Related Recs

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Joyce carol oates’s horror anthologies

The Doll-Maker and Other Tales of Horror, Black Dahlia and White Rose: Stories, The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares. But my favorite which I’ve rec-ed before is Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque the titular story Haunted is so sick and twisted and I cry tears of fear every time I go back to read it (which I have multiple times). She has the most viscerally disturbing and discomfiting style and a unique ability to crawl under your skin, more so than any other horror author I’ve read and horror is not even typically her primary genre!!

@taterhole

Apr 20, 2024

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Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson

Short-form weird, my favorite kind, blending sc-fi, dark fantasy, horror, and Kafka. Evenson’s stories are a treat, I start each with a twinge of dread, not knowing if it’ll be one of the nastier ones or funnier ones or more poignant ones, sometimes it’s all three Good for fans of Barker and Ligotti

@stevenmarkow

Aug 1, 2024

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when things get dark

My favourite short stories tend to be creepy or magical. I think due to the necessary open-endedness of short stories, it lends itself most to mystery and magic. Angela Carter’s Bloody Chamber is a great classic creepy feminist story to start with. Carmen Maria Machado’s The Husband Stitch continued Carter’s legacy I’m a HUGE Kelly Link fan, but her stuff is very strange so might not be for everyone, but my favourite of hers is probably The Specialist’s hat or Skinder’s Veil Shirley Jackson‘s The Lottery is also a classic, and if you like creepy stories and want a good overview of writers in that genre, I recommend the collection “When Things Get Dark”, a collection inspired by the tone of Jackson’s work; it features Kelly link, Carmen Maria Machado, Joyce Carol Oates, and loads of contemporary short story writers. I discovered the story Tiptoe by Laird Barron through this and its possibly my favourite creepy short story, it sent full shivers down my spine in a way no other story had.

@mouse

May 22, 2024

Top Recs from @booksonbrooklyn

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PARASITE, CASTLE IN THE SKY, THE CAT RETURNS, VHS

PARASITE HELPS ME UNDERSTAND HOW TO WIN THE 'CLASS WAR'? CASTLE IN THE SKY IS A GHIBLI THAT REMINDS ME ITS IMPORTANT TO TOUCH LOTS OF GRASS. AND THAT NOT ALL ROBOTS SUCK. THE CAT RETURNS IS ALSO A GHIBLI - MY FIANCEE'S FAVORITE MOVIE. WHEN SHE WAS A KID SHE BELIEVED SHE WAS A CAT, AND WOULD MARRY A CAT. I'LL NEVER LIVE UP TO HER EXPECTATIONS... VHS WAS THE FIRST TERRIFYING COMING ATTRACTIONS THAT I CAN REMEMBER IN THE DARK DARK OF THE MOVIE THEATER. RECENTLY WATCHED AND FACED MY FEARS. GOOD TWISTS AND TURNS.

@booksonbrooklyn

Jan 10, 2025

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a book that gave me big white lotus vibes...

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, aka the guy who wrote/directed the movie fightclub 🤫) The book is about a bunch of random folks that respond to an ad in the paper about a luxurious writers retreat, where they'll be given the space and sunshine to write their 'great masterpiece.' Except the peace and quiet is too much pressure, so they decide to wreck havoc and sabotage each other. Most interestingly, the format of the book is broken into a main-story line, poems, and short-stories from each of the characters as you're introduced to their masterpiece. It's total hell, totally funny, and gave me all of the unsettling vibes and undercurrents I get from watching White Lotus. Like a bomb is about to go off. P.S. there is one short-story called 'guts' that is the most diabolically gross writing I've ever read. You can go find that for yourself on the web. (its the 3rd chapter of the book if you want to avoid it)

@booksonbrooklyn

Jan 9, 2025