Horror Fiction

Discussion on literature other than by the Star of Azazel.
Fomalhaut
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Horror Fiction

Post by Fomalhaut »

There has been topic about H. P. Lovecraft. What about Horror Fiction in general? For example, among with H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, Stephen King's The Dark Tower series has a remarkable meaning for me.

Under this topic, we can discuss about the Horror Fiction in general :)
"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become."
— C.G. Jung
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Sebomai
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by Sebomai »

I think some of Clive Barker's work, particularly Imajica, is some very fascinating writing. Apparently, after writing this book, some readers asked him if he had knowledge of real occult secrets. He replied that he'd never studied it in the least. It sounds like there could be parallels to Lovecraft here but I think the truth in Barker's case is more simple. His imagination is just so limitless and unfettered, or at least it used to be, that he could create vast, complicated worlds inhabited by many unique and well-realized beings, and by letting himself be guided by his boundless imagination, he touched on many areas of truth. Whether or not one believes that actual beings contacted Lovecraft or not in his dreams, as apparently many people do, his dreams were indisputably a major source of his inspiration. Whereas Barker, at least in those days, seemed to be in a near-constant state of dreaming. Admittedly, by the time he'd written Weaveworld and Imajica, he'd gotten away from the pure horror story of The Books of Blood and The Damnation Game, but there were still plenty of horror elements in those books. I've read more of his later work but I'm not quite as familiar with it, so I won't go into it here. But Weaveworld and Imajica are both well worth reading to me.
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Heith
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by Heith »

I've enjoyed some writings by Robert W. Chambers. Some of them are very Lovecraftian. I've read his book The King in Yellow and other stories. If you are interested, you can read them online here http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/L_KIY.HTM


Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa

Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa

Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.

Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die though, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa

-Cassilda's Song in "The King in Yellow" Act 1, Scene 2.

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wayfareangel
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by wayfareangel »

I'm quite a big fan of Thomas Ligotti. He has this way of writing that makes me just want to curl up inside the stories like a blanket. I remember, specifically, a story about a mad scientist father and this decrepit house and the charms of decrepit houses.

My favorite horror novels have been Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, and the novel that was inspired by it, Hell House by Robert Matheson. Haunted House stories are a staple for horror stories, and thus a good place to start of horror writers. I've done a little research into the area because I want to write horror.

And of course, Stephen King is always fun, especially The Dark Tower in all it's glory. For me, it always comes back to Misery. I have a bit of a soft spot for stories about obsession.
Time for one more daring dream.
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Sebomai
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by Sebomai »

I heartily second the Liogtti love. He's a modern master. Brilliant, insightful, and profound. I've read almost every one of his stories and very, very few of them have disappointed me in any way. While his writing is substantially more nihilistic than I am at this point in my life, there are still wonderful elements of dark spirituality contained in his work that enthrall me.
Tulihenki
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by Tulihenki »

What about Laird Barron?

I have some of his works, but they are waiting in my bookshelf. I have watched more horror films than read. I love traditional ghost stories and tales of possessions.
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wayfareangel
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by wayfareangel »

OOOOO! Laird Barron is getting added to the list of authors to get books of.

I first heard of Ligotti when I was reading Haunted, by Chuck Palaniuk (another wonderful writer, though I'm not sure what genre he would fit in). Someone commented that the chapter The Nightmare Box was trying very much to be like Ligotti. I searched from there, and just fell in love with Ligotti's works.

Also, anything by Neil Gaiman. Dang I love his stuff.
Time for one more daring dream.
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Nefastos
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by Nefastos »

Just started to read Melmoth the Wanderer for the first time. Granted, it's more classic Gothic novel than actual horror fiction.
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
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Benemal
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by Benemal »

Technically, not a horror book, some call it dark fantasy. "Perdido street station" by China Mieville is in my all time top-ten. It has monsters, freaks, cyborgs, a variety of sentient races, politics, magic and science in a gothic steamcyberpunk metropolis. It has everything.

"Song of Kali" by Dan Simmons and also "Carrion comfort" and "The Terror". Stephen King style, but better.

Everyone knows Lovecraft, but his friend Clark Ashton Smith is less famous. A better writer of language, though he's stories are not structured traditionally, they are hallucinations of intoxicating other worlds and entities. Deep trippy dreams.
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wayfareangel
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Re: Horror Fiction

Post by wayfareangel »

I'm not sure if The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman counts as a horror story, but it always read like one to me. It is, after all, about a woman slowly going mad. It's one of my all time favorite, and Project Gutenberg has it available to read for free, so I'll link it here.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm

This is one of those stories I like to curl up in and watch the world from, like a warm blanket. It makes me feel isolated in the loveliest of ways.
Time for one more daring dream.
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