“That placing trust in a word like border had been a mistake, a trap. A slow unraveling of terms unrecognized until too late.” – Jeff VanderMeer, ‘Authority’
Learning never stops. I tell my kid that, I tell my guitar and bass students that, but more than anyone, I tell my friends that learning never stops. It’s a constant refrain between Brendan and me. One obsession I’ve had the last couple of years is cosmic/Eldritch/Weird horror, and sort of sussing out the differences between them. Sub-genres can be fun, but also restrictive, so I don’t want to get too in the weeds, here. What I’m trying to do—besides give you a list of very good books that you should consider reading—is explain what I enjoy about these genre cousins. Then also get at what’s different, so that I can be more precise when I describe the kind of books I want to read. Because the pleasures are not the same.
Now, you might be asking: Chris, have you done any serious scholarship, or is this just vibes based on reading some books and a few Zachary Gillan articles on the internet? Definitely the second one. I’m not a definitive source here, yet. Zachary is, of course. I’ve also talked before about how whenever I read one of these books, it’s like the text itself is offering to let me not look upon it. Imagery is sometimes hard to parse, the nature of things slippery and off-putting. I like that feeling, I am chasing that feeling. The best Weird Fiction is like poetry, it can’t be paraphrased. With that in mind, I’ve read most of these books only once! I could be missing so much! So there will be genre talk, but take everything with a grain of salt.
Most importantly, read all these books for yourself.
Yes, I said ALL of them!
THE SOUTHERN REACH SERIES by Jeff VanderMeer
Obviously this is no longer a trilogy—it becomes a pentology this coming summer, in fact. You know what this series definitely is? The most popular, mainstream successful New Weird books we currently have. There’s a Natalie Portman movie and everything. These I feel comfortable calling Weird Fiction. There is a Cosmic Entity, yes, but no origins are given, and nothing is really solved. Things just keep changing. Narrators are unreliable. Genre beats are unreliable—the first novel ought to be an expedition/adventure novel, the second a spy thriller, but neither of them really are those things. It’s deeply, deeply unsettling. While many of the books on this list are scary or full or horrors, not all of them achieve this kind of unsettling feeling that I’m really, really chasing.
NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS by Nathan Ballingrud
This collection of short stories absolutely messed me up. It’s so so good. Some of these will have an Eldritch monster setup—some being that wears people’s skin or whatever—but the actual scariest part is something else entirely. Usually something human. There’s that genre unreliability again. These aren’t creature features. They’re Weird.
TOADSTONES by Eric Williams
Very strange book! I compared Eric to Borges when I read this a few weeks ago, and many of the stories will leave you unnerved and confusingly frightened (complimentary). I think many parts of this book are New Weird. Maybe others would quibble with that in some stories, but I wouldn’t know which stories right now.
EXTENDED STAY by Juan Martinez
This is a type of book I love. The premise is somewhat straightforward: it’s a hotel that eats people. Juan’ll tell you that much. But there’s so much else at work here. It begins with a harrowing and ultimately pointless massacre (aren’t all massacres pointless?), but—genre shift—it’s not a revenge tale, nor does the opening scene have any bearing on the rest of the story except for how it haunts the main character. There’s a ton here about the immigrant experience, about unchecked capitalism and white supremacy, about all the power we think we have but actually we don’t.
THE BARRE INCIDENTS by Lauren Bolger
Lauren’s a friend, but I’ll be honest: this book is great. The dynamic between the two leads is a hell of a lot of fun, the obstacles they face are never-ending and escalating and frightening, and there are classic Eldritch/Supernatural horror elements here. Mothman’s hanging out, so you know Ingrid Cold’s tagged along. There are figures from Norse mythology, including a Spirit Tree/Psychompomp Tree/Tree of Life. This is one of the books, though, that makes me wonder about the genre divide. For all the thrills and unexplainable chills, I never quite felt like my whole concept of reality was being altered. The beats aren’t predictable, but there is an adventure/quest aspect of the plot that, when coupled with the romantic comedy energy of the two leads, feels like we’re going to end up at an at least somewhat familiar place. I am not taking anything away form the strangeness here, but the designation of “Weird” doesn’t feel totally correct.
THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM by Victor LaValle
This novella pretty explicitly pulls from Lovecraft, casting a Black lead character to flip the script of how ol’ Howie viewed characters of color. Strange things happen, and the curtain of reality/dimensions gets pulled back a bit, but is this Weird? Here’s a rare book on this list that I’ve read more than once, and I don’t think it’s Weird. I think it’s Cosmic.
EDGE OF THE KNOWN BUS LINE by James R. Galpinski
Who even knows if this counts as Weird Fiction. Certainly not cosmic. Probably not Eldritch, no monsters or gods. It’s more like disappearing into a different dimension? The lack of explanation or any real cause for what’s going on, though, makes me want to include it in this list.
OH SHOOT HOW COULD I FORGET
My bad. Blame it on New Parent brain.
NO GODS FOR DROWNING by Hailey Piper
Can’t believe I left this out. It was staring at me, and mine eyes just skipped right on over. Absolutely belongs on this list, but is another that points to my taxonomical anxiety. See, I wouldn’t call this one Weird. Definitely Cosmic, as it takes place in a world where gods are not only real, but active players in human life. It’s almost like a Greek myth, the way that the gods are petty and bitchy and whiny and meddling in human affairs. Definitely scary, but not unsettling. Definitely out there/original/imaginative, but a book you can follow.
THE GREAT CITIES DUOLOGY by N.K. Jemisin
See, now. How could I forget this one? Lovecraft creation R’yleh is a major antagonist. Tentacle monsters attack our main characters. People undergo fundamental, cosmic changes. That said, while this book scared me a good deal, it didn’t produce that unsettled feeling. It feels almost on the opposite end of the spectrum as the VanderMeer. The two books read a bit like Fantasy—you sort of know in the back of your mind that our scrappy band of Personified Boroughs is going to figure something out to deal with the supernatural threat. There’s just more of a Fantasy vibe here, even if Jemisin is playing in the Lovecraft sandbox. Don’t get me wrong, I love these two books—pretty sure I will be reading them again next year. Do they count as Weird, though?
Sound off in the comments if you have thoughts on this Eldritch/Cosmic/Weird/Supernatural subdivision. Again, who really cares, but I find this stuff interesting. And when I’m looking for recommendations, I want to be precise in what I’m asking for. Sometimes I want tentacle monsters. Sometimes I want to be made to curl up with my hoodie over my head. Hey, if I can’t see you, then you can’t see me.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris