is Muladona."Ok. What else do you suggest?
Muladona aside... I would be interested in the following...Cruelty (should be accessible via library if need be)
The Ballet of Dr Caligari and Madder Mysteries (should be available as an e-book)
Nothing is Everything
Literary Horror
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By the way, there have been Monthly Reads in this group with fewer than 5 participants. Check out the Kill Creek forum, where Ronald valiantly attempted to generate conversation.