Literary Horror discussion

Wow! The winner is hardly ever the book I vote for. But then this is the first time in a long time the poll was publicized, resulting in more than eleven total votes. Informed democracy in action. How refreshing!

The book is at least $15 for a paper copy, $5 for a Kindle copy. That's a no-brainer for me. So I already have my copy.

The description of the anthology states the stories are "quiet horror." Does anyone know what that means? I've not encountered the term before.

I have a copy, since it's available on Kindle Unlimited.

This group just read Ramsey Campbell's The Searching Dead, which is considered quiet horror. It's like a slow burn, creeping dread and suspense and perhaps even a healthy dose of paranoia. It's more emotional than action driven.

mine just got here ill check out a couple stories tomorrow or so

Randolph, when are we starting this? (Our buddy read starts on the 1st, but not a problem to have two parallel reads, of course.)

Thanks for a great description of quiet horror. I started the first story and it reads the way you describe it. It's so "quiet" in fact that almost halfway through it I've detected no horror and no supernatural element yet. Just straight fiction, but good straight fiction, not emotionally manipulative drivel like what passes these days for most highbrow modern fiction and so turns me off about it. I like the beginning of the first story even if it's definitely not what I expected.

first story was well written, I think. pretty damn sad.
knowing what's coming but not being able to do anything about it. nice story

couple lines that stuck out to me -

"part of me is trying to memorize her"
memorize, strong word.

referring to the house as "the empty socket of a pulled tooth"
pretty cool. Sure, I saw the ending coming, but I still liked it

wasn't a fan of the 2nd or 3rd stories

I wasn't, either. The first one was the best so far. It was very sad and frustrating, guessing how it would end. Good lines, Video_Ouija.

i agree. nice beksinski pic

Thank you! I like your image, too.

thanks, its also beksinski

That's what I thought, though I wasn't positive. He was an amazing artist.

Which story are you up to now? After the first one, I was disappointed by the next three. I will start The Animal of Our Bodies today.

yeah, he rocked. I read the first 3.. I'll probably try a couple more tonight

I'll be looking forward to your comments.

Written in Water, Sharp Echoes and Womb with a View have been my favorites so far. The stories in between didn't really click with me. I thought Written in Water was a great story, though I agree that the conclusion was revealed too quickly. I like the "back to the womb" metaphor, which reoccurs in another story.

Randolph wrote: "... the ending was telegraphed too early imho which lessened the emotional impact."

I agree. Once I caught the blue bottle hint, and quickly connected it with the parents' unhappiness, the rest just seemed rather drawn out.

I love many of the stories in Gwendolyn Kiste's collection. But I don't think "The Haunted Houses..." worked for me. It doesn't have the deep dive into specific dark and magical situations, and creative language, that I admire in her best work.

That second story did nothing for me at all.

"Mirror, Mirror": sorry, sorry.

"Phoenix" was pretty predictable. Light entertainment, I suppose.

Kristi DeMeester's collection was one of our monthly reads. I think what she tries to do is very tricky to pull off. When it does, like in "Worship Only What She Bleeds", the results are impressively dark and magical. I'm not sure "The Animal of Our Bodies" works that well.

Michael Wehunt's "In Canada" was also a hit in this group when we read Looming Low: Volume I. This is a distant departure from that story, and also from what I recall from his collection. Can't say I'm a fan of "O Adelin", his take on dark fantasy with a western backdrop.

I finished the anthology tonight. I tend to binge read books, so most anthologies don't sit well with me. Regardless of my own demerits, I found this volume quite well crafted.

My favorite stories included "Written in Water," "O Adelin," and "Rotten to the Core." I also really liked Lutzke's "Womb with a View," as I have found myself on a similar operating table, numbed out of my body, and wondering WTF do they keep pulling on?

I appreciated "Mirror, Mirror," as a dark revenge portal fantasy. I can understand why a few commenters didn't seem to like it - sort of a duck out of water, eh? It doesn't really seem to fit in with the feel of the other stories.

I just finished phoenix and the animal of our bodies. So far, written in water is the only one that did anything for me. I shall continue on. Maybe I'll check out O Adelin before I pass out tonight

yeah, i agree witcha

MMh I have read the first two stories so far. My thinking is:

Written in Water has echoes of its beginning at its ending, The main protagonist is eating that soup much in the same way she was letting her breadth out in the swimming pool and is waiting for her sister to save her. The betrayal of her father is pretty powerful stuff too.

The Haunted Houses She Calls her Own. I enjoyed this one (I see above some people were disappointed with it). I am a fan of turning a story on its head and telling it from the other point of view. In this case we the "evil" ones causing the haunting by our own stories and legends rather than the Dead Girl. The Horror of what we do when we discuss people who are in the media as if they are not human should not be underestimated perhaps? So in my opinion this one had a Happy Ending.

Randolph wrote: "I liked O Adelin the best so far. I’m not sure I understand it but it has the sort of ambiguity I like. There are enough blank spaces for the reader to fill in and cogitate on."

I am about to start that O Adelin now. My favourite so far is Kristi De Meester's - there is a horrific beauty in that haunting of herself.

Overall the collection seems to be pretty well written by its authors and in keeping with its them of Liminal Space. I thought it was an interesting idea that Joshua Palimatier had to make his Liminal Space a physical space in the mirror.

Randolph wrote: "The first story, Written in Water, is an all too real horror story."

Actually, my problem with the story is that it wasn't real horror. To my surprise, it finished as it started, ensconced in the land of mainstream fiction. The story is well told and definitely worth reading. I just don't see it as belonging in an anthology that bills itself as containing speculative fiction since this story speculates not at all. Still, I am glad to have encountered the story, even if like a penguin at a state aquarium it was out of its natural setting.

The second story, "The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own" by Gwendolyn Kiste was another surprise. I had never heard of this author, but she has published about fifty short stories and a couple novels, all within the past decade alone. Covid may have slowed her down. She only published two stories last year, this being one of them, and two the year before that. The anthologist said at the beginning Kiste is known for her myth building and we certainly saw evidence of that here. She has given a lot of thought to what it means for a spirit to haunt a place. I like her take on it here, that a spirit can only haunt for as long as that spirit is remembered and in the heart of the living. When no one alive remembers a person who died any more, they lose their power to haunt. This story is a reflection on what this principle means for the world and the places haunted by the spirit that departs it.

I get where the author is coming from on this. It's an atheistic perspective. Since atheists don't believe in an afterlife, or supernatural extensions of the spirit truly lasting to enter other realms, ("All we are is dust in the wind") people only live on (after death) in the hearts and memories of the living. By this view, dead people move on "heaven" if they're remembered fondly and grieved, but are assigned to "hell" if we're all glad they're gone, or, even worse, perhaps in Kiste's view, we the living don't care one way or the other about the departed person. This story is a speculation in terms of an extension of that same principle, only told in a more narrative and less philosophical manner. It really got me thinking on the meaning of life.

I liked the second story better than the first, since reading the first was as much fun as being a pediatric oncologist, even if the story was poignantly and sensitively told. Both stories were excellent. I'm looking forward to the third.

I think "Womb with a View" and "Cabinet People" were my favorites. Good doses of the weird in each of them.

Can't say I'm enthusiastic about "Sharp Echoes" or "Womb with a View". I did enjoy Todd Kiesling's "Midnight in the Southland"; I do have a weakness for stories about creepy radio shows. Wish the ending wasn't telegraphed so early though.

I liked the opening of "Reverend Crow". But the prose suddenly became rather overwrought when the narrator arrived at the Reverend's, and it lost me. "Rotten to the Core" had intriguing ideas, but I couldn't get into the writing, and didn't think it really came together.

Matthew Bartlett's Gateways to Abomination: Collected Short Fiction also plays with radio broadcasts, in arguably more interesting and messy ways.

Randolph wrote: "Dan wrote: "Randolph wrote: "The first story, Written in Water, is an all too real horror story."

Actually, my problem with the story is that it wasn't real horror. To my surprise, it finished as ..."

Terror Story is an interesting name. I have always thought of "Horror Stories" without speculative elements as simply Dark Tales. But yes they do need a name of their own!

I liked the opening of "Cabinet People", but not how it developed. The whole second half with the grandmother and the people seemed an awkward fit with the surreal paranoia of the opening sequence.

Anthony Rapino's "The Black Door" had its moments and was overall entertaining, but I doubt that I'll think of it later.

I must say that I really enjoyed Todd Keisling's writing style in Midnight in the Southland. I really must try some of his longer works. He seems like a writer I might enjoy while on Holidays/Vacation.

Bill wrote: "I liked the opening of "Cabinet People", but not how it developed. The whole second half with the grandmother and the people seemed an awkward fit with the surreal paranoia of the opening sequence...."

So you have finished then? What was your favourite?

Maria Hill wrote: "So you have finished then? What was your favourite?"

I haven't read the Eric LaRocca bonus at the end, but I guess that doesn't count as part of the anthology. (From our recent buddy read of LaRocca's short novel, I can't say I'm looking forward to it.)

Mostly I've been grumbling about how the stories here IMO don't measure up to their authors' work elsewhere. (My friends know how picky I am.) Maybe "Midnight in the Southland", despite the telegraphing?

That's interesting. I think i am picking Todd Keisling's story myself - though still have the last two to read! I am not sure it's even the best one but I was immediately immersed in his style of writing and want to try more of his work.

A few of the authors in this anthology were on my want to read but I had not read any of their work before. Overall though I prefer an individual's collection of short stories to anthologies.

LOL - my reading friends would say I was not fussy at all, just with the odd I hate this thrown in with all the rather enjoyed thats :)

The third story, "Mirror, Mirror," is not my favorite. It has a lot of conflict in which both sides accuse the other of atrocities, but the motivations for the actions taken by a larger than necessary cast of characters aren't clear. It feels like we're only seeing a small part of a richer story.

Randolph wrote: "It’s Romance Week at Goodreads!"

Well, in "Mirror, Mirror" the protagonist wanted to avenge his wife's murder. That counts as romantic. Right?

The second story had no romance, really. It was just about haunting.

The first story reminds me of an experience I had at a bar once. I went with a friend to this country dance place. He decided he was going to try to pick up these twins. He asked the prettier of the set if she wanted to dance with him. She declined. He then turned to the other and asked what about her. Let's just say the first rejection was considerably softer than the second. That was all the "romance" I detected in the leadoff story.

Ideas for our March monthly book?

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Poll for March 2022 closes tonight. There's still time to break ties etc:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

I saw too late the poll was running.

Took a while longer than it should have, but I finally polished this off. If you're interested in my take and you read my messages above, you pretty much have it. I didn't find the stories beyond the first three all that notable. But here is my review in one place: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The one author I'm happy to have discovered here that I want to read more of is Joshua Palmatier. I ordered his The Skewed Throne. I am hoping it is set in the same or a very similar world as his "Mirror, Mirror" of this anthology was set. We'll see.