Monday, August 30, 2010

For the love of weird

I've been obsessing about weird fiction lately, as well as assorted fiction that I think of as "weird" but may not technically be in the category (according to Wikipedia.)

I'm thinking of Harlan Ellison, Caitlin R. Kiernan (Unfit for Mass Consumption), Thomas Ligotti, Lovecraft... Maybe I mean speculative fiction? I can't keep the labels straight. Then there's Haruki Murakami. What label is he?

If I'd studied English at the university I could probably keep my labels straight.

So what do all these have in common? Unpredictability, a heightened psychological mood, darkness.

This is what I like. I'll be finishing my reread of "Pillars of the Earth" soon, any unpredictably moody and dark suggestions for what I should pick up next?

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