Talk-boards Of Terror
Jul. 16th, 2007 04:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joysilence posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
darkling_talesBack when I first came across The Weird Review (a supernatural and fantasy literature site run by Jessica Salmondson, proprietrice of Violet Books) I made a beeline for the review section, and one of the most frequent contributors was a man known as 'rbadac'. Though an amateur, I found his criticism very astute, and while his chronic lapses into pastiche can wear thin, he also brought an enjoyable dry wit to his articles. He was especially knowledgeable about Edwardian and 30s writers (pretty much all the references to H Russell Wakefield on the 'net come from him, and he also knew his Onions. And his De La Mare and his Hartley...)
Anyway, rbadac died not long ago, and his many fans on the former USENET group 'alt.books.ghost-fiction' have created a site in his memory, with links to many transcripts of USENET debates, reviews, and even original fiction (though most of this is affectionate vignette pastiche, written under the jokey name of L P Hardly.) Anyway, the site offered me several hours of fun, though there is no site map and you have to dig about, following link after link, to be sure you've accessed all the available pages! Of course, with it being a discussion group, many other writers contribute to the lively chat, some professional authors, some amateurs or publishers in the field. It's a nice blend of opinion and the bitchery is kept to a minimum. I don't always agree with what rbadac has to say (for instance, I'm sure many of this community's female members can give the lie to his claim that fans of the literary ghost story are almost always male!) but he has a pleasant, warm 'voice', not to mention a vast knowledge of authors I've never even heard of, spanning the past 150 years.
Anyway, onto my question: are any of you members of any supernatural fiction discussion groups? Where should a girl go to find 'a ghostly company' of like-minded readers? (I've been toying with the idea of joining the Google talkboard, but I'm not sure what it's like.) All suggestions are welcome - if you've got a website, forum or lj community, here's your chance to pimp it :)
Anyway, rbadac died not long ago, and his many fans on the former USENET group 'alt.books.ghost-fiction' have created a site in his memory, with links to many transcripts of USENET debates, reviews, and even original fiction (though most of this is affectionate vignette pastiche, written under the jokey name of L P Hardly.) Anyway, the site offered me several hours of fun, though there is no site map and you have to dig about, following link after link, to be sure you've accessed all the available pages! Of course, with it being a discussion group, many other writers contribute to the lively chat, some professional authors, some amateurs or publishers in the field. It's a nice blend of opinion and the bitchery is kept to a minimum. I don't always agree with what rbadac has to say (for instance, I'm sure many of this community's female members can give the lie to his claim that fans of the literary ghost story are almost always male!) but he has a pleasant, warm 'voice', not to mention a vast knowledge of authors I've never even heard of, spanning the past 150 years.
Anyway, onto my question: are any of you members of any supernatural fiction discussion groups? Where should a girl go to find 'a ghostly company' of like-minded readers? (I've been toying with the idea of joining the Google talkboard, but I'm not sure what it's like.) All suggestions are welcome - if you've got a website, forum or lj community, here's your chance to pimp it :)
