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T. E. Carlson's avatar

This is great! I still haven’t read “The Lottery”, and I just bought my first Laird Barron story collection. My fellow weirdos, you are welcome and I’m jealous of some of the books you’ll get to experience for the first time.

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Lucas Mangum's avatar

Thankfully, I have not experienced that type of gatekeeping silliness since my days at community college, but I do remember how that felt, so I make it a point to encourage new readers instead of making them feel like n0obs.

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Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror)'s avatar

The gatekeepers are on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram

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Lucas Mangum's avatar

Oh, I believe it! It's a damn shame, though.

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Christopher Ryan's avatar

Well said. Thanks.

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Danielle Vinson's avatar

I love this so much. x

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Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror)'s avatar

Thank you, Danni <3

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Travis D. Kimrey, Sr.'s avatar

Great article Sadie !! Everything you said is very true. I’ve been a reader of mainstream horror since I was a kid but didn’t discover Indie horror until about five years ago, give or take, when YOU unknowingly introduced me to it. I had the ignorant view that if a book was self published it was because it wasn’t very good. I still love King, McCammon, Lansdale, and many mainstream authors. But some of my favorite reads in the last few years have been indie books. Fracassi, Gifune, Ford, Boden, Lutzke, and so, so many more. For that I say Thank You !!!

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Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror)'s avatar

Travis this is the best feedback ever, thank you :)

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Chris Johnson's avatar

You mentioned Dracula. This is not to sound elitist. I first read Dracula in third grade -- a shortened version -- and six years later, I read the full version. It inspired me to keep a diary (of which your other posts remind me).

Back then, I thought Dracula to be a horror. And it is, but lately I see it as another genre: technological thriller.

Stoker included so many new inventions of the time in that novel, like the phonograph Dr Seward recorded his thoughts on.

(This isn’t to argue, just an unsolicited thought that occurred to me) :)

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