"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"

[Lynn McGuire]

"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/

I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".

"World War Z" is in my SBR (strategic book reserve).

Lynn

[Jack Bohn]

Not sure I'd classify _Hunger Games_, _Andromeda Strain_, _Leviathan Awakes_, or _War of the Worlds_ as horror; Welles rather than Wells asssociates that last with Hallowe'en.

My five read are _WotW_, "I Have No Mouth", _Frankenstein_, _AS_, and "Who Goes There?"


As they've snuck in Ellison's short story under the book title of its collection, might I suggest GRRM's "Sandkings" to make an even 20?

[D B Davis]

Post by Jack Bohn
Not sure I'd classify _Hunger Games_, _Andromeda Strain_, _Leviathan Awakes_,
or _War of the Worlds_ as horror; Welles rather than Wells asssociates that
last with Hallowe'en.
My five read are _WotW_, "I Have No Mouth", _Frankenstein_, _AS_, and "Who Goes There?"
As they've snuck in Ellison's short story under the book title of its
collection, might I suggest GRRM's "Sandkings" to make an even 20?

You said it in regards to _Hunger Games_ and _War of the Worlds_, the
only two of those topmost four read by me. Neither story says "Boo!" to
me.
"I Have No Mouth" (IHNM) seems merely twisted and sick. Is it wrong
for me to see some dark humor in IHNM? Regardless, IHNM seems more Alice
Sheldon than Shirley Jackson, to me. Speaking of Jackson, why isn't she
on the list? ✍

Thank you,

[Moriarty]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".
"World War Z" is in my SBR (strategic book reserve).

I've read about half and most of the top 8. I heartily endorse the number one pick, Dan Simmons' "Carrion Comfort". It's got Nazis, vampires and Nazi vampires! It's also got the best closing line to a novel I have ever read. Period.

-Moriarty

[a***@yahoo.com]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".
"World War Z" is in my SBR (strategic book reserve).

They have Day of the Triffids, but not The Midwich Cuckoos. Hmmm.
And maybe Starfish by Peter Watts

[David DeLaney]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".
"World War Z" is in my SBR (strategic book reserve).

Hm.

Want to read once they're in paperback: Boneshaker, Leviathan Wakes (which
seems to have 'never gonna be in paperback, TPB is my niiiiche' stuck to it,
like the last Thomas Covenant series), Blindsight (have Echopraxia but not
read it yet), John Dies at the End (added to lis, in fact)

Have read: Who Goes There? (in at least two versions I think?), The Andromeda
Strain (more than once), Jekyll & Hyde (I'm pretty sure), Frankenstein, No
Mouth Must Scream YOLO, War o/t Worlds

Not gonna: Infected (I've already read _Worm_, thanks, Wildbow did this better
than u), The Fireman, Day o/t Triffids, probably Hunger Games & seq., Girl
with All the Gifts & seq., I Am Legend (I've absorbed some of it thru cultural
osmosis long since), Tommyknockers (only Kings I've actually liked are Carrie
& Firestarter, sorry), World War Z (no zombies unless there's something about
them that makes them unusual at the VERY least, especially not if you've
already killed off 90+% of living humans to get your story setting to work,
that NEVER helps, much like turning into a giant snake), Carrion Comfort
(never heard of it, straight horror isn't my thing)

Dave, so many books in the Wall, so little time

ps: at least I have a driveable car again

[Scott Lurndal]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Lynn

[Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha]

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?
--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Nope. But I have never read an H. P. Lovecraft book (that I remember)
nor do I have any familiarity with same. Neither apparently has the
list maker.

Lynn

[Moriarty]

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Perhaps it's the narrower category of "Science Fiction Horror" that he's unaware of HPL's contribution to?

"The Colour Out of Space" certainly fits.

Why 19 anyway?

-Moriarty

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Moriarty

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Perhaps it's the narrower category of "Science Fiction Horror" that he's unaware of HPL's contribution to?
"The Colour Out of Space" certainly fits.
Why 19 anyway?
-Moriarty

My guess is that the list maker likes to assign numbers other than 10 or
20 or 100 to his lists. You can email him and ask if you want to. He
and I have exchanged a few emails in the past.

Lynn

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Moriarty

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Perhaps it's the narrower category of "Science Fiction Horror" that he's unaware of HPL's contribution to?
"The Colour Out of Space" certainly fits.
Why 19 anyway?
-Moriarty

My guess is that the list maker likes to assign numbers other than 10 or
20 or 100 to his lists. You can email him and ask if you want to. He
and I have exchanged a few emails in the past.

It could be word count.

I think at Harry Potter's school, essays are written
on continuous scroll, with length specified in feet
(i.e. 12 British inches). My next thought is "scrolls
probably come in set lengths" and then "but there's magic
so maybe they don't", but I don't remember examples
of the last.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Moriarty

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Perhaps it's the narrower category of "Science Fiction Horror" that he's unaware of HPL's contribution to?
"The Colour Out of Space" certainly fits.
Why 19 anyway?
-Moriarty

He likes 96 dystopian books:
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/96-dystopian-science-fiction-books/

Lynn

[D B Davis]

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Moriarty

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Perhaps it's the narrower category of "Science Fiction Horror" that he's unaware of HPL's

contribution to?

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Moriarty
"The Colour Out of Space" certainly fits.
Why 19 anyway?
-Moriarty

https://best-sci-fi-books.com/96-dystopian-science-fiction-books/

_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It was
recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The One, the
most dystopic of them all, according to me.
Alas, it turns out that _Cloud Atlas_ (Mitchell) is actually the
worst of them all. It's meta-dystopic with a crapsack supernatural. Even
after you die its dysopic claws don't let loose. It makes Alice Sheldon
look positively Pollyannish in comparison.

✍

Thank you,

[D B Davis]

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Moriarty

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Perhaps it's the narrower category of "Science Fiction Horror" that he's unaware of HPL's

contribution to?

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Moriarty
"The Colour Out of Space" certainly fits.
Why 19 anyway?
-Moriarty

https://best-sci-fi-books.com/96-dystopian-science-fiction-books/

_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It was
recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The One, the
most dystopic of them all, according to me.
Alas, it turns out that _Cloud Atlas_ (Mitchell) is actually the
worst of them all. It's meta-dystopic with a crapsack supernatural. Even
after you die its dystopic claws don't let loose. It makes Alice Sheldon
look positively Pollyannish in comparison.

✍

Thank you,

[Titus G]

On 04/05/18 15:08, D B Davis wrote:
snip

Post by D B Davis
_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It was
recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The One, the
most dystopic of them all, according to me.

Was the real world as described in "A Scanner Darkly" a contender?

Post by D B Davis
Alas, it turns out that _Cloud Atlas_ (Mitchell) is actually the
worst of them all. It's meta-dystopic with a crapsack supernatural. Even
after you die its dystopic claws don't let loose. It makes Alice Sheldon
look positively Pollyannish in comparison.

David Mitchell is one of my all time favourites. I have read all his
novels and most are five stars. The "crapsack supernatural" continues.
It doesn't impose or dominate but has still upset some of his literary
critics. It was hardly mentioned at all in "The Thousand Autumns...."
and arrived late in "The Bone Clocks" about which I read the criticism.
"Slade House" is all horror in "crapsack supernatural" but is a much
shorter book. (Although the novels all stand alone, I think they would
be better appreciated if read in publication order.)

[D B Davis]

Post by Titus G
snip

Post by D B Davis
_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It was
recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The One, the
most dystopic of them all, according to me.

Was the real world as described in "A Scanner Darkly" a contender?

Post by D B Davis
Alas, it turns out that _Cloud Atlas_ (Mitchell) is actually the
worst of them all. It's meta-dystopic with a crapsack supernatural. Even
after you die its dystopic claws don't let loose. It makes Alice Sheldon
look positively Pollyannish in comparison.

David Mitchell is one of my all time favourites. I have read all his
novels and most are five stars. The "crapsack supernatural" continues.
It doesn't impose or dominate but has still upset some of his literary
critics. It was hardly mentioned at all in "The Thousand Autumns...."
and arrived late in "The Bone Clocks" about which I read the criticism.
"Slade House" is all horror in "crapsack supernatural" but is a much
shorter book. (Although the novels all stand alone, I think they would
be better appreciated if read in publication order.)

_A Scanner Darkly_ (PKD) isn't mentioned in the OP's linked list of 96
Dystopian Science Fiction Books. Perhaps my followup confuses you? Allow
me to explain. Sometimes "bad" means "good:"

In slang usage, the adjective "bad" means "good," as we
mentioned in a post we wrote some time ago about the
influence of African-American slang on English.

The surprising thing about this use of "bad"-apart from
the reversed meaning-is that it's not recent. It dates
back to the 19th century, as we'll explain later. ...

https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/12/bad.html

So "bad" means "good" and "worst" means "best" in my followup.
And "crapsack" is a superlative. :0)

✍

Thank you,

[Titus G]

Post by D B Davis

On 04/05/18 15:08, D B Davis wrote: snip

Post by D B Davis
_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It
was recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The
One, the most dystopic of them all, according to me.

Was the real world as described in "A Scanner Darkly" a contender?

Post by D B Davis
Alas, it turns out that _Cloud Atlas_ (Mitchell) is actually the
worst of them all. It's meta-dystopic with a crapsack
supernatural. Even after you die its dystopic claws don't let
loose. It makes Alice Sheldon look positively Pollyannish in
comparison.

David Mitchell is one of my all time favourites. I have read all
his novels and most are five stars. The "crapsack supernatural"
continues. It doesn't impose or dominate but has still upset some
of his literary critics. It was hardly mentioned at all in "The
Thousand Autumns...." and arrived late in "The Bone Clocks" about
which I read the criticism. "Slade House" is all horror in
"crapsack supernatural" but is a much shorter book. (Although the
novels all stand alone, I think they would be better appreciated if
read in publication order.)

_A Scanner Darkly_ (PKD) isn't mentioned in the OP's linked list of
96 Dystopian Science Fiction Books. Perhaps my followup confuses you?
Allow me to explain. Sometimes "bad" means "good:"
In slang usage, the adjective "bad" means "good," as we mentioned in
a post we wrote some time ago about the influence of African-American
slang on English.
The surprising thing about this use of "bad"-apart from the reversed
meaning-is that it's not recent. It dates back to the 19th century,
as we'll explain later. ...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/12/bad.html
So "bad" means "good" and "worst" means "best" in my followup.

Yes, that was my understanding when I read your post. Sorry for my
confusing reply. That was an attempt at humour in the sense that for
Dick, the protagonist in Scanner, there could be no worse (or best :-)),
dystopia, than his own paranoia.

And

Post by D B Davis
"crapsack" is a superlative. :0)

Yes, that is how I interpreted it. And I think that the later Mitchell's
can be read and enjoyed by those who enjoy nonsensical crapstack
supernatural as well as those seeking Lit er Hateur. The "The Thousand
Autumns....." qualifies for many genres.

[D B Davis]

Post by Titus G

Post by D B Davis

On 04/05/18 15:08, D B Davis wrote: snip

Post by D B Davis
_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It
was recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The
One, the most dystopic of them all, according to me.

Was the real world as described in "A Scanner Darkly" a contender?

<snip>

Post by Titus G

Post by D B Davis
_A Scanner Darkly_ (PKD) isn't mentioned in the OP's linked list of
96 Dystopian Science Fiction Books. Perhaps my followup confuses you?
Allow me to explain. Sometimes "bad" means "good:"
In slang usage, the adjective "bad" means "good," as we mentioned in
a post we wrote some time ago about the influence of African-American
slang on English.
The surprising thing about this use of "bad"-apart from the reversed
meaning-is that it's not recent. It dates back to the 19th century,
as we'll explain later. ...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/12/bad.html
So "bad" means "good" and "worst" means "best" in my followup.

Yes, that was my understanding when I read your post. Sorry for my
confusing reply. That was an attempt at humour in the sense that for
Dick, the protagonist in Scanner, there could be no worse (or best :-)),
dystopia, than his own paranoia.

<snip>

That's a great PKD paranoia aphorism. Given how it apparently fell into
the hole in my memory, it looks like it's time for yet another re-read
of _Scanner Darkly_. (That's how re-reads happen in /my/ world. YMMV.)
Fair warning. This thread's about to take a turn for the worse.
Decent folk will find little of wholesome value beneath this point.



Still with me? Hitchcock movie fans owe it to themselves to see the
2012 biopic _Hitchcock_. The biopic tells the story of how Hitch makes
the movie about the eponymous _Psycho_ (Block).
Early on Hitch decides to purchase all available copies of the Block
in order to deny people the opportunity to read it for themselves. Both
the Block and the movie are based upon a sick, twisted, piece-of-work
named Ed Gein. [1] You need to know a little about Gein before we
proceed so you may want to take a quick peek at his Wikipedia bio if you
never heard of Gein before.
In the biopic Hitch hosts a kaffeeklatsch presser to announce his
intentions for _Psycho_ the movie. He passes around some Ed Gein crime
scene photos. A general consensus of disgust registers on all of the
faces in the room. They hate it. But, as Hitch wryly notes, "They can't
take their eyes off of it, can they?"
That's sort of how dystopic literature grabs me. It's hard for me to
take my eyes off of it.
Joss #himtoo Whedon tells viewers to "bring your own subtext" when
they watch a Whedon movie. It seems that PKD more-or-less tells readers
to "bring your own paranoia" when you read his dystopic fiction.

✍

Thank you,

[D B Davis]

Post by Titus G

Post by D B Davis

On 04/05/18 15:08, D B Davis wrote: snip

Post by D B Davis
_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It
was recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The
One, the most dystopic of them all, according to me.

Was the real world as described in "A Scanner Darkly" a contender?

<snip>

Post by Titus G

Post by D B Davis
_A Scanner Darkly_ (PKD) isn't mentioned in the OP's linked list of
96 Dystopian Science Fiction Books. Perhaps my followup confuses you?
Allow me to explain. Sometimes "bad" means "good:"
In slang usage, the adjective "bad" means "good," as we mentioned in
a post we wrote some time ago about the influence of African-American
slang on English.
The surprising thing about this use of "bad"-apart from the reversed
meaning-is that it's not recent. It dates back to the 19th century,
as we'll explain later. ...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/12/bad.html
So "bad" means "good" and "worst" means "best" in my followup.

Yes, that was my understanding when I read your post. Sorry for my
confusing reply. That was an attempt at humour in the sense that for
Dick, the protagonist in Scanner, there could be no worse (or best :-)),
dystopia, than his own paranoia.

<snip>

That's a great PKD paranoia aphorism. Given how it apparently fell into
the hole in my memory, it looks like it's time for yet another re-read
of _Scanner Darkly_. (That's how re-reads happen in /my/ world. YMMV.)
Fair warning. This thread's about to take a turn for the worse.
Decent folk will find little of wholesome value beneath this point.



Still with me? Hitchcock movie fans owe it to themselves to see the
2012 biopic _Hitchcock_. The biopic tells the story of how Hitch makes
the movie about the eponymous _Psycho_ (Block).
Early on Hitch decides to purchase all available copies of the Block
in order to deny people the opportunity to read it for themselves. Both
the Block and the movie are based upon a sick, twisted, piece-of-work
named Ed Gein. [1] You need to know a little about Gein before we
proceed so you may want to take a quick peek at his Wikipedia bio if you
never heard of Gein before.
In the biopic Hitch hosts a kaffeeklatsch presser to announce his
intentions for _Psycho_ the movie. He passes around some Ed Gein crime
scene photos. A general consensus of disgust registers on all of the
faces in the room. They hate it. But, as Hitch wryly notes, "They can't
take their eyes off of it, can they?"
That's sort of how dystopic literature grabs me. It's hard for me to
take my eyes off of it.
Joss #himtoo Whedon tells viewers to "bring your own subtext" when
they watch a Whedon movie. It seems that PKD more-or-less tells readers
to "bring your own paranoia" when you read his dystopic fiction.

Note.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

✍

Thank you,

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

Post by D B Davis
Fair warning. This thread's about to take a turn for the worse.
Decent folk will find little of wholesome value beneath this point.
Still with me? Hitchcock movie fans owe it to themselves to see the
2012 biopic _Hitchcock_. The biopic tells the story of how Hitch makes
the movie about the eponymous _Psycho_ (Block).
Early on Hitch decides to purchase all available copies of the Block
in order to deny people the opportunity to read it for themselves. Both
the Block and the movie are based upon a sick, twisted, piece-of-work
named Ed Gein. [1] You need to know a little about Gein before we
proceed so you may want to take a quick peek at his Wikipedia bio if you
never heard of Gein before.
In the biopic Hitch hosts a kaffeeklatsch presser to announce his
intentions for _Psycho_ the movie. He passes around some Ed Gein crime
scene photos. A general consensus of disgust registers on all of the
faces in the room. They hate it. But, as Hitch wryly notes, "They can't
take their eyes off of it, can they?"
That's sort of how dystopic literature grabs me. It's hard for me to
take my eyes off of it.
Joss #himtoo Whedon tells viewers to "bring your own subtext" when
they watch a Whedon movie. It seems that PKD more-or-less tells readers
to "bring your own paranoia" when you read his dystopic fiction.
Note.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

A nitpick and a bit of literary trivia:

It's Bloch, not Block. Lawrence Block, the mystery writer, spells it
with a K, but Robert Bloch used an H.

As for the trivia: Bloch wrote _Psycho_ based on early newspaper
accounts of Ed Gein's crimes; he didn't have most of the gruesome
details. I sometimes wonder what he (and later Hitchcock) would have
produced had Bloch known all that sick stuff before writing his novel.

[D B Davis]

Post by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Post by D B Davis
Fair warning. This thread's about to take a turn for the worse.
Decent folk will find little of wholesome value beneath this point.
Still with me? Hitchcock movie fans owe it to themselves to see the
2012 biopic _Hitchcock_. The biopic tells the story of how Hitch makes
the movie about the eponymous _Psycho_ (Block).
Early on Hitch decides to purchase all available copies of the Block
in order to deny people the opportunity to read it for themselves. Both
the Block and the movie are based upon a sick, twisted, piece-of-work
named Ed Gein. [1] You need to know a little about Gein before we
proceed so you may want to take a quick peek at his Wikipedia bio if you
never heard of Gein before.
In the biopic Hitch hosts a kaffeeklatsch presser to announce his
intentions for _Psycho_ the movie. He passes around some Ed Gein crime
scene photos. A general consensus of disgust registers on all of the
faces in the room. They hate it. But, as Hitch wryly notes, "They can't
take their eyes off of it, can they?"
That's sort of how dystopic literature grabs me. It's hard for me to
take my eyes off of it.
Joss #himtoo Whedon tells viewers to "bring your own subtext" when
they watch a Whedon movie. It seems that PKD more-or-less tells readers
to "bring your own paranoia" when you read his dystopic fiction.
Note.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

It's Bloch, not Block. Lawrence Block, the mystery writer, spells it
with a K, but Robert Bloch used an H.
As for the trivia: Bloch wrote _Psycho_ based on early newspaper
accounts of Ed Gein's crimes; he didn't have most of the gruesome
details. I sometimes wonder what he (and later Hitchcock) would have
produced had Bloch known all that sick stuff before writing his novel.

_In Cold Blood_ (Capote) strikes pretty close to home, for me. Beings
some of my extended family farms the part of Kansas where the quadruple
murder occurred.
Capote was a warped, but gifted author. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is
one of my favorites. He apparently indulged in poetic license in some
parts of _In Cold Blood_, which remains unread by me thus far.
Gein lends credibility to the criminal cannibal clan that appears in
"The Heirs of Sawney Beane" (Watt-Evans). My wife just naturally accepts
that psychopaths are a fact-of-life and you never know when you're going
to run into one. Situational awareness, which is its own form of
intelligence, is everything in such encounters.
The red fox spotted by me yesterday while walking my dog around a
nearby watering hole, was certainly situationally aware. It took to the
high ground and never took its eyes off of me.

✍

Thank you,

[Kevrob]

Post by D B Davis

Post by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Post by D B Davis
Fair warning. This thread's about to take a turn for the worse.
Decent folk will find little of wholesome value beneath this point.
Still with me? Hitchcock movie fans owe it to themselves to see the
2012 biopic _Hitchcock_. The biopic tells the story of how Hitch makes
the movie about the eponymous _Psycho_ (Block).
Early on Hitch decides to purchase all available copies of the Block
in order to deny people the opportunity to read it for themselves. Both
the Block and the movie are based upon a sick, twisted, piece-of-work
named Ed Gein. [1] You need to know a little about Gein before we
proceed so you may want to take a quick peek at his Wikipedia bio if you
never heard of Gein before.
In the biopic Hitch hosts a kaffeeklatsch presser to announce his
intentions for _Psycho_ the movie. He passes around some Ed Gein crime
scene photos. A general consensus of disgust registers on all of the
faces in the room. They hate it. But, as Hitch wryly notes, "They can't
take their eyes off of it, can they?"
That's sort of how dystopic literature grabs me. It's hard for me to
take my eyes off of it.
Joss #himtoo Whedon tells viewers to "bring your own subtext" when
they watch a Whedon movie. It seems that PKD more-or-less tells readers
to "bring your own paranoia" when you read his dystopic fiction.
Note.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

It's Bloch, not Block. Lawrence Block, the mystery writer, spells it
with a K, but Robert Bloch used an H.
As for the trivia: Bloch wrote _Psycho_ based on early newspaper
accounts of Ed Gein's crimes; he didn't have most of the gruesome
details. I sometimes wonder what he (and later Hitchcock) would have
produced had Bloch known all that sick stuff before writing his novel.

_In Cold Blood_ (Capote) strikes pretty close to home, for me. Beings
some of my extended family farms the part of Kansas where the quadruple
murder occurred.
Capote was a warped, but gifted author. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is
one of my favorites. He apparently indulged in poetic license in some
parts of _In Cold Blood_, which remains unread by me thus far.

It's generally considered one of the first "non-fiction novels"
which mingled journalism with novelistic techniques.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fiction_novel

Post by D B Davis
Gein lends credibility to the criminal cannibal clan that appears in
"The Heirs of Sawney Beane" (Watt-Evans). My wife just naturally accepts
that psychopaths are a fact-of-life and you never know when you're going
to run into one. Situational awareness, which is its own form of
intelligence, is everything in such encounters.
The red fox spotted by me yesterday while walking my dog around a
nearby watering hole, was certainly situationally aware. It took to the
high ground and never took its eyes off of me.

When I lived in Milwaukee, working in bookstores, we always
sold a lot of this one:

Edward Gein, America's most bizarre murderer
by Robert H. Gollmar (Charles Hallberg, Delavan WI 1981)

St Martin's brought it out in paperback in 1984. Gollmar
was the judge who presided over the trial.

Traffic reports on the radio would mention "the Plainfield curve"
on I-43. Traffic accidents there, which were frequent, would
sometime elicit macabre jokes about "Ed ordering food in again."

Kevin R

[Michael F. Stemper]

Post by Kevrob
Traffic reports on the radio would mention "the Plainfield curve"
on I-43.

Apparently, that's at least a quasi-official name:
<https://projects.511wi.gov/i94northsouth/overview/map-of-improvements/>

[Peter Trei]

Post by Titus G
snip

Post by D B Davis
_Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ (PKD) appears on the list. It was
recently read by me. It was my fondest hope for it to be The One, the
most dystopic of them all, according to me.

Was the real world as described in "A Scanner Darkly" a contender?

Post by D B Davis
Alas, it turns out that _Cloud Atlas_ (Mitchell) is actually the
worst of them all. It's meta-dystopic with a crapsack supernatural. Even
after you die its dystopic claws don't let loose. It makes Alice Sheldon
look positively Pollyannish in comparison.

David Mitchell is one of my all time favourites. I have read all his
novels and most are five stars. The "crapsack supernatural" continues.
It doesn't impose or dominate but has still upset some of his literary
critics. It was hardly mentioned at all in "The Thousand Autumns...."
and arrived late in "The Bone Clocks" about which I read the criticism.
"Slade House" is all horror in "crapsack supernatural" but is a much
shorter book. (Although the novels all stand alone, I think they would
be better appreciated if read in publication order.)

Cloud Atlas was made into a pretty well-received movie a few years ago.
Most of it was quite pretty as I recall.

Its not a spoiler to say that its structured as taking place in several
time periods sometimes centuries apart, with slightly connected plots,
and the same actors playing different roles in each period. I thought
the end was quite cliched though.

pt

[Dorothy J Heydt]

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

My son frequently insists that Lovecraft wrote hard SF.

[William Hyde]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

My son frequently insists that Lovecraft wrote hard SF.

I agree. Some stories are clearly SF, and certainly "hard" by 1920s-30s standards.

William Hyde

[Juho Julkunen]

Post by Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horro
r-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda
Strain", "The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have
no Mouth and I must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The
Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Huh ?

Are you under the impression that Lovecraft didn't write horror?

Not a lot of it was book length, though.

_At the Mountains of Madness_ probably should be there, though.

[David Johnston]

Post by Scott Lurndal

Post by Lynn McGuire
"19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books"
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-best-science-fiction-horror-books/
I have read seven of these. "Leviathan Wakes", "The Andromeda Strain",
"The Girl with all the Gifts", "I am Legend", "I have no Mouth and I
must Scream", "The War Of The Worlds", and "The Tommyknockers".

Wouldn't the top 19 (and perhaps the top 40) be H.P. Lovecraft?

Hell no. Lovecraft had some interesting ideas, but only a few really
great stories.