Congrats to everyone involved and invested, I guess.

Doesn’t have to be specific to Japan. Korean context is totally fine.

I love watching supernatural or paranormal horror shows filmed in Japan/Korean/Taiwan. Any books that have a similiar vibe??

Like, i'm not one to disregard other people's readings, but i don't see it at all. He's clearly attracted to the vampire ladies, he obviously loves Mina, and maybe it was just the audiobook i listened to, but i don't recall him showing any interest in other men. Is there something i'm missing? Could someone explain this to me?

I know this is no revelation, far from the first time its been discussed on the sub, and won't be the last. I only heard of it through the comments on this sub.

But man. Wow. I wasnt expecting it to grip me so. I wasnt expecting to be hooked, forcing myself to find a decent finishing point so I could eat. I wasnt expecting the emotions.

Does anyone have any recs for a similar vibe? Im usually a haunted house/ghosties type of fan, though having said that many of my favourites lie outside of that genre, but the sheer desolation, the ray of hope, then more bleakness. The epic scale. The only book close in vibe that I'm aware of is Lost Gods by Brom.

Recs dont have to be historical pieces, but that does award them bonus points.

Thank you!

Call me crazy but I’d like a good scare during my next camping trip. So preferably something based in the woods. No cannibalism please. 🙏🏻

Hello all. I would like to try and start reading again. Years of depression, anxiety, cptsd and OCD has stripped me of the ability to stay focused on a book for any length of time biy I am fed up of doomscrolling. I recently ordered my very first adult novel, Steven King's The Shining. I love horror movies and can easily watch one while eating breakfast lol. Messed up i know. Please can you recommend me more books. Im after the chunky, yellow, rough paper books that make a swish when the pages are turned. Something to distract my troubled and sad mind. Thank you all

Premise: When the military shoots down an asteroid heading for Earth, it seems like good news. But shortly after, a red rain begins, and those caught within it develop an intense hunger. A husband and wife are caught at their respective work places during the rain, and have to fight their way back to each other.

Characters: Zoe. A nurse-in-training. At the start of the story, she suspects Oliver is cheating on her. When the rain comes, she’s trapped at the local courthouse, trying to get a permit for construction work they want to do with their patio.

Oliver. All around handyman, currently a sanitation worker for the city. I literally couldn’t think of another trait for him to add here. Oh, he got at some point before the story while on his route.

Sam. Oliver’s female partner on his route. Gay.

Jurnee. A six year old that Oliver rescues around the first third of the story.

Louie. Zoe and Oliver’s dog.

Review and Spoilers follow.

Do the dead walk? That is, is it any good? Yes, though it’s thematically the most straight putt of any zombie related thing I’ve read this month. I wouldn’t quite say it has no theme; the primary locations of zombie conflict are such that they imply a theme of the importance and fragility of the nuclear family in the wake of societal collapse. But when you compare it to some of the other themes this set has included—the breaking point of family in the midst of cognitive dissonance and racism; the compromise of looking the other way to immoral acts in the name of safety; the macabre horror of the beings we’re supposed to aspire towards brought low, etc.--”our house is under attack” is comparatively simple in scope. It’s a depth that kind of matches the depth of the characters, or the lack thereof. But honestly, I think it all works to the story’s credit. It’s got clear stakes, a clear threat, and a narrow scope that helps reinforce the first two things. I’m not a fan of the “oh no they were bit/ no they weren’t” it tries more than once, nor of the moments when it does try to hit emotional depth, but I’m otherwise here for the story it’s telling.

Is it scary? The key difference between this and the typical zombie story is that the virus is spread not just by bites but also by rain. That change really does a good job of shifting the sense of peril. Zoe and Oliver aren’t just worrying about their former friends turned monsters; they’re trapped indoors by an environment that has turned against them. And the regular zombie issues are fairly well done here too. A few big character deaths at the beginning establish some credibility that Schafer is willing to make big shake ups, though the later fakeouts undermine this a bit. I will say that having more vulnerable characters also does work to keep that sense of vulnerability, even it’s a little transparent in its manipulation.

Is it Halloween? Yes, and overall, I’m glad to have a zombie book on the set that’s as straightforward as this one is. Even with the twist of the rain, it feels more the quintessential zombie experience than any other reading, except maybe the CYOA book. The brief chapters do a lot to give it a quick pace, and that’s particularly important in the early chapters where they jump back and forth between Oliver on his garbage route and Zoe at City Hall. The explosive finale when the home stops being safe works well too. What’s less fun is the things the book does that annoy me. I’ll get into a few of those in a minute.

Quotation: Chuck bent, his hands going to his stomach. “It hurts… you know? The hunger… it’s too much.” He lowered his voice, whispering as if talking to himself. “I know but I can’t just…”

Ben glanced up from rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Pal, you don’t look so good.”

Suddenly, Chuck’s eyes snapped back from wherever they had been, stretching cartoonishly wide as his lips twisted into a grotesque sneer.

Ben froze, glancing at Zoe and then back to the man towering over him. “Chuck. Listen, we’re just trying to help—”

“Oh, you’re damn right!” He yanked the pistol from his waistband and thrust the barrel down toward Ben’s face.

Ben gasped, his voice shaking as he found words. “Now just stay calm. Let’s not do anything—”

Chuck pulled the trigger.

Random Thoughts:

--The zombie “lore” here is that the zombies are essentially bloodthirsty, somewhat stronger than real life psychopaths, capable of speech and reason, until they’re dealt a mortal amount of damage. Then the parasite takes over, and they’re shambling zombies of the traditional Romero type. It’s a reasonably elegant way of setting things up so you can have both types in a single story.

--What’s less elegant is how this information is conveyed to the reader. I don’t want to besmirch Zoe’s scientific acumen, but the idea that she could hypothesize the two types out of home-bought microscope and half a nursing degree seems a bit far fetched. It feels more like it’s information Schaefer wanted to tell instead of show instead of demonstrating her contribution to the team. She’s already shown she can take care of herself and dress wounds; she doesn’t have to be a super scientist on top of that.

--As I said, there’s a few fakeouts where it looks like a character has been bit at the end of the chapter, but it’s revealed after that nothing happened. I’ll admit that to a certain degree, that’s just genre conventions at play. Worrying about whether someone’s been turned is a pretty common part of the zombie experience. On the other hand, ending a chapter on a jump scare that’s then quickly defused is a very Goosebumps way of handling a horror plot, and that doesn’t make for a great reading experience.

--Another detracting point here is... Jurnee. The character is fine, if maybe a little overly precocious. But Zoe and Oliver bond specifically over the fact that not only does Jurnee have the same name as the child she miscarried, it’s spelt the same way too. And I’m sorry, but I just can’t get on board on with a big emotional moment that hinges on saddling a child with an awkward name spelling. It’s a zombie equivalent of a “my mother’s name is Martha” kind of moment.

--It’s funny how alien invasion hasn’t played a major role in most of these narratives, except for the superhero ones. It’s the antilife equation from Apocalips that makes Cyborg patient zero, and (in one of the more successful Marvel Zombies series), it’s the Brood consuming Galactus that creates the initial zombie virus. In all of the other stories, it’s either human-made, a mutation of existing earth parasites, or kept off the board all together (well, the CYOA has another option, but it feels like more of an easter egg than a serious root). To a certain degree, the cause of the zombie virus really doesn’t matter for most of these stories, though it can definitely offer a thematic resonance. In The Loop, for example, the fact that it starts as a sort of industry attempt to turn delinquent and defective teens into super soldiers adds some dramatic irony to the proceedings. The “it was aliens” approach doesn’t have that resonance, though I suppose Schaefer could do something more with it in a later volume.

--I do like the idea of holing up in your house to wait out a zombie outbreak. There’s something both cozy and prepper coded to that approach.

Rating: 7.5 drops of copper-coloured rain out of 10

Next: Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, edited by Deborah Christie and Sarah Juliet Lauro

I do not like creatures.

I want the ambiguous. Is it something creepy or.....and no not it all turns out to be a mental health problem. I loathe Lovecraftian tentacled things. I am not a fan of Catholic church people and demons, devils and such like.

Couldn't stand The Ruin, it was just silly.

What I thought was good was - of course - Michelle Pavers Dark Matter. So atmospheric and was it just the location, the reputation, the isolation?

Also Wakenhyrst. Wakenhyrst because really it's a murder mystery.

I don't mind ghosts, but not the dead person does harmful things to people because revenge sort - the we don't actually see one and is it in fact a ghost type.

Hill House hit the mark because...no-one actually saw any thing, she dies because she drives off in a hurry and crashes.

Does that explain what I am looking for?

So any suggestions?

looking for supernatural horror recommendations! i want GHOSTS!!! ideally written post-2000, not stephen king (been there done that). a more literary style is preferred. in the comments i'll have a list of favorites in case that helps. i'm a horror fanatic both in books and movies so if anyone wants to throw in some movies too, feel free!

i don't have many things i won't read, i'm not that picky, but i'm mostly looking for hauntings and ghosts. the occasional creature feature or demon or something is fine but the vibes should be ghostly! thanks in advance

This might be a long shot, but I’m looking for the pictures that originally accompanied the short story “Camera Shy” by T.E.D. Klein.

Hoping someone on here is familiar and might share them with me, I’ve searched on the internet to no avail. I’m enjoying the story in the anthology 100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories, but endlessly curious about that editor’s note mentioning the pictures.

Thanks!

What the title says. Would like horror books based during or around winter. Thanks!

Just finished reading the Dead Ink anthology Beasts of England and really enjoyed it. Thought it was one of the strongest anthologies I've read with a lot of great writers like Ramsey Campbell, Naomi Booth, Adam Nevill and Tobi Coventry and I've added a lot of their novels to my wish list.

Has anyone else read it yet?

I know about all the OGs like Penpal. I want some seriously scary books with hauntings/ghosts/creatures like so scary I cant sleep at night lol

First time in a while going through a book completely blind and sort of regretted it.

Got the author's latest book (Look what the cat dragged in), blazed thru it, enjoyed it, felt nostalgic and read Hidden Pictures again (no regrets so far), felt like I could do one more and picked this one up.

Honestly, after 2 books revolving around the paranormal I thought this would be on par for the course, page after page I turned thinking it was a slow burn. At one point I thought the big bad was a vampire for some reason. After reading the next few sentences after the words "pale fleshy monster" came up in the book I finally got it through my head that I absolutely bamboozled myself.

I think I might look up a few reviews before I pick my next halloween read.

Anyone else have any experiences picking up books that went absolutely 360 away from their expectations?

I’m looking for recommendations for horror plays or novels that are very play-like.

Primarily dialogue.

Meaning things take place in real time there isn’t an omniscient narrator and you can’t read peoples’ thoughts. The work is only concerned with what can be seen or heard by a hypothetical audience in the room.

Basically plays or books that are all showing zero telling.

I'm looking for a book that's a horror/romance. I don't necessarily like it when they focus on the horrific elements, but more along the lines of suspenseful and creepy mystery. I like how horror does sci-fi and world building. If anyone has listened to Liam Vickers' multiple part creepypasta series', something similar to that feel.

Loved Pet Sematary and Revival for their stories and dark philosophical edge but their narrations were also terrific. I'm looking for more horror books that have similar stories and that quality of narration.

Began reading his books last fall, and he quickly became one of my new all time favorite authors. Full Brutal was my first read of his and I absolutely loved it. It was extremely unhinged, and it was so entertaining how ruthless and sadistic Kim was and every page I was like "what other crazy shit is this girl gonna pull??? I need to know right now, shit is hitting the fan". Ex-Boogeyman is so underrated, and as a huge slasher fan, I loved all the references and callbacks to classic slasher franchises. The concept as well, of a washed up horror actor going insane when his franchise gets rebooted without him and turning into his slasher in real life, was extremely cool and was just the right amount of classic slasher homage, camp, and an original story. Music to Sacrifice Virgins To was my last read by him, and as a huge Metalhead, I genuinely was ecstatic at all the name drops and references to my fave bands. Asher was a main character I absolutely fucking loathed, every character in this story was pretty much fucking awful (in every single way) in a very entertaining way, the satanic/demonic elements were interesting and the descriptions of everything was so visceral, and it was a cool spin on the classic 'haunted/evil song' concept. All of his covers, by the way, go so hard and are extremely fucking cool. I think I'm gonna read The Night Stockers next, and am stoked to read more of his work. He also has a substack I subscribe to, which is pretty cool (he's a big fan of Halloween 4: the return of Michael Myers, which hell yeah). What were your thoughts on his books if you're read any of these? :)

I recently watched the movie Oculus and LOVED it. I'd love a book with similar vibes, with some kind of cursed object or place with a deep history, and a character trying to stop it from hurting anyone else.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines to what happened in their childhood, and also when they discuss the history of the mirror and all the other people it hurt.

I want to read more sci fi horror where a creature is attacking and killing people in a city. Something like the movie aliens but in a city and not an isolated area like most of the movies are. I'll also take robots since I like them Too. I have no triggers if it matters so I'm fine with anything as long as it fits my criteria.