Weird Fiction discussion

I never do this, but last month I forgot to open a topic for March 2024's group read. I am so sorry. Let me open one now. I considered restricting nominations by time of publication, but we have been doing well. Mid 20th century last month. Modern this month. I considered saying we should do a novel because we have been hitting short story collections a bit more lately. But weird fiction as a genre leans toward the short story more than the novel. So that's okay too. We're not in a rut as far as I can tell.

Therefore, because I am getting these nominations started late, let's just have one restriction on the nominations. Namely, that the work nominated be accessible via e-format, be that Kindle, Kobo, or whatever. This way, people don't have to order a hardcopy through the mail and wait for it to arrive.

Please pick up to two nominees of weird fiction you think the entire group will enjoy. Post the nomination over the extended weekend (we have President's Day on Monday here in the U.S.). And I'll start a poll on February 20 with weird fiction nominees.

I am going to nominate a classic: Hyperborea by Clark Ashton Smith.

And I'm going to nominate an uber-modern work: The Terror at Miskatonic Falls edited by Kevin Lucia.

I was contemplating rereading The Island of Dr. Moreau by HG Wells. although it is a sci fi story, it is I think quite a weird horror one as well.

For this group I would like to avoid adding books of which could be said "has weird elements". If that's an acceptable criterion for nominating a book, we'll soon be reading Dracula as the group read. A great many other groups cover the classic books of other such genres. I'd rather feature books other groups mostly wouldn't or don't do. I also want to keep things in a purer weird fiction vein. There are so many good weird fiction works out there we many never get to!

Once you have read The Island of Dr. Moreau (I have, a few times, and love it), you may notice that one cottage industry that has sprung up is the writing of sequels to it. The book is out of copyright after all, making it fair game for pastiches and sequels. Some are very good, but most of these are not weird fiction either. One notable, possible exception is The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. I think this book could be fair game for us even though other groups have featured this book in their group reads. It did win science fiction awards though. If nominated, I'd put this book to a group poll (Is it, or is it not, weird fiction?) before running it in a book poll for us. Maybe there are more weird fiction like pastiches on this theme I am not aware of?

Dan wrote: "I am going to nominate a classic: Hyperborea by Clark Ashton Smith.

And I'm going to nominate an uber-modern work: The Terror at Miskatonic Falls edit..."

Oooh, I am pleasantly surprised to see you nominate Clark Ashton Smith! Inspired by your choice, I will follow it up with The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (the short stories only, although i wouldn't mind venturing into some prose poetry as well).

In addition, I'd like to once again nominate No One Came For Me: weird and primal horror stories by Mary Hollow. I was thoroughly impressed by her debut collection and would love to know if you'd feel the same way. She did provide me with a free digital copy when she was looking for readers in this group a while back, but I ended up actually buying a physical copy after I read it, as I wanted to support her work.

Are you certain you want to add The Dark Eidolon this month? If there are two CAS collections in the poll this month, what is quite likely to happen is that they will split the CAS vote, making it unlikely either could win the poll.

Right, I didn't think about that. I'll find something else as my second nomination.

How's about Terra Incognita: New Short Speculative Stories from Africa? Although I think I want to read a Clark Ashton Smith book more than I want to fill up my geographic reading gaps at this time.

Wow! That's a really cool looking anthology, Zina.

Hmm, no, I think I'll just nominate that one book for our March group read :)

I have two on my TBR pile that I would like to nominate. This is my first time nominating anything so hopefully they fit the vibe of the group.

Friday Black and The Changeling

Russell wrote: "I have two on my TBR pile that I would like to nominate. This is my first time nominating anything so hopefully they fit the vibe of the group."

These both fit the definition of weird fiction (as I understand it) just fine. Excellent suggestions! Thank you so much for these nominations.

Nicolai Alexander wrote: ..."No One Came For Me: weird and primal horror stories by Mary Hollow"...

Got it! Thanks for the nomination, Nicolai.

We sure have some great choices this time around. There is one more day to get your nomination(s) in before I start the poll if anyone cares to enrich the choices from the field further.

The poll for March's group read is up! Please let me know if I accidentally omitted anyone's nomination.

As expected, author name recognition wins every poll regardless of a given work's merit. I was not a fan of The Ballad of Black Tom when we read it. I doubt I would be willing to give Lavelle another try, especially since this one has an even lower GR rating than Black Tom. But I'll set the book up and hope everyone else enjoys it. Silver lining for me (personally): when a book gets on our Bookshelf, it can't be repeated.

I wonder if setting up a buddy read for whichever book comes in second place might be a way to get around this issue.

Dan wrote: "As expected, author name recognition wins every poll regardless of a given work's merit. I was not a fan of The Ballad of Black Tom when we read it. I doubt I would be willing to gi..."no Lavalle for me either haha but if CAS doesn't win I'd like it as buddy read.

What do you know LaValle is currently leading the poll!

I have taken more time to consider it, and I think what I'd like to do is keep it simple and have two winners for next month, the first and second place in the poll. March's Lovecraft short story is super short and Lavalle's novel is not long either.

I'm also reconsidering not reading the Lavalle. One of the reasons I nominated and voted for his The Ballad of Black Tom in a previous year was because I so liked his short story that led off Weird Tales #363: The Return of The Magazine That Never Dies, published in 2019: "Up from Slavery". That was a masterpiece! I guess I would be willing to give Lavalle another chance after all.

Or we could both change our vote to Hyperborea :P

We don't know how many more members will vote, though. The lead might change.

Okay, The Changeling is not so short. 464 pages in the paperback copy I just ordered in anticipation of the inevitable. A brand new paperback copy is more than $4 cheaper than the Kindle. Go figure!

Guess I should start The Changeling discussion topic.