Literary Horror discussion

Please join us for our June 2024 monthly read, the anthology Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories (ed. Sarah Coolidge).

A couple reviews:
https://nacla.org/latin-american-horr...
https://california-reading.com/2024/0...

The anthology includes authors we've read in previous group reads, including Mariana Enriquez and Monica Ojeda, It's available as a paperback (no e-book, sorry).

Let's start towards the weekend! Please speak up if you need more time to get a copy.

I'm in.

My other experience with Two Lines Press' Calico imprint was That We May Live. Both anthologies have unusual and attractive book designs; I like the graphic that precedes each story, that may just hint at what's to come. Neither named an editor (or editors), and it's not clear what the editorial process was. I found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnviH...

I haven't watched it, but should be interesting.

I like the first story, Tomas Downey's "Bone Animals". It's the kind of weird tale where nothing overtly threatening happens, but the sense of creeping unease is very nicely sustained. I really like the quiet, plain writing, the pervasive bleak reality, the odd behavior of the narrator's family. I'm not sure why I was so uncomfortable with the bone animals, or (view spoiler)[the birds with the gray flesh that were eaten (hide spoiler)]. Maybe the ending could have been a bit stronger, but this was a strong start to the anthology. It reminds me a little of my favorite Mariana Enriquez stories, where the harsh real world and uncanny details intermingle. (And Enriquez's story is next!)

I haven't read a physical copy of a book that wasn't mostly pictures in at least a year. I thought I would have missed it, but I guess I do most of my reading in the dark, which doesn't really work with this. Expect me to be slower than I usually am.

I also liked "Bone Animals." I like how you're dropped into the middle of the story and have to piece things together. There was just enough information for the story to make sense.

"That Summer in the Dark" is my favorite of the first three stories. I am usually not the biggest coming-of-age stories fan, but this worked for me. I think a big factor is that a lot of the expanding on the setting is done through characterization. (view spoiler)[My memory is terrible, so I can't remember what, but I swear something did the Richard Ramirez masturbating thing already. (hide spoiler)]

Even though I thought all the narrators in "Soroche" had distinctive voices, I still had a difficult time remembering all of them. I kept forgetting the religious one. (view spoiler)[I didn't dislike this, but I think I would have been a little more enthusiastic if I was familiar with what the ending was referencing. I think putting the pieces together would have been satisfying. (hide spoiler)]

Mariana Enriquez's Things We Lost in the Fire is one of my all-time favorite collections. I'm very excited that her new collection will be out this fall.

"That Summer in the Dark" reminds me of "Adela's House" from the earlier collection. The young narrator's voice is nicely done, and the shadow of the economic crisis and AIDS epidemic hovers over the main events. I really like how the teens complain and soldier on, then Clarita's horrific death breaks everything. The ending is lovely.

Megan McDowell did her usual excellent job with the translation. (She also translated all the Enriquez that's available in English.)

I also had trouble keeping apart the narrators in "Soroche", though I was drawn in as we learn more about what was happening. The ending: (view spoiler)[I assume Ana killed herself? Like the condor "choosing the moment of his death"? (hide spoiler)]

I like the poetic play with mirrors in "In the Mountains", though it seemed slight. Nice body horror in "The Third Transformation", though it could maybe be a bit tighter.

Hmm, kind of quiet here. How's everyone doing with the anthology? So far most of the stories seem more like weird fiction than straight horror, but that's fine by me.

I really enjoyed Giovanna Rivero's "Man With Leg". I was just rereading Brian Evenson's "Baby Leg", so it's been a leggy weekend. Little disturbing details (the miscarriages, the husband's loss of his ex in 9/11, the whole confusing environment of New York, the apothecary, the errand with the mysterious bag) just barely hang together to create a sustained uneasiness. Nice.

Soroche: (view spoiler)[I'm leaning towards Ana not killing herself. Her perfect moment passed when she lived. I guess she goes home, and her friends try to pretend it didn't happen. (hide spoiler)]

The whole needing light to read a real book thing has continued to be an issue. I might need to start reading by flashlight like a kid.

I agree about "In the Mountains." I do think that it might have suffered a bit for being between two stories that maybe had too much going on. (view spoiler)[I liked the Virgin Mary trying to drown a kid. (hide spoiler)]

I think "The Third Transformation" might have benefited from a little paragraph from the author explaining what they were going for. (view spoiler)[I need more clarification about if things were just meant to be creepy or if the details meant something. (hide spoiler)]

I also liked the Virgin Mary's behavior in "In the Mountains".

I really like the opening of "Rabbits", posing so many uncomfortable questions:

After our formative experience, and Jorge's disappearance, Raquel and I decided to get married.

I tend to like narratives about cult-like communities. (See Moorhead and Benson's excellent movie "The Endless" for what is possible.) But I'm afraid this story doesn't add much that's surprising or interesting.

I wanted to finish the last story and do only one last update, but it didn't work out. Except for "The Man with the Leg" this next batch of stories were fine. They're not bad, but I don't feel much enthusiasm.

I enjoyed "The Man with the Leg" very much. We need more fertility treatment horror.

"Visitor" has a pretty simple and predictable plot, but I think the author added enough detail to distract from it.

I agree that "Rabbits" was a bit blah.

"Lazarus the Vulture" having more of a magical realism/fantasy thing going on felt like a bit of a departure from the other stories, and I like that it added variety.

Sounds like we're mostly in agreement here!

I'd just finished Bruce Benderson's novel User, which probably colored my experience of "The House of Compassion". Both revolve around hardscrabble characters who are cross-dressing sex workers. Benderson writes voices so well, and User has an unpredictable arc. "Compassion" seems a bit straightforward by comparison; I'm not sure what to make of it.

Looking ahead, I'll be out of town most of July, and won't be coordinating a monthly read. Let's take a break and resume for August. Have a good summer, everyone.

Would anyone be so gentle to share the names of the stories? As we can't have the e-book I would like to read the stories in their original language.

Other than the ones mentioned in the reviews, I can't really get enthusiastic about this to type in the whole list. But in summary:

Tomas Downey, Bone Animals
Mariana Enriquez, That Summer in the Dark
Giovanna Rivero, Man with Leg

Bill wrote: "Other than the ones mentioned in the reviews, I can't really get enthusiastic about this to type in the whole list. But in summary:

Tomas Downey, Bone Animals
Mariana Enriquez, That Summer in the ..."
I've just found the rest while skimming one of the reviews you previously shared. Thank you!

Time to organize for August! Nominations? I'll carry over two items from June:

Joyce Carol Oates, Butcher
Justin Steele (ed.), Looming Low: Volume II

Please nominate here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...