As a big fan of weird fiction I decided to start a topic about it.
There are probably several readers, who aren't familiar with weird fiction, so here's some information about weird fiction. Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction. It basically means fiction, which blends horror, fantasy, and science fiction.
I love weird fiction, because most weird stories are highly imaginative and extremely well written stories. In my opinion good weird fiction is at its best irresistibly charming speculative fiction.
H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most famous writers of weird fiction, but there are also other writers (Algernon Blackwood, Clark Ashton Smith etc) who have written excellent stories.
I think it's great that there are also new writers, who have begun to write weird fiction. One of the best new writers is without a doubt Laird Barron, who has been called "the next coming of H.P. Lovecraft". His stories are weird, horrifying and beautifully written.
Livia Llewellyn has also written weird fiction. She's an excellent writer, whose stories are charmingly weird and captivating. Her "Take Your Daughters to Work" is one of the best stories I've read (it was originally published in Engines of Desire: Tales of Love and Other Horrors and it will be reprinted in The Book of Cthulhu II).
Richard Gavin is an author who must be mentioned when talking about modern weird fiction. His short story collections are excellent. For example, The Darkly Splendid Realm and At Fear's Altar can be recommended to all who love weird fiction.
D. P. Watt is also an author who has written weird stories. Watt's An Emporium of Automata is an excellent collection.
What do you think of weird fiction? Have you read weird fiction? If you haven't read weird fiction, would you consider reading it?
Last edit: 4 years 1 month ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
I'm not sure what all counts as weird fiction, but I think might have read few that I've considered quite weird. So weird in fact that I disliked those books. There was something too chaotic in the stories and they were missing some of the normal tension that I expect from a book I read.
Would you count Edgar Allan Poe as a writer of weird fiction? My Lovecraft knowledge is lacking (read some of his work out of curiosity) but I'd definitely say that Poe's work is "weird fiction" based on your definition.
I've noticed that readers either like or dislike weird fiction. Classic weird fiction usually appeals to most readers, but modern weird fiction may be too weird for some readers.
I think it's good to mention that new weird (China Miéville, Jeff VanderMeer etc) is a genre of its own and shouldn't be confused with weird fiction (there's also a genre called bizarro fiction, but it isn't weird fiction).
Edgar Allan Poe's stories aren't exactly weird fiction, because his stories are often considered to be gothic (horror) fiction, but some of his stories can be called weird fiction.
Last edit: 4 years 4 months ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
Yes. This is a genre I would like to explore more (as is dark fantasy too). Every now and then I've read and loved stories by H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, yet I'm ashamed to confess that at the moment I'm for the first time reading a whole book (At the Mountains of Madness and other novels of terror) by Lovecraft. In addition, Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan and The Hill Of Dreams is still covering dust on my bookshelf.
Thank you for creating this topic. It's good to have some recommendations on weird fiction. D. P. Watt definitely seems very interesting. I'll try to get my hands on books with his stories.
What about Stefan Grabiński? I was planning on ordering The Dark Domain, of which a new edition is going to be published in a couple of weeks. I haven't read any of his stories yet, but of what I've read about him his writings seem to be close to weird fiction.
Last edit: 5 years 10 months ago by H.C..
If you're interested in weird fiction, you should definitely read Arthur Machen and D. P. Watt. Watt writes a bit different kind of weird fiction, but his stories are enjoyable.
Stefan Grabiński is also worth reading. I enjoyed reading On The Hill of Roses very much, because the translation was excellent and the stories were wonderfully weird.
Last edit: 5 years 10 months ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
I forgot to mention that Basil Copper's short stories are also worth reading. Not all of them are weird fiction, but a few of them are (and they're excellent stories).
The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper is full of good stories. It consists of two hardcover volumes. If I'm not mistaken, it was published as three volumes in paperback format.
I just remembered that I've forgotten to mention John Langan. Not all of his stories are weird fiction, but some of them are brilliant examples of quality weird fiction. For example, "The Shallows" that was published in Cthulhu's Reign (edited by Darrel Schweitzer) is a good story that will please everybody who likes Lovecraftian horror.
Unfortunately I haven't read all of John Langan's stories yet, but I intend to read them soon.
I think that Nathan Ballingrud's debut short story collection, North American Lake Monsters, must also be mentioned here, because his stories have been praised by several authors (Laird Barron, Lucius Shepard etc).
I'm not exactly sure how many of his stories can be called weird fiction, but at least The Crevasse (co-written by Dale Bailey) is weird fiction. It was originally published in Lovecraft Unbound (edited by Ellen Datlow).
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
I've forgotten to mention that Caitlín R. Kiernan's Lovecraftian stories are very good (the stories that were published in The Book of Cthulhu I & II were fascinating stories).
Last edit: 5 years 1 week ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
Clint Smith's Ghouljaw and Other Stories will be published soon by Hippocampus Press .
Ghouljaw and Other Stories is an excellent collection of weird stories.
Last edit: 4 years 11 months ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
Donald Michael Platt's A Gathering of Vultures is a novel that deserves to be mentioned when talking about original and fascinating weird fiction. It's something a bit different for readers who enjoy reading weird fiction.
Timothy J. Jarvis' The Wanderer is a fascinating new weird fiction novel. It will be published by Perfect Edge Books in August 2014.
Last edit: 4 years 9 months ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
If you like weird, you should try some Jeff Noon. Particularly Falling Out Of Cars. I've read that book more than once and it still confuses me. But I love all his stuff, Vurt was the first I read.
vaporeon wrote: If you like weird, you should try some Jeff Noon. Particularly Falling Out Of Cars. I've read that book more than once and it still confuses me. But I love all his stuff, Vurt was the first I read.
Jeff Noon's novels are indeed weird (and interesting) novels and can be recommened to readers who enjoy reading weird stories. His novels aren't weird fiction, but they have plenty of weird elements in them.
I personally like Jeff Noon's Automated Alice very much, because it's a delightfully weird novel.
Last edit: 4 years 8 months ago by Seregil of Rhiminee.
A new weird fiction anthology called Year's Best Weird Fiction: Volume One (edited by Laird Barron) will be published soon.
Timothy J. Jarvis' The Wanderer , which I already mentioned earlier, will also be published soon.
Daniel Mills' The Lord Came at Twilight (2014) is an excellent short story collection. It contains beautifully written Lovecraftian short stories.
The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal by David Barker and W. H. Pugmire (2014) is an excellent weird fiction novella that has been written in a true Lovecraftian manner.
Both of these books are available from Dark Renaissance Books .
Rhys Hughes' Bone Idle in the Charnel House ( Hippocampus Press , 2014) is an excellent collection of eerie and weird stories. It contains many beautifully written and intriguing stories.
James Robert Smith's A Confederacy of Horrors ( Hippocampus Press , 2015) is also an excellent collection of weird and beautifully written stories.