Horror Aficionados discussion
Novels
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What books are you reading/have you recently read? 2024
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Really liking it."
I loved that one!!!"
It has nice low key creepiness. I can almost feel the cold and the dark and the strangness of the little town.
I usually read/listen to three books.Currently:
Paperback: “Mister Magic”
Kindle: “Blank Space”
Audible: “Impact Winter 2”
Erika wrote: "Ex Libris KJ wrote: "Just finished A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand. Kind of sad that this book did not work with me..."It didn't work for me either when I read it last year...but I learn..."
I definitely will add this to my list to try out! :) Thank you for the recommendation!
Alyssa wrote: "Megan wrote: "I just finished The Footage: A chilling psychological thriller and Incidents Around the House , and now I'm reading Little Heaven"oo..."
I really liked it! It wasn't something that would keep me up at night but it was really interesting and spooky read.
I’m afraid that I have to agree with my GR friend Randy about They Return At Evening. This collection is…fine. That’s about all I can say. Competently but not very imaginatively plotted, indifferently written. Seekers after classic ghost stories would be FAR better served by the likes of M.R. James.
I just finished Carmilla this week and I've started reading Freud's case studies!
Lately, I've been getting into Brian Evenson's books. Has a Kafka-meets-Ligotti kind of vibe.
In the Tall World. I read In The Tall Trees not long ago [loved it-5 stars!] and I finally have a chance to read the sequel.
Eerie, hauntingly beautiful prose, just like the 1st in series, but this time around, barely-there plot. You're reading this purely for "the vibez" and the humor, because...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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I wasn't sure if James Patterson could pull off finishing a Michael Crichton manuscript, but, wow, did he ever.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Love the cover on this. Hope the story is as good as the previous two books.
I started The eyes are the best part by Monika Kim
I'm currently reading You Should Be So Lucky and it's pretty good so far! I just finished reading The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper: In His Own Words, The Confession of the World's Most Infamous Killer, that was something, my eyes were wide the whole reading.
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It always feels like there is so much I want to read heading into spooky season and there's never enough time.
Hi everyone! 👋🏻 I’ve recently finished Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion which was fascinating and such an eye-opener! Especially the horrific crimes some of the inmates were inside for. (The 2 Ian’s Huntley & Watkins (from the band The Lostprophets) to name a couple of evil b******s). Now I’m into something more fitting for the time of year, SPOOKY SEASON 🙌🏻 so I started Cunning Folk which I’m thoroughly enjoying and completely hooked already and I’m only a couple of chapters in!
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and listening to appropriate background ambience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih4_1...
I've been on an extreme horror binge recently, but actually I've decided to retry reading Mark Z. Danielewski's House Of Leaves! I tried reading it in my teens and struggled, but this second time round has really gripped me! The mystery really begins to kick off quite early on, and it's keeping me hooked.
And finally, to cap off my backlog of unwritten reviews, I finished two short story collections, both of which contain (but are not fully devoted to) stories which could be classified as classics of the Weird and/or Horror genres: 
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Rating: 3 stars (that is: 4 stars for the King in Yellow stories, and 2-3 stars for the rest)
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading Clive Barker's second full-length novel
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Ffinished The eyes are the best part by Monika Kim which was pretty good and interesting. Also finished my re read of Duma key. Great book.
I'm reading The Last House on Needless Street and read the first volume of Tank girl ( a bind-up of 10 episodes)
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Excellent ghost story that really has me guessing what exactly is going on.
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Excellent ghost story that really has me guessing what exactly is going on."
The story was mostly good but that ending has me really scratching my head. So abrupt and I'm not sure I understand it.
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Excellent ghost story that really has me guessing what exactly is going on."
The story was mostly good but t..."
That's how I felt about this one...
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Read a review that put it well - as long as the story focused on the Close and the strangeness there it worked but when the story tried to tell about about events in the personal lives of the two main women it felt tacked on.
I'm still glad I read the book, it had great atmosphere, I just wish it didn't get distracted with things that had nothing to with the ghost story.
I started reading “The Inheritance” by J. Galliano.
Just finished "Let's Go Play at the Adam's" last week. The only book I've ever read to make me feel absolutely awful afterwards, somehow mentally, emotionally AND physically.
Started and finished We spread by Ian Reid which was pretty good. Now, after Night of the living dummy I started The curse of the mummy, from Goosebumps.
I finished Dear Old Dead by Jane Haddam.
I just finished The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones- 5/5!! Just started Never Whistle at Night
currently reading "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia!
Erin wrote: "The Deep"When I saw this I wondered if you meant The Deep by Peter Benchley or The Deep by Mickey Spillane. I was wrong with both!
Finished Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination by Edogawa Rampo, which might be of some interest here since it deals primarily with psychological horror. Also interesting for a Western culture genre as seen through the eyes of a different culture, and maybe as a precursor of and influence on Japanese horror movies.Now on to A Maze for the Minotaur by Reggie Oliver, who updates traditional ghost stories to reflect the concerns and perspective of contemporary society. Five stories in and I'm thinking this is not a collection I'll set aside before finishing.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...Oh wowza…looking for a violent, creepy read? Just finished a book recently that I can’t stop thinking about…probably because I live on a farm…but this is an excellent folk horror.
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A different take on vampires and Peter Pan and Wendy
Christopher wrote: "Erin wrote: "The Deep"When I saw this I wondered if you meant The Deep by Peter Benchley or The Deep by Mickey Spillane. I was wrong with both!"
There seems to be quite a few books titled The Deep!
Lovi wrote: "currently reading "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia!"I really enjoyed this one!!! I hope you do too!
This reads like a reddit creepypasta post, it's eerie and ambiguous, cosmic horror realm. I like that there's morse code, symbols and different languages so you have to...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A taut, effective novella with a sympathetic protagonist - or victim, shall we say. It was even a bit humorous, the parts where her hypochondriac thoughts manifested in paranoid googling of her symptoms (which we're all guilty of at some point). The horror hung on the periphery, in the memories one cannot remember, of not being able to...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recognize this book was probably trailblazing in its day, but having read so many modern haunted house stories (yes, of which they took inspiration from this book), the original seems tame in comparison. I was so! bored! Not that I need drama and gore, but most of this novel was...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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DNF'd
for being incredibly boring. Great cover but nothing inside worth investing time in.
Horror Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
Within The Fog (other topics)Nemesis (other topics)
At Dark, I Become Loathsome (other topics)
Reap, Sow (other topics)
Dead of Winter (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jean Ray (other topics)Nick Clausen (other topics)
Russell James (other topics)
Jean Ray (other topics)
Daniel Church (other topics)
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It didn't work for me either when I read it last year...but I learned about Wylding Hall by E. Hand here on this group and a few of us read it. It was great!
The style of it gave me an atmospheric feeling comparative to Picnic at Hanging Rock and part mystique reminiscent to the lore of the Cottingly Fairies. So, I recommend trying this one to see if you prefer it :)