Nominations for July 2020 Group Read

[Dan]

July is a Classic Weird group read month. Please nominate any Weird Fiction book (novel, collection of short stories) written before 1990 that you think will be of interest to our group, one that benefits from discussion. I will keep nominations open through June 17.

[Scott]

I'll suggest A Nest of Nightmares by Lisa Tuttle, which I am reading now and enjoying very much.

[Dan]

Good choice! I've never heard of this writer before, but she has been publishing for a long time: 1972-2018, her latest being a graphic novel she co-wrote with George R. R. Martin (Windhaven). Her first published 1972 short story, "Stranger in the House", is in the book. I could not locate online a copy of her 3-page 1968 short story "How Long?", or even find a copy of the fanzine it appeared in for purchase. I do understand a copy of the fanzine is located in Texas A & M's Cushing Library, Lisa Tuttle special collection, folder 11. Maybe one day. That 1968 fanzine her story is published in also has a Fritz Leiber essay, of all things!

[Scott]

I discovered her in 1985 when her story "Flying to Byzantium" appeared in Rod Serling's Twilight Zone Magazine. Although there was not a ton of stuff by her out there, I always kept her in mind as an author to look out for. I'm really glad this collection was finally reprinted.

[Catherine]

Not sure if you've already covered this one in the group, but can I nominate Kafka's Metamorphosis?

[Dan]

Nomination for The Metamorphosis noted. I read this a long time ago and enjoyed it greatly. I have never read a Kafka book that wasn't really thought-provoking.

[Catherine]

Dan wrote: "Nomination for The Metamorphosis noted. I read this a long time ago and enjoyed it greatly. I have never read a Kafka book that wasn't really thought-provoking."
Thanks, Dan. I haven't read it since uni and feel it's worth a re-read.

[Dan]

We have not formally done any H. P. Lovecraft yet. So I am going to nominate his The Tomb and Other Tales, a short story collection edited by August Derleth in 1965. It has 13 stories, four fragments, and a bibliography of all Lovecraft works at the end written by Lovecraft himself.

I found ten print copies on Bookfinder.com for under $5, including shipping. It's a good collection, well worth the $5. If eBook is your style, most of the stories are sold via Kindle in the complete collection for $0.99 or $1.99. You can read just the stories from the book in that if you want, rather than the entire collection, which would take a lot of time. I noticed some stories in the book are not available in that "complete" Kindle collection. I'll happily provide links to those stories so that you can read the same material with us. I think you will find reading the book stories selected by Derleth in the order he arranged them a better way to go than trying to read some massive, random e-book dump.

[Dan]

Today, June 17, is the last day for nominations. We have three excellent ones so far. I'm happy to entertain more nominations for pre-1990 Weird books as long as it is made before midnight the night of June 17th, Eastern Standard Time.

[Scott]

Dan wrote: "We have not formally done any H. P. Lovecraft yet. So I am going to nominate his The Tomb and Other Tales, a short story collection edited by August Derleth in 1965."

Great collection! I really do prefer his shorter works.
I still have my Del Rey paperback from the 80s, with the Michael Whelan cover art.

[Dan]

Me too! I have only read a story from it, maybe two, like twenty years ago.