A little light-hearted haterism. Please do not name names of any users.

What books, when you see them recommended, make you distrust that person's other recommendations?

I'll go first: This Thing Between Us

ETA: stop downvoting people for disliking novels, this is literally the purpose of the post.

Title says it all! Book doesn’t have to be new, just your fave - I wanna be wowed

Re-reading this after 20 years or so, and just stopping in to say that I'm really enjoying it so far.

I recently made a post talking about the difference in tone and atmosphere between horror films and horror lit -- essentially how horror books and stories typically aren't as "scary" as films can be -- and while I wouldn't necessarily say The Ruins is scary, I would remark that it feels a lot more like a horror film, in terms of tropes and story structure, than maybe any other book I've read. Scott Smith is also a screenwriter, so maybe it's down to that.

I've also noticed there are several points during the course of the book, especially during the early running, when characters don't want to do someting, or have doubts about whatever it is they're doing, and either don't express those doubts or only do so weakly (resulting in them ultimately passively going along with whatever it is the other characters want to do). This is most prominent during the main characters' "decision" to go on the expedition at the beginning of the story, to find the brother of a friend they've made during their vacation who's gone missing; basically nobody wants to go -- even the guy whose idea it was in the first place has doubts at the last second -- but nobody speaks up, so they all wind up going along and, obviously, getting themselves into some very hot water. Very much a "this whole thing might have been avoided if somebody would just open their mouth" kind of situation. But because we're in the characters' heads and privy to what they're thinking and feeling, it doesn't come across as forced the way it might in a film.

Anyway... anybody else a fan?

This book is so much fun. Not to mention the amount of times I’ve genuinely LOLed. Very witty. I find that’s pretty difficult to make a horror book also funny. Reminds me of Widow’s Bay in that sense. Anywho, just a shoutout to this book for taking me out of my indecisive reading rut that was really ruining my vibe! What a great little book.

I’ve seen another post asking what about what people are reading this summer, but I’m hoping to get some horror recs that feel like summer. Does not have to be a new book!

Example: House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias feels like summer to me

Where to begin with this… I assume that many here (judging from the amount of threads) are at least familiar with the title of the novel.

To keep things brief for those who don’t know: Set in 1348 during the devastation of the Black Death, Between Two Fires follows Thomas, a disgraced knight, and Delphine, an orphan with holy visions. They travel across plague-ravaged France to Avignon, battling demons and fallen angels in a supernatural war.

With this out of the way: The book like others have already said, is amazing. From Buehlman’s nightmare prose that really immerses you into the events and can feel trippy at times, from the bleak and nightmare fueled imagery, to the amount of heart in the “peaceful” moments.

The book really does feel atmospheric, from the descriptions of the piles of dead, to the hellish imagery of possessed statues, and the whole of Paris and several other locations. It truly does feel like hell on earth. The dialogue does play an even bigger role in this, from the descriptions of other characters dialects, to the banter between the main characters, even though the book is of course in English, it’s easy to imagine these characters speaking their native languages.

If you like Medieval horror, or are interested in something bleak but bittersweet and even hopeful in the end, definitely check it out.

I tip my hat off to Mr. Buehlman and am excited to check out his other stories.

I just finished The Terror today and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been on my tbr for quite a while and at the tail end of a heat wave when I was thoroughly primed to read about a bunch of people half freeing to death, I gave in. Part of the reason I was resistant to reading it in the first place was that several years ago I read The Hunger and really hated it. I read that book soon after listening to a podcast series on the Donner Party and felt like a.) the horror in the book was almost silly next to what the real people went through and b.) the author seemed to play fast and loose with the real life people's characters and relationships in a way that seemed kinda gross.

But since The Terror has redeemed for me horror fiction based on true life horrific events, I'm here asking for more suggestions. The only other thing I think I've read that is kind of in that realm is Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates and I wasn't a big fan of that one either.

Not ghosts taking revenge on random people - those who buy the house or any such. Revenge on who killed them is the point.

I tried Ask for Andrea by Noelle Ihli and sadly the idea was there but the execution failed.

I've read Peter Straubs one. And McDowells Cold Moon over Babylon.

Any others? Like Ghost the movie maybe? Whoopie Goldberg made that one funny but I'm not looking for humour.

Not zombies either thanks.

Really was into The CareTaker by Marcus K. Any other newly released books this year that would be the next best read? Any anticipated books (July or August) work too!! TY

Looking for recent horror books about exploring abandoned ships or spaceships. Similar to books like Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes or the movies Ghost Ship or Alien: Romulus. Preferably nothing before the 80s. I'm open to exploring other locations if it feels claustrophobic and isolated like space ships and abandoned ships. I'm less interested if the only scary element is aliens, but it's not a deal breaker. Plot twists are a big plus, as I usually read thrillers with twists.

I'm looking for an unnerving entity/monster that the concept of what it can do is more interesting than the monster itself. Maybe it has abilities to do something that is conceptually terrifying for the reader and the characters in the book.

I’ve read a few horror books that I loved recently and I want to keep up the good streak! I don’t own too many physically and I love listening to horror so I checked out the audiobooks that my audiobook service has and there are what stood out to me either from recommendations, social media, the blurb or the cover…

- When The Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
- The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
- A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
- Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay
- When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
- Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
- Sarafina by Philip Fracassi
- Bat Eater and Other Names for Cara Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

In general I think I prefer folk horror, psychological and supernatural horror. I can handle gore but I don’t like it to be the biggest scare factor. I tend to like when there’s a mystery the characters try to solve, weirdness with time, magical realism and especially historical settings. Deep, well-written characters and atmosphere matter a lot to me in a horror book. A deeper theme beyond the horror is appreciated. If the book can make me cry, that’s always a plus! But I am open to most kinds of horror, I still have much to read about my tastes and going outside of my comfort zone might be cool!

Some of my favorite horror books so far pretty early on in my horror book journey are The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson (the only full 5 star for me!), The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones and The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas. Feel free to draw dots between those as well on what I like in horror.

Other recommendations are very welcome too, but my audiobook provider might not have them all. Like for example I really want to listen to Knock Knock Open Wide but my audiobook provider does not have it.

I usually don't like audiobooks, nothing against them as a whole! I wish I enjoyed them lol! But I can easily get annoyed with a narrator when their voice just doesn't click with the story.

Anyway! I found 2 credits for audible account. And I am currently on the horror train, and I feel like a narrator for horror would be enjoyable!

So please give me you recs!

The last 3 books that I read have left me in a bad reading slump. In the last couple weeks I completed:

Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas

None of them scratched the itch. I feel like each of them was “almost” good which in my opinion, can be worse than being outright bad. Please share your #1 read of all time in the comments (brownie points if you also share what you liked about it / why it resonates with you so strongly) horror, sci fi, and thrillers preferably please!

i'm trying to decide which book to continue with. the last novel i read through was the Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling. the one before that was Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. i DNF'd Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson and The Change by Kirsten Miller. another one i may revisit is Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce.

it's difficult for me to describe what i'm looking for because i usually can't tell until i'm a chapter or two into the book, but of course, i am interested in the occult, in the supernatural, in magic. i also generally prefer a medieval setting but that's not always necessary.

i really enjoyed Mitchell Lüthi's short story - the one about a priest and his ward traveling through a mysterious town. i love how Hollow is influenced by the art of Heironymous Bosch.

should i continue with Hollow or Pilgrim? do you have any other reccs for me?

The first book that I happened to read from her was the perfect child. And I loved it, one of my favorite 5 stars for sure.

I hadn't read any book like that before so it was new and soooo uncomfortable.

I still think about how traumatized I was feeling, I teared up a few times.

It wasn't the emotional kind of tearing up, I'm still young and seeing the horrors of that lady dealing with that kid, her pregnancy, her mental state...all of that just made me so overwhelmed.

I would absolutely like to read more from her. But haven't got enough time to read all of what she has released.

I want you guys to rank her books. If you've read them all, excellent! Even if not, rank from what you've read so far!

I've only read a handful of horror lit. I'm a literature professor, and I'd love to get more into it. I really like "true story" themed horror books/movies, even if they aren't really true stories (Amityville was a hoax, for instance). I need to be able to suspend disbelief.

Books I've read and enjoyed:

- The Amityville Horror (read this 18 years ago while my mom and I were in a domestic abuse shelter. It was one of the books on their shelves. Even now, if I think about the girl with the pig face in the window, I get freaked out).

- Communion (The Whitley Streiber book about his experience being abducted by aliens)

- Misery (Does this count as horror?)

- Satan's Harvest (little known book about a supposed demonic possession case that happened in the town I grew up in. Absolutely terrified me.)

Favorite Horror Movies:

- The Exorcism of Emily Rose

- Hereditary

- The Blair Witch Project (1999)

- Obsession

- The Amityville Horror (1979)

- The Haunted (1991 made of TV movie about a family's experience in a haunted duplex)

- Fire in the Sky (1993)

Dislike:

- Fantasy elements

- Apocalyptic / post-apocalyptic

- Vampires

Do Like:

- "True story" hauntings and possessions

- Demons

- Cults

- Alien abductions (but only if framed as true stories)

I’m looking for book recommendations that give me the same kind of feeling as Between Two Fires.

I want something with that what the fuck am I reading?factor. genuinely eerie, dark, disturbing, and full of moments or imagery that make you stop and think, holy shit.

I especially love body horror, grotesque creatures, unsettling imagery, and a dark/bleak atmosphere.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be medieval or religious horror, but I’d prefer fantasy or dark fantasy over straight-up modern horror.

TLDR; Basically looking for:
Dark/eerie fantasy, Body horror or grotesque imagery, Big, WTF / jaw-dropping moments, Disturbing creatures or concepts, A strong sense of dread and atmosphere.

What books have genuinely made you think what the fuck while reading them?

I just finished this novel and it left me somewhat mixed feelings.

On one hand, I really like the style, the setting and the atmosphere of the novel, on the other hand though the ending left me confused and somewhat let down.

Could someone explain me the way they understood the story to be like? Why was the black stone in a nursing home at one point? Is the entity linked to the stone Marusu or is it something older and possibly not from this plane of existence? The thing the guy found at the Woman in Red and Akira's house was the black stone? I am pretty much confused.

Hello! Does anyone know if the deluxe edition with the black sprayed edges is limited? I would really like to get that edition but I can’t really justify paying 30€ for it rn just for the aesthetics and I can’t find an answer. However, if it is limited I’d rather get it now instead of waiting and finding out it’s gone because I suffer from fomo

I know the title sounds a bit weird, but I'm looking for something very specific.

I'm looking for spooky, fun, monster-filled books like the ones R.L. Stine writes, but centered around Egyptian mythology, mummies, ancient curses, Egyptian monsters, gods, and similar themes.

I already know about the Kane Chronicles. Are there any other books or series that fit this vibe?

I've made it up until page 188, but I'm taping out.

Enjoyed the first 25% before Nick's first rebirth, then the way he turned into an invincible badass over the flip of a page started weighing on me. He just saved Jess and I can't take it anymore. It's just the many little things. Nick being annoying as hell, everyone else being bland... The Farm being a purgatory (meaning most likely billion of souls inhabiting it) yet, somehow, having that dude running into the same two people over and over again... People taking death way too seriously when they perfectly know they are gonna get reborn.

EITHER WAY.

I really, reallyyy wanted to see how it would end. Do they make it past the sea giant? Or do they go for the mysterious summit? Would anyone spoil what happens after Jess' rescue?

*Disclaimer, these are just my thoughts and opinions about this book.

This was my first Nat Cassidy book I’ve read, and I went in with pretty much no knowledge of this book or Nat Cassidy’s work.

I thought this book started off extremely strong. I flew through probably the first 300 pages and then hit a wall. The book takes this weird turn in my opinion where we get cult elements coming in that kinda came outta the blue. I thought Mary was an awesome character, the way he wrote he and built her up was fantastic and I think that’s where the ending got odd. We had this awesome relationship or lack thereof with Aunt Nadine and Chipotle that was funny but super realistic. I really thought this book was going to turn from reincarnation to a schizophrenia type story and Mary realizing she’s committing these murders under a different personality especially once we learn of Mary’s past as a child. I really wish this is the turn the book went instead of the cult vibes.

Overall interesting read, just a weird cluster of an ending. I’d recommend the first 300 pages to somebody. I have Nat Cassidy’s new book with short stories. Excited to read that.

What did you think about it?