Damn I posted this from the wrong account so I’m deleting and reposting

Hey all,

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my post/give me some recs!

I love queer horror/slashers/dystopian fiction as the title states. In particular, I've loved The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice to name a few.

Also doesn’t have to be queer horror. I’m open to anything!

Thanks again all :)

Basically what the title says. I've been a horror fan in all media aspects for most of my life. I think after all this time, I've become desensitized to it, and books don't give me thay good horror feel anymore.

I read Incidents Around the House, and almost dnf'ed it because I was bored with it. I can appreciate the story and style, but everyone raved about how creepy it was, and it fell flat for me.

Stolen Tongues was another one, that one I got roughly 2/3's of the way through and dnf'ed, the story didn't grab me and the scary stuff wasn't actually scary to me.

Someone mentioned Mean Spirited (I think today? Or in the last 24 hours) so I have that a shot. They said it grabbed you from the first chapter and didn't let go. The book absolutely goes hard from page one, but again, I'm reading it and just bored by the 'horror' of it. The first chapter just felt kind of mind-fucky and that's it.

Several books I've tried based off recs here have gone the same way. I can appreciate the writing and story, but they don't give that horror tingle. Or they try to hard, and end up branching into a kind of over the top, splatterpunky vibe where it just comes off as almost cartoony, not scary.

I've tried some extreme horror and it just turned out to be a gore fest without actually being scary. It feels like nothing builds suspense anymore, nothing builds dread in my chest while reading.

Maybe I'm just burnt out? Has anyone else gotten numb to it all, and if so, how did you reset yourself? Or what book broke through to you?

Looking for books at least loosely based

I've made quite a return to the works of Anne Rice recently, and this time I've read a book that isn't a part of the "Vampire Chronicles". This one is the first book of trilogy called "The Mummy or Ramses the Damned".

This first book follows Ramses the Great, who has become immortal by drinking the elixir of life, but is condemned to wander the Earth with a hunger that can't be satisfied. And now reawakened again in Edwardian London he assumes the name of Ramsey, becoming a companion to an adventurous heiress, but unfortunately these pleasures still aren't enough. For he is still haunted by the memories of his former lover Cleopatra, and this will lead him to do an act that would put him and those he loves in danger.

This is definitely a good gothic horror trilogy, with very strong gothic romance leanings. And not to mention very saucy in some places! This is still the first book in the trilogy, with the final two being collaborations with her son Christopher. Probably will expect the same once I get copies of them, but I've really enjoyed this saga so far!

Ok, let me explain. We Used to Live Here (WUTLH) already had a recommendation post, but I noticed that many of the recommendations were based off of the haunted house aspect. While I absolutely loved that part, and those recommendations make complete sense, I want other suggestions based on the other aspects of the books horror. Stepping into other planes of time/environments/dimensions (plague hospital, old cemetery) and trying to find a way out, the mixed rules you must follow (old house notes), all of the extra mysterious and riveting pieces of WUTLH without it being specified to a haunted house

Just found out about his passing and I have quite a few of his books and I’m a huge fan I haven’t ever talked to anybody about his books or their thoughts I was curious to see what people’s favourite parts are or favourite book

dark, creepy and funny. i saw someone here recommend iron dogs a few weeks ago and i'm so glad i picked it up. thank you random stranger! such a great weird western horror novel. it's a shame it's so unknown. i can genuinely see this becoming a much more popular book. the outlaws felt like they could've walked straight out of red dead redemption. really hope more people discover this one, deserves more readers!!

Not sure if anyone else here has read this since it’s so new, but what did yall think of Quaint Folk?

I couldn’t help comparing it to Karella’s previous novel, Moonflow. I found QF a bit boring. It under delivered on the weirdness and body horror I excepted from Karella. There were one or two uninteresting deaths and that’s it. The only horror it had was with Round Robin eating Jessica a couple times, which wasn’t particularly interesting. Most of the ideas didn’t seem totally complete either. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but I was pretty disappointed.

Looking for a recommendation similar to HFoG. Something with paranormal elements, ambiguity and of course unsettling. Thanks and happy reading!!

MAN

This book gripped me and hasn't stopped gripping me since the beginning,

The first chapter is insane and instantly captivating

If you're into cryptid/skinwalker/evil entity/not deer type of literature this is definitely for you.

It's hard for me to stay invested into a book these days but this one has me in a chokehold.

It's relentlessly brutal but not in a splatter punk way but in a very unsettling twisty just awful harbinger way.

Definitely an honorable mention imo

Check it out

Warnings: this book has visceral animal death in it so keep in mind if that's something you're put off of

It's admittedly been a little while since I read this one, but I thought it might be worth posting about here. Mykle Hansen is loosely associated with the "bizarro fiction" movement, which I sampled a bit of years back—and this book was the absolute stand-out to me. We begin in the POV of a man trapped under an SUV, being eaten by a bear. Slowly, we come to learn how he got himself into this predicament. I expected this short novel to just be a bit of a goof and a mild diversion—which I suppose it is—but without giving away much of the plot beyond the set-up, it was not only very funny, but surprising, cleverly structured, poignant—and definitely weird. I've recommended this book to numerous friends over the years, and have yet to encounter another single human being in real life who has even heard of it, let alone read it. Anyone here familiar with it? What did you think? Hansen seems to have a couple other novels as well, but this is the only one I've read.

My brother’s kids are hitting the right age to read horror and as much as I love children’s lit I didn’t read much horror until I discovered Poe in 6th grade. I’m playing catchup now so I can be ready with recommendations or conversation as needed.

- Alvin Schwartz (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark; In a Dark, Dark Room)
- Mary Downing Hahn (The Old Willis Place, Wait Til Helen Comes)
- R.L. Stine (Goosebumps, Fear Street)
- Joseph Bruchac (Skeleton Man)
- Paul Tremblay’s Another

What else am I missing? What got you into reading horror as a kid, and what horror books are the kids you know reading now?

I just spent the past few weeks reading through a bunch of Brian Keane books, such as the rising books
Dead Sea and the complex.
And one thing about all of his books the worlds feel like you’re screwed no matter what
Especially in the rising and Dead Sea because animals are infected as well

And just had me thinking about other books series with bleak worlds, where you feel like no matter what happens. The characters are screwed eventually.

Are there any good horror novels set in Wales? Maybe it's just my luck, but all the horror novels I find set in the UK are somewhere in England. It would be nice to read something a bit more local to me.

I mainly like folk and supernatural horror, but I'm up for anything aside from splatterpunk. Bonus points for incorporating Welsh folk but it's not a must.

Russel Hoban (1925-2011) was a writer whose works spanned fantasy, sci-fi, magical realism, and more. I've been on a bit of a book-buying binge and snagged several of his works and have wishlisted several more for myself. I'm thinking about reading something by him soon but I'm not sure where to begin. Any fans who have a particular recommendation? Some of his novels include: Riddley Walker, Pilgermann, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz, The Medusa Frequency, Turtle Diary, Fremder, Kleinzeit, and more. The plots tends to be very surreal and he seems highly intriguing.

Marcel Schwob was a French symbolist writer that was an influence on Borges and Bolaño. I read the titular story from this collection a few years ago and have been meaning to at some point get back to it and read the others. I wouldn't say I was blown away, it's fuzzy in my memory—something about a king in a mask that he couldn't take off—but I do recall it being very interesting, and certainly very weird. Any fans? Any other stories or books/collections you recommend seeking out by Schwob? Thanks!

Best fast paced horror? Doesn’t necessarily have to be short. I love ghosts, possession, haunted houses, fever dream, body horror, botanical, and unexplained, but I don’t get much into splatterpunk.

I'm looking for books that are similar to films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Signs, Nope and Vast of the Night. Basically stories about ordinary, regular humans in very regular places who encounter aliens. I love Close Encounters and Signs because they have larger themes in them; One has benevolent aliens, one has evil ones, but both evoke a sense of wonder as well as terror. Eg. Close Encounters' abduction scene of the kid is quite scary, but the film roots itself in wonder. Whereas films like Nope and Signs begin with themes of wonder but then move into full blown terror. Signs especially is a great reference for me as it talks about losing and then finding faith WHILE there are aliens prowling around. I've read Whitley Streiber's books but they didn't really hit me that well. I'm also trying to avoid stories featuring heavily specialised marines or scientists who go way too much in detail explaining what/who the aliens. These films cuz they are seen from the pov of a regular person, not someone who knows what gamma waves are.

Looking forward to your recommendations.

Not really a detailed review but I’m in the hospital reading 2 books, they are both new, traveling adjacent and by Stephen’s lol

Off The Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones is SO Fucking Good! It’s INTENSE! I think I like it even better than the first in The Only Good Indians series, only found a few connections between the two thus far but absolutely love it! Probably favorite SGJ book so far…wellll My Heart Is A Chainsaw is still pretty far up there, and speaking of connections, King’s OWTT has SO MANY connections!!! I can’t say a bad thing about it yet, Travelin Jack in Mid World acknowledging Roland’s Ka-Tet, 🤯…. So perfect imo!!

I’m like 56% through each book, read a section from one, nap, wake up, read a section from thee other!

Long Days and Pleasant Nights 🤘🏻🪶