The Essential Weird Fiction Library

[ChildofOldLeech]

- Inspired by the forum's earlier examples of ideal anthologies, I have been similarly inspired to create an ideal library of the weird; my 50 'desert island' selections of what best represents weird fiction from my perspective. Anyone else who should be so inspired is encouraged to catalogue their additions as well!

1. Aickman, Robert. Cold Hand in Mine
2. Aycliffe, Jonathan. The Matrix
3. Barker, Clive. The Hellbound Heart
4. Barron, Laird. The Croning
5. Barron, Laird. The Imago Sequence
6. Barron, Laird. Occultation
7. Campbell, Ramsey. Alone With the Horrors
8. Campbell, Ramsey. Dark Companions
9. Campbell, Ramsey. The Grin of the Dark
10. Campbell, Ramsey. Incarnate
11. Cardin, Matt. Divinations of the Deep
12. Carr, John Dickson. The Burning Court
13. Evenson, Brian. Windeye
14. Gavin, Richard. Omens
15. Golaski, Adam. Worse Than Myself
16. Grabinski, Stefan. The Dark Domain
17. Harvey, W.F. Midnight Tales
18. Hodgson, William Hope. The House on the Borderland
19. Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House
20. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery
21. Jackson, Shirley. The Sundial
22. James, M.R. Collected Ghost Stories
23. Klein, T.E.D. Dark Gods
24. Lansdale, Joe R. The Drive-In
25. Leman, Bob. Feesters in the Lake
26. Ligotti, Thomas. My Work is Not Yet Done
27. Ligotti, Thomas. The Nightmare Factory
28. Ligotti, Thomas. Teatro Grottesco
29. Lovecraft, H.P. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
30. Lovecraft, H.P. Tales
31. Machen, Arthur. The House of Souls
32. Machen, Arthur. The Three Impostors
33. Nevill, Adam. The Ritual
34. Oliver, Reggie. Dramas from the Depths
35. Ray, Jean. Malpertuis
36. Ray, Jean. My Own Private Spectres
37. Ross, Adrian. The Hole of the Pit
38. Samuels, Mark. The White Hands
39. Sarban. Ringstones
40. Schow, David J. The Shaft
41. Scott, Eleanor. Randalls Round
42. Shea, Michael. In Yana, the Touch of Undying
43. Showers, Brian J. The Bleeding Horse
44. Smith, Clark Ashton. The Emperor of Dreams
45. Tessier, Thomas. Phantom
46. Wagner, Karl Edward. In a Lonely Place
47. Wellman, Manly Wade. After Dark
48. Williams, Conrad. The Unblemished
49. Wong, David. John Dies at the End
50. Yancey, Richard. The Monstrumologist

[luciferfell]

Off the top of my head... The Ammonite Violin- Kiernan, Teatro Grottesco- Ligotti, Throat Sprockets- Lucas, Crash- Ballard, Songs of Maldoror- Lautreamont, Story of the Eye- Bataille, I Am Legend- Matheson, War of the Worlds- Wells, The Dark Domain- Grabinski, Alone with the Horrors- Campbell, The Dark Country- Etchison, The October Country- Bradbury, Cold Hand in Mine- Aickman, Labyrinths- Borges, Malone Dies- Beckett, Collected Works- Lovecraft, The Metamorphisis- Kafka, Naked Lunch- Burroughs, The Books of Blood- Barker, The 120 Days of Sodom- de Sade, Venus in Furs- von Sacher Masoch, Dracula- Stoker, In a Glass Darkly- le Fanu, Ghosts Stories of an Antiquity- James, Occulation- Barron, The Tenant- Torpor.

Sorry I don't know why this formatted as a paragraph when I typed it as a list...

[vapidleopard]

In no particular order. I'm taking the term weird broadly so not all of these encompass horror. I've decided to just go for collections too. Less typing involved.

The English Soil Society - Tim Nickels
The Gourmet Club - Junichiro Tanizaki
Cold Hand in Mine - Robert Aickman
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories - Ryunosoke Akutagawa
Nightmares of an Ether Drinker - Jean Lorrain
Fur - Liliane Giraudon
Cruel Tales - Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
The White Hands and other weird tales - Mark Samuels
Opium and other stories - Geza Csath
All God's Angels, Beware! - Quentin S. Crisp
Death to the Pigs - Benjamin Peret
The House of Sleeping Beauties and other stories - Yasunari Kawabata
Everything is Nice - Jane Bowles
The Living are few, the Dead many - Hans Henny Jahnn
The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini - Reggie Oliver
The Winged Darkness and other stories - William Heinesen
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
Various Temptations - William Sansom
A Strange Tale from East of the River and other stories - Nagai Kafu
The White People and other weird stories - Arthur Machen
Teatro Grottesco - Thomas Ligotti
Madam Crawl's Ghost and other stories - Sheridan Le Fanu
The Secret Life of the Panda - Nick Jackson
Stories - Paul Bowles
The Woman with the Flying Head and other stories - Yumiko Kurahashi
I wonder what human flesh tastes like - Justin Isis
The Ice Monkey - M. John Harrison
Unpleasant Tales - Brendan Connell

[luciferfell]

Quote Originally Posted by vapidleopard

In no particular order. I'm taking the term weird broadly so not all of these encompass horror. I've decided to just go for collections too. Less typing involved. The English Soil Society - Tim Nickels The Gourmet Club - Junichiro Tanizaki Cold Hand in Mine - Robert Aickman Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories - Ryunosoke Akutagawa Nightmares of an Ether Drinker - Jean Lorrain Fur - Liliane Giraudon Cruel Tales - Villiers de L'Isle-Adam The White Hands and other weird tales - Mark Samuels Opium and other stories - Geza Csath All God's Angels, Beware! - Quentin S. Crisp Death to the Pigs - Benjamin Peret The House of Sleeping Beauties and other stories - Yasunari Kawabata Everything is Nice - Jane Bowles The Living are few, the Dead many - Hans Henny Jahnn The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini - Reggie Oliver The Winged Darkness and other stories - William Heinesen The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith Various Temptations - William Sansom A Strange Tale from East of the River and other stories - Nagai Kafu The White People and other weird stories - Arthur Machen Teatro Grottesco - Thomas Ligotti Madam Crawl's Ghost and other stories - Sheridan Le Fanu The Secret Life of the Panda - Nick Jackson Stories - Paul Bowles The Woman with the Flying Head and other stories - Yumiko Kurahashi I wonder what human flesh tastes like - Justin Isis The Ice Monkey - M. John Harrison Unpleasant Tales - Brendan Connell

Wow! So many of these titles peak my interest! A lot of these ive never heard of... could we get maybe a short description of a few.. like the Kurahashi, Giraudon, Heinesen and Jahnn...?

[vapidleopard]

Quote Originally Posted by luciferfell

Wow! So many of these titles peak my interest! A lot of these ive never heard of... could we get maybe a short description of a few.. like the Kurahashi, Giraudon, Heinesen and Jahnn...?

You would ask about the most enigmatic of the books listed ;)
All four are unique in their own perplexing way.

The Kurahashi is certainly demented, sometimes amusing, sometimes explicit referencing Noh theatre and penetrative sex with an alien. I've yet to read her novel The Adventures of Sumiyakist Q, her only other work to be translated to English, but it looks fantastic.

This lady describes the Giraudon better than I could. I very much enjoyed its evasive oneiricism and directness (if that makes sense). Very peculiar.
EXPLORINGfictions: Carolyn Kuebler | Review of Liliane Giraudon's Fur

The Heinesen ought to hit the spot if you are a fan of near-mythical fables of ancient rites and grisly exchanges. All the stories are set on the Faroe Islands (where Heinesen is from) providing an suitably unfamiliar perspective. George Berguno is a huge fan and it is he who put me onto Heinesen originally. There are definite similarities in their writing.

The Jahnn has been spoken of on here a bit, so do look around. Contains the incredible 'The Night of Lead'. Highly recommended.
This review encapsulates the book very well:
Nate D (Brooklyn, NY)'s review of The Living Are Few, the Dead Many: Selected Works of Hans Henny Jahnn

Apologies for not expounding further. I'm incredibly tired and not much of a reviewer at the best of times.

[luciferfell]

Think Fur is on the list for my next book shopping spree. A lot of interesting books listed and a lot of looking up information on them!

[ChildofOldLeech]

- I second that; I pride myself on knowing a lot of obscure authors of the oneiric persuasion, but Giraudon somehow had escaped my attention - however, I should have a copy within a few days thanks to an interlibrary loan.

[njhorror]

I just received THE ICE MONKEY by Harrison. I'll surely hit that list for other rec's.

[shivering]

Should definitely be some W. H. Pugmire on the list. His Sesqua Valley tales are essential, in my opinion.

[luciferfell]

I somehow forgot The Blind Owl in my list.