#Stephan Graham Jones

[loudrats]

Loud Rats Book Club 2023

This year the rats became literate!

We suggested a number of books each month and then voted on one to read (somehow Fish managed to read all 12 of them… wild!). The ones in red are the winners, but there are some other really good books in there.

Hopefully you can find your next favourite read below! :)

January

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

The Butchering Art by Lindsay Fitzharris

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

Pirates and Prejudice by Kara Louise

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

February

Adua by Igiaba Scego

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

March

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The Humans by Matt Haig

Cane by Jean Toomer

Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (#1 Broken Earth Trilogy)

Young Mungo by Douglas Stewart

April

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrel

Dubliners by James Joyce

The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

May

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Where You Come From by Saša Stanišić

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

June

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill

Swimming in the dark by Tomasz Jędrowski

Girls like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 17 by Jeff Kinney

Zami: A New Spelling of my Name by Audre Lorde

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

July

Kid Youtuber 9: Everything is Fine by Marcus Emerson, Noah Child

Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella

Hit Parade Of Tears by Izumi Suzuki

When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back: Carl's Book by Naja Marie Aidt

Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

Mapping the Interior by Stephan Graham Jones

August

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Small Game by Blair Braverman

Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi

September

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century by Olga Ravn

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

October

Linghun by Ai Jiang

Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moira Fowley-Doyle

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastašić

Kindred by Octavia Butler

November

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Life For Sale by Yukio Mishima

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Liberation Day by George Saunders

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

December

Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes by Maurice Leblanc

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

[madsmilfelsen]

Hello! I'm really curious, what books/authors would you recommend to someone who's new to writing horror?

Hi! Here is what I have on hand (minus my loaned out copies of my favorite book ever Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones and Never Whistle At Night: an indigenous anthology of dark fiction which made me cry on an airplane and made the person next to me very uncomfortable, like she was just trying to build a cart at banana republic, apologies to seat 17B)

God’s Cruel Joke Lit Mag because I’m in them and will be in issue 4, too :) published either mid-January or February 2024– @labyrinthphanlivingafacade is in issue 3 with a great short story that I won’t spoil ***right now the magazines are available to purchase in physical copies but I was told all issues will be free to download as pdfs pretty soon!

Severance by Ling Ma (body horror but not in the way you think, the real horror is repetition and loneliness)

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (body horror)

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis (adjacent the horror genre but a hell of a read)

ANYTHING BY STEPHAN GRAHAM JONES ANYTHING

We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirely Jackson (I read this for the first time last spring boy howdy, I also included The Lottery for its suspense)

Dean Koontz because my husband suggested it for the list— this was just the first title I grabbed, I think he said Patrician Crowell too but I was busy looking for Mongrels

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans (I didn’t finish this because depression set in shortly after I started but the first chapter plays with second pov which I really liked, I’m determined to read it this year)

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (I really enjoyed HBO’s adaptation)

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey (likely the only zombie stories that made me weep uncontrollably)

Girls & Sex by Peggy Orenstein (non-fiction: explores modern young women navigating sexuality and because I have a thing for loss of autonomy— it’s been a few years since I read it but there is discussion of sexual assault, but I appreciate the expanse of her research and even included a conversation with someone who is asexual)

Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James (got a chill just typing this out— the audio book is exquisite)

You’ll notice some nonfiction because, as a historian undergrad, nothing scares me more than man. The battles of Leningrad and Stalingrad are particularly stomach churning. America’s Reconstruction Era is full of acted out malice and under taught in my opinion.

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

The 900 Days, The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison E. Salisbury

Enemy at the Gates by William Craig

(On the other side of WW2 I have a book of the experiences of German solider’s left over from a paper I wrote on the inadequacy of Nazi uniforms and how it expedited their failure in Russia, Frontsoldaten by Stephen G. Fritz)

Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates, Jr (one of my favorite authors, try finding “How Reconstruction Still Shapes American Racism” Time Magazine, April 2, 2019, I used it as a source for a paper on the history of voting rights)

Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers— folk tales of Canadians, Lumberjacks & Indians by Richard M. Dorson (published around 1952 but content collected from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 40’s)

Raven Tells Stories: An Anthology of Alaskan Native Writing (I’m Alutiiq and the museum on Kodiak has a lot of stories recorded under Alutiiq Museum Podcast— my kids and I listen on Spotify)

I think the genre of horror is really mastering tension and playing on peoples fears which is why I included old school folk stories (An Underground Education had a great write up on the Grimm Brothers and the original fairy tales from around the world such as the Chinese and Egyptian Cinderella, as well as several different sections of funny tales, torture techniques, absolute weirdos etc etc) in this vein of thought The Uses of Enchanment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim could prove to be useful

If you’re writing a character with Bad Parents— Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents and Toxic Parents (it has a longer subtitle but I don’t see my copy anywhere) might be able to help you shape character traits

I reached out to @littleredwritingcat who has a mind plentiful in sources who recommended

The Gathering Dark: an anthology of folk horror (I will be picking this one up asap)

Toll by Cherie Priest (southern gothic)

Anything by Jennifer MacMahon

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

[barbwritesstuff]

What other werewolves novels/books do you like?

I'm on a quest to find more werewolf books that I like... and it really is a quest because a) I'm picky and b) I can't afford to buy them so I have to hunt them down at various libraries across the land.

I've read:

Did I like any of them?

Kinda. I like Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and did enjoy the werewolves in New Moon by Stephanie Meyer (though I think they should've eaten those rich vampire arseholes and been done with it).

Ann Rice's Wolf Gift was... weird. It's been years and I'm still not sure I really fully understood what she was trying to do with that book. I still sometimes think about it, in a puddle of confusion and vague disappointment. On a happier note, I read the graphic novel adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard book and was obsessed with the werewolf in that, I just wish she stuck around for more than five minutes.

Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson and Red Hood by Elana Arnold were good books but, despite the branding, I'm not sure they really were werewolf books. While I enjoyed them, I think they're more... werewolf adjacent. Werewolf-like. Wherewolf... because where was the actual werewolf?

Other werewolf books I've heard good things about but haven't read yet (hunt still ongoing):

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho (a fox is kinda like a wolf, right?)

Mongrels by Stephan Graham Jones

Do you have anymore suggestions?

[eskewcity]

Top 5 horror books!!!

1.The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. incredible, show stopping, never to be outdone. I will never watch the netflix adaption

2. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I am going to be so brave but so controversial when I say that narratively, the book is a 3/5, when you have to factor in Johnny Truant's long winded sexcapades but we cannot deny its influence for the genre of "man this house is kind of fucked up"

3. The Only Good Indians by Stephan Graham Jones. the deer!!!

4. Severance by Ling Ma. I don't know which part was worse, the zombies or the capitalism

5. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. I literally had night terrors about a specific scene in this book for a month

Bonus: The Diviners Series by Libba Bray. It's so goofy and scary and is constantly reminding you that America in the 1920s sucked so so bad. also perfect way to learn early 20th century slang from a group of teenagers who will not stop using it every sentence

[riveraffinity]

Hardy bundles up, offers his scarf to Jennifer, and then he’s reaching his walker out along the dam’s icy backbone and pulling himself to it, the girl’s hands holding tight to the back of his jacket, and he kind of suspects that, with her letting him lead her like that, and take the brunt of the wind, he could maybe walk across all of Idaho.

—-—

Stephan Graham Jones, Don't Fear the Reaper

[enchantedsaturn]

yearly reading goal 2024: 3/25

currently reading: dear sylvia, love jane - erin hall

tbr:

the wicked king - holly black (reread)

a darker shade of magic - ve schwab

the queen of nothing - holly black (reread)

a gathering of shadows - ve schwab

beach read - emily henry

a conjuring of light - ve schwab

house of earth and blood - sarah j maas (reread)

conjure women - afia atakora

house of sky and breath - sarah j maas

my heart is a chainsaw - stephen graham jones

house of flame and shadow - sarah j maas

don't fear the reaper - stephan graham jones

geometry of fire - paul warmbier

throne of glass - sarah j maas

crown of midnight - sarah j maas

heir of fire - sarah j maas

the assassins blane - sarah j maas

queen of shadows - sarah j maas

empire of storms - sarah j maas

tower of dawn - sarah j maas

kingdom of ash - sarah j maas

read:

find him where you left him dead - kristin simmons: ‎★☆☆☆☆

house of earth and blood - sarah j maas: ★★★★☆

the cruel prince - holly black: ★★★★★

[setaflow]

Getting to know y’all

I got tagged by @beammeupbroadway and finally had a second to do this! Thank you or thinking of me, fren 🥰 ❤️

Nickname: Seta is honestly just fine. Y'all don't need to know my real name lolol. Sign: Sagittarius Last Google Search: Whether or not Bryan Adams speaks French. Don't ask me why, I'm a little too ashamed to admit it Song stuck in my head: Hearts Burst into Fire by Bullet For My Valentine. Listen y'all, I'm not a huge BFMV fan, but the guitarwork on this song slaps HARD and it makes me a little bonkers. Sleep: Usually 11:30 p.m. - 7:30 a.m. on the weekdays and whenever - whenever on the weekends, but it really depends on the time of year. I can only sleep in total darkness so if the sun rises early, I'm usually up the second it's up. Wearing: A pair of flannels and an Imagine Dragons concert t-shirt from 2014 (Smoke and Mirrors tour if you were curious). Favourite Song: God, that's such a loaded question because I genuinely have so many and I tend to categorize my love of music in two eras: 0-13 years old where I only listened to my dad's classic rock and 13-26 where I listen to my own shit. For now, I'm gonna offer Ventura Highway by America for the former and Unconsolable by X Ambassadors for the latter, if only as representatives for those two eras Favorite Instrument: Clarinet because it's what I played in middle school :D Aesthetic: Uhhhhhhhhh I don't really have an aesthetic but I guess if I had to pick one I'd go space/galaxies. I don't care if it's 2013's cringe deep purples and stars are cool y'all and I still kinda crave galaxy leggings. Favorite Authors: Professionally, I would say Tom Robbins, Stephan Graham Jones (who I'm reading currently!!!) and Fredrick Backman are pretty high rankers, but I have to also include the Erin Hunters with extreme reluctance for Warriors essentially pivoting my entire life, for better or worse. Fanfic-wise, y'all know I gotta give shoutouts to my peeps beammeupbroadway, heartofsnark, ruruie, emofthechoir, seraphfighter, and so many others for singlehandedly keeping me interested in the fandomside of CP2077, but I want to give shoutouts to my friends @holybatgirlz and @callmeguacamole, who write Bridgerton and Avatar: the Last Airbender respectively and are AMAZING and TALENTED and whose work makes me want to CHEW THROUGH THE FLOORBOARDS. Favorite Color: Sky blue and neon green Favorite animal sound: My roommate's dog whenever he makes a dumb "urp" sound. Every time he does it, my roommate and I will look at each other and just go "HE URPED???" back and forth until we lose our shit. Last Song: Carry On by CSNY Last Series: Since football and hockey seasons have picked up, I genuinely can't remember the last series I finished-- it might've been Seinfeld? But I'm currently watching The Last of Us, New Girl, and The Peripheral Random: Listen y'all I have been an ardent Daniel Jones defender since 2020 and I genuinely think the guy can do well in the league with the right build around him, but trying for a >$45 million a year contract??? Nah. Let the guy play another year out in this same system, let him get a feel for the ropes with a softer schedule and hopefully more weapons for him to throw to. I'm more than willing to sign him within the range of $35-$40 but at this rate if he and his agents are stubborn, I wouldn't be surprised if Schoen lets him walk. Idk. I don't think he deserved that fifth-year option but at the same time I acknowledge that a good chunk of the Giants offensive issues were not really his fault (looking at you, JASON). I just hope we can reach a reasonable deal, because he doesn't seem like an unreasonable guy

Too tired to tag so please feel free to fill out if you want!

[shellibisshe]

— about me tag

tagged by @marivenah @derelictheretic @leviiackrman and @indorilnerevarine to fill this out!

no tags Bc I think it’s made it’s rounds, but if you want to do this then tag me!

three ships:

three canon ships: I know there are more that I am a fan of ,,,but the only ones coming to mind are from fullmetal alchemist somehow so AT LEAST riza & roy, winry & edward

and jerza from fairy tail

three of my own ships: rn, the cod ships, sylvie & alex, levi & kyle, morgan & farah and a bonus alicia & price Bc I can’t leave them out

three mutuals’ ships: all of them. genuinely. I love too many to narrow down I’m not even joking.

first ship:

jerza. they are the blueprint.

currently consuming:

nothing bc it is 12:52 am

currently watching:

grey’s anatomy, spite watching to see if derek was ever likable. he is not.

last movie:

I watched like,,,the last 45 minutes of the new mutants at some point in the fall semester with my friend

last song:

gilded lily by cults

currently reading:

I am still working through iron widow by xiran jay zhao but I also started my heart is a chainsaw by stephan graham jones recently

and also like,,,fanfics,,,for whoever I want to read abt in a given moment

[coffeeastronaut]

12 13 and 24 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

12. What was the most unexpected book you read this year? Im not actually sure what this means im assuming its like, what i personally expected FROM it or that i didnt expect to read it? for the former its gotta be Mapping the Interior by Stephan Graham Jones, which was just fantastic and not at all what i expected. for the latter its gotta be The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin which was also really great, and i didnt expect to find a western that i could properly enjoy without drowning in racism

13. The funniest book you read this year It's not supposed to be funny and was mostly miserable but. the metal gear solid 1 book adaption. for a book that was actually SUPPOSED to be funny, i really enjoyed Unseen Academicals and Witches Abroad, both by Terry Pratchett

24. The book with the best title Definitely I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. definitely an attention grabber. My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite was also a great title

[ringsidebyjb]

MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW - STEPHAN GRAHAM JONES

[ellie-mutterings]

Here is everything I've read this month! (Save the Cat is really only here on a technicality, I finished it on the 1st).

Currently Reading: Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephan Graham Jones

I've also gotten lots of writing done this month.

Fairwood: (This number is inflated because it's a second draft and I've pulled lots of it from the first draft) 6,333

EVA: 7,793

For a total of 14,126 . That's a bit mind blowing, especially because it doesn't include the word count from my morning pages. And my high months last year peaked out around 5,000.

[nagdabbit]

album (just top three of listening to lately)

the record - biygenius

voyeurist - underoath

one day - fucked up

foods

pumpkin chorizo pizza

hong shao rou

chicken fried steak (im from missouri if you're surprised you're lying)

books

left hand of darkness by ursula k le guin

the only good indians by stephan graham jones

the buried giant by kazuo ishiguro

shows

hannibal

twin peaks

doom patrol

candy

crunchy m&ms

sour watermelon wedges

sour gummy worms

movies (i don't watch many)

everything everywhere all at once

kong: skull island

under the skin

comics

pretty deadly - deconnick, rios, bellaire, cowles

hawkguy - fraction, aja, hollingsworth

doom patrol - morrison, nyberg

potatoes

gnocchi

hashbrowns

curly fries

crystals

plum blossom tourmaline

bumblebee jasper

mexican lace agate

animals

elephant

opossum

wolves, just in general

Top three

what

[naberiie]

final part of “the house that ran red” section of the only good indians (stephan graham jones) gave me some of THE most visceral reactions to a horror media i have EVER experienced. holy shit. holy shit

the way jones just steadily and mercilessly amps up the tension until the horrific and bloody conclusion is absolutely gut wrenching - i was trying to avoid the light (light-sensitive migraine, i could still listen to stuff though) and those final moments brought me up from my dark nest to stare in abject horror at what shaun taylor-corbett was oh-so-calmly describing

and this is only part one of THREE i am certain it’s about to get much much much much much worse. 1000/10 highly recommend

[eskewcity]

11, 17, 28?

11. the best book u have ever read? I feel like I have multiple favorites but the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson is a given <3

17. a book to get u out of a reading slump? idk since everyone gets put in a slump for different reasons but read the only good indians by stephan graham jones

28. the last book u read? did u like it? the invention of sound by chuck palahnuik and not really

[the-dust-jacket]

All Hallow’s Read Recommendations 

(Based On Your Go-To Hallowe’en Movie)

Hocus Pocus 

The Witches, by Roald Dahl (clever children, scary witches, mostly useless grown-ups)

Which Witch?, by Eva Ibbotson (mischief, mayhem, eye of toad and tongue of newt, laugh-out-loud funny and bit romantic) 

The Silence of the Lambs

Not Even Bones, by Rebecca Schaeffer (blood, bodies, cat-and-mouse games and unlikely alliances, a mild-mannered heroine with a killer instinct)

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay (a genial serial killer hunting his own kind)

Scream!

#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil(dark humor and a creatively high body count)

The Last Final Girl, by Stephan Graham Jones (slasher flick final girl showdown)

The Witch

The Daylight Gate, by Jeanette Winterson (17th century witch trials in a mist-haunted town)

The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James (creepy children and slow and ominously building tension)

Practical Magic

Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Cordova (excitable family plus reluctant spell craft equals interdimensional disaster)

The Witches of Eastwick, by John Updike (charming magic in a picturesque town gets spooky) 

Crimson Peak

Wild Fell, by Michael Rowe (a new homeowner is no match for old ghosts)

The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters (a respectable, modern-minded fellow gets embroiled in the dark family drama of a decrepit Georgian mansion)

The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge (lies, murder, and bottled Gothic atmosphere capped with a madcap showdown) 

The Shining

House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski (a house and a book that drive people mad)

Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King (Dannie Torrance is all grown up)

Hell House, by Richard Matheson (one night in a haunted house, what could possibly go wrong) 

The Craft

The Moth Diaries, by Rachel Klein (friendship, obsession, and spooky secrets at a girls’ boarding school)

Season of the Witch, by Sarah Rees Brennan (witch girls, romance, spells gone awry, and the lure of dark magic)

Carrie, by Stephen King (high school is a bloodbath) 

Anything starring Lon Chaney 

Scream All Night, by Derek Milman (the teenaged heir to a creature feature empire goes back to where it all began)

I’ll be binge-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Slayer, by Kiersten White (vampires, Watchers, demons, miniskirts)

Dark Currents, by Jacqueline Carey (just a friendly little town sitting on top of a Norse underworld)

Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan (spunky girl detective meets ancient Gothic menace) 

[simpingcowboy]

Thank you for tagging me @coulsons-fullmetal-cellist !! :)

Last Song: Sombrero by Chico Trujillo

Last Show: Queens Who Like To Watch

Last Movie: X-Men Days of Future Past

Currently Watching: Narcos...again it's a very good background show!!!

Currently Reading: The Only Good Indians by the same author of My Heart is A Chainsaw, Stephan Graham Jones!!

Current Obsession: Pedro Pascal (duh!!) and making custom t-shirts for all my silly little events this month <3 I've got lots of E6000 glue and rhinestones left over from my last project!!!

No pressure tags!! @miraclesabound @insomniamamma @unbound-space-trash @mandosmistress @haylzcyon @heythere-mel @mando-abs

Tag 9 people you want to know better

Thank you @thirstworldproblemss and @massivecolorspygiant for the tags! (I homeschooled my kids and I live for YouTube house tours, so imagine the Spider-Man meme here) 😁

last song: Ends of the Earth, Lord Huron

last show: Ted Lasso

last movie: John Wick 4

currently watching: walking tours of quaint English villages on YouTube (yeah, I’m old, but it makes the elliptical more fun)

currently reading: Manhunters by Steve Murphy and Javier Peña

current obsession: decorating my workspace on Notion, sewing lounge sets for summer, Diego Luna, chocolate-peanut butter ice cream, rewatching the British Bake-off

No-pressure tags: @noldorinpainter @nothoughtsjustmeds @mishasminion360 @flightlessangelwings and I’m out of ideas but anyone else who wants to tell me about themselves!