Smarter people than me can argue whether Evenson's work, especially here, is 'weird fiction' or even 'horror', and I would understand arguments for it being neither. This story isn't his weirdest or most cosmic, as a disclaimer, so I am sorry to put it at the front of this list. However, I list it at the top here due to it being one of my favorite short stories of all time, if not the top short story of all time, for me. I absolutely adore Evenson's incredible facility with dread. This is the title short story of a collection which I highly recommend any student of fear study closely. Its first and last stories, "Black Bark" and "The Blood Drip", astounded me, as did "BearHeart", "Click", "The Punish", "The Dust"... just read it. Please.
I'll be honest. I have very mixed feelings regarding the cult-favorite author of this story, since to me, his work can be hit or miss. I know that can be a controversial opinion! That said! This story is, to me, his most Lovecraftian work, although most people seem to give that honor to "The Last Feast of Harlequin", which, to be clear, is also a very good story (even though I prefer Michael Chabon's "The God of Dark Laughter" as far as clown-based weird fiction goes). However, "Nethescurial" is so Lovecraftian to me, in the narration, the description, the climax, that I have to recommend this story as Ligotti's best taster for those of you who may be unfamiliar with his particular tone and brand. This, along with the story "The Frolic", are probably my 2 favorite Ligotti stories (although the short-film adaptation of "Gas Station Carnivals" that ALTER did is something I liked even more, if beyond the scope of this article.)
For my Delta Green players out there who understand what my username means, Laird Barron is for you. "The Imago Sequence", one of Barron's earlier short story collections, contains stories like this or another favorite of mine, "Old Virginia", where both of the narrators of these stories are like really, really good Delta Green characters: cynical enough to be interesting, unknowing enough to be sucked into the horrors, never prepared for what's coming. This story is inspired heavily by motifs from Asian horror, especially Japanese, if I can tell correctly (I may not be able to - if anyone has good recommendations for Asian horror, email them to me, I beg you). I know this is a very wide umbrella and I would love to learn more about the subgenre. That all being said, this story has a wonderfully creepy buildup and an ending I still think about. Give it a try.
I adore memetic horror (in case you couldn't tell from my username and homepage), the idea that ideas, art, or other intangible products of the mind can kill you or (better yet) worse. This epistolary short story about a man who invades an experimental film is a masterpiece of the type. The concept is simple yet so devastatingly effective, and the mental imagery of the cursed piece of footage is sublime.
Yes, I know this is the second one I've recommended from Barron, but if you read him you will see why I cannot be blamed. This story jump scared me, and I loved it.
If you have any more recommendations, please (PLEASE) drop me a line at cptnsnshn@proton.me.
Keep it weird,
CptnSnshn