What do you guys think is the best lenght to convey a horror

i agree that horror works best in short story form rather than novels.

the thing about the fisherman is that it has several layers of nested stories. this makes it similar in some ways to a short story collection, it's just that the stories are interwoven and all involve the same central mythology. i think it helps the book avoid some of the problems with extended horror stories (primarily finding the right balance between revealing too much too soon, ruining the tension, and dragging things out for too long, falling to keep the tension going). the structure is also an interesting commentary on folklore, fishermen's stories, and so on

depends

>>9969807
as lame as it sounds this book made me want to try out fishing

>>9969782
Anyone got any great contemporary-ish literary horror recommendations for me? I already have the OP and some Barron.

>>9969877

some recent ones i enjoyed:

a collapse of horses by brian evenson
gateways to abomination by matthew bartlett
greener pastures by michael wehunt
the wretch of the sun by michael cisco

robert aickman is great too, though maybe older than you are looking for

>>9969904
Great, thank you!

>>9969904
>greener pastures by michael wehunt

This collection is so conflicting, I'm halfway trough it. The author is a natural wordsmith and his horror stories are authentically creepy and scary, some of the best I've read in a while however he keeps mixing in stupid "weird" stories that go nowhere or veer far from horror where his talent is not so bright. I think he is making a disservice to himself.

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>>9969877
I'd avise you to check Scott Thomas' works, particularly The Sea of Ash and Westermead. The first I rank it alongside The Fisherman as the finest cosmic horror book to come out in the past 5 years.

The second is a collection of ghost stories taking place in his fictional land of Westermead which while technically a fantasy world never feel like your run of the mill tolkien spin off, there's something more naturalistic about it, probably because the author identified himself as pagan and so all the folk magic feels like it works as it should.

Both some of the best reading experiences I've had.

>>9969877
Adam Nevil. There's a film coming out in October on his novel 'The Ritual'. His short story collections as well.

also Stephen Graham Jones

>>9969782
Genre: Young Adult ?

>>9970818
>>9971036
>>9971894
I appreciate the recommendations. It's very hard to find good literary horror without returning to the golden age and earlier.

I love when /lit/ has good horror threads.

>>9972016
nothing YA about The Fisherman

>>9972034
yeah I'll give you that, I mainly use reddit, 4chan and the lovecraft ezine to keep up with releases that might sound interesting.

anyone has any experiencce with Peter Straub? Heard he is quite literary but at the same time that his novels can be quite tedious

>>9969782
Baby shoes for sale; includes feet.

>>9969877
Reggie Oliver

>>9969904

I'm going to have to give Evenson another chance, some of his stories bored me to be honest.

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>>9969877
For Those Who Dream Monsters by Anna Taborska.