Literary Horror discussion
Monthly Reads
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Monthly Read Suggestions
Ok, we should move forward on this, trim the suggestions a bit, and set up the poll. (Polls are awkward when there are too many options, especially since we won't broadcast this one to all group members and will probably have fewer voters.)From my proposals, I will retain
Ferlosio, Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanui
Carlson, Muladonna
Benjamin, do you want to pick a couple of yours? I'm fine with any of them. (The Star of Gnosia is also on my to-read list, but it's not available as an ebook and may not be easy to get quickly.)
Sounds good, Bill. I'm fine with going with Cruelty and Ballet. I can push the Murphy and Stranzas at a later point. And I'm definitely fine with fewer voters. Honestly, I think the only ones that ought to be voting are those that are willing to participate in the read if their voted book gets selected.
Thanks Benjamin. Last call for September Monthly Read proposals. Please share opinions (yay/nay) on the books mentioned so far, and books that haven't been mentioned.
I'd like to have the poll up by dinnertime today.
October is creeping up. Time to nominate books for our October monthly read.I'll give this another shot:
Ferlosio, Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanui
Ideas?
Bill wrote: "October is creeping up. Time to nominate books for our October monthly read.I'll give this another shot:
Ferlosio, Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanui
Ideas?"
Alfanui sounds great to me!
I'd also note that we never did read the third volume of Valancourt's anthology of horror stories The Valancourt Book of Horror Stories: Volume Three, and those are usually very good.
Shelley Jackson's Riddance: Or the Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children could be interesting (although possibly more of a buddy read than a group read).
Another possibility is a new novel published by Tor titled The Monster of Elendhaven I've only read a few reviews but they have been good; most indicate that this is a very dark, grim short novel that appears to remind some reviewers of Poppy Z. Brite and others of Shirley Jackson.
I would be up for Star Gnosia by Murphy or Cruelty by Dahl
Benjamin wrote: "I would be up for Star Gnosia by Murphy or Cruelty by Dahl"The Star of Gnosia looks intriguing but if we're going to plan it as a group read we should do so a month ahead as it's apparently print-on-demand and can take up to a month to be delivered. There is no ebook edition available either :-(
Thanks for the intriguing and diverse slate, everyone! I already anticipate a lot of nail biting decisions and vote-switching. Last call for October monthly read nominations. I'd like to have the poll up by dinner-time tonight.
Poll is up!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
Please vote only if you're committed to participating if your pick wins. Thanks!
It's mid-November, so time to think about our December monthly read!Some ideas from my to-read list:
Sam Richard (ed), The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg (ebook on Amazon, but link is broken, sigh)
Sarah Read, Out of Water
Jennifer Giesbrecht, The Monster of Elendhaven
I nominate Penny Dreadnought: Omnibus! Volume 1https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I just purchased it for an absurdly low price for my ereader. It looks like a fun read.
Last call for December monthly read nominations. I'd like to have the poll up over the weekend.
I know this group is mostly interested in current horror, but the straight-up gothic horror I wish to nominate is To The Dark Tower by Lyda Belknap Long. This is one of eight novels Frank Belknap Long wote under the Lyda pseudonym. These novels have a small cult following in horror circles. I have a friend who has read all eight. She says this one is good, and I see it is the most accessible of the eight, plenty of used copies for less than $10.
Dan wrote: "I know this group is mostly interested in current horror, but the straight-up gothic horror I wish to nominate is To The Dark Tower by Lyda Belknap Long."Our October book was first published in 1951. Over 70% of our November book had stories written before 1960. Do you consider "current" to be the 50s and after?
No. What makes me say that is if you go to the Bookshelf, 19 of the last 20 books are published 1990 or later, 18/20 from this century, and the overwhelming majority of those five or fewer years old. Hey, there's nothing wrong with preferring to be on the bleeding edge and eschewing the classics. Why not therefore own it?
Dan wrote: "No. What makes me say that is if you go to the Bookshelf, 19 of the last 20 books are published 1990 or later, 18/20 from this century, and the overwhelming majority of those five or fewer years ol..."Surely you realize that the publication date of recent editions does not reflect the date the book was written or first published?
In the past 12 months we've read works by Marcel Schwob (1867-1905), Fritz Leiber (1910-1992), Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985), Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988), and Dino Buzzati (1906-1972) and Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio (1927-2019). I'd hardly call any of these books "bleeding edge". In fact, the Belknap Long book you've nominated (first published in 1969) postdates a number of these.
I like the fact that we have diverse tastes here and feel no need to cling to the classics or to ride the latest wave. We read what we want to read, keep our eyes open for interesting content from everywhere, and try to make sure that what we choose as a group read is available in multiple formats at reasonable prices so that those who aren't collectors can join in. Our only hope for a book is that it's a good read. Period.
I don't want to argue. I have just noticed a big recent trend (latest 20 entries on the Bookshelf, which goes back 14 months) towards more recent works and wished to state a personal preference for the classics.
Um... Dan... no argument or anything, but I'm not sure how you are arriving to this conclusion. Certainly, a fair number of titles are more contemporary (post 1990), but many of these titles were originally published pre-1990, from the "latest 20 entries". A number of these titles may have been recently republished in a newer edition, but the story, stories, or collection was published some time ago. Maybe there is some confusion there.Anywho, my impression is that the titles that have been proposed and a adopted by the group are very eclectic, as noted by Marie Therese. If you are dissatisfied with the titles being proposed and selected, by all means, take part in these discussions and try to sway folks into voting for the books that you are most interested in.
No problem... and I don't think the publishing date is inaccurate. I think what ever edition you looked up on GR may have indeed shown the correct publishing date, but there are probably older editions of the book that would require a little more digging. Another thing to keep in mind is that there are a number of publishers, Valancourt to name one, that republish "golden oldies". Look at the recent suggestion for the December monthly read. One member proposed the Valancourt collection of Christmas stories. If you read through the table of contents and google for some of these stories, you will probably come to the conclusion that the editor, much like yourself, has an interest in the "classics" and went about creating a "new" collection of stories that he enjoyed from the past. The publication date though is 2018. The stories though were likely published many years ago. There might be a few contemporary stories thrown in for good measure though.
Just something to keep in mind. I guess we shouldn't judge a book from its publication date... no? =)
Benjamin wrote: "I think what ever edition you looked up on GR may have indeed shown the correct publishing date, but there are probably older editions..."When I pull up a book on goodreads in my web browser, it shows the pub date of the edition, and almost always an "originally published" date. And many of the authors (and their approximate active periods) are quite well-known to fans of fantastic lit.
Also, my definition for "current" is more like after 2014, not 1994. I'm sure (say) Fritz Leiber has a lot of fans, but Livia Llewellyn could use a few more.
I don't know if this is playing a part in the confusion, but on the mobile app it will show the edition date as the original publication date. I remember mentioning it in the last days of the Feedback Forum, but I don't think the staff understood what I was talking about. :/
Scott wrote: "I don't know if this is playing a part in the confusion, but on the mobile app it will show the edition date as the original publication date. I remember mentioning it in the last days of the Feedb..."Yeah that is an interesting point... for example... when you look up the Centipede Press edition of 'The Tenant' by Roland Torpor, it shows that the publication date is 2006 and then in parentheses it states that the original pub date was 1964. Maybe, whatever Dan was looking at didn't have the 'original pub date'... who knows.
I think all of this is really just a side point though. I think the real issue is that Dan and perhaps others just haven't really been into the books that this group has read in the last year... which is totally fine... to each his own. The problem we have is that we don't have a lot of folks participating in selecting books and doing the group read for the books they actually voted on. I would suggest that as a member, if someone wants to have specific books considered for reading by the voting body (which is any member in this forum), then speak up. I don't know how else anyone can know what someone is interested in for the group read if they are using a more telepathic approach to communication.
I have been busy with a return to school that didn't turn out well, and other activities here on GR. I didn't even get a chance to consider reading some of the group reads of the past 18 months or so. I had no idea so many were republishings. As a GR librarian I find myself constantly editing entries to put in accurate original pub dates.Anyway, I'm back now and looking forward to upping my participation here.
Hope everyone is enjoying the transition into the holidays. It's probably time to start the conversation about our January monthly read. A couple ideas:Paul Tremblay, Growing Things and Other Stories
Josh Malerman, A House at the Bottom of a Lake
Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black TomEdit: I changed the book I am nominating because this work of LaValle's is more definitively horror. The other is more speculative fiction, which is less appropriate for the group. Hope changing it like this is okay.
Dan wrote: "Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom"This is a good choice; the only problem is I suspect most of us have already read it (it was widely anthologized, seeming to show up in just about every "best of" collection last year).
A possibility, if some people would like to read it as a group read for January, is to allow those of us who have already read it to pick another work that tweaks Lovecraft in interesting ways and report on those alongside. I've been meaning to read Lovecraft Country and this would be a good opportunity to do so. I imagine the two works would complement each other very well, given their subject matter.
Setting aside the Lovecraft-inspired theme, I'd propose these books as possible group reads for January or future months:
Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
Riddance: Or the Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children by Shelley Jackson
When Darkness Loves Us or Black Ambrosia by Elizabeth Engstrom (both newly reissued by Valancourt
A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by John Hornor Jacobs
Thanks for the diverse and intriguing proposals, M-T!We should probably wrap up the nominations, for a start date of early January. Last call for Jan 2020 Monthly Read proposals.
The Other Place and Other Stories, by J.B. Preistley
Janie wrote: "The Other Place and Other Stories, by J.B. Preistley"This is the book, right?
The Other Place, and Other Stories of the Same Sort
Yes - I'm sorry, I am not sure how to post the link to the book without posting the link to whole page.
Janie wrote: "Yes - I'm sorry, I am not sure how to post the link to the book without posting the link to whole page."No problem. There's a link "add book/author" above the comment box.
Randolph wrote: "Heart-Beast, Dark Dance, Lost Souls, The Cipher, Wilding,"These look amazing, Randolph! I'd be thrilled to read anything by Koja, Lee, and Tem. Let's add them to the list for February and March.
Are we allowed to submit recommendations?
Sander wrote: "Are we allowed to submit recommendations?"Yes, of course! Please do.
I would like to nominate The Seven Deadliest. I've been really getting into novellas lately, and this book contains seven! I'm mostly interested in it for the Brian Kirk entry at least, in part, due to this review of the book (avoid if you don't want to see the light spoilers): https://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/...
Thanks for all the intriguing nominations, everyone! Over the weekend, please 1) propose more books, and 2) help us narrow down the list by sharing your preferences for the current nominees. These polls work better if there are (say) 4 or 5 candidates.
Randolph wrote: "Of my noms I would prefer The Cipher or Wilding in that order."Thanks Randolph. Marie-Therese, you made some nominations from last month that we trimmed from the poll. Care to mention one or two to include?
Everyone, please feel free to comment on the nominations so far, even if you didn't propose them.
Poll is up!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
Please vote by end of Friday. If you vote for a book and it wins, you plan to participate in the monthly read.
Reminder: our Feb 2020 monthly read poll closes end of today:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
February is a short month, so we should be thinking about our March monthly read.A few items from my to-read list:
Nicole Cushing, The Half-Freaks
Christopher Jones, The Porcupine Boy and Other Anthological Oddities
Robert Wilson, Ashes and Entropy
Please share thoughts and more nominations!
Literary Horror
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Its been on my library shelf calling my name for some time now... =)