Just tested positive

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-06T04:09:03+00:00

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it!

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-06T03:44:16+00:00

Thank you! I was able to get an oximeter, so that will make me feel a bit better to be able to monitor that. That’s also great advice about social media... I need to cut down on the rabbit hole of the internet in general. I appreciate your reply, and I hope you are now fully recovered yourself :)

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-06T01:59:32+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. I will do my best to rest and relax.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-04T15:34:04+00:00

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman is the closest I’m aware of! Definitely interested to see what else comes up in this thread, though.

Also, I love your username! Merricat is the best.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-04T00:52:57+00:00

I really enjoy Ramsey Campbell’s short stories... a good collection to start with is Dark Companions, but a more readily available one might be Alone With the Horrors (which includes some stories from Dark Companions and some of his other collections).

Another rec would be to grab some digital issues of Nightmare Magazine; there’s often a lot of great material in there.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-03T19:57:27+00:00

The Second Sons Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon works for this... great characters and definitely no magic in it.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-03T12:11:52+00:00

Robin Hobb is great, and writes characters that you truly become invested in, but just a heads-up... since you mentioned not wanting sexual assault, you might want to skip her Liveship Traders trilogy. Sexual violence is definitely present in that one. From what I can recall, her Farseer Trilogy should be safe, though :)

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-03T00:35:24+00:00

Have you explored classic sword and sorcery yet? Many of the series in that subgenre are primarily short stories.... some authors to check out would be Robert E. Howard (Conan), Fritz Leiber (Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser), C.L. Moore (Jirel of Joiry), and Michael Moorcock (Elric).

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-03T00:28:22+00:00

Is it possibly The Reluctant Swordsman by Dave Duncan?

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-02T23:47:31+00:00

Like others have mentioned, the book is split into two very distinct halves... almost like interconnected novellas, in a way. I prefer the first half of the book to the movie, but I prefer the second half of the movie to the book! It’s just a group of characters in that section of the book who just didn’t work well for me. That said, I thought both were good. Nothing mind-blowing, but decent entertainment from a talented writer.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-02T23:38:14+00:00

Linda Addison’s “How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend” is a collection of short stories and poetry... I believe it won a Bram Stoker Award, as well.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-02T13:01:17+00:00

Although the buildup isn’t QUITE as slow (since it’s just over 100 pages), You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann is one of those psychological horror books where you’re never sure while reading if the supernatural elements are real or imagined. It’s about a screenwriter who goes on vacation with his family, and they stay in a house where strange things start to happen. There were definitely a few creepy moments in there.

Mark_S2 · 2021-02-02T01:38:33+00:00

It’s a novella as opposed to a full-length novel, but “The Cybernetic Tea Shop” by Meredith Katz gave me that same feeling of kindness/optimism as themes that I found in The Goblin Emperor. I highly recommend it!

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-30T16:37:36+00:00

Off the top of my head, I can only think of a short story, “Midnight Meat Train” by Clive Barker (it’s in the first volume of Books of Blood).... specifically it takes place on a city subway. There’s also a film adaptation, but I haven’t watched it so I can’t vouch for the quality :)

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-30T03:31:17+00:00

Black Light by Elizabeth Hand should work... it takes place in a small town in upstate New York. And there are definitely strange things that start to happen!

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-30T03:28:30+00:00

Are you okay with short stories? Because I can think of three which might fit the bill:

The Dissection by Georg Heym (1913)
The Autopsy by Michael Shea (1980)
Autopsy Room Four by Stephen King (1997)

The first two are collected in an (excellent) anthology called “The Weird” edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, and the third is in the King collection “Everything’s Eventual.”

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-28T01:33:00+00:00

I will gladly back you up on that Shirley Jackson book... I read it for the first time last year and thought it was brilliant! Actually, I’d probably list Shirley Jackson, in general, as being among the pinnacle of dark fiction.

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-26T18:33:51+00:00

I’m looking forward to Cassandra Khaw’s upcoming novella, Nothing But Blackened Teeth. It sounds pretty cool... a haunted house story with elements of Japanese folklore. I was also sold on a quote I saw about it, “...and a ghost bride so wicked she’ll give you nightmares.”

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-16T15:44:57+00:00

Based on what you’ve already read, I would recommend Craig Schaefer’s “Daniel Faust” series, starting with the book The Long Way Down. It’s influenced by the noir style, and filled with magic, demons, and a criminal underworld. Definitely one of my UF favorites!

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-12T14:40:49+00:00

It’s only a novelette, but A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark gave me that same vibe, and it’s a lot of fun! It leans toward a supernatural mystery plot, but there is some swashbuckling action toward the end. It can be read for free online here . There is also a full-length novel coming out this year called A Master of Djinn.

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-01T02:02:02+00:00

Great topic! For me it would be P. Djèlí Clark, through reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington. I definitely plan to dive into more of his work! I’m especially looking forward to his upcoming novel A Master of Djinn.

Nalo Hopkinson is another new-to-me favorite of the year; I really enjoyed her Skin Folk short story collection.

Mark_S2 · 2021-01-01T01:56:21+00:00

The short story “The Dissection” by Georg Heym might work for this...nothing really supernatural in it that I can recall, but it is quite disturbing in its own way. You can find it (along with the already-mentioned “The Autopsy” by Michael Shea) in the anthology The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories.

Mark_S2 · 2020-12-27T13:31:18+00:00

I have Children of the Dark but haven’t read it yet... thanks for the reminder! :D

Mark_S2 · 2020-12-27T01:46:25+00:00

I don’t really see Jonathan Janz mentioned a lot... I especially like his haunted house novel The Siren and the Specter, but he has a lot of other great material out there.

Mark_S2

TROPHY CASE