MobileRead Category Selection Nominations for June 2013

[JSWolf]

I'm not bothered if I'm not scared reading a horror book. But, I'd like to read some that attempt to do so. The ones we have read have not even attempted to scare us. They've been so lame, a 5-year old could read them and not be affected.

[WT Sharpe]

The scariest movie ever was Target Earth (1954). At least, that's what I thought when my friend and I saw it on TV when our ages were still in single digits. It scared the daylights out of us. Although I didn't realize it at the time, the "robot army" was one robot. That's all the film's low budget allowed.

YouTube uploader 1954clips calls it "The world's silliest robot attacks."

[orlok]

Aged 4, I used to hide behind the sofa when the MGM lion came on at the start of a movie.

[JSWolf]

The problem is that people are tending to go for the free or short length books when it comes to horror and that doesn't work. We need to get out of the mentality that cheap, free, short just doesn't work most of the time. When it comes to horror, let's go for the established and maybe read something enjoyable.

[caleb72]

There have been a few discussions in horror forums I'm a member of that have argued reasonably convincingly that horror works quite a bit better in short form than in long form.Personally I prefer long form, but I see the point of short form horror.

I have found that it has been most beneficial for me to realise that there are wider and sometimes more interesting views out there than my own.

Personally, I quite enjoyed the horror selections of the last two years. They were a bit outside what I would usually pick which ended up being quite enlightening.

[fantasyfan]

Originally Posted by caleb72

There have been a few discussions in horror forums I'm a member of that have argued reasonably convincingly that horror works quite a bit better in short form than in long form.Personally I prefer long form, but I see the point of short form horror.

That's very interesting. Looking over my post I noticed that most of the examples I cited were, in fact, short. That wasn't intentional on my part at all; it just happened that way. Bradbury was at his best in his unique type of blend of fantasy/science fiction and horror and his most effective work in this area was in the short story. M R, James, of couse was a master of the short horror tale-and though he isn't to everyone's taste, Henry James (IMO) created a masterpiece of horror in The Turn of the Screw--which is no more than a novelette. Perhaps the reason for this goes back to Edgar Allen Poe's insight that the short story can create an amazingly intense experience--and Horror depends on that intensity. Perhaps Poppy Z Brite in her collection Swamp Foetus (1995) is a modern example of this tradition.

Of course, there are some great masterpieces of horror in longer forms. Obviously Dracula, Uncle Silas and The Monk come to mind. Outside of Stephen King, I'm not as familiar with modern examples in the longer form but I'm sure they exist. I would love to have some suggestions from others as to where to start.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

Of course, there are some great masterpieces of horror in longer forms. Obviously Dracula, Uncle Silas and The Monk come to mind. Outside of Stephen King, I'm not as familiar with modern examples in the longer form but I'm sure they exist. I would love to have some suggestions from others as to where to start.

Dracula is so not scary. In fact, the style used makes it rather dull.

[Hamlet53]

So have we reached a consensus that horror sucks as a category?

A couple of the scariest stories that I have ever read are A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor (short story) and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Only realistic scenarios involving non-imaginary things and people scare me as an adult. Though the film that left me with nightmares for weeks after seeing it as a child was The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

So have we reached a consensus that horror sucks as a category?

A couple of the scariest stories that I have ever read are A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor (short story) and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Only realistic scenarios involving non-imaginary things and people scare me as an adult. Though the film that left me with nightmares for weeks after seeing it as a child was The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

We've reached a consensus that most people partaking in horror seem to be afraid of voting for books that may actually be scary.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

So have we reached a consensus that horror sucks as a category?

A couple of the scariest stories that I have ever read are A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor (short story) and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Only realistic scenarios involving non-imaginary things and people scare me as an adult. Though the film that left me with nightmares for weeks after seeing it as a child was The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Yup. Along those lines, the scariest movie I've ever seen is Deliverance.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Dracula is so not scary. In fact, the style used makes it rather dull.

Dracula is a creeping, chilling horror of the type that works its way into your nightmares and visits in the dead solitude of night.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

Perhaps the reason for this goes back to Edgar Allen Poe's insight that the short story can create an amazingly intense experience--and Horror depends on that intensity.

Absolutely. And that was pretty much the argument - that you need to be able to maintain that intensity. The longer the story, the more diluted the intensity.

But I guess for me, I want a little back-story. I want to know a bit about the people placed in the situation. I want to get a developed view of what's going on. So most of the time I'll sacrifice some of this tension to get the bigger picture. But I certainly don't discount the argument. It makes quite a bit of sense.

For me horror becomes a darker form of fantasy. Scary rarely happens, but horror isn't necessarily about being scared anyway.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Dracula is a creeping, chilling horror of the type that works its way into your nightmares and visits in the dead solitude of night.

It felt dated. The style ruined the story. I want a story that doesn't have to scare me per say. But I want one that's creepy.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by issybird

Yup. Along those lines, the scariest movie I've ever seen is Deliverance.

Oooh, Deliverance is my 1970 selection for my reading challenge this year.

[fantasyfan]

Originally Posted by caleb72

For me horror becomes a darker form of fantasy. Scary rarely happens, but horror isn't necessarily about being scared anyway.

Excellent point! BTW there is an Old time radio Show from 1941-42 called Dark Fantasy. It can be downloaded free from Internet Archive and you might be interested in giving it a try; it was ahead of its time in the originality and approach of the stories.

You can listen to individual episodes here:

http://archive.org/details/OTRR_Dark_Fantasy_Singles

and/or download the entire series here:

http://archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Dark_Fantasy