Weird Fiction discussion

Greetings fellow lovers of Weird Fiction, and those curious about it! You are at what I plan to make GoodReads' premiere discussion group for the genre.

First things first. If you are an author and you want to tell us all about your book, we'd love to read all you have to say about it. However, for your post not to be deleted, you must place it in the correct spot. Under Discussions (to the right) we have a folder called "Author Promotion". You may create your own topic or piggyback on the topic already there, just so long as it goes to that folder. Your post, if placed in that folder, will stay there for all eternity for every member present and future to consider. It's a great promotion opportunity for you and a great way for us Weird loving readers to find out about your work, a win-win.

Weird Fiction is difficult to define, so allow me to refer you to Wikipedia's entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weird_f.... Wikipedia provides an excellent article defining (or in any event attempting to) Weird Fiction.

I tried to offer a consensus definition for New Weird fiction a few years ago:
1) written no earlier than 1990
2) have a horror, speculative fiction feel to them that tend to break down barriers between fantasy, science fiction, and supernatural horror
3) a type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy, largely by choosing realistic, complex real-world models as the jumping off point for creation of settings that may combine elements of both science fiction and fantasy (VanderMeer definition)
4) a fiction that subverts cliches of the fantastic in order to put them to discomfiting, rather than consoling ends (Reid definition)
5) a cutting edge speculative fiction with a literary slant, like slipstream with a side of weirdness (O'Keefe definition). I've excerpted this definition from my first post at my list, New Weird Fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Rather then define the hard to define though, how about we consider our beloved family members who have actually practiced the genre? If we just read some of their works, we'll know well enough what Weird is. Wave to Great-Great-Grampa Edgar Allan Poe. I'm sure you have met him before.

For such a short lifespan, Edgar certainly produced many children. Their portraits go down the staircase and include Great-Grampa M.P. Shiel and Count Eric Stenbock. See his portrait poised over the bannister? Didn't know we had royalty in the bloodline, did you? Around the corner there's R. Murray Gilchrist, Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson and Lord Dunsany. No, I don't know if he was a rich Lord. What we inherited from him was more valuable than money anyway. Finally, rounding out our great-grandfathers, we have the portraits of Arthur Machen, M.R. James, and good old Clark Ashton Smith. You're right. Great-Grandma's portrait is not here. Maybe she had other concerns.

Next we have what I like to call the pulp room. It was added in the 1930s. That statue over there was designed to resemble Mount Rushmore. The five heads on it are your grandfathers, the greatest writers of Weird ever assembled at one time in one room: C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long.

I have no idea why your parents' pictures aren't here, Master Bruce. You're the detective. Figure that out later if you wish. In the long dining room, you see the portraits of your brothers, sisters, and cousins everywhere. They call themselves the New Weird. You know how every generation simply must distinguish itself from its predecessors. They will all be here for dinner tonight. China Miéville has the place of honour at the head of the table. Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer will be on each side to provide introductions. Yes, Jeff is an accomplished writer in the field too. They will sit probably in the order they arrive: K.J. Bishop, M. John Harrison, Ann Perry, Jay Lake, Kelly Link, Ted Chiang, David Wong, Meg Eden, David Hayes, Felix Gilman, Catherynne M. Valente, Miquel Reina, Danny Winter, Bernie Morris, Joseph Fink, Kathe Koja, Leena Krohn, Felix Gilman, just to name a few. It will be a monster mash.

Dan wrote: "1) written no earlier than 1990..."

1890?

My definition construct, written a few years ago, was for New Weird fiction. Some critics treat New Weird as a separate genre from Weird. If it is, Wikipedia states New Weird began in the 1990s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_weird

Cynics say calling a book New Weird is a VanderMeer marketing ploy. While I do see some threads of continuity from Poe through today to justify calling all of a certain kind of fiction Weird, I see some differences in what is being produced today as well, giving credence to the distinction. For example, take pretty much any story written by The Big Five (Moore, Merritt, Lovecraft, Howard, Long) and compare it to "The Wind Whispers Secrets To The Sea" by Jordan Kurella, which appears in the current issue of StrangeHorizons.com.

The first thing I notice is that the narrative line tends to be clearer in any of The Big Five's work. In Kurella's story, we have two characters and their names, August and Cole. We even know their genders and that Cole is a firefighter. That's about all we can pin down. I mean, why does August call herself "we"? Why are winds personified? I think it would be a mistake to get too hung up about this, a way of demanding from the story something it won't provide, and thus a recipe for frustration. My point is that one distinction of New Weird writing from its roots is this tendency to play more with reality, to blur narrative lines in order to achieve an effect.

That's my long answer attempt at your short question. Sorry. Short answer: yes, for New Weird Fiction, 1990 seems as good a cutoff as any. Others might disagree and even find 1980s work that ought to be considered New Weird.

https://thebizarretimes.com/

Flash New Weird fiction?

Wow this is super informative! I don't know much about the genre. I fell in love with Lovecraft, then read the King in Yellow - and that' more or less about it. (and then I read some books here on reading lists). I came upon VanderMeer because I am reading the Nebula-awarded books.

Hi Dan,

A whole section dedicated to HP? :)

I need to join the group reads. I have been reading and loving his stuff since I was a mere 14 years old!

Yes. I am sure they have some beautiful graphic novel renditions, especially since so much of Lovecraft's work is in the public domain.