this may be old news, but a bunch of Michael McDowell's novels are now available on Amazon thanks to Valancourt Books. I'd recommend The Elementals, which is sort of like Solaris reimagined as a southern gothic family drama: a Victorian beach house is haunted by the dead relatives of a wealthy Alabama clan, but it's unclear if the apparitions are sentient or if they're sand gollums assembled by a non-human entity to torment the family with memories of their oppressive former matriarch. he has a knack for dysfunctional family dynamics (using the supernatural to awaken and complicate old jealousies/feuds) though he occasionally veers into soap opera melodramatics. I'm making my way through his 6-volume Blackwater series now.
he churned out close to 30 novels in the '80s, but a lot of them are regarded as hackwork and will probably never be reprinted; he was quoted as saying, "I would be perfectly willing if a publisher came up to me and said, 'I need a novel about underwater Nazi cheerleaders and it has to be 309 pages long and I need fourteen chapters and a prologue.'" he's best know today for writing the original screenplay for Beetlejuice, which started off as some dark twisted Clive Barker shit until Tim Burton turned it into a comedy.
― small doug yule carnival club (unregistered), Saturday, 19 December 2015 00:26 (eight years ago) link
how Lovecraftian is that Steve Rasnic Tem novel? I'm vaguely aware of him as a 'new weird' writer along the lines of Laird Barron, but maybe I have the wrong impression.
― small doug yule carnival club (unregistered), Saturday, 19 December 2015 00:32 (eight years ago) link
Valancourt do have a very interesting catalogue - a mix of gothic, gay, horror and mid-20th-century neglected literary novels
― as verbose and purple as a Peter Ustinov made of plums (James Morrison), Saturday, 19 December 2015 01:42 (eight years ago) link
yeah, I wonder how they manage to secure the rights to all of those obscure titles. their catalogue is huge, and it seems like almost all of the modern stuff has come out in the past two years.
― small doug yule carnival club (unregistered), Saturday, 19 December 2015 02:56 (eight years ago) link
I haven't read his work but I'm fairly confident that Tem does a little of everything horror, and he's from a bit earlier than most of the current wave of weird writers.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 19 December 2015 02:59 (eight years ago) link
i'm sure he could do the lovecraft thing really well, but deadfall is fantastical/supernatural in a more straightforward way. it's an amusing book but also can be totally creepy. he plays with lots of genre ideas/cliches/etc. it's worth buying the book just for the king of the cats chapter. just insane and intense and really cool. i would definitely read more by him.
― scott seward, Saturday, 19 December 2015 03:36 (eight years ago) link
i read an interview with him and he says with this book he just wanted to throw everything into the pot.
i also like that he and his wife created their own legal last name together. pretty cool idea.
http://gingernutsofhorror.com/5/post/2014/03/horror-author-interview-steve-rasnic-tem.html
i want to read his book Blood Kin. i never knew about the Melungeon people before!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon
― scott seward, Saturday, 19 December 2015 03:41 (eight years ago) link
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/08/the-best-horror-novels-of-all-time.html
I've read...5!
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Friday, 31 August 2018 20:06 (six years ago) link
there is this list too https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/632779706/click-if-you-dare-100-favorite-horror-stories
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 31 August 2018 20:19 (six years ago) link
I've only read 4.
At the Mountains of MadnessDraculaFrankensteinLet the Right One In (This seems like a weird placement to me.)
― jmm, Friday, 31 August 2018 20:22 (six years ago) link
wow i have read 10 from that paste list!
lots of good stuff in there. the thomas tryon book is slept on and recommended but not as good as harvest home
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 31 August 2018 20:31 (six years ago) link
Only read a few but IT at number 2 is absurd.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 31 August 2018 20:55 (six years ago) link
yeah -- i think Carrie deserves more praise than IT tbh
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 31 August 2018 20:56 (six years ago) link
Still need to read it, but I found the screen version of Thomas Tryon's The Other to be the perfect and in my experience very rare example of what Stephen King called "sunlight horror" (in Danse Macabre, which led me to so much good stuff): starts out like several other early 70s flicks did, like it's trying to lift some Little House On The Prairie charm---a sick set-up for the long, perfectly timed sucker punch (just one perfect dab o' gore, barely glimpsed, in the whole thing). Directed by Robert (To Kill A Mockingbird Mulligan, once again deploying his very rare gift for directing children, in this case with even less acting experience than Scout Finch's crew, like 0.
― dow, Saturday, 1 September 2018 01:22 (six years ago) link
But back to print: some good stuff mentioned on both Rolling SF etc. threads, incl:
Also Richard Matheson, who wrote a lot of the best Twilight Zones, Speilberg's Duel, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which Chris Carter credited with inspiring him to create The X-Files, also novels like The Shrinking Man and I Am Legend, which could be an ancestor of Breaking Bad, with the one Normal terrorizing a world of vampires, although in his mind, of course, he's Making Good. Also lots of short stories---Ward Fowler scared the crap out of me by posting this 'un on the old Rolling sf etc. thread:
http://magicmonkeyboy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/drink-my-red-blood-by-richard-matheson.html
^my fave matheson short story, which deeply affected horror-obsessed-young-me when i read it as a boy. the whole treatment of vampirism seems very similar to the vibe that george a romero was going for w/ his movie martin, and i know romero admitted that matheson was the primary inspiration behind NOTLD. you can see why stephen king is such a big matheson fan, too - that 'naturalistic'/everyday treatment of the supernatural. again, this story reminds me v much of parts of the tobe hooper tv movie of salem's lot - vampirism as teenage yearning/disaffection
― Ward Fowler, Sunday, September 9, 2012 4:17 PM (3 years ago)'
― dow, Friday, June 17, 2016
― dow, Saturday, 1 September 2018 01:28 (six years ago) link
Film version of The Other has an absolutely exquisite Goldsmith score. I haven’t read The Other yet, just Harvest Home, but I found both The Other and Night of the Moonbow in used paperback sections within the past month yay!
― cheese is the teacher, ham is the preacher (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 1 September 2018 16:14 (six years ago) link
I bought a used copy of Night of the Moonbow earlier this summer because I remembered reading something about it 15 or so years ago. Beyond that, I know nothing about it or the author.
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Saturday, 1 September 2018 18:06 (six years ago) link
Gay Hollywood actor turned horror novelist - I would actually like to know more about tryon himself
― cheese is the teacher, ham is the preacher (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 1 September 2018 21:54 (six years ago) link
I have read 8 of the books on paste’s list
Night Things is a new addition to my look-for list based on that article. Also I did not know Anne rice had just lost a young child when she wrote Interview.
― cheese is the teacher, ham is the preacher (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 1 September 2018 21:56 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I only know Tryon from the movies, as an actor (in The Cardinal etc.)and literary source---what are his books like?
― dow, Sunday, 2 September 2018 20:18 (six years ago) link
Harvest Home is as good as any "outsiders travel to backwards-seeming village with pastoral pagan beliefs about crops, horror ensues" story I've read.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 2 September 2018 20:29 (six years ago) link
Much better than I would expect from an actor tbh -- not to be rude toward actors but I would consider him a writer who acted more than an actor who wrote. Imo.
OtmYou will like harvest home dow- and that’s my money back guarantee
― cheese is the teacher, ham is the preacher (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 2 September 2018 20:41 (six years ago) link
NPR listicle is a pretty good list but terribly written
― cheese is the teacher, ham is the preacher (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 2 September 2018 20:50 (six years ago) link
Paste: Read 12 plus abandoned another on the list. Can't fault their #1 choice.NPR: 37, +1 abandoned, rather to my surprise, though this list is very heavy on the classics
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Monday, 3 September 2018 07:03 (six years ago) link
I think I'm up to like 7 on the Paste list and 13 on the NPR (the short story anthology section of the latter spooked me out because they basically took a photograph of one of my bookshelves). Of the top of my head, I'm only disappointed that House on the Borderland is missing from both. Definitely bookmarking these for future reference.
― Digital Squirts (Old Lunch), Monday, 3 September 2018 14:12 (six years ago) link
Ketchum's The Girl Next Door from the Paste list is an extremely disturbing read. Although I'm not sure I'd even classify it as a horror novel
― Number None, Monday, 3 September 2018 15:44 (six years ago) link
LL's description of Harvest Home sounds appealing. I'll try to track that down.
― jmm, Monday, 3 September 2018 15:49 (six years ago) link
It's really good! The Widow Fortune is a character I will never forget.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 3 September 2018 16:01 (six years ago) link
I've read 17 on the Paste list, 29 on the NPR list ... there are a lot of titles on both that I've intended to read for a long time, especially those Tryon novels.
The Elementals is a perfect horror beach book.
― Brad C., Monday, 3 September 2018 16:29 (six years ago) link
Started / the woman in black / , going well so far. Review was correct in saying that it could pass as having been written a hundred years ago
― calstars, Monday, 3 September 2018 21:07 (six years ago) link
“Burnt Offerings” comes close to being a masterpiece and just might be.
― calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 17:59 (five years ago) link
Still need to read that. The paperback cover (for movie tie-in?) used to give me the heebie jeebies as a kid. I wasn’t even familiar with the title phrase at the time, which added to it.
― Recnac and my 📛 is Yrral (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 November 2018 18:34 (five years ago) link
Actually don’t think they had movie tie-ins per se at the time, when the book was written beforehand. There were novelizations of course, but that’s different.
― Recnac and my 📛 is Yrral (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 November 2018 18:37 (five years ago) link
It starts kind of pedestrian but then gets good.
― calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:01 (five years ago) link
I just bought the movie sight unseen the other day. I'm guessing it isn't quite as classic.
― My mother set great store by that microwave oven! (Old Lunch), Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:03 (five years ago) link
I don't know how it compares to the book, but it's a very decent 70s horror flick ... good cast, good score, lots of atmosphere, some scary set-pieces
― Brad C., Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:32 (five years ago) link
Book is undoubtedly a source for king’s shining
― calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:37 (five years ago) link
I think he's acknowledged that, yeah
― Number None, Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:43 (five years ago) link
Anyone read the Ceremonies by Klein?
― calstars, Friday, 23 November 2018 03:28 (five years ago) link
Yes... about 20 years ago. My recall of it is hazy but it’s on my reread list
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Friday, 23 November 2018 04:58 (five years ago) link
Just two weeks ago!
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 23 November 2018 09:19 (five years ago) link
I read it relatively recently too. Felt like all sizzle and no steak to me. Plus the villain is lame
― Number None, Friday, 23 November 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link
The villain is a centuries-old charred treehugger with one eye. Not lame at all.
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:01 (five years ago) link
He's a little old man who runs around giggling a lot
― Number None, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:22 (five years ago) link
That's the sidekick.
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:25 (five years ago) link
Familiar perhaps. But he has a lot more screentime
― Number None, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:51 (five years ago) link
I see it's discussed way upthread, but it's new to me:
I'm working my way through the VanderMeer-edited The Weird anthology, and so far it's the best-curated collection of this kind I've seen. I like the way it's limited to the 20th and 21st centuries, with all the texts presented in chronological order, and I especially like the way stories by the canonical English-language writers sit side-by-side with equally strong works in translation (many of them newly translated for this book). About a quarter of the way through, my biggest discovery has been the Belgian writer Jean Ray, represented by two quite different but equally unnerving stories. I've already downloaded some more of his work for future reading.
I'm glad I've got The Weird on my iPad -- handling the dead-tree edition would be a strength workout.
― Brad C., Friday, 23 November 2018 15:23 (five years ago) link
The Aickman anecdote about not realising you already had an Aickman collection is quite Aickman-esque, one of his lesser tales maybe.
And one of the more concise and clear ones, yes.
Neither of my collections have Swords. I feel left out!
― salsa shark, Saturday, 31 August 2024 09:03 (three weeks ago) link
I really enjoyed 3 of the 4 Aickman stories I've read but never felt compelled to bump him up the to-be-read pile, just someone I hope to read more of eventually. His body of work has a sparkling reputation for consistency, being able to keep exploring the same obsessions with novelty and freshness (or so I hear)
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 31 August 2024 20:07 (three weeks ago) link
New Laird Barron is good. Thematically / stylistically closer to Swift To The Chase and with some recurring characters so YMMV if you strongly preferred the first two collections. Still a cut above everyone else in his field.
― ShariVari, Friday, 13 September 2024 11:28 (one week ago) link