Hello all!
My criteria are sort of specific so I figured I’d try asking real people instead of Google. I’m seeking FIRST-PERSON literary horror novels or short story collections.
* I use the word “horror” pretty loosely here–I mostly just want something with a dark (not depressing), edgier tone. Voice and atmosphere are of utmost importance.
* The literary aspect is important to me. I want well-developed characters and a strong writing style. One might say I like “beautiful” writing but that DOESN’T mean flowery/purple/complex. I don’t want to have to decipher what it’s saying on a sentence level.
* It being in first-person point of view is very important to me.
* Must feel contemporary. No classics and no historical fiction. I’m also not particularly interested in supernatural horror but I could be persuaded if the concept is intriguing enough.
* No doorstoppers.
* I have no limits on how extreme or disturbing the content is.
* My favorite book in this category: When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord. Some books that are in the ballpark concept/tone-wise but were so-so execution-wise for me: The Vegetarian, Sharp Objects, Tender is the Flesh, I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
Thank you very much and I’m happy to clarify anything! 🙂
by antinootus
4 Comments
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Victor LaVelle’s The Changeling
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio & Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
The Turn of the Key