Eerie; but not supernatural, sf, dark fantasy, etc.

[Randy M.]

Tennyson’s poem “Mariana” is a good example of what I had in mind.

Interesting poem. Beautiful in its way.

 

[Toby Frost]

The Lord of the Flies?
The Magus?

 

[AllanR]

I think High Rise by Ballard fits here.

 

[Extollager]

High Rise is eerie?

But here is a picture by Millais for Tennyson's "Mariana."

The dimness of the room and the hiddenness of the woman's face contributes to the strangeness of the poem. There's much withdrawal from common life into shadows in this poem... The text of the poem is here:

Mariana

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With blackest moss the flower-plots
Were thickly crusted, one and all:
The rusted nails fell from the knots
That held the pear to the gable-wall.
The broken sheds look'd sad and strange:
Unlifted was the clinking latch;
Weeded and worn the ancient thatch
Upon the lonely moated grange. ...

All day within the dreamy house,
The doors upon their hinges creak'd;
The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse
Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd,
Or from the crevice peer'd about.
Old faces glimmer'd thro' the doors
Old footsteps trod the upper floors,
Old voices called her from without. ...

 

[Davelectro]

Very interesting question! Eerie is so hard to describe, things strike folks different ways.

As a cinematic example, I got an extremely eerie feeling when I saw a particular scene in David Lynch's Eraserhead, when Harry's pregnant girlfriend who'd been sobbing hysterically is in the doorway at him with horror & fright in her eyes. Her father, seated with Harry at the dinner table, stares at him with a very deranged grin.

Twas eerie indeed but then again, I was 10.

Looking this over I must admit it' a bit of an odd first post, but anyway hello all! Been reading the forum it's an excellent site full of all kinds of interesting discussions, learned a lot from the very knowledgeable people here and for that I thank you!

 

[Guttersnipe]

Novels (some made into films): Psycho by Robert Bloch; American Psycho by by Bret Easton Ellis; Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane; Mine by Robert R. McCammon; Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky; I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Films: Sybil (also a sort-of-true story); Take Shelter; Jacob's Ladder; Stay; Freaks (1932); The Game; Frailty (it's ambiguously supernatural)
Short Stories: "Paranoia," "The Possibility of Evil," and "The Summer People" by Shirley Jackson; "Robert" by Stanley Ellin; "The Glass Eye" by John Keir Cross; "A Note for the Milkman" by Sidney Carroll; "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner; "The End of the Party" by Graham Greene; "The Hornet" by George Clayton Johnson.

 

[Guttersnipe]

"The Infamous Bengal Ming" by Rajesh Parameswaran.

 

[Davelectro]

"The Yellow Wallpaper", which must hold some kind of record for most anthologized short story ever lol, is definitely what I would call eerie.

 

[Davelectro]

Novels (some made into films): Psycho by Robert Bloch; American Psycho by by Bret Easton Ellis; Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane; Mine by Robert R. McCammon; Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky; I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Films: Sybil (also a sort-of-true story); Take Shelter; Jacob's Ladder; Stay; Freaks (1932); The Game; Frailty (it's ambiguously supernatural)
Short Stories: "Paranoia," "The Possibility of Evil," and "The Summer People" by Shirley Jackson; "Robert" by Stanley Ellin; "The Glass Eye" by John Keir Cross; "A Note for the Milkman" by Sidney Carroll; "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner; "The End of the Party" by Graham Greene; "The Hornet" by George Clayton Johnson.

Excellent suggestions there! Shirley Jackson always struck me as eerie, many of her stories give me a distinctly weird, eerie, strange feeling.

 

[BAYLOR]

Randy, I've read Picnic, and, yes, that works within the parameters I indicated. The stories you mention I don't think I have read. To Walk the Night I've read a couple of times, but it's certainly sf and so wouldn't fit this thread. (I liked The Edge of Running Water more, I think.)

I wish William Sloane had written more than just those two books. I enjoyed both, They had a bit of Outer Limits feel to them.

You might want to take a look at Donovan's Brain by Kurt Siodmak.

Wisteria Cottage I'll have to look up. (And try to keep myself from expecting something out of Sherlock Holmes!)

Ive not heard of this one.

 

[Guttersnipe]

"Miriam" by Truman Capote. A woman is encroached upon by a girl who is implied to be all in her head.

 

[Bick]

The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins ?

 

[BAYLOR]

The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins ?

Or his novel the Moonstone?

 

[dask]

Poe's "The Man Of The Crowd" perhaps? It had that eerie mysterious edge to it.

 

[Randy M.]

Wisteria Cottage I'll have to look up. (And try to keep myself from expecting something out of Sherlock Holmes!)

Ive not heard of this one.

Valancourt Books edition

Honestly, not sure this one will be "eerie" after reading the description.

 

[BAYLOR]

Valancourt Books edition

Honestly, not sure this one will be "eerie" after reading the description.

You might want to check out. Night has A Thousand Eyes by Cornell Woolrich This one is most interesting but doe have certain supernatural elements.

 

[Randy M.]

I've read that a couple of times, and I like the movie of it with Edward G. Robinson. That one does fit the request.

 

[StilLearning]

With the caveat that 'eerie' is something of an in-the-eye-of-the-beholder for me: Would William Hope Hodgeson's Sargasso Sea Mythos fit the bill? 'The Voice In The Dawn' certainly has a supernatural implication - but it is never confirmed and a mundane explanation is still on the table at the end. Not all the stories are what I'd call eerie, not all the way through - but they all have something of it for at least part. The version of the Sargasso sea he writes about is not real, but it's not supernatural or fantastical either (and given recent events it's not that unreal). You might argue that the size and intelligence of some of the marine life borders on the fantastical - but I'd also point out that while it's not realistic, a quick google of 'cephalopod intelligence', 'deep sea gigantism' or 'Japanese spider crabs' shows it's definitely not beyond all realistic speculation - especially for the time the stories were written.

 

[BAYLOR]

Nightshade And Damnations by Gerald Kersh There are several stories in that collection which meet the OP's criteria

 

[Davelectro]

Nightshade And Damnations by Gerald Kersh There are several stories in that collection which meet the OP's criteria

I've heard excellent things about this collection. Ordered it recently and am very much looking forward to checking it out!