Literary Horror discussion

Please join Marie-Thérèse and Bill Hsu for a buddy read of the first volume in Valancourt's latest series featuring horror stories from around the world.

This collection includes many stories never before translated into English from contemporary authors who are considered among the finest writers of horror in their languages. From Sweden to Spain, Ecuador to the Ivory Coast, there is something here for everyone.

For some background on the series and this initial volume, see here: The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vol. 1 For reviews, see Publishers Weekly, World Literature Today, and Oddly Weird Fiction

I like the idea of Musolino's "Uironda" (a fabled freeway exit leads to some darker realm), but can complain a lot about the writing. (Did we need to be told that the main character, while in the toilet, wipes himself? Umm.)

Pedraza's story is fun dark fantasy; the writing is a bit cluttered for my taste, but at least the mundane toilet details are not laid out. Looking forward to the Veres and (definitely!!!) Cubas stories.

The Veres story is so far my favourite of all I've read in this book. It is just incredibly creepy. I really wish more were available in English by this author. Too few Hungarian translators to make that practicable, I suppose :-(

I loved the Pedraza story but can see how the prose would be too baroque for your taste. I found that I enjoyed the somewhat ornate style especially as it contrasted with the remarkably cool, detached, even ruthlessly observant narrative perspective. This kind of story (a girl and her dog-ha!), could so easily have taken a sentimental turn-what Pedraza does with the plot is so distant from sentiment that I find it quite remarkable and even a bit chilling. I have acquired a few of her books in Spanish and I look forward to seeing if they all feature this same mercilessly keen and unflinching perspective.

The Cubas' story is along the lines of "existential dread" horror. Very well done and I think justly famous but not my favourite of her work. Curious to see how you'll find it, Bill.

I really enjoyed Veres' "The Time Remaining". The child's voice, the initial ambiguity of Vili's nature, and the absurd rituals informed by the children's twisted reasoning; all very unsettling.

I agree with M-T: Cubas' "The Angle of Horror" is very fine. The young female protagonist's voice is superbly done. I was quickly swept along her enthusiasm for her brother's return, and the dark developments that ensued. Not that much happens, and events are left chillingly open-ended; the general sense of unease is nicely maintained. I did not need a glass of madeira to enjoy this one.

I'm really curious to see if you'll like Bernardo Esquinca's "Señor Ligotti" as much as I did. I found it a very interesting, chilling, contemporary take on the old Faustian bargain trope.

Marie-Therese wrote: "I'm really curious to see if you'll like Bernardo Esquinca's "Señor Ligotti" as much as I did. I found it a very interesting, chilling, contemporary take on the old Faustian bargai..."

I loved that story, so much so that I pre-ordered his El Libro de Los Dioses and recently picked up his book Demonia. Someone should definitely translate his work.

Ardelean's "Down, in Their World" seemed pretty old-fashioned and predictable, complete with something of a gorefest climax. Maybe I'm too jaded, but this didn't do anything for me. The intro mentions some of Ardelean's work that's Aickman-esque, but this certainly isn't so.

Tynjala's "The Collector" is a trifle (4 pages!), but breezy and fun.

I enjoyed the black humor of Esquinca's "Señor Ligotti". It reminds me a bit of Ligotti's own blackly humorous pieces, or even our recent monthly read: Topor's The Tenant. Not my usual thing, but well-done and good fun.

Behind everyone else, as usual. Only two in, but I liked them both. Uironda seemed like a fairly typical highway ghost story until it veered into Clive Barkeresque land at the end. I'm all about stories with roads suddenly altering into creepy landscapes (which reminded me of the Left-Right Game) and radios with weird or ghostly noises, so no complaints. I'll add that if there hadn't been the detail of him wiping himself, I may have found it more distracting.

Like Marie-Therese, I enjoyed the baroque detail and lack of sentimentality of Mater Tenebrarum; especially how the dog was the only one to express deep feelings.

I think Gelinas' "Twin Shadows" is one of the stronger stories in the anthology so far. I find the initial ambiguity of the nature of the narrator very attractive. The uneasy relationship between her and her sister is very nicely developed. I'd prefer a more open-ended close, but overall this is a memorable story.

I was intrigued by the opening sections of Anders Fager's "Backstairs". Unfortunately it turned into a long, rambling setup for a brief, unimpressive reveal. The choppy sentence fragments also annoyed me to no end.

I have to say I'm really impressed that James Jenkins translated so many of these stories himself.

Nominations for March's monthly read:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hautala's "Pale Toes" is pretty standard horror fare, with a predictable arc. Don't follow the annoying stranger into the secret underground caves, AAAAARRRRGGGHHH While I do appreciate the background details not being mercilessly overexplained, I'm not a fan of the final extended crawling through tunnels at the cost of body parts.

Also not a fan of Steyn's "Kira". When I have to read about the narrator and his dog eating sausages, and who has them with mustard, I start skimming. Sorry.

Lars Ahn's "Donation" is great fun though, with an uncomfortable social situation that just spirals out of control. A bit long winded, but nicely done.

Solsona's "Mechanisms" is about a gay couple on a trip to photograph abandoned spaces, a combo of themes I'm totally into. But it's mired in soap-operatics, and I'm unconvinced by the ending.

The two pieces that surround it are slight and similarly unconvincing to me, though "The House of Lek Dawour" has a folksy charm.

Bill wrote: "I was intrigued by the opening sections of Anders Fager's "Backstairs". Unfortunately it turned into a long, rambling setup for a brief, unimpressive reveal. The choppy sentence fragments also anno..."

Ii didn't even find it a long set-up, as the reveal seemed to have such a tenuous relationship to everything that came before (why was the mother just going along with the ridiculous therapy sessions?). And the running gag of the massage machine was done with much more economy as a toss-off joke in a episode of Mad Men.

I've liked most the other stories to some extent (although I still have several to go). I liked the ending of "The Bones in Her Eyes", with the narrator's victory coming in righting the unintentional wrong she did to the cat, not in her own escape.

Poll is up:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Please vote by Friday 3/5. Reminder: if you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participating in the discussion.

I finally found the time to finish this anthology. It was considerably more uneven than I've come to expect from Valancourt, with at least a third of the stories seeming mediocre to me, but what I did like, I liked very much. And, of course, I see here that others really liked some stories that did not appeal to me, so clearly it has something for everyone.

Highlights for me included those we discussed above (the stories by Pedraza, Veres, Cubas, Esquinca, etc.) as well as Flore Hazoumé's 'Menopause', and Solange Rodríguez Pappe's wryly humorous 'Tiny Women'. I also very much liked Christien Boomsma's 'The Bones in Her Eyes', Anders Fager's 'Backstairs' (which I found very effective and creepy due to the contrast between the strait-laced front of the house and the terrible and occult things that go on in the back), Bathie Ngoye Thiam's 'The House of Leuk Dawour' and Yvette Tan's 'All the Birds'.

Like Bill, I am just amazed that James D. Jenkins was able to translate so many stories from so many different languages and to do so in such an effective way. He is a true polymath and, of course, an immense asset to Valancourt and to all of us interested in horror literature from other languages.

Bill wrote: "Solsona's "Mechanisms" is about a gay couple on a trip to photograph abandoned spaces, a combo of themes I'm totally into. But it's mired in soap-operatics, and I'm unconvinced by the ending..."

I really liked the converging stories with each of the main characters under the influence of a different brother. The ending took a turn for the "what the fuck". Maybe they could have used a marriage counseling session with that annoying kid from "Donation".

Whitney wrote: "Maybe they could have used a marriage counseling session with that annoying kid from "Donation"

LOL! I would have sent that kid on his way the minute he finished using the bathroom. But I have no patience for little boys, especially smart-arse little boys. ;-)

Last call to vote on March's (not so secret poll):
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...