Literary Horror discussion

Nyctophobia by Christopher Fowler

I'll nominate stuff I liked:

Nightmare at 20,000 feet: Horror Stories by Richard Matheson
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Ana Kai Tangata: Tales of the Outer, the Other, the Damned, and the Doomed by Scott Nicolay
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Burnt Black Suns by Simon Strantzas
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Haunted Castles by Ray Russell
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Don't Look Now: Selected Stories by Daphne DuMaurier
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

The Wine Dark Sea by Robert Aickman
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

The Light is the Darkness by Laird Barron
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Just to keep things simple, I’m going to limit my nominees to two books (both of which I nominated for the May read).

Alraune, Hanns Heinz Ewers (1911) — in this semi-famous novel, Ewers makes use of an old myth involving the mandrake root and fashions a Decadent version of Frankenstein. It’s the second of the author’s Frank Braun trilogy, but it stands on its own. The novel has been adapted for the screen at least half a dozen times, the last being in 1952. Critic E. F. Bleiler was conflicted on the work, writing that “[b]oth Alraune and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice are remarkable for the emotion the author can arouse”, but going on to say that Ewers’ writing was, in general, both annoyingly pretentious and vulgar. Side Real Press issued a very nice (and expensive) limited edition some years back. However, it’s also currently available both as a paperback and as a relatively cheap e-book. See here.

Burnt Offerings, Robert Marasco (1973) — When this book was first published, I passed it by, assuming it was yet another crappy knockoff of The Exorcist. But over time it seems to have been “rediscovered” and I’ve heard good things about it from various sources. King noted its influence on his own haunted house book, The Shining. It appears in Newman and Jones’ Horror: The 100 Best Books. The novel was filmed by the unimaginative, but sometimes effective Dan Curtis in 1976; it wasn’t well received at the time, but — somewhat like the book — has been subsequently re-evaluated in a more positive light by horror aficionados. (William F. Nolan wrote the screenplay.) The novel recently received the über-expensive Centipede Press treatment, but that edition has sold out. However, it is still in print as a mass market paperback; it has also been released in e-format by Valancourt (see here).

Ronald wrote: "Ana Kai Tangata: Tales of the Outer, the Other, the Damned, and the Doomed by Scott Nicolay
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2..."

Been meaning to read that one. Can I second this?

The poll is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

Ronald wrote: "The poll is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1..."

Thanks! I must've clicked on the wrong link. :)

I'm refraining from voting this month as there seems to be little chance that I will be able to participate. There sure are a lot of interesting picks up for June though.

Ok, then. :)

Burnt Offerings is on the poll twice.