I must say that this book surpassed my expectations. I am not a big fan of books that are narrated through different points of view because these books tend to revolve through the same event with the timeline being stuck in that single event. This book is different, even though the story is narrated by four different characters, the story did not get stuck in just one event, thus the timeline in this book keeps moving forward. 

Now, I have read reviews of the book comparing it to “Frankenstein,” but to my opinion it is far from being similar to it. However, I do understand why they can compare this novel to “Frankenstein,” the novel explores loss and creation and what it means to bring something “unnatural” into the world.

 Other than that, I do not really know what else to say about the book except that It is just fascinating. There is grief in the story, but it did not overpower the main plot and it never felt too sad. There is fantasy and it did not become so surreal or excessive to the point of making the story lose its grounding. And lastly, there are the themes of friendship and love and I do not feel it was too much either, I just think the author made a great work blending all these themes and still making a great literary piece of art. 

I just enjoyed the “Monstrilio” so very much. I am giving it a 4.5 out of 5. 

This volume gathers six pieces drawn from Avy’s papers. Stories in the truest sense, populated by figures, landscapes, weathers and fates. They form a natural companion to the apocryphal texts, invented books and visionary monologues that made Brantley’s name, a selection of which I’m preparing as a separate volume. What makes this collection particularly special is that its structure was, in essence, Avy’s own invention. Among her papers, I discovered a brief, untitled frame story – now published here as Ms Wintering – with a single instruction in the margin: this is a frame story for a collection.

The piece introduces us to a nurse, four days into her post at a psychiatric institution, handed the first of “many” notebooks written by an institutionalized author. The nurse is warned that these stories “aren’t really her stories anymore.” The frame ends as she begins to read. I’ve honoured Brantley’s intention by leaving this opening frame open. Everything that follows may be read as the contents of those notebooks. No closing frame survives among the papers, and the explanation promised is never delivered. I’ve resisted the urge to supply one. Some doors are better left ajar.

I am looking for books that might be called "surrealist gothic". Basically, weird fic that either celebrates or subverts gothic literature tropes or presents ooky-spooky gothic tales in a strange/hallucinatory manner. Gormenghast is an obvious starting point but I want to go weirder. Suggestions?

I'm quite a bit depressed with my dog's health deteriorating quickly and other stress in life, but I need a good weird book to distract me. I'm looking for something either with a happy ending or just generally happy but of course is also weird. Is that even possible?

So every copy of Noctuary and The Spectral Link by Ligotti I could find online was between 150-500 dollars.

However, I just found that on the website they have paperback versions of the book for about 40 bucks. Not cheap, by any means, but definitely worth the price I'd say! I just got mine delivered today. Here's the link if anyone is interested. On the website it says they have 15 copies.

https://chiropterapress.com/collections/books/products/noctuary-and-the-spectral-link-by-thomas-ligotti-1

Any weird books in a Feywild setting? Fey creatures, emotions that affect the landscape, inconsistent passage of time, tricky deals.

It could, but doesn’t have to be high fantasy. Can be happy/whimsy or twisted/dark.

Thanks!

Sharp Objects is one of my favorite books/series, I just started rewatching for the hundredth time. Would love recs for novels about intense/criminal/insane codependent relationships between women.

I have a feeling the Piano Teacher will be recommended, rest assured I have already read!

The Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane. This is an excellent short novella. In Witnesses the MC buys a house and discovers some VHS tapes left over from, I assume, the previous tenant. One of the VHS tapes has a film by the director Jean Rien. He finds it very compelling and it starts a search for Rien and his films. There's a forward by M. John Harrison which I suggest reading after reading Witnesses. However he describes exactly what makes the book great(no spoilers):

“..the sense of a symbolic structure which doesn't quite let the reader in on its real themes, instead guiding you to where you can make a leap of your own. It's a genre technique that, broadened away from genre, led to and still drives the best of what is called 'the Weird'. It's also a kind of demand, challenging the reader to dig into their interpretive reserves, to examine not the fiction so much as themselves.”

I give the book a 4/5 stars.

Firstly it's sad that, as far as I can find, this is the only work of Brion's fiction translated into English.

Waystations is a collection of short stories. From the surreal, to a bit pulpy Weird Tales type story, a more refined gothic weird, and then general fiction(albeit spooky). I assume the translation was well done because the stories are easy to follow, stay with, and not be bored; easy to visual and understand while also asking more of the reader than an average collection. While Waystations is a good collection, I wasn't grabbed and heavily invested in the characters or events...and yet they weren't the kind of stories you can read one and move onto the next. I can still remember scenes from them and I think I'll be rereading this at some point to glean/remember more. Particularly due to the book being 84 years old and thus requiring me to let myself not be a person in 2026, but become a French story in the late 1930s/early 1940s. However the stories do not feel anachronistic. I think the prose could be written by a contemporary author. 3.5/5 stars.

Over on r/psychedelic rock the mods have set up a metapost that collects all week’s music recommendations and links into a single post with Spotify etc links.

Is it possible to do something similar with recommendation requests here?

I was just reading the ‘magic realism’ request post and noted 2 votes for Obscene Bird. Maybe the metapost here could tally the recommendations and put them into a header post in the comments?

It might be that this is easier for music links than it is for written recommendations but it would be a cool resource if possible

Is anyone currently selling their copy of Sisyphean by Dempow Torishima? My book club voted on this as our next read and some of us are having trouble finding copies.

Hi, i am looking for more books in this subgenre:

Impossible Architecture, Isolation, Liminal Horror or Existential Dread. I love when a Character goes to a impossible place and/or a creepy thing is here. Or it’s a commentary on Human Nature.

Silent Hill 2 would be in general the best fit for all of these i guess.

Only Problem, i have already read a lot, and now i can‘t seem to find more.

To give a general idea of what i am looking for trough the books i loved so far in the genre:

- The Divine Farce
- House of Leaves
- A Short stay in hell
- The Hollow Places
- The Willows
- Piranesi
- The Fisherman
- We Used to live here
- I who have never known Men
- This Thing between us
- Strange Buildings / Houses
- Annhiliation
- Solaris
- Sphere

Didnt like:

- Coup De Grace
-The Staircase in the Woods
-Ice (Ania Ahlborn)
-The Silent Land

I know this is very specific, but i‘d be so grateful for any suggestions

So I recently read The Library At Mount Char and while it isn't perfect, it's one of the few 'cosmic' books that actually clicked with me.

I loved how 'Father' and his enemies & friends are so mysterious and ancient beyond comprehension. I really loved how it always felt like things are happening randomly but there is actually a big plan behind everything. I loved the powers the 'children' had, how they were all basically part of something bigger than them.

I didn't find this book particularly scary, which is why I'm calling it confusion and not horror.

Unfortunately, I am not a big Lovecraft fan, I love his ideas but his writing is a little too hard for me personally.

Some other cosmic confusion/horror that I really enjoyed:

• I who have never known men
• The nine billion names of God (short story)

Any recommendations for books with this kind of vibe?

I have a feeling this has been asked before, but does anyone have recs for magical realism and/or low fantasy books that are weird or speculative? And they have to be books that you have read and enjoyed to some capacity. Thank you!!

how is it so good ? .. stylistically between Lem/Strugatskys with the contemporary ecohorror intrigue of Vandermeer , Kavan and Ligotti etc , but still way less ‘comprehensible’ .. i’m like 3/4 done w volume 1/3 .. trying to complete the trilogy because HOLLOW was incredible, hearing comparisons to Gormenghast which i’ve only glossed , but the Vorrh is ..

On the recommendation of this sub, I picked up "Uncertain Sons and Other Stories" by Thomas Ha. I was really inspired by his writing style and the way he was able to make me feel. I think my two favorite stories were "Window Boy" and "The Mub".

Can I get some recommendations that are similar? Short stories, novellas, novels, anything goes. Thanks!

i recently read A Wild Sheep Chase and i really liked the surrealism and how it was kind of lunchian. i’m looking for books like that and are also lgbtq+. i hope this ain’t too specific 😰

I'm a big fan of Borges, in particular I love the stories like "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "The Circular Ruins". Metafictional narratives where the characters are able to manifest fiction into reality. The only similar book I've come across is "The Land of Laughs" by Jonathan Carroll and was wondering if there was anything else like that?

Edit: I can't reply to everyone who made suggestions, so I wanna thank everyone here instead. There is a lot of cool books and authors I gotta dive into now!

I read The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll about 25 years ago. I don’t remember much but I do remember I loved it. I read the trilogy but I’ve forgotten everything about other two. I do remember loving the weird story and the language. Can you recommend any books that have the same feel?