#liminal horror recs

[cmrosens]

Urban Gothic Recs

I put out some calls for recommendations for ‘urban gothic’ across Facebook and BlueSky, and got some really interesting responses, as well as ideas on what ‘urban gothic’ is. Ramsey Campbell posted a snippet of horror in a multi-storey car park as a comment in one group, which I can’t share here obviously but was fun to receive! (Books of Horror fb group is a good one for book recs!) I posted…

[wild-karrde]

Hi! Here's my recommendation ♥

Handle: padmestrilogy Fic: White All Over Review: What I love about it.

We all love the clones but there's the great divide between loving and hating Jango for the entirety of it all. I respect all opinions about it and at a point I agree that this was his point of no return.

The rawness of this fic is deadly. In fact too venomous for my taste that I'm hooked. I've read it three times when I first came across it and the feeling is just immaculately painful. The remorse, the denial, acceptace even, the sad attempt of justifying and escapism.

The way the author takes you through the innerworkings of Jango's mind is absolute bliss. The restraint, the close to character depiction, the need of comfort, the pyring eyes, the judgment.

Unf. It's too much and I'm all for it. My love for Jango runs deep and this is the kind of pain this man is burdened with until his death. I hope many people see this because my king doesn't need to be shamed and stoned when he's already very capable of doing that; he just chooses to do so behind closed doors.

This was entirely unexpected but I LOVED it. The staccato way it's written is perfection, and I adore the way the author has captured Jango's thought process. It's such a small slice of a glimpse into his time on Kamino prior to Boba or the clones, and I just think it's such a unique perspective and way of capturing it. Thank you so much for the rec!

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)

[ryttu3k]

Hey, friends! Here is a list of posts you may enjoy!

Animals, with individual tags for baby animals, cats (and manul specifically), dogs, birds (and penguins specifically), deer, bears, seals, rabbits, bats, rats, crabs, sharks, and cetaceans

Things shaped like friends, including r o u n d things

Nature, plants and trees, space, science!

Happy things

Tiny things

Adorable things

Puns, things that make me laugh 1, things that make me laugh 2

Fantasy (and fairies, merfolk, and dragons), art, stories

Hmm. Hmmm. HMMM o.O

Into darker distractions? Horror, liminal spaces, cryptids, Tzimisce vibes

An entire rickroll tag

Mental health resources

BG3 fandom friends! Here is an entire tag of Astarion being cozy and getting affection, and here is my fic rec list!

Finally, here are some individual posts I really like!

Boom-de-yada

BLEBTH

Eagle gets belly rubs

A happy crow

Sloth wash day

A cat playing in the snow

jentol... totche...

The nature of purple

Cut your own hair

Also, here's a livestream from the Namib Desert. There are gnu there right now!

[vicontheinternet]

Batfamily fanfic recs

Duke Thomas

Keep Your Head, Your Backbone, and Your Heart by MrMich (word count: 54,578/chapters: 6/complete

The last thing that Duke expected on what was supposed to be just a regular patrol was being suddenly thrown five years into the past, coming face to face with a darker, more violent Batman than the one he knew, a broken family, and a Tim who was a foot shorter than Duke, and not even Robin yet.

A silent shadow flitted past him, just barely visible on the cave walls. He went rigid, tracking the shadow in the corner of his vision.

And then he dropped to the floor, just in time, as a familiar black gloved fist passed overhead. He just barely missed being hit by the punishing blow that would have landed right on his temple for a sure concussion if he hadn’t dodged.

“Batman?” Duke yelled. He somersaulted forward, just barely avoiding another strike. “B, what are you doing?!”

“Who are you,” came the growled response. A shiver crawled down Duke’s spine at the grim hostility in Batman’s voice that promised violence, and something tightened in the back of his throat.

Tim Drake

Liminal Space by Calamityjim (word count: 77,186/chapters: 17/complete)

Bruce's habit of collecting strays is not limited by dimension.

Or

When Young Justice Batman comes across an angsty, seemingly abandoned by his Batman Tim Drake, he decides to step up to the plate and parent the crap out of him.

Ten cents richer by Ms_trickster

(Word count: 13,493/Chapters: one shot)

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

That’s how the saying goes. Take enough punches from the universe and eventually it becomes harder and harder to pop back up, to see the worth in fighting back, to stop yourself from turning around and delivering some punches of your own.

Tim never wanted to become the villain—

“Appendicitis,” Tim breathed in disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

—but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted to burn the world to ashes when shit like this kept happening to him.

Dick grayson

making gold out of it (read all the tags/word count: 7,601/one-shot)

Dick talks himself back down on the bathroom floor, clinical and detached.

(For someone whose primary skill is manipulating his body, it’s not very often that he feels connected to it.)

Or, five years after Blockbuster, Dick begins teetering on the ledge of processing what Catalina did to him.

Stephanie brown

DON'T YOU CRY, DRY YOUR EYES. (Word count: 4,842/one-shot)

After inhaling her food before Bruce's even halfway through his vanilla milkshake, Stephanie seems to have sobered up a little. She's looking less green, and more like she's trying to develop x-ray vision and look into Bruce's soul.

Or maybe she's still drunk, because she very suddenly and very bluntly tells him, "I used to wish you were my dad," drowning her chips into a little pot of ketchup.

Bruce pauses. He slowly drops the chicken nugget he was about to put in his mouth — since now is probably not the time to complain about how the nuggets are a little dry today.

(Bruce Wayne is not Stephanie Brown's father, not at all.)

Gen (two or more bats)

THIS ISN'T PUNISHMENT (I LOVE YOU). (Word count:2,250/ one-shot/ jason & bruce)

It's not."

Jason swallows thickly, "What?"

"My parents death is not the worst thing to ever happen to me," Bruce reiterates, as calm as Jason has ever seen him, eerily indifferent to the topic. But it's his eyes that remind Jason of the situation at hand, the way they're wide and glassy, pale blue eyes screaming for the words to stop.

They don't stop; "Losing you," Bruce continues, unblinking to Jason's expression of absolute horror, "Is the worst thing to ever happen to me."

Pain should not be quantifiable. It's with sinking hatred and pity, does Jason realise, guilt shouldn't be measurable either.

(Batman is hit with truth serum, Jason reacts to the consequences.)

The Neighborhood Watch by AlexaAffect (word count: 8,565/Chapter(s):1/gen

A knock on his door roused him from his vigilance, strong and steady.

Jason tucked a crutch beneath his arm, pushing himself up off the couch. In his other hand he carried the gun; his finger poised on the trigger. Bruce’s gun safety rules bounced around in his head, mingling with his father’s from years earlier.

Keep your finger off the trigger unless you intend to shoot.

Jason didn’t intend to miss.

Another knock; more frantic this time than before.

He had half a mind to yell. The curses died in his throat. The list of people who knew his safe house was short. He was leaving nothing up to chance. He leaned forward, pressing the gun against the door, and checked the peephole.

Dick.

Immediate relief.

Or alternatively; The Joker escapes Arkham and due to a broken leg, Jason can do nothing about it. Luckily, he doesn't have to wait alone.

[foibles-fables]

Fic Author Self-Rec!

Thanks for the tag, @contrivedchaos!!!

The Rules: Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

Here's a list of five of my current most highly-favored pieces, in no particular order. There's some overlap with the last time I did this, but also some new pieces!

leave the horror here (ATLA, Rangshi, T) - it's always intimidating writing for a new fandom, but I ended up pleased with a bunch of separate pieces of this one. I love a good missing scene, and it felt necessary to explore more of the immediate aftermath of the final fight. These girls have my whole heart.

dream geometries (Control, Jesse/Emily, T) - my first fic for these two, and hopefully not the last! A quick and intimidating dip into the liminality and weirdness that makes this franchise so cool. I was pretty pleased with how this brief piece turned out!

rest like you belong here. (Horizon, Aloy/Talanah, T) - a missing scene from HZD in which hurt/comfort and gay subtext abound. This was my first Hawk and Thrush fic ever, and it still holds a super special place in my heart. It's fun to see how far I've come since then--and it was really rewarding to dive into Aloy's head right as she's on the precipice of allowing her own vulnerabilities to be seen and addressed.

gray areas and expectations (Horizon, Aloy/Talanah, M) - an exploration of intimate vulnerability and Aloy's character via endearingly awkward sexual content. Started as a joke post on discord, sparked itself into a concept I come back to time and time again.

carrying heat (Horizon, Aloy/Yarra, M) - listen. this ship is sooooo underrated and it was a ton of fun to write this piece from Yarra's POV. Another jokey sort of piece that turned into something more navel-gazey and exploratory. I look back on this one fondly.

Tagging: @mehoymalloy @finrays @tjerra14 @sssammich @eqt-95 and anyone else who sees this and would like to participate! just claim me as your tagger--spread the love!

[probsnothawkeye]

hey i'm trying to get more into audio dramas but don't know quite where to start since i've seen praise for a lot of different ones, what are some you recommend? i've listened to a somewhat random mix; tma/tmagp, fawx and stallion, the department of variance of somewhere ohio, and the first season of fringes (i gotta catch up, you did fantastic work w/ the first season).

AHHH IM SORRY I DIDNT SEE THIS IN MY ASK BOX I always forget to check it

First off: thank you for listening to the Fringes! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it 😊 it's a show that means the world to me and it's always exciting when people like that.

Now onto RECOMMENDATIONS! I have so many. But I will try and keep this list controlled

Starting off with The @grottopod which is a liminal horror podcast about grief and caving. It has original songs and covers in each of the episodes and it absolutely rips my heart open. Season 2 just started so there's no better time to get caught up!

@ethicstownpod is a horror-adjacent podcast about January Johnson who is sending emergency broadcasts detailing the issues with the town of Ethics. There is something going on there with their mayor and people are dying as a consequence. Season 1 is entirely out and season 2 is coming later this year!

@souloperatorpod is another horror podcast, this time inspired by solo ttrpgs. This season follows Tessa Whitlock who has arrived in a town with no memories and no way of knowing what lies outside the town fences. It's eerie and unsettling and amazingly crafted. The first half of season 1 is out now with the second half coming later this year!

Stepping away from horror, we have @kingmakerpod which is a fantasy comedy set in an alternate history Europe in the 1900s. It's got an incredible magic system, fascinating world building, and some of the most wonderful characters around. The first 2 seasons are out now!

@woebegonepod is a mishmash of genres (affectionate) that starts out as a podcast within a podcast discussing the [fictional] online game WOE.BEGONE and developes into time travel, murder, cowboys, and the biggest horse you've ever seen. It's ongoing and there are currently 163 episodes out so you've got a lot to enjoy if you like this one!

@tellnotalespod is a story about ghosts without being a ghost story. Leo Quinn is an administrative assistant to the CEO of Better Place, a company that removes unwanted ghosts from places. But Leo is determined to give these ghosts a voice and be able to tell their story and give them the right to stay. It's wholesome and heartbreaking and amazing in every sense of the word

The last thing I'll shout out here is @audistorium which is an anthology podcast that runs the genre gambit but does have quite a good amount of horror in it. All of the stories are super well written and the soundscaping is divine

I have. So many other shows I could recommend. If you (or anyone else) want more recs, feel free to reach out again!

[hiskillingjar]

Hiiii I've been really dwelling on ur reasons that Law is transfem bc of her feminine horror personality aspects and I wanted to know if u had any media recs u think r similar to her. I love ur videos and writing so much thank uuuuuu!!!!!!!<3333

ooo good question! (and thank you for watching my vids <3)

where law is a little tougher than strade in terms of character, i have actually made a little chart of characters that i often use for inspo when i write her ^_^

top left is val from outlast 2; a horror game i don't really like but LOVE HER. she was once a deacon for a church, turned leader of a violent sex cult trying to birth the anti-christ <3 she gets turned on by death, writes about 'getting wet' to killing children, rapes the MC, i looooove her and i lean into her more...uninhibited traits when writing the more deranged parts of law's psyche.

top right is ethel cain, more broadly her album, preacher's daughter. she's a trans woman who creates maybe the best music of all time? that examines themes like love, death, violence, religion, etc. she kind of embodies that vulnerability-capable-of-violence, liminal sort of character that i like so much about law, so she's a big inspo too :) her song family tree is on my law playlist for obvious reasons:

bottom left is norman bates from psycho, THE sensitive soft boy to transfem killer pipeline of all time. norman runs a motel and looks after his overattentive mother but um. gets a little flustered when faced with a regular-degular woman and (spoiler) goes into a disassociative state and dresses in drag to kill her in the shower. as much cultural baggage as this movie has, i love it, and norman is soooo law coded, does taxidermy, soft spoken, veryyyyyy hot and sexy

and bottom right is harold smith from twin peaks, a series that i'd really recommend in this space of liminal, harmless and weird to dangerous and scary that law embodies. harold is a shy recluse who studies plants (where have i heard that before) who was a confidant for the Dead Girl, laura palmer. you don't see much of him but he displays some pretty erratic behaviour, going from soft-spoken and sweet to firm and near-violent in an instant. very law coded.

there aren't many movies that examine transfemininity in a way that's. uh. not disgusting? but as i recommended, i saw the tv glow does some really interesting things by examining the liminal nature (and the horror of liminality) of transition. i also recommend reading gothic lit (specifically rebecca and the yellow wallpaper for law) because i think those specific renditions of gothic femininity are pretty universal, whether you're trans or cis

[achilleanyaoiglands]

˗ˏˋ ★ ― ELIJAH'S ANALOG HORROR RECS ‼

CIAO SILLIES! This is my first post but erm. I wished to share my analog horror recommendations (DISCLAIMER: these are based solely on my opinion and not on quality, feel free to comment ur own and tell me more!!!) these are also not ranked under their categories. Another disclaimer; I am not hating on any of these! (except urbanspook.)

★──────────.★.──────────.★. MY LOVES .ᐟ

→ Mandela Catalog 

→ Greylock

→ Gemini Home Entertainment

→ The SMILE Tapes

→ Walten Files

→ Vita Carnis

MY SECONDS .ᐟ

→ Tangi Virus

→ Winter of 83'

→ Local 58

→ Harmony and Horror

→ Petscops 

→ Archive 81

EHH .ᐟ

→ Blue Channel 

→ Midwest Angelica

→ Angel Hare

→ The June Archive

→ Skinamarink

→ No Through Road

MY DISLIKES .ᐟ

→  UrbanSpooks

→ Sneakys Snack Bar

→ Monument Mythos

→ Liminal Land

→ The South Park Analog horror 

→ Man in the Suit

HAVEN'T SEEN / NO OPINION .ᐟ

→  The Last Broadcast

→ The Mivera Alliance

→ CornerFolk

→ Eventide Media Center

→ Surreal Broadcast

→ Hi I’m Mary Mary ★──────────.★.──────────.★.

[stairstothe7th]

I just realized I'm working on book # 7 and 8 of this school year 😭 so i though I would share a list of what I have read in the first half of my senior year of high school

Gyo (the death stench) - Junji Ito

The liminal Zone - Junji Ito

Spiral into horror - Junji Ito

Fragments of Horror - Junji Ito

Red white a royal blue - Casey Mcquiston

My year of rest a relaxation -Ottessa Moshfegh

Currently, I'm reading Dead Poets Society and The Lovely Bones. I'm so happy I got back into reading if you have any questions on these books lmk and give me recs 🙏

I feel like Im forgetting one.....

[fuckyeahaudiodrama]

NEW! REC: The Grotto

Struck by a recent loss, Matt turns to spelunking for solace. As Matt battles grief, he questions if the caves are playing tricks or if something else lurks within. The Grotto is a liminal horror podcast that explores the thin line between grief, pain, mourning, and loss. (x)

3 eps + counting (29 Dec. 2023)

a new full cast weird unsettling existential horror pod! with a soundtrack that slaps! i absolutely eat this shit up.

this is a fairly new pod and i can’t honestly guess at where it’s going just yet, but i strongly encourage anyone interested to hop on board while it’s still getting off the ground because i think it’s going to be spectacular. VERY strong start — episode one had me pacing around at work and i’ve been continuously checking for updates since.

it features three of the voice actors from WOE.BEGONE (athan, lyssa jay, and taylor michaels) all of whom are very talented and have a really great energy together. the use of multiple perspectives is also really helping immensely to establish an early sense of mystery.

what jumps out to me so far is the way that this story has already begun approaching very painful, relatable emotional beats, using them as the main catalyst for plot development without cheapening them. things are messy from the get-go and promise to get worse. creator athan is open about drawing a lot of inspiration from W.BG, and you can see that in some of the stylistic choices — but the story is very unique so far.

i am stoked about the mindfucky worldbuilding, the sound design choices, the MUSIC!!! and of course the more disturbing or gruesome moments. (watch out for the gory bits! so far there has been some pretty intense claustrophobia and injury, etc. loud noises seem to be amply warned for in the notes for each ep.)

i can’t fucking WAIT to see where this goes.

[yeswegetityoulovepodcasts]

Podcast Reviews and Recs

The night shift podcast

I am a simple girl. Give me an urban fantasy podcast with the interesting world-building and script and you'll get my heart on a platter. It's pretty short podcast (s1 is complete) with the queer cast and an engaging story in the world where magic that used to be is gone and only some people have traces of it. I loved the plot, the main character, the supporting cast, romantic pair, sound design and voices. My only pitfall is that I believe that pretending that the main character runs the real broadcast was ruining my suspension of disbelief. Some things that happened to him could fuck up all his plans if broadcasted and listened by the wrong people. Would work better if he was a blogger who researches conspiracy staff, and just records everything cos he is a paranoid wreck. However, overall it's pretty great so my advice is to give it a try. (Also the soundtrack for it is awesome) MC is a transman as far as I know, but it's not obvious.

Camp Here And There

This is one of those podcasts. It starts fun. Cute even. Short episodes, general creepy weridness reminding about wtnv, funny jokes. THEN IT STABS YOU. 7 TIMES. And makes you cry like a little bitch. The setting is a very weird summer camp with the main character being the nurse who has to deal with all this stuff as well as their mental, health and relationship problems. It is actually very good insight into the way love works and how many forms it can take and how difficult it is to express sometimes. Also writing is very beautiful. S1 is currently completed and I can't wait for a S2. (This one is also very queer. MC is a gay transman and their are also several sideships)

Malevolent

This one is a good horror podcast about a british private investigator who has lost his eyesight and got an eldritch buddy in his head. Yay! Somehow this entity is more rational and relatable one between the 2 of them. By the 20th episode you'll start saying "no, arthur" at the same time. Also, no romance and as an aro I do appreciate this - the platonic connection between you and the voice inside your head can be as valid as romantic one. What can be more intimate than sharing a body, right? Has many good classic elements from Lovecraftian (cosmic) horror so if it's your thing - give this podcast a try.

Neighbourly

I love you weird beautiful horror anthology podcasts with the same setting and some connections between episodes, but without action filled lengthy overarching plot. You're brilliant and you're doing great. This pocast tells you a story about people living in the weird little neighborhood and their secrets. Some stories are funny, some are heartwarming, some are creepy, and some are depressing. I find it more weird than scary, but it's exactly what I like about this one, so try it out if it's also your thing. Also I find the narrator voice very soothing. Stories do have lgbtq+ subtext if it's important for you.

Monstrous Agonies

I love you weird supernatural but at the same time uncanny relatable advice segment shows. This one is an advice segment for liminal folk (different types of paranomal creatures) but it is kinda a metaphor for all types of queer, aspec, pocs and neurodivergent people. This is a good comforting podcast so if you feel a bit lost and need some encouragement give it a try. It has some overarching plot, but it's not very big so if you have a short attention span - this one is perfect.

Finding Satan

The main character is an entitled brat and academia doesn't work like this for fuck's sake. Can't recommend this one, sorry.

[persephoneprice]

hey lily!! i think im in my iphigenia obsession era, i genuinely have so many incoherent thoughts about her, so i wanted to ask if u had any? i love all ur hcs so much, so i want to hear what you think of genie.

ah hello bel love the new url!! and thank you <3 it always makes me so happy to hear someone enjoys my silly little thoughts 🥹

honestly, i’ve grown to love them so much! i’ve definitely been inspired by other people’s thoughts on them and now they’ve become so precious to me <3

i love weirdo genie. like i’m fully in on them and dennis being the weird pair of the class. and i adore it so much. (to me, very loosely giving janis and damian vibes)

→ you had told me once that you headcanon her as nonbinary and using she/they pronouns and that just stuck with me. (idk why i’m giving ur own headcanon back to you).

→ i once made a post saying they made those analog horror videos on tiktok and i stand by that. or whatever the capitol equivalent of tiktok is (bc u absolutely cannot convince me that the capitol didn’t have social media). i think she loves making those weird little videos or like the liminal space ones. but they don’t have anything on the account that identifies it as theirs so no one but dennis knows it.

→ @valsansretovr posted these tags on a post and it’s literally canon to me now. i think genie and liv were super close for a very short period of time until it all fell apart and liv ditched genie for being really weird (and also bc she realized she was having a different kind of feelings for genie and it freaked her out).

→ genie definitely an indie person. if you want good, underground music recs then you know who to go to.

→ she really enjoys making and wearing cool jewelry. she’s really creative.

→ them and dennis do a lot of fun photoshoots together. she loves getting dressed up in fun costumes and doing different makeup.

→ other than dennis, sol is the only person she’s ever truly felt like she connected with.

[hamstermastersamster]

My thirst for sci-fi horror continues. Here is what I have devoured in the last week:

Podcast: Down (by Definitely Human) - deep sea exploration goes wrong, cosmic horror elements etc. - this had a few fun twists in the second half but I couldn't quite get over how the characters did not ever feel like real people or real members of their profession, and the writing is just . . . I dunno, really wooden. Especially when the cast spent a good 80% of the time arguing, ugh. Cool music though! Don't think I would recommend overall, but it is pretty short (24 15m eps)..

Vidya game: Silent Hill: The Short Message - Okay, NOT sci-fi but I had it downloaded and I knew it was short so I decided to play it. Actually really liked the environments, the aesthetic and the symbolism, but found the writing a little clunky and on-the-nose, and fuck that final chase sequence lmao. Still, I mostly enjoyed it.

Vidya game: Moons of Madness - enjoyed! Running around a doomed Martian outpost trying to put all the clues together and figure out what's going on, while doing my little engineering tasks to try and unfuck everything, even as everything gets more and more increasingly fucked by alien/cosmic forces! It was basically exactly what I think of when I think 'space/sci-fi horror', but with a heavy Lovecraftian flavour.

Podcast: The Left Right Game (by QCode) - not technically sci-fi I guess, but I found it while looking for podcast recs and OH MY GOD IT FUCKED ME UP. Originally it was a r/nosleep story so it's technically an adaptation, but it's about a journalist investigating an urban legend called 'The Left Right Game', except it's ALSO wrapped in an intriguing framing device where someone is looking for the journalist because she's missing. The writing, acting and sound production is top notch and it's just . . . GOOD. Soooo much excellent liminal space horror and the framing device features one of my absolute favourite fucked up horror concepts of all time. My only criticism is that they were so wedded to 'show, don't tell' that some of the later sequences and revelations are difficult to follow by sound alone. But it's only 10 episodes long and I definitely recommend it regardless :3

[seeminglydark]

i found your blog through that detention au post and binged your whole webcomic and i love it! im fairly new to webcomics and ive been trying to find some supernatural ones to read (one of the first i came across was paranatural, which is also excellent). seemingly dark is exactly the type of story ive been looking for and im so glad i found it! also if you have any recommendations for other webcomics id love to know what they are but thats not the point of this ask lol

Oh gosh thank you! I’m so excited to hear that, I’m really happy that piece brought someone to my comic, thank you for telling me, it means a lot!

Let’s see, Seemingly Dark and of course my other project Mil-Liminal is actually about the two characters in the Detention post (they are in Seemingly Dark too but ML focuses on them) it ofc has a big romance element, but will be monster of the week style after the first intro season.

I am ALWAYS happy to rec stuff though I don’t get the chance to read as much as I should.

Some of my favorites include (paranatural ofc!)

Stag Town on Webtoon, it’s REALLY good but does have some disturbing imagery but I recommend giving it a go, I’d call it supernatural horror. (Spooky town ala junji ito but not)

Black Water comic here on tumblr is AMAZING, you can easily binge it in one go, the art is perfect and the story is really engaging in my opinion (monsters, forests and mysterious boys)

Wilde Life is an ongoing one, you can google it, it’s got great art, fantastic lore and a really interesting premise (guy buys a haunted house on Craigslist, hijinks ensue)

Welcome to Wolfsgate on Webtoon, it’s on hiatus but the art is reallllly cute, the stories engaging and we love pumpkin head kids around here (Spooky ‘how did we get here’ places)

A lot of the comics I really enjoyed that inspired me are dead and gone or unfinished unforch, but I’m going to say them anyway because they deserve to be recognized. Return to Sender was insane, beautifully drawn and the premise was wild and I miss it and was sad it never finished but understand. And Hanna is not a Boys Name, which has a lot of uhhhhh lore about what happened to it and I know the artist has another comic but I haven’t gotten into that one yet.

And finally, comics people always put in the same lists as Seemingly Dark that I haven’t had a chance to read all of yet, Demon for Hire, which looks amazing, and Lies Within. Both comics I’ve read pieces of, both have phenomenal art, I just haven’t found a lot of time to binge them.

Followers, hit me with your fave supernatural comics in the comments if you want!

[romilly-jay]

Ooh yes, another *gem* of a book

*** some spoilers - maybe / probably - mostly in the linked review ***

I'm not naturally inclined towards buying hardbacks (and it occurs to me, for someone who REALLY LOVES BOOKS to wonder a little about what's going on there & why that is*) BUT I've bought a few this summer. Sometimes that's been because I wanted to rush into knowing about the book market in bits of the genre fiction world that appeals to me or thought might be useful as comps for my MFA project. That was the rationale for diving into the hardback version of // The Last Murder at the End of the World // The Ministry of Time // The Mars House - listed in the order of reading, though in terms of order of enjoyment, that would go: TMH, TLMATEOFW, TMOT.

This one was different - I was Gifted! A! Book! Token!

Method for choosing the book was the usual, though - word of mouth recommendation. Definitely picked up The Mars House because Stuart Turton recommended it (GREAT call). Picked up The Ministry on the advice of my supervisor - not a rec exactly, in that it hadn't been published and neither of us had read it, but we did know that it had been a Big Book that generated Widespread Interest and Sold At Auction for Lots of Money. And then Natasha Pulley, writer of The Mars House, recommended this one. IMO she was Not Wrong <3

So - what's it about? A steam-train journey across ?Mongolia? in a fantastical alt-19th century - a treacherous but also compelling Wasteland. Three viewpoint characters - i) a teenaged Chinese girl who has grown up on the train and is able to cross its liminal spaces, ii) a Russian woman in her ?late 30s? who is travelling under an assumed identity for Reasons, and iii) an English academic in his ?50s? who is, from one perspective and not fully surprisingly, sort of the Bad Guy, or at least having tendencies in that direction.

I read it in London in a gulp - so much of a gulp that I essentially skim read the middle in order to find out what happened. I'm an anxious reader and I tend to feel that I need to prepare myself. Felt that even more in this case when one of the bloggers I came across described it as "horror adjacent". (I've just re-read the Guardian review below in case it was in there - it wasn't, though they do make brief mention of elements that they consider "terrifying".) Will say, though, that I didn't really ever get that vibe. I'd clearly need to read it again to be sure but for me the fantastical and the tension-of-adventuring predominates. There's mystery and strong hints of nefarious deeds - but horror? Kinda, I guess. This is the spoilery bit, I suppose - in my view that's flirted with briefly and then resolved relievingly fast. Thank you, Sarah Brooks, for taking pity on this nervous fellow traveller.

Then, I brought it on holiday - initially because I was going to lend it back to my goddaughter and gifter of the book token (see end of post for a reflection on my baked-in belief that books are for sharing). But seems like we're not going to see each other after all. So - now it's with me Just For Me. And I look forward to re-reading. More slowly.

Here's the review - mostly a really nice one, but even more basic than that, these days, amazing and fabulous that it exists at all. I saw SB's comment about it on formerly-Twitter before I saw the review on the Guardian website and she seemed pretty happy with it.

Also - a pic of the French cover... (No mention of caution in their version of the title, but perhaps they don't have a similar tradition of guidebooks of the kind the English title riffs off and references?)

And - an interview with the author (in advance of the book being published). Bravo to her for winning that comp! I can see how that made a huge difference for her - in gaining access to an excellent agent and the profile her book subsequently achieved. But I'm also encouraged by her account of the length of time she took to write the book - I think from beginning to end it might have been as long as 10 years (she doesn't say so, precisely, here) - and I feel like I can see the benefit of time in the quality of the finished writing and narrative.

Also, her encouragement to quietly ignore the world and just - write.

[This seems more achievable than the part of the story where she enters and wins a competition - so far, that's not been something I've been able to achieve. Best I've managed is a finalist place for one poem and that wasn't really the kind of comp that would Advance a Career. Not a problem for the immediate future. Will worry later.]

Somewhere else - possibly in the book acknowledgements - SB talks about how her own travels on the Trans Siberian Express were a key inspiration for this book - and I love the way that both roots the book and also doesn't constrain it (versus, for example, a travelogue...)

*Actually, on reflection my current answer is that it's a blend of things. The most positive strand is that I became a reader as a library book borrower - from the village library initially, school library later. So, I formed the habit of seeing a book as something one possessed for a period of time and then returned so that someone else could read it. (Also, this reduced the investment threshold and made it easier to experiment with reading unknown authors. Didn't like it? Could just... GIVE IT BACK.) Second strand is maybe positive, maybe neutral - it's the "don't make a fuss" puritanism that seems surprisingly embedded considering that the dominant family line traces back a few generations into definitely RC Ireland. Pragmatic, anti-showy, "let's not waste our money". Guess it's also working class (I'm not but three of my four grandparents definitely were and concerns about having enough communicated themselves even though I'm not aware that in my immediate, nuclear family we ever actively struggled for money as I was growing up??). And in adult life that has intersected with the "let's not be wasteful" impulse that correctly arises with environmental concerns. Third strand is the shadow, the YOU'RE NOT WORTH IT strand. Painful to acknowledge.

[banghwa]

Idk why but when I read your post asking for name recs for your horror playlist “easier than lying” by halsey popped into my head. maybe you could name it “one eye opened, one eye closed”. kinda gives the implication of a liminal space where a person is stuck between the desire to “face” themself and the desire to just…ignore it.

idk that song has lots of lyrics that could potentially work for your playlist imo. good luck with naming it, i’d love to have a listen when you’re done if you plan on posting it

OOOOOOOH i love that sm actually, usually i name my bts/horror soundtrack playlists based on a bts lyric but i acc like this sm and i didnt think of it before but i think smt from iichliwp would suit it sooooo well 😳 its nowhere near done and i think ill have to change up my filter playlist as well to make sure theres not too much overlap but tysm !!!! will share it once im ready <333