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Worlds Without End Roll-Your-Own Reading Challenge

The Weirdness Reading Challenge

The Weirdness Reading Challenge

What is it with The Weird? I know that Lovecraft was weird, and before him there was Clark Ashton Smith and Arthur Machen. There was the magazine Weird Tales which sounds like it should have been weird. Jeff and Anne VanderMeer have published an 1100 page anthology of The Weird, and I've read their definition of it -- several times. But I'm still not sure I get it. And now to further complicate things, there is The New Weird.

So this year I am going to read as much weird ficition as I can find.

The Wikipedia entry on Weird Fiction lists over 50 weird writers, and there is the table of contents from the VanderMeer's book with right at 100. There is also the e-jounal Weird Fiction Review, where you can read interviews with current weird -- or I guess that should be "New Weird" practictioners and get leads to many new publications. Weirdness seems to find its natural home in short stories more so than novels, so if you sign up for a year of weirdness, expect to read a lot of collections and anthologies.

There is now a sub-genre heading for Weird in Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy. I have begun to label titles. Be sure to add the subgenre label to whatever you read if it is not already there. And remember that any book or writer not currentlly in the WWEnd database can be added. Make your requests through the "Can't Find the Book You Want" forum.

Let The Weirdness begin.

Challenge Details
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Challenge Span: January 2021 – December 2021

Reading Levels
Select your reading level below. You can adjust your level up or down at any time during the challenge.

 Resident of Arkham = 3 books + 1 reviews
 Student of Miskatonic = 6 books + 2 reviews
 Worshipper of Dagon = 9 books + 3 reviews
 High Priest of Cthulhu = 12 books + 6 reviews

This challenge has expired. Please have a look at some of our other challenges for something that may interest you.

charlesdee

charlesdee

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
DeirdriuWRS

DeirdriuWRS

1 Book
Completed!

Boy, Snow, Bird
Disturbed by Her Song
Empty Space: A Haunting
Fool on the Hill
Ghost Story
The Haunting of Hill House
Light
Lovecraft Country
Magic for Beginners
Nova Swing
The Passion of New Eve
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Engelbrecht

Engelbrecht

6 Books
Completed!

Flyaway
In Tents
The Memory Theater
Mexican Gothic
The Secret of Ventriloquism
Women's Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890-1940
finminer

finminer

12 Books
Completed!

The Changeling
The Deep
Gather, Darkness!
Heart-Shaped Box
The Hollow Places
Iron Council
King Rat
The Only Good Indians
Out of Space and Time: Volume I
Piranesi
The Scar
Welcome to Lovecraft
FKatterjohn

FKatterjohn

The Horror on the Links
2
1
Grayman14

Grayman14

6
5
4
3
2
1
Hneite

Hneite

12 Books
Completed!

Dhalgren
Falling in Love with Hominids
Finna
Jelly
Kraken
Piranesi
The Ramayana
A Scanner Darkly
Tales from the Loop
Things from the Flood
This Census-Taker
Un Lun Dun
Mark5327

Mark5327

9 Books
Completed!

The Affirmation
The Claw of the Conciliator
Earthlings
Hyperion
Lagoon
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ring Shout
The Shadow of the Torturer
XX
niriop

niriop

12 Books
Completed!

The Bloody Chamber
The Crack in Space:  aka Cantata-140
Dazzle Resplendent:  Adventures of a Misanthropic Dog
Exquisite Corpse
The Fog
The Hearing Trumpet
Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination
Nine Horrors and a Dream
A Scanner Darkly
The Small Assassin
Story of the Eye
The Torture Garden
Weesam

Weesam

12 Books
Completed!

Black Moon
The Dead Hours of Night
The Face in the Abyss
Hearts of Oak
The Late Breakfasters and Other Strange Stories
Lovecraft's Monsters
The Memory Theater
The New and Improved Romie Futch
A Peculiar Peril
Some Possible Solutions
The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities:  Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories
The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases