Vent here if you want.
Vent here if you want.
You (collective) are here for me so much whether you want or not, so I want to make sure you know I'm here for you too. If you have any vents and don't want to make a thread for them, I'm here. :3
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I miss talkin bout weird fucking books.
I used to do it a lot on leddit, then goodreads, and then a discord server for a bit; I thought about doing it here too but it's basically shouting into the void. This here effortpost talks a bit about how the sheer volume of media means that it's common for two people with the same general interest to have engaged with none of the same stuff, and it's worse in my case since my special interest has me frequently deliberately seeking out weird and obscure books. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've even met someone who's heard of any of the weird fucking trans-centric litfic, or sapphic horror novels I like.
I had a good thing going on leddit, because the subreddit's mods were weirdly permissive about my semi offtopic book essays, but fuck
honestly. I like reading a lot on its own obviously, but I have always desired people to talk and discuss the stuff with, and I have just never found much of anybody.Also social skills of a dead slug etc etc
Ok this may not be exactly what you meant but I am a horror nut (dont read that many books but i read tons online and consume other horror content). I have some strong opinions on the genre, its tropes, what I like or don’t like, etc. I was itching for something new lately so I got into audio dramas, and it rules! Listened to a few, going through The Silt Verses right now and the world building is just fantastic. It also introduced to the concept of Slipstream and New Weird Horror, with the latter being one of those things I have felt for a long time, but I have been unable to articulate what exactly the vibe was.
Ok im so sorry for this rambling that was only semi-related to your post im just very excited and i dont have that many people to share this stuff with irl
Yeah, I can't say that's what I mean lol. I like horror enough, mostly just the odd popular horror film from the 70s-90s or whatever. I only read any horror novels as a result of lookin' for neat stories with lesbians in, because I am actual freak.
Yo though, what is Slipstream and also is New Weird Horror the same thing as (or similar to) Weird Fiction?
No apologies necessary, it'd be hypocritical of me to be mad at someone for semi-related rambling! Plus, not that many people to share with irl? Can relate, I only talk to my wife about anything
Slipstream is derived from mainstream (and is apparently a pretty old term) and is sort of “the genre of strange”. It’s a bit hard to describe but if you look up some definitions you’ll definitely know if you’ve read anything that fits the bill, it’s a very peculiar vibe.
New Weird Horror is related to Weird Fiction, yeah! It’s sort of what it says on the tin, horror that aims to push the boundaries of the genre, so no monster-of-the-week or gory slashers with stupid teens. Usually it involves genre blending and themes that are closer to magical realism or such, usually more unsettling than scary, or if it its overtly scary, it’s scary in some strange and existential way (think of good cosmic horror or weird unfiction narratives like the monument mythos)
Thank you for humoring me comrade if you’re interested i have tons of recommendations across several mediums <3
Oh I did not know, but seeing the definition I recognise it though I don't think I've read anything slipstream. Neat!
I love that, I despise most slashers so swapping screaming teens and movie monsters for existential strangeness, genre blending and magical realism(ish) stuff seems ideal to me. I am familiar with the Weird Fic/New Weird Horror term from reading The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R Kiernan when I was young. It really stuck with me, it's goated, I have long meant to read more New Weird Horror/etc
Of course, happy to humour and I've always got a casual eye out for actual quality horror stuff, that isn't just Friday the 13th or fuckin, The Conjuring or whatever. I tend to prefer books/written word(so like web stuff, manga even), but does anything come to mind of the top of your head that you'd be itching to rec?
Yes actually! One of my favorites is Matt Dimersky, he wrote some shorts on nosleep under the handle M59Gar. One that sticks out as being particularly amazing is Stuck. Long-form books is the horror medium I’ve consumed the least, unfortunately.