Literary Horror discussion

Randolph wrote: "I'm toying with a genre bender in Stay Awake by Dan Chaon for October."
I'm not a fan of this book. But you guys should go right ahead.

Suggestions (with reservations) from my to-read list:
Sip by Brian Allen Carr
#Gods by Matthew Gallaway

And I suppose I could be talked into
Mirror Dead by Magda McQueen

McQueen? Cross-dressing ghost twin brother? Ok, ok.

I might join in if you go with the Mirror Dead. That might be a good a way to give some attention to that book, too. It sure isn't getting any right now. Last time that Tartarus published a novel by a brand new author, it was nothing less than The Loney which went on to become award-wining bestseller.

I vote for 'Mirror Dead' but I'd be willing to give 'Sip' a go.

Magda McQueen's Mirror Dead looks the most interesting to me. Here is its synopsis: "When Simon falls for fairytale-obsessed Rose, he sees a chance to move on from his girlfriend's death the year before. But can he trust Gray, the cross-dressing ghost of his twin brother, who shares his body and sees Rose as lunch? They set out to infiltrate her life, but soon find that they have bitten off more than either of them can chew. Rose has thorns. Her psycho ex is one of them. And her unstable sister has a secret agenda with an Angel that is every bit as dangerous as Gray's." It was shortlisted in a recent literature competition: http://stroudfestival.org/comp.html I wonder if there is a way I could get a hold of a copy of the book for less than $40?

It can be bought directly from Tartarus, either as .epub or .mobi
http://www.tartaruspress.com/mcqueen-...
e-books bought directly from their site are free from copy-protection, so you can basically convert them to whatever format you prefer trough Calibre.

Okay, I will buy it that way if we decide on that book. Thanks!

Edit: Actually, I just broke down and purchased a (refurbished) Kindle. They're only $60 plus tax. Thanks again for all the help.

Woohoo! Looking forward to next month's read. Looks like we will be the first here at GoodReads to give the book a read and review it. It has 0 ratings so far.

Sounds good, thanks Randolph! I am very much looking forward to this novel.

Dan, I'm glad to hear you were able to find a Kindle at such a good price. I hope it works really well for you. I was a naysayer when they first came out but I was won over immediately after I was gifted one and am thoroughly in love with my second Kindle, the Paperwhite.

Maybe Maynard's House by Herman Raucher? Supposedly pretty good little psychological horror novel with appropriate wintry atmosphere.

Nothing On Earth by Conor O'Callaghan, as recommended here https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/t...

Might make for some fun reading.

I'm looking forward to Nona's Room: Peter Owen World Series: Spain, recommended by Marie-Therese.

How about Sacculina by Philip Fracassi?

So, Maynard's House (barely) won? I do hope that folks here won't be (too) disappointed by it, heh.

Looks interesting. I have picked up a digital copy.

I do kind of wonder at the voting for these monthly reads, though, and why people vote if they're not going to read along. I wish more of the individuals voting would participate in the group read threads. It seems like there's a good 8-10 of us who post impressions but clearly there are more voting for books. While we all have strong opinions and are willing to state them clearly, we don't bite! So please join in if your chosen book has made it to Group Read status.

Randolph wrote: "Well I solved the voting problem for January by exercising Moderator’s prerogative and slotted the Molly Tanner offering. At least you’ll know who to blame."

I saw that just before you posted this! Looks like a great choice (of course, I was going to read it anyway ;-) )

Q: What should we read in February?
A: Heathcliff's Tale by Emma Tennant.

Q: Why?
A: Because everyone in this group loves anything published by Tarturus Press. Besides, I've already ordered the book from England, so I am going to be reading it this February anyway. (Basically, we can read it together if there is sufficient interest.)

Q: Are there any prerequisites? I mean, is this book part of a series?
A: Yes. I think we need to have read Wuthering Heights first. But we are all literary. I mean really. Who hasn't read a bit of Bronte? The book is apparently an attempt by Tennant to answer a few questions left open by Emily.

Q: What's the book about? Is it scary?
A: It is a ghost story and those are always scary, right? Set shortly after the death of Emily Bronte, the central protagonist arrives at Bronte's ancestral home hoping to discover the last book by "Ellis Bell," but gets caught up in a tale of murder and the supernatural instead.

Q: I'm almost there with you, Dan. Did this book win any literary awards or anything? That would seal the deal if it did.
A: As far as I know, Emma Tennant won few if any awards during her life despite her prolific output. However, I would like to point out that she was a major writer in our field (well maybe New Weird more than Literary Horror) and she passed away last year January with nary a nod from us. Should we read one of her books out of respect to her contributions to our genre?

Here's Tennant's New York Times obituary, a nice piece that sums up her life's work and writing style: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/bo...

I'm game for Heathcliff's Tale. Sounds like something I'd like to read whether or not it gets chosen as our monthly pick. This also reminds me that I really need to read A True Novel, Minae Mizumura's retelling of 'Wuthering Heights' in a post-war Japanese setting.

Perhaps The Fire Doll by James Ulmer, reviewed by Joshi here http://stjoshi.org/review_ulmer.html. Or The Other Passenger by John Keir Cross.

Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood

Paul wrote: "Perhaps The Fire Doll by James Ulmer, reviewed by Joshi here http://stjoshi.org/review_ulmer.html. Or The Other Passenger by [author:John Keir Cross|..."

'The Other Passenger' looks intriguing and it has the advantage of being a collection of short stories (our last few group choices have been novels and a set of stories would make a nice change).

I'll nominate stuff with high goodreads ratings:

The Wine Dark Sea by Robert Aickman 4.13 average rating
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Damage by Rosalie Parker 4.50 average rating
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson 4.04 average rating
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

Let The Right One In by John Lindqvist 4.07 average rating
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

The Booking by Ramsay Campbell 4.15 average rating
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Scott wrote: "Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood"

This could do. I haven't read any Blackwood for ages, and it is perhaps a good idea for this group to go for some tried and true classics given the shaky responses to more recent fiction.

Ok, I'm thinking a poll should be put up from Feb 1 to Feb 15. On the ballot would be the books mentioned in previous posts, plus further suggestions made between now and Jan 31.

The poll would be for a group read starting March 1st. Feb 15 to Feb 28 would be for the time for members to obtain the book.

Members should also feel free to have 'buddy' reads.

Ronald wrote: "Ok, I'm thinking a poll should be put up from Feb 1 to Feb 15. On the ballot would be the books mentioned in previous posts, plus further suggestions made between now and Jan 31."

This sounds good, Ronald. Thank you.

Something I'd like to suggest for a future read is The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2017 Edition, which seems to feature a strong line-up of stories this year.

I created and saved a poll but I don't see it up.
I can't figure out if there is a way to get back to the poll I created, to correct mistakes.
I sent a message to goodreads for assistance.

Your poll does not show in this group's polls yet. From experience with a werewolf group I moderate I am fairly certain you can edit polls, though finding that link was challenging I recall. From your group's homepage I recommend you find the link that says moderators: tools and guidelines. At the end of that really complete article is a link to a moderator's (sic) group. Asking questions there will probably bring more joy than asking goodreads in general for assistance.

Suggestions for the April 2018 group read desired.

I'm thinking that the poll for the April 2018 group read will have:
1. the books from the last poll minus The Wine Dark Sea
2. additional nominations
3. voting from March 1 to March 15

The group read of The Wine Dark Sea will start March 1

Suggestions for the May 2018 group read desired.

I'm thinking that the poll for May 2018 group read will have the books from the previous poll, minus We Have Always Lived in the Castle, minus books that got no vote, plus additional nominations.

I nominate 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

I would like to nominate Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon.

The novel takes place in the middle of an unnamed war and focuses on George Smith, an American soldier, transferred to the military psychiatric clinic. Smith was brought to the clinic due to a confrontation with a superior officer, labeled psychotic, and told to recount his story in the third person, which is what we get to read. Sounds fascinating to me.

Suggestions for the June 2018 group read desired.

Into the Black Woods, then. Where trees steal husbands, shrubs are out to get you and cats are not what they seem.

Suggestions for the July 2018 group read desired.

All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire. It has a 4.23 rating, so how can it fail to please?

What's the June monthly read? I could totally revisit 20th Century Ghosts

The June monthly read is Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

Just kidding, of course, message 48.

I actually propose Livia Llewellyn's Furnace. You guys liked her short story so much in the buddy read, I'd be willing to see if she could sustain an entire novel.

Dan wrote: "I actually propose Livia Llewellyn's Furnace. You guys liked her short story so much in the buddy read, I'd be willing to see if she could sustain herself through an entire novel."
Furnace is actually a short story collection. Which I'm happy to revisit.

Her Furnace gets a 4.14 rating, almost as high as my first pick.

In all seriousness, since you and Randolph have already read this, shouldn't we nominate a different Livia Llewellyn work? Have you read her The One That Comes Before?

Maybe Furnace should be the June buddy read, then? I haven't read it yet but would like to, so there are at least three of us willing to give it a go. What say you, gents?

I am game for any Livia Llewellyn. According to her blog (http://liviallewellyn.com/) her first novel is written, but not yet published.

Suggestions for the August 2018 group read desired.

The August poll will be like the July poll minus the books that did not get a vote, no books that this group read before, plus new books.

I nominate The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

Suggestions for the September 2018 group read desired.

I nominate two different books each with the same title:

Black Easter by James Blish
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Black Easter by Dario Cirello
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I also nominate the haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson. I was saving it for my October reads with the annual re reading of something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury but I can get into it sooner.

Hi Eric. The Haunting of Hill House won the group read poll and will be the group read for August 2018.

The winner of the September 2018 Group Read is (drumroll)...The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Suggestions for the October 2018 Group Read are desired.

The winner of the October 2018 Group Read is 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Suggestions for the November 2018 Group Read are desired.

I nominate The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. It's on this list of 50 greatest horror novels of all time, and looks interesting: https://www.pastemagazine.com/article...

Just FYI, but I've read The Woman in Black It's not very good and I can't say I'd recommend it to anyone here. It's a flat, predictable tale with very little depth and pedestrian prose. I would not reread it.

(Of course, different strokes for different folks applies, as always. But if you find your taste generally aligns with mine, you may want to avoid this.)

Dan wrote: "I nominate The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. It's on this list of 50 greatest horror novels of all time, and looks interesting: https://www.pastemagazine.com/article...-..."

I loved the film and would be interested in reading it.