Horror Recommendations for the Unenlightened

[nomadman]

Someone mentioned Chthulu,just how many of these works of Lovecraft are there? I need to find some of his stuff,but i know nothing about him. Is he a contempary of Edgar Allan Poe?

Try this site for Lovecraft's works.

The H. P. Lovecraft Library (in HTML and TXT)

 

[AE35Unit]

Thanks nomad but i don't have a palm OS,just a bog standard cell phone.(sony ericsson W850i) Hope to get a nokia N95 as a replacement tho soon.

 

[nomadman]

Hideshi Hino's "The Bug Boy"

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[Hedrigall]

For horror short stories I would definitely recommend:

Looking for Jake by China Mieville for a short-but-sweet compilation of urban horror/fantasy (some of the stories being very, very creepy)

and

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King, which I think is his best collection of short stories, especially as it includes The Mist and The Raft, two of the scariest things he's ever written, and The Jaunt and Beachworld, two of his best sci-fi stories (which also verge into horror territory).

 

[Lioness]

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned The Shining, by Stephen King.

That really scared me. I havn't read IT yet though, so it may pale in comparison.

 

[Paul Alabaster]

Dean Koontz Tick Tock was my FIRST ever horror novel and I loved it to bits!

 

[Connavar]

Odd Thomas by Dean Koonzt i thought was a great read.

Its a supernatural thriller but with elements of horror.

 

[AE35Unit]

My Helen got and read the Odd Thomas books recently, they sound quite entertaining!

 

[daveschaub]

Great list...I've just finished Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice..I hope I have more time to read the books
posted above..I love Anne Rice's novels. Thanks also for
introducing me to other horror book authors.

 

[j d worthington]

Welcome to the Chrons, Dave. Pull up a chair and get a good reading lamp... it's quite possible you'll be here for a looong time....

 

[Lobolover]

But be forewarned -you may not like what some of us could......never mind (hides garden scissors)

 

[nomadman]

Though only a fraction of his work has been translated into English, Edogawa Rampo is a writer whom many fans of the weird tale would do well to read. Though primarily a mystery writer (he even has an award named after him) Rampo also wrote a number of very chilling short stories. His collection, The Human Chair, is an excellent mix of psychological horror, supernatural horror, and flat-out weirdness. The title piece is expecially good. It's such a simple, odd, idea, and the absence of any hint of the supernatural renders is all the more chilling. Only the ending lets it down, and unfortunately lets it down quite badly. Nonetheless, it's a piece I've read and reread a number of times, and remains a favorite to this day. The other pieces range from tales of torture and mutilation, to warped murder mysteries and supernatural encounters. The Caterpillar, and the Hell of Mirrors are both first-rate.

For lovers of dark psychological horror-fantasy, Stefan Grabinski's The Dark Domain merits a place on their shelf. Largely ignored in his lifetime, Grabinski quietly continued to write his 'psychofantasies' (as he termed them), oblivious to the trends of fashion or literary style that continually forced him to compromise or perish. Grabinski chose to perish, dying at the relatively early age of 49 in poverty and in pain. Thankfully, a cadre of friends and admirers kept his work alive, and as a result of this he is now available to read in English. The pieces themselves range from tales of persecution and paranoia (Stabisimus, The Glance), paranormal obsession (The Area, Szamota's Mistress), quasi-philosophical horror fantasy (Saturnin Sektor), to straight forward Gothic horror (Tale of the Gravedigger). There are also a number of very fine train stories of which The Motion Demon is perhaps the best.

The Decapitated Chicken by Horacio Quiroga contains some of the most brutal, uncompromising horror pieces I've ever come across. Although primarily non-fantastical, most of the tales here are set in an environment so alien to Western experience (the South American jungle) that they have the effect of removing the reader from safe, familar terrain and thrusting him into a world of dangers as chilling and as unknown as any in more overtly fantastical fiction. Quiroga led what was by all means a terrible, tragic life, and his writing reflects this. Here is a world where there is no redemption, only death in its many forms. The title piece, about four mentally retarded brothers and their gradually more sinister relationship with their sister, is utterly unique, and quite brilliant. Tales of talking dogs, living pillows and unmerciful work gangs make up the rest of the collection.

Though not a horror writer, Borges wrote a number of tales that could quite conceivably fit into the genre. Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is an excellent piece: the history of a secret, worldwide movement to bring into being an alternate Earth, and its accidental unearthing by a duo of scholars flicking through an obscure copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The Immortal, The God's Script, The House of Asterion and There Are More Things (this last dedicated to Lovecraft) are all superb.

Whilst I'm on the subject of Latin-American writers, Julio Cortazar's short stories are well worth looking into. The Idol of the Cyclades and The Night Face Up are both expert blendings of horror and fantasy. They can be found in his collection Blow Up and Other Tales.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa might be known today primarily for having written the piece, or pieces, on which Akira Kurosawa's acclaimed film Rashomon was based, but he also wrote a number of other accomplished short stories of which The Hell Screen is perhaps the best. A brilliant but depraved artist is commissioned to produce a folding screen depicting various scenes of Hell for a Lord of the Japanese Court. The lengths to which he will go to make his work as realistic as possible lead inevitably to disaster... Akutagawa himself, a distured young man, compitted suicide at 35. Some of his later stories, Spinning Gears for example, are heartbreaking in the horrendous emotional despair they convey. Not strictly horror, but then not exactly comfortable reading either...

Kobo Abe's reputation lies mainly on two novels: The Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another. In the first, a bug collector comes across a strange village falf-buried in the dunes. He soon finds himself a prisoner of the villagers, forced to dig away the sand which daily threatens to submerge the entire village. In the second, a man horribly disfigured in a scientific accident, creates a perfect mask whose imagined personality he gradually comes to identify with.

 

[dask]

Great sounding stuff. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Is Kobo Abe's sf novel INTER ICE AGE 4 any good? It's the only book of his I remember seeing.

 

[GOLLUM]

Yes I wanted to say that was a particularly interesting post by you Nomadman.

I'm getting Grabrinski's Dark Domains. The European Poe indeed....we shall see.

I remember writing a review of the Human Chair but can't seem to locate it now. Anyway, agreed this is an excellent collection from a Japanese legend whose influences include Kafka and Doyle.

I have Kobe Abe's Woman In The Dunes but am yet to read it and anything I repeat anything from the great Latin American writer Cortazar is pure magic IMO. I think it was Carlos Fuentes who said if you don't read Cotazar you are doomed...or words to that effect. Probably almost as well regarded as Neruda and Borges in that neck of the woods. I'm currently collecting all of his published/translated works. He's not someone whose work is that readily available these days.

Of course I have all of Borges collected fiction and several of his essays (non-fiction) are excellent!

I have a Penguin black classic edition of Rashomon & Seventeen Other Stories, which includes Hell Screen. Another collection I'm yet to have read. Is that the collection you have Nomadman??

Horacio Quiroga I confess I've never heard of, so is Decapitated Chicken easy to get a copy of???

Thanks for the post.....

 

[nomadman]

Yes I wanted to say that was a particularly interesting post by you Nomadman.

I'm getting Grabrinski's Dark Domains. The European Poe indeed....we shall see.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that moniker. Although marked by a pronounced Gothic feel, Grabinski's work is quintessentially 20th Century. Indeed, whilst reading it I was struck by how modern-seeming many of the tales felt, both in style and in theme. Some of his tales have an almost Ligotti-like flavor to them (or should that be the other way round?). Anyway, well worth reading, for sure.

I remember writing a review of the Human Chair but can't seem to locate it now. Anyway, agreed this is an excellent collection from a Japanese legend whose influences include Kafka and Doyle.

I'd be interested in reading that, if you can find it.

I have Kobe Abe's Woman In The Dunes but am yet to read it and anything I repeat anything from the great Latin American writer Cortazar is pure magic IMO. I think it was Carlos Fuentes who said if you don't read Cotazar you are doomed...or words to that effect. Probably almost as well regarded as Neruda and Borges in that neck of the woods. I'm currently collecting all of his published/translated works. He's not someone whose work is that readily available these days.

Woman in the Dunes is a short, though by no means simplistic, book. Abe's style has a certain spartan precision to it that has the effect of rendering the terror and the futility of the situation the protagonist finds himself in all the more potent.

There are a couple of translated editions of Cortazar's work floating about. I've seen Blow Up, Hopscotch, All Fires the Fire, 62: A Model Kit and The Diary of Andreas Fava floating around. I've only read Blow Up, which was excellent.

Of course I have all of Borges collected fiction and several of his essays (non-fiction) are excellent!

Yes, Borges is one of the few writers whose non-fiction is as fascinating as his fiction. Unusual, though not surprising, given that many of his stories have an essay-like feel to them. His prose poetry is also superb.

I have a Penguin black classic edition of Rashomon & Seventeen Other Stories, which includes Hell Screen. Another collection I'm yet to have read. Is that the collection you have Nomadman??

That's the one. Although it misses a few famous tales (Yam Gruel for instance) it's all in all a good representative selection of his work.

Horacio Quiroga I confess I've never heard of, so is Decapitated Chicken easy to get a copy of???

It's fairly easy to get hold of last time I checked. I've seen copies in Waterstones and Foyles, and failing that there's always amazon. If you want a taster of his work, the title story can be read here

Thanks for the post.....

No problem.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks for the reply nomadman.

A few points:

1). Grabinski I've seen touted as the European Poe but if as you say he's more along the lines of a 2oth Century Ligotti then your assessment would be the more balanced one. I look forward to getting hold of my copy to see for myself. Either way, he seems an excellent writer of horror fiction. Wonder if J.D. has read him?

2). Well I've got several of Cortazar's works and he's not let me down so far. I know of those translations you speak of and will be collecting the remaining works before the end of the year.

3). In addition to Woman In The Dunes, which I'm currently reading, I've also purchased The Face Of Another. It's not as highly regarded as Woman In The Dunes but I look forward to reading about how a Scientiat whose face is horribly marred in an accident perfects a mask which hides his burns but also allows him to perceive the world in a wholly different light. Quite psycho-analytical from what I can garner from the blurb.....a little touch of Well's Invisble Man but the 2 stories apparently differ quite markedly.

Thanks for the reply....

 

[j d worthington]

Wonder if J.D. has read him?

Nope. This is one I'm only familiar with by name. Thanks for the reminder, folks....

 

[Lobolover]

You should, from what I gather . I also came across something I'm gonna send per mail .

Oh, did you check that link for the Arsole Fantöme reprint ?

 

[nomadman]

Grabinski I've seen touted as the European Poe but if as you say he's more along the lines of a 2oth Century Ligotti then your assessment would be the more balanced one. I look forward to getting hold of my copy to see for myself. Either way, he seems an excellent writer of horror fiction. Wonder if J.D. has read him?

Well, Szamota's Mistress and The Tale of the Gravedigger both show a marked Poe influence, but these are among the weakest pieces in the collection IMO, lacking the poetry or emotional tension of Poe's work. Far more successful I think are his quasi-philosophical tales, in which Grabinski explores the notions of solipsism, non-linear timeframes and split personalities, this last being a recurring theme in several stories. Then there is the unclassifiable The Area, perhaps Grabinski's most famous work, which I can only compare to Ligotti at his nihilistic best. I certainly think, if you like that particular author, you'll find Grabinski to your taste.

Great sounding stuff. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Is Kobo Abe's sf novel INTER ICE AGE 4 any good? It's the only book of his I remember seeing.

Sorry, I missed this post. I've unfortunately not read the book in question, but both Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another should be fairly easy to get hold of, being part of the Penguin Classics silver range.

 

[GOLLUM]

@Nomadman: I'm currently reading Face Of Another and Woman In The Dunes and enjoying both works.

Wow Grabinski likend to Ligotti, well I'm definitely going to get this now!

Thanks for the update.