#horror nonfiction

[walkonpooh]

The Uninvited - Clive Harold Review

The Uninvited by Clive Harold purports to be nonfiction book about a series of UFO events that happen in the lives of the Coombs family, primarily on their farm in 1977. It begins fairly innocuously strange lights in the sky, malfunctions in electronics in their house. Then it begins to escalate; their cows show up multiple times in a neighboring farmers field, despite them being unable to find a single hoof print or human print around the cows that would indicate someone would have moved the cows. And it escalates to a direct encounter with extra terrestrials. So The Uninvited is a super interesting book to me. I think it was good. It's a good horror story, regardless of whether or not the events described are true so if that's what you care about, then I highly recommend this book. It's a creepy book. Chilling events happen. What I want to primarily talk about is whether or not the case of the Coombs family *is* true. When I'm writing my reviews, I try to do like at least a smidgen of research about the book to make sure none of the information I'm giving out is not factual. Looking up The Uninvited, any smidgen of information about this case, would lead back to this book. Which is interesting to me, because in the back of the edition of the book I read, there's a section where Clive Harold talks about interviewing the family, so clearly the primary source that Harold relied on is the Coombs family. As a nonfiction book, if The Uninvited is that, I found the book really, really lacking. There is no sourced information. None. Zero. Supposedly policemen in the area investigated these events, there's no interviews by the author with these policemen. The area is said to be a hotbed of UFO activity, with tons of other people around the area supposedly saw similar events and with rare exception, the book seems uninterested in that. I guess what I'm trying to say is there's no corroboration of the Coombs family, we're just supposed to take them at their word. Trying to find information about the case online, leads you back to The Uninvited. Every. Single. Place. I. Looked. Google. Bing. YouTube. Amazon. Goodreads. UFO sites. You name it. I want to take this a step further. Looking into the author, Clive Harold, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm more than willing to be corrected on this. I can't find anything about the author that doesn't directly tie back into this book. He was supposedly a journalist, but there's no articles or anything online written by him, every single shred of information I could find about this Harold led me back to The Uninvited. Which leads me to my conclusion, I think Clive Harold is a pseudonym for someone and that The Uninvited is a fictional story. Maybe based on an article or something that this person read, that's cool, that happens all the time. Authors, myself included, see something, are inspired and write an idea. I'm not even mad thinking this is a fictional story, because as I said, it's a creepy horror story and "based on a true story" was all the rage back in the 1970s (Texas Chain Saw, Amityville). It *just* feels to me like if this story were true, there'd be more interest because the claims in it are so extraordinary. More investigations into what happen that don't lead back to The Uninvited. There's way more detail than other cases like probably the most famous UFO case, the UFO crashing near Roswell. Right down to what individual members of the Coombs family were thinking years previous. I don't know about you, but I can't remember *exactly* what I was thinking two minutes ago while I was writing this. So do I recommend The Uninvited? Yes. With the above in mind. As a fictional UFO horror story, it's one of the better ones that I've read. There's some chilling ideas in here. And hey, if I'm wrong, then I'm wrong and am willing to be proven wrong. If I'm wrong and this *is* a true story, then it's even more terrifying than I previously thought and I think the *possibility* of it being true makes it a worthwhile read. 

4/5

[angela-yuriko-smith]

Horror Writers Association Scholarships

Horror Writers Association Scholarships are open!

🟢💲 From Authortunities · The Horror Writers Association Scholarships are open to all horror writers from June 1-Aug 1 with a variety of scholarships to assist writers looking to pursue a career as a writer of horror fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. They also offer one endowment to libraries to expand their young adult reading programs. HWA membership is not a requirement. The available…

[smokefalls]

Each of us is ultimately alone: a discrete little being with access only to our own senses and sensations, our own thoughts, and our own fragile body. Left to fumble for meaning in our constant pursuit of imperfect intimacies. We submit ourselves endlessly to that mortifying ordeal of knowing each other, just for the chance to be alone together. Language might be the best thing that we have to bring the void between ourselves, but it will never be enough.

Carrow Narby, "Indescribable" from It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror

[swampthingking]

the thought of cracking the spine of a book makes kevin nauseous. he like opens it just enough to see the words and holds the book at such uncomfortable angles to read— anything to keep the book pristine and intact. he does not let people borrow his books because he is a control freak (as a term of endearment) and does not trust them to take care of them the way he does.

and andrew is the complete opposite, cracking the spine as soon as he opens it. he annotates in pen. he dog ears the pages because who the fuck has time to find a bookmark. he throws books out of anger. he throws them at aaron for fun. he lets them get smashed and torn in his bag. he always keeps them, he just prefers them to look like they’ve been read.

[agirlnamedbone]

Because of its low budget, much of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was shot with natural lighting, which is part of what lends an eerie prettiness to the surroundings: their world, with its scrabble of brush and dust smeared everywhere and slowly setting sun, looks just like ours. A couple in their mid-twenties gently pushes the long amber grasses to the side to explore a neighbor’s house. House spiders weave webs, fibers shining in the afternoon light. At night things purple under dim moonlight, and in evening the film is heavy with sun, bright and sticky as a melting blood orange. Texas isn’t North Carolina, but at that moment I started to see both as not just ugly but gorgeous as well, decentering in their breadth. There, the trees and low shrubs have seen everything. There’s nothing that doesn’t promise to blossom, in one way or another, into an intimacy intractable in its depths. I entered the movie wanting to be scared because I dealt with my problems at the time by being scared. Otherwise, I’d feel too needy, too vulnerable and exposed. But that which entrances us and frightens us is so often the same.

Zefyr Lisowski, "I Loved 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Before I Loved Myself," in Electric Lit, 2023

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[frmulcahy]

accidental bookshelf color coordination

[acrosstheveil]

Ok, so she murders children, but she makes leather skirts out of human skin, which is kind of a slay (literally). On this episode of Across the Veil we discuss the folklore surrounding Black Annis, a murderous cave dwelling hag.

[pigeonflavouredcake]

Happy Pride Month

here's a look at my current queer bookshelf🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

It's super small atm but it's slowly growing, most of them are either transition related or wlw related. Here's a list of all the books and their Goodreads links from top to bottom.

Gideon The Ninth - Tamsyn Muir. Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space. I am kind of obsessed. I currently only have an e-book version but I liked it so much I'm looking to continue the series as physical books (I'm holding out hope for the books as a birthday present). Also butch rep. I am rabid for butch rep.

One Last Stop - Casey McQuinston. On my TBR pile. A romance that starts on a NYC subway but the love interest is trapped in the past.

The Girls are Never Gone - Sarah Glenn Marsh. On my TBR pile. Girl runs a paranormal investigation podcast and starts investigating a mysterious death from 30 years ago. The most recent book I bought that I'm looking forward to reading when I finish Children of Time.

The Lost Girls - Sonia Hartl. Holly gets revenge on her vampire ex by killing him and stealing his new girlfriend. I read this last year and I don't normally enjoy vampires but this book took me by surprise, lots of funny jokes about immortality and some empathetic discussions about emotional neglect and grooming that did make me cry a little.

Growing Older as a Trans and/or Nonbinary Person - Jennie Kermode. On My TBR pile. Insight and advice on being trans later in life in the UK. Reviewers have mentioned that it's mostly specific to the transfeminine experience but I still thought this book might be nice to look at.

Spectrums - Maxfield Sparrow. A collection of personal anecdotes from autistic trans people. Some bits are poetry some are more essay based, it was very heart-warming and affirming.

It Came From The Closet - Joe Vallese. On my TBR pile. A collection of essays on queer representation in the horror genre.

[bobmckenzie]

I DO think randall would retire from the medical field pretty early to pursue writing pulpy horror books. i believe that so firmly it's like canon to me.

[agenaroace-a-fucking-disgrace]

You ever have to pause a YouTube video about space because it made you experience genuine terror and existential dread from trying to contemplate it?

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Most Famous Short Film of All Time by Tucker Lieberman

goodreads

Ghosts and goddesses beckon Lev Ockenshaw. Oh, bother. Fortunately, he’s got a pill for that. In 2014, Lev is happily telling campfire stories in Boston with his longtime friend, Stanley, and his coworker, Aparna. One day, he receives an anonymous, threatening email referring to the company where he and Aparna work. He reports the threat to his boss, but is not believed. Most Famous Short Film of All Time is a non/fiction-hybrid philosophical novel about belief, prejudice, perception, ethical action/inaction, undoing/redoing decisions, trying harder, being excellent to your friends, being a fictional character, being trans, the nature of time, and burning things that do not serve.

Mod opinion: It took me three months to finish this 800 page behemoth, but it was worth it! This book is super interesting and I love trans temporality lot <3

[smokefalls]

What if love necessitates monstrosity, creates this terrible flesh by laying one’s wanting bare? Monstrosity both in the confession and the desire; in the vulnerability and the hunger.

Ryan Dzelzkalns, "A Working Definition of the Monstrous" from It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror

[maverick-werewolf]

My website shop is now open!

Ever wanted to buy one of my books? Now is the perfect time!

All my books are now available directly through me on my personal website as paperbacks, ebooks, and yes, even some hardback editions! And the prices on my fiction ebooks are now lower than ever!

Books available include all my prior books (such as my popular nonfiction work The Werewolf: Past and Future and all of my fiction) and even my newest release, my own edition of Sabine Baring-Gould's irreplaceable folklore source, The Book of Werewolves.

Visit the shop at maverickwerewolf.com/books (click here)!

[urjustaguyonahorse]

Hey, I don't know exactly how to word this, but as of recently I'm working at a book store. It's really important to me to be able to connect with people through books and connect them with books that they'll love and will make them feel seen. I've got a good idea of a pretty wide genre of books but I need to read more to be able to recommend more so hit me with your BEST book recommendations in any and all genres. Fiction, nonfiction, mystery, fantasy, thriller, YA, romance, graphic novel, science fiction, horror, adventure, dystopian, children's, and whatever else. Books you really like, books that you think define the genre, books with good representation, why you like them maybe, whatever you want to do? Comment, tag, message me, repost so it reaches more people. God bless you guys and happy reading! <3