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?

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)

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.

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.

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?

What are some books about Werewolf packs with the MCs (both Male and Female) being Werewolves and I don't mean that Werewolf packs are the villians or are side characters, just books about Werewolf packs with the MCs (both Male and Female) being Werewolves

Hello! I am working on gathering primary sources for my dissertation and I wanted to get a list together of popular books rn that feature these archetypes. They can be of any subject or origin, dystopian counts too! If you have any that even seem tenuously related to the subject please send them my way. Thank you for being such a great community!

What’s up everyone, wasn’t sure where to post this but we’ll see what happens.

I sometimes like to play video games when I listen to audiobooks. Something simple, brainless, and low stim does the trick. For instance, I played a lot of PGA when I was listening to The Stand. The Stand is a 60 hr audiobook and I like doing things while listening - I can’t just sit still and listen to a book unless I have the physical copy as well, or unless I am going to sleep. I will also often do chores or yardwork while listening, but at the end of the day I’m just looking for something monotonous to do while listening.

Does anyone else do this? If so, what are some good games to play while listening? Right now I’ve been playing some Lego Harry Potter while listening to Needful Things lmao.

I just finished 'The Haar' and have read 'Slewfoot' and loved both. Any recommendations for similar stories?

Slewfoot has been on my shelf for a while and I finally cracked it open for October. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

I see that it has somewhat of a lukewarm response on this subreddit, and I'm not surprised, because it wasn't much of a horror novel. I would classify it as dark fantasy with horror elements. That being said, I loved how much it felt like an old fairy tale. Brom did a great job showing the real horror is the oppressive Puritan society and not the old gods of nature.

The witch trial was infuriating but led to a fantastic emotional payoff when Samson and Abitha lay waste to the village. I saw discussions that hinted the ending was unsatisfying, but I didn't feel that way at all. I found the pacing was actually really well done and the story had the conclusion I was hoping for.

I also loved the religious and philosophical heart of the novel, particularly Samson struggling with his identity and wondering if he is good or evil in his truest nature. Of course, he is both.

This was a great read and I'm looking forward to Brom's Krampus this Christmas!

What did you think of Slewfoot?

Thanks for reading

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been super particular about the horror books I devote time towards. Maybe it’s because some can be so hit/miss or maybe it’s because horror is just an extremely diverse genre.

I love well written prose and characters, getting to intimately know them and attach myself to them so I feel for them or fear alongside them.

that being said:

I have well and truly reading enough “the real monster was the characters trauma” books to last me a lifetime.

so when I picked up “The Rats” by James Herbert, I was thoroughly pleased with how straightforward it was.

it’s just a bunch of Brits fighting a swarm of dog sized rats who hunger for man flesh. it was a lot of of fun, and as a notoriously slow reader, I managed to speedrun the trilogy before mid October as they aren’t particularly long books.

the first is under 200 pages I think, and wastes zero time. nobody is spared in these books and it really lets you know out the gate.

the second is my favorite of the trilogy, and actually had a few genuinely eerie moments, among adding new aspects to the setting.

the third one is insane and I was giggling the whole time, and even then there were a few heart punches where the story gets oddly grounded and real about the characters situation.

and you don’t even really need to read all 3 if you’re burnt out, you can just read the first one. full warning however, as they came out in the 1970s there is a fair amount of sleaze, especially in the second one.

4/5 stars, really liked these funny rat books.

It’s October so this sub is flooded with the usual request looking for Halloween and fall vibes. Well look no further than Pumpkin Seeds by Tyler Downs! I just finished this book today and it was excellent, written by an indie author and is also a fairly short read.

The book itself is set during October with Halloween as a center point, and better yet takes place in Salem. The basic premise is a detective is resurrected the week before Halloween each year to solve supernatural murders.

I had a really great time with this book, it was fun, well written, no fluff, and hit all the Halloween vibes I was looking for in a book. Give it a shot if you’re looking for something new this season!

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.

Howdy everyone! I'm looking for some good zombie books that focus on the horror of the living dead.

I'm not really looking for anything that focuses on survivors, keeping humanity afloat, the military response, etc- it doesnt interest me at all.

Id really love some books focused on the undead- whether that be them as protags or just the main source of actual scary horror!

Id even accept books that have a unique takes on zombies!

What do you think! Any reccomendations?

She and I read a short story collection tonight that was really bad. Fun-bad, but still bad. While we enjoyed shitting on it, we would like to read something better. Whether it's strictly horror or horror-comedy, either recommendations are welcome.

270 pages in so a little more than halfway. The book certainly isn’t so awful that I’m gonna stop reading, but I am taking a break to start another vampire novel, children of the night by Dan Simmons. The problem with Necroscope is that it’s just taking so goddamn long to set everything up. For 270 pages in and there’s just been basically a lot of background. I understand this book set up a very long series so I guess a lot of explaining is necessary. But man thought it would be a little more exciting than this.

I don't want to be overly prescriptive about what I'm looking for, I'm just craving that feeling of "I've never read anything like this before." What would you recommend?

Just finished Angel Down and really enjoyed it and I could have done without the one sentence thing, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me and I couldn’t help but think of the show Midnight Mass while I was reading it and all of the similarities. Okay done with the run on haha

Really enjoyed the book and if you haven’t seen Midnight Mass I highly recommend it.

Looking for your favorite multi-author anthologies centered around specific themes (i.e. ghosts, possession, vampires, etc). New or old, print or audio. Thanks in advance!

So I'm relatively new to reading horror novels. So far I've read The Exorcist and The Hellbound Heart and enjoyed them both quite a bit. I've attempted multiple Stephen King books in the past such as Misery, The Stand, and The Shining, but seemed to lose interest around the halfway point.

I'd love to get some recommendations for what to read next, I'm not against trying other Stephen King books, but I'm worried his writing style just doesn't click with me.

I'm looking for horror books for October. Short stories even better. If anyone has one or is an author show me what ya got!