The Goodreads Dark and Fantastic Readers Group discussion

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. What are your favorite genres, who's your favorite writer?

More importantly, what draws you to dark fiction?

I'm Jason, I am writer of dark, mostly horrific fiction. My favorite writers are Caitlin R. Kiernan, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen Kind, Joe Hill, Alastair Reynolds, and Robert Charles Wilson. This list changes a lot, but most of these guys are always there. lol

I like dark fiction because it seems more honest, imo, than a lot of other genres. But then, if you were open up my skull and peer at what's inside my mind, you'd probably find a Timothy Burton film or something.

I'm Ken. My favorite genres are Horror, Sherlock Holmes Pastiches (or any Victorian mystery), Mystery/Thriller, WWII fiction.

Among my favorite writers are Arthur Conan Doyle, Hunter S Thompson, Agatha Christie and Mikhail Bulgakov. But, for some reason these guys haven't written much lately. So, I am forced to read more contemporary authors and that list of favorites varies day to day.

Why am I into the dark stuff? Can't really say. Always have been. Always loved the late night black and white horror flicks and can remember defying my parents by staying up late to watch them when I was as young as 6 or 7.

Some of the first adult books that I ever read were Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, The Amityville Horror and 666.

I guess its just all comfort food for the mind.

Hey, Ken. Welcome to the group! I used to love those late night black and white horror flicks, too. I wish they had more of that these days.

I'm Brick Marlin, writer of dark fiction, blending in a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy into my tales. Some of my favorite writers are Edgar Allen Poe, Ray Bradbury, Terry Pratchett, Rudy Rucker, Harry Harrison, Fred Saberhagen, Kurt Vonnegut, Clive Barker, Stephen King, as well as many more!

For some reason, I have always loved suspense and horror, the building blocks of great literature of the past.

I'm Marc-Antoine, thanks for the invite Jason, i like reading a bit of everything, but would have to say that horror is my favorite genre, Stephen King got me hooked to reading and I still love his books, ever since joining goodreads I have been introduced to many different authors, such as Jason White ( loved Room 118: 3 Stories!

I'm Horrorshow, a flawed British misanthrope who lacks a sense of humour but makes up for it with a well developed sense of unbelonging.

As a young man I used to write poetry and contribute to small press magazines but I eventually found the whole process false and unrewarding so I subsequently retreated to the relative safety of avoiding as much human contact as possible. I work in education so that's difficult at times.

I enjoy reading Lovecraftian Horror, Dystopian Science Fiction, Historical Sports Non-Fiction and anything by those brave American truth seekers Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs and Charles Bukowski. I generally appreciate anything that hints at or reveals the hideous fact that the world we live in is not what it seems on the surface. Clive Barker once said that, “[Horror fiction] shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.” I can buy that.

I probably won't contribute a damn thing to The Goodreads Dark Fiction Readers Club but I sincerely appreciate the invite and I'll certainly be lurking in the shadows cackling to myself.

PS - I'm great at kid's parties.

Horrorshow wrote: "I'm Horrorshow, a flawed British misanthrope who lacks a sense of humour but makes up for it with a well developed sense of unbelonging.

As a young man I used to write poetry and contribute to sma..."

I probably won't contribute a damn thing to The Goodreads Dark Fiction Readers Club but I sincerely appreciate the invite and I'll certainly be lurking in the shadows cackling to myself.

You just did and how do we book you?

Thanks for the invite Jason! I have loved reading darker fiction as long as I remember. My first adult horror reads were almost all Stephen King, Carrie and Firestarter being the 2 most memorable early reads. I was never a fan of the happily ever afters and always preferred when people got what they had coming to them...maybe that's why I have always liked horror...I love it when everyone dies as the end!

I really love how more and more dark fiction/horror is creeping into YA fiction. As a blogger/reviewer my focus is on the YA market because it is the one seeing the largest boom right now, and it always makes me happy to see a great piece of dark fiction show up in the YA market.

Thanks for the invite, Jason! I'm a big fan of dark fiction. My favorite authors include Stephen King, Clive Barker, Joe Hill and others. I also like dark humor. I started reading R. L. Stine when I was a kid and always love a story that makes me feel something, even creeped out. I probably won't be around much in the next couple of months, I'm working on my MLIS and taking 3 accelerated and reading intensive classes this summer with an emphasis on children's and YA literature.Look forward to discussing books with you guys when I get back to reading the dark stuff!

Your comments will be missed Rachel, good luck with your classes.

Thanks, Marc. I'll pop in when i can, but right now I'm barely on GR.

Welcome, guys! It's good to see you all here.

I'm Danielle. I love most genre fiction, particularly romance, fantasy, supernatural fiction and supernatural horror, especially classic horror. Thanks for the invite!

Hi! I'm Eileen and thanks for the invite Jason! One of my favorite things to do is listen to dark fiction on audio books. It brings me back to when I was a kid and my family would turn out the lights, make a snack and watch a scary movie.

Marc-antoine wrote: "You just did and how do we book you?"

8~D

Welcome, everyone!

Hi, Eileen! And thanks for joining!

This is great, all of my favorite GR personalities keep popping up...loving this site.

I'm Dan. These days I primarily read detective stuff but I'll likely go on my yearly sf/fantasy binge pretty soon.

Welcome, Dan!

Welcome, Dan!

Hi all. I joined Goodreads back in 2008. I used to have a book reviews website called Bill's Brutally Honest Book Reviews, and what I liked best about that was that visitors would write to me with recommendations. I had launched that site in 1997.

When I discovered Goodreads, it was about the time my website provider was bought out and the migration went terribly...they broke all my links, etc. So I migrated all my reviews to Goodreads and this site has been the best thing to happen to me as a lover of books.

My tastes are wide-ranged, but I do prefer the dark side, and always have. When I was a kid I loved my horror comics, and I loved getting scared by movies. The movie that scared me the most was Burnt Offerings, which I saw in the theater at the age of 14 and had nightmares for two nights afterwords.

Character development is what I care about most in novels. If I don't care for them, I don't care for the story they are in. If I am vested in the characters, then this allows me to fully escape into the novel. Stephen King is one of the best character developers I've come across and I've been reading him for 30 years. Love the guy, he's my favorite.

Welcome, Dan and Bill.

Good to see you here, Bill. Welcome.

Welcome, Bill!

Hey, Bill

Hello everyone! Thanks for the invite Jason......I am sorry I have not gotten around to posting until now. Too much craziness.....

I am jennbunny......I now live in NC. I love horror and dark fiction......the fear and tragedy really draw me in. As for favorite authors.....well I read Seed by Ania Ahlborn and I loved her book! I also like Clive Barker....Joe Hill is good too. I love finding new book recommendations here at GR.

The draw? For me......I was not allowed anything remotely scary as a kid (movies or books or ToT). I am sure that is what partly drew me in after I left home......I ventured into scifi with Terry Brooks books and it grew from there. Then my friend told me about The Association and my love for dark stuff grew. There was also a true crime book being passed about work quite a few years ago which was gross and fascinating too. All of this along with the original War of the Worlds movie (snuck as a kid~and scared me) have made my dark side flourish.

Superduper belated welcome, Jennbunny!

Hi everyone! I'm Rachel, still getting use to posting and being in groups so sorry about the late introduction. I love reading and I'm a fan of most fiction. I love dark fiction and some horror but I can't really tell you why, I'm just drawn to it. Also not too much bothers me and I kind of enjoy reading things that push the boundaries.

I'm also looking for goodreads friends, so feel free to add me :)

Welcome, Rachel!

Welcome, Rachel!

Hi Rachel!

Hello all, I'm Jaime. I've been drawn to dark fiction since a young age. The first 'big' book I ever read was my uncles copy of Cry of the Werewolf by King. The passion for horror and dark fiction started there.

Some of my favorite authors are King, Barker, Lovecraft, Rice, Spindler, Hill, Brite and many more.
I've been known to read all diferent genres but dark fiction is really my fave.

Welcome, Jaime!

Welcome, Rachel and Jaime!

Welcome, Jamie!

Hello, I'm horror author Mark McLaughlin. Here is my unholy visage!

I've written many books over the years for different publishers. My favorite authors are Basil Copper, H.P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, and Robert Aickman.

Welcome, Mark!

Welcome, Mark.

Welcome, Mark!

Hi, I'm DL Atha. I'm a writer and reader of dark fiction. The books that confound me the most are dark fantasy that tread into the paranormal.

Welcome, DL!

I really like your group!
Can you join my group called For the Love of Horror? If you love anything horror, syfy, fantasy, trillers then you'll like this we have it all. I'm trying to get more people involved with it. Can you promote my page on your group? Please? I can do the same one my group. We also are picking authors that are unknown to be give the chance of submitting their work to a folder so they can be picked to be that months book. It's really neat.
Spread the word.
Thanks.

Hi! I'm Michael, a horror author in northern California. I love all things horror! I'd like to invite anyone who's interested to like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcschu...

Thanks!!

Welcome to any new members I have missed while I've been away.

Hi, all!

My fascination for dark fiction stretches far back, and comes from multiple sources. As a kid, I used to love the rush that came from reading the darker parts of "The Hound of Baskerville", and I loved Stoker's "Dracula" (Shelley not so much, though). Later, at university, I felt that some dark fiction, by virtue of its grim nature, is able to express the same fatalistic outlook I encountered in some of the world's ancient epics.

For my self, I am an author of a series of dark fantasy stories that are now being published at Amazon. Feel free to check them out as they come, but my prime interest here is not to sell, but to learn from this group of dedicated readers!

Take care.

First off who am I? Husband, father, international best-selling author, true crime fiend, and horror metal musician. I could be lurking in the bushes, in a closet or beneath your bed waiting to strike.

Hi everyone,

My name is Toni and I am from the South East of England.

I am a big Horror Lit fan, anything dark, weird, gory, creepy is right up my street!

I equally love anything that is Enchanted and Magical, and am a bit of a TV and Movie geek as well!

Looking for more like minded Good Reads friends feel free to add me as a friend,

friends = discovering more books, and there can never be enough books :)

Hey, Dark Readers...

Name is KC. I live on the New England coast and write dark fiction. I've written one book thus far, but I'm a lazy sonofabitch and haven't finished the next. But I will. Swear t'God. Anyway, I'm putting "Evangeline" out there for free for a few weeks as a way of introducing myself to all you dark fiction aficionados on Goodreads... if I can just figure out where that kind of thing goes.

KC