Michael Laimo

*shudder, shudder, shudder*
7:05 pm 14 October 2016
Splatterlands: Reawakening the Splatterpunk Revolution - A.A. Garrison, Michele Garber, Michael Laimo
This collection reminds me why I read horror: I want to be freaked out, even squeaked out, to explore the kinds of violence that I can't contemplate. I can't deal with it in real life, so it's something I deal with through fiction.

Still, I can't remember reading anything quite this disturbing. I probably have in the past, but not lately. It show more hit upon visceral fears and runs with them.

It's bloody and gory, or quiet and chilling, but all these stories are horrific. The more I looked at the art versus the stories, the more conflicted I felt: the art was sketchy, raw, and didn't feel quite up to the stories in quality. But there was something almost, sickeningly charming about the art that paired up to each story: they held a ragged, uneven quality that mimicked the violence lurking in the stories themselves.

I still don't know how I feel. Flipping through the book at first look, I was more pleased with the art than I was reading the stories. However, this wouldn't have even made me drop half a star: the art was decent, and as I said, I felt it fit the stories in many ways. I did knock half a star off in conjunction with the slight unevenness of the stories. The majority were merely brilliant, leaving me shocked at the content and in awe at the audacity of the authors combined with their skills.

Horrible things happen, sometimes in graphic detail, sometimes to children. Sometimes things are about to happen but don't quite in the timeline of the story, but these could be the most chilling. Some had loud, flashy endings, and some were left with a sense of quiet disturbance.

All were excellent - or nearly so. I found one story near the end to be a bit bloated, the purple prose at times convoluted enough that I found it distracting. The last story started out with what I felt were too many details that could have easily be edited out, but ended up being my favorite because of the character interactions and the ending, which I found interesting even though I suspected it might come to that ending. There were enough small surprises to leave me satisfied, and to tell the truth, it was the way the characters worked together and the main characters determination that got to me. I really liked the secondary character as well, despite not knowing him quite as well.

I haven't read horror, much less splatterpunk in a while. This was an excellent reintroduction: it was a kick in the pants. I will be reading more soon. But if I read it right now, I'll need brain bleach, for real. And I've never met a book that made me want brain bleach (that wasn't full of typos and grammatical errors.) Impressive on multiple levels!

Despite the shudders, and yeah, I'm still shuddering a little, I loved this. I need some comics to keep me grounded, though. Comics, now, please.

Thank you to my bookish box buddy who picked out this perfect book for me!
Horror read in 2016 show less

This is the first Michael Laimo book that I have read, and it has definitely left me wanting more of his work. So many writers fall short, leaving me feeling disappointed and with a resolve not to give them anymore of my money. But every once in a while a writer will come along that captures my imagination and my loyalty as a reader. With books like this one, I can see that Michael Laimo is quickly going to become one of those writers and his books are going to work their way into every nook show more and cranny in my house.

This book was creepy, bloody, and well written - everything you need for a good horror novel. show less

Non amo il libri in cui gli autori, per aumentare il numero complessivo di pagine, inseriscono scene inutili ai fini del racconto, o si dilungano eccessivamente in descrizioni o storie parallele, ma allo stesso modo non amo neanche quando si taglia eccessivamente sulla storia, lasciando nel lettore troppi punti interrogativi.

Questo è il caso di questo libro, che è il perfetto esempio di "could have been better". La partenza nei primi capitoli è quasi un palese plagio di Pet Cemetary: show more famiglia che si trasferisce in un paesino sperduto, casa isolata, marito che fa il medico, animale domestico (qui è un cane, ma fa una fine peggiore del gatto di pet cemetary, visto che almeno lui tornava una volta morto), vicino di casa amichevole ma inquitante e cimitero posizionato nei boschi dietro la casa dove si viene portati dal vicino inquietante. Se si riesce a tollerare tutto ciò, la storia poi riesce a prendere una sua piega personale, riducendo notevolmente le similitudini con il libro di King; purtroppo però la sensazione che si ha è che tutto avvenga troppo velocemente, ma non con ritmo serrato allo scopo di creare trepidazione e suspance, ma proprio per sorvolare su determinate situazioni.

Alcuni esempi:
-la storia si svolge in un paese, ma di tutto il paese vengono presentati tre abitanti in croce e tra questi non c'è neanche lo sceriffo, personaggio immancabile della narrativa americana;
-la descrizione storica degli Isolati, i cattivi del libro per intenderci, è solo abbozzata in maniera molto frettolosa;
-gli stessi Isolati prima sembra siano umani mutati geneticamente, poi sono creature sovrannaturali che risponondo ad un Dio cornuto, ma non si capisce chi sia questa divinità , cosa faccia e perchè lo faccia;

Tutte queste situazioni contribuiscono a rendere la storia, che poteva veramente essere molto avvincente e con un buon potenziale orrorifico, in un libretto buono per la spiaggia o per un pomeriggio invernale, a patto di non avere grosse pretese in termini di emozioni.
Ultima nota, la scenza gore finale era ampiamente risparmiabile. show less

Dr. Michael Cayle moves from the city with his wife and young daughter to set up a private practice in the small town of Ashborough, New Hampshire. His new home is a half mile away from his nearest neighbor and the woods beyond his house seem to stretch on forever. He thinks his biggest problem will be trying to adjust to a new, quieter, slower pace of life, after always living in the city. Little does he know that he has bigger problems awaiting him beyond in those deep woods, where glowing show more golden eyes seem to be looking out at him and his family from the darkness of the woods.

This was a very enjoyable horror story that would make almost anyone afraid to live near the woods. I liked the main character Michael, and the story is written in his 1st person POV. It was interesting getting into his head and living out his terror and worst nightmares with him. The Isolates that lived out in the woods were horrifying little creatures. Very entertaining, disturbing, creepy, bloody and gruesome story. I never knew what to expect next. show less