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Looking for surreal horror/mindbending
I'm looking for some recommendations. I'm not a voracious reader, so just about anything you can recommend will be new to me.
I'm not sure how to describe the genre I'm after, which is really why I'm here. I just got done binging Petscop on YouTube; the surreal and Lynchian story telling coupled with the dark subject matter really sucked me in. I'm also somewhat enthralled by some of the higher quality Backrooms content.
I'm interested in short stories or novels.
Edit: sorry for not tagging. I completely forgot!
I'm interested to see what people recommend, but I'll recommend one of my all-time favorite novels: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.
It was one of the most fascinating reading experiences I've ever had, because even the formatting is a key part of the experience. I was literally turning the book around in my hands to read some pages. On that note, don't be put off by how thick it looks. There's a stretch of around ~100 pages at one point that has basically one word per page which you can zip through in ~5 minutes.
Seriously, just genuinely mind blowing and surreal. I cannot recommend it enough.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke was one of the Tildes book club books a while back, and similar to House of Leaves I think it fits that surreal, mindbending, Backrooms-esque description too. It's not really "horror" either though, other a twinge of the mildly psychological kind. It's mostly a mystery as well.
It's a really great book though, IMO. And if @slade reads it they could still pop into the old book club discussion topic and leave a comment if they want to participate, since despite how old the topic is now, the Tildes Activity Sort means topics can always be revitalized again if someone makes a new comment in them.
Purchased!
Nice! It was one of my favorite books I read last year, so I hope you get similar enjoyment out of it. :)
Wow. It did not go at all where I expected it to, but it was such a fantastic story and setting. And the narrator as a character has such an infectious positivity that I want to think more like Piranesi. I also shared the (aged down) story with my five year old as I read through it and he loved it. He actually insisted on me reading him a few chapters.
This is a fast favorite of mine, as well. I'll pop on over to the book club thread this weekend when I've had more time to reflect.
Big thank you, again, for the rec. I'm about to go lend it to my mom.
YVW! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it! And yeah, I really didn't expect the direction the book took either. Also, agreed, Piranesi was such an optimistic, kind, compassionate person it was hard not to root for him, admire him, and want to try to be more like him too.
p.s. That's super sweet about your son, and hopefully your mom enjoys it as well! :)
I just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell (which I learned about here on Tildes) and I am so excited to pick up another Susanna Clarke book. She is such a master of building and weaving an experience.
I haven't actually read any other Susanna Clarke novels other than Piranesi. I have heard of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell before though, I just didn't realize she also wrote it. So now I am going to have to pick it up and give it a read!
Her collection of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, are excellent as well. I enjoyed them every bit as much as I enjoyed her novels.
I do enjoy a good short story anthology, so I've added it to my reading list now too. Thanks for the rec!
Just got it in the mail and so far I'm enthralled. The architectural descriptions and mystery building are so good. When I'm done I'll jump into the book club thread. Thanks again for this rec!
Awesome! I genuinely look forward to hearing more about your experience reading it and thoughts on it when you finish. :)
I'm sold! You also just reminded me that I've seen that recommended once before, so I'm excited for this.
I'm about eighty pages (and one appendix) deep on House of Leaves. I wanted to ask for non-spoiling advice on when I should read the other stuff in the appendix. It's teasing me with it's presence, but the only one I've read so far is the one recommended by a footnote, regarding Johnny's mom and dad. Should I save those for the end? Read them early?
@cfabbro @irren_echo
It's been a long time since I read it, but I searched for advice (since I don't have to worry about spoilers) and other people confirm the footnotes should tell you when to check a specific appendix or exhibit. You should be able to read most of them that way by the time you finish the book.
Great. Thanks for doing the research for me.
Yeah, as Apple said, first time through just follow where and when it leads. If you read it again, it can be fun to wander more freely and see if you pick up anything new, but for now just sit back and enjoy :)
Borges.
Start with Borges. He is the absolute master of surreal short stories, and once you're familiar you'll start seeing little references in just about any other weird/Weird/absurdist/bizarro/surreal content you find.
Mieville's The City and the City is fun, but Last Days of New Paris is better imo (I don't much like 'who dunnits' though, so most of his other stuff doesn't click with me the way I want it to).
Lovecraft is the classic, obviously.
Murakami can get pretty weird.
Barthelme is one I never see recommended, but I love him. Very short stories, very strange.
House of Leaves is a masterpiece, but don't expect the same level from anything else he's done.
Gogol is a blast. Kafka if you haven't yet.
(I may come back with more, Weird Shit^tm is my jam lol)
Edit: The Way Through Doors and Diver's Game by Jesse Ball, and The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.
Isaac Babel, all of which can be found in a single volume.
Edit 2: Junji Ito if you want some gorgeous, intricate visuals with your fucked up body horror.
Yeah OP. From Borges, who is imo the "correct" answer to your question, you'll want to start with Ficciones, generally his best-regarded short story collection. If you like it, I also recommend Bolaño, particularly The Savage Detectives, whose work is similar but leans even more metafictional, and The Etched City by KJ Bishop, which is similar to those two but with a spec-fic twist. You've been recommended a lot of Mieville and everyone has their favorites but in my opinion Embassytown is his most "complete" work, with the strangest and most alien setting and premise.
I loved the Etched City (and all the others you listed). I expect that Bolaño is a little far afield, but that's also an excellent book. I know people disagree, but for Miéville I think the Bas-Lag series hits the nail on the head for this request, particularly Perdido Street Station. Have you read those?
Barthelme is ridiculously under the radar. I'm so glad you brought him up.
The Scar is one of my favorite books. The others are tough for me, because having read the Mieville books with fantastic plots, it's always a little tough for me to go back to the ones that center more on vibes, which I think is true of the other Bas-Lag books. But they are certainly great
I really didn’t like The Scar as much as Perdido Street Station, but I think that’s because the latter’s broad optimism into downward spiral and failure coupled with the ending just made more of an impact.
I do want a Bas-Lag book set in High Cromlech though, the concept of that nation is incredible, and it’s a shame we only ever hear about it.
Ooooo new recs, thanks!
I’m a big fan of Mieville, if you haven’t read Perdido Street Station you should give it a shot. It’s very weird fantasy, so many of his works are just unlike so much else in their respective genres.
I also have to disagree with Lovecraft, some of his stuff is still interesting like the Randolph Carter portions of work and especially The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, but I think it’s bad to recommend without a lot of caveats.
I've been loving Mielville lately. Read The City and the City which was great and then loved Embassytown even more. Definitely will be checking out Perdido Street Station
I'm not huge on most genre fiction, maybe that's why he doesn't click for me. As for Lovecraft, I assume you mean the whole "he was a bigoted asshole irl, and you can see it in his work" thing? Because yeah, fair, the man was afraid of everything and everyone, but he's still a massive cultural touchstone and his work is worth reading imo.
Man, I just cannot get into Chiang. There's something iamverysmart about him that rubs me the wrong way. Totally agree with the rest though!
If you feel that way about Chiang then I’d love to hear your take on Neil Stephenson.
Haha and I'd love to give you such a take, but I've never read anything of his. From discussions I've heard/read he doesn't sound like my cup of tea, so I've just never bothered. My TBR pile is always huge, and I read a lot, so if it's hard sci-fi or high fantasy I'll typically pass unless it's strongly recommended by someone who knows me and my tastes exceptionally well. No shade to those who like him, just to be clear.
Thank you for all of these. Lots to check out.
The Vita Nostra series, it's translated from Russian, and it's .... Um sort of about a magical school? But it's a real mind fuck. I read the first book and I don't have a clue what happened.
From a review
Oh my god, Soviet Harry Potter written for adults (I assume)? Count me the fuck in!
Definitely adult fiction. I wouldn't actually compare it to HP, but the on acid part of the description fits.
The authors of Vita Nostra are/were from Kyiv, so Ukrainian. And it was published in 2007. But I mean stylistically it could be Soviet, this book just minutes ago went into my todo-list so I don't know better yet.
Wow, that sounds really interesting and definitely in the direction I was looking for. Will read!
I think you would probably like The City & The City by China Miéville? This is not horror, but I'm pretty confident recommending it.
Edit: The Wikipedia page has extensive spoilers and you should go in blind, so I am removing the link.
Thank you for the warning. I'll add this to my list and go in blind.
I believe I have an excellent fit for you. The author, Thundamoo (online pen name for Natalie Maher) is quite prolific and writes along this theme very often - psychological horror / body horror but at the same time there is so much more, setting up characters to develop fully within the context of truly horrifying and 'mindfuck' circumstances.
The specific work by this author I would recommend starting on is Vigor Mortis - they post their work for free on Royal Road even though they do have ebooks and Audiobooks available for purchase as well. Amazon link to the ebook / Audiobook as well if you like.
Authors short description:
"In a world of sky islands orbiting around a core of mist, humanity is besieged with countless threats. When a young girl from the slums unwittingly becomes one of those threats, she finds herself capable of horrific things that she can’t help but learn to love...
Vigor Mortis is a lighthearted story about existential terror. Come for the horror, stay for the hope."
Thank you! I started here since Vigor Mortis is available online while I wait for some of the others to ship. So far I'm enjoying it (chapter 5). There are some really quotable lines. The modern dialect is a little odd to me but I'm getting used to it.
Try the library at Mount char or We have always lived in the castle
Library at Mount Char was what I came to post. What a ride.
Both on my list!
Came to post Library at Mount Char. Absolutely fantastic!
Blood Music. The short story and the book.
Blindsight.
I just want to confirm that the second recommendation is Blindsight by Peter Watts. I saw another called The Blindsight.
It's a superb book and should be read by everyone, but I don't know if it was surreal? I guess.
Yes, it is the one by Peter Watts. It is freely available on the author's website here. There are links for different formats at the top.
I don't know if it is exactly what you're looking for, but the Southern Reach trilogy (the books are Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance) might be in your wheelhouse. They aren't super long books, and you can find them sold together in a single larger hard back version as well which is what I read.
Just a heads up, as I'm about to place my order, but there's a fourth book called Absolution. I thought you might not know and be interested.
Interesting! I'm definitely interested at least at some point. Thanks for the heads up.
I just read the tip of the synopsis for the first book and it sounds intriguing. I'll give it a go!
If you're still looking, The Cipher by Kathe Koja gets really weird.
Without spoiling much, a guy and his (kinda) girlfriend find a hole/void/process in floor of their apartment building. I legitimately couldn't tell you more without giving things away. It's surreal as hell, but does have a lot of gross body horror elements. It's also kinda just a depressing read, but still worth it.
Hits all the right notes. Will give it a read! Thank you.
If you have remotely any interest in tabletop games, Impossible Landscapes about the King in Yellow for the Delta Green game might be up your alley.
Harlan Ellison -- As far as I know has some really great Horror shortstories. His most famous one is: I have no mouth, and I must scream. Could be something you would be interested in.
I remember reading a synopsis about it and being really intrigued. I'll add this to my list, thank you.
Lot of good recommendations in here. I'll drop a different one.
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis - it starts off as a kind of memoir or autobiography, but takes a turn (and leaves reality behind) around the midpoint.
Unlike a lot of Ellis' other books, this one isn't connected and shares no recurring characters that you find in the others. It stands on it's own pretty well, IMHO.
Added to my list. Thank you!
Check out Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It an amazing and surreal ca. 1970 Soviet novel that was the inspiration for the movie STALKER, the subsequent games, and the Metro 2031 series. It’s far more about people and the things that motivate them than being hard sci-fi. It’s pretty short and a great read.
I want to third Peter Watts' Blindsight, which is one of my all-time favorites. You don't read it for the characters, you read it for the exploration of the Mind's I. (Not a typo.) You can read it in its entirety on the author's website: https://rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm The 'sequel' (set at the same time as the events of Blindsight, but in a different part of the world, with different characters) is called Echopraxia, and is also worth a read if you liked Blindsight.
For existential surreality, Qntm's There Is No Antimemetics Division is my favorite of the genre. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593983750?tag=randohouseinc7986-20 It's based off of the world the SCP Foundation, so it helps if you are familiar with that setting, but it is not necessary. One of the most creative books I've read in a long time.
My new collection, for anyone interested (which might be no one, but I'm giddy):
https://postimg.cc/ZBCPt4Gx
Thanks again for the recommendations. Piranesi was first and a quick hit with me (my parents both read/listened to it, but I think were a little disappointed).
I just finished House of Leaves, but I'm going to wait some time before I decide how I feel about it. I'm definitely glad I read it, and definitely won't read it again. I was delighted to find out after the fact that the author is Poe's brother. I was a fan back in my college days and specifically remember a version of Hey Pretty that included a voiceover reading from a man who, after looking it up, I learned was her brother reading an excerpt from House of Leaves (his drive up Mulholland with Kyrie). The whole thing was a distant memory, and I definitely didn't remember the name of the author or the book until after I'd read it.
If anyone's curious, here's the song:
https://youtu.be/h_lhspmjCJ4?si=I8xbrV-PciMIEN0y
One thing I'm sure of, House of Leaves exhausted me. It's the first novel I've read that made me cry (multiple times). To that end, if anyone's invested in my journey and wants to propose a next novel, I'm hoping it's one with some light at that end of the tunnel.