Hello all, for April we are reading Space Horror. So scary / tense stories either set on space-ships or alien planets. Or threats from space, such as alien invasions – this can also lean into Cosmic Horror which involves supernatural extra-planetary beings.
As always you are free to read what you wish however strictly or loosely it follows the theme and come on the day and tell us whether you’d recommend it or not. As always, below are some titles to set the mood, but you are not restricted to these.
Examples:
- The Colour Out of Space (1927), by HP Lovecraft – many Lovecraft books deal with dark forces beyond human comprehension from the stars, but this is the one that was suggested by members – a meteor brings something evil to Earth.
- Who Goes There? (1938) / Frozen Hell (2019), by John W Campbell – the book on which horror movie masterpiece The Thing is based on, a group of scientists in Antarctica unearth a hibernating killer alien in the ice. There’s two versions, Frozen Hell (2019), which is the original version publishers rejected back in the 30s, and was cut down into the short-story, Who Goes there? (1939) on which the movie was based on.
- The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), by AE van Vogt – not really horror, but has a killer alien. An episodic space-travel story that influenced Star Trek TOS. I’ve never been a fan due to how paper-thin the characters are, but if you like old school sci-fi like Forbidden Planet, you may think more highly of it.
- Alien (1979), by Alan Dean Foster – the novel adaptation of the screenplay of the movie. Its not the best book I’ve read, but its an easy read and its interesting to see what they eventually cut from the movie. And of course, there are many alien and predator books out there that fit the genre.
- Sphere (1987), by Michael Crichton – psychological thriller about scientists experimenting on a spaceships found at the bottom of the ocean. Book was well reviewed, the movie adaptation was not :p
- Event Horizon (1997), by Steven E McDonald – another novel adapting a movie screenplay. I hated the movie, too violent for me, but I know it’s a cult classic – missing spaceship found, and seems to be haunted by pure evil.
- Blightsight (2006), by Peter Watts – Goodreads No.1 recommendation for Space Horror, and a Hugo Award finalist. From description I think its above invading space vampires?
- Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse 1) (2011), by James SA Corey – hard sci-fi focusing on water-miners out by Jupiter who get caught up in a conspiracy that might plunge Earth and Mars into war. Has horror elements. The TV show is one of the more loyal adaptations of a book I’ve ever seen.
- Annihilation (2011), by Jeff VanderMeer – all female group of researchers enter a part of Florida that is being terraformed by an alien force. A good of us have read and liked it - its very creepy. It's very different from the movie adaptation.
- Dead Silence (2022), by SA Barnes – from Goodreads description, seems to be a more modern version of Event Horizon – salvage ship discoverers ghost spaceship.
