Grant's Book Reviews on Goodreads.com
1. Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in
the West
Cormac
McCarthy · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Aug
29, 2026
This book
dismantles the Old West myth of America as a land of self-reliant, hardworking
pioneers. The hearty individualism so proudly touted as the forebear of the
so-called self-reliant modern American man is just a cover story for gang
violence, scalp bounties, and state-backed land grabs. This is who we really
are, but we keep pretending otherwise.
It is obvious:
there is no all-powerful, all-knowing, benevolent intelligence behind the
massacre, the ugliness, and the permitted suffering we inflict on the world.
The character of “The Judge” is the closest thing to God in the book, and he is
just a silver-tongued, lying, thieving, murdering pedophile. This latter
characterization of a creator aligns better with the facts on the ground.
2. The Butcher of Nazareth
David
Scott Hay · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Aug
8, 2026
Such an
imaginative, dark book that takes seriously the fallout from Herod's slaughter
of the innocents. Horrifying and violent, Hay fills in the psychological and
sociological consequences of not only "The Culling," but also the
nativity itself and the unique/difficult familial position that Mary, Joseph,
and Jesus find themselves in.
3. I Hear a New World (The Long London Quintet,
#2)
Alan
Moore · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jul
28, 2026
It was nice to
reacquaint with Dennis Knuckleyard and Grace Shilling. Charming Peter is back
along with a new major threat in the form of Button Dainty (the character's
names are marvelous). Moore's prose, turn of phrase, and humor are outstanding
in this second installment of the Long London series. With plot ties to Arthur
Machen's "The Green Round" and explicit thematic ties to Mervyn
Peake's Ghormenghast, fans of either author will find something to like.
4. Charnel Glamour
Mark
Samuels · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jul
26, 2026
Full of
necromancy, decadence, and the supernatural power of weird fiction itself, this
collection adds more weirdness to The Cult of Lilith and the Thool Valley
mythos. Samuels will be very missed in the weird fiction community.
5. Uncertain Sons and Other Stories
Thomas
Ha · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read May
29, 2026
Thomas Ha's
short fiction is of the best. His characters inhabit fascinating, terrifying,
and weird settings, and, despite the downright bizarrerie, it is chilling that
Ha's worlds look familiar, like a peek into a believable future.
6. The Monk
Matthew
Gregory Lewis · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read May
21, 2026
This novel is
gothic through and through. Lewis turns the volume up to 11 with his terrible
villains, the melodrama, secret identities, lovesick romantics, dungeons,
catacombs, abbeys and convents. Plenty of secret passages and hidden doors. He
offers up curses, demonic pacts, ghosts, and superstitious peasants. He throws
in a stormy night or two, some passages of poetry and song (including a window
serenade), and a set of converging plots that keep the reader turning those
pages. And the horror. . . Lewis doesn't shy away from stomach-turning
descriptions of decay and vicious acts of cruelty, violence, and blasphemy
It is a
fascinating study in the spiral of moral corruption. The contrast between the
villainy of the monk and the cruelty of the abbess paints alternative paths to
human viciousness. The different kinds of power inherent in the characters of
Antonia's mother Elvira, the Abbess St. Agatha, and the cunning Matilda set up
distinct models of control that end up pulling and expanding the plot in rich
directions.
7. Come Closer
Sara
Gran · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read May
13, 2026
I liked the
claustrophobic form that the story takes. It is short, and there is not a lot
of breathing room for development. This works because it mirrors what the
protagonist is going through. The reader gets to experience her blackouts, the
patterns of her mental ruminations, and being locked into her mind and
epistemic position, like she is locked in.
8. The Hill of Dreams
Arthur
Machen · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Apr
24, 2026
A moving work
of Machen's that gave me a better sense of Romanticism and Decadence in
practice. A weird and difficult novel that is, sadly, too relatable.
9. Borne (Borne, #1)
Jeff
Vandermeer · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Apr
1, 2026
The novel takes
up some interesting questions about personhood: what makes something a person
rather than a monster, or a weapon, or a ghost, or just salvage? The narrative
suggests different possibilities. Perhaps the thing in question needs to behave
in a certain way. If it exhibits that required set of behaviors, then it is a
person. Or that might not be it at all; instead, maybe persons must be
motivated by certain considerations that simply don’t move monsters, weapons,
ghosts, or salvage. Maybe that doesn’t work as a criterion either. Perhaps to
be a person is just to be treated as a person; to be brought into the social
practice of praising, criticizing, forgiving and holding one another
responsible for their behavior.
In addition to
questions about personhood, the novel takes up the further issue of personal
identity. Once you settle that the thing is a person, what is it about a person
that makes them who they are. In the story, identity comes unhinged from memory
in an interesting way that perhaps suggests other features that might ground
personal identity.
If these kind
of issues get your juices flowing, then this book might be for you!
10. This'll Make Things a Little Easier
Attila
Veres · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Feb
21, 2026
These stories
are just as weird as Veres' stories in The Black Maybe, but these new ones hit
harder. There is tragedy here that imbues the weird with the terrifying.
Another great collection!
11. Hellions: Stories
Julia Elliott · ★★★★☆ 4/5 ·
read Feb 11, 2026
The stories in
this collection speak from a strong voice; that is, the narration feel
profoundly real. Elliott's command of description and metaphor not only fuels
the imagination for the worlds created but also causes one to pause to consider
something quite ordinary in a completely new light.
The monster
stories make perfect use of the extraordinary; the coming-of-age stories
capture the weirdness and poignancy of the experience; and the witchy
earthiness of the horror speaks to something archetypal.
12. Solaris
Stanisław
Lem · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Feb
10, 2026
Stanislaw Lem’s
Solaris remains an astounding work. It is a deeply profound reflection on human
psychology, moral obligation to non-human persons, and our naivete concerning
the search for alien intelligence. The novel also challenges the very
possibility of contact with any alien intelligence that engages the world with
a vastly different non-human conceptual scheme and paradigm. An all-time
favorite book.
13. The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 1
Michael
Kelly · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jan
24, 2026
I'm pleased
that Michael Kelly is once again curating a best-of-the-year collection. 2024
was a great year for short weird fiction and collected here are 25 of the best!
My own favorites include:
"Our Best
Selves" by Hiron Ennes "Five Views of the Planet Tartarus" by
Racheal K. Jones "Alabama Circus
Punk" by Thomas Ha "A Woman's Place is in the Haunted Home" by
Charlotte Tierney "In the Palace of Science" by Chris Campbell
"Ruminants" by Kay Chronister "The Ruins with a Spectator"
by Kaaron Warren "He Dances Alone" by Joanne Anderton
14. Remina
Junji
Ito · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jan
19, 2026
Ito’s work
surgically draws a sharp contrast between human-caused horror and cosmic
horror. The cosmic horror of this story hits on a grand scale, highlighting our
insignificance in terms of time, speed, size, and causal impact. As Remina
nears Earth, it remains totally indifferent, utterly destructive, but morally
neutral and uncriticizable. But, despite our insignificance, humans cause an
immense amount of suffering. Even our loving connections turn poisonous and
lead to disaster. This book is horror through and through. It manages to show
how vulnerable and insignificant we are and, at the same time, how much terror
and pain we have the power to cause. We are immensely horrible, pathetic and
feeble.
15. The White Hands and Other Weird Tales
Mark
Samuels · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Nov
25, 2025
An exceptional
set of stories and now a favorite book of mine! The strangeness reminds me of
Aickman and the loneliness reminds me of Ligotti. Samuels knows what he is
doing!
16. The Three Imposters
Arthur
Machen · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Nov
17, 2025
The manner in
which the threads of this story come together is haunting. Its mysteries
intrigue me in a similar way as Chambers' The King in Yellow unsettles.
17. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories
Laird
Barron · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Nov
2, 2025
Such a strong
collection both in terms of the quality of the stories and how hard they punch.
Favorites
include:
Shiva, Open
Your Eye Proboscis Hallucigenia Parallax
But for me, it
is the novella "The Imago Sequence" that is the highlight of the
book. There, Barron takes Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model," ups the
stakes, and then turns the weirdness dial to 11.
18. The Charwoman's Shadow
Lord
Dunsany · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Oct
25, 2025
A wonderful,
charming story of magic, romance, and the end of the Golden Age. Dunsany writes
with a strong sense of place, giving each location a richness not soon
forgotten. The novel is peopled with unique characters each of which the reader
takes a strong interest. Dunsany's creativity and thoughtfulness is brought to
bear on the notion of shadows. The book is chocked full of insights, clever
observations, and metaphysical musings about shadows and their importance.
19. Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions
John Langan · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Oct
17, 2025
Favorites from
this collection include: Lost in the Dark Haak Natalya, Queen of the Hungry
Dogs Oscar Returns from the Dead, Prophesizing
20. The Black Maybe: Liminal Tales
Attila
Veres · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Aug
12, 2025
These are
amazing stories. Veres' approach to the weird feels different; I almost want to
call it weird-realism. In an otherwise ordinary world, the narrative will
suddenly shine light onto something very, very strange happening without much
notice or concern by the mundane world.
All of the
stories are great and I look forward to re-reading them, but my favorites
include: Return to the Midnight School The Amber Complex Sky Filled with Crows,
then Nothing at All Walks Among You The Black Maybe
21. The Hollow Places
T.
Kingfisher · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Aug
7, 2025
A fun book. I
love the Wonder Museum and Uncle Earl!
22. The Works of Vermin
Hiron
Ennes · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Aug
1, 2025
Ennes creates
wonderfully weird worlds, always described at just the right level of detail.
They know what to explain in depth and what to leave for the reader to fill in.
The Works of Vermin is a story of a world, its people, and its vermin shaped by
art, war, and decadence. Set in a weird Gormenghast-like city of impossible
architecture, built on and within a tree over a poisonous river, it is a novel
about revolution, remaking the self, and constructing reality.
Saturated with
heavy ideas dripping like ecdytoxin from teratopods, this novel respects the
intelligence of the reader and leaves space for reflection. Reminiscent of
China Miéville’s The Last Days of New Paris, art itself takes on physical
powers of destruction and construction. The city’s opera, statuary, and
embroidery not only record history but they make historical facts true. Open
alchemical street warfare between pest extermination companies frames an
exploration of the relationship between beauty and violence, fact and fiction,
disease and power, all within a battle for the control of aesthetics within a
vicious cycle of oppression.
23. Conquer (John Conquer #1)
Edward
M. Erdelac · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jul
14, 2025
This book is a
lot of fun--a great blend of grit and pulp. The episodic nature of the stories
works well for introducing John Conquer's background, and the monsters are
fantastic. Erdelac takes on something that could have gone very wrong, but he
does it right in almost all respects. I'll be reading more Edward Erdelac.
24. The Ghost Pirates
William
Hope Hodgson · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jul
2, 2025
The Ghost
Pirates is packed full of technical sailing vessel technique and terminology. I
recommend familiarizing oneself with 3 masted square-rigged ships in order to
appreciate the full force of this novel. One really gets a sense of how these
vessels were managed and what crews sounded like when they talked to each
other. As the book progresses, it starts brushing up against Algernon
Blackwood-like themes--that is when it really gets good. The camaraderie among
the men, the manner in which the chain of command works, and then, when the
weird starts happening, the realistic portrayal of the psychology aboard the
vessel are all great stuff! The action and suspense is perfectly balanced
against the eerie and the growing dread.
25. Cathedral of the Drowned (The Lunar Gothic
Trilogy, #2)
Nathan
Ballingrud · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jun
10, 2025
You might not
expect poignant sub-text and strong theme from a novella that includes a
washed-up mad scientist, gangsters in the spider silk trade, a giant centipede,
and Catholic missions that involve launching cathedrals into space. But
Ballingrud delivers on all of this in his pulpy and intelligent sequel to Crypt
of the Moon Spider. Not only do we learn more about the moon spider silk
introduced in Crypt, but this is a story about people struggling with their
identity when they recognize that the different sides of their personalities
and psychologies stand in deep tension with one another. The novella manages to
breathe fresh life into the old sci-fi fixture of a collective mind by taking
it on in the context of individuals trying to integrate their own fragmented
personalities into a cohesive whole. Enjoyable on so many levels!
26. Titus Groan (Gormenghast, #1)
Mervyn
Peake · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read May
30, 2025
A beautiful
study in descriptive language. Peake's mastery of literary devices is
astounding. Titus Groan introduces us to characters that will not soon be
forgotten.
27. Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Vol. 1 (Swamp
Thing (1972-1976))
Len
Wein · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read May
24, 2025
I didn't expect
the first 13 issues of Swamp Thing to be this good! Everyone always raves about
Alan Moore's run, which I also absolutely love too, but the Wein/Wrightson
start to this character is incredibly fun. If you want to know more about Matt
Cable, Abbie, and Arcane, these are some great issues to get all of that
background.
28. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book Three
Alan
Moore · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read May
17, 2025
Among the
highlights in the run collected in this book are John Constantine's first
appearance, baby Swamp Thing, and the budding romance (pun intended) between
Abbie and Swampy. The underwater vampires in "Still Waters" and
"Fish Story" are a hit! And in fact, Moore subverts expectations with
his fresh take on the werewolf and the zombie in issues #40 - 42.
29. Ripples from Carcosa: H. P. Lovecraft,
Haunted Landscapes, and True Detective
Heather
Miller · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Apr
26, 2025
Miller's
discussion of haunted landscapes is wonderful, and she leverages that work
nicely in the service of her take on Carcosa--all fascinating stuff! Her work
tying detective fiction to Lovecraft's cosmic horror is brilliant and brings
out insightful patterns often overlooked. I also found her views about the role
that the Southern Gothic plays in understanding not only True Detective but
also the work of Lovecraft to be both surprising and incredibly perceptive.
30. The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann
Radcliffe · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Apr
6, 2025
You are in for
a long one, but Udolpho's mysteries intrigue and their resolutions delight. The
four volumes are packed with melancholy, romance, drama, banditti, the
sublimity of nature, castle ruins, secret passages, watchtowers, Venice,
polished society, rustic charm, gambling, stormy weather, fraud, dark chambers,
blood, ill-fated love, a dog, sword play, music, clandestine meetings,
betrayal, superstition, lots of tears, formal dinners, war, madness, poetry,
villains, monasteries, servants, catacombs, friendly nuns, crazy nuns, crime,
virtue, eerie forests, France, strange sounds, labyrinthine estates, vice,
dangerous countryside travels, apparitions, prison, Italy, charming peasants,
frivolous gentry, death bed promises, murder, drunken parties, boats, lutes,
chateaus, kidnapping, bats, and a dog.
31. A Sunny Place for Shady People
Mariana
Enriquez · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Mar
21, 2025
As these weird
stories attest, the history of a place can impinge to linger and haunt. This is
a wonderful book of short stories, each with a voice and a strong sense of
place.
32. Providence Compendium by Alan Moore and Jacen
Burrows Hardcover
Alan
Moore · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Mar
6, 2025
It is amazing
how Moore has brought all of this together. On top of that, it gives a
crazy-good interpretation of the Mythos and pulls the real world in nicely.
Love this book!
33. Where the Silent Ones Watch
James
Chambers · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Feb
21, 2025
This collection
shows just how imaginatively inspirational the work of William Hope Hodgson
proves to be.
34. The Swarm
Andy
Marino · ★★☆☆☆ 2/5 · read Feb
19, 2025
I might read
this book again in 17 years.
35. Beowulf
Seamus
Heaney · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jan
11, 2025
Beowulf is
great and this Heaney translation is a lot of fun! I recommend this
translation.
36. The Stay-Awake Men & Other Unstable
Entities
Matthew
M. Bartlett · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jan
8, 2025
This book puts
the Weird back into Weird Fiction. These stories unsettle, challenge, and scare
(maybe even scar). They twist the familiar and mundane into something
unpredictable, horrifying and deeply strange. Every story delivers!
37. Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter
Solstice Anthology
Ellen
Datlow · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Dec
24, 2024
The highlights
for me: After Words, Langan Loyly Sow-na, Malerman Dry and Ready, Hirshberg The
Mawkin Field, Dowling
Other ones that
I really liked: Our Recent Unpleasantness, Jones Grave of Small Birds, Warren
38. Vathek
William
Beckford · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Dec
9, 2024
An over-the-top
early orientalist gothic novel that is a lot of fun to read. The melodrama, the
comedy, the violence, the adventure-- enjoyed it all. Beckford's unique
depiction of hell makes for an incredible ending, but everything before is
great too (including an intelligent camel that is rather mean and an
explanation of why fish don't like to talk).
39. The Time Machine
H.G.
Wells · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Nov
11, 2024
On this
re-reading I was taken by the cosmic horror of scale that is highlighted toward
the end of the book. As our narrator takes the machine into the far future
(post-Eloi/Morlock), Wells' description and vision reminded me of parts of
William Hope Hodson's House on the Borderland.
40. A Night in the Lonesome October
Roger
Zelazny · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Oct
4, 2024
A wonderful
story told from the perspective of the animal familiars that belong to
competing sorcerers who are attempting to influence a magical event in opposing
ways. The book builds to a tense climax and a spectacular ending. There are a
lot of great surprises along the way! I was glad that I knew nothing about the
story before reading it. All I will say, so as not to spoil, is that a fan of
both pulp weird fiction and gothic horror is sure to enjoy this novel. I did!
41. Mr. Suicide
Nicole
Cushing · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Aug
17, 2024
Cushing always
manages to expose reality for the sham that it is and typically advances
Logotti-esque pessimism in new directions. This novel does just that,
brilliantly!
The Mouth seems
to offer a better deal than Mr. Suicide—annihilation without hurting the ones
that love you. In the end, surprisingly, this option is exposed as conceptually
impossible. Even if you have the privilege of your existence devoured and all
of your causal footprints erased, Cressida still loses something.
42. The Island of Dr. Moreau
H.G.
Wells · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Aug
4, 2024
First time
reading this. It is so much more than a story about science going unchecked. In
fact, there is a much deeper Ligotti-esque horror here. We get to see, in part,
what an evolutionary dead-end self-awareness/consciousness turns out to be. It
is not beasts at one end of a spectrum and humans at the other end with the
hybrids in between; rather, we humans *are* the hybrid abominations that have
broken away. Good stuff!
43. The King in the Golden Mask
Marcel
Schwob · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Jul
4, 2024
Favorites from
Schwob's The King in the Golden Mask (in no particular order): The King in the
Golden Mask The Embalming Women The Faulx-Visaiges The Milesian Virgins The
Sabbat at Mofflaines The Talking Machine The Sleeping City The Return to the Fold Bargette
44. Leech
Hiron
Ennes · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jun
26, 2024
This book is
about how messy personal identity really is--it is naïve to think that our
old-fashioned concept, that we are identical to some solitary, internally
isolated mind, corresponds to reality. Our identity (in a deep way) is defined
by family, the social institutions we engage with, histories, roles we play,
our bodies, tools, libraries, etc. We are so scattered, in fact, that the
notion of a “me” is, at best, a muddled mess and, at worse, totally incoherent.
I think this
theme is particularly queer when understood as a reaction to the conservative
idea that there are just rigid mind-independent facts-of-the-matter about
who/what a person is—the naïve view that nature defines a person and it is
immutable.
45. The Ballad of Black Tom
Victor
LaValle · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read May
12, 2024
In part, the
book sub-textually explores why we’ve, up until now, only heard the skewed and
misleading account of the Red Hook horror through the legacy of Lovecraft’s
story. It is interesting to see the original “The Horror at Red Hook” itself
become a kind of cover up story—that is something Lovecraft does all the time
with the news reports of mythos occurrences, and here, it is turned against his
own tale.
Among other
things, there are some neat ideas about our subconscious perceptions of others
being like cast spells. In addition, Black Tom’s motivation for throwing-in
with such an awful entity is thought-provoking; this goes some way toward
giving one answer to that age old question: why would there ever be mythos
cultists?
46. The Hospice
Robert
Aickman · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read May
2, 2024
THE HOSPICE
GOOD FARE SOME ACCOMMODATION
47. Under a Black Rainbow
Adam
Rodenberger · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Apr
5, 2024
Rodenberger
brings a reflective mind to stories that are fresh, weird, and inspired. I
enjoyed this book immensely! It feels different and hauntingly weird. The
stories simultaneously manage to be authentic to experience and yet strangely
foreign/alien. They tap into a surreal truth in a way I haven't experienced in
fiction before. I strongly recommend it to those looking for the new direction
of weird surrealism.
48. Winter Tide (The Innsmouth Legacy, #1)
Ruthanna
Emrys · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Mar
21, 2024
Come for the
Deep Ones; stay for the Yithians.
49. Psycho (Psycho, #1)
Robert
Bloch · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Jan
30, 2024
Nothing ever
goes quite as planned.
50. The Plastic Priest
Nicole
Cushing · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Dec
11, 2023
I find myself
craving the weirdness that will come next from Nicole Cushing, and The Plastic
Priest was wonderfully satisfying. Being human is a thoroughgoing sham, and
this story is pessimism in action with an eye toward the contradictions in our
natures reflected back into our communities. This is the stuff that keeps me
going!
51. The King of Elfland's Daughter
Lord
Dunsany · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Aug
13, 2023
Captivating and
beautifully written, the magic in the story actually feels magical and the
fantasy actually feels fantastical. This is not a fantasy novel of
heart-pounding adventure with efforts to develop well-rounded, psychologically
real characters; rather, the characters reflect particular threads that we
recognize in our own psyche. The character's quests aren't so much heroic as
they are about creating meaning in life. The novel contains thought-provoking
themes, including madness, denial, desire, and the nature of time and change.
It is a story of lineage and what constitutes home—the simultaneous lure of the
mysterious and foreign and our fear of it.
52. This Place Is Best Shunned
David
Erik Nelson · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jul
13, 2023
"Here's
the church, here's the steeple . . ." You'll never think of that nursery
rhyme along with its associated hand motions in quite the same way! This is a
great bit of cosmic horror set in Appalachia. With a mind bending use of scale
and the notion of the inside being out and the outside being in, David Erik
Nelson's descriptive detail of the impossible and unreal gives your imagination
a warping jolt. The story's exploration of the concept of the shunned place
brings attention to several cool things from the difficulties marking places of
danger to the possibility that the shunned place may be MUCH bigger than we
think.
53. The Maker of Moons
Robert
W. Chambers · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jun
11, 2023
This is a
strong collection of strange stories from Chambers. I like how the first three
("The Maker of Moons," "The Silent Land," and "The
Dark Water") hang together in subtle and weird ways reminiscent of the
stories from The King in Yellow. (Speaking of which, I was surprised to see two
references to Carcosa in "The Silent Land"). "The Crime" is
a fun and comedic story with several turns that had me laughing out loud. It
includes many of the things Chambers writes a lot about trout, butterflies, and
romance. "A Pleasant Evening" is a chilling little tale that reminded
me of an M.R. James tale--I liked it quite a bit! "The Man at the Next
Table" is the most bizarre story of the collection, with the "The
Maker of Moons" being a close second, just in terms of weirdness.
* = stories I
particularly enjoyed.
The Maker of
Moons (8 Chapters) * The Silent Land (7 Chapters) * The Dark Water (6 Chapters)
* In the Name of the Most High (4 Chapters) The Boy's Sister (4 Chapters) The
Crime (3 Chapters) * A Pleasant Evening (4 Chapters) * The Man at the Next
Table (4 Chapters) *
54. Burnt Offerings
Robert
Marasco · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read May
30, 2023
After watching
the Dan Curtis film from 1978 and liking it, I wanted to read the book it was
based on. I was not disappointed! I strongly recommend the Marasco novel for
anyone that enjoys the themes of The Shining. The reader gets wrapped up in the
psychological struggles of the characters who are spending the summer in what
turns out to be a very strange house. Unlike the sprawling Overlook Hotel, the
scale of the house at 17 Shore Rd. better fits with the horrors that the Rolf
family faces.
55. Tooth Worms
Lor
Gislason · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read May
20, 2023
Oh yeah, that
toothache that you have: it could be worse--much, much worse. I liked this
story!
56. Inside Out
Lor
Gislason · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read May
17, 2023
Any book that
describes what is left of a human as nothing more than a wad of gum gets my
attention. From popping a chin zit with a mechanical pencil to a blowjob that
gets sloppy in all the wrong ways, this book delivers!
57. The Mystery Of Choice
Robert
W. Chambers · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Apr
26, 2023
I enjoyed this
book! It has that Chambers kind of weirdness to it, and he does something quite
eerie with the concept of shadows throughout most all of the stories collected
here. The title itself is a bit of a mystery. Both the title and the epigraph
that kicks off the book suggest that theme of freedom of the will may play an
important role; however, the stories seem to be much more about death and the
liminal space between the living and the dead rather than anything to do with
choice. "The Messenger," "The White Shadow," and "The
Key to Grief" were particular highlights.
58. The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All
Laird
Barron · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Mar
17, 2023
There are some
real standouts here! My favorites include "Blackwood's Baby,"
"Hand of Glory," "Jaws of Saturn," and "The Men from
Porlock."
59. Frankenstein
Mary
Wollstonecraft Shelley · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Feb
16, 2023
Brace yourself
for handwringing gothic melodrama.
60. Cold Hand in Mine
Robert
Aickman · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Feb
12, 2023
Unique and
strange--there isn't a story in this book that I don't like. Aikman's subtle
moves have a way of eating at you, and the craft on display is astounding. The
way he plays with voice, as in "Meeting Mr. Millar;" here the
protagonist doesn't even seem to be the main character!?, and the real story is
happening off the page in the apartment downstairs! The bizarre yet mundane
"The Hospice" leaves you with an eerie feeling that has had lasting
changes to my psyche. "Swords" might be a coming-of-age story, but
who knows??? I know one thing: it's weird! And finally, when Aikman turns to
telling ghost stories, he takes all the good stuff of M.R. James and adds a
dash of uncanny that haunts--see "The Same Dog."
61. Castle of Otranto
Horace
Walpole · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Feb
2, 2023
This is a
delightful book; the story is intriguing and its humor surprised me. The Gothic
tropes we’ve come to know are on full display: haunted castles, secrets
revealed, the past impinging on the present, subterranean passages, internal
conflicts externalized, even thunderous lightning strikes. We get ghosts,
skeletons, and even giants! More fun than I thought it would be.
62. The Strange
Nathan
Ballingrud · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Dec
25, 2022
Weird science
fiction that leaves you with a sense of cosmic awe! There is a fascinating take
on alien otherness here. It reminds me of the manner in which Adrian
Tchaikovsky approaches the other, but then Ballingrud takes it a step further;
he picks at a Ligotti-like paradox within our own natures: an alien mind not
fathomable by us, but at the same time, a reflection of our own bifurcated and
contradictory selves.
63. Mothwoman
Nicole
Cushing · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Nov
11, 2022
Empty,
ridiculous, and grandiose. I liked it.
64. Hell Hound
Ken
Greenhall · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Nov
6, 2022
The emotionally
dark characters and the exploration of courage, trust, and strength make this
story much more sophisticated than one might expect based on the cover! I’m
still trying to formulate what this strange and violent coming-of-age story is
all about. The interesting and complicated relationship between the humans and
the dog Baxter allows for focus on the differences, if any, between human
nature and beastly nature.
65. The Fisherman
John Langan · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Oct
15, 2022
I didn't
hesitate to put this book on my favorites-shelf! Langan's prose, his incredible
descriptions of the awful, and his deft handling of emotionally complicated
themes all in the context of a story of cosmic horror is impressive. I'm always
interested in that strand of Mythos stories that explore different
psychological reactions to the weird, and I appreciated the contrast between
the reactions of Abe, Dan, Rainer, and Jacob to the unbelievable.
SPOILER BELOW:
There is an interesting hint of something new here: While Leviathan is
awe-inspiring and affects cosmic dread in us, left to its own devices, it is
unlikely to harm. The existential threat emerges from the actions of Der
Fischer and his attempts to capture. With that said, the existence of the black
ocean and a creature of that scale veiled just beyond our experience is
horrifying.
66. The Sadist's Bible
Nicole
Cushing · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Sep
24, 2022
I love how so
many concepts get flipped around, messed with, and turned into something
beautifully awful. Is this the moral landscape that Castro was thinking the
liberated Old Ones will usher into the world?
67. Crampton
Thomas
Ligotti · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Aug
6, 2022
This feels
exactly like the script you’d expect if you asked Thomas Ligotti to write an
X-Files episode! It includes a strange town, stage magic, clowns, mannikins, a
psychic hotline, ventriloquist dummies, and plenty of philosophical pessimism.
The script is terrifying, but, at the same time, the humorous banter between
Scully and Mulder is spot on. Specific scenes masterfully inform the abstract
themes of the episode. Illusion becomes reality when the FBI concocts a fake
cover story that spins out of control. The themes of solipsistic idealism—that
nothing exists except what is currently conscious—are reiterated when a
restaurant eerily shuts its lights off and closes once Scully and Mulder leave
the parking lot. At one point a costume is stripped away, revealing no one
underneath. There is a telling dialogue where a retired FBI agent, who used to
work fraud cases, fondly remembers “[b]eing able to point my finger and say,
with all the authority of the Justice Department behind me, ‘Look, this is all
a fake, none of this is real, it’s all a con.’” With those words, that agent is
more right than perhaps he intends!
68. The Mirrors
Nicole
Cushing · ★★★★☆ 4/5 · read Jul
25, 2022
I enjoyed all
of the stories in this collection. The Broken Mirrors section is particularly
strong with stories that encapsulate a kind of philosophical pessimism that
still manages to paint the characters sympathetically. "The Cat in the
Cage," "The Company Town," "Choir of Beasts," and
"The Suffering Clown" were highlights for me. I'm looking forward to
reading Cushing's novels now!
69. The King in Yellow
Robert
W. Chambers · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Jul
2, 2022
An all-time
favorite, the stories in this book spark my imagination like none other. It is
a haunting book that eats at your mind and offers peeks at madness, alternative
realities, paranoia, and weird speculation. The King in Yellow raises
fascinating questions of interpretation that just keeps giving and giving.
70. The Elementals
Michael
McDowell · ★★★★★ 5/5 · read Jun
28, 2022
This book has
an intriguing cast of characters and the horror emerges brilliantly from the
interplay between the setting, the family history, and psychology of the
characters. I'm looking forward to reading more McDowell.
71. The Terror
Arthur
Machen · ★★★☆☆ 3/5 · read Jun
21, 2022
I did not
anticipate the theory that Mr. Lewis settled on!
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