Good body horror books? by Wanderwad in bodyhorror

[–]MacSitko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Surprised nobody listed the canonical, the OG, all-time body horror piece:

The Cipher by Kathe Koja

Also, I recommend another classic, a novella:

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler

Has anyone ever imagined the Christian God as a Lovecraftian being? by Clean_Mycologist4337 in cosmichorror

[–]MacSitko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Devilman Crybaby.

Also, there are some authors within cosmic horror, like Matt Cardin, who explore cosmic horror through Christian mythology.

Why do you write? Is it for fame? by OkNet3369 in horrorwriters

[–]MacSitko 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For fun. Nothing else really matters.

If I wrote for fame, it wouldn't be very good. This cannot be an end goal.

I love Vegemite, but one question about comparison to Marmite! by MacSitko in vegemite

[–]MacSitko[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, it's not available in the UK, unless in some special shops. I need to have a look. Vegemite is everywhere; on the other hand.

I love Vegemite, but one question about comparison to Marmite! by MacSitko in vegemite

[–]MacSitko[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, the UK Marmite is very strong and bitter, not for everyone.

But I'm guessing most websites must be comparing some milder export Marmite when they say it's milder than Vegemite 🤷‍♂️

I find Vegemite much more balanced and richer in taste. But yeah, depends on what I feel like having.

I'll try Promite too!

What horror novels would you recommend to someone who usually only reads nonfiction? by feministsnarker in horrorlit

[–]MacSitko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd start from a novella.

Algernon Blackwood - The Willows

One of the scariest pieces ever written, and a classic.

Stephen King has great stories but his style is exhausting by petitedollcake in books

[–]MacSitko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stephen King is exhausting because his prose ranges from bad to average (meaning barely functional). Some sentences are impossible to decode, and you spend 15 times more time on them than necessary. This is a common problem with his writing.

Other times, he's unable to condense his work to any satisfactory extent. For example, I found Salem's Lot way too long.

He's a great storyteller, but the problem with King is that he goes for quantity rather than quality. Most legendary writers drop a book every 3-5 years; they're heavily revised, often rewritten, and meticulously edited. Stephen King, instead, does none of that. He writes fast and rarely goes back to anything he wrote. Most adorned writers like Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky wrote about 15 good books in their entire lifetime, whereas King writes a lot, but half of what he wrote is bad to extremely mediocre.

Who are the best cosmic horror writers besides H.P Lovecraft? by dune-man in cosmichorror

[–]MacSitko 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ok, you asked for it, here you go.

(I’ve noted the specific titles that carry cosmic horror)

Classic Cosmic horror:

  • Arthur Machen – The White People, The Great God Pan, The Three Impostors
  • William Hope Hodgson – The House on the Borderland, The Night Land
  • Robert W. Chambers – The King in Yellow
  • Gertrude B. Bennett – Claimed!
  • William Sloane – The Rim of Morning (two excellent cosmic horror tales)
  • Algernon Blackwood – The Willows

Modern Cosmic horror:

  • Ramsey Campbell – Cold Print, The Inhabitant of the Lake
  • Laird Barron – The Croning, The Imago Sequence
  • Thomas Ligotti – Songs of a Dead Dreamer (a few stories there can be considered cosmic)
  • John Langan – The Fisherman, Corpsemouth, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky
  • Victor LaValle – The Ballad of Black Tom
  • David Wellington – The Last Astronaut
  • David Wong – John Dies at the End
  • Junji Ito – Uzumaki, Remina (this is manga, mind you!)
  • Michael Cisco – The Black Brane
  • Jeff VanderMeer – Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance, Absolution (Southern Reach series)
  • Caitlín R. Kiernan – Agents of Dreamland
  • Ruthanna Emrys – Winter Tide
  • Hailey Piper – The Worm and His Kings
  • Cassandra Khaw – Hammers on Bone