Read Women discussion

Here is our year- round thread for sharing our favourite horror reads! Tell us what you love about the genre, your best-of lists, your duds, what would you recommend for a newbie? Do you have favourite subgenres? Paranormal, gothic, dark fantasy? Do you read horror all year round or save it for cold, dark nights? Are there any prizes you follow? Tell all here :)

I have my popcorn ready to see what the pros among our members recommend.

I have actively avoided the horror genre for most of my life. Stephen King's "IT" (the movie) ruined me for horror when I was around 9 years old.

But! - our recent group read Womb City introduced me to Tlotlo Tsamaase.

Her recent release House of Margins is fantastic. It's an odd mashup between horror and supernatural, with some elements of generational trauma & historical racism woven throughout. Highly recommend!

Lin wrote: "Her recent release House of Margins is fantastic. It's an odd mashup between horror and supernatural, with some elements of generational trauma & historical racism woven throughout. Highly recommend..."

Glad to hear it Lin! Is it confusing in the beginning as Womb City was or is her second novel written more evenly?

I've not read much horror personally but I do have a few favourites:

Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

The Butler is very short, free to read, but not for the squeamish! Sorrowland was an absolute wild ride and Bad Cree, full of Cree mythology, would make a great starting point for the horror - impaired ;)

Hannah wrote: "Glad to hear it Lin! Is it confusing in the beginning as Womb City was or is her second novel written more evenly?"

It was much more clear from the beginning! She took an interesting approach by blending podcast entries within the chapters and a few other media forms (one was an online news article, I believe). It was very well done.

I should add there are some major trigger warnings to look up before reading this one.

Lin wrote: "Hannah wrote: "Glad to hear it Lin! Is it confusing in the beginning as Womb City was or is her second novel written more evenly?"

It was much more clear from the beginning! She took an interestin..."

This is very good to hear! And, understood re triggers. I don't understand why her books are so expensive, I'm going to wait out for an ebook sale 🤞🏻

Whilst on the GR page for Tlotlo Tsamaase I just discovered that she has contributed to the following anthology: Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction described as follows: "From an award-winning team of editors comes an anthology of thirty-two original stories showcasing the breadth of fantasy and science fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora" I thought it might appeal to some of our members. And the ebook is currently on sale, at least in the UK

Lin wrote: "I have actively avoided the horror genre for most of my life. Stephen King's "IT" (the movie) ruined me for horror when I was around 9 years old."

LOL - I read that book when my husband was at boot camp, and I was living alone in the country. Stupid choice. Loved the book. I made the dog go with me everywhere I went including the bathroom at night. :)

This is one genre that I have read a lot of, and it is mostly all Stephen King. I need to branch out more! One I can recommend is Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson. It's a short, quick read, and oddly enough - even though I just said that - it's a bit of a slow burn, but it is creepy! I loved it.

Seconding Octavia E. Butler, I'm slowly working through her oeuvre, everything is super imaginative & brain-bending! (I dislike Parable of the Sower for personal triggering reasons, but I love everything else of hers.)

Recently got a good horror recommendation: Andrew Joseph White (trans-man), The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is amazing, i've read 2 more since & will read more.

Also love Sarah Gailey (non-binary), they write multiple genres, their horror-est i think is Just Like Home, i got that voted in for my local horror bookclub late last year, YAY

I usually read romance but I loved the one horror book of an Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir. She writes mostly thrillers and children’s books. I found this book in my local library and immediately felt captivated by the description. It’s creepy with a dose of mystery. It also has a film adaptation but I haven’t seen it yet.

The title of the book is “I remember you”.

Klassara wrote: "The title of the book is “I remember you”."

This was just recommended in our mystery thread Klassara! Glad to hear it recommended again! I'll be trying it for #WiT month

Joelle.P.S wrote: "Seconding Octavia E. Butler, I'm slowly working through her oeuvre, everything is super imaginative & brain-bending! (I dislike Parable of the Sower for personal trigger..."

I've been wanting to try Gailey for a while but wasn't sure where to start so thanks for giving me a starting point! The White looks really good, but perhaps a bit graphic gorey for me!

I loved Butler's Bloodchild!

I'm more of a horror dabbler, but here are a few favorites:
- Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
- Patchwork Dolls by Ysabelle Cheung
- Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
- On Earth as it is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia (non-supernatural horror; just the plain old horror of other humans)
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (one of my top 10 favorite books)
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (actually non-fiction, but such a creative and harrowing take on telling about being in an abusive same-sex relationship)
- The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste

Recently been enjoying short stories by author Gemma Files who is new to me.

Marc wrote: "Comfort Me with ApplesI loved Butler's Bloodchild!

I'm more of a horror dabbler, but here are a few favorites:
- Fever Dream by...."

Ooo I added Comfort me with apples when you last mentioned it. I really liked fever dream too. Patchwork dolls looks right up my street and it reminded me of the short story collection by Sayaka Murata that I really liked: Life Ceremony

Just addd Life Ceremony to my TBR.

Comfort Me... came my way via Instagram from an account that highlights horror. I'm generally not a fan of any video-based book reviews/chats/etc., but I really like this one (short and interesting selections):
https://www.instagram.com/bunnireadsh...