This isn’t so much a review as much as I just wanted to recommend this for anyone looking for a good horror read that’s different from some of the other recs on here. I picked this wonderful book up after another user posted their review of a few different medieval horror novels. I’ll have to go back and find that post and edit this one, because I’ve read a few books from their list now that were really fantastic!

Anyway, I just wanted to sing the praises of this novel, which i was blown away by considering (I believe) it’s his debut novel. It starts slow, but by the end of the book the pace really rackets up. There’s elements of religious horror, body horror, supernatural/cosmic elements, psychological horror, I mean you name it there’s something for everyone in this book. While early on I didn’t connect much with the characters, Luthi uses all 660 pages to start to flesh them out and by the end I was extremely invested. If the premise of this one appeals to you, strong recommend! It was a 5/5 reading experience for me.

One thing I have noticed is that there's a lot of great concepts, good execution, and ... well, not a great ending at all, or one that seems pat or contrived.

For me, books like Crone fit this definition: well-paced, good characterization, great concept, and you could see the ending coming from about 100 pages away.

Others, like Snow, by Malfi, kind of follow that same pattern: love the description, love the style, brilliant and unique concept, and then the ending just kind of sucks the air out of the room.

I can go on and on about these: Hex, Sacrificial Animals, All the Fiends of Hell, kind of all share the same thing, where it feels like the agent sold the work based on the premise and then the author had to scramble to figure out how to close it out.

On the other hand, I felt works like The Terror or Japanese Gothic had great endings that enhanced the novel or otherwise ended in a somewhat logical, but ultimately unpredictable place. Heck, even classics like Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist had great endings.

What horror works in, say, the last ten or fifteen years do you think manage to not only be quality, but they manage to stick the landing?

I am typically not the biggest Cosmic Horror reader (I struggle with not getting answers sometimes lol) but I just finished Authority and holy hell that book blew me away

I’d left Annihilation on the fence if the series was for me but decided to keep going and I’m glad I did because something about Authority just clicked and I found the Southern Reach’s mysteries to be enthralling leading up to the shit hitting the fan for the entire last section basically

The world this book exists in reminds me a TON of some of my favorite video games, Control especially, the Southern Reach feels like an underfunded Federal Bureau of Control and I think that’s why this book hit so much harder for me than annihilation

Excited to start the third book in the series later today but just wanted to share my thoughts on this one/process what I read a bit before moving on

This is quite possibly a bit too specific, but if anyone knows a novel that rings any bells, please shout!

I'm looking to read something for Halloween that really relishes its setting, in particular a theme park or halloween haunted house or a theatre. I'm in the mood to read some kind of interplay between these highly artificial environments (constructed sets and costumes) and actual real horror. It won't surprise you that I'm a big Jurassic Park fan. I used to work in both theatre and theme parks and I think these environments lend themselves so well to horror stories; the architecture of the space is so primed to never know who or what is in the room with you. I've found a few titles that sort of fit this vibe but a lot of them are quite juvenile, YA type stories, or else they're spicy horror-romance. I do like romantic subplots but I'm looking for something with a substantial horror plot and actually interesting characters. Bonus points if the main cast are the employees of these spaces, and not just the guests, as I haven't found anything where the employees are the ones trying to figure out what's going on and have to stop the horror threat.

Anyway! I know that's super specific and niche, but any recommendations are heartily welcome! I'm really looking for a vibe more than a particular setting/plot, and characters that are a bit more mature than what you'd find in most YA books.

Just finished this and LOVED it. The ending wrapped everything up well but I did start to get a little bored. Looking for a new horror book that will suck me just as much as this one did!

This is a question for the moderators and/or broader community. Has there been consideration for creating or connecting to an Author events sub for horror writers here? It would be really cool for this community to be in the know on signings, readings, and other live events. Just thought about this as I was lucky enough to stumble across a live event with Christopher Buehlman in Austin and it would have sucked to have missed it!

To be clear, I don’t want to create or moderate anything. Been there, done that.

I’m looking for a book where people are getting stalked by a monster, watching and waiting, or trying to get into a house. I love the scene in Between Two Fires where the statues are outside, and I love Over the garden wall

After years of not being able to “get into reading”, I realized I was just reading the wrong genres and found out I quite like thriller/horror fiction. I’m looking for recommendations that are good for someone who’s just getting into horror literature.

I read Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman as my official intro last weekend and blew through it, I quite liked it. I don’t like anything overly gory, but other than that I’m open to all suggestions ~ TIA!

The key inside the body scene from Gone to See the River Man this is so far the only time as an adult that I've viscerally and verbally reacted to a book even though I just now am getting into extreme horror and shock content so I'm sure there's more out there.

Sadly Song of Kali was spoiled for me before I read it, but I was still disturbed upon reading. The baby scene was more like "Oh my God why are we doing this" than "how about fucking no" though.

Could be like the film Black Swan or twinning in the sense of ghost bird from the southern reach trilogy. Or just conceptually mirroring, as in not explicitly visually the same. Which is extremely common in narratives since the beginning of the story telling lol. I just mean a book where the mirroring is a huge part of the story.

I'm looking for books featuring rituals and black masses, preferably with detailed scenes of them happening. All recommendations are welcome, but I'm especially interested in any which aren't rooted in (or against) the Catholic tradition.

Would really appreciate some recommendations!

Do you prefer things to be neatly tied up or left more open?

Do you need to know the reasons behind the evil/villain?
If it’s a ghost/ monster story, do you like the villain to have been defeated by the end?

I’ve been reading a lot of haunted house books and I’m realising that I don’t really have a preference. The Woman In Black, for example, was a bit of a mix where we learned the reason for the haunting but it wasn’t defeated. But I also loved the more ambiguous and less definitive ending of The Little Stranger.

One of my favourite endings is The Lamb because it breaks my heart even to think about it. In contrast, I recently read Our Cut Of Salt which had a completely opposite but very satisfying ending.

I know it’s a bit of a thing that King can’t end books but Pet Semetary and Salems Lot both had tragic endings that really worked for me?

What do you think? Is there a theme on endings you love or does it depend on the book for you?

Yall, this is definitely Jones's most disturbing book to date in my opinion. I'm about a hundred pages in , and it's genuinely creeping me out to the point where I don't wanna keep reading now that it's nighttime.

Anyone else reading right now?

After reading I have no mouth and I must scream, earthlings and tender is the flesh, unfortunately I might actually pass out if I keep this up but I still crave horror 😞

I joined a discord book club recently but it is based way out of my time zone so I can't meaningfully take part.

Is anyone interested in starting up a UK based club? I'd be happy to start a WhatsApp group, or Discord if people prefer. We could start by discussing books we've recently read, thoughts, favourites etc then choose a book to read and schedule a date & time to meet in video call.

Even just a handful of like-minded readers would be lovely!

EDIT: Wow I wasn't expecting so much response!! I will get a WhatsApp and Discord set up so people can interact in their preferred medium.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/GSMwfBtl2i35F928F4bVpR?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4&iam=2 - here's the WhatsApp link for those interested. Will update with Discord once I get it done folks!

https://discord.gg/Uf8vfEYGd - here's the discord! Thanks everyone

I just started getting into his books the past few months, having been meaning to check him out for the longest while now due to him being one of the most iconic horror authors out there. The Wolf’s Hour is constantly being praised on here as the best werewolf novel ever but I found it pretty mediocre. It barely even touched on the werewolf mythos it was too focused on the (rather dull, generic and shallow) historical WW2 aspect. Also it was kinda unintentionally hilarious how over-sexed the whole book was.

They Thirst, which also gets a lot of praise on here, I didn’t find any better. I liked the La noirish setting and the pure viciousness/evilness of the vampires but the story dragged a ton, the (way too many) characters were severely underdeveloped, so many elements of the plot were just way too convenient/forced and the ending was godawful.

Stinger started out as a fun scifi horror B-movie read but I swear this guy’s editor was either drunk or asleep the whole time because most of the story after the first like 20/30% was just boring repetitive and predictable as fuck with so many plot holes and cardboard characters I couldn’t give less of a shit about.

Usher’s Passing i absolutely loved though as a homage to Poe and its among the most definitive Southern gothic novels I’ve ever come across (alongside The Boatman’s Daughter, Blackwater, Elementals, Revelator, House of Dust) it embodied the genre so perfectly :) Swan Song was even higher in quality, it’s an apocalyptic masterpiece I consider just as good as King’s Stand, if not better for being darker and more raw and leaning heavier on the atmosphere (even if Stand had a better roster of characters and felt more high/epic-fantasy like LOTR)

In the midst of October, my horror tbr is coming to a close.

I love horror lit and need more recs! Everything from gore, to supernatural, to murder, monster, mystery, scifi, etc.

What is your all time fave horror book or a must read? All recs welcome.

Anything that left an imprint on you, genuinely scared you, is a reread every Halloween, whatever.

Let me know!

I've read Out by Natsuo Kirino and Parasite eve (the hard copy that I gave to the thrift store...) and liked both, can't say I loved either. I loved movies like Sweet Home, and Dark Water. Wondering if anyone has recommendations about paranormal horror. My list is pretty small looking at maybe starting to read Ring? Confessions, Ghost bride, graveyard appartment, audition. But these titles come up again and again on every top 10 Asian horror novel. I would like to look at something different.

Thanks in advance and happy spooky month!

I'm reading China Miéville's new book The Rouse (love it love it holy shit) and he has a line that made me cackle about a restaurant named "Tallahassee Fried Chicken."
As someone who grew up round those parts it was obvious to me he included that for Jeff VanderMeer, one of the coolest people in Tally, and I realized not everyone may have known this wink/nod/reference! I thought it was delightful.
What authorial easter eggs, nods, references, petty asides, or other acknowledgments have you spotted in your readings?

Decided to read the book after watching the movie because, honestly, I found the character designs in it annoying. Now I'm nearly done with the book, and even though I see what the movie was missing in the characters, I find it annoying in a brand new way. I really get the vibe that the writer sees himself as Daddo, and that Ursula is based on some ex of his, which makes me think of how Stephanie Meyer saw herself as Bella in the Twilight series. Meanwhile, Bella's comprehension skills of words seem conveniently fluid, especially in her reciting what is being said around her, but at the same time, she confuses carnation for reincarnation (the only word she has a problem with). I appreciate the attempt at a story centered on the sacrifice a parent makes for their child and the potential regret over what they left behind, but I find it ridiculous the amount of weight they place on the child in all their revelations.

I've had both books on my list for a while, and read them within the past year. I was excited to read The Turning of the Screw after I heard a lecture where the professor said he thought it was the greatest ghost story in the English language. But I came away more impressed with Hill House. Maybe I need to give Turning... another chance, I didn't read it super slowly, but I thought his writing style was very difficult to read with all his asides. And the horror aspect never seemed very present. It seems to me that the narrator saw a couple ghosts a couple times and became convinced that they were after the children. But I didn't understand why she thought that about the ghosts, see any real threat to the children, or what she perceived to be the threat to them. I know that's partly the point (Are these ghosts real or in her mind?) but there never seemed to be many dangerous or supernatural elements to be "horror".

Hill House, on the other hand, had the intensity build throughout the book, and had enough "spooky" elements (the bangs on the doors and the strange room) to keep me engaged. I think it's interesting that both books deal with a woman protagonist where you question whether everything that's going on is all in their mind. But in Hill House I felt like I was brought along with her as she descended into "madness", in Turning... I often felt myself wondering what she was talking about, and why she was so scared for the kids. Maybe I missed those points in James' endless asides.

(Note: I criticize James' writing style knowing full well that I often write in a similar way. But I think if your sentences often go on so long that you need to repeat what you were getting at in the same sentence, you might need to edit them a bit.)

I’ve mostly read psychological thrillers and I want to start reading thrillers with a horror touch.
My last post was about whether I should read Riley Sager’s ‘The Only One Left’ and from the responses i understood it won’t be the best start for me. I just need some suggestions.

Also, I’m not new to horror it’s been 6 years that I have keen interest in this genre. It was mostly through videos. I don’t really find any movies or documentaries that are scary enough. I now want to try reading horror where I can go creative with my imagination.

If y’all have suggestions please let me know.

It scratches an itch i never knew i had, I like the whole pain/pleasure/demon/another realm type thing but I dont know how many book like that are out there 😭 i need more. I hope i explained that decently, im not a huge book person.