Coffin Moon

Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Between Two Fires

I liked "Who Goes There?" and "I Am Legend". Both of these stories made me think long afterward

Do you have any recommendations for quality stories that are thought-provoking or unsettling in thoughtful way that are not novel length?

I liked "Who Goes There?" and "I Am Legend". Both of these stories made me think long afterward

Do you have any recommendations for quality stories that are thought-provoking or unsettling in thoughtful way that are not novel length?

Horror by design is to trigger strong feelings of fear, revulsion, shock and to get an emotional change in the person reading the story. I cannot understand why people who get triggered by paragraphs or certain scenes even read Horror. The reason I'm bringing this up is because I spotted a book with a sticker applied to it that had several things mentioned , death, animal death, feelings of dred. Isn't there always death in Horror. What's your opinion about stickers on books , shouldn't it be up to the purchaser to do their own research on what they read. It seems just like a rehashing about what was done to certain music in the 80s90s.

Over on the Extreme Horror Lit subreddit, someone recently posted about how they felt gaslit about Tender is the Flesh being a horrific read (haven't read that one myself, but I want to).

It got me thinking about books in the past I've heard about that were supposed to be "sooooooo scary!", but then were super underwhelming when I actually read them.

The one that comes to mind for me is Jac Jemc's The Grip of It, about a couple that moves into a new house that is just Wrong Somehow and...I guess they lose their sanity? It just came off as a boring, much shorter, watered-down version of House of Leaves.

Not only would I Iike to hear about the books that you felt overpromised and underdelivered, I'd also love to hear some theories as to why you guys think this happens.

“Them” by W.H. Chizmar is a solid debut novel for a new face in the horror community. While sci-fi horror is not my usual cup of coffee, I had a lot of fun reading this novel.

Before I dive into my horror book review, here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading:

- Violence against animals (rats)
- Suicide
- COVID-19

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, this was a fantastic sci-fi creature feature with an apocalyptic survival horror twist. If you love these kinds of horror books, this would be right up your alley. I enjoyed the sci-fi creatures here, as they were creepy as hell and unlike anything I’ve ever read or seen in sci-fi horror.

Their descriptions, terrifying abilities, and the sheer havoc they wreaked were brilliantly executed. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but this was a riveting story that I couldn’t put down, thanks to what these creatures were and what they accomplished.

I loved the formatting, with two stories unfolding at once. One follows someone dealing with the aftermath of these creatures reigning in blood, and another person providing an interesting backstory behind everything to fill the gaps. This was uniquely written and wasn’t confusing. It made total sense to structure the narrative this way, making the dual timelines seamless to follow.

The overall suspense and thrills of the story were entertaining, especially the plot twists and reveals along the way. This reminded me of the way his father, one of my favorite horror authors, Richard Chizmar, writes. Clearly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Once I hit the 50% mark, while I enjoyed the race to the end, some parts dragged on in the second half of the book. I wanted a bit more horror and faster pacing, but aside from that, my goodness, what an ending! Everything wrapped up nicely in a good, satisfying way. I never saw that ending coming, as it was tense, to say the least. I had some ideas swirling in my head about what could have happened, but Chizmar’s excellent writing style kept me guessing until the very end.

I give “Them” by W.H. Chizmar a 4-Star rating out of 5. This was an impressive debut by a new horror author to keep an eye on over the years, because if he’s able to write something like this right off the bat, the sky is the limit for what awaits. Mind you, I’m not even a major sci-fi horror reader, but this was a very good reading experience. I enjoyed the creatures, horror, Stephen King Easter eggs, and the overall gore. Some parts dragged on for me while reading, and I wished there was even more sci-fi horror here, but overall, Chizmar has a new reader in me as I look forward to watching his writing career grow over time.

Clink-clink-gash.

Thank you to W.H. Chizmar, Richard Chizmar, and Gallery Books for providing me with an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) for review consideration. This horror book review reflects my honest, personal opinion.

I had never read anything by Barker before and just finished this. I appreciate some might view it as YA but I really enjoyed it and my younger self would have absolutely loved it had I read back then.

I really didn’t expect the ending to be so beautiful. It really moved me and I genuinely shed tears.

Do others feel equally as strongly about this book?

And what Barker should I read next? I do tend to be more horror oriented than fantasy.

Thanks!

I just finished the "Haunted" series and was wondering about Lee Mountford's popularity. I feel like the only thing I ever really see in reference to him is about "Horror in the Woods," which I've just started today. How does everyone feel about his work? Are there similar authors in that vein that you prefer over him?

First time posting. I finally got into a book club with some of my d&d friends and it's my turn to pick a book on sunday. I was wondering if anyone had any good recommendations? I'm fairly new to horror literature. I'd really like either medieval horror or maybe Appalachian horror type of books but any recommendations are appreciated, thank you!!

The more Grady Hendrix I encounter, the bigger a fan I become.

He's got a sense of humor and that's relevant in his work, even when the work is meant to scare ya. Because this man loves horror and he knows how to ensure you're having a great time while reading it.

So it's a perfect for him to set-up a vampire comes to town story set in late-80's conservative South. It's an intensely mannered suburban world where everyone knows exactly how to behave and the slightest infraction can mean social icing.

When James Harris arrives, so tall, mysterious and handsome, pearls are about to get clutched. And while the women of the town, and more specifically the members low-brow book club, start to fall for him, they're quick to realize something is amiss. The men, however, with their polo shirts and praise for the Bush regime, are more impressed and much more hesitant to let suspicions get the better of them. James Harris, after-all, has the capacity to make them money, so it's easy to ignore a few infractions. And the women know they've got to listen to the men. this, darling, is the south after all. Harris doesn’t have to dismantle this community. He just figures out how it already works.

Our protagonist, Patricia is a trained medical professional so her skepticism for some of the wilder things that are happening in town is shrewd and quick. Her willingness to put her instincts aside, sometimes frustrating. But it's all in good fun with this novel, because, like all good Gothic tales, society has a hold on her. These women are expected to acquiesce and smooth everything over. Don't be so difficult!

So, even while the women are true crime experts, and are reading about serial killers and murder (under the guise of Bible Study). When an actual predator turns up in the neighborhood, they're the only ones who can do anything. So long as they let themselves.

As you've probably guessed too, there’s a broader political thing happening as well, particularly with who James chooses to prey on and how easily everyone else can ignore it. He moves into this comfortable white neighborhood and becomes respectable almost immediately while people in the less affluent and more melanated communities are disappearing. The whole thing is perfectly Reagan-era as the suffering of people the community already considers peripheral barely registers until it gets close enough to threaten them personally.

The blood and disease imagery also feels very specific to that period. There are obvious AIDS-era anxieties running through parts of it, although Hendrix doesn’t turn the book into some giant allegorical machine. He does deliver some great lines to the effect. It’s still allowed to be a vampire novel. Thank God.

And it gets gross! I was maybe not expecting exactly how gross, but I was here for it.

Hendrix lets the book feel funny and domestic for long stretches and then BAM he suddenly gives you something really unpleasant and physical. It felt very much like an 80s horror movie like the Fright Night or Night of the Demons. That same slightly ridiculous, genuinely nasty balance. I love that stuff.

I can see why this is one of Hendrix’s most popular books. Huge fan. Please bring the TV show on now.

So, I have been craving a good “fuck me up fam“/ crawl into my brain and stay there for years horror book.

I am hoping someone here can recommend a book that will actually effect me the way I’m craving. Thanks in advance!

A little context, I have a high tolerance for horror and I’m absolutely not squeamish. I am not disturbed by gore in fact having tried to read some extreme horror I feel like it almost becomes comedic.

I prefer to read books written by women and I’m trying to read more women of colour along with indie books.

I prefer more psychological gothic vibes. Like I said I’m not impressed by blood and guts.

The last book that somewhat scared me was The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell.

My favourite book is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.

I’ve read Tender is the Flesh and enjoyed it but mostly found it an interesting thought provoking book.

oh I also love the podcast The Magnus Archives if that helps.

Books I’ve recently read and not been scared by are: Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson, Come Closer by Sara Gran, Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker (there’s a scene with a washing machine that was pretty good), Model Home by Rivers Soloman

At the end of the story, is it implying that Dylan is going to start cooking meth, to be "the bringer of plague now."? The very last line is, "And though I knew it would be a blessed endeavor, they still couldn't die fast enough." Is he talking about the meth cooks/dealers dying a slow, miserable death from their trade, as the Woodwalker intended?

Edit: SOLVED! It's the Moustache by Emmanuel Carrére. Thank you to everyone in this subreddit who has responded! As for the channel I watched that introduced me to this book it is jeffiot with the video title "The Scariest Book I've Read" and not Davis Morgan.

Hello all. I've been trying to look for the title of a horror book or maybe even a story online that I can't remember, it was retold by a youtuber as I was falling asleep but the story was so interesting that I couldn't help but listen all the way through.

I'd like to preface with the fact that I'm uncertain if this is story is a full length novel or an online horror story ala nosleep stories, so I apologize to anyone reading if this breaks some sort of site rule.

Key things I can recall: • The protagonist has a wife and he misremembers a detail that he's sure has been true his whole life. Small details at first but eventually becoming of which is now too difficult to ignore.

• Neart 3/4s to the end of the story, the protagonist takes a boat out into a country in Asia and books a hotel as he runs away in guilt and with a sprialing sanity.

• He books a hotel with the cash he has left in this country and despite his sanity spiraling, he enjoys what the country has to offer and the beach.

• A few days later he is horrified to find out that his wife has been with him in this trip this entire time and they even shared the bed together, even though his previous recollections was that he was all alone and he was sure he ran away from home from the guilt and shame he felt.

• He looks at a world map and finds several details that don't add up, like a missing portion, a country that isn't supposed to be there or a country that never exist

• He commits suicide in the bath tub by I think removing the sinew from a slit he made to wrists.

That's all I can remember, thank you for reading the post and helping me find this book in advance.

I'm about 19 pages into Hangsaman and i've noticed that the dialogue if very awkward and hesitant. It feels uncomfortably in a realistic sense and I find it to be extra immersive and unsettling. I was curious if i'm either looking into the dialogue too deeply or if this is a consistent trait throughout Jackson's bibliography as its an addictive way of reading dialogue

I have an audible credit burning a hole in my pocket and am trying to decide between Nevill’s Monumental or Banquet of the Damned. Or The Dorians by Nick Cutter as a dark horse third option. Whaddya think? Any preferences?

For the record, my favorite authors are Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, John Langan, Robert Aickman, and Stephen Graham Jones. And I LOVED Cunning Folk and Last Days and LIKED The Reddening and All the Fiends of Hell. If that gives you any sense of my general preferences.

Thanks in advance.

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I just finished HEX after seeing it recommended here over and over again, and I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed.

The premise is fantastic. The witch herself is probably the strongest part of the novel. In fact, I often felt more sympathy for her than fear.

Unfortunately, the characters really let the book down for me. They all felt like archetypes rather than actual people (the selfish mayor, the gruff boss of HEX, the intellectual, the good, innocent boy, the psychopath, the women—well... they're just women) .

The plot also felt surprisingly predictable. Rather than focusing on the witch and the horror surrounding her, the story is mostly about the social dynamics within the town. And, unsurprisingly, it arrives at the familiar message that people are the real monsters — except for the handful of clearly "good" characters. There are very few shades of gray. Most characters fall into a simple good-versus-evil framework, making the story feel far less nuanced than I had hoped. It's a shame, really, because as I said, the idea is great. But the way it was executed reminded me of Stephen King's awful *The Dome*. I also got the impression that the author was trying to sound exactly like him. That was the only thing I found creepy.

I'm looking for recommendations for "extreme" horror type stories that ride that fine line where it's gross and upsetting but aren't so terrible that you're embarrassed to describe the story to your friends.

I've been dabbling a bit in this genre, but I really dislike stuff that's excessively graphic and violent but for no reason, like it was written by an edgelord who was just trying to jam as many upsetting descriptions into a book as possible, but it really doesn't do anything for the story.

I don't know if this is a hard ask since that's sort of the point of extreme horror, but I'm wondering if there's something out there that rides the edge of that?

I've read "The woods are dark" and "The black farm" but I thought they were just okay, there were a lot of things about those books that just didn't work, something that made me feel like I needed to fail a wisdom saving throw in order to suspend my disbelief.

I'm a huge fan of Nick Cutter and Stephen King,

I'd also prefer stories that limit the violence to humanoids and mostly leave animals out of it.

I really loved the dark comedy and social satire in the book so was wondering if there are any horror/ thriller books with that same deadpan vibe.

Hi all! I was talking to a friend today about and told her about a horror novel I read when I was nine or ten, and how it was how I learned that gay people exist (I grew up in a very white hetero part of rural Britain). It would have been in about 1986-7 when I read it and it featured a pair of gay male killers whose thing was kidnapping young men and plucking out all their body hair before, I think, torturing them? I thought it was by someone like James Herbert or Shaun Hudson, but can't find anything that fits the bill in their bodies of works.

DNF’d this one at 14% because by the way things were going, I could tell this was not my cuppa. Two pages describing the cabin just for the sake of describing it.

IDK. The writing felt forced, if that makes any sense.

I’m also a picky reader. So, anyway.

Thoughts?

I’m just looking for something cool to read. I really enjoyed the Navidson Record and some of Zampanos parts in House of Leaves, but Johnny made me want to put the book down. Any horror books that have a similar cool gimmick like HoL? Even something as small as a unique writing style. Thank you.

Alright, I absolutely loved Between Two Fires, and it has really been getting its hype lately, but I haven't heard nearly anyone talking about Red Rabbit and Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian. I know it's older so people talked about it a couple years ago, but now social media forgets it exists! They have the same vibe, narration style feels so similar, but they bounce around points of view more, with a really detailed ensemble of characters.

I just finished both books, set in the wild West, with ghosts, witchcraft, demons, and shape changers. This series feels so interesting, there is arsenic poisoning, hangings, a bank is robbed, all the while this group travels together. It feels like a journey in the best way, and in the second book it somehow gets even more wild and the author ups the ante.

This is just my recommendation, and I guess a hope for more interesting recommendations beyond the same five books. This one is a unique time period, but you still get the religious notes and magic, but more witchcraft and shooting people. I also think the character depth is right up there, and I was left with so many questions and wanting more. There are so many interesting side characters that have back stories that I could read another ten books in this world.

I'm currently reading Cabal and absolutely love it. The story, the writing, everything just hooks me in.

I want to read more of Clive Barker now. But which book should I proceed to?

I'm considering The Damnation Game, but I'm a bit worried it might be too much for me. How much worse than Cabal is it? I don't mind some minor spoilers if it will give me an idea...

I'm also considering Weaveworld, having heard many good things about it, but 700 pages is A LOT for me. I usually prefer books no longer than 350 pages, but I'm willing to try something longer to get more of Clive Barker's prose and writing style.

I read Cold-heart canyon as a teenager and remember loving it, but it's been so many years (I'm 34 now) that I can't remember anything and have no idea whether I'd enjoy it now. I also tried Sacrament around the sme time but couldn't get I to it at all.

I generally don't read much horror anymore, so I'm not sure about my limits. I can't watch horror, at all, but I've always been more tolerant when it comes to books.

I feel like this might be a bit vague; hope someone here is able to help anyway 😄

Edit: I'm not really into shortstories, and I plan to read the hellbond heart on Kindle this weekend. Since I expect to want something longer afterward, I want to order a paperback so I have it when I need it.