Weird Fiction discussion

Greetings fellow lovers of weird fiction. This is that topic where you post up to two nominations for group read, something you think the group will read, a work you can commit to reading if it wins the poll. You can nominate now and edit your post later. Just please have your nominations in before I lock this topic July 15.

I will nominate Women's Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890-1940 edited by Melissa Edmundson.

I'd like to nominate Gogmagog by Jeff Noon and The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen.

Aside from the eye-catching title, Gogmagog interests me because it's described as a fantasy journey with plenty of weird twists and an atmosphere that is "...at once familiar from folk tales and country customs and utterly strange and alien." I'm also curious to see what Noon will do with the Biblical concept of "Gog and Magog" (In the Book of Ezekiel, Gog is a leader from the land of Magog who gets involved in Armageddon). I haven't read any of Noon's books myself yet, but they definitely seem to be up my alley.

The Great God Pan is a classic weird horror story. I saw that the group has read some of Machen's collections, but not this story. It was published in 1894, and has had a big influence on Weird Fiction (especially Lovecraft's work). It's a short book -- only 82 pages long, according to Goodreads. Would be great to read this with the group.

I would like to ask if I can nominate Spaceling by Doris Piserchia. It seems like some kind of unconventional sci-fi mixed in with some fantasy executed in a dreamlike, cosmic, altered-consciousness, mind-blowing, mysterious manner. It's a bit hard to pin down.

What do you think, Dan? Can you make an assessment?

Looks like weird fiction to me. It was written in 1978, when weird fiction had become all but forgotten as a genre. People still wrote it, of course, just not as self-consciously as at most other times since 1923. And no one ever called it weird fiction at that time.

Major clues:
1) Can't pin down if it's SF or fantasy, thus it straddles at least two of our three genres. That's usually the case with weird fiction.
2) Traversing across dimensions. Weird often takes place in a world similar to but different than ours.
3) "Daryl's desperate efforts to unravel the mystery of why she was being held captive and of what was really going on in a certain alien dimension..." Trying to figure out the inexplicable is another weird fiction trope. The author needs to leave the mystery at least partially unexplained, but in a way that doesn't cause reader dissatisfaction, often a challenge for less-aware-they-are-writing-weird-fiction writers.

The book's obscurity and the fact I've never heard of the author make it really appealing to me personally, something I could easily vote for were it competing against less stiff competition this time. The author lived 1928-2021, wrote a lot, but almost entirely in the eleven years from 1973-1983. Strange.

Did you know she wrote I, Zombie? Admittedly under a pseudonym. Just thought I'd mention it since I just discovered from your review of Balingrud's book how much you like zombies.

Thanks for the nomination.

Dan wrote: "Looks like weird fiction to me. It was written in 1978, when weird fiction had become all but forgotten as a genre. People still wrote it, of course, just not as self-consciously as at most other t..."

Wonderful! Thank you for breaking it down, and for letting me know about "I, Zombie". I had no idea, but adding it to my list now, as it looks like something I'd enjoy!😁

Dave J. wrote: "The Great God Pan is a classic weird horror story. I saw that the group has read some of Machen's collections, but not this story. It was published in 1894, and has had a big influence on Weird Fiction (especially Lovecraft's work). It's a short book -- only 82 pages long, according to Goodreads. Would be great to read this with the group."

When you nominated this I assumed you had checked and that you were correct. However, I just double checked and we actually did read this story in the Machen collection last year in May. Here is the thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/.... I reviewed the story alone and mentioned doing so in message 26 in the thread. If you decide to read the story, you can always post your observations to that thread.

In any event, sorry, but I don't want to repeat that read. So much great new material we need to get to!

Ah, whoops. I kind of thought you guys must've read it, but I didn't think to check the collections' contents. I'll keep the thread in mind for when I get around to reading the story.