Okay, 'The Bride of' thread hit 300 posts. Thought I'd start a new thread so it won't take so long to load.

Just a place to talk about scary books you either have read or are in the middle of reading.

What do you think of it? Would you recommend it to others? Is it best avoided? Let the group mind know your thoughts!

I'm about six chapters into Ring. It's alright thus far, but I have a feeling it won't compare to the movie which gave me nightmares. It's strange since it is the original source that the movie would be better.

I've just started Burnt Offerings. I watched to movie a few months ago and like the book a lot more so far. The part at the beginning when they're still in Queens is a better introduction to the characters, I think.

I finished Danse Macabre. I liked it quite a bit. It felt sort of like what hanging out with Stephen King would be like (assuming that all he wanted to talk about was horror).

All his talk of haunted houses made me decide to start Edward Lee's Flesh Gothic. Also, it is on of his books that doesn't have a review here on LT yet. I like the idea of being the first reviewer!

I've only read the prologue so far. I really like Lee's writing. He is a much better writer than I was expecting based on his reputation for 'extreme' horror. It may not be fair, but I consider lots of extreme horror to be pornographic, so I don't expect the writers to be particularly talented (and the samples of extreme horror I've tried in the past have backed this opinion up).

#3 - d2vge,

I think I've said it before: I really want to try Burnt Offerings. I remember seeing the movie years ago. I hope you write a review for it or at least talk more about it here.

jseger9000,

Ed Lee is hit or miss with me, but I thought Flesh Gothic was the best of his that I've read. However, it seems to be a "love it or hate it" book based on reviews/opinions I've read elsewhere. Yes, there is quite a bit of over the top sexual horror in this one, but that's common in Lee's books.

I'm in the thick of Duma Key right about now. Scary things be happening, muchacho. And hey, I didn't all too much care for Flesh Gothic. Hell, I couldn't even finish the thing. City Infernal was great, but Lee just couldn't do it for me with the whole haunted house thing.

City Infernal didn't sound especially interesting to me, but I think I might order it since it is so widely praised and I've liked Edward Lee's writing.

I'm about fifty pages into Flesh Gothic. So far it is following the typical 'psychic investigators head to a haunted house' setup, but that isn't a bad thing. There's been lots of graphic sex descriptions and honestly, that isn't bad either. If he isn't going to shy away from mondo-violence he shouldn't blush at carnal sex either.

The prologue was pretty interesting, and tracking the last survivor of Slaughter Night at the Hildreth House (through a room of flesh!) was pretty intense.

My only worry is that I have a feeling I might have already figured out what might be a big plot point. If I have been able to guess it, I will be a little irked. I'd say what it is here, but don't want to spoil it for other potential readers. It has to do with the lady the PI is looking for.

#4: Can't wait to read your review, jseger. I read that one awhile back and liked it (though I don't remember the plot very well). And as for slasher porn in books, I'd say Edward Lee's kind of up there. He writes some pretty intense stuff.

#7: Too bad Flesh Gothic didn't work for you. I wasn't too interested in the whole haunted house aspect of it (ghosts and all that just don't scare me), but overall I liked it. I definitely liked City Infernal more, though. I have the second book in the trilogy (Infernal Angel), but haven't started it yet. I think I was waiting till I could find the last book, so I could read them in one run.

Totally got sidetracked with reading everybody's posts there. :)

Anyway, I'm currently reading Sabella by Tanith Lee, which falls more into fantasy/sci fi, but hey, the lead (Sabella) is a vampire, so I figured there might be some readers interested in that. It's very well written and has an intriguing plot and characters (especially Sabella). Plus the book's short! Gotta love that.

Oh hey, just to clarify my post #4, when I was talking about extreme horror often being pornographic, I didn't mean that they all involve graphic sex.

I meant that often in what I see labeled as 'extreme horror' seems to use violence in the same way that porn uses sex. Just as exploitation without any pretense at artistry. Now I'm not trying to look down on that or say that it is wrong (a little exploitation is good for you). Just that I'm not expecting fine writing when I'm going to try one of those books.

The fact that Ed Lee does write that extreme horror and still (to me anyway) writes very well was just such a nice surprise.

Message edited by its author, Jun 15, 2009, 8:05pm.

Since people seemed interested in Flesh Gothic I thought I'd check in.

I'm up to page 94. (For me, I'm tearing through this book.) The psychics have just started gathering at the Hildreth House.

The book is well written and I am enjoying it enough. I do think the author took too long to get the investigators to the house though. I appreciate the need for the biographical sketches, but I thought the bit at the clam bar with the writer with the drunk and horny secretary was unnecessary and should have been cut. Maybe it will come back and be important later, but it just felt like I was spending too much time with that character.

(Also, I thought the secretary might be the girl the PI was asking about, but their names are different, so I guess not.)

I got back to reading a horror book and just finished Crimson by Gord Rollo. Meh. It's not bad for a paperback horror genre book. I think I had my hopes up too high.

I also read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and liked it more than I thought I would. I'm not really a fantasy fan, but found it delightful. I can't get any of my kids friends interested though. They all want to read and talk about the Twilight series. (I'm not even going to touchstone those things). Vampires don't sparkle.

I finally got around to finishing Sacrifice by John Everson. It was a little weak at first but it the ending was good.

Gord Rollo and John Everson (and Robert Dunbar are a couple of writers I really need to get cracking on.

I have all their books (thanks Leisure Book club) but just haven't read them yet. So many books, so little time.

Rollo's Crimson was an early book republished by Leisure and had some great ideas for horror. I just think, like a lot of debuts, he is honing his craft. I look forward to seeing what he comes out with next and need to see about reading Jigsaw Man.

I've heard good things about Robert Dunbar's The Pines which I think is also a Leisure republish of an earlier book.

It's often hit or miss with trying new authors. But like junk food, it may not be your favorite dish but it's good anyway.

Wasn't Jigsaw Man his first book and Crimson his second? Or did Leisure just republish them out of order?

The Pines is a republish (of an earlier Leisure book in fact) though I read somewheres that this time it is unedited. (Perhaps uncut is a better word since Leisure's books often feel 'unedited'!)

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2009, 12:14am.

Crimson was Rollo's first published book, originally published about seven years ago by Prime Books. Leisure/Dorchester published Jigsaw Man (first publishing of that novel, I believe) first, followed by Crimson, a reprint of the earlier edition. I don't know if there were any changes from the original to the Leisure version. I thought Crimson had a lot of promise, but failed to deliver in places. The first chapter was a great start to the novel, among the best openings I've read in a while.

The Pines is definitely a republish because I have the original (I bought it new in the late 80's) and read it when it was first published. The newer version is uncut, but what differences there are, I don't know as I didn't read the newer version and don't remember too much about the original.

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2009, 9:21am.

Bad Girls Don't Die this was definetly a creepy book. I just finished this young adult book about a young girl that finds her sister to be possessed by the spirit of a young girl that lived in their house in the 1800's. This was definetly different from most other books that I have read. This will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2009, 9:27am.

I thought Crimson was a republish but wasn't sure about Jigsaw Man. I have the same feeling with Crimson though. There are some memorable scenes including that first chapter, but overall it was lacking.

#19 - Bad Girls Don't Die looks pretty interesting. I hope that's not wierd coming from a 45 year old man because it looks like the audience would be for teenage girls. It's a little unsettling when your reading Wilbur Smith's Monsoon and adding Bad Girls Don't Die to your TBR.

I had a really good time with The Jigsaw Man.

I just wanted to shed some extra light on Gord Rollo's Crimson novel. I remember reading in his forum that the book had been re-published again in 2006. I think he had to cut something like 10K words. When it was released again by Leisure, it was over their 100K word cap. So, he had to cut an additional 14K words and re-write some of the scenes. In his defense, it probably didn't help to fix the story years down the road.

I am still looking forward to reading soon though...

I received The Doll Who Ate His Mother from Amazon today. For the first time I'm considering putting a discrete little crocheted cover over the book so no one will see the title - or cover art. Brrr.

I'm listening to an collection of Poe's short stories. It's only got 10 tales and they're the most famous. But it's been years since I've read any but, despite any dated or ornate language, they are still very effective. There is also a wonderful additional element when creepy tales are read aloud.

Guys, I have to say Flesh Gothic isn't quite panning out. I'm on page... 280-something and will finish the book. But the promise of the strong start just isn't being followed through on.

I still think Edward Lee is a good writer, but haunted house stories are obviously not his long suite. Despite all of the horrible things that have happened in the Hildreth House's history, Ed just isn't making the house itself particularly chilling or sinister. There's been all the fun supernatural hijinks you could want, but the back story of what these monsters are was explained too early. You are never asking yourself 'Oh my God! What is that thing?!'

Also, all the psychics just seem to blase about the hauntings. Maybe he should have focused on Karen and the reporter and kept the psychic's personalities at arm's length. Since they aren't particularly freaked out, I'm not either.

And c'mon, all of the women staying at the house have been raped and yet none of them seem to have a problem traipsing off again on their own. Karen, the non-psychic never even seems to entertain the notion of just leaving and the ones that are psychic don't seem to be especially effected by their 'invasions'. Cathleen has just locked herself off again to perform a seance. And so did Adrienne. Don't these people learn? Wouldn't it have been wise to at least have Alexander monitor what was happening through the built in surveillance system?

He should have focused more on the group dynamic. Showing them developing a bunker mentality together and agonizing over breaking their contract and leaving versus risking their souls by continuing their investigations.

I'll read more Edward Lee (and I will finish this book), but I can see that Flesh Gothic is not his high water mark.

Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 12:45am.

I'm reading three books, I never do that. I'm going to make a commitment to work on just one and finish it. I'm reading Danse Macabre but it's something I have to peck away at, not just sit and read hours at a time. I have Blindness Jose Saramago which is kinda boggy, and The Sounds of Building Coffins which so far is fun, but I really should finish off Blindness as it goes back to the Library first.

I finished Flesh Gothic last night. It started strong, trhen slid steadily downhill. I knocked out a review if anyone is interested. (I'm still polishing the review, so bear with me).

So I didn't like Flesh Gothic, but in the mail today I got Lee's City Infernal and Infernal Angel. To be honest, they don't sound like my thing, but the feedback on the first one is so good, I have to try it.

I'm reading Mean Spirit, the sequel to The Cold Calling, which I realized about half way through that i had started before and then stopped reading in annoyance when a particular character was murdered. I still didn't remember having read the rest of the story, but I clearly remembered the part that annoyed me-this time however, I stuck to the end.

Just finished reading Afraid by Jack Kilborn Grisly but good! A group of genetically altered soldiers (former psychopaths and murderers) are dropped into a small and peaceful American resort.

Sad to say I just couldn't finish The doll who ate his mother. It turned me off and I gave it away today. Time to hunt for something a little more sublime.

#29, What turned you off about The Doll Who Ate His Mother? The writing, the tone, the pace? Was it too dull? Too disturbing?

I've been curious about that book since I read Stephen King's short analysis of it in Danse Macabre, but I confess I haven't liked my exposure to Ramsey Campbell so far (Midnight Sun). There was a terrific story in that book, but it was so slow in pacing and the anticipation was so strong that by the time something happened it was a let down.

Well I didn't care for Campbell's writing in The Doll Who Ate His Mother. I find him a little hard to understand sometimes - that may be a cultural thing I don't know. The pacing was a tad slow, and I found the premise of the story to be distasteful rather than disturbing. I could actually see how someone else with a stronger stomach for such things might even like this book. It just didn't suit me.

I just finished Robert Aickman's Cold Hand in Mine which is a nice little collection of creepy tales. This is definitely on the quiet (and British) end of horror, though I think Aickman's style is more straightforward than Campbell's. It does feature some nice shock moments but also some stories where the true nature of the strangeness never gets revealed.

I just finished Handling the Undead. Although it not scary (not meant to be) it is an interesting take on the zombie myth.

I've been eager for Handling the Undead to be available in the US. I loved Let the Right One In. I guess I'll just have to be patient or open up the pocket book. Regardless it looks great.

I just ordered two Greg F. Gifune books: The Bleeding Season and Children of Chaos. After reading Saying Uncle, I decided I NEEDED to get my hands on some more of his work.

Oh Let The Right One In was just precious. Great book.
Right now I'm reading Out by Natsuo Kirino. It may not be classified as strictly horror but there are some pretty horrific actions by the main characters so far. Quite an enjoyable read, I hope it doesn't disappoint at the end.

Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2009, 10:50am.

#35 - Phlox,

I can't say it is for everyone, but I LOVED Out. I liked it enough to pick up Natsuo Kirino's next book (Grotesque), but haven't read it yet. I plan on rereading Out in the future.

I recently finished UR by Stephen King and Serial by Jack Kilborn both exclusives for the Kindle. Lots of fun on both counts. Last night finished up The Cellar by Laymon and mon oh man what a waste of my time. I liked the idea of the beast house but the ending was terrible and there was way too much sadistic sex for my taste.

Out was absorbing from beginning to end.

Right now I'm reading The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. It started off promising, and got to a really original spooky point. But right now it reads like a whiny, melancholy love story, and it's getting tedious. I wish writers knew how to put the "psychological" and the "horror" together better in their novels. It just seems like books lean more towards one or the other and there is no happy medium. It's usually either gross-out horror or monotonous philosophical babble. *Sigh*

I started The Ceremonies yesterday. I have to admit that so far, I'm finding it sort of slow. I wouldn't say it's a question of quiet vs. mainstream horror, because the opening strikes me as pretty conventional. Anyway, I really liked Klein's shorter works in Dark Gods, so I'm hoping this one gets better soon.

Message edited by its author, Jul 21, 2009, 9:00pm.

>38, I'm reading The Little Stranger too, and it's taking me forever! What part are you at? (I was going to say "It started getting boring when...", but I don't want to spoil anything for you.)
Have you read any of her other books? They all seem to have those boring-ish rambling bits.

Oddly, The Ceremonies is also sitting on my bedside table right now. Only read the first few pages, though.

#40 d2vge...I finished it last night (well technically this morning). Stick with it, it does get better. In fact I couldn't fall directly asleep after reading because I kept thinking about it. When it gets spooky again, it is really good, and I loved the ending. Rather unnerving.

Oh, and I tried to read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters , which is not a horror, prior to The Little Stranger. That one started off interesting as well but about one third of the way it showed signs of getting very convoluted - and I gave it up.

Message edited by its author, Jul 22, 2009, 1:27pm.

#41, Phlox, I'm glad to hear it improves! Thanks for that.
Same here with Fingersmith: I've started it at least twice, but give up every time. I loved The Night Watch, though.

That's too bad about Fingersmith I really enjoyed it. I just started House of Leaves the writing so far is very good.

#39 - Carlos,

I will say that The Ceremonies is pretty slow over all. In general, that's my problem with 'quiet horror' ranging from The Ceremonies to Ramsey Campbell's Midnight Sun to Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home to Charles L. Grant's Hour of the Oxrun Dead. I know these books are fairly diverse, but they all have their slowness in common (though for me personally, The Ceremonies is the one I liked the most). My attitude to these types of books is what has kept me from seeking out Phil Rickman, Thomas Ligotti or T.M. Wright.

Having said that, I enjoyed The Ceremonies because I really liked the writing and the story being teased out. I still think of individual scenes from that book, 10+ years later and enjoyed the depiction of the Poroths and their community. That is sort of what reminded me of Harvest Home.

For all its slowness, I would read The Ceremonies again. I've also picked up Dark Gods, but haven't read it yet.

Message edited by its author, Jul 22, 2009, 7:46pm.

#44 - I'll have to get to Harvest Home sooner rather than later. (Ditto: Whatever Ramsey Campbell novels I may have on my TBR pile.) So far, the only Tryon I've read is The Other, which hooked me right from the start. (Technically, by the end of the first chapter.)

I shouldn't judge it too harshly, as I'm only about a fourth of the way through and have started falling more into its rhythms. So far, it reminds me a bit of Peter Straub (more from reputation than first hand experience), with its references to the whole tradition of gothic and horror literature. It's an interesting element to the story, but one that makes it feel a little less horrifying. I find myself trying to catch references, wondering if Carol's haircut is an homage to Rosemary's Baby, thinking about how many Gothic villains have been forced to rely on anagrams, etc. (There's a moment where the Old One tells Carol that a particular story has to be read in a specific setting in order for it to work, and I found myself wondering, Is that an Ambrose Bierce reference? Yes, I'm a geek.)

In a strange way, the novel has me curious to read The Events at Poroth Farm, which Klein later expanded into this novel, to see how essential those extra pages may be.

I have nearly finished The Strain by Guillermo Del Torro and Chuck Hogan. Unlike every review I have read I am not enjoying it at all, just a bland plot, thin characters and pointless contrivances. sigh I quite liked it at the beginning but I am becoming more and more irritated with it. Ahem. Sorry just had to rant and get it off my chest. :)

I recently read Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill, and it started creeping me out right in the public library in broad daylight. When I got it home, I could barely put it down long enough to make supper.

Would it be double-dipping to mention The Ceremonies once again, because I wanted to take back some of the stuff I said about it being slow. The opening does drag a bit, partially in the character bios and the the telegraphed series of "coincidences" which bring together the lead victims. (I'm wishing Klein had made the Old One's role in that more ambiguous or downright opaque.)

But once it gets going, it is really captivating. I was reading this afternoon and found two hours had easily slipped by. I'm intrigued how of all the main characters, the one that's most similar to Klein (Jeremy) is the least likable. But, Sarr is awesome. His story of visiting New York is where the novel really sort of engaged for me.

I know, I know, I know I need to read Heart Shaped Box, but the whole 'rock n roll horror' angle is a turn off. Only because when I've seen it attempted before, it has always been bad. Ignorant of me, I admit.

Carlos, glad you are liking The Ceremonies more. I was afraid I'd given you a bum steer. I do remember that Sarr was the character I liked the best. I forget where it occurs in the novel, but did you read the part where he's sitting on a park bench in New York next to the old man? (I think he only talks about New York the one time, but can't remember for sure.) That's one of the scenes that really stuck with me.

jseger, definitely not a bum steer. Finished it today and really thrilled by it. I didn't really think of it as quiet, since compared to Robert Aickman Klein's practically punk rock (or the hippity hop or whatever the kids listen to nowadays). But I see how a more mainstream horror novel would have more action earlier on, while this one was mostly slow build. Found it very effective. More action throughout the story would have provided some mini-catharses, helped ease off the tension. OTH, Klein just kept ratcheting up the anticipatory dread, until it was nearly unbearable. (Started wondering if he was just going to destroy the world, though it probably would have spoiled the work.) I can see how 400 pages of slowly increasing tension can be less fun, harder to pull off (than a good mix of atmosphere/build and action). Still, Klein definitely gets it right.

Sarr does only talk about New York the one time, but, yeah, great scene. Also, though I never really liked Jeremy, found the irony of his studying gothic and horror works while oblivious to being in a horror story to be highly amusing.

I recently finished Far Dark Fields by Gary Braunbeck. I feel as if a chunk of the ending is missing. It's been a while since I read the other Cedar Hill books, so maybe this is typical? At first I thought my book was missing pages but I looked up the page count and it was accurate.

Can anyone else that has read Braunbeck's work enlighten me? Is this abrupt ending typical?

# 51 - I've only read one by Braunbeck, but it had the same sort of abrupt, "WTF" ending that you're talking about. The book was Keepers and it ended weirdly. I think that he was trying to say that the whole thing had been a dream...or maybe not, it was pretty confusing.

I finished both The Bleeding Season and Children of Chaos by Greg F. Gifune over vacation. Both are very well written and very dark in nature. Gifune's fiction focuses on the psychological horrors of suicide in The Bleeding Season and insanity in Children of Chaos. Any supernatural elements take a back seat to the character’s inner turmoil. I wonder what state of mind an author goes through in writing such material. Gifune even apologized to friends and family for putting up with him during the writing of Children of Chaos in the afterward.

I actually decided to read Afraid by Jack Kilborn between the two Gifune books to give myself a break from the material. Afraid was a brutal, action packed, fun read.

#46 – clfisha, I was looking forward to The Strain. Still am:) But after reading your comment, I was reminded of my exact feelings after reading Hater by David Moody. I wonder if this is because each is the first in a planned trilogy and both just suffer from a poor execution of the introductory book. Hopefully more depth in character and plot will be revealed.

#53 I think it was partly because its a trilogy and I do wonder if it the fact that it was originally conceived as a TV show landed it with some problems. Hopefully you will enjoy it, I think it just pushed all my buttons in the wrong way :)

#54 - That's interesting that it was originally conceived as a TV show. I didn't know that. For some reason I'm more even more curious now to see if I have the same reaction after reading The Strain. Thanks for sharing.

I just finished The Ghost Writer, which is a nice postmodern love letter to the Victorian ghost story. Unfortunately, it's not quite as complex and sophisticated as the first third would lead you to believe, but it is well worth reading if you're a fan of the genre...

Still plugging away at House of leaves very bizarre style, the writing is brilliant but the fill is some times awkward and annoying. All the dancing around the story gets on my nerves and makes it easy to set aside. I was hoping to finish it today, but that's only going to happen if there are a lot more pages of only two and three words.

#56: Thanks for reminding me about that one, Bentley. :) I tucked that one away months back, because I wasn't quite sure if it was horror or not. I'll have to give it a thumb-through soon and see if it holds my interest.

Btw, I'm shocked I haven't been reading any horror lately (mostly just contemporary YA, comic books, and nonfiction). I'll have to jump back on the horror wagon again and find something good and creepy. . . . (shuffles off to her library)

Speaking of Hater, what is the group mind's opinion of the Autumn books? I loves me some zombies, but the feedback I've seen is pretty varied and I'm afraid they look a little too self publish-y for me to take a chance without some trusted feedback.

I've only read the first in Autumn series, and felt it was only so-so. It's pretty "talky" in that the characters really like to converse among each other about what has happened, what they will do, etc. If you're looking for action, it takes a while before that kicks in, somewhere around the last third of the book. At this point, I don't plan to read the other three in the series. I think they are out of print now, but will be published again soon along with the previously unpublished fifth volume. Regarding Moody, I liked Hater much more than I did Autumn.

I don't mind 'talky' (I read Stephen King don't I?) as well as the dialog is believable.

Hmm, maybe when the series is republished I'll try the first book.

I don't mind 'talky' (I read Stephen King don't I?) as well as the dialog is believable.

Hmm, maybe when the series is republished I'll try the first book.

Hater doesn't sound like my kind of thing, but that may be the fault of bad synopsis.

Message edited by its author, Aug 4, 2009, 12:02pm.

Autumn was originally released as a serial on Moody's site. I'm not sure if it's still available or not. If not, definitely wait for the new publication as used copies are selling for a premium now.

I don't know if I'd refer to King as talky, but instead as having too much fluff/filler in many of his large post Pet Sematary books. But, I understand what you mean. ;-)

I wonder if Under the Dome will be 1000 pages of excellence or 400 pages of excellence and 600 pages of "look at all the extraneous stuff I can throw into the story".

Just finished Urban Gothic by Brian Keene. Pretty graphic, but a good read overall.

#77 - I just picked that one up from bookstore. Keene is a favorite of mine.

I just finished Beware by Richard Laymon and didn't enjoy it much. This one had all the Laymon characteristics (breast fixations, sex/rape, pyscho, gore) without the interesting story. It started off good, then went down hill fast.

This one had all the Laymon characteristics (breast fixations, sex/rape, pyscho, gore)...

Did he use the word 'rump' 78 times? Man, somebody should have bought that guy a thesaurus.

I started The Terror by Dan Simmons just before bedtime last night.

I have The Keep by F. Paul Wilson on my 'next' pile. I haven't read Wilson before but I hear good things.

#66 - I don't remember 'rump' so much but there were plenty references to female body parts. Usually 'glissening with sweat' and 'pushing through the thin layer of her top'. You expect that from Laymon. It's just the second half of the book was a chore as the the story veered from what could have been an interesting premise. There are some Laymon books I've enjoyed, but I think I may have read my last one for a long, long while. The last few just weren't that good.

The last few just weren't that good.

Which is funny, because the books aren't being reprinted in their original publication order. I wonder if maybe Leisure reprinted the best of his stuff first?

Like you I enjoy some Laymon and some is awful. I don't really think he improved or got worse as a writer as he wrote more stuff. It's almost book-by-book with him. Sometimes he was feeling it and sometimes he wasn't.

I hope this doesn't sound like a plug or anything, but if you're an Early Reviewer, they're offering a chance to win a free copy of Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I've already requested mine, but I doubt I'll get one (I don't review). But good luck to anyone who tries! :)

ETA:

#67: Great time to start any horror book! :) I always envy people who can read in bed. The second I'm under the covers, I'm out for the night.

#68: I've only read 1 book by F. Paul Wilson (Midnight Mass), but I really enjoyed it. (Vampire stories rarely disappoint me.) You're smart to start with The Keep, because it's the first in his Adversary series. I have that one, too, but I was kinda hoping I'd find the rest so I could read it in order. Let us know what you thought of it. I may start The Keep after you. Depends on if I have time, though.

#70: I wonder if maybe Leisure reprinted the best of his stuff first? -- Yep, you're right; several publishers do that. When the writer's stuck--or for whatever other egocentric reason--s/he digs through old manuscripts and has the publisher crank 'em out (lucky us). I like it when they at least mention "first time in print" or whatever, so I can kind of skip over them and maybe read them later.

Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 3:38pm.

I'm currently reading Urban Gothic as well. If it's Keene, it's a good read.

The Terror is also a good one, but not as good as Carrion Comfort in my opinion. Like Keene, it's hard to go wrong with Simmons.

The Keep is a great place to start with Wilson's works. I've read the Adversary cycle, but none of the Repairman Jack novels (yet) that fill in some of the blanks. Midnight Mass was one of the better vampire novels I've read in the past several years. If you can track it down, Wilson had a collection of short stories published by TOR during the late 80's horror boom called Soft and Others which was a great collection.

Laymon had some "best" stuff? Ha, just teasing. I've never been much of a Laymon fan due to the repetitiveness in his books -- constant "rump" references, sex starved teenagers in peril themes, deranged/psychotic killer, etc. -- plus his story lines just never did much for me. I think I read four or five Laymon books before finally giving up. However, I know several others who are absolutely enthralled by his books.

Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 4:57pm.

I have Urban Gothic sitting on my shelf begging me to read it. Soon as I finish Charlie Huston's No Dominion, I'm on it.

BTW, Already Dead and No Dominion are fun to read combining crime noir with vampires.

As for Laymon, "best" is kind of relative. I really enjoyed Island, Quake, One Rainy Night, The Travelling Vampire Show and a few others. He is certainly a guilty pleasure. But the others I've read have gotten very repetitive and irritating. I think he brought something to the horror genre. I also think I've run my course with his books for now.

Well, just remember, I said 'maybe Leisure reprinted the best of his stuff...'

Yeah, I do think Laymon is a real guilty pleasure. In that way, he's like a more tolerable Dean Koontz to me. Spread out over time, his books can be enjoyable schlock.

I enjoyed In the Dark, Island (I wrote a positive review for that one in fact) and Among the Missing.

It's funny timdt mentioned One Rainy Night as one of his (Laymon) favorites. I didn't like that one much at all (wrote a negative review of it here).

Good review jseger. I can't disagree at all. I did enjoy One Rainy Night, but it was one of the first Laymon books I read. If I was to have read, say After Midnight, earlier in my Laymon readings I believe they could easily have switched places on my enjoyment scale. That's because, as daddygoth mentioned, they are very repetitive. Each premise is simply a way for introducing sex and violence. And normal human emotions don't apply. That's why in 'Laymon World' a character can get raped and then want to have sex with another character within the hour. Or, as in your review, sit and watch a good spaghetti western while people are getting raped and killed around you. At first its absurdly wacky and fun. After a few more books its not wacky and fun anymore. It's just absurd.

At first its absurdly wacky and fun. After a few more books its not wacky and fun anymore. It's just absurd.

Yeah, I think that's why I can only read one or two Laymon books a year.

I don't know what it is about Laymon that keeps me reading him really. He's such a hack. Yet there's something about his cheese-o books that keeps me going, though I'd never be able to recommend his stuff to anyone else (unless they were looking for the written equivalent to A Nightmare on Elm Street or similar schlock).

I just finished House of Leaves not sure I can give it a review. Still trying to decide if I even liked it.

My extremely ignorant opinion of House of Leaves is that there is an interesting story buried under a lot of postmodern pretension.

I've been this close to picking up House of Leaves umpteen times, but the word 'house' being printed in blue and pages made up of one word are something of a turn off to me.

My one big knock against House of Leaves is that as a horror story, it's not particularly scary. Admittedly, that's a pretty subjective measure. I actually think it's closer in spirit to convoluted Gothics such as Melmoth the Wanderer or The Manuscript Found in Saragossa. That said, it was a good read, and I felt the pomo elements were more playful than pretentious.

I've started The Woods are Dark by Richard Laymon (mentioned by RabidPete in the 'worst horror novel you've read' thread).

It starts off with a bang... and then immediately falls on its face. Well, the book is just over two hundred pages. I ought to be able to knock it out and then get started on Different Seasons.

I just started Patient Zero

Patient Zero is a great book. I've enjoyed everything of Maberry's that I have read to this point.

The Woods are Dark is one of the Laymon books I've read, based on a recommendation. I agree that it started off well, but it quickly fell apart and ended up being the typical, repetitive Laymon book.

Y'know, The Woods are Dark really is crap. But damned if it doesn't grab my attention anyway. At 250 pages I would have finished the book in a single read if life didn't intrude.

Nonetheless, I'd have a hard time recommending it to many people.

It's sort of like the book version of one of those bad '80's slasher movies (a Dario Argento movie for instance) that really are terrible, but are fun if you have a taste for that sort of thing.

Patient Zero kicks ass - a fast pace military thriller, with zombies - gotta love it.

I'm reading Gils all Fright Diner A. Lee Martinez silly fun so far.

Patient Zero does kick ass. I haven't read anything by Maberry that doesn't. I saw that he is writing the novelization of the new Wolfman movie coming out which I find kind of odd. I guess I would rather he continue to explore his own work than spend time novelizing a script. Maybe I should hold judgement.

Gil's All Fright Diner was a lot of silly fun. I've been meaning to pick up more of Martinez, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Jseger, I loved your review of The Woods are Dark. Somehow you've presented what is decidely crap and made it seem desirable to read anyway. Lord help me, but that is the very reason I'll eventually pick up another of Laymon's books.

Somehow you've presented what is decidely crap and made it seem desirable to read anyway.

Hey, thanks for the kind words!

I just have an affinity for 'crap done right'. Which also describes my taste for Godzilla movies, Italian horror movies, Spaghetti Westerns, low budget horror flicks, synth-pop, Warhammer novels, pulp westerns and Richard Laymon's writing.

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 5:49pm.

71> I'm about halfway through The Keep and it is creepy! I wish that I had more time to devote to it this weekend, I will be able to finish in the next day or so. It is very different from your typical spooky story. I'll let you know when I finish.

Last night, I started Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts. It's a collection of short stories. I'll give an opinion when I've read more. (I loved his Heart Shaped Box.

It was the best collection of short stories I read last year. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

It was one of my favorite reads of last year!

I'm about two-thirds of the way through The Summoning, only my second Bentley Little. It's really quite good. I wasn't sure about it because vampires don't really do it for me, but I LOVE the evangelist angle. That's just fabulous. I've also read The Store. Little is right up there with Ira Levin and Fritz Leiber on the paranoia scale.

I recently finished Altmann's Tongue by Brian Evenson. It is his first book & a short collection but I found interesting, disturbing & odd in equal measure. I tried it after enjoying his claustrophobic Last Days which I really recommend.

I finished Wandering Ghosts by F. Marion Crawford, a collection of ghost stories published in the early 20th century. The much anthologized Upper Berth is probably the best of the bunch, but the lesser known ones were also interesting. There's a great creepy atmosphere in The Dead Smile and the first half of the The Screaming Skull builds intensity well. There's a couple I wouldn't call horror but even those have a nice touch of menace.

I also read a few pieces in The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard but it was due back at the library before I could get too far in to it. I was very impressed and intend to pick it up. If you can get past the frequent racial epithets, his Pigeons from Hell is one of the better horror stories I've ever read.

Message edited by its author, Sep 10, 2009, 9:10am.

I just finished The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, and although not a traditional horror novel - no monsters, serial killers, etc. It was horrific as it focused on Eastern Europe during WWII seen through the eyes of a 6-10 year old boy.

I think iit's the kind of horror book you need to read once, but I don't think I would revisit it - it was affecting, but I like my horror to be a little more escapist.

#94 - My memory is hazy, but I do remember really enjoying the Robert E. Howard horror stories I've read. Pigeons from Hell is a standout.

Anybody have any opinions on Chelsea Yarbrough? I just got a load of splendiforous 80s booty ARRRR, but haven't encountered her before.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. That's a name I bump into all the time at Half Price Books. I haven't picked any of her stuff up because it all seems to belong to her one mega series (20+ books) about the vampire Saint-Germaine.

I've been reading Fritz Leiber's Dark Ladies and recently finished Conjure Wife. In it, a college professor comes to suspect that his wife has been practicing witchcraft. He confronts her about it and she agrees to give it up. That's when things start to get a little strange. Well written and engrossing.

I've been swearing I was going to read Dark Ladies for forever. I'd make that my next book, but have already decided to read Gary A. Braunbeck's In Silent Graves next.

Our Lady of Darkness sounds like the more interesting of the two, though from what I've heard Conjure Wife is the better.

I hope you write a review for the book when you're done. Maybe you will push me to read it.

jseger,

You put it very well- Conjure Wife is great story well written and coherent. While Lady of Darkness is both more interesting in concept and bit less satisfying in over all coherence.

I 've read some Yarbro and it decent readable stuff, but not world -shaking.

I've just finished The Ghost Writer by John Harwood. I must say it was disappointing. The writing was elegant, and it started well with some truly spooky moments. Then around the later half the plot started to get confusing, convoluted and not that interesting. By the time it was finished I found myself going "huh? oh well." I think the author lost his way towards the end, and unfortunately the reader experiences that feeling as well. Still, for the overall tension it maintains and the spooky moments, I'd still recommend giving the book a read. I would be interested to know what others think of it.

>102, I had pretty much the same experience with both The Ghost Writer and The Seance. I gave up on both about halfway through.

d2vge....Yes, I was thinking of getting The Seance but now I think I'll pass on it. Sigh, that means I'm in a dry spell with no books to read.

Yeah, he's a frustrating author, because both books sounded so interesting to me....
Ugh...I hope your dry spell is over soon!

You know, I really liked The Ghost Writer, although I do sort of agree with the criticisms of it. I think the second half of it could have used some better editing. His pacing is outstanding through the first half, but when he starts to pick up steam (which he actually does a little earlier than he should), he flounders a little, and the book starts to lose the cohesion of the first half. I pretty much agree with Phlox, although I ultimately found it a more satisfying read. But you do have to work with him in the second half, and since you know what he's capable of from the first half, that feels a little insulting, like he didn't work on the second half as much as he should have.

jseger, I'll have to at least write some of my impressions about it here. I've had a bit of a block with reviews lately. I think I was trying to make them better and better, than hit a wall of having set the bar too high.

I'm about 40% of the way through Our Lady of Darkness so far and at this point, I'm liking it quite a bit so far, probably more than Conjure Wife. Lady has a much slower build than Wife, and I tend to be partial to the slow build.

Wife, on the other hand, seemed a little clunky at first. It sort of gives you the big conceit early (wife practices magic to defend her husband from the magic of all the other professor's wife) and lets the protagonist stay in denial of it for a good chunk of the story. It's the sort of approach that always seems like it would work better if the reader had no idea what sort of story to expect.

I may protest a bit much here, since there is some real good tension building in the beginning of Wife. I'm definitely digging the ambiguity of Lady so far, though I can see how Leiber might have written himself into a corner with that approach.

I agree that having the character stay in denial for too long just gets irritating if the reader already knows what is really happening. (I'm not saying that happens in Conjure Wife since I haven't read it yet myself.)

As for reviews, I've started writing a review for every book I read, even the pulpiest schlock. I used to try too hard on my reviews (and I still do when it's a well regarded book), which makes them seem stiff. I think my best reviews are the ones where I shoot from the hip. Of course, that works better for pulp since folks aren't usually looking for a deep analytical review.

I also joined the Reviews Reviewed group and that has been a big help with polishing up my reviews.

Anyway, I'd try just winging a review of Dark Ladies if I were you. The two existing LT reviews are pretty short.

Oh yeah! I started Gary A. Braunbeck's In Silent Graves today. I'm about sixty pages in and so far I have to say that he's a higher caliber writer than most of the Leisure stable I've read.

He's taken the time to build lives for his characters so that when bad things happen they have an emotional impact on the reader.

On the downside, his writing is sometimes too lyrical for its own good. There were a few times when he was describing a supernatural event that the writing just seemed a little garbled. Too surreal. That may well have been his intention, but for me it seemed to create a distance from the story and therefore lessened the event's impact.

I finished Our Lady of Darkness last night and thought it was pretty good overall. I think the climax and resolution did seem a bit thin--elegant but lacking a certain visceral power--when compared with the build-up. But what fun the build-up was! Leiber creates a really nice sense of place* and history and manages to keep the story moving and the tension building through the accumulation of little incidents and revelations. I'd say it's structurally similar to a Lovecraft story (strong sense of place, concern with the past, the importance of texts, an unnameable evil...) but very much original in style and execution.

As for oblivious protagonists, I think they can be effective. Conjure Wife lays a few too many of its cards early on, and instead of feeling one step ahead of the protagonist, I felt as if I was two steps ahead of him, waiting for him to catch up. That all vanishes once things come to a head (about halfway through, perhaps less), at which point what he believes becomes secondary to what he will have to do.

So, I'd say both novels are pretty great if with minor flaws, Wife having a weak start and Lady having a weak ending.

And I'll try to wing a review for it, maybe just expand on some of these points.

*I live about an hour away from San Francisco. I once dropped a friend off at the airport around five in the morning. I decided that since I had made the trip down, I'd hang out in SF for the rest of the day. It was too early for anything to be opened, so I headed to Twin Peaks ("...two hills with an elevation of about 922 feet situated at the geographic center of San Francisco"). The sun had already risen, there was still quite a bit of fog; but there was enough wind that it would break up, offering little glimpses of the city. I could see there was already a fair amount of traffic but couldn't hear it at all. I was really struck by how I could be in the middle of the city yet feel so completely isolated from it. Lady reminded me quite a bit of that experience. I'm very much tempted to go looking for Corona Heights the next time I'm there.

Carlos, have you read any other Fritz Leiber? It's a shame he isn't better known.

I think the reason I went on about your 'oblivious protagonists' comment is because it reminded me of one of the worst books I've read. Tower of Evil by James Kisner, a story about a haunted high-rise (from what I remember).

The 'hero' is a female security guard working the night shift. As supernatural occurrences happen she repeatedly dismisses them as someones idea of a joke. Then a severed head comes rolling in through the lobby doors and she still insists that it is a joke. Oh brother, at that point I quit reading the thing.

Message edited by its author, Sep 24, 2009, 11:30pm.

I've read a couple of his short stories, including "The Terror from the Depths," and The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich. I read Kesserich a couple of years ago and wrote a sliver of a review: "neat little slice of sci fi mystery" ... "a nice atmosphere of the uncanny" He seems to have been pretty prolific. I usually see at least a couple of his fantasy and sci fi novels at the used bookstores I frequent, but I'm less tempted to pick up a work of straight sci fi or fantasy. I suspect there's a good collection of his weird tales out there I should hunt down.

Total tangent, but sometimes when I read something idiotic in a novel, I start to wonder if it isn't set in an alternate universe. Though, an alternate universe where the steal-a-decapitated-head-from-the-morgue-head gag is one of the oldest in the book... Yeah, probably not.

I'm a big fan of his Farfhd and the Gray Mouser stories, and my friend Mike swears by Lieber's SF (including The Big Time and The Wanderer). Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness were both great, but the author definitely deserves a closer look.

the steal-a-decapitated-head-from-the-morgue... gag is one of the oldest in the book...

Reminds me of my teenage years. Toilet papering someone's house was never complete without the ol' severed head on the door step.

And now for something completely different...

In Silent Graves has improved and is much more than your average pulp horror novel. Gary A. Braunbeck really has managed to capture the main character's despair and misery at the loss of his wife and unborn child (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler, it's on the back cover of the book). The mysterious goings' on are pretty intriguing.

But... I don't know. It isn't capturing me. I'm enjoying the time I'm spending reading it, but when I close the cover I'm not eagerly looking forward to my next chance to pick it up.

I polished off Robert San Souci's Blood Offerings last night. I knew him from the juvie Short and Shivery series, but didn't know that he'd done any adult stuff. It was really good, and San Souci does an excellent job of getting you to sympathize with a psychopath before you realize what she's doing.

I also read Isis. It was well-written, but the narration was a little too detached for me, and there's a "here is every metaphor I know" segment near the end that goes on way too long.

Hey, I hope you write a review for Blood Offerings. I went to look into it at Amazon, but couldn't find any info on it.

@116

Reviews up. Let me know if you want it. The cover's off and it's really do for a trip to the recycling bin.

I don't mean to butt in, but nice review, goydaeh. I've thumbed ya on the book's page, but I doubt I'll get around to reading that one (Blood Offerings). I just bought a ton of old Abyss/Leisure/Pinnacle books I need to read through. Short and Shivery I could probably work in somewhere, so thanks for mentioning that one! (adds to wishlist)

Wow, five stars huh? Very nice review.

Sounds good, but I'd say go ahead and send it to the recyclers or Good Will. I have so many TBR books that I doubt I'd ever get to it.

I'm hoping to finish In Silent Graves tonight. I think for some people it's an undiscovered horror classic, though it's not really my thing. I'll post a review once I finish the book.

Not a whole book, but I recently reread Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth. (I'm trying to write a story with Deep Ones.) It's a classic, and I was struck that despite HPL's flaws as a writer, when he's on his stories have a certain primal power as stories. I was thinking if someone were to tell that story--minus the last chapter--at a bar or around a campfire, it would make a very strong impression on the listeners. (Of course, that last chapter takes it a step past your normal horror story into greater realms of freakiness.)

Especially loved his ability to create a sense of place, which reminded me of Stephen King (in Danse Macabre) talking about how the haunted house story probably traces its roots back to cavemen telling each other, "Stay away from that cave; there's something wrong with it." Even in our modern life, run down towns or neighborhoods have a way of making us uneasy.

Also, the line about Zadok Allen's "great tendency to philosophise in a sententious village fashion" is a nice example of HPL's dry wit, which I think sometimes gets overlooked. So, just thought I would share those impressions.

I finished (and reviewed) In Silent Graves. It wasn't really my style of horror tale, but nonetheless I think it is a classic.

If you like that 'dark fantasy' horror ala Weaveworld or Cabal, I would recommend giving In Silent Graves a spin.

I will read more Gary A. Braunbeck.

Mr. X. Finished the first section. It started off a little slow but has gotten more intriguing.

BTW: jseger, good review on In Silent Graves. It doesn't really sound like my favorite type of horror story, either, but you made it sound intriguing enough that I'll be on the look out for it. Also, thanks for the Mr. X recommendation.

Message edited by its author, Oct 5, 2009, 1:25pm.

Carlos, I thought of you as I read the book, actually.

The book really wasn't my thing. But I have to give Gary A. Braunbeck credit. His writing was much better than your typical Leisure writer. I will read more of his stuff for sure, though I hope his other stuff is a little more 'horrific', y'know?

jseger, well, that gets me intrigued enough to take a more serious look. No luck at the local library (outside a few short stories that end up in anthologies), but I've added In Silent Graves and Destinations Unknown to the old bookmooch wishlist.

I got through the next two sections of Mr. X today. It's intriguing, though Straub has purchased some of my attention on credit, so hopefully that'll work out well.

Also, Mr. X has got to be the dorkiest of the bastard spawn of the Great Old Ones that I've ever run into. Every time he starts up about wanting to have his own exhibit in the Museum of the Valhalla of the Great Old Ones, he sounds like a 15-year-old writing bad poetry and hoping people will take it seriously. It's not that the character has lost his capacity to be menacing, but I have begun to wonder if Wilbur Whately used to beat him up for his lunch money.

Edited to add an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about:

I once again propose--envision--a Valhallah-like Museum of the Elder Gods. The Record of my adventures, opened to this very page of the Boorum & Pease journal, lies installed upon a likeness of my table alongside a replica of my Mont-Blanc (medium-point) pen in a diorama-like affair a few steps or slithers beyond a representation of the Master's* own desk and writing implements."

*Asterisk not in the original. The Master is how Mr. X refers to Lovecraft for writing all that prophetic Cthulhu Mythos stuff.

Message edited by its author, Oct 6, 2009, 1:33pm.

Carlos, trust me, Mr. X is worth sticking with.

I do agree that Mr. X's prose is Lovecraft-ian in its badness. Honestly, when you read it you don't laugh a little? I felt like Straub used all those journal entries as a good natured jab in the ribs at Lovecraft's purple-prose. he sounds like a 15-year-old writing bad poetry and hoping people will take it seriously sounds like Lovecraft to me.

There's a larger point about Lovecraft and parody I won't get into until I've finished the novel, but yes Mr. X is pretty funny. I cracked up when I found out that even Weird Tales--the magazine that had published entries from August Derleth--criticized his fiction as too "derivative." I wait to see how well it works in terms of the story, though. Mr. X at first reminded me of a Ligottian villain or anti-hero (like Frank Dominio from My Work is Not Yet Done or John Doe from "The Frolic"): supernatural, sadistic and with eccentric ways of talking. Yet, all the business about the museum and self-publishing has made the character increasingly silly. I'm hoping Straub can pull the character back.

Message edited by its author, Oct 7, 2009, 2:11am.

Just finished the latest by Christopher Brookmyre who usually writes comic crime thrillers, but this one Pandaemonium is more in a horror vein overall than crime thriller.

just finished necroscope III the source by brian lumley, third in a series called necroscope and so far I consider the best one, although absolutely all the books in the series are excellent and top notch so far, I cant reccomend it enough.

Finished Mr. X. I have to admit this is not my favorite type of horror story. While there's nothing wrong with it, I sometimes found myself pretty bored. I'd comment on the pacing, but I don't believe this book actually had any. The first 100 pages were pretty good, because it was mostly summary and the story moved along. The last 100 pages were mostly interesting, though I thought the final-final twist was kind of half-assed. I liked Straub's Shadowland quite a bit, but perhaps that's because it was dark fantasy and so I didn't have the same expectations of being frightened.

Maybe I'm being harsh. I found myself comparing Mr. X to The Ceremonies, which is about as long. Klein, though, knows how to keep the tension building, so the anticipation/fear of what comes next gets stronger as the book progresses. I didn't get that sense from Mr. X. It also doesn't help that the suggestion of an apocalyptic theme was revealed to be one man's coming to terms with his daddy issues.

Mr. X struck me as more of an August Derleth. He's a Lovecraft fan boy who tries to write like Lovecraft but it comes out like Lovecraft parody. Actually, I think Mr. X has to be a Derleth parody, since that's the only reason I can think of why he went directly from being rejected by New York publishing houses to becoming a SFA without contacting Arkham House. Obviously, it wouldn't make any sense for the parody to contact the real person. (And like Mr. X, Derleth was a midwesterner.)

I'm not sure what was going on with the other Lovecraft figure, Hugh Coventry.

Message edited by its author, Oct 9, 2009, 10:39pm.

Carlos, sorry Mr. X wasn't your bag. I'd still recommend reading more Peter Straub though. Ghost Story is a classic Stephen King-y supernatural shocker and Koko is a nice(?) serial killer thriller. Both are worth a read.

Not that the two are easily comparable, but I preferred Mr. X to The Ceremonies.

My problem with books like The Ceremonies is that you know generally where the story is going a hundred pages ahead of time.

The Ceremonies was beautifully written. Even a decade later I can still remember specific scenes from that book. But to me it just wasn't suspenseful. For me, tension counts on my not knowing what is going to happen.

With Mr. X I had no clue what was going on, yet when Peter Straub laid out the twists, they were... fair to the story he was telling.

With Mr. X I was surprised by the twist of the story without feeling cheated. The Ceremonies wound up feeling sort of anti-climactic. (Not to run down The Ceremonies. I will reread that book.)

Well, I will agree that The Ceremonies is a simpler book, plot-wise than Mr. X. But I think what Ceremonies does, it does quite well, while Mr. X tries to do more, I think the parts didn't really cohere as a greater whole.

I can sort of see what Straub was going for, a contemporary character-driven Gothic. A lot of the realistic portion just felt sort of soap operaish. (What has Stewart Hatch been accused of? What will happen with the family trust? And what about Laurie's feelings for Ned; is she being completely honest with him? Will little Cobbie get the music lessons he needs? For the answers to these and other exciting questions...) I know Straub ties it back in to the other, supernatural aspect, but not in a way that I felt justified how dull that whole thread was.

More importantly, since this is a Gothic novel, there's a lack of a decent Gothic villain/anti-hero. I think the best Gothic novels have a figure like that, a memorable character who seems to dominate the story even when not there. Melmoth, Dracula, Heathcliff, Merricat--those are characters that stay with me. Mr. X just doesn't hold up; he's too ridiculous, too much of a parody. Neither does Robert, whose too much of a non-entity to leave much of an impression. (Two halfway imposing characters does not equal one truly imposing character.)

I will continue to read Straub. I don't know if he's ever going to really scare me, but Shadowland was an enjoyable read. And the uncle in that novel did make for a good Gothic villain.

Okay, even though I really enjoyed Mr. X, I have to say that your mock summary made me laugh. could hear the old-timey soap operah organ music playing in the background.

I know where you were coming from with Mr. X lacking a strong villain. But for me it didn't hurt the tale. Then again, I've always my gothics southern. The whole convoluted family history reminded me of something out of a Tennesee Williams play and since I like that stuff, it worked for me.

You know, I hear nothing but good things about Shadowland and have liked most of the Peter Straub stuff I've read. But I've avoided that one (and his two Stephen King collaborations: The Talisman and Black House) because I just don't have a taste for those dark fantasy stories.

I think I need to get over my prejudice and read Shadowland.

Message edited by its author, Oct 12, 2009, 6:43pm.

still waving from the bandwagon for Shadowland

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ok it's not really scary but I think the concept is a hoot. The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolet Zombie Mayhem.

#133 - Will you be picking up Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters?

I think those books are the type of thing where the idea is cute, but actually reading the thing... I don't know.

I did't like Sense and Sensibility, but do like Pride and Prejudice. I think it will be a one hit wonder, I like the novelty but that's as far as it swings for me.

I'm not sure where it falls on the horror-dark fantasy spectrum, but I've been reading Tom Piccirilli's A Lower Deep about a guy called Necromancer and his demonic familiar. Necromancer gets roped into a scheme that is potentially apocalyptic and then tries to figure out how to stop it. The idea is a little goofy, but I think Piccirilli does a good job of selling it.

Finished Depraved (Leisure Book o' the month) last night. It was decent, albeit a little too Laymony, and the number of characters running around got a little excessive at times.

Although nothing beats getting a book about mutant rednecks eating people and a book about mutant spiders eating people with no effort on my part.

Half-way through Michael Faber's Under the Skin. I won't give anything away about the plot, as there are a lot of twists and turns and the structure relies on these, and I'm not sure everybody would call it horror, but there are definite horror elements.

Nothing is explained at first but more and more is revealed with each chapter. Some of what is revealed is downright horrible. I don't know how I'll feel about the book by the end - maybe a lame twist at the end will spoil everything - but so far, so good.

#138....I'm a big fan of Michael Faber's Under The Skin. No lame endings there, just a good solid plot throughout. You're right, you can't say too much without giving important points away, but I really admired how the story was imagined and executed. Very unexpected and yet substantial enough to be thought-provoking. I found it unforgettable. You won't regret finishing it.

Finished A Lower Deep. More of a dark apocalyptic fantasy than straight up horror, like something Neil Gaiman would write while depressed. Piccirilli's writing mostly sells it, though.

Started Wilson's The Keep last night. Slow so far, but the premise definitely sounds good.

#140 - I started A Lower Deep once (in fact, it might have been my first Leisure book), but didn't like it.

It was almost like a nice throwback reading a book that dealt with that ol' black magic (something we don't see enough of in horror nowadays I think), but I just didn't like the book. It felt like part two in a series. I'm sketchy on the details all these years later, but I just remember the feeling that I had arrived late to a movie and I didn't much connect to the hero.

I know that Piccirilli had written previous stories about Self and the necromancer, but perhaps he could have done a better job setting up their first novel.

I've heard such good things about Tom Piccirilli though. So later I tried his Stoker winning(?) The Night Class. I remember not getting too far into that one either.

Maybe I should try him again. I keep looking at Hexes (mainly because it also looks like a book about witchcraft and the dark arts), but having given up twice on him I'm not sure if third time would be the charm.

I'm also curious to see what you make of The Keep. I'll grant you that the premise is a real winner. But something in the execution... just didn't work out for me. In fact, I can tell you exactly what bugged, but don't want to spoil the book for you.

I have recently read Las mejores historias de terror 1... a short selection (I think) of Year's best horror stories compiled by Karl Edward Wagner... interesting tales but the best are clearly The monkey by Stephen King and The black man with a horn by T.E.D. Klein that I read some time ago in the Cthulhu 2000 anthology...
now I´m reading Las mejores historias de terror 2 taken from Nightmares a compilation by Karl Edward Wagner... it has the story Daughter of the golden west by Dennis Etchison...

excuse me... Nighmares is a compilation by Charles L. Grant...

#141, 142 - I see what you mean about A Lower Deep feeling like a sequel. I was a bit surprised by how much backstory seemed to be hinted at but eventually got into it. The whole black magic/apocalytpic angle was done pretty well.

As for The Keep, I'll be curious to hear about what it was that didn't work. I'm about 3/4 of the way through and hoping to finish tomorrow. It's had its moments of clunkiness but seems to be pretty solid so far. The portrayal of the vampire is particularly good. Not there's any new depths being explored there, but he's a good compromise between Max Schreck and Bela Lugosi.

To go back to Mr. X for a moment, I was wondering if Straub strikes you as being at all like John Irving. The beginning of Mr. X actually reminds me of A Prayer for Owen Meany--absent and mysterious father, artistic mother, extended family. Owen Meany also leads to a few twists resolved in the last part of the novel. (and which I found similarly underwhelming) Of course, there's big differences between the novels, but I was struck by those few parallels.

Well, on The Keep... without giving anything away, the storyline of the mysterious stranger making his way to the keep is what ruined the book for me. I'll leave it at that for now.

Straub actually reminds me of an upmarket Stephen King. His books are very similar in tone and style, though I think Straub is a little more cerebral. He doesn't mind throwing you into the middle of a situation and assuming you will piece it together as you read. (Saying that, I do think King is a better writer than Straub, but Straub is more literary and is a close second to me. I can see why they get along so well.)

I do see why Mr. X reminded you of John Irving. I hadn't thought of it until you said it, but yeah, if John Irving ever decided to write a horror story it would probably be similar to Mr. X. That is probably why I liked it so much.

So, question (and SPOILER WARNING): is it the storyline of the red-headed stranger (not Willie Nelson) in itself or is it the way the storyline leads to the rather hokey fantasy ultimate Good vs. Evil showdown? I actually found the RHS storyline intriguing, but yeah, it's a fairly cliched finale.

I'm now reading The Keeper, which I think I've heard good things about. So far, I've just read the prologue. I do wonder how strongly it sets the mood for the rest of the book. It struck me as very realistic and also sad, but not as creepy as it could have been. (Which I'd guess is what the author was going for.)

#147 - is it the storyline of the red-headed stranger (not Willie Nelson) in itself or is it the way the storyline leads to the rather hokey fantasy ultimate Good vs. Evil showdown?

Both. I would rather have read about the Germans and the Jew teaming up to fight or escape the keep. I know that the whole point of the book was what became his Adversary Cycle, but I just don't like a hero with supernatural powers in my horror (unless it's something like Danny Torrence's shining).

From one of the synopses "The battle has begun: On one side, the ultimate evil created by man, and on the other...the unthinkable, unstoppable, unknowing terror that man has inevitably awakened."

Now that's a book I want to read. The mystical knight battling the mystical sorcerer thingie, while not bad, just isn't as interesting. I don't know. Maybe I should read it again. But I've read it twice and both times found the first half much more interesting than the second half.

I imagine if it's the kind of story you don't go for, then it's the type of story you don't go for. I did find myself wondering what the book would have been like if it had been just humans vs. the vampire, but I get the impression that wasn't the book Wilson set out to write. I do admit, it means some of the interpersonal dynamics, specially those between the two officers, end up feeling like a bit of a dead end. Also, the end of the novel feels less like horror and more like a variation on heroic fantasy.

some of the interpersonal dynamics, specially those between the two officers, end up feeling like a bit of a dead end. Also, the end of the novel feels less like horror and more like a variation on heroic fantasy.

Exactly. I thought that the nicer German officer (forgot his name) was going to be the hero. I thought the idea that at the end the German officer could be a hero and the Jew; Cuda could wind up as a villain due to the influence of the vampire was pretty daring.

Instead we got a guy with a magic sword who saved the day. (I may be a bit off here. It's been years since my last reading.)

Instead we got a guy with a magic sword who saved the day. (I may be a bit off here. It's been years since my last reading.)

No, that's about right. I think the one positive of the twist that Wilson takes is that the bad guy ends up being something worse than a vampire. I have to admit I pretty much agree with your points, though I had already read elsewhere that the novel takes a "cosmic" turn at the end so perhaps was less disappointed.

On another note, I'm, well, not exactly enjoying, but definitely being freaked out by The Keeper. There's a pretty deep current of sadness running through it, but the creepiness is also pretty effective. It reminds me a bit of Shirley Jackson, and her portrayals of small towns where cruelty lurks just below the surface. Langan's writing isn't really at the same level, but it is her first novel. If the rest of the book goes well, I'll probably have to seek out more of her stuff.

Carlos,

there is a sequel to The Keeper, called The Missing, I enjoyed both books.

Sarah Langan also has a new book out called Audrey's Door. I need to pick it up, but I'm waiting for the second Skinners (cheesy, I know!) novel to be released so I can grab 'em both in one trip.

Well, I just finished The Keeper, which I found quite potent. Well, potent and not a little grim and melancholy, which I think makes it all the more potent. Not flawless, though pretty good considering it's the author's first novel. I think it may have worked its way into my dreams, which I tend to take as a sign of an effective horror novel. Overall, I think Langan does a good job of connecting the small-scale human drama with the greater tragedy of the town. Some of the themes, such as those of environmental contamination or the way economic forces can destroy a place, strike me as very contemporary yet their inclusion feels organic.

I was going to read David Morrell's Creepers next, since it makes for a mildly clever progression with The Keep and The Keeper, like a word association game. But the AV Club is featuring Ghost Story in their Wrapped Up in Books feature. Since that one's pretty high on my list of TBRs, I figured this would be a good a time as any.

>139:
Phlox, I wasn't disappointed by Under the Skin at all. It had good, strong horror elements but gave you plenty to think about after the book was finished. It is deceptively simple and I recommend it, but if anyone on this board wants to give it a read I strongly suggest they don't read anything about it beforehand.

The only thing I can really say about it is that it starts with a lone female driving around in Scotland, picking up male hitchhikers.

#154 - Keep/Keeper/Creepers would have been a fun progression.

Ghost Story is an excellent substitution though. I hope you like it.

>155 Moomim_Mama

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'd love to find something else as captivating and ultimately worthwhile to read soon. And I love that the title itself is deceptively simple isn't it? Lovely read.

Phlox, out of curiosity I had a look through some of the Most Disturbing Books threads, because I was sure I heard about the book. You'll never guess who recommended it.... :)

Well, I finished Ghost Story last night, and I have to say it was very entertaining with some nice moments of creepiness. I think the ghost story and its Gothic rhythm works a bit better with Straub's idiom. I was actually a little disappointed we didn't get to hear more of the Chowder Society's stories, but I think the story of Fenny and Gregory was definitely one of the high points of the novel. (Admittedly, my favorite of the original Gothics is Melmoth the Wanderer.) And maybe this is just the Borgesian in me, but I wished that Don's story of Anna Mobley had involved a little more frisson between his own experiences and the Nightwatchers novel, an exploration in the way that memory and narrative intertwine with and distort each other.

I did start wondering about halfway through the novel if Straub is aware of his own subtext. I've read comments that Lovecraft's use of the ocean and the fishy things that come from it as a source of fear reflects how he was afraid of/hated women, but sometimes a tentacle is just a tentacle (but don't tell the Japanese that). Anyway, if I ever met a lit student writing on Portrayals of the Other in Gothic fiction, I would sooo recommend this story.

But aside from that, an entertaining example of contemporary horror. Straub's fiction is very much like King's, though with a bit more polish to his prose. I don't know if I'd claim him as the most literary of horror writers, but my literary tastes tend more towards the conceptual with a touch of surreal (Borges, Kafka, Schulz).

After finishing the story, I was poking around a little into the commentary and found Straub's description of the epiphany that led to this story, the one where he says that he realized horror stories could/should be "big and gaudy." This sort of gets to the heart of my problem with Mr. X. As a plain horror story, it probably wouldn't have been so bad, but the introduction of Lovecraft highlights the smallness of Straub's story. Say what you will about Lovecraft's style or prose, but his work reveals a singular, even radical, vision which recasts the old Gothic tale in the largest terms possible. That is the doomed line is not the Ushers but all of mankind, and the haunted place is not the House of Seven Gables or the Castle of Otranto but the entire universe. By comparison, the whole Ned Dunstan drama just feels like a soap opera with supernatural elements.

Now, I'm on to Creepers, only about 50 pages in. It appears most of the action is going to take place in a 30-years-abandoned luxury hotel inspired by Mayan pyramids. Morrell gets props for the setting.

Carlos,

Sorry, yeah. When I said Peter Straub was a literary horror writer, I meant that he was more literary than the other biggies: Stephen King, Bentley Little, guys like that. I didn't mean to compare him to Kafka or anything.

With Mr. X, I enjoyed the way he let us share in Mr. X's delusions. In the end, when it turned out there was absolutely no Lovecraft elements besides the ones that a character uses to explain his misunderstood unnatural abilities, I just enjoyed it as a clever twist.

In the hands of a lesser writer, it could have come off as one of those annoying 'it was all a dream' twists, but Straub managed to pull it off.

I really need to bone up on some of the old gothics. The Monk, Melmoth the Wanderer and (to a lesser extent) Castle of Otranto all sound so interesting. Alas, my TBR pile is already so ginormous and LibraryThing ensures it just keeps growing.

Oh yeah! As for Creepers, tell me what you think. Really, the setting is the best thing it has going, but what a setting! Even though I had some problems with the book, for what it was I thought it was very good.

I tried Castle of Otranto but didn't make it far. I've been burning through books lately but haven't had much luck. Most have started out boring and stayed that way.

As luck would have it, one of my many fruitless trips to the library ended up with me in the 'books for sale' area. Pet Sematary was there so I've been reading it between my normal editing.

In fact, ended up with The Tommyknockers and Mysterium as well -- both hard cover; both good books.

As usual though, the modern horror reading world for me is filled with books about as interesting as oatmeal and I end up going back to what I know I like. The horror genre needs a good shake-up.

I'm working on My Dead Body by Charlie Huston. It's the latest of his Joe Pitt novels. If you haven't read any of them, Joe is a vampire/detective/all around scumbag who skirts the edges of a large, complex vampire culture that exists in New York City. The execution is way better that my description.

Well, I have to admit that Castle of Otranto is fairly cheesy. I thought it wasn't so bad, mainly because it moved so quickly. Before I could get irritated with any part of it, it would have moved on to something else. The first scene, where the heir to the castle is killed by a giant helmet is probably the cheesiest scene, so I think if one can get through that, the rest is easy. I also think The Monk is worth a read. It's got a lurid quality that feels very modern to me. On the other hand, even though Melmoth may be one of my favorites, I'd have trouble recommending it. It's long and its stories-within-stories aspect is a love it or hate it kind of thing.

jseger, Creepers was a blast. My reading has been slow as of late, so I was a little surprised that I polished it off last night. It's a real contrast to Ghost Story, though in a very fun way. There's no pretension to the book, just a good, very thrilling story. The setting is great, then the introduction of the animals adds an extra note oddness, which is then followed by mounting threats. It struck me as a simple, well-constructed narrative. I'm tempted to say there's a wonderful elegance to the concentration on a well-paced plot and subtly creepy atmosphere. I usually don't even like non-supernatural horror that much, but this one has me tempted to seek out Morrell's thriller-type works. I'm curious what you found problematic about it.

I've decided to polish off my pre-Halloween reading with a...

ZOMBIE DEATH MATCH!

In this corner, we have Brian Keene's The Rising which has several positive blurbs on the cover and has been talked about quite a bit by LT horror lovers. In the other, we have Joe McKinney's Dead City, which happened to be on the same cart at the library book sale, and which I think I heard someone praise on here at some point. I will alternately read one chapter of each work, until such time as one of them engrosses me so much that I decide to concentrate on it exclusively. At which point said engrossing work will be declared the winner of the...

ZOMBIE DEATH MATCH!

(Well, maybe death match is a bit strong. It's not as if I'm going to toss the losing book into a bonfire.)

So far, The Rising has come out swinging. Well not exactly swinging, more like flailing away. You know how sometimes you only have to read one chapter or even one paragraph of a work to realize you are in the hands of a master? Well, this book is exactly like that, except it only took me a few pages to realize that I'm in the hands of a hack. I don't mean that as a pejorative. Horror has a fine tradition of hack writers, extending back to the penny dreadfuls of the 19th Century all the way through Guy N. Smith. (Admittedly, hacks aren't my favorite type of writer, but that's just personal preference.)

Next up, chapter one of Dead City...

I just finished The Face by Dean Koontz. Really wild plot twists. I thought it was very good. Even gave me a couple of nightmares, which is not typical of my reactions to scary books.

Carlos,

Don't get me wrong. I really liked Creepers. Gave it a very positive review in fact. I also went out and bought Morrell's 'classic' First Blood and would like to try his Brotherhood of the Rose and his newest (whose title I forget).

It's just that as much as I enjoyed the book, I realize that what made it a winner was atmosphere and pacing. The characters were all pretty non-descript. When I think back on that book, what I remember is the Paragon and the frentic pace.

I also realized that the first group our heroes bump into didn't really wind up serving much purpose.

Having said all that, I bought a copy as part of a Christmas package for my brother.

Oh, as for your ZOMBIE DEATH MATCH!, I HATED The Rising. Some of it was pretty well written, but man, zombie mosquitoes. I started wondering why there weren't zombie amoebas. Zombie ants.

The Freddy Krueger wisecracks didn't help any either.

I feel like I can't rant too much about that book, since I tossed it aside unfinished, but I've never been tempted to go back and try it again.

On the other hand, I really liked Dead City. Joe McKinney isn't the author that Brian Keene is, but I enjoyed his book a lot more.

#162 - Scaryguy,

Pet Sematary is the November 'Flavor of the Month' in the SK's Dear Constant Readers' group. We'll have a discussion thread going if you would like to hop in and chat.

Okay, it's not quite a gothic, but I just ordered William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. I've been cusrious about it, but it was seeing some of the artwork Richard Corben did for the graphic novel adaptation that pushed me to read it.

I have to admit that when it comes to horror novels, character is secondary to whether the novel is actually scary and entertaining. I agree the characters are pretty nondescript, but that seems a pretty minor flaw to me.

I'm actually a little skeptical about the idea that a good horror novel requires memorable characters. I can see how it can play a crucial part in laying some of the emotional foundation of a horror story, but on the other hand you wind up with things like the first chapter of The Rising, which indulges in one of my pet peeves: backstory exposition as character development. It seems to be a fairly common technique, which may be part of why it annoys me. Also, it's boring and foregrounds the artificial nature of the characters.

I also realized that the first group our heroes bump into didn't really wind up serving much purpose.

I have to disagree on this point. They serve as an effective main threat throughout the middle portion of the novel before the even worse threat shows up--a twist which I have to admit surprised me.

Joe McKinney isn't the author that Brian Keene is

A little early for me to come to any conclusions myself. I have read chapter 1 of Dead City, and McKinney's writing struck me as pedestrian. On the other hand, Keene is a hack, so it's a tough call. I did think McKinney's opening line was better than Keene's. Both surprised me a little, but McKinney's got me interested in hearing more while Keene's just sort of confused me.

I just ordered William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland.

Cool. That's one I've always meant to read but somehow never gotten around to it. There seemed to be a good variety of cheap copies available in the used bookstores around Seattle, but since I've moved back to California, I have not been able to find any. Perhaps Hodgson spoke out against gay marriage or something...

I may be coming off as too hard on Creepers. I did rate it at four stars. I agree that a horror story doesn't need strong characters (I do read Richard Laymon after all).

I'm curious to see what you think of The Rising as you continue to read. I don't quite remember exactly when I quit, but it was somewhere after the scene in a bathroom at the zoo.

The thing is, Keene gets a lot of praise (and is an LT member) and I have all of his books since I'm part of Leisure Horror's book club. But I haven't be able to make myself start on another of his books because I thought The Rising was so stupid.

I liked Dead City a lot more than The Rising, myself. It felt like an unproduced George Romero flick which is a plus to me. Unlike other monsters, I don't think the walking dead can have their rules messed with too much or they lose their cache.

Well, "'tis the season" and all, so I'm starting Horrorween, the first in Al Sarrantonio's Orangefield books. A group of Halloween themed horror novels and stories based in the town of Orangefield, NJ, the pumpkin capitol of the world.

If I had ever picked up Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest, this sure would be a good time to read it.

Message edited by its author, Oct 30, 2009, 12:15pm.

171, jseger. Well, I have to admit The Rising has grown on me. Admittedly, that's because I've realized it's a comedy, not so much Night of the Living Dead as Return of the Living Dead. (Keene even pays homage to/steals from Return in a short gag during the zoo chapter.) The zombie fetus reminds me of Dead Alive, but the big inspiration for Keene is probably the Evil Dead series, seeing as how his demons speak Sumerian. Knowing (hoping?) that Keene is in on the joke makes his writing style enjoyable.

Thought I'd expand on this a little more: What the novel does best is its dark humour. The best example, for me so far, is the beginning of the zoo chapter, which opens with a line about an old man feeding some pigeons. And then the next sentence reveals just how he is accomplishing that feat. It reminded me of Ambrose Bierce, whose "The Damned Thing" (a short story) has a couple of funny section headings: "A man, though naked, may be in rags" and "One does not always eat what is on the table." And there's definitely gore galore in the novel. But the novel doesn't really generate anything like fear or dread for me.

I guess I could get into dissecting what it is about Keene's style that just doesn't work for me, but that would probably be overkill.

I am a little surprised none of the blurbs mention how funny the novel is.

Message edited by its author, Oct 30, 2009, 11:56pm.

#173 - I am a little surprised none of the blurbs mention how funny the novel is.

I think it was not intended. I know what you mean about how funny it is, but when I read it I had the feeling I was laughing at the book rather than with the book. I know it's been a while and my memories are hazy, but I do not think the author's tongue was in his cheek as he wrote the book.

Still reading Horrorween, but today was a day for scary books at Borders. I picked up the second Skinners book (pulpy 'vampire vs. werewolf' crap, but I enjoyed the writing of the first one anyway) and two horror novels by first time authors.

Damnable by Hank Schwaeble (which I'm guessing is the first in a series? I try to avoid horror series, but love to support 'straight to paperback' first time horror writers).

Also picked up The Wolfman (which I first first thought was a novelization of the upcoming Benicio Del Toro movie) by Nicholas Pekearo. I was intrigued by the blurbs from Joe R. Lansdale, Andrew Vachss and Jack Ketchum and the description as "Lon Chaney's Wolfman meets The Incredible Hulk... as written by Charles Bukowski".

Then I read the little bio of the author. Poor guy pulled a Stieg Larsson. He was a volunteer policeman who was killed in the line of duty right after turning in his first two novels.

I'm kind of cheating here, since I don't plan on reading this book front to back (only a few of the stories), but here's a current check-out from work: Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Kerrie Hughes. The cover is so cheesy I just had to share it:



Anyone read it?

My eight year old is very interested!

#174 -- Sadly, I think you're right. That was probably wishful thinking on my part. It's too bad, because I think the twisted humor in the book is probably the thing I like best about The Rising. Everything else feels sort of amateurish. I can see why the book is a hit, though, in that it reminds me of a Michael Bay movie--cheap sentimentality, superficial characters and themes, incoherent.

While not amazing, I actually ended up really liking the way Dead City was written. I know I complained about the writing style being pedestrian at first, but about halfway through it struck me that it seemed very plausible for the first-hand account of a beat cop during a zombie apocalypse. It reminded me a bit of war novels, such as All Quiet on the Western Front (though certainly the book isn't on that level), in which the harrowing and repetitive nature of combat has left the narrator numb. It did have it's slightly silly elements, such as the zombie blogger stuff, but it also had some really chilling moments, such as when they pull the reporter out of the back of the squad car.

Well, after all that, it probably won't come as much of a shock to say I finished Dead City yesterday but am still working on The Rising. I felt like I was cheating myself by breaking up McKinney's novel with chapters of Keene's. So, Zombie Death Match over, winner: Dead City.

#177: Somehow I'm not surprised kids (or very immature adults ::pointing @ self::) would like this. :D Hey, look, it's Bunnicula's cousin!

Well, I finished Keene's The Rising. Meh. Once I settled into it more, it wasn't so bad, but I can't exactly say I'm tempted to seek out more Brian Keene. It's too bad the book wasn't more of a black comedy, because I could totally have dug that. There's also not much of an ending. It felt a bit like the story was building to something more cosmic, but it never really gets into that. It felt like an ending meant to set up a sequel. Sadly, that still doesn't get me interested in reading more Keene.

The same kid just finished a headless Goosebumps story and picked out Bunnicula as his next read. LOL

#180 - Hey Carlos, even though you are not interested, there is a direct sequel to THE RISING that picks up right where this one left off. It is called CITY OF THE DEAD. It is a darn good one.

#181: Awesome, a kid after my own heart. Hope he likes it.

#182 - Didn't City of the Dead have the same sort of 'not an ending' ending that The Rising had?

No, there is an ending but if you think outside the box, there could be a #3. I can't say much more without spoiling the book.

Message edited by its author, Nov 5, 2009, 9:44am.

Hey everyone, over in the Members Giveaway section, I'm offering my horror novel The Canal for free as an ebook. It'll be listed there for a few more days (yeah, I probably should have posted this sooner). Anyway, I'm also reading 20th Century Ghosts, for what it's worth.

I'm reading The Bleeding Season by Greg F. Gifune an author recommended in this group. So far very good, very dark.

The Bleeding Season is very good, and yes very dark. Greg F. Gifune is a great writer but seems to publish only with small publishers (Delirium?) which makes his books a bit pricier. I would also recommend Children of Chaos.

Just finished Keene's Urban Gothic. I'd rate it around the middle of his ouvre. I enjoyed the sections outside the house more than those on the inside, and the ending seems a little rushed. There's an Ob reference thrown in for those working on the Grand Unifying Theory of Everything Keene.

I really didn't like the way Leisure did the preview for his next novel. I'm sure there's an arbitrary page count involved, but this is the first one I've seen where absolutely nothing happens in the preview.

I finished Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and thought it was a great haunted house tale. I especially liked the way Jackson portrayed the psychological beating the occupants undergo, how they wear on each other, and the toll it all takes on the main character.

@176

I need to put in a purchase request at work just to see what kind of reaction I get.

@185

He pretty much ends it in The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World.

I made it halfway through Maberry and Kramer's They Bite (non-fiction). Review posted.

Message edited by its author, Nov 12, 2009, 7:08pm.

I'm about a hundred pages into The Ruins, which I'm enjoying.

I like that one too, but it was too bad about the movie flop.

>193, 194
I had no idea that was a book. I've seen the movie and thought it bland (apart from a laugh out loud scene that probably wasn't supposed to be funny - I won't spoil it in case it's in the book).

Looking forward to hearing what you thought of it - I really enjoyed Smith's A Simple Plan as both a book and film.

, I noticed I get so into talking about what scary book someone else is reading, I forget to mention what scary book I'm reading.

Currently I'm working my way through Pet Sematary for the SK Flavor of the Month project. Church just came home from the Micmac burial ground.

It's a slow moving book, but I'm really enjoying it.

Contrary to what people say, Ive actually taken a shot at a Dean Koontz novel called Intensity, and so far I'm enjoying the read immensely! Its a great, fast paced read so far, but I dont know, Ive been fooled before by books such as Guy N Smiths Entombed that start off really well but quickly become rubbish, Im praying that this wont happen to this read. Im really not to keen on his later works like The Darkest Evening of the year though. Ill probably post my reveiw of the book on this thread once Im done to let people know what I think.

Just finished reading For fear of Little Men by John Blackburn and have just started Our Lady of Pain. Scary stuff, is anyone else out there a fan of John Blackburn???

Message edited by its author, Nov 16, 2009, 3:47pm.

I've not heard of John Blackburn (I'm wondering if he never made it to this side of the pond?), but I LOVE the title For Fear of Little Men.

What poem is that from again? All I remember is:

Through the leafy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men

I tried looking into that book, but couldn't find much info about it. Do you have a summary?

(BTW: Your touchstones for Our Lady of Pain and For Fear of Little Men weren't the right ones.)

#194 - I've had the movie saved on my DVR for several months but have put off watching it until I got to the book. Just finished the book, which was quite good, though it strikes me as the sort of thing that would be easy to adapt badly to film, particularly considering how much of the characters' personalities come out in their thoughts.

It's the kind of horror novel that gets you turning pages but also seeps into the rest of your life a little bit. The other day, out in the garden, I found myself looking at the nasturtiums suspiciously. "Hmm, those leaves look a bit on the large side. Is that natural?"

#199 - John Blackburn was involved in military intelligence during the War before he became an author, and it's this that forms the background to a lot of his stories - they're not all chillers, some are spy stories and thrillers, but his horrors stories are best. Unfortunately, he has been seriously neglected over the past 20 years and is now severely out - of -print. A second - hand copy can cost as much as £50, although some of his books are much more reasonable. I would recommend The Scent of New Mown Hay if you're interested, its quite easy to acquire.
The poem you're looking for is The Fairies by William Allingham.

Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a - hunting for fear of little men!
Wee folk, good folk trooping all together.
Green jacket, red cap and white owl's feather

Here is a short summary:- Treflys Valley, North Wales - persisting legend of ancient mountain tribe dedicated to evil - strange incidents befall men who stray there - connecting this folk tale and following events - a man's recurrent nightmare, the murder of a high court judge, an outbreak of food poisoning and a road accident caused by aircraft noise. The monstrous conspiracy linking these incidents is finally revealed to eminent bacteriologist Sir Marcus Levin and his wife Tania at a horrifying ceremony at the heart of Allt y Cnicht.

Sound Good?

Sorry about the touchstones many apologies.

Message edited by its author, Nov 17, 2009, 5:08pm.

For Fear of Little Men sounds like one I'd like to try. Our state inter-library loan system shows three copies -- interesting, one is "for library use only" at a major university's library. Maybe one of the other two libraries will send the book. (Or, maybe not.)

Gave up on my second read of Pet Sematary -- first read was the best and I'm going to leave it at that. Now I'm reading The Midwich Cuckoos -- you may remember that as the movie 'Village of the Damned.'

#203 - Now I'm reading The Midwich Cuckoos

I've always wanted to try John Wyndham, but never come across his books at used book stores.

>203:
Gave up on Pet Sematary? That's pretty bad! I liked it first time round too (as a teen), I'm struggling now, so I know what you mean but I'm getting through it - trying, anyway.

I'm reading The long last call John Skipp and I'm not loving it the way I do the other books by Skipp and Spector. Reads like a cash cow.

Wyndham is great -- a bit outdated English at times, but good. Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids are wonderful dystopian reads.

I've got a great used book store within walking distance that I bought Cuckoos from. The other two I bought from Indigo -- where in fact I'm getting my training orientation tonight!

Haven't read The Kraken Wakes yet. Looks interesting.

#'s 203 and 205 - I'm enjoying Pet Sematary. But it is definitely a a more... deliberately paced book than his other stuff. I'm hoping to finish it this weekend.

#207 - Thanks for the info on John Wyndham. I think I'll go to half.com and check their selection.