Kathe Koja
 

If Thomas Ligotti said this about Philip K. Dick, I wonder what he would say about Kathe Koja. You see, for me Koja is like Philip K. Dick but her style is not pulpish at all (and her books seem to be more horror than SF) . I have read two books of hers (Skin and Cypher) and I would recommend her speculative fiction for adults (she also writes young adult books) to anyone who enjoys transcendental/existential horror stuff. Has anyone read anything by Koja?

http://www.kathekoja.com/
http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/archives/koja.html
http://www.writing-world.com/children/koja.shtml
http://trashotron.com/agony/reviews/koja-bad_brains.htm

Re: Kathe Koja
 

I've only read a few of Kathe Koja's short stories. I bought the first edition of her novel The Cipher published by Dell Abyss many years ago, based upon a glowing review in Locus. I'm holding the book in my hands now. It is yet another reminder that I have a tendency to acquire books faster than I read them. Judging a book by its cover, this one does look good....

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Yellowish Haze (one of the BEST names here!) --

I've read three novels by Kathe, BAD BRAINS, THE CIPHER, and SKIN. The last was best. Her short stories leave me disappointed. I really enjoyed her novels, they were something very new for me at the time, early 90s. I recall thinking how damned well she writes...envying her. Always a good sign. Although, if you ask me, I don't remember her stuff as too very existential. But it's been a while.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

SwansSoilMe/SwansSaveMe ,
Thanks. In my case it's also been a while. I discovered Koja when I was like 17, and thought: gee, that's what I was looking for! I remember also trying to read Skin in English, but I found it too difficult at that time.
Strange Angels and Bad Brains are still waiting on my bookshelves and I look forward to them, but I don't want to read them too soon in order not to spoil the experience. It's a pity Kathe Koja stopped writing horror novels. I've noticed there are lots of these writers who start writing horror fiction at some rebellious/difficult stage of their lives and when they find balance (redemption?) they suddenly give up writing horror. This is also the case of Anne Rice who recently gave up vampires for Jesus Christ.

G. S. Carnivals,
I hope you'll enjoy The Cipher. I used to be obsessed about that book!

(BTW, ever since I've read Angel Heart by William Hjortsberg I tend to misspell the word Cipher! All because of this Louis Cyphre character, ARGHH! 8) )

YHAZE said: I've noticed there are lots of these writers who start writing horror fiction at some rebellious/difficult stage of their lives and when they find balance (redemption?) they suddenly give up writing horror.
***********

I've not read any KK, but Im inteersted in this phenomenon which you do well to identify, I feel. Perhaps it should be a separate thread.
des

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Ever the communication completist, I must say I read Strange Angels too. Liked Skin better. Rice is into Jesus now? I saw her book, but...!? Guess it does make some sense.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Well, there is that whole vampiristic/cannibalistic subtext (not unlike certain African tribes) in Catholicism. You, being a fan of Swans, should be able to get at least one of the underlying jokes/references in "The Final Sacrifice" (and "Volcano", for that matter). One of those lines in their is so blatantly a perverse look at the eucharist... Mmm, hallowed flesh on rye!

Back on subject: I have heard of Koja, but have not read anything. What is her style like?

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Fluid and visceral. You don't notice the words so much as the happenings/action/states, and you're not at all intolerant of an abundance (if I remember correctly) of description.

Yes, I know it's not farfetched thinking of Rice as Christian; maybe it was just a matter of time. It's still strange to hear. I've only ever read Interview w/ a Vampire. She doesn't go for the scare at all, it seems. Stephen King's Salem's Lot was amazing to me in that it was a modern-day vampire story that actually scared. "It was from her spinal cord, a much older network of nerves and ganglia, that the black dread emanated in waves."

Swans' "OneSmall Sacrifice": Jesus as psychic vampire. Actually...Gira and Jarboe, as you may know, were called Skin when they made that happy little tune.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

I was referring to the longer (10 minute) version on Soundtracks for the Blind and Swans are Dead, which is lyrically and vocally the same (perhaps more drawn out?) as the decade older Shame, Humility, Revenge version but with completely different backing. Same, either way. And "Volcano" also has the "eat the flesh of the idol/enemy and become like them" undercurrent. The line in the former is actually "If I drink your blood / I will be like you", which takes an interesting (but oft-ignored) truth about Catholic rite and ritual: It's just like the vampire myths! Sup upon flesh and blood of one's enemy, be it a true enemy or an envied person, and be it the whole body or more in the metaphoric sense, and you will take on the likeness, be it external or internal, of the devoured. This is an old tradition, associated with the peoples of north Africa and Scandinavia, and to some extent mainland Europe. The anthropological and psychological aspects of vampire myths are fascinating, really.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

[quote="yellowish haze";p="4314"]Actually yes. His book "The Nameless" was made into a fantastic movie, "Los Sin nombre" directed by Jaume Balagueró... I dare say that it is actually better than the book itself.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Same happened with Clive Barker. Once he came clean out of the closet, he stopped writing horror altogether, and when he tried to come back with "Clodheart Canyon" the result was more pornographic than anything.

Not that he was 100% horror writer to begin with (I’ve always seen him as a mixed bag; his good stuff is great and his bad stuff is just bad) but he did write some classics like “Midnight Meat Train” and “Dread”

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Agreed on Barker. I'm interested in this phenomenon of writers abandoning horror (or being abandoned by it...?) In my own case, I think the only stuff I write that's halfway decent is horror, but I have to be in a particular mood to write it: if I'm feeling too morbid, then I just won't write anything at all, and if I'm not feeling morbid enough, then I either have no desire to write horror, or I try it and the results don't ring true. I've never had a talent for subjugating the Muse, either. I guess people like me are why there's a whole stratum of fiction about blocked writers.

re: vampires/cannibalism, the movie Ravenous was on TV a few days ago. I guess it could be called a Wendigo Western. It has its moments (and a Michael Nyman score.) Makes me wonder why there haven't been more "vampire Westerns," since the genres seem to overlap well.

It also got me thinking, if there were vampires in the traditional sense (i.e., everyone bitten is "turned,") and consequently the human population became 100% vampiric in short order -- well, wouldn't there be all sorts of vampire "health problems" popping up after they were forced to cannibalize and/or feed from animals for an extended time? (...unless they had the foresight to keep some humans around for blood-harvesting.) Maybe they'd eventually adapt back to some semblance of mortality. Maybe this progression has already happened! AHHH!

(boy, am I off-topic...)

Re: Kathe Koja
 

What the hell IS this topic...

I once tried writing an illustrated story about a vampire locked in a cell or bomb shelter, and he came down to having to bite his own hand/drink his own blood to "live." Stephen King later wrote one about a guy strabded on an island and cutting off his own foot to eat. Uh...the guy was a doctor, see.

Speaking of sucking, I never understood the big Barker craze. Maybe two or three of the "Books of Blood" stories and The Damnation Game were the only things I liked. as far as the Hellraiser series, the first two movies were much better than the books. Before discovering Ligotti, I would have rated my favorites as

Thomas Tessier
James Herbert
Stephen King
Kathe Koja

...no particular order. Not all they did was good. If you wanna get into Tessier, BTW, read his novels; his shorts aren't quite as tasty (heh-heh, we'll let that one slide as I saw it comin' from a mile). Really, try The Nightwalker and Finishing Touches.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

As I said earlier, Barker is (at least for me) a mixed bag... out of most of the stuff I read of him I can think of very few examples that shine out. He's actually one of the few writers who have managed to write a book that ultimately became a physical pain to read. (That book was Galilee... AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE).

Re: Kathe Koja
 

...Kathe Koja...

Okay, yeah: Barker. I can smell a "horror"-actually-nonhorror book quite a few a few racks away. That's why I avoided CB's later books, although I figured he might actually be becoming a better writer. But I wanted to be scared. Peter Straub had good stuff for me in Ghost Story but his writing was also kinda..."ghostly." Not in a good way. I gave him a shot with his S. King coauthorship The Talisman, but after that quit the series real fast. The only fantasy I think I ever enjoyed was Edgar Rice Burroughs as a teen. Fist two Tolkien books...

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Fantasy fiction is a bit like socialism, isn't it? (good in theory....)

Same thing with vampire stories. With very few exceptions, vampire stories strike me as Harlequin romances for overweight girls who have suffered from sexual abuse, wear crushed velvet, and own at least one ceremonial dagger.

And just so this post isn't 100% negativity/sarcasm... yeah, there were three or four "Books of Blood" stories that I enjoyed. :D

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Poppy Z Brite, anyone?


I must confess myself guilty of reading a Poppy Brite book, though, but you must understand it sprang out of my interest in Jeff Dahmer's case, and knowing that said book was partially inspired on this man's life, well, I couldn't help it. That book, you guessed it, was "Exquisite Corpse"... the good news is that I stopped reading less than halfway through... it was just bad.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

I've read a few of her stories and one novel, Drawing Blood, and they were all pretty good for me, esp. the novel. I saw that she was gonna repeat much of her subject matter and I stopped turning on to her.

All these people are simply a different strata of writer, however, from Thomas Ligotti. As well, Tom has a pretty well thought out philosophy to be reckoned with, so even as other than a writer of weird fiction he's a vital voice, pardoning the perhaps inappropriate adjective there. This is how we know that we can trace the line from Poe through Lovecraft to Ligotti. The rest ultimately will be forgettable in general.

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Has anyone used the website "Literature-Map"? If you type in a writer's name it will illustrate graphically which other writers are similar in style. The site ranked Kathe Koja very close to Thomas Ligotti.

Literature Map --

www.literature-map.com

Re: Kathe Koja
 

"Literature-Map" is quite interesting. I did about a half dozen quick searches. I was - at once - pleased, surprised, and disappointed. Who can argue, though, with the assertion that Groucho Marx is Harlan Ellison's cousin?

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Well,both Koja and TLO have Detroit backgrounds, both seem to be very private people, both seem to be extremely intelligent, and both are brilliant stylists.

I've read all of Koja's horror; 'Skin' is the best IMO. An essay on industrial alterna-culture and madness. The style is rich, severe, and angry. She's also adept at getting inside her character's heads and building realistic psychologies.

As someone said above, too bad she stopped that and is writing children's books now, although I'm sure she's good at that, too. If you get on her website, there's no hint that she used to write horror. I wonder if she's disowned that phase of her career?

Recommended, in order:

'Skin'
'The Cypher'
'Strange Angels'
al the rest

Re: Kathe Koja
 

Looks like Kathe Koja is back with a new adult novel. Someone elsewhere drew my attention to this trailer featuring shadow puppets!!!