Weird Fiction discussion

Our first group read will be in April 2019. What should we read together as our first group read of Weird fiction? I'll not put any restrictions on length, date published, or anything like that, but just leave it wide open. All I'll say is that I think for the first 30-60 days we'll probably pick up members quickly. This is a surprisingly popular genre. It might be nice to have something accessible, short, but yet that gives readers not all that aware of what Weird is an authentic taste of Weird.

I'll entertain up to two nominations per member. Please use the add book/author feature when making your nominations to save me some work. I anticipate from March 16-23 taking nominations, and from March 24-30 running the poll.

I nominate The Challenge from Beyond: The Classic Horror-Fantasy Round-Robin (1935) by The Big Five: C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long. These authors each wrote a single portion of a fairly long short story. Moore wrote the first part and then handed it off to Merritt, who then gave it to H.P. who did his thing and left his section on a cliffhanger. Howard was the man to save the story as he de-escalated, used some humor, and really brought the story along nailing down its structure. Long brought it all home with a satisfying conclusion. At least, that's how I've heard this all goes down. I'm not sure because I haven't read the story yet.

The book/story has a free audio version or two and is available for free from Gutenberg among other sources.

I'll nominate The Haunted Vagina (2006) by Carlton Mellick III. I found it surprisingly good when I read it 5 years ago & I see in my review that I was curious as to how it would strike me on a reread. This seems like a good time.

Good one! Reading just the description to this book had me laughing, dare I say it, yes I do, out loud. I think you've got the hang of Weird already, Jim!

Because I am not sure of the definition of "weird" yet, I have no nomination, but I am interested in The Challenge from Beyond.

Welcome Kateblue! Others may be in the same situation as you. Therefore, please let me point out that I started a list a few years ago of New Weird books that has since then doubled in size: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8... I stole my list shamelessly from a list the VanderMeers supplied because I didn't know Weird from strange, but the fact that it has grown with other people's entries makes it its own unique list, I think. If anything on that list appeals, you're safe nominating from there.

thx, dan!

OK, I think that I should nominate

Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) by Blake Crouch

because I loved a book by him recently (Dark Matter, I think it was called) and I have been wanting to read this for a while.

Kateblue wrote: "OK, I think that I should nominate

Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) by Blake Crouch

because I loved a book by him recently (Dark Matter, I think it was called) and I have been wanting to read this for ..."

Okay. Nomination for Pines by Blake Crouch noted.

I'm still not entirely sure of the definition of this genre but I'll suggest Alice by Christina Henry.

Scott wrote: "I'm still not entirely sure of the definition of this genre but I'll suggest Alice by Christina Henry."

Scott, you read the most interesting stuff I never heard of! I'm not entirely sure this is Weird genre either, based on the description, but if it wins the poll I'm definitely down for reading it.

In case any members here are young or easily disturbed, I do note that people who have commented on the book state it's quite dark and therefore not recommended for those younger than 17 or 18 despite the subject matter being Alice of Alice in Wonderland. By "people" I mean even the author herself!

This leads me to wonder what age group haunted vaginas are appropriate for. I think I'll put all this in the can't control so don't worry about category. We're getting some awesome nominations for modern Weird works!

Our first poll for April's read is now available: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/9...

It is that time again! I'm soliciting nominations for May's Group Reads of the month. Please nominate up to two Weird (or weird enough) books. Nominations are open between April 13 and will go through April 20. Beginning April 21 and ending the night of April 27 will be the poll based on the nominations. If the work you nominate was written before 1990, it will run in the classic Weird poll. Otherwise, it will run in the New Weird poll.

For my first (classic) nomination, I submit for your reading pleasure Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith. It is a story collection of all of Smith's works about the land called Zothique, set millions of years in our future. The subgenre for this type of fiction is Weird Heroic Fantasy. In fact, these are the tales considered to more or less have invented the field.

If my nomination wins, and probably if it doesn't, too, I plan to actually buy the out of print book and read it in hard copy. Many of us, I know, are Kindle readers. Good and bad news. Just this book alone is not available in Kindle format (as far as I know). However, a massive 133-story collection of Smith's is available for just $1.99 that includes all sixteen Zothique stories. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, will be to find and read the Zothique stories in order. They're all mixed in. The only things you'll be missing is the poem titled "Zothique" and the forward and epilogue by Lin Carter. I pledge to help you out with those.

For classic:

The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson

For new:

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand

For the classic: Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny, because I've never known another group that might appreciate this story.

For new, again I'll nominate The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III.

I nominate Welcome to Night Vale. Although I don't really think of Creatures of Light and Darkness as a "classic" because it is too new, I will vote for that, also.

For my New Weird nomination, I'm going to recommend The New Weird by Ann VanderMeer. It's the book that more or less first defined the subgenre, a good place to start, I think, even if not essential, as we have already proven.

I'll suggest The Unorthodox Dr. Draper and Other Stories by William Browning Spencer.

The two polls for our May group read are now out and will run through 11:59 EST Sunday. I'm going to change our group pictures to reflect the winners somehow, so say goodbye soon to Edgar and our poor, misunderstood skeleton's unappreciated effort at contact. I've invited all 34 members of the group to participate in these polls:

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/9...

I am opening nominations for Weird (pre-1990) group read for June and for New Weird (1990 and later) group read for June. So you can nominate up to one book for each category for a total of two.

I'm really thrilled with the four books on our bookshelves so far. They're all great Weird reads. Nothing's broken, so nothing needs fixing. Let's keep nominations wide open. If you think a book meets the criteria for Weird fiction and that everyone will get a lot from the book, nominate it! If you want to pick a book off the New Weird list I started several years ago, here it is again: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

We're still having a good discussion for this month's books, but I see I need to move my timeline earlier to give people a chance to get the book in time. For June's group read, let's do nominations May 16-20, and run the polls May 21-25. That gives us six days this time to get June's books.

Modern: Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town

We have some good books nominated previous months that we have not read yet. I still think Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith will be fun. And I'm still dying to read The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III, something light after this heavy New Weird anthology. So make those my two nominations this month.

Classic nomination: The King in the Golden Mask and Other Stories (1982) by Marcel Schwob. Here's the opening of the author's preface:
"There are, in this book, masks and covered faces: a king masked in gold, a wild man in a fur muzzle, Italian highwaymen with plague-wracked faces, galley slaves under red helmets, little girls aged suddenly in a mirror, and a singular host of lepers, embalming women, eunuchs, murderers, demoniacs, and pirates, between which I pray the reader believe I take no preference..."

New nomination: Gifts For the One Who Comes After by Helen Marshall. Back jacket blurb: "Ghost thumbs. Microscopic dogs. One very sad can of tomato soup. Helen Marshall's second collection offers a series of twisted surrealities that explore the legacies we pass on to our children. [...] Dazzling, disturbing, and deeply moving."

Merl wrote: "Classic nomination: The King in the Golden Mask and Other Stories (1982) by Marcel Schwob. ..."

That looks to be hard to get at a reasonable price.

Ed wrote: "Merl wrote: "Classic nomination: The King in the Golden Mask and Other Stories (1982) by Marcel Schwob. ..."

That looks to be hard to get at a reasonable price."

Goodreads seems to be linking to a scarce edition for some reason. It is in print in a new (2017) paperback edition from Wakefield Press:
https://wakefieldpress.com/schwob_kin...
I don't know if you can buy direct from the publisher if you're in the US, but it is definitely available on Amazon, for about 10 dollars.

Cool, thanks. I didn't find the cheaper version when I searched earlier, but I see it now.

I nominate Welcome to Night Vale again for the new book

I will leave it to others for the old book

Thanks for the nomination Kateblue and others. Even if the book you nominate does not win the month's polls--after all, as the highlander observed there can be only one--I so appreciate your bringing these fine works to our attention for reading at leisure another time soon.

The two polls for June's group read are up: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/9...

I would like to open nominations for Weird fiction books we can read for August's group read. As always, please make up to two nominations, one for Classic Weird (written before 1990) and one for Modern Weird (written 1990 or later).

I'll keep nominations open July 15-19. Polls will start 12:01 a.m. EST July 20. Here's looking for great nominations!

Well, we're in the middle of the 2019 baseball season. How about going a bit Weird with it? For the Modern Weird nomination I want to recommend a book even those not baseball fans said they enjoyed: Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop.

For Classic Weird allow me to nominate At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft. Gotta read it some time if we're going to consider ourselves literate in Weird.

I just read At the Mountains of Madness. Interesting from an historical perspective more than an enjoyable read . . . still, worth it once.

I'll stick with the decadent's favorite color and nominate The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Modern stuff Cthulhu 2000.

For classic weird, how about The Listener And Other Stories by Algernon Blackwood, which includes The Willows.

For Modern, I'd like to nominate Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem , a future forward noir with a little fantasy.
For Classic, I offer up Edward Gorey- maybe his collected Amphigorey . All illustrated and delightfully dark and ridiculous. But not terribly "literary". A lot of libraries will have a copy and it's $17 new or $11 used on Amazon.

Polls for August are now up: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/9...
As always, if I have made an error please let me know.

I had intended to withdraw my nomination for Cthulhu 2000 because it is probably too long. But, too late. If it wins, I'll recommend a few specific stories from it.

The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories and Gun, With Occasional Music won the polls this month. Locate your copy now if you want to participate in this group read starting next Thursday.

I think I’m going to have to sit this one out, I’m steamrolled with work next month.

I have a copy of Gun, With Occasional Music and I have a free copy of just The Yellow Wallpaper. I suppose if I love it I will get a copy and read the rest of the stories.

Amy wrote: "For Classic, I offer up Edward Gorey- maybe his collected Amphigorey ..."

It didn't win the poll, but I decided to read it anyway. Quite fun! And since I recently read some Edward Lear, I can see where some of Gorey's inspiration came from. Gorey's limericks are far, far better than Lear's.

Nominations for September's group read are now open. Please nominate up to one work for modern weird (1990 or later), and up to one work for classic weird (before 1990). Remember, the work does not have to be a novel. Short stories, novellas, plays, collections and poems are also acceptable.

I read further in that book I earlier recommended. The subsequent chapters failed to live up to the promise of the first. So, I am changing my modern weird recommendation to Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales.

For classic weird I nominate the short story collection Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

For modern weird I nominate the short story collection Falling Over by James Everington--who is a goodreads member:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

My reasons for nominating Falling Over

1. I'm currently reading it and enjoying it
2. Its average goodreads rating is over 4 stars
3. The stories in Falling Over is the "strange story" type which Robert Aickman wrote, although Everington has a different prose style. I think it would be interesting to compare these two books in the same sub-genre.

Hi Dan,

May I nominate Blackwood: A Gotheim Tale for the post-1990 option? It's a novella set in the gothic realm of horrors and supernatural forces. The protagonist, Blackwood, an investigator of the strange sets off to a village called Westgrave to uncover the mystery behind the curious case of Mary Shaw.

For the weird fiction nominee pre-1990, I'd like to nominate the collection of short stories by The Lurking Fear: Collected Short Stories Volume Four & Other Stories. You can't go wrong with the godfather of weird. And this is a collection of some of his earliest pieces.

For classic weird read I nominate Complete Works of Robert E. Howard. We can probably knock this out in the first half of the month. I plan to read it over Labor Day weekend.

Dan wrote: "For classic weird read I nominate Complete Works of Robert E. Howard. We can probably knock this out in the first half of the month. I plan to read it over Labor Day weekend."

I've never read all the stories in one volume before, although I'm pretty sure I've read them all at one time or another. I wonder what the order is. If it's publishing or writing date, either would be interesting. In his decade of writing, he reused a lot of things in various genres. He also edited some of them for sale.

From my notes on one such story, probably copied from
http://howardworks.com/howard.htm
The Black Stranger was originally written as a Conan story that was not accepted. REH rewrote it into a Black Vulmea story ("Swords of the Red Brotherhood"), which was also not accepted. L Sprague de Camp rewrote the original Conan story into a different Conan story ("The Treasure of Tranicos"). For publication in Fantasy Magazine #1, the story was abridged, edited by L Sprague de Camp, and re-written further by Lester del Rey. Hence, there are 3 different versions of this story, "The Black Stranger" (REH1), "Swords of the Red Brotherhood" (REH2), and "The Treasure of Tranicos" (REH/LSDC)."

There's some great stories in that collection & quite a range of genres. I really liked them all. I took a quick look at the description & I think it's light on his boxing stories. I only saw a few. Horror, S&S, humor, & western are certainly there in abundance, although I don't see "The Vultures of Whapeton". I do see his 'essay' on the Hyborian Age. Well, it looks like the description ran out of space & my memories of his boxing stories are messed up due to the Dennis Dorgan book by Zebra. They were mostly Steve Costigan stories. He only changed one story to Dennis due to publishing conflicts, IIRC.

Anyway, I'd love to go through it.

I started reading this last night. It's supposed to take 75 hours and 52 minutes to read it it all, which is doable over a Labor Day weekend if you start at 8:08 p.m. Friday night, but then I remembered I might want to shower some time in there. Maybe change my underwear while I'm at it. Also, I tend to read at half speed at best. So I need the head start.

The first story is titled "The Pit of the Serpent; Or, Manila Manslaughter". Not sure why it needs two titles, but it's in the leadoff section called "boxing stories", of which there are 21 (the last of them is titled "Sluggers of the Beach"). The first story is set in the PI. Two heavyweight boxing champions from two different ships get into a spat over a "buy-me-drinky" bar girl, or whatever they were called in the 1920s.

It's actually really well told and engaging considering my interest in boxing is zero. The weird slang used and attitudes towards women portrayed (trophies not people, yet they are developed characters instead of the props they are supposed to be and thus keep subverting Howard's text) are fascinating.

I think I see a secret already to Howard's writing. He writes in the first person, pictures himself in a scenario, and is able to completely immerse himself in wherever his character is and write the truth of the situation, wherever it takes him. He becomes that character. His power is in the interesting situations he concocts and then the never breaking the rules of probability way he writes from that point. His writing is true to who the characters are and the world he writes is absolutely consistent.