Contemporary Terror

How would you write a terror story where there is no actual monster? What are the difficulties here, regarding storytelling technique?

>>9439410

I mean, does this genre exist? What are some other examples of it? Is there actually good literature in it?

Maybe there are books which fall into my description that aren't exactly horror books

Related:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_and_terror

>>9439410
Mental illness/insanity works well in this regard. Sometimes the real monster is our own mind. As for literature that explores this, I don't know. I don't really read horror.

I watched this movie once where two twins were convinced that their mother had been killed and replaced by some monster. Turned out that it actually was their mother, and the boys twin was his split personality.

>>9439442

Saw that one too, can't remember the name of it though

>>9439452
Goodnight Mommy. It was a great movie.

>>9439442

Lots of movies go that way, but I don't think all of them succeed.

Insanity is the way to go I think. How would you build that sense of deep but subtle "uneasiness"

Ligotti?

>>9439400
Not a book but a short story, "Lettre d'un fou" from Guy de Maupassant. It's an A in my list.

>>9439485
Discard, I just realized you asked for contemporary terror, I still think you should check it out.

>contemporary terror

The only terror-related thing about House of Leaves is how terrible it is that it got published.

>>9439469

I've read this name brought up a lot regarding horror. Any entry-level recommendation?

>>9439485
>>9439488

Checking it up. Thanks, mate.

>>9439485
>Lettre d'un fou

Having a hard time finding this in English. Do you happen to have a source?

>>9439499

What would be actually good contemporary terror stories according to you, then?

Bumpo for interestio

>>9439567
>https://es.scribd.com/document/35662004/Letter-from-a-Madman-by-Guy-de-Maupassant

>>9439679

Thanks, pal. Reading it right now.

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>>9439400

>>9439501
Our Temporary Supervisor is my favorite story of his. "Corporate horror."

>>9440948
is this the one w the story of him in an israeli prison with a kid who'd get mouthraped every night?

>>9440948
Gira's a better musician than a writer, but it's a good read and he's still patrician as fuck.

>>9440986
Underrated choice. Most people say Last Feast of Harlequin/The Frolic.

Regarding Ligotti, I've read the term "philosophical horror" to describe his style. Any other authors in this same vein? I can only think of Junji Ito.

>>9439469
Ligotti is a good horror writer but if you say that 75% of his work isn't boring as fuck you're lying to yourself. I like the idea of reading his stories more than reading them.

>>9439501
http://weirdfictionreview.com/2011/12/the-red-tower-by-thomas-ligotti/

>>9439501
Grimscribe. The Last Feast of Harlequin is fantastic

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Not subtle or abstract terror, but a really comfy contemporary horror book. It's a haunted house story with vampires and magic, and it doesn't read in the slightest bit like genre fiction.

Some minor spoilers for the interested:
Two demonic beings from the Victorian era lure someone to their house every nine years to consume that person's soul. Each chapter of the book is set nine years after the last, each one from the perspective of the latest victim. Starts in the '70s or '80s, I think, and makes its way to present day.

Also, it's very short. This is the guy who wrote Cloud Atlas, btw.

>>9440948
Wish he would re-release this through Young God Records sometime like he seems to be re-releasing the albums that were difficult to find for the past ten years.

>>9442220
Already interested, David Mitchell is a pretty damn good writer with a knack for making structure complicated enough for it to be refreshing but accessible enough to be read just before bed-time.

>>9440948
There's a free pdf of this online. And its really not that long.
Its more disgusting than terrifying but oh boy is it disgusting.

You may like 'weird fiction'

It's a recent term mostly coming from VanderMeer, it's not really horror, but it shares some elements, but it's also a bit of magical realism, SF, fantasy, the macabre etc.

Some great authors usually claimed by Weird writers are Bruno Schulz (DEFINITELY recommended, but has been dead for >70 years), Laird Barron, VanderMeer himself.
Get VanderMeer's The Weird collection, absolutely great.

>>9442251
>'weird fiction'
>a recent term
>anon has never owned a cat named niggerman

>>9442257
>implying I am not scared of a gorilla-like thing and his tom-tom poundings under an eerie moon

You're right, I forgot that Lovecraft himself coined the term, I was somehow under the impression it was more recent and they just co-opted older writers

>>9442251
I love horror and fucking hate weird fiction. Read it online before paying for it, it definitely isn't for everyone.

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Can't find epub/mobi for this one

Anyone got it?

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I have no idea if he's sufficiently "contemporary" for you, but you should really give Robert Aickman a try. He is truly the master of "wrong" and "out of place", while remaining much subtler than someone like Ligotti.

Reggie Oliver, Simon Strantzas and John Langan are all good living writers operating in the small press weird fiction niche who focus on the kind of thing you described.