Horror Aficionados discussion

I'd recommend both of David Haynes's victorian short story collections:

"At the Bottom of the Garden" by David Campton (from The Year's Best Horror Stories Series VI and online at http://www.mail-archive.com/scifinoir....

Sandkings by George R.R. Martin.

Sandkings

I found Monstrous Affections by David Nickle to be quite good.

Robert E Howard, although known mostly for the Conan books, also wrote some great horror shorts.

Charlene wrote: "Sandkings by George R.R. Martin.

Sandkings"

Like this one.

Oh, so many!

The Lonesome Place, August Derleth
The Lady in the House of Love, Angela Carter
The Gorge of the Churels, H. Russell Wakefield. Also Ghost Hunt and tons of other by him.
The Night Wire, W.F. Arnold
Sticks, Karl Edward Wagner
The Prospect Cards, Don Tumasomis

"Smoothpicks" by Elizabeth Massie.
"The Encyclopedia for Boys," Jeffrey Osier

If Damon Comes by Charles L. Grant

A Garden of Blackred Roses by Charles L. Grant

The White People by Arthur Machen

Anything by Basil Copper or Joseph Payne Brennan -- their macabre fiction was always magnificent.

Copper's best story? Perhaps "Amber Print" -- though all of his stories are of exceptionally quality. Brennan's best story? Possibly "Slime" -- again, hard to say, since he wrote so many great stories.

Ghosts that have haunted me by John Kendrick Bangs.
I listened to a Librivox recording of this story. omg it is hilarious!!! from the guy describing his cigars, to his hair, to an aristocratic ghost.

http://www.readprint.com/chapter-1570...

I tried to think of a few really obscure pieces that I think of as gems -- no more than two appearances in print that I know of.

"Coasting", Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Originally appeared in Charles Grant's Fears (1983) and was reprinted in Yarbro's Signs & Portents (1987).

"The Pacific High", Grant Fjermedal. Originally appeared in Fantasy Macabre #8 (1988) and was reprinted in Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Tales by Moonlight II (1989).

"Life Line", Stephen Gallagher. Originally appeared in Chris Morgan's Dark Fantasies (1989) and was subsequently collected in Gallagher's 2004 story collection, Out of His Mind.

"The Cabinets", Gary William Crawford. Appeared in Fantasy Tales (V. 12, No. 5, 1990).

"Red Wolf, Red Wolf", Joseph P. Kinsella. From Kinsella's 1990 story collection of the same name.

"The Spinney", C. E. Ward. Originally appeared in Ghosts & Scholars #16 (1993) and was reprinted in Ward's story collection Vengeful Ghosts (1998).

"The Legend of the Midnight Cruiser", Michael Reaves. Appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (December 2003).

"Coming Home", Rick Kennett. Appeared in All Hallows #38 (2005).

"Blind Man's Box", Reggie Oliver. Originally appeared in Oliver's story collection Masques of Satan (2007) and was reprinted in Dramas from the Depths: The Selected Stories of Reggie Oliver (2010).

"The Tunnel", Peter Bell. Appeared in Supernatural Tales #17 (2010).

Phil wrote: "Charlene wrote: "Sandkings by George R.R. Martin.

Sandkings"

Like this one."

Oh my god. "Sandkings" stuck with me for decades. I read it as a kid, but only recently made the GRRM connection. I reread it and it was as freaking creepy as I remembered!

I'm also fond of "The Broadsword" in Occultation and Other Stories and "Peekers" in The Number 121 to Pennsylvania & Others. Are they too contemporary to be considered "obscure"?

I'm glad someone has heard of Sandkings.

Peekers was AWESOME! Have you seen the short film of it? It too was awesome. :)

Just in case you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10diur...

Charlene wrote: "I'm glad someone has heard of Sandkings.

Peekers was AWESOME! Have you seen the short film of it? It too was awesome. :)

Just in case you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10diur..."

Yeah it is! I watched it the day after I first read the story, thinking actually seeing the events might take some of the creeps away . . . you know, because our imaginations are way scarier than movies, right? HA! No such luck. It's just as disturbing as the story.

It was!!

Plus, Kealan is very good looking. Just an observation on my part. :)

If you like his shorts, I would highly recommend almost any novel by him, but mostly especially Kin

Charlene wrote: "It was!!

Plus, Kealan is very good looking. Just an observation on my part. :)

If you like his shorts, I would highly recommend almost any novel by him, but mostly especially Kin"

I agree on all points. :-) Kin was my first book of his, but I've made my way through a bunch more. He writes so much it's hard to keep up, but he's one of my faves in contemporary horror. The Number 121 to Pennsylvania & Others is an unbelievably solid collection. "Empathy" is very scary also.

I like you, Heidi! :)

Theater Macabre was an excellent collection as well. I am slowly catching up on all his works.

Gosh, you guys. Some of these titles I read decades ago. You've reminded me of them - a trip down memory lane.
For instance, "Sticks" and "If Damon Comes". Didn't Karl Edgar Wagner write another story that takes place in the South and involves creatures scurrying around under the Kudzu? I can't recall the name, but it was a gripping read. I read it around the time my wife and I got married - to a Southerner - and when we visited my wife's family, all I could think about was those things under the kudzu...

Anthony wrote (in part):

Didn't Karl Edgar Wagner write another story that takes place in the South and involves creatures scurrying around under the Kudzu? I can't recall the name, but it was a gripping read.

The story you're thinking of is "Where the Summer Ends". It first appeared in Kirby McCauley's great 1980 anthology, Dark Forces.

Canavan...

Yes, that's it! A great story. Thank you. That anthology certainly was was excellent.

Who Goes There?

You know the film version better as "The Thing."

"Forever Angels" by Ronald Kelly, from Midnight Grinding and Other Twilight Terrors.

I hardly think "Sandkings" qualifies as obscure. It won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and was conspicuously adapted as the pilot episode for the 1990's version of the Outer Limits TV series.

Agreed. Nothing by George RR Martin can be called obscure at this point.

Here's obscure:
I See a Long Journey
The Pearlkillers: Four Novellas

If you like Shirley Jackson, you will like Rachel Ingalls.

Anthony wrote: "Gosh, you guys. Some of these titles I read decades ago. You've reminded me of them - a trip down memory lane.
For instance, "Sticks" and "If Damon Comes". Didn't Karl Edgar Wagner write another st..."

Was the story about the creatures under the kudzu published in the Alfred Hitchcock magazine? I read a creepy story in the very early 1970s called "Kudzu".

That's the story, but it was called "Where the Summer Ends" (See reference in message 20 above)