22 replies to this topic

[Ghost of Winterfell]

This is my first time posting on this forum (actually i usually never write on forums, i just lurk) so let me know if i'm, i don't know, doing anything wrong...

So, i just wanted to know if anybody had recommendations for any good fantasy books that have more of a weird/creepy/horror side to them. A lot of my favorite parts reading aSoIaF were scenes like the house of the undying or the scene from aDWD with tyrion on the river and the stone men.
I also recently read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell ( which i absolutely loved) and really enjoyed the subtly eerie vibe the fairies had.

So i guess what i'm looking for isn't really "horror", just fantasy with a good dose of creepiness, any suggestions?

[polishgenius]

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Most definitely.

[GoodGuyA]

Well, Lovecraft, o' course!

[Lan the Clever]

Arthur Machen's novels and novellas.

[Seli]

Caitlin Kiernan is one writer of good dark fiction, although they might be a bit too far from the fantasy you might expect. Her The Red Tree is really good, and by all reports her current The Drowning Girl is even better. But check out some of her other titles to see if you´d prefer those.

[Grack21]

Orson Scott Card's blog.

[Seli]

Grack21, on 16 May 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

Orson Scott Card's blog.

Grack, there was a request for no horror.

[Sci-2]

Blade of Tyshalle by Matt Stover

[Grack21]

sciborg2, on 16 May 2012 - 07:40 PM, said:

Blade of Tyshalle by Matt Stover

Sure, if he has a couple thousand dollars to spare.

[Sci-2]

Kindle edition is $7.99. Mac, PC, iPhone, Android all get free Kindle readers.

[Roose Bolton's Pet Leech]

Old ones but good ones...

The Night Land (1912) by William Hope Hodgson. Can be read for free at Project Gutenberg. Perhaps the greatest fantasy setting ever: Earth after the death of the Sun, beset by inter-dimensional cosmic horrors. Just be warned: for reasons only known to him, Hodgson wrote the thing in mangled imitation seventeenth century English, so it is not easy reading.

Clark Ashton Smith's short stories (early 1930s) are gorgeous and darkly exotic. They can also be found online. Try, for instance, Necromancy in Naat:
http://www.eldritchd...romancy-in-naat

Arthur Machen's Great God Pan (1894) can be found on Project Gutenberg. Cosmic horror meets Celtic mythology.

[Grack21]

sciborg2, on 16 May 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

Kindle edition is $7.99. Mac, PC, iPhone, Android all get free Kindle readers.

Yes, but e books give me migraines.

[Sci-2]

Damn, if I'd known BoT was going to be a hard find I'd have kept my paper back.

[RedEyedGhost]

The Leaping by Tom Fletcher fits exactly what you're looking for.  Great book.

Definitely The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce.  Definitely.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury would be a good option too, but I would suggest reading that around Halloween.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson might be worth a look, but it's not for everybody.

[Lannes]

A lot to like in this thread (with a tip of the hat to Grack21 )

I always liked Lovecraft for creepiness, "The Dunwich Horror" and "The Call of Cuthulu" particularly.

I can most definitely second "Something Wicked This Way Comes." I read it most every Fall and it resonates even better with me now that I'm a Father than it did 20 years ago.

Since we're on Westeros, GRRM's short story "Sandkings" has a nice creepy vibe to it.

Some of Clive Barker's early short stories, collected in the two 'Books of Blood,' are most definitely creepy, but some may stray too far into horror for what you're looking for.

[SkynJay]

Great thread.  I am going to add The Leaping to my list, looks awesome.

But I still say Circus of Dr. Lao does the strange circus theme better than Something Wicked.  I was just so disappointed in that book.

And to add something new, I think early Sandman fits this theme if you like comics at all, as do a couple of Gaiman's short stories.

[Peadar]

Another vote for Clarke Ashton Smith. The Night Land is amazingly atmospheric, but a little hard to take, what with, "disciplining" his girlfriend. John C. Wright's Awake in the Night is an *amazing* story that uses Hodgson's setting. Read it now. It's free. It's great.

[Maia]

The Anubis Gates, Last Call, Declare  by Tim Powers. Brilliant stuff, criminally underrated.

Fevre Dream by one George R.R. Martin

Agyar by Steven Brust

[sologdin]

Ligotti?

[Nukelavee]

I'm with Maia - Powers has some really well done "creepy" stuff in his books; the kind of stuff that can be "horror" if you think too long about it.

Also - his stuff can be very intense, emotionally.  Plus, evil magic clowns.

Jame Blaylock has some pretty good stuff, too.  In my experience, his stuff is a slow build from vaguely silly or absurd to..WTF!