Originally Posted by
Redsfaithful
I love this, so many new things I need to check out.
Here's some slightly more modern stuff that I guess would be some of my top picks, mostly things I have come across in the past few years, but not all:
The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
I think about this all the time. I hate that so many things bring it to mind, actually.
The Jaunt, Stephen King
You read a lot of things and it's scary, sure, whatever, but too rare is to truly feel something in your chest. The end of this one does it.
Hereditary
I can't say anything without spoiling, I was just really grateful I didn't watch this with my wife because she'd have been scarred. It's dark, and like The Jaunt, you really feel it deep. Not jump scares (which I'm not even against, especially in a theater, that can be fun) just truly horrific.
A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
I've brough Tremblay up in a marcshoe thread before, but this is so good. So, so good.
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
Thought I was reading something trashy with a funny concept, and good god, no. Cinematic, I have to think this will be a movie at some point.
The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
This is another one that has stuck with me, and that I still think about quite often. It's a truly bonkers story. I need to read more of Carroll.
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and The VVitch
I feel like these sort of go together. I think The Witch is one of my all time favorite movies, and I think time is going to be really kind to it. I believe it'll be looked at as one of the best movies of this decade, eventually.
Run by Blake Crouch
Crouch is sort of a hack, but good at writing page turners. You get a short way into this and feel incredible dread and tension and then you start thinking about all the people who have gone through something like this, in the normal non-supernatural ways human beings are terrible to each other at scale, and it's much, much worse. You could probably teach this in a high school.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
One of my favorite books ever. I think some people dismiss it as gimmicky (for the layout) too quickly and miss how great it is. I wish I could read it for the first time again.