The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

With it being Halloween this week in the U.S., is there a horror or thriller sci fi you enjoyed reading?

Recently, I’ve enjoyed Barbara Truelove’s Of Monsters and Mainframes. It has a terrible sample on Audible. But the book and the audiobook are both worth a look.

This isn't really science fiction, but it's by an author known for his science fiction: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

It's a shorter piece, but the one I remember the most is The Jaunt by Stephen King. The ending was terrifying, I thought.

Rosemarie, i agree. Bradbury can give you a chill. I loved October Country.

Again, not really science fiction, but The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison feature talking to the dead, ghosts, ogres and other weirdness. I like them a lot. The third in the “Cemeteries of Amalo” trilogy, The Tomb of Dragons, wasn’t bad but didn’t please me quite as much.

not a horror per se but a Halloween-vibed A Night in the Lonesome October

Deborah L. Davitt's 'Sensor Ghosts' worked for me. I followed Peter's link in the short-story thread and read it today. It's a recovery mission on Titan: an apparently intact vessel, an absent crew, and instruments whose explanations aren't quite reassuring.

What I liked was the friction between the two people doing the recovery and Control, who can monitor their pulse from far away. Beatriu is trying to hold on to a railing while somebody asks for a status report. The procedures are meant to keep her alive, but having every vital sign accounted for does very little for the feeling that someone is standing behind her. The warmth between the partners gives that unease something human to threaten.

The complete story is free at Lightspeed (about 4,100 words):
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...

Spooky's not really my thing. I did love "Something Wicked This Way Comes", which is definitely my favorite Bradbury.

Just by chance, I just finished a book that strongly reminded me of it: Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon. There is no "Dark Carnival" in this one, but it has the same feeling of being a kid experiencing creepy things in an ordinary town,

It also reminded me a lot of Jo Walton's "Among Others". (Writer Paul Di Filippo made the same comparisons in his review in Locus.)

I probably started reading horror stories even before SF. I'm never sure what exactly constitutes horror/SF though, where you draw the line. How about:

50's-style invader SF like The Day of the Triffids, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Clone, The Voyage of the Space Beagle

Gothic horror like The Uninvited & Ira Levin's various novels like Rosemary’s Baby, The Vampire Tapestry, Mexican Gothic

Zombie-style, induced by viruses, fungi or other things scientific:
Parasite (trilogy), World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Since I do like horror books, I try to work them into my reading & if it's blended with SF, so much the better. A few of my favorite straight horror books:
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker
Bag of Bones by Stephen King

By the way, we have a bookstore in town called "Dark Carnival" inspired by that Bradbury book. It is dark, dank, dusty and a bit scary. One could get lost in the twisting dark maze of books. And the owner is rather gruff. Nonetheless, it just celebrated it's 50th anniversary.

I went there last week to pick up a book. When I told the owner I was ready to check out, he told me to go two doors down and pay at the comic book store. I could have easily just walked away with it. He didn't even look to see what book I'd chosen, so lord only knows how he keeps track of inventory.