Weird Fiction Explained

Weird Fiction Explained
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Witten, performed and edited by Moid Moidelhoff
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#sciencefiction #scifi #sf

[@TheDarkblue57]

We also gotta give Twin Peaks and X files credit for implanting the weird into the collective consciousness.

[@donkey3235]

You’re just too underrated bro this production level deserves millions of viewers

[@simonpark843]

Ramsey Campbell somehow fits into this category, too.

[@chrisw6164]

This is an instance where I wish I had been able to keep all the books I’ve read over the years. I remember reading a few novels which would definitely qualify as “modern weird fiction”, but I don’t remember the writer’s names. The stories weren’t quite horror, not quite dreamscapes, but strange and somewhat disturbing regardless. I’m no help at all, scroll down

[@PezGen]

Describe the stories, even if they’re in some abstract way. This community may be able to help find them!!!

[@PezGen]

Please tryyy!!

[@chrisw6164]

@@PezGen The writer I’m thinking of is Jonathan Carroll. Book was called White Apples. He’s described as a fantasy writer, but the story had a more general, real-world weirdness about it. The story flirted with horror but I wouldn’t call it a horror story. The writing was very good and the story was very strange in parts. My tastes are constantly changing so I never circled back to Carroll, but I remember liking it.

[@oldmanshreds]

I bloody love this channel. I was expecting you to say Vandermeer and Mieville. Both were the starting points for "new weird" for me. Mievilles The City and The City, just totally bizarre story and setting and I loved it a lot.

[@mandelbot5318]

Have you seen the TV adaptation of ‘The City and The City’? I was extremely sceptical when I saw they were filming it, but I have to say they did a pretty decent job. I just wish someone would pick up some of Mieville’s other work for adaptation. A movie of ‘Perdido Street Station’? 😮

[@michaelgill3099]

I really liked The city and the city but Perdido Street Station I loved. Just read all night. I was reading when the alarm went off and then went to work like a zombie.

[@oldmanshreds]

@@mandelbot5318 no I havent. Didnt even know that existed. Need to find it

[@LiamsLyceum]

Clark Ashton Smith is unmatched. "The birth of grimdark" should be "the birth of sword & sorcery", they're not quite the same, and S&S is much older and was an influence on Grimdark.

[@travisporco]

there's an interesting recent video by 'tale foundry' discussing feelings of numinousness or awe in 'cosmic horror', called why 'cosmic horror isn't scary and that's ok'. A very interesting take on it.

[@loismcmasters4680]

I always knew you were weird Moid, but you've outdone yourself this time. Congratulations!

[@SamSepiol1909]

I like Thomas Ligotti, Laird Barron and John Langan kind of "new" Weird Fiction which are a lot closer to the pre and around Lovecraft and his peers than VanderMeer and Miéville kind of new Weird. Really love the video btw.

[@mandelbot5318]

Another great video, Moid. My favourite, in fact, given that I’m a big Weird Fiction fan. Lovecraft and Mieville share the crown for me where the Old and New Weird are concerned, but the Vandermeers (both Jeff and his wife Ann) have done a lot to raise awareness of The New Weird in particular. Their collections ‘The Weird’ (a great big lunking chunker of a book) and ‘The New Weird’ are a good place for anyone new to get a taste. And Jeff’s ‘Ambergris’ books are amazing. I should also mention Jeffrey Thomas, whose Punktown stories and novels draw a great deal on Lovecraft, but he has built his own fascinating world to set his weirdness in. (It’s been turned into a tabletop RPG, in fact.)

[@drago939393]

I strongly believe that SCP fiction deserve a notable mention as a significant if not even pivotal form of modern and emergent "weird" writing. It's a key part of a broader cultural boom of "weird" fiction, what with ARGs, analogue horror and similar esoteric content. The nature of the SCP beast is such that a lack of singular author hinders it from having a consistent meta development, while simultaneously contributing to it being an unique phenomenon that stokes imagination.

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thanks, I'm planning a video on that subject

[@theschmidy]

Firs time I've heard mention of M. John Harrison in your videos. When I saw the title of this though, I thought, surely it's time, haha. I would love for you to read him (I'm not sure that you have), do a review, and maybe even reach out for an interview. There isn't enough of him online if you ask me. His writing is beautiful, and the Empty Space Trilogy is certainly awesome and weird, but I actually think Viriconium is even better. He's unmatched in his prose, if you ask me. Probably my favorite living author, haha. Thanks for another great video. Cheers!

[@nunyabizness6595]

Someone really needs to bring Weird Tales back. That would be awesome.😮😮😮

[@LiamsLyceum]

Weird Tales has been published off and on, it’s currently under the head of Jonathan Mayberry and just released their 100th anniversary special

[@バーンズエリック]

If you're willing to 'poach' from the literature section, I think Franz Kafka and a lot, though not all, of Jorge Luis Borges could easily be considered weird tales.

[@JeszikaLeVye]

Love this video. I've been on the hunt for weird fiction ever since I read my first Vandermeer book a year ago and fell head over heels for his writing. I've yet to find anything else that quite reaches the mark for me like his writing does. I've found when I ventured into cosmic horror looking for more weird fiction, it was all much more nihilistic and fatalistic. I never get that feeling from Vandermeer's writing - rather that there is something elegant and beautiful in the inexplicable even if it is dark and terrifying. That might have something to do with why I have hated both China Melville's book I read - they both seemed to glorify the grotesque and revolting - to roll around in the mud and get puss filled sores, rather than to elevate, create awe or marvel at the terrifying vastness and strangeness of it all. Though they are both weird fiction writers, the aesthetics are worlds apart to me.

[@mandelbot5318]

This is such an interesting take to me. I love both authors, but never really saw this contrast in their approaches. Mieville does undeniably revel in the grotesque, but Vandermeer’s ‘Ambergris’ books were also, to me at least, dripping with ickiness. I wonder if, perhaps, you would enjoy the works of another two Jeffs - Jeffrey Ford and Jeff Noon. Ford’s ‘Physiognomy’ trilogy, and Noon’s ‘Vurt’ books in particular. Both are great weird world-builders, but without the glorification of grotesquerie that you’d prefer to avoid. Just a thought. 😊 Edit: Definitely avoid yet another Jeff that I mentioned in my own comment here - Jeffrey Thomas. He is one twisted SOB.

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

I'm not sure what Mieville books you read. I began w/ The Scar, moved on to Perdido Street Station. Loved both (don't mind rolling around in the weirdness for a while). They turned me on to the new weird. I will admit, I haven't been a huge fan of his other books, but those two are really great, imo. It wasn't until after that I read City of Saints and Madmen, and I've been a Vandermeer fan ever since. I feel like Mieville's Bas-lag is more fantasy/sci-fi, while Vandermeer's Ambergris skews more towards horror, but there's a lot of overlap, in that they both created rich, very weird worlds and unique characters to inhabit them. I wonder if you would like The Etched City by K.J. Bishop, if you haven't already read it. It separates itself from both Mieville and Vandermeer with a vision unique to itself. If you're into new weird, then I would definitely recommend it. It's a genre that only a few authors have done well, imo, and Bishop is one of them.

[@mandelbot5318]

@@crudddddddddddddddWhat a great book ‘The Etched City’ is. And what a great shame that Bishop hasn’t written any other novels. This and her short story collection are all I can find.

[@SamSepiol1909]

VanderMeer's kind of weird fictions are inspired a lot more by European weird which you can read in his short story anthology: The Weird. It's like taking a turn and finding yourself entangled with forces beyond our comprehension. It's both beautiful and terrifying. I myself though are a fan of Thomas Ligotti, Laird Barron and John Langan's kind of weird fiction than both VanderMeer or Miéville.

[@kufujitsu]

The only Mieville novel I read was King Rat, which started off ok, until it got too heavily into exposition - it was as if he was apologizing for the novel's convincing atmosphere & weirdness - & thereby wrecking any wonder he was able to generate early on, His short story collection was much better - with several stand-out stories - after getting burned by King Rat, I'm hesitant to read his other books,..............but I keep running into good reviews of his later works, so maybe I'll give him another try. Ligotti is a genre all by himself, & he's a more consistent weird voice than either Barron or Langan IMO - especially with Ligotti's massive The Nightmare Factory, which has four of his better short story collections.

[@mattresbert]

Brilliant stuff So many names and books to follow up I don't know where to start ❤

[@mikesnyder1788]

Theodore Sturgeon was an extremely talented writer who covered almost every aspect of the Science Fiction terrain and, yes, he dabbled in Weird Fiction as well. His 1940 short story, "It", is as creepy and diabolic as anything I have ever read.

[@SciFiScavenger]

Recent weird is my only weird. So far. Vandermeer and Mieville, as you said, and Reynolds melding plague has a definite whiff of the Weird. King too sometimes. I am yet to Lovecraft, if I find some in the wild I shall nab it. Well done to you and the team, very polished work, professional even. Bravo. 👏👍🚀🤖👽

[@tishapatton7446]

My favorite words from this video are "tactile aesthetic." And by the way, thank you for mentioning James Tiptree Jr.

[@zetectic7968]

Wow Moid! You have found a groove, great visuals, props to the producer & a story or rather history well told. Makes me wish I was 25 years younger to have time to read a lot more that I have missed out upon. I await the next video with anticipation.

[@kufujitsu]

E.T.A. Hoffman is an unjustly forgotten name - & he was probably the main influence on Poe. Today most of Hoffman's stories hold up just as well as Poe, & remain very readable. Hoffman's best known short story is "The Sandman", but he wrote many more good stories aside from that one. My favorite novel which can be termed as a successor to Lovecraft was "The Ceremonies" by T.E.D. Klein, which I've read several times, along with his great collection of 4 novellas : "Dark Gods".

[@expressoric]

Excellent video, very well researched and put together. You're very erudite and educated about this, you must have done a lot of reading and study to have produced this so well. Your wording and presentation is excellent.

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thank you so much, I'm actually not that hot on most of the stuff I talk about in this video, I'm still on that journey, but I did do a lot of research

[@chocolatemonk]

I love this vid. The best part is when the scene is perfectly framed, lit and then you have a couple papers in your hand reading. lolol. thanks Moid

[@Vic-mc6tb]

Great video, Moid. I'm currently reading Annihilation, and I thought it had elements of horror in it, but I didn't know how to articulate my thoughts. You've done that for me. Thanks.

[@aaronsaunders6974]

❤ the castle background

[@macsnafu]

I've never been a fan of horror, but HP Lovecraft didn't write horror, at least as far as I'm concerned; he wrote 'dark fantasy'. Besides the Elder Gods, there were also the weird alien race of beings in At the Mountains of Madness, creatures not from another world, but a race that simply pre-dated humanity on earth. And my favorite is The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.

[@directorans]

Amazing video!!

[@personmcpersonperson2893]

These videos are so awesome! One of my favorite youtube channels for sure

[@KeithGiles]

I was going to scream if you didn't mention Lovecraft. [whew]

[@KeithGiles]

I really LOVE Brandon Cronenberg's POSSESSOR! Thanks for mentioning that...and of course PKD's Three Stigmata...

[@r0kus]

Very interesting video. Thank you! IMO you missed one major book from the early 1960s -- _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ by Ray Bradbury. He doesn't get the attention he deserves nowadays, because at the time he was considered the "acceptable" genre author in literary circles. I think modern folks consider him too mainstream because of that.

[@humanflotsam]

I am really enjoying the new stuff you are producing. It really reminds me of Jonathan Meades in style. I can think of few higher compliments for someone producing this kind of stuff. Thanks.

[@themojocorpse1290]

I picked up the complete works of lovecraft just a couple of years back ,So I’m a little late to the party as well , but must say I’m a big fan of the weirdness. Lovecrafts work is incredibly strange and yet very accessible you can just read a story here and there yet they stick in the mind long after . Great video Moid👍🏻

[@cmmosher8035]

I would argue that the Dark Tower is a part of the bridge between old and new weird. He slaps on his coat of paint by bringing Clint Eastwoods Man With No Name into the middle of a cosmic horror story about a man drawing others into the Wastelands of his unquenchable obsessions. Also there's billy bumblers.

[@MediaDeathCult]

Yes, good point

[@LuisParedesWrites]

Amazing video! Loved the journey you just took us on!

[@LivingDeadEnby]

This! Is right up my alley! Awesome video!

[@aftababbasi7707]

Library on Mount Char would be a good example of weird, but it seems to be a unicorn. There is hardly anything similar to it. It seems as if an odd wayward poppy dream ditched the pregnant muse along with the idea in the author's mind and never returned.

[@elenabertocci1418]

I love it, it's great, and it should get a lore more recognition!

[@michaelgill3099]

The only channel I hit the thumbs up before watching. (Just in case I forget to after)I can always take it off later if I don't like it. But that never happens. Great video

[@teemuruotsalainen1852]

This was great!!! More, please!

[@jeremymahrer1832]

Now too, i can say "He Planted a flag", brilliant. Thankyou.

[@FBrigdon]

"guyliner" LOL This is a great video, Nicely done.

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thank you

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

Mate, this was really interesting! I thought I had a clear knowledge or understanding of the horror/science fiction/weird genres progression, but I actually learned a lot. I have a problem with the new weird: I hate most of what I've read. Not just mew weird, but contemporary genre fiction in general. Those writer who gather together in magazines like Dark, Uncanny, Tor, and best of the year anthologies. The truth is, most are terrible writers.

[@バーンズエリック]

You bring up manga, but there were American comic book artists who at the least dipped their toes into weird fiction: Tom Sutton, Richard Corben and the intensely weird Rory Hayes to name a few.

[@TraverseCityWeb]

I totally agree that we could be entering a Golden Age of the weird genre. authors today. Have a big Meta awareness of all the weird tales that have come before them. it's become a form and we're seeing some really Amazing writers playing with that form. Great video. Thanks!

[@chrisw6164]

Weird

[@oldmanshreds]

Bizarre

[@matthewclarke-venters1303]

Great video - well done!

[@terryfurlong518]

Betwixt is my second favourite word but I absofuckinglutely love tmesis. Leader you are a genius.

[@Dylan13Collins]

Recommend me all of these! Ive read poe and reynolds, dabbled in lovecraft. Currently readinf peter Watts which kind of feels in this vein. I need all the recimendations!

[@personmcpersonperson2893]

Great video once again

[@mrbiff5444]

I see where this is going......someday it will be Professor Moid at Eton or Cambridge....professor of sci-fi or horror....you ain't fooling me.

[@zezidantes5587]

Anothr great one, Moid

[@j.j.5731]

Ambrose Bierce

[@ronsilva7394]

Good stuff !

[@バーンズエリック]

I have to disagree about at least one new wave writer (though starting before the new wave, I'm not sure he really should count as a new wave writer per se): I think there is a lot of horror in a lot of Philip K. Dick stories. A lot of cosmic horror, in fact. He see-saws back & forth through different periods from being more hopeful to being more despairing, but the despairing ones can get pretty fucking dark and disturbing.

[@c62west]

Thanks!

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thank you, glad you liked it

[@JohnG225]

A most eldritch video…great blasphemous work. Loved the non-Euclidean camera angles.

[@blindhen171]

I waited for you to mention Mieville, and you did! :) Maybe Vanderemeer is comparable in style but not in execution, Mieville is my GoTo boy for everything in this genre. As for Reynolds, he should keep to epic scifi. I read "Terminal world" and it was embarrasing!

[@barryvercueil2346]

GANTZ is an awesome Manga. 👌

[@pgattei]

"loves that dripping gothic black and purple thing"... just like your mum :)

[@EzeICE]

BETWIXT!!!!