The Shadow of "What scary book are you reading right now?"

Well guys, the old thread hit three hundred posts and I know that long threads take a while to load on some computers (like the piece of junk I'm stuck with at work!), so I thought I'd start a new one.

I'm reading Robert Heinlein's The Man Who Sold the Moon right now and am not really grooving on it. I don't think I will ever be a Heinlein fan.

Anyway, we were talking about Kim Newman in the previous thread. Has anyone read his non-GW 'Jack Yeovil' novel Orgy of the Blood Parasites? The title alone makes it worth a read, but the price for copies is prohibitive...

Hey, Amazon has a couple of copies listed for cheap! I think I'll order one!

Nice. I haven't read anything by Kim Newman.

Robert Heinlein I've read a few of his short stories, but none that I really remember.

Posting to remind myself not to post in the old thread.

Currently reading an old Tanith Lee. Used to love her; now I'm not getting it.

I'm reading The casebook of Victor Frankenstein Peter Ackroyd and so far it's very good.

#3 - The only Tanith Lee I've read was her short story 'The Hill' in The Mammoth Book of Monsters. It wasn't a good experience.

I liked her writing. In fact, I was pretty impressed by it. But the story was awful and ended with a scene that I would say was out of Scooby Doo, except I don't think Scooby would ever try something that implausable.

That I think was my overall problem with The Mammoth Book of Monsters. Many nicely written stories that weren't particularly good stories.

>5 jseger9000:: j, did I miss you telling us what you thought of the Dennis Etchison story in The Mammoth Book of Monsters, or did you not say?

I finally got around to reading the second volume of Uzumaki and wish I could wash my eyeballs. I don't mind gore, but .... eeeewwww.

#6 - To tell the truth, I didn't remember the Etchison story at all. Even checking the name 'Calling All Monsters' did nothing for me. I guess that says something about it right there.

I went just now and glanced over it again and remember not liking it at the time. Maybe it requires a second read. I dunno.

*Edit* If it's any consolation, as Carlos pointed out about the Ligotti story and as I mentioned in my review of the book, the stories by 'name' writers did not seem to be examples of them at their peak.

So a good story my Michael Marshall would convince me to seek out more of his stuff, but a bad story by Dennis Etchison would not warn me away. If Clive Barker and Ramsey Campbell could flop in that book, I guess Etchison could too.

Maybe it's just bothering me because it's about a whiny vampire, but at least the book drastically predates that trend.

I started the novella The Painted Darkness yesterday. Kind of intriguing, but not really that spooky so far.

#3 - You know, I don't think of Tanith Lee as a great horror writer. I really like her fantasy, into which she often incorporates dark or spooky elements, but I don't think straight horror is her strength. (Though I will admit she's written a ton that I haven't read yet, so I may change my mind later on.)

I just checked out The Painted Darkness. It sounds pretty good.

bibliorex has a nice review of it.

Carlos, will you be posting a review?

I'm reading Carmilla by J.Sheridan Le Fanu, first reading of this author!

#11 sf_addict
What did you think of Carmila?
Bram Stoker reportedly said it was his inspiration for writing Dracula.
I've read some of Le Fanu's Ghost Stories of Chaplizod. Great period material.

>12 pgmcc: I'll let you know when i finish it ;)
So far so good!

#10 - Well, it's one of my Early Reviewer books, so I sort of owe it to them.

I finished it today, and while I enjoyed it, I didn't find it all that scary. It struck me as a rather dark modern fairy tale, which may be what the author was going for. I'll try to flesh that sense out a little better when I write the review.

Also, speaking of reviews, I just posted a new review of Haunted. It says pretty much what I said before (Read the stories first) but a little better fleshed out.

#14 - Nice review of Haunted, but why no star rating?

I haven't tried anything by Chuck Palahniuk in part because (like Anne Rice) I find his (hard core) fans questionable. They seem a lot like Kevin Smith's mid-brow, eternal college student fans, but they took too many philosophy courses and are less likely to be able to laugh at dick jokes.

If I were to try Chuck, what book would you say is best to start with? I was thinking of Choke.

Apropos of nothing, I got my copy of Kim Newman's Orgy of the Blood Parasites today! Yay me! Won't be able to read it for a while yet though. I have to knock out The Tommyknockers first.

#15 - I might have avoided him, too, if I had been aware of the fan base. To me, they're a little too reminiscent of Ayn Rand's fans, taking the ideas a little more seriously than they should.

Of his books, I think anything from Fight Club to Lullaby is worth checking out. Choke strikes me as his most personal. Lullaby incorporates interesting horror/fantasy concepts that mostly work. I know some people really liked Survivor, but I think the style is too at odds with the story. (Still, your mileage may vary.)

#16 - I might have avoided him, too, if I had been aware of the fan base.

Those are just my recollections from the year I spent at B&N. You'd get to where you could type the fans of certain authors, though not too many.

I'd have a hard time trying to pin down an Ayn Rand fan by sight, just because here in Texas, Anthem and The Fountainhead are required reads, so all types of people would pick her books up. Man, the kids would gasp when they saw The Fountainhead!

I'm reading Robert A. Heinlein's The Man Who Sold the Moon which is a collection of early stores (circa 1940 or so). I'm no Heinlein expert, but in these stories he reminds me an awful lot of Ayn Rand. His 'stories' tend to take the form of dialogues, with two (or more) characters debating, one of them giving the very strong impression that it is the voice of the author/level-headed Libertarian. I must say though that even though this isn't my type of sci-fi, Heinlein is MUCH more entertaining than Ayn Rand ever was.

#17 jseger9000
A list of authors with your observations on the attributes of their fans would be fun to read.

Been traveling and read two in the genre Stinger by Robert McCammon which I enjoyed and Saying Uncle by Greg F. Gifune who is really very good.

#18 - Okay, here's a few I remember. Please understand that I am not saying all people who read books by these authors were this type. Only that if this type of person walked in, they probably enjoyed these books.

The ones that I remember having a type were Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton (they shared the same type before Harris' books were turned into that HBO series). These would be older nerd ladies. They may not be Star Trek fans, but they have absorbed enough to get references. I'm not an older lady, but that otherwise would describe me as well. They were fun people, though those books look awful to me.

Anne Rice whose fans didn't necessarly seem to be the same as the Harris/Hamilton fans. Her fans were more Goth-y who would buy those large, baggy pants from Hot Topic that were always black and covered in about two dozen zippers and an old Bauhaus or Joy Division shirt (I learned the difference between Goth and emo from this).

W.E.B. Griffin, Tom Clancy and sometimes David Weber (these would be older guys who still wore baseball caps with ties to the military on them).

Popular authors that didn't seem to have a particular type were Stephen King, James Patterson, John Grisham and (surprisingly to me) Mitch Albom.

#19 - Stinger sounds SOOO cheesy! I've always wanted to read that. I can only hope it is as much fun as it sounds. I'd read it along with you if I didn't have to get going on The Tommyknockers.

#20 That was great.
I see you included an implied swipe at Star Trek fans. Your wording implied that describing Star Trek fans was unnecessary; it was a prime stereotype known to all. I love it.

Thank you!

By the way, what do Dan Brown book buyers look like?

When I worked there, The Da Vinci Code was still a #1 seller. We couldn't keep The Da Vinci Code: Special Illustrated Edition or the Angels and Demons: Special Illustrated Edition in stock, so I couldn't easily describe a Dan Brown type. (I do wonder now who is buying The Lost Symbol.)

These would be older nerd ladies.

HEY! I resemble that remark.

Oh, me too. Well, the 'older nerd' part.

The question Morphidae is do you read Laurell K Hamilton or *Charlaine Harris?

*Confession time: Yesterday my wife spent the entire day devouring her first Charlaine Harris book: Dead Until Dark (I think that was the one. Whatever the first book of that series is). She LOVED it and wants more.

>25 jseger9000: Whaddya mean "or"?

:D

As one who considers True Blood a guilty pleasure, I've been tempted to read the Sookie Stackhouse books. I even bought the first one, but for now it sits on Mt. TBR next to my copy of Darkly Dreaming Dexter. (Good thing there are no Breaking Bad novels.)

Well, I can't say much for the Sookie Stackhouse books either way. I avoid any book where vampires are less than bloodthirsty, inhuman monsters. But who knows? Maybe I'm cheating myself of a wonderful reading experience.

When those books came out, I thought the covers looked like cheesy romance covers, but my wife admires the style of them (and she is not a cheesy romance paperback reader). Besides, not like I can talk about cheesyness of covers. I've picked up the two Heavy Metal Pulp books and have several books published by Baen...

Oh yeah, I'm reading Stephen King's The Tommyknockers. Not a favorite among King fans, but I love it (though I admit my tastes are questionable).

I was worried that rereading it would show that my memories were faulty (or to quote another thread in a different group, that the Suck Fairy would have had a whack at the book) but I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

It could be that I'm a fan of Stephen King who also happens to love a good UFO story, so I am more forgiving. I dunno. I like it anyway.

Every October for the past few years I've made it a point to read some "scary" books.

I'm currently re-reading Stephen King's It.

On my TBR list for the rest of the month:

William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Dean Koontz's Twilight Eyes
The M.D. by Thomas M. Disch
The Town That Forgot How to Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey
Classic Stories 1 by Ray Bradbury

It's been 20 plus years since I read The Tommyknockers (whenever it first came out) and I remember really enjoying it for about half the book. I can't recall why but the rest of the book was a chore and now I consider this to be one of Stephen Kings books that I least like. But since I cannot remember why that is, I should read it again. But since I rarely reread any books (too many I've not read yet) I doubt I'll get around to it.

#31 - I wish I could read that many books in a month! (Even if one of them IS a Dean Koontz novel.)

I have The Town That Forgot How to Breathe on my TBR pile, but the so-so reviews made me second guess it. I hope you'll post your opinions.

#29: not like I can talk about cheesyness of covers

Ha! At least you admit it.

And to add my cheap two-cents worth, I kind of prefer the Sookie Stackhouse books to Anita Blake, even though I've read more of the latter.

I just read this cheesy little paperback There's No Place Like Home that looked totally 80's, but seems to have been published in 1997. More red herrings than a, err, red herring factory, but the conclusion to it is really well done and ties up the loose ends cleanly.

#35 - Oh! That bad cover alone makes it worth reading! It looks straight outta the '80's. The dramatic, tilted-looking eyes seal the deal.

#35: LOL! I'll admit it: I actually own that book, as well as several others by A. G. Cascone. Nice to see it's not entirely bad.

Following on from some Sheridan Le Fanu(Carmilla, Green Team, Mr Justice Harbottle) and then a strange tale by Clark Ashton Smith (The City of the Singing Flame) I'm next going to read An Occurance at Owl Creek, a short tale by Ambrose Bierce.

I have Best Ghost Stories of J. S. Lefanu which containes 'Carmilla', 'Green Tea' and 'Mr. Justice Harbottle'. How did yu enjoy the stories? I'm guessing you liked them if you are seeking other writers from the same period.

I've meant to order Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce and The Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood for forever.

>39 jseger9000:, well I liked Carmilla, Green Tea not as much and Mr Harbottle was plain boring! But I have Uncle Silas on my reader too, for a later date.
Next up an author I can find little about, or at least about the stories i have by him! The Mummy's Foot and Clarimonde by french horrorist Theophile Gautier

Well look at that, I get tags for them! No mention of either story on the wiki or Fantastic Fiction!

I'm also reading Best Ghost Stories of J.S. LeFanu, and just finished the story "Carmilla." I'm rather enjoying the stories -- some nice atmosphere. (I daresay I figured out pretty much where "Carmilla" was headed quite early in the story, though.)

# 41
My daughter is currently reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories. She commented that she could predict most of the endings, but put that down to the fact that since these books were written so many movies and detective shows have been made using the same endings or slight variations, that she has picked up solutions subconsciously. She loves the stories as stories written in their time.

#42 - Oh, the Sherlock Holmes stories are excellent! I think Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories belongs in everybody's library.

Has your daughter discovered the BBC/A&E Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett? Excellent stuff, faithful to Doyle and they didn't make Watson look like a boob.

#43
She would have seen Sherlock Holmes films, some old, some new, some borrowed, and I think one very humerous ("Without a Clue", starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley).

I think the series you mention is the one I would have cut my Sherlock Holmes teeth on. "Yes!" A quick Google search confirms that series as my introduction to the London Sleuth and his faithful medical companion.

I once heard a radio play in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle heard so much from people who thought Holmes and Watson were real that he began to wonder whether or not they did exist. He went to the extent of visiting 221B Baker Street where he met the duo. It was very funny.

My wife is also a keen Sherlock Holmes reader and we have a number of copies of the novels in the house. They are re-read relatively often and, I suspect, my daughter will carry on that tradition.

Next its Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, which will be the earliest piece of fiction I've read I think! (1797)

I think someone else on here read Castle of Otranto a little while ago. Was it Carlos maybe?

I'm hoping to finish the Tommyknockers tomorrow and then squeeze in two Halloween themed books before the end of the month.

I'm planning on Douglas Clegg's The Halloween Man and the second of Al Sarrantonio's Orangefield trilogy, Hallows Eve.

Yes, 'twas me that read Castle of Otranto, though I may not be the only one. At the time, I think I gave it three stars, but I have sort of a soft spot for the book now. It's arguably more campy than creepy, but it moves so fast that it's never dull.

I haven't gotten a chance to start my Halloween-themed reading yet. I've got a couple of Argentine novels to finish up, than I'll be reading Neverland by Douglas Clegg and Usher's Passing by Robert McCammon.

The Castle of Otranto was decent if I remeber correctly. Sadly books of that era are generally not very good, they´re written in a style I find very tedious and predictable. The Monk and Vathek are two such exemples. Awful. Even I didn´t finish them. Hoffman is the only exception I´ve found yet, his short stories are really worth checking out. Don´t bother about the novels though, they´re all a match for the above mentioned when it comes to boredom. All books don´t age with the same grace apparently.

Otranto is unusual in that, depsite its early heritage, being of high gothic 18th centruy origin, it is surprisingly easy to read. Easier than say Dickens of a century later! And yet there are passages to go over mine head, such discourses between characters that lead me to scratch the head. but on form, it is certainly fun to read!

Have you tried Nightmare Abbey? It´s a very early (I think early 19th century) spoof on gothic writing. It´s supposed to be funny, but I´m not relly sure it has stood the test of time. I won´t bias you, try it out.

#44 - Have you heard about Sherlock? It's a series that moves Sherlock Holmes and Watson into the modern day. It sounds a little sketchy, but the reviews I've read have been very positive.

It's going to start airing here in the States in a week or so, though I guess where you are it's been on for months.

#51
Unfortunately I've only caught a few minutes of a couple of episodes. My daughter has watched the series. She really enjoyed it and from the little I've seen I would find it good. I hope you enjoy it.

I am reading S.J. Bolton's Blood Harvest-- it's categorized as thriller/mystery but presents to me kind of like horror.

>50 petine: do you mean this one:
Nightmare Abbey
Afraid I'd never heard of it or the author!

#53 - I just went and checked out Blood Harvest. It sounds similar to Harvest Home and The Wicker Man.

Would you recommend the book based on what you've read so far?

#54 Yes that´s the one. A different edition from the one I´ve got, but still the same. I´m not surprised you´ve never heard of the author, neither had I before I read it. I had heard of the story though and didn´t quite know what to think of it. As I said, it´s meant to be a "satire to great comic effect", according to Wordsworth Editions (the publishers), but personally I´m not sure I would agree to that.

#56 - I also was disappointed by Nightmare Abbey. I'd say it does have its moments, and like Otranto, it has brevity on its side. I got the impression that the humor was often topical in its references to fads, both intellectual and social, that don't really mean much to us.

I was also disappointed by the satire element of Northanger Abbey, but at least that's a pretty good comedy of errors.

#55 - I got Blood Harvest from the ER program, thought it was pretty good.

#53 & 55, I just finished Blood Harvest yesterday! I thought it was a good read ... definitely engrossing. jseger, those are the exact same books I thought of adding as recommendations as I was reading. They have a lot in common.... to the point where at first I was thinking Blood Harvest was kind of a rip-off. I'd say it's a bit more gothic-y and feminine that the other two, though. (I see one reviewer mentioned Ruth Rendell, which is a fair comparison.)

Having loved The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey earlier this year, I'm about to give his Curse of the Wendigo a shot tonight. I have the first chapter sample on my kindle so I'll read that and then decide whether to buy the whole book. I really hope it does not disappoint.

#52 - Well, I went ahead and added Harvest Home as a rec. Does my explanation act as a spoiler in any way? (I would think not since I know that much without having read Blood Harvest, but you never know.)

I was going to add David Pinner's Ritual (which is the novel that inspired The Wicker Man), but the plot of the book sounds very different and there are only two LT users that have a copy.

Oh yeah. I'm reading Douglas Clegg's The Halloween Man. I like the writing a lot, though it gets a little too surreal sometimes.

Blood Harvest is pretty good so far.

#61, no, I think that's good. I don't think that's any more information than what's given on the jacket.
Wow, you're right about Ritual. I always assumed it was a lot closer to the movie!

I read some of Robert Louis Stevenson's short works. The highlights were Thrawn Janet (a story of witchcraft and possession grounded in historical witch trials), Ollalla (in which a wounded soldier convalesces in a manor with a strange family), and The Body Snatcher (a frequently anthologized tale of grave robbers).

Now I'm reading Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables.

@I quite enjoyed House of the Seven Gables although it took me a while to get into (and wasn't creepy just sad).

Just started The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson. Now I like Jacksons novels but some of these short stories are just odd.

Just began The Shunned House, a short tale by Lovecraft (why have tha tags gone greek-Χ. Φ. Λάβκραφτ ?)

#61 - With Harvest Home and The Wicker Man in the mix, I feel I should mention (though I can't really recommend) Palahniuk's Diary. Although it's missing much of the pastoral elements (and tries but fails to be Rosemary's Baby), the theme of an individual arriving in an isolated, seemingly idyllic community and finding themselves caught up in a strange ritual seems to parallel those works pretty strongly. (Though I don't get much into the parallels, I did write a rather tongue-in-cheek review of it.)

#66 - The Lottery and Other Stories was my first Shirley Jackson, and I remember enjoying it but being somewhat befuddled. There seems to be this continuum between stories where something terrible happens and then stories with comically awkward social situations, so a lot of stories fall into an ambiguous in-between. Overall, it was interesting enough to get me reading her novels, which are brilliant.

A bit tangential to horror proper, but Vivian Vande Velde's Cloaked in Red (retellings of Little Red Riding Hood) is worth picking up for the hilarious deconstruction of the story in the introduction. The rest of it is quite funny too. (Review posted.)

So Now You're a Zombie is the counter to the Zombie Survival Guide and is entertaining, although it starts to get repetitive. Thankfully it's short. (Reviewed.)

Fearscape (third book in the YA Devouring series) is good, and ties together a lot of the threads laid out in the first two books. Hopefully, the next book will be the last, because the motorcycle's starting to accelerate towards the shark tank.

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall (children's) had a nice Dickensian feel and a good bit of tension in the climax.

Well, the first half of Blood Harvest seemed like horror, the next chunk was more thriller mystery, and it ended on a strong Gothic note. over all, I enjoyed it and will probably get her other book Awakening and Sacrifice

Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes next.
I dunno about scary but its freaking weird!

#69: I love your reads, goydaeh! I've read a couple Vivian Vande Velde books (Companions of the Night and Curses, Inc. and Other Stories), so I'll definitely be on the lookout for Cloaked in Red, since I enjoy reading fairy tale retellings. Btw, I thumbed ya for your reviews; they were very helpful.

#71: Ooh, I love "freaking weird" books. :) Maybe I should read Something Wicked This Way Comes this year instead of putting it off for next year . . . or the next.

I finished The Halloween Man. I loved the writing and will be reading more from Clegg. The book had little to do with Halloween. That isn't a strike against it in any way. But it is worth noting. But the book left me cold somehow. I wrote up a review if anyone's interested.

I've started Al Sarrantonio's Hallows Eve. I'm about four chapters in and am loving it so far.

The only other book of his I'd read was another of his Orangefield books, Horrorween, so I can't claim to be an expert on him. But in these two books he expertly captures the feeling of Halloween in a small town. Very Ray Bradbury-esque, though he isn't swiping from Bradbury. Anyway, so far the book feels perfect for the end of October. Hopefully he can keep it up over the course of a novel (Horrorween was a collection of novellas).

#73: I loved the writing and will be reading more from Clegg. -- Same here. And thanks for mentioning it's not much of a Halloween book. I would've thought it was with a cover like this:



I just bought Neverland by Douglas Clegg a couple days ago, so I may start on that one soon, since I think someone in this group read it, though I can't remember if it got a thumbs up or down.

I may not get to any Halloween books until after Halloween, seeing as I just started two books this week and kind of want to get them finished asap. But good luck to anyone who does any Halloween challenges! :)

Btw, jseger, I thumbed ya for The Halloween Man review.

Thank you much.

I know that he's rereleased Neverland (I picked up the original, mass market paperback edition form the... early nineties?) and that it has been getting pretty good reviews.

I don't know what it says about me, but I avoid books that try to play off the Peter Pan theme. I'd avoided Neverland because of that, but the reviews have been so good for it, I relented.

The Peter Pan theme in Neverland is pretty subtle. I probably wouldn't have picked up on it if not for the title.

>72 saraslibrary:
Something wicked is not great!

I started Usher's Passing yesterday. Though I wasn't sure I would like it, since the idea of writing what is arguably a sequel to a well-regarded horror story can be a tricky affair. (Exhibit A would be Barker's "The New Murders in the Rue Morgue" which I felt was pretty bad.) McCammon starts off with an encounter between Poe and a member of the Usher family which avoids some of the "It was all based on a true story" trope that I tend to dislike. From there, McCammon develops the story in a way that allows him to interweave some Poe-like elements without falling into pastiche. So far, I'm enjoying it!

#72 + 77: Yes, it is! Sara, go for it! If you liked It by Stephen King I wager you'll like Something Wicked This Way Comes just as well. And it's quite a bit shorter too... :)

Sf_addict, I'm sorry to hear you didn't like Something Wicked This Way Comes. How come? Personally, I find it a great book. It's one of my favorites, actually...

#78: Sounds like a good gothic-y Halloween read. :) Or at least, I'm assuming it is by the Amazon.com review on the book's page. I haven't read any Robert McCammon yet (though I've bought a few of his books--Gone South, Boy's Life, and Stinger--to read eventually).

#77 & 79: I still plan on reading Something Wicked This Way Comes. I saw the movie first years and years ago, but I really don't remember it, so hopefully when I do read the book, it'll feel kind of new.

And it's quite a bit shorter too... :) -- LOL! I think anything is shorter than It. And yes, I definitely liked It.

Btw, I saw it was book 3 in the Green Town series. Does it need to be read in order--with Dandelion Wine first, followed by Farewell Summer--or can it be read alone?

(Oops. Wrong touchstones. Fixed 'em. I think.)

If you are going to read McCammon you have to start off with Swan Song and then follow it up with A Boy's Life.

Okay, I am NO Ray Bradbury expert. I've read a couple of his short stories, watched way too many episodes of The Ray Bradbury Theater and saw the movie version of Something Wicked This Way Comes. That's about it.

But I do not believe you have to read Dandelion Wine before Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say: "Something Wicked This Way Comes can be interpreted as an autumn sequel to the summer of Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. The two works are set in the fictitious Green Town (based on Bradbury's hometown, Waukegan, Illinois), but have different tones, with Something Wicked having an emphasis on the more serious side of the transition from childhood to adulthood. While none of the characters in Dandelion Wine make an appearance in Something Wicked, William Halloway and Jim Nightshade can be viewed as one-year older representations of Dandelion Wine's Douglas Spaulding and John Huff, respectively."

#81: I'll try and remember, thanks! :) Boy's Life was definitely the first of the three I own that I wanted to read first. I'll keep my eyes open for Swan Song.

#82: Thanks, jseger! That's good to know I can dive right into Something Wicked This Way Comes, because I don't have any of the others.

#80+81: I haven't read anything from Robert McCammon either. However, I do have Swan Song, A Boy's Life and The Wolf's Hour in my library. HHH, Why do you have to read Swan Song first?...

#82+83: I agree that Something Wicked This Way Comes is a completely stand-alone novel.

The fact that a scholarly type might get a kick out of putting the work into a greater literary context doesn't really change that. Interesting thought, though. One may actually read Dandelion Wine someday... ;)

#81 - If you begin with A Boy's Life you will be in good hands. I don't think I have met anyone yet who has read the book and did not rave about it.

#84 - I just recommended Swan Song to be read first because it is my favorite McCammon book to date. It has a post-apocalyptic setting and I am a big sucker for them. The book does not link with any of this others, so you don't have to fear of missing some overlying arc. In fact, all McCammon novels stand on their own prior to his ten year absence. Since he has come back, he is now writing historical thrillers which I think are meant to be read in sequence.

I've read McCammon's The Night Boat and Baal.

I don't remember much of Baal, though I'd try again. But I enjoyed The Night Boat. I know it isn't a favorite among his fans, but I thought it was a nice, unpretentious horror story. I'd like to re-read it some day.

I've avoided Swan Song because it seems very The Stand-ish, and I don't much care for The Stand...

I've enjoyed all the McCammon books prior to the books set in Salem about the witch trials.

#86 Swan Song is very Stand-ish. All the same basic elements of a post apocaliptic stand off between good and evil. I liked The Stand and I liked Swan Song. Overall, I would have to say that King is the better writer, but McCammon has some fun reads.

On another topic; finished ancestor by Scott Sigler and have started Infected by the same.

Oh! I LOVED Infected and I so wasn't expecting to! I hope you like it.

#87 - Really? You thought Swan Song was similar to The Stand? Granted that they are both post-apocalyptic themed but I thought the approach, characters ambitions and plot progression were very different. The premises for the end of the world is also very different which has the authors exploring different subjects.

I have enjoyed quite a few King novels, but I would pick Swan Song over The Stand. I found Swan Song much more enganging and evenly paced.

I enjoyed the House of the Seven Gables, even though it's not really horror. It's mostly a tale of a few characters trying to get out from under the weight of their family history. While it is a little simplistic, it is still a touching portrayal of the main character and her plight. There are only a few creepy passages but they are quite good (a doomed man's curse, a cruel act of revenge). Although it's not necessarily a haunted house tale, I really liked the way the main characters feel suffocated by the house but are unable or unwilling to leave it.

Next up: Conjure Wife

I think Boy's Life was just okay; however, I love Swan Song.

I finished up Usher's Passing, which I thought was really good. I'd say, and I don't know if this will be controversial or not, that McCammon probably ranks among Straub and King in terms of solid middlebrow horror writers. (Of course, I make this assessment based just on this one book.)

I was impressed by how well McCammon incorporates the Poe elements while still making the story his own. It is very Gothic, but with a little Southern Gothic thrown in. McCammon's development of the Usher family and their history actually was a bit reminiscent of some of Faulkner's novels of the family whose achievement of power and riches rests on their bloody ruthlessness yet who have achieved the illusion of gentility as a product of their wealth and age. Balanced with that, there's a good monster story of something that stalks through the hills and snatches up children.

I'd say if you like Poe and/or Gothic stories, this probably would not be a bad book to start with for McCammon, but YMMV.

Now, I'm going to be starting Neverland.

Just finished The Damned by JK Huysmans, and must say it´s a really good book. After having read it I just sat there without wanting to take up another one so as not to sully it´s memory. I wouldn´t really call it scary though even if it`s packed full of satanism and devil worshiping. I still get that odd feeling when I think about it. Funny.

#87: tjm568, Please, tell me how you find Infected. I have tried reading it once this year, but gave it up about two thirds through...

#85 + 91: I guess I'll try to squeeze Swan Song into my reading list this year, then. I still need three more books to reach my personal goal of 25 books read this year. However, I have always been a little intimidated by the huge page count every time I reach for the book on my shelf.

#89 In a broad sense, yes I think they were similar.

-End of the world as we know it.
- Big bad guy rallying the evil folk, pure good guy (girl) rallying the good guys.
- Both groups traveling to rally points for big show down.

That being said, I agree that they had many differences. I really enjoyed Swan Song and have recommended it to many people. I have read it at least three times myself. It is a great story. Personally, however I preferred The Stand. I think Swan Song was an easier read, and maybe even more fun. The Stand made me think more. Overall I loved both books and highly recommend them both.

#94 I am liking it so far, I will let you know when I am finished.

#93: Is this the book you read: http://www.librarything.com/work/129390 ? You're right: it doesn't look very scary; but it sounds odd enough, I just might like it. Thanks! :)

I am reading The Passage and it is really well written. It drags quite a bit in spots and I am not sure if it really qualifies as horror. I don't know. I'll have to read on...

#96 That´s the one. An odd book. Very french I believe.

I'm about a third of the way through Neverland so far. It's pretty good overall. I'm not sure if Sumter, the narrator's cousin, is supposed to be creepy, but mostly I'm finding him annoying.

I'll need to try Neverland. I have it kicking around somewhere and I did like Clegg's writing.

I finished Hallows Eve. In many ways it wasn't very good, but it was the perfect Halloween book. I wrote up a review for it.

I started on The Best of Weird Tales, a highly inaccurate title. It's actually the best from the late '80's/early '90's Weird Tales revival.

Still, the author list is impressive. The first story is F. Paul Wilson's novella Midnight Mass (which he later expanded into the novel I just touchstoned).

Just found out that Steve Alten is a truther. Apparently George Bush crashed a giant shark into the WTC.

#99 &100 I enjoyed Clegg's The Hour Before Dark. It was written well, with good characters and very atmospheric. But I did not like Neverland at all primarily because I found the Sumter character to be very annoying. And I was so looking forward to it based on it being a southern gothic, horror type book.

#101 - I know *very little* about Steve Alten, but just from what was floating around when he published Shell Game, I got the feeling he believed some pretty out there things.

I get the feeling he believed Shell Game was nearly true.

Finished Neverland. Sometimes I think it's bad to read genre works back to back, since one often ends up suffering by comparison and I like Neverland a little less than Usher's Passing.

Comparisons aside, Neverland was pretty enjoyable. A few flaws perhaps, a lintel draggy in the middle, but enjoyable overall.

Finished Neverland. Sometimes I think it's bad to read genre works back to back, since one often ends up suffering by comparison, and I liked Neverland a little less than Usher's Passing.

Comparisons aside, Neverland was pretty enjoyable. A few flaws perhaps, a little draggy in the middle, but enjoyable overall.

Started Banquet for the Damned by Adam L. G. Nevill only three chapters buut so far it is kinda of a slog. It better pick up or I want last.

okay, gave up on Banquet of the Damned and am happily in the middle of Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

I just went and looked up Banquet of the Damned. It sounds promising. Sort of a literary, Victorian version of A Nightmare on Elm Street:)

However, looking at the ratings it doesn't look like any two readers could agree on quality. Ratings literally run the gamut from .5 to 5 stars.

#108
Yea, that looks like a fairly evenly spread distribution of views.
It reminds me of the quiet news days when all the main newspapers have different lead stories.

I have finished both Infected and Contagious by Scott Sigler. I liked them. Infected was mainly a set up book for Contagious, but it had enough of a story to keep me interested. Contageous was non-stop pretty much from the get-go. I liked them both better than Ancestor which took quite a while to get going.

#97 I bought The Passage as a summer read and was very excited about it because I saw it described as a cross between The Stand and World War Z. It was nowhere near as good as either. I thought it dragged quite a bit without any real payoff. I will definitely not buy the sequels (at least not new) and don't even know if I will read them. I was so looking forward to it. Maybe my expectations were just too high.

Just started Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston. This is my first book by this author. The writing style is different but so far I like it. Only about twenty pages in.

#110 - I loved Infected but haven't read Contagious yet. Much as I loved Infected, I do remember that toward the end it felt like it was too obvious that he was setting up a sequel.

I'm still reading my way through The Best of Weird Tales. I need to hurry up and finish so's I can get started on The Gunslinger.

So far I've liked all the stories, but none have been outstanding. I probably would have liked Midnight Mass, except the fifty pages of story were reproduced almost verbatim in the longer book, so there was no surprise.

Brian Lumley's Fruiting Bodies has been my favorite of the stories so far. Nothing like I was expecting, but very good.

#107: Hope Dexter is Delicious is, well, delicious. ;) I haven't gotten that far in the series yet.

#111: The Best of Weird Tales looks pretty good--at least the line-up of authors does.

I kept it kind of light for Halloween and read the graphic version of Dean Koontz's short story "Trapped". I wasn't impressed with the illustrations, but it was still fun to read an graphic adaptation of a short story (my first).

I read Algernon Blackwood's The Man Whom the Trees Loved recently, and found it to be quite eerily good. I'd never read a story that made trees and forests spooky on such a visceral level before. For the moment it has made me glad I live in a nice, house filled suburb, with nary a watchful forest in sight. {Brrrrr}

>113 Phlox72: Blackwood's wonderful. I don't know if you've read much by him, but I'd suggest "The Willows" - which is another work attributing a real ominous feel to natural surroundings.

#114 lucien

Thanks for the recommendation. I got The Willows from Gutenberg and loaded it on my Kindle. I'll read it soon.

#114 You´re right about Blackwood. He´s really top notch and The Willows is by far the best of his stories. I read it years ago and it still pops up in my head every now and then.

Dexter was indeed delicious. I thought the third book weak, though the fourth was better and this one was fully back on track.

#117: I've only read the first two books this year, so that's good to know the series doesn't totally derail by book 5. Thanks! :)

#111 Glad to hear you are reading Weird Tales, good stuff. I'm a big fan of golden age horror - hopefully Murgenstrumm and Others by Hugh Cave will be mine for Xmas. Also been negotiating for collected stories of Manly Wade Wellmann and Seabury Quinn but they are going to cost an arm and a leg!!!!

The Weird Tales collection I'm reading (The Best of Weird Tales) is stories for the late '80's and early '90's. I wish they'd titled it differently. I think it is misleading.

I do love golden age horror though. I have Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors which focuses on the original run of the magazine. Plenty of Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, Frank Belknap Long and Seabury Quinn there.

UR by Stephen King ironically the first book I downloaded on my kindle, only uncle Stevie can make a kindle creepy

Just finished The Seance by John Harwood, and, well... A nicely told story, but when contemporary writers try to mimic the style of the late 19th century, or any other, it doesn´t always work. One the one hand the characters don´t act like they would have done in those days, and on the other there´s too much pointless information just to show the amount of research done by the author. Would a young unmarried woman have gone on holiday alone with five men she didn´t know in 1887? As I said; a good story, but not very likely in a 19th century context. Too bad, as it could have been really good.

#122: Good points, petine! And I can't think of any woman (in her right mind, anyway) who would go with 5 men, no matter the century. :D

I have The Ghost Writer by the same guy, but I'm still not sure what to expect from it. Anyone love/hate it?

I had plans to read The Ghost Writer too, but now I´m not so sure. What´s it about?

Good question. I'm assuming it's some kind of ghost story, but now I'm not sure after reading some reviews on the book's page. (shrugs) It's best summed up here: "A tantalizing tale of suspense and family secrets that weaves Victorian ghost stories into the present – where they start to come true." Hmm, dunno if I'll be starting that one any time soon. Doesn't sound scary enough for me right now. But who knows. If I'm up to reading about ghosts, I'll give this one a try first.

It barely counts as horror, but I'm reading Stephen King's The Gunslinger now. I LOVE Stephen King, but never cared for the Dark Tower stuff. At least The Gunslinger is a quick read.

It's put me in the mood to read a schlocky western and I also rented a Lee Van Cleef western from Netflix (Sabata if interested).

Picking up on discussing Victorian ghost stories (now there was a leap!) has anyone read any of the Dr. Nikola books?

I see Wordsworth has an omnibus of the first two (I touchstoned to it) and the books always sounded promising to me.

(If you check out my touchstone, check out the Dr. Nikola series. The book I linked to really doesn't tell you anything about the book or the series.)

#126: That was quite the leap there (re: schlocky westerns to Victorian ghost stories); and no, I haven't read any Dr. Nikola books, let alone heard of them. I'll have to give 'em a look-see sometime. Thanks!

And I'm with you on the Dark Tower front--not a big fan of that series (too westerny for me), but the first book is worth reading to at least say you tried the series. I'd love to give the graphic novels a go, though. I see them at work a lot, but I've never flipped through them. Does anyone know if they're any good?

I´ve read quite a lot of the Dr Nikola stuff, not all though and not the Wordsworth even though I´ve got it. Now this was ages ago, but I remember liking them enormously. They´re not really ghost stories but rather like Bulldog Drummond written from the other side (Dr Nikola is a right and proper baddie but you can´t help liking him anyway). If you are into old fashioned detective stuff this is a must. Dr Nikola über alles.

#127 - Funny. The western angle is my favorite part so far.

I've read the first two Dark Tower books (The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three). I remember that the second book is much better than the first, but overall they aren't my bag. Doing this book of the month thing will force me to read those books, but spaced out. That's not such a bad thing.

#128 - The Wordsworth edition is just an omnibus of the first two Dr. Nikola books (A Bid For Fortune and Dr. Nikola), so you might have read the book already in a different format.

The book is available for cheap on Amazon. I'll definitely give it a chance now.

# 127
"And I'm with you on the Dark Tower front--not a big fan of that series (too westerny for me), but the first book is worth reading to at least say you tried the series."

Hey Sara, I can totally respect not caring for the series. I had a hard time getting into it. But the first book is certainly not a good book to judge the series by. It is VERY different than the rest of the series. Unfortunately reading the first book is crucial to understanding the rest. I would say if you read the first two and still don't care for it, you have given the series an honest try.

The Dark Tower is really more sci-fi than horror.

I just re-read Plague of the Dead by Z.A. Recht and am halfway through Thunder and Ashes. Entertaining brain candy.

#131 - I just re-read Plague of the Dead by Z.A. Recht

I've been wondering about that. I've heard good things and bad things about it. I picked up a copy when I found it in Half Price Books, but have been nervous about actually reading it.

I found it to be entertaining but not terribly well written. It wasn't so bad that the writing was distracting, but the characters were pretty thin. Like I said, pretty much brain candy.

Warning: I just read that the author died before finishing the third book.

#129: I kinda figured you'd like the western feel to the Dark Tower books. :)

I have the first four books in the Dark Tower series (thinking I was going to read the series straight through, since my sis loved it; figured I would too); but I only read half of The Drawing of the Three and never moved on from there. Don't know why, since I love Stephen King. Maybe I should give the series a second go.

#130: Hmm, I'm really not into sci fi either (romance, westerns, and science fiction are tough for me to get into), but it's good to know the second book gets better. I'll have to keep that in mind when I re-read The Drawing of the Three. Thanks! :)

#123,124,125

I enjoyed The Ghost Writer by John Harwood very much. For me The Seance did not live up to his first book.

Good to know. Thanks, pollux! :)

Finished Usher's Passing which was okay but I didn'tthink it was one of McCammon's better efforts. Now reading Grange House by Sarah Blake perhaps more Victorian ghost story than horror.

Stephen King's It, I'm finally reading it. It just started to get a little bit scary.

#138 - Oh, I hope you like It! For me, that was a 1,000+ page book that never dragged.

My wife doesn't share that opinion...

I really enjoyed both Grange House and It. I hope you do too!

Anyone read Dark Matter by Michelle Paver? Looks promising, but I´m still not convinced.

#139, #140 I'm liking It so far :D I thought I was going to not read it all at once and read other books during the breaks but it looks like I won't be able to.

Well Grange House was very self-consciously Henry Jamesian, a bit too much so for my taste.

#141: I've heard of Michelle Paver, but haven't read anything by her, not even Dark Matter. Too bad, because it does look fairly good. Let us know what you think, if/when you read it.

#142: Glad you're liking It. That's one of my favorite Stephen King books, too. I try to do the same thing--read other books when my current read is starting to lag--but I love finding books where you can't fit others in. Hope It continues to do that for you!

Okay, right now I'm reading... Christopher Pike's Slumber Party.

When I was a kid I went from reading stuff like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and A Wrinkle in Time to The Hobbit, Isaac Asimov and his wonderful robots and then Stephen King and Clive Barker. I sort of bypassed teen books and never knew there were teen horror novels until just a few years ago.

I was talking that over with my wife who grew up reading Lois Duncan and she said I should give a few a shot. I couldn't find any of her books on my last trip to Half Price Books, but I found a number of Pike ones.

I have to admit, I like the book. In spite of myself, I do want to know where it's going. I don't see myself becoming a teen horror junkie, but I wish I knew about those books in my teens. I would have torn through them.

#145: Glad you're liking Slumber Party so far (it's kind of an odd one, if I remember the plot correctly)! :) I absolutely loved Christopher Pike in elementary/middle school (Remember Me was my favorite.) Actually, I still re-read some of his stuff now; they hold up pretty well for being 20-30 years old and geared for teens.

As for Lois Ducan, I've only read a couple of her books (Killing Mr Griffin and I Know What You Did Last Summer), but there's something kind of dry about her writing. She's not too bad, but, personally, I'd say read Christopher Pike first. :)

#145: I totally love that you're reading Christopher Pike!

#146: Remember Me was one of my favourites, too. I also really liked Bury Me Deep. You can't go wrong with the old skeleton-hand-bursting-from-grave thing.

I really liked Lois Duncan as a kid, but her books are definitely not as lurid and thriller-y as Christopher Pike ... a lot of them are really more mystery/suspense.

I finished Ghost Road Blues Jonathan Maberry and it was pretty reminiscent of Stephen King. I hate when writers are compared to him, but this time I could see it. He does like to see himself write. Good story, gritty, gristly, and all over the place. It's the first part of a trilogy and I think I'll take a break before I start the next book.

#'s 146, 147 - I finished Slumber Party last night. I was able to guess a couple of the twists, but that's at least partly because the synopsis gives away too much.

I picked up a couple of Christopher Pike books, so I will be reading more. Besides Slumber Party, I grabbed Scavenger Hunt, the three Final Friends books and one of his 'adult' novels, Season of Passage which promises vampires in spaaaaaaace! Now that sounds like fun!

Right now I'm reading John Lutz' The Night Spider and have The Dark Half coming up, so it will be a while before I read more Pike.

# 148 - I agree that I don't like seeing horror writers compared to Stephen King, in professional reviews anyway. But coming from another reader, it is a little more justified.

I have all three of the Pine Deep books. I'll read them... some day.

Finished Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton. I am typically cautious about vampire stories because so many recently are romances. Where there is a touch of romance here, it is not a major part of the story. I would have liked to see more of the vampire's evil back story. Not a bad book, but I mainly picked it up because of all the Hinton I read as a kid.

I picked up Hawkes Harbor for the same reason as you. Boy, was I surprised! It was OK, I gave it 3 1/2 stars. I am not a big vampire fan so it didn't really appeal to me.

Okay, I don't see myself picking up Hawkes Harbor, but any book with tags of mental institution, murder, orphans, pirates, smuggling and vampires has got to be worth a look. Maybe it's too much of a good thing though. The reviews are mixed at best.

I bought Hawkes Harbor awhile back, because it was by S. E. Hinton. The fact it's about vampires is a plus for me (I had no idea that's what it was about when I bought it), so I may start that one soon (if/when I find it in all my mess).

The Freakshow by Bryan Smith. It is not as good as I thought it would be, but I am going to finish it anyway.

I'm about halfway through Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars. Good level of creepiness with a seemingly high level of revenge and dark justice (of course I'm not finished yet, so this opinion could change!)

#154 - Blah, Bryan Smith. I always feel like I should enjoy his books more than I do. I wrote up a review of Freakshow. Tell me how closely my opinions/complaints mirror yours.

#155 - Princesspeaches, you might check out the group 'King's Dear Constant Readers'. It's a group dedicated to Stephen King. There's a project there to work through King's canon, one book a month. The book for this month is The Dark Half. King is my favorite (living) writer.

I finished The Night Spider and liked it. Towards the end though, the twists became ludicrous. Still, I'll read more John Lutz.

I started my re-read of The Dark Half. Good stuff from when King was at his peak.

Just finished Let the Right One In and liked it a lot. Started Rise Again a zombie novel by Ben Tripp.

Okay, Quit Rise Again. Got about 150-200 pages in and had enough. The characters were pretty one dimensional and unlikeable. Also I may be a little burned out on horror right now. I am switching genres for a little while, but I'll be back (insert Schwartzenegger voice here).

I read Finishing Touches by Tessier (Leisure). Also includes the novella "Father Panic's Opera Macabre." Two really interesting, well-written stories with letdown endings. Which I suppose I should have surmised since there's a cover blurb from Ramsey Campbell.

I just started Harbour by John Ajvide Lindqvist. So far the premise is interesting, but I'm hoping it's not going to devolve into YA level magical fantasy. I'll keep reading and hope for the best.

#159 - Did you know your touchstone for Rise Again links to a western?

It's too bad the book didn't work out. That's why I'm leery of small press horror (especially small press zombie stories).

#160: I'd probably give that one a try, even though you mentioned the ending was a letdown.

#161: Good luck with Harbour. I haven't read any Lindqvist yet, though I've seen/liked Let the Right One In (the movie).

#162: Thanks for the right link, jseger. I honestly didn't pay attention to the western tag. The zombie one sounds much better!

@161 I enjoyed Let the Right One In and to a lesser extent Handling the Undead. Keep wondering if I should splash out on the hardback of Harbour so I will be interested to see how it turns out.

Just finished the eerie The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen, there two short stories that were sadly a bit of a mixed bag.

In keeping with the holidays, I'm reading A Christmas Carol.

Marley's just visited Scrooge and said "You better recognize!"

Now Scrooge is in bed and the Ghost of Christmas Past is right outside his curtains. My lunch ended right there. Crummy!

I was going to read Hawkes Harbor by S. E. Hinton because of all the talk about it earlier, but I couldn't find it in my messy excuse of a library, so I started Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite instead. It's quite similar to Joyce Carol Oates's Zombie with a Jeffrey Dahmer-like protagonist. That one I read earlier this year and also recommend. So far (only a few chapters into it), Exquisite Corpse has not disappointed me at all. It's very captivating and disturbing at the same time that I keep setting it aside after certain killing scenes, then immediately want to pick it back up to find out what happens next. This is my first Poppy Z. Brite book, and, hopefully, not my last!

#165 jseger, love that book! The story itself is almost perfection...don't know why I didn't think of it. Oh well loads of library stuff to get through so maybe next year.

I'm currently reading Handling The Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist (no touchstone?) which I'm enjoying and I have Dark Matter by Michelle Paver lined up next. It has good reviews so I'm looking forward to that.

Just finished the great 19976::Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns. Technically not horror but contains amongst the surreal everyday there is enough darkness to be worth a mention.

I'm loving A Christmas Carol. By now I (like everyone else) am so familiar with the story that there aren't really any surprises. But Dickens writing is wonderful. He constantly 'breaks the fourth wall' or whatever they would have called it in the days before TV.

Sara I always got the (maybe unfair) feeling that Poppy Z. Brite was a sort of knockoff Anne Rice (gay, gothic vampires weeping in New Orleans). I see her books at Half Price Books fairly often. Is Exquisite Corpse your first book by her? Would you recommend her?

169>I'm fairly sure Brite wrote only one vampire book, Lost Souls. But you could (should?) count her biography of Courtney Love.

#169: I never thought about the Anne Rice comparison until you mentioned it (and seeing a few recommended Anne Rice books on the Exquisite Corpse page). The two of them also kind of physically resemble each other . . . but now I'm babbling. So, to answer your questions: yes, Exquisite Corpse is my first book by her; and so far, yes, I'd recommend her. I have a couple other books by her (Wormwood and the erotic horror anthologies she edited: Love in Vein), which I plan on dusting off and reading for next year's 75 challenge; that's how impressed I am with her.

#170: Lost Souls definitely looks good. I'll have to look for that one. Oh, and Drawing Blood: that's another "gothic vampires weeping in New Orleans", as jseger so nicely put it. ;) I've already read one biography on Courtney Love, but since Poppy Z. Brite wrote one as well, I may try her version (if/when I find it). Thanks! :)

Just started In Ghostly Company on the bus today.

At home I'm reading Dark Domain, a collection of weird stories by the Polish writer, Sefan Grabinski. He is sometimes described as the "Polish Poe", but I also see elements akin to Thomas Ligotti's work in his stories.

171>I'm almost certain Drawing Blood isn't about vampires, but my own hazy recollection of reading it can't get past the bits with dreams in comix and jazz references.

#172 Stefan Grabinski is one of my personal favourites, he´s brilliant. A bit like Hanns Heinz Ewers, with very weird tales. Don´t remember the name of the story, but there was one about a bloke who made love to a corpse. They don´t get any better than that. Ha.

#174 I haven't read any Ewers so you can take credit for putting a new author on my TBR list.
Also, I haven't reached the story you described.
I am enjoying Grabinski.

I've finished A Christmas Carol and have started a cheesy book called Level 26: Dark Origins. I wouldn't have picked that one up myself, but the ghost of the Leisure Horror Club sent it to me.

It's not bad, but it's not particularly good either. The biggest problem the book has is that it is too slick. It is obviously a 'product' rather than a novel.

I have to get going (IHOP is calling my name), but I really wanna look into Stefan Grabinski and I think next time I go to Half Price Books I might pick up some Poppy Z Brite as well...

I finished a collection of August Derleth short stories called Mr. George and Other Odd Persons. It's weird fiction but non-Lovecraftian, which I actually thinks for somewhat better stories, as I find Derleth's attempts to mimic HPL's style to be pretty bad. The stories were pretty good overall, though fairly tame. Derleth still has a bad habit of repeating the same plots in different iterations, and in this book a good 50 - 60% of the stories are some variation on "revenge from beyond the grave." The strongest element may have been the personal one, and what struck me most about the stories is how frequently and how well Derleth expresses the sense of the lonely child forced to rely on his/her own imagination for solace.

I must state the CarlosMcRey introduced me to Stefan Grabinski and I am really enjoying the stories.
"Thank you!" Carlos.

Playing catch up reading Neverland. So far well done, but its more like I appreaciate it than love it.

#179 - its more like I appreciate it than love it.

That was me with my only Douglas Clegg experience so far: The Halloween Man Still, I'd try other books by him.

I finished Level 26: Dark Origins. It was a bad book, yet I gave it three stars. Stupid as it was, I sure did keep reading. I was impressed with the actual author's (Duane Swierczynski) writing. He wrote a book that I thought was dumb. yet propelled it right along. Almost like he was thinking if he moved you through there fast enough, you wouldn't notice the flaking paint and the wires holding everything together.

I liked his writing enough to order a book he didn't write for pay: Severance Package. I only hope it is as good as its premise.

I'm reading Blood Harvest so far so good, the story is just now starting to get rolling...

#180 - Liked your review for Level 26. (I read it before checking this thread.) It occured to me that the whole digi-novel concept seems particularly inane when applied to a fast-paced thriller, especially the way you describe it. You zip along through fifty pages of engaging narrative, than have to stop, click, wait for a clip to load. It might be fun for some sort of House of Leaves/Infinite Jest sort of meta trip, but for a suspense novel?

#178 - Glad you liked it. I don't know if Ligotti's ever mentioned Grabinski, but I do know he has been influenced by another Polish author, Bruno Schulz, who isn't really horror but whom I'd also recommend.

#182
Carlos, do you do this deliberately?
You do know I'm going to follow up your Bruno Schulz recommendation, don't you?
:-)
Given your track record so far, I can only believe Schulz will be good.
Thank you!
Peter

#182 - Yeah, even the term digi-novel was too cute by half.

#148 - Started reading Maberrry's "Ghost Road Blues" over the weekend and am also impressed. It's such a treat to see a genre writer with such an impressive vocabulary. Agree about the gritty and all over the place comments.

#187 - I've really gotta read Maberry's Pine Deep trilogy at some point. I have all three books and have heard nothing but good things...

I've started on Four Past Midnight for the Stephen King Flavor of the Month club. It's just 'The Langoliers' and 'Secret Window, Secret Garden' this month.

I'm about sixty pages into 'The Langoliers' now. A planeload of people has disappeared, leaving just a dozen on board. Good creepy stuff.

Just got hold of a copy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman´s "The yellow wallpaper". This is a collection of her stories and I haven´t read it yet, but although I did read the title story The yellow wallpaper a couple of years ago and thought it brilliant I´m having second thoughts about this book even, as I said, before I´ve read it. Does anyone know anything about her? Was the yellow wallpaper the only supernatural story she wrote? The cover of this book says nothing whatsoever about the supernatural, but rather a tedious and lenghty tirade on early american feminism. I paid 50p for this unread second hand copy, so I didn´t get ripped off, but the disappointment, oh the disappointment...

I read Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Wikipedia page and she sounds like a very interesting woman. But as for the stories... I'm afraid it is very depressing.

Let's just hope nobody thinks your depression warrants locking you in a room with yellow wallpaper.

My Other Reader and I are currently reading Ladies of Fantasy, which is an anthology of stories that are all classifiable as supernatural horror by women writers. We recently finished the entry by H.P. Blavatsky called "The Ensouled Violin," which was quite grisly (even if much of the prose was in an overwrought Victorian mode).

#191 - We recently finished the entry by H.P. Blavatsky called "The Ensouled Violin"

Is that Madame Blavatsky? Psychic and founder of Theosophy?

Oh, yes. Absoutely. HPB wrote a good fistful of fiction in her day, although the quantity didn't approach her output in Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine, etc.

Finished the paranormal The Red Tree by Caitlin R Kiernan. I didn't find it all scary (mayhap because the protagnist was never *that* scared) by it was an enjoyable tale, with a unreliable narrator (an obvious thing so not really a spoiler) and enough mystery to keep it going.

Hmm... I'm curious about The Red Tree. User Jannes gave a (to me) VERY good review. And while s/he seemed to like the book, the gripes about it would probably really bug me. Maybe if I see it at Half Price Books some time.

I finished The Langoliers and am reading the second Four Past Midnight novella Secret Window, Secret Garden (which was adapted to what I remember as a very good movie with Johnny Depp).

It's funny, because I remember The Langoliers being my favorite of the stories originally, but this time out I'm enjoying Secret Window quite a bit more.

@195 Hmm yep it is a good review by Jannes and I do agree. I did not find the reference to horror authors that irritating more bemusing though and I think there is enough good in there to elevate it above its problems.. so yeah worth getting if you see half price :)

I am thoroughly enjoying the stories in Dark Domain by Stefan Grabinski. The tranlator's skill is obvious as the prose flow beautifully and one would never know it was a translation. A superb recommendation from LTer CarlosMcRey.

Thank you, Carlos, and yes, the Bruno Schulz volume has arrived. (The Fictions, a volume containing both The Street of Crocodiles and Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass.)

@197 I have that in my TBR so another thumbs up is good to know!

#198
The stories are in the order of 14 pages long, so they are good if you can only grab an hour to read. I must say, I'm finding them varied in topic and very evocative of their era and environs. I look forward to hearing your views.

I'm reading Feed not very scary so far, but excellent reading.

I finished Feed

Run don't walk or shamble to get this book, it was sooo good. A distinctive take on a post-apocalyptic zombified world by viewing it though the eyes of three young bloggers indeed. I was so relived to read there is a sequel only to be denied when I find it's not out yet. Defiantly going in my top ten for 2011.

I just finished Blood Crazy by Simon Clark and hated it.

#202- Simon Clark seems hit or miss. I read Vampyrrhic and liked it and read Stranger and thought it was awful.

Sadly, Blood Crazy is one that gets better reviews. If that one wasn't good, it makes me wonder if I will like anything else he wrote?

I'm about a third of the way through So Cold the River by Michael Koryta. I'm finding it nicely creepy so far.

Thanks for the heads up. I just put my name on the waiting list for it at the local lie-berry.

I read Mo Hayder's Pig Island a few weeks ago and liked it; some nice creepy scenes and a high 'eep' factor.

Chilling: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2011/01/wolves.html

# 206 Well, it was a lot better than Steven King.

I finished The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey it was very well done, and for YA? pretty grisly.

YAs are grisly. Their books can be rough too!
:-)

Bringing the thread full circle, I've started reading 'Jack Yeovil' (aka Kim Newman)'s Orgy of the Blood Parasites (mentioned way back in #1).

I've only read the prologue so far, but I like what I've read. The ttle here is probably half the fun (though I've noticed I try and carry the book in a way that obscures the cover when I walk through my workplace for a break).

@210 I actually went and found my old copy, I still cant remember anything about it! I am going to have reread.

Just finished Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol. I enjoyed it but it wasn't what I was expecting (survivalist horror set on a remote island). Much more thoughtful with themes such as the brutality of human nature, sex, insanity etc.. It's had mixed reviews but I reckon its worth a go.

#210

I'm awaiting delivery of Anno Dracula and Dracula Cha Cha Cha by Kim Newman.

I read one of his radio plays at a convention last year; Mildew Manor. It was very funny and the audience appreciated it greatly. The actors were excellent!

#211 - Oh yeah! I remember reading about that one on the Antarctic Horror thread. I just ordered a copy. Thanks for the reminder.

I'm really enjoying Orgy of the Blood Parasites. You can see that it was written to be read in a couple of sittings. It is short and punchy with no chapter breaks. Instead every two or three pages we switch to a different characters. Sadly, I've been wasting time doing other stuff and I've had trouble keeping track of who is who. That's me rather than the book though.

It reminds me of early David Cronenberg movies like Shivers or Rabid. On the one hand it's Kim Newman having fun with total over-the-top gross out. But it's still Kim Newman, so it is pretty well written.

I'm not reading an horror right now, although I have put The Monstrumologist on hold at the lie-berry. Reading Blood Crazy was such a let down that I've going to give horror a break for a while. (as for Mon..whatever, what's not to like about foggy street, crypts, asylums, etc.) I really like The Cabinet of Curiosities for the same gothic themes.

ah, I'm a big fan of Preston & Child, and most of their individual works.

Giving Hodgson's House on the Borderland a go.

Just started Endurance by Jack Kilborn on the kindle. It's gross :o( Not what I was expecting from the blurb on Amazon. A kind of cross between The Hills Have Eyes and any number of other freak/slasher themed things and-don't-spare-the-gore.

@214 Blood Crazy was a bit of a stinker!
@217 Love me some Jack Kilborn Afraid is great, then again I love a bit of grue.
Currently reading Apeshit by Carlton Mellick. It's great fun but stay away if you don't like the gross. Also recommend Benjamins Parasite by Jeff Strand which is yucky and hilarious.

>212 pgmcc:
Yay for radio drama. I've finally gotten around to listening to some things I recorded off BBC7 from Halloween. There was a nice one about about a ship losing its crew one by one on a journey from Eastern Europe to England called "Voyage of the Demeter".

I finished The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton. It's a nice collection with more solid entries than pedestrian ones. Heavy on themes regarding the roles of women in society and class issues (a lot of the characters are household staff).

OK, I broke down and picked up The Basement by Bari Wood. Wood has a lucid writing style and it's got some interesting bits- a gang of 8 40-something super-rich people who have been friends all of their lives, a haunted basement, a dark ritual carried out in secret and with a good deal of comic effect, some grisly deaths so far. The protagonists are all likable (one man gets into an argument with one of the gang, calls her a string of names, and the only one that she registers and takes umbrage at is being called 'snooty') while the antagonists are less individualized and drawn as broad caricatures of their type. There's been one really frightening scene so far (I won't spoil it) but if you read the book, it involves someone doing something highly unlikely.

I think I'm going to like it, perfect bedtime reading, and relieved I got a second on Blood Crazy. Which sucked!

#220, I'm intrigued, waiting to see how it turns out for you.

Man, I bought a Jack Kilborn book and in the first few pages the bad guy beats the crap out of a guy, shoves an ear of corn up his ass, and then tortures him with a Swiss Army Knife before setting him on fire.
I read a lot of horror, but ......

#222 tjm - exactly! Not what I was expectng at all and definitely a bit rich for my blood, although I read it to the end (well I had paid for it!) There were a couple of samples at the end for Afraid and Trapped... don't think I'll be reading them, but if a gore-fest if your thing, then Kilborn's your man!

lol @ 222. Woah. I think I'll have to give Jack Kilborn a try just to see how bad he really is. Thanks, you guys! :)

ugh, not me, the whole corn thing has me off corn served up any kind of way...

Oh no Sara, there's no laughing here... no laughing at all! My stomach was doing flipflops - I thought it was all going to be lovely paranormal horror, but no it's all flippers, and bug eyes and extra limbs and heads. And blood, lots and lots of blood, and rats and demented characters.

I had to wash my eyeballs after reading Kilborn ;o) Love to know what you think.

I'm about halfway through War in Heaven by Charles Williams, and enjoying it a good deal. This book does seem to be where Dennis Wheatley got the whole "occult thriller" genre that he exploited so extensively.

#225: I can see why. ;)

#226: Oh, I wasn't laughing at the torture, just how over-the-top it sounded. I don't think I own any books by him, but I'll definitely look next time I'm out book shopping. Thanks! :)

222-226: I dunno. I read Afraid 'by Jack Killborn' (actually a pen name for mystery writer J.A. Konrath) and yeah, it was pretty violent. But I didn't connect with the characters enough to be shocked by the goings' on.

I remember reading Joe R. Lansdale's The Nightrunners and had to put it aside unfinished because it was just too brutal.

I've also sort of kept The Girl Next Door on the back burner because Off Season showed me how powerful a writer Ketchum could be.

Afraid reminded me of a less juvenile Richard Laymon book. I'd definately try more Killborn. Too bad he's gone all digital.

#227 I like Charles William a lot, though my favorite is Place of the Lion.

Just finished Cold Earth by Sarah Moss, which was quiet horror--anthropologists in Greenland, with a bit of ghost sorry, a bit of epidemic apocalypse, and a bit of survivalism, but all low key.

I lucked into a cache of Williams at a public library book sale recently: in addition to War in Heaven, I picked up The Greater Trumps, Descent into Hell, and All Hallows' Eve, each for fifty cents. I'd been meaning to read Williams for quite a while--besides knowing of his Inklings fame and initiation in Waite's schismatic Golden Dawn group, Williams came recommended by a professor I'd studied with, whose taste in literature I had reason to approve.

As I've gotten further into War in Heaven, I'm especially impressed by the depth which Williams gives to his villains--quite unusual in explicitly Christian fiction in my experience. And I'm somewhat charmed by his beatific archdeacon.

>>221 beeg: beeg- I liked The Basement by Wood. Despite having a lot of action and an agreeably high body count, it's a subtle examination of witchcraft. There's also one scene that really gave me the creeps.

#232 thanks, I've added it to the list.

>216 sf_addict:. I'm interested to hear what you thought of House on the Borderland. I liked it, but it didn't impress me. Maybe Hodgson was a pioneer at the time, but I've read that book about six times done as well or better--all newer than his, of course.

I finished Under the Dome about a month ago, and actually found it more disturbing than I usually find King. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I think Firestarter was the last book of his that bothered me that much.

Right now, I'm working on Forever Odd. The Odd Thomas books are the only Koontz I can tolerate.

#234 - Bentley, you should add some of those books as user recs on The House on the Borderland page. I've been meaning to read that book for forever!

If I can finish the book I'm reading now (The Gay Talese Reader) in the next day or two, I'm going to finally sneak The House on the Borderland in before I start reading Needful Things in March.

Reading The Small Hand by Susan Hill on kindle right now. It's atmospheric and spooky but not downright scary. Still I'm enjoying the sense of unease she creates.

>235 jseger9000:. You shouldn't have any trouble sneaking it in between a couple of other books. It's a pretty quick read. If I can remember which books it made me think of, I'll add them as user recs....

I feel guilty about my feelings for that book because I suspect it's the same experience that today's teenagers have going back and watching the original Friday the 13th. It FEELS derivative because everybody else stole from it!

>236 Phlox72:. Is that Susan Hill of The Woman in Black? If so, I think atmospheric is sort of her stock in trade. She does "the Victorian ghost story" quite well for someone who, well, isn't actually a Victorian.

# 234 WHH is one of my favourite authors, but even so I found The house on the borderland both weird and tedious. There was another one of his odd stories though, can´t remember the name of it, but it was some sci-fi ish stuff about life on another planet. Sounds crap, I know, but was actually really good.

Just started The Mall by S.L. Grey - no touchstones :o( on the Kindle. Something about two characters getting stuck in the mall after dark in the basement before returning to what they think is the mall, but with differences. Amazon says Why are the shop assistants chained to their counters? And why is a café called McColon’s selling lumps of bleeding meat?
. Sounds like fun!

#238 - I'll post on here once I start reading The House on the Borderland. Whatever else, it sure has a good title.

#239 - That sounds like something Bentley Little would do. I think he wrote a story called The Mall...

#240 Just looked and Bentley Little did write a novella called The Mall (oh his touchstone works!) but the synopsis is completely different.

Only two chapters in, but this is set in South Africa - I was drawn to it by the cover as well as the good reviews... but we all know how miseading they can be ;o)



linky to synopsis,

Yes The Small Hand was by the Susan Hill and I just finished it. Nice ghost story, spooky, along her usual atmospheric lines yes, and a bit predictable at the ending. Still it was worth a read if only for that "chill" factor she gives you where you want to pull the covers around you a little tighter and check the shadows for movement. Yeah, I liked it.

Last night I finished The Asylum by John Edwards Ames. It's a Zebra book, so I didn't think I'd get past the first few pages, but it had a good beat and you could dance to it. Sort of a post-deconstructionist noir techno thriller. Micky Spillane meets Preston/Chide. I liked it, even if it wasn't novel.

As for Bette in Misery, I disagree. And I am unanimous in that. I think she'd have brought off a darker edge to the role and would have been AWESOME.

Has anyone noticed that a lot of the horror/thrillers they read are published by one house more than the others? I've got a lot from TOR and it's subsidies. I think Zebra was independent and part of the Kensington pun group when Asylum was published in 1994. I usually think of Zebra as schlock horror, but they also re-printed lots of Carr's mysteries. I'm not sure, but I think Zebra>Kensington have either gone under or been bought by a conglomerate. I know TOR was sold. I think that's too bad.

Last night I finished The Asylum by John Edwards Ames. It's a Zebra book, so I didn't think I'd get past the first few pages, but it had a good beat and you could dance to it. Sort of a post-deconstructionist noir techno thriller. Micky Spillane meets Preston/Chide. I liked it, even if it wasn't novel.

Has anyone noticed that a lot of the horror/thrillers they read are published by one house more than the others? I've got a lot from TOR and it's subsidies. I think Zebra was independent and part of the Kensington pun group when Asylum was published in 1994. I usually think of Zebra as schlock horror, but they also re-printed lots of Carr's mysteries. I'm not sure, but I think Zebra>Kensington have either gone under or been bought by a conglomerate. I know TOR was sold. I think that's too bad.

#243 (and 244!) - Has anyone noticed that a lot of the horror/thrillers they read are published by one house more than the others?

Yeah, I have a lot of Leisure. I think that's because I subscribed to their book club. I always tend to look over the Tor horror books when I'm at Half Price Books.

Isn't Pinnacle part of Kensington books? I think they canceled Zebra, then got back into the horror biz as Pinnacle horror (though Pinnacle horror books are few and far between). Zebra is still around, but the publish romance about Highlanders and stuff: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/

I've started reading The House on the Borderland. I really like the atmosphere the author is evoking. There is a general sense of eeriness about the book that is really working for me.

But, I've noticed, the author, William Hope Hodgson, has a love affair, with the comma, that makes me want to break out a red pencil, as I read it.

Also there was a long chapter where the protagonist experiences some sort of astral projection that reminded me a little of the 'Star Gate' scene from 2001. I got bored reading page after page of the character describing floating past a series of rocks under a red sky. I hope there isn't more of that.

Those two grumbles aside, I like the book. The language is a little antiquated, but it isn't that purposely archaic and baroque H.P. Lovecraft stuff that grates after a while.

I finished The Mall by S.L. Grey - loved it and gave it a big juicy 5/5 - not bad for a Kindle freebie :o) (still no touchmarks, but if anyone's interested, I reviewed it here,

I'd happily pay full price for this blacker than black look at the horror of consumerism.

#247 well it sucks to be american because we can't get this book, too bad as it looks pretty good.

#247: Thumbed ya. The Mall sounds good (love the cover), but I still feel kind of allergic to ebooks. If it comes out in paperback, I'll get it.

#247 - The Mall does sound pretty good! (Forced that touchstone.) I think it would make a good 'double feature' with Bentley Little's The Store.

To get up on my soapbox for just a minute: Can I say that it is ridiculous for an ebook to be available for the Kindle in the UK, but not in the US? That regionalization is just going to drive up piracy. I don't read ebooks, but if I did, in a case like this I'd start searching thepiratebay or some similar site for a copy. Then, not only would I be able to read the book, but it would be free.

But if Amazon offered it on the Kindle everywhere in the first place, the thought of getting it elsewhere wouldn't even have occurred to me.

Yeah I immediately checked the kindle store for the book only to realize that i cannot access it. Wasn't expecting that. Hopefully Amazon will realise the international interest and make it more available.

#s 248, 250, 251

Agreed! I didn't realise this was the case, but I've come across an ebook on Amazon.com that I can't access here and it wouldn't let me buy it. It's ridiculous and I'm sure the author would agree. Doesn't make any sense when I can buy virtually anything internationally with the click of a button. Hope it comes into your orbit really soon.

Ebooks not available in other countries? That doesn't make any sense. :/ It'll get worked out eventually. I hope.

I started Dominion by Bentley Little last night. It had a Greek mythology feel about it that got me interested (the front cover had a statue holding grapes in Napa Valley; one of the characters' names is Dion {as in Dionysus}), but I have no clue if this book will be more supernatural or not, since it's my first Bentley Little book and I'm only a couple chapters into it.

#253 - I remember that one! Tell me what you think when you're done.

#247 bibliobeck
Great review. Having worked for a large retailer at a large shopping centre I can relate to the endless service tunnels.

I wonder if the non-availability of the book is to do with which publishers have the rights and don't have the rights to the book on either side of the Atlantic.

#255 thanks pgmcc :o)

You're right about the book. I emailed the author last night and had this reply:

We're still working on our US rights, but we hope to have them sorted before the book's official release in June. (The Kindle edition was a special pre-release on the Amazon.co.uk Christmas promotion.) If you're on Facebook, please join the SL Grey page there: http://www.facebook.com/slgreyhorror and we'll post the latest info when it happens. Watch out for The Wards, sometime next year.

Can't wait for the next book!

On page 108 I gave up on The Moon Lamp by Mark Smith. Too dull, too much navel gazing, unlikable characters, the author took the book too seriously and didn't have the chops for writing compelling serious fiction, so it didn't work as a good ghost story or as contemporary fiction. Got good press reviews, maybe it picked up in the second half. I'll never know.

SomeGuyInVirginia, I humbly suggest you add the contents of post 257 to your review of The Moon Lamp. It would add to what you already have and make a very good review.

It's a shame the book wasn't good. I do like the cover.

#258 I do like the cover

Me too. But as we know I've been sucked in like that before...



:::sigh:::

Ha, ha, ha! It's so funny to see them stacked up like that!

#234 Bently and #238 Petine,

I am not liking The House on the Borderland. #238 summed up my feelings: Weird and tedious.

It started well enough. But once the narrator stares out of his window and watches time go by (I'm trying to be vague enough to not spoil plot details) the next fifty pages become a slog.

I hate stories were the disembodied hero floats along describing weird goings-on. I mentioned it earlier, but it's like the StarGate section of the film 2001 but stretched out beyond my ability to care. That's also why (from what I remember) I don't like Lovecraft's 'dream' stories.

I only have about twenty pages left, but I'm finding I don't want to bother (though I will).

At this point, I'm looking forward to starting King's Needful Things tomorrow.

#259 Bibliobeck
Wayne Simmons is a guest at P-Con.
Apart from that, I got word from Charles Stross last night that he will be along also.
Pity you can't make it.

I know :o(

Teaching calls - pity we can't find a way to fit it into the syllabus and have a class visit!

#263
You'll notice one of the guests is Dr. George Green. He lectures at Lancaster and has, on occasion, persuaded a number of his students to come over. (He wrote Writing a Novel and Getting Published : For Dummies as well as a number of works of fiction.)

Just a quick note to say: I'm glad I finished The House on the Borderland. The last twenty pages were back on track.

If anyone is considering reading the book, but is unsure, I'd recommend it. Just understand that my rec is based more on its length and its place in horror history than its quality of writing, characterization or story telling.

I whipped up a review if anyone is interested.

#265 jseger9000
I read a bit of your review and I am intrigued enough to want to read the book, hence I stopped reading the review.
I see it was written in 1908, my father's year of birth, and also before the entity of Northern Ireland was formed. That makes it interesting to me and makes me want to read it. (I'm from Northern Ireland)

#266 - It's worth a read because it is short and important, if not necessarily 'good'.

Just be aware that the fact that it is set in Ireland is coincidental. I don't believe it plays any important part of the plot. The book could have been set in New England or California or anywhere that has an isolated location really.

SPOILER ALERT

#254 Is Dominion the book where a kid turns into a Greek God, and there is a lot of wine drinking, and violent sex?

I read this years ago and it recently popped back into my head and I couldn't remember anything about it. I actually posted on name that book but got no reply. Thanks for the tip.

Not too long ago I finished Depraved by Bryan Smith. This was one of those books I was careful not to let anyone see me with, on the chance that they would ask me what it was about. No cliche was left unturned in this one. Also it seemed the author couldn't decide what kind of monster he wanted in the story, so he just included every one that crossed his mind. All that being said, I found myself grinning frequently while I was reading it. Taken as kind of a spoof of the genre, it was really pretty enjoyable. I am curious however if this is typical of Bryan Smith's books. I looked him up and he seems to have a lot in print. If they are all like depraved, I may have to occasionally pick one up just for a giggle. I just can't admit it to anyone. (Except you guys of course).

#268 - Yep. That's the one.

#269 - This was one of those books I was careful not to let anyone see me with, on the chance that they would ask me what it was about.

I do that with just about any Leisure novel! I also tend to do that if I'm reading a western not written by Larry McMurtry (winning the Pulitzer earns him respectability).

I read Depraved. I liked it okay, but couldn't help comparing it to Off Season and Depraved just came up short. Still, it was the best Bryan Smith book I've yet read (I've also read The Freakshow and attempted House of Blood twice).

I think all of his books are pretty over-the-top. If you liked Depraved, you'll probably enjoy others.

I haven't gotten that far in Dominion, but I could definitely see it going the "kid turns into a Greek God, and there is a lot of wine drinking, and violent sex" route. So far, I'm liking it.

As for Bryan Smith, he's become one of my guilty pleasures. I read Soultaker by him last year, and it's still stuck with me (for good and bad reasons).

I finished Miss Finney Kills Now and Then a few days ago. Better than I thought it would be- the nieces of an elderly rich woman introduce her to a creepy medium who promises her she will grow younger by killing people and taking the years they had left. It's the book version of a screenplay for a movie that was never made. Worth a read.

#272: Hmm, that sounds pretty darn good. Too bad LT doesn't have a pic of it, but I was able to find one on Amazon. I'll keep my eyes for it, thanks! :)

>265 jseger9000:. That's almost exactly how I felt about House on the Borderland. I'm glad I read it because it's a classic in the genre, but I wasn't impressed with it....

#272 - LOVE the title. How could you not want to read it. Off to search out a copy if I can :o)

F G Cottam's The Waiting Room has been staring at me from a shop window for a while. Has anybody read it or heard about it? Would it be worth my 7£?

Read it! FG Cottam is one of my favourites and, like his others, I loved it. Funny the reviewer before me slated it, so I guess like most books it's personal, but I love his books and had this on pre-order for about 6 months, so yes, I'd recommend it :o)

Hmmm, just looked and realised I didn't review it... must have done it in my head. La la.... I gave it 4/5 anyway. Off to review now!

Soudns promising. I think I´ll give it a go. Thanks.

Does anyone have an opinion about the UK author Shaun Hudson? I have Captives and Breeding Ground- worth a read?

Is it Shaun Hutson maybe? (I couldn't find anything under Hudson.) I've never read anything by him, but I definitely would, especially if he's anything like Guy N. Smith. I mean, who wouldn't love reading a book called Slugs? :D Let us know how it goes, SomeGuy!

Recently finished Les Daniels' No Blood Spilled. I had picked it up, despite the fact that it's like fifth in a series I had never picked up before, because the description promised vampire and Thuggee in 19th Century India action, and that's exactly what the book delivered. I thought Daniels' vampire was pretty interesting, not thoroughly evil but way more interesting than modern mopey vamps, and I thought he did pretty well with the vampire/Thugs angle, managing to keep things moving and pull out a few surprises along the way. A fun, quick read. I'll probably pick up the rest of the series.

I just went and read the Wikipedia article on Les Daniels. Those Don Sebastien books sound promising.

Wonder if he will write the final one now that he could self publish it on the Kindle?

jseger, I was thinking the same thing after reading his Wikipedia entry, especially now that I have a hankering to read the whole series.

Picked up Vampire Zero at the used book store this weekend. Think I'm going to start on it tonight.

#285 - It's the third in a series. Have you read the others?

I have them, but haven't read any of them yet. I'm not sure how closely the books tie together. Could be you can read them as stand-alones.

I recommend anything by Hudson !! he has an amazing imagination.

I am currently reading Necroscope The Lost Years by Brian Lumley. It continues the story found in Lumley's Necroscope and Vampire World series.

I picked up the first four of those Necroscope door-stoppers a while ago, but haven't read them yet. I think I'm just nervous about starting such a LOOONG series.

I do have his stand-alone Demogorgon. I think I'll read that first to see how I groove on his writing.

# 286 - No, i haven't read any of the others in the series. It caught my eye at the used book store, so I figured I'd give it a shot. If it's any good I'll track down the other two.

# 289 I would recommend the whole Necroscope series. It is so well written and unique. I really enjoyed them. I read them chronologically and would suggest the same as they do have overlapping characters and events and such. Well worth the commitment in my opinion. But they make good door stoppers too I suppose.

I'm reading Cabal by Clive Barker and loving it so far.

Just finished Sinema by Rod Glenn. It's the imagined massacre of an entire village by a maniac for no other reason than he wants to 'beat the record' for bodycounts of previous serial killers. What makes it so horrible is that he lives in the village, masquerading as a writer and acquiring friends and lovers whilst waiting for the winter storms that will cut the village off so that he can begin killing them all.

What makes it so great are the references to film and song throughout. Our wierdo is actually a mild mannered video store owner and each chapter is headed by a manipulated poster featuring either the village or the maniac's chosen pseudonym (Hanibal Whitman - bit of a giveaway there).

Clever writing makes the reader like Whitman as he worms his way into the hearts of the villagers and horrible as the material was, I was gripped and wanted to know how it would play out.

I usually love books with snow in them, I guess thanks to reading and loving The Dark is Rising when I was a kid. Naw, I really just like snow. I've got The Possessors on the shelves and am saving it for a guilty pleasure. Not horror, but it is the story of a bunch of people snowed into a resort with a killer. Thanks for the heads up.

I just finished Dover One, a brit mystery first published in 1964 but reprinted a few years ago. It's not horror, but the suspects are all twisted and there are elements of the horrific in it.

#293: Hmm, Sinema looks surprisingly good (quite a high rating on LT, too). Thanks for reccommending it, bibliobeck! :)

#292 - I remember really liking Cabal (though in my memory now it's all mixed up with the movie version, Nightbreed).

I used to really like Clive Barker, but haven't read any of his stuff since Sacrament. His next book was Galilee which just didn't sound interesting and after that his books just stacked up on my TBR pile.

#293 - I don't see myself buying one, but sometimes I wish I had a Kindle or a Library Thing-e;) Sinema (which sounds very good) is going for $0.99!

#294 - The Possessors sounds like exactly my kind of story. Like you I also enjoy a good story with snow.

I remember looking into John Christopher before (for his Tripods books). Maybe I should check this book out.

Right now I'm reading through the second Dark Tower book The Drawing of the Three. I love Stephen King, but never much cared for anything to do with the Dark tower. Still, even though I've only read forty pages and very little has happened, The Drawing of the Three is leaps and bounds ahead of The Gunslinger.

#296 js

I thought I'd hate an e-reader, but actually, I love it. I prolapsed 3 neck discs last year and was struggling to even hold a book open (eeek!) so my husband got me a kindle for Christmas and it's been brilliant. It's light enough to be held with one hand. I'm actually reading faster because I can alter the text size rather than hunt around for my glasses for my forty-something eyes and some of the books I've downloaded have been absolute bargains. I still love books -the look, the feel and definitely the smell (weird or not) of them and nothing will change that, but I wouldn't be parted from my Kindle now.

I know that I'll eventually get an eReader, even if only for the free books. BBC 4 is currently broadcasting a series on patents and it's interesting. Digital rights management is a hot topic in DC right now.

Finished Vampire Zero the other night. To me it seemed to start a little weak, but it picked up as I got further into it. I think I will go back and read the first two, because while the book does stand alone, a lot of back story for the various characters is not really given. I'd like to read the first two just to get some of the mythology of vampires as they are presented in the book

I'm reading the instructions for filing my taxes in the US. I'm afraid, very afraid.

#300 - Yeah, no one can write a shocker like the IRS. They are masters of creeping, quiet horror.

Finished The Count of Eleven by Ramsey Campbell a little while ago. I was having a good time right up until the utterly anticlimactic ending. It felt like the author just ran out of steam and let the story sputter out. Disappointing.

#299: Glad you liked Vampire Zero. I see David Wellington books once in a blue moon and keep meaning to read him.

lol @ #300 & 301. Not one I'd recommend reading. Ever. :/

#302: I think The Count of Eleven was my first Ramsey Campbell book, and I didn't like it either. I don't remember much about the ending. I was just expecting something scarier, not the quiet English horror I got. Still, his short stories are pretty good. I liked his s.s. collection--Scared Stiff--but that was probably because it was partially erotica.

#303 You're right it wasn't even scary. I can understand horror that sort of builds up on you, but in this book the "horror" was so quietly English as to be almost polite.

!!RANT FOLLOWS!!

What is it with horror writers anyway that they don't seem to know how to give a person a good scare? It's like they don't have any idea of what scary is. I've read some Stephen King books and thought - well, that's just disgusting - and tried to put the images he created out of my mind as quickly as possible. Was I horrified by them, did they mean something to me, was I afraid to be alone and staring at dark shadows afterwards? No! Most times the horror stories I read I find exceedingly forgettable. Disgusting maybe, but wholly divorced from reality, and so they come off as just fantastic albeit gruesome tales that ultimately do little to engage my innate primal fears. And don't think I'm bashing King, I think he is one of the meagre few who actually can scare when he is at his best; it's just that at times he can also be abysmal, like most of the dreck that's out there (Dean Koontz). There are myriad so-called horror writers who think blood, gore and aberrant sex are all the elements they need to have us cowering deliciously as we read, when in actuality all they do is bore, disgust and sometimes offend me. There are others who go the opposite route, trying to build subtle, creeping horror that rarely reaches it's mark, and leave me wondering whether they know what fear is.
My concern, nay worry is, are there writers who inspire cold, real, fear through their stories? Where are the ones that resonate on a primal level and thus inevitably make us face our unmasked, vulnerable selves? Oh damnit - where can I find horror that can simply, really scare me?
!!END OF RANT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE :)

No problem, Phlox. :D I think we all get there--when there just isn't anything scary out there. Not sure if there's a cure for it. Read old favorites maybe? (shrugs) True crime seems to do it for me.

I only just found this thread so apologies for being about a million years behind everyone else.

#141/144 No doubt you've read Dark Matter by now but, just in case there's still anyone out there who hasn't, I'd like to put in my two-pen'orth. I consider myself a very jaded ghost/horror reader becuase it's many years now since any book has actually scared me - however, this one came closer than anything else I've read in about 20 years. To be honest, I found the ghost story fairly routine but it is Paver's depiction of those spooky 24 hour Norwegian nights that grabbed me by the throat. Some of the most atmospheric writing I've read. I hope she continues in the same vein for many years to come.

#306 Booksloth, you are not the first to recommend Dark Matter and, as I have a copy at the top of my tbr pile, I am pleased to hear yet another vote in its favour.

>>304 Phlox72: Phlox72- Ramsey Campbell almost put me off horror completely with his over-ripe atmospherics, but he did write Secret Story, the only good book of his that I know of. It's linear, doesn't depend on vague descriptions of nameless whatsis to lend chills, and is a crime thriller rather than horror. Now that I think about it, it may be ghostwritten. (No pun intended.) That being said, I've enjoyed his short stories.

I can vouch for the short stories of L.P. Harley; his 'A Visitor from Down Under' and 'The Traveling Grave' are excellent. David Martin and Michael Marshall both wrote horrific crime novels, well worth reading. Neither would be counted as torture porn, which I can't get through. Marshall's Straw Men series of three makes for a nice, long story if read in order. James Herbert wrote The Sole Survivor which I thought was genuinely creepy; I also liked The Fog and The Dark, although the latter is a retelling of the former. I also haven't ever had to put aside a book by Graham Masterton.

I've often wondered if the reason books seldom shake my whole world up anymore isn't because I've read a lot of them and learned their tricks, but because I lost the ability to completely absorb stories after I hit puberty.

In any event, you're right- most horror blows.

most horror blows.

Horror like everything else is subject to Sturgeon's Law: "Ninety percent of everything is crap"

#304 - Where are the ones that resonate on a primal level and thus inevitably make us face our unmasked, vulnerable selves? Oh damnit - where can I find horror that can simply, really scare me?

That of course varies by person and what moves you and what sort of scare you are looking for.

I don't know that any horror novel has really 'scared' me, but I do know that I had to put Joe R. Lansdale's The Nightrunners aside unfinished because it was so disturbing.

Lots of people have cited Jack Ketchum's Off Season as scary, though it didn't really move me that way. Good book though.

Books that I haven't read but that are often mentioned as very scary are William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist, Jack Ketchum(again)'s The Girl Next Door, J.F. Gonzalez's Survivor and even Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror (though really, come on, man).

I've realized I don't read horror because I'm expecting a scare. What I get out of horror is the same sort of thing I get out of reading folk tales.

"I've realized I don't read horror because I'm expecting a scare."
Funny you should say that, cause I´ve been thinking about that quite a lot recently. I can´t remember the last time I was actually frightened by anything I read, and that got me a bit worried. What if I´m reading too much horror stories? What if I´ve gotten so used to them that "scary" has become an every day thing and therefore isn´t scary anymore and won´t ever be again? Now that is a scary thought.

#310 petine - I'm so sorry to have to be the one to tell you but I do think that happens. I'm a very ancient horror fan and remember the times when I would sit for days, mouth hanging open, nails digging into my hand, scared to death of what I was reading. There's no doubt that eventually you become jaded. It has to be about 30 years since I was last really scared by a book but I still keep looking for the one that will do it again. It's not the end of the world - your tastes change too so there are plenty of other books you can enjoy every bit as much. As I've mentioned earlier, Michelle Paver's Dark Matter was the last one to come anywhere close and it does mean you cherish those odd ones more than ever. I suspect it may also be that the longer you live the more you realise nobody will ever create a fictional horror that comes anywhere close to real life. I still keep hoping though - and glue myself to threads/groups like this in the hopes that someone will recommend the one that keeps me awake at night.

If a story gives you nightmares does that mean it scared you? I often have nightmares that incorporate aspects of a horror story I've read. When I was reading World War Z I had nightmares almost nightly about zombies and the post zombie apocalypse landscape. The funny thing is I really didn't feel scared when I was reading the book. I thought it was a great book, and I really enjoyed some of the geo-political aspects of it as well as the action sequences, but I never was really scared. At least conciously. Does having nightmares about a story mean that subconciously you are scared?

I'm mostly a fan of occult horror, and I don't read it to be scared. In other words, many things that readers are expected to find frightening, I find groovy. In particular, I like what HPL called a sense of real "externality": something that will jar me completely out of my presupposed values, moral or aesthetic.

#312 tjm568

I was speaking to a work colleague after my having read your posting and was amazed to find a strong parallel between your comments and the conversation.

He was telling me that he was having dreams about meeting a person he is dealing with daily on a project in the office. The dreams did not scare him, but bored him. We may have a parallel between fear and boredom.

Of course, no matter how many boring books one reads, one does not cease to be bored by another such tome. There the parallel breaks down.

Well it bothers me that I'm rarely scared by horror, and I think it's possible that modern writers just don't know how to write good horror fiction. I think the post Stephen King, post "torture porn" era writers are so jaded they confuse gore and unpleasantness with true primal fear. Besides, that stuff is what sells, so why try to go any deeper, or broader, when defining horror. Zombies for all from now on! That's just bleak.

#315 - The problem is that implies that pre-Stephen King, authors did know how to write good horror fiction. If that is the case, who were these authors?

I like a good horror story from any time, but I don't think that Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft or E.A. Poe* wrote truly scarier stories than Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum, Bentley Little, William Peter Blatty (well, once anyway) or Joe R. Lansdale.

I like all those authors for different reasons, but I'd be hard-pressed to say 'that guy can scare me' or 'that guy makes the rest of 'em look like hacks.'

I will say the torture-porn stuff gets old and I think part of Leisure's undoing was printing too much of it from hackier and hackier writers. I don't have a problem with any of horror's various sub-genres (well, except for Dark Fantasy), I just ask that the book be well written. I can go from quiet-horror to over-the-top splatter if the author is talented.

*I was going to add Washington Irving to the pre-SK guys, but left him off because his two stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle really do manage to give me the willies. Or did anyway way back when.

Starting Night Relics by James P. Blaylock, a writer that I highly recommend.

Hope it's good, quartzite (looks good, at least). I don't think I've heard of him before. Will keep my eyes out next time I'm shopping.

I don't know if it should be considered horror or sci-fi, but I've started Frank Herbert's Hellstrom's Hive and am liking it so far. This is actually a reread, but I originally read it so long ago I don't remember a bit of it.

I like Frank's writing (though I noticed a lot of other reviewers don't) and he's set up a pretty creepy atmosphere so far (I've read the first fifty or so pages).

An agent is observing Hellstrom's farm in an isolated valley in Oregon. A different agent investigating the farm disappeared. Through alternating sections we learn that the agency is worried that Mr. Hellstrom is developing some sort of weapon. We also know that there is a group of people somewhere on the farm living like insects in a hive.

It's science fiction, so there's no supernatural shenanigans, but so far at least the book is eerie.

Oh yeah. This thread is pretty long. Anyone else wanna start a new thread? I'm blanking on a fun name for one.

@320
How about "From out of the Stygian depths creeps "What scary book are you reading right now?"!"

-320
How about "what's keeping me awake tonight"

The Ghost of.....?

The Undead....?

.....walks again?

The Night of.....?

..... returns?

#323: I like all of those, but it looks like another thread is already up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/114681 .

Too late, as usual :)

I am currently reading the manuscript of Pro Luce Habere (soon to be released)- the sequel to Krisi Keley's On the Soul of a Vampire.

Her series is very interesting in that it follows a vampire through the annals of history and describes what made him such. It actually reads more like an epic tale- not the typical undead fare... more so the reason why I am enjoying it.

Currently reading Tom Rolt´s Sleep no more. A brilliant short story collection, and a bit of an odd one since most of the stories focus on industry in one way or another. Written in 1948, but doesn´t have that post war dreariness. Love it.

I read Sleep No More about a year and a half ago, and really enjoyed it.

#328
He really knows how to create an evil atmosphere in just a few pages, doesn´t he?

#327 & #328
tymfos and petine, have you no mercy? Now I have to hunt down the works of Rolt. (Hmm! I see abebooks has plenty.) LT is proving a very expensive habit.

:-)

Thanks to Booksloth I actually ended up reading and enjoying Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. That was a good recommendation, and exactly the kind of spooky, atmospheric, chilling horror I had been missing.

Right now I'm hunting down Sleep No More : Railway, Canal, & Other Stories of the Supernatural by Rolt. Hope I find it.

£ 5.70 at Amazon. (That´s where I found my copy). It´s worth it. I´m not sure of his other stories though. Seems he mostly wrote about industry and steam engines.

Phlox72 Like you, I owe it to Booksloth that I have Dark Matter lined up for my holiday read at the start of June. I'm glad to see you found it enjoyable.

BTW Sleep No More is available from a number of the sellers on abebooks.

#331 Thanks Phlox72 - nothing makes me happier than hearing a recommendation has hit the spot; I hope it does the same for you pgmcc.

Currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Off to a slow start but hoping it grabs me soon. Wilde's style is taking a little getting used to.

Houdini Heart looks just fascinating. Another one for the wishlist.

Houdini Heart. I'm intrigued. Sigh, my poor credit card balance.

#339 Phlox72
I was intrigued too, so I read the "See inside" content on amazon.com and that reduced my enthusiasm.

I also had a look at the profiles of the reviewers and the LT accounts leaving exuberant comments. Most of them seem to be very recent joiners to LT. I haven't found any review comments on the book by long standing LTers.

Curiouser and curiouser. Hmmm!

My credit card will be safe from this book until I see reviews from LTers I know of old.

#340 pgmcc - A wise choice.

I bought the Kindle version and almost 75% into it I must say that I find it interesting - but unspecial. The tormented- individual's-haunted-descent-into-madness theme has been done before, and much better IMO. I even find serious parallels to another book of the sort that I read recently called The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan. The premise, the plot, the characterisation, the writing style - all seem somewhat annoyingly similar. In short, Houdini Heart is yet to surprise, let alone scare me, and seems a little formulaic. But then maybe the last quarter will tie everything together stunningly - though I rather doubt it. We'll see.

#341 phlox72

Thank you for your views on the book. They confirm my decision with regards to that book.

I haven't read any Caitlin R. Kiernan, but I understand her work is very good.

Peter

Thanks to pgmcc's very sensible suggestion, I also had a look at the first few pages of Houdini Heart and decided against it. It's obviously one of those books that grabs itself some loyal fans, most of whom are not frequent reviewers so something has inspired such enthusiasm but I'm not sure it's my kind of thing (which is pretty much academic anyway as it doesn't appear to be available in the UK).

So I'm still on the search for something to scare the socks off me. I just finished Harbour and, as with so many 'horror' books, I enjoyed the journey more than the arrival. The set-up and general thesis are fine and nicely creepy but I thought the ending was disappointing and somewhat predictable. It's not a short one, as horror stories go, and Lindqvist manages to hold the reader's interest and create an atmosphere of mystery over 600+ pages; it's certainly above-average for its writing and translation and I had a good time right the way through. However, there are a couple of important points/characters/ideas that just seem to appear or disappear (as does the protagonist's daughter) out of nowhere and it left me feeling unsatisfied. If you want to spend a good few days with an intriguing story I'd recommend it but if you want to be scared, shocked or haunted this may not be the book to do it for you.

#343 CatsCradle
Thank you for your input on this book. It's a pity you haven't posted more reviews as that would give other LTers a feel as to whether or not your tastes match theirs. It's also a pity you haven't catalogued more books so we can get a feel for your tastes. A catalogue of books posted in May 2009 and then some more posted in the last two days doesn't give us a good feel for the type of books you like.

@341 I thought the Red Tree was flawed but enjoyable

@344 Thanks for the review of Harbour it kind of sums up how I felt about Handling the Undead, guess he is an author I am never going to love, I will pick it up though.

#344 I really enjoyed Handling the Undead, so thanks for the review Sloth, I think I'll be ordering Habour from the library sometime after I've put a real dent in some review books.

I know I'm always going on about Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe, but if you've already read that scare-the-socks off you tale, another one by him that I'd thoroughly recommend is The Matrix (no, not bendy people in long leather coats), but a tale of occult creepiness in Scotland - very unsettling and thoroughly recommended.

Again re Houdini Heart, I want to praise someone's amazing detective work but until he tells me he doesn't mind I should probably mention no names. However, I will just say - in the interests of halting anyone who is on their way to the bookshop based on those reviews - that all but one have now been removed on strong suspicion of being written by the same person. A clever little campaign, but not nearly clever enough for LT's Sherlock Holmes. What a shame people have to resort to these techniques; for all we know the book might be okay but I certainly won't be bothering to find out now and I suspect I'm not alone.

ETA - Okay, I'm allowed to say - it was @pgmcc who figured this out and I'm absolutely stunned at how he got it right. Brilliant job there and heartfelt thanks for saving my money for me! We have a new hero!

I just finished reading Stross' Atrocity Archives, which was great fun, and often truly creepy--despite the conspicuous satirical tone. I'll definitely pick up more of his Laundry series that follow on this one.

From a horror reader's perspective, some of the most interesting pages were in the author's afterword, where he explores the resonances and connections between the horror and spy-thriller genres. In amusing conceit, he profiles Len Deighton as a horror writer and H.P. Lovecraft as an espionage fictioneer.

Great job pgmcc!! Wish I had your wits and had figured things out before spending money. It's a pity people resort to this type of deception on LT, and i'll be more cautious about believing reviews in the future. Still, the book wasn't horrible, so ultimately I don't totally regret buying it.

#350
Hi, Phlox72. I'm glad the book wasn't horrible. We've all bought books that we've been disappointed in, but, as you say, it's a pity that some people are using deception to trick people into buying.

On the plus side, you have provided a useful service to your LT friends; you have provided a realistic and unbiased view of the book concerned. Thank you for that.

#334 Booksloth
I started Dark Matter last evening. My reading rate is very slow. I am already on page 184 and will finish it either tonight or early tomorrow. What I'm trying to say is, "I'm enjoying the book very much!" Thank you for the recommendation. I will writing a review with the reasons for my liking it included.

(BTW the weather is very mixed in France.)

#334 Booksloth
I finished Dark Matter and enjoyed it a lot. It didn't necessarily scare me, but when my wife asked me to collect our son from a neighbouring holiday home, and there was a force 4 gale blowing outside, and it was getting dark, I went to find my rubber boots, woolly jumper, oilskin coat, etc... despite it being 20 degrees C and our being in the middle of France. I was in that hut in Spitsburgen.

I also have to admit, it was pretty spooky walking around to collect my son with the trees swaying and rustling in the strong wind.

A good recommendation. Review to follow. Thank you again.

I know what you mean pgmcc. I can't say it exactly scared me either but then I think I'm just very jaded where horror is concerned. Hiowever, I did think it was deliciously atmospheric and I'm not sure I'd have wanted to put it down and walk straight out into a storm. Glad you enjoyed it!

I did enjoy it; the fact that I read it in one day is evidence to that. Also, I wouldn't recommend going out in a storm in the middle of reading it.

You are correct about how atmopheric it is. It really puts the reader in the middle of the story.

Perhaps one of the reasons it didn't scare me was that I read most of it with four teenagers beside me discussing a Dungeons & Dragons game at the top of their voices.

About a quarter of the way through Some of Your Blood. So far I'm liking it. It's very different, and it seems so simple, it's surprising that it hasn't been mimicked absolutely to death....

Now reading The Ritual on recommendation from Jodyreadseverything. As always, Jody's recommendations are spot-on and this is decidedly creepy. I have a couple of minor squabbles with the writing style but aside from that I'm getting just a little freaked out and it's definitely not one I'd take on my walks in the woods.

Well I just finished Julia by Peter Straub and I have to put it in the same category as Houdini heart and The Red Tree. Not a good thing in my book. Seems like I keep getting suckered into reading these almost identical plots, about neurotic women who due to some disastrous relationship drama, usually involving a dead child, flee to some psychically charged house and proceed to go through a sordid breakdown, complete with psycho-hauntings, long periods of moving within a ghostly fantasy, breaks with objective reality, ultimately and unsurprisingly resulting in their own demise. Horrific, no. Tedious, repetitive and mostly unrelateable, yes. I won't be suckered in again because these books all follow a pattern. Even the writing style can be annoying (I was always meant to be the one. I was always going to live in this house. She needed me - I was always the one to awaken her again. This house has waited, and I was always the one it waited for...) ad nauseum. I think I need a dose of good strong non-fiction to break this lame horror story spell that's entrapped me. Sorry for the rant, I've just been so disappointed by my reading lately.

#356 - I keep seeing Some of Your Blood at Half Price Books. I was leery of picking it up because even though I hear positive things about Theodore Sturgeon, I don't generally like vampire tales. Looks like I shouldn't have passed it by.

#357 - I keep hearing good things about Adam Nevill. It's a shame none of his books are available here. Looks like I might be able to pick up Apartment 16 at a decent price though...

#358 - Ha! That is such a perfect summary of a certain type of horror story. I guess all writers admire The Haunting of Hill House.

I remember liking Julia, but then I hadn't just read a couple of similarly themed books.

I'm reading Stephen King's The Waste Lands and I love the writing. The story is interesting enough, but I can see that The Dark Tower will just never be my bag.

Finished Some of Your Blood, and reviewed it. I was really very impressed. It was not at all what I expected. I picked it up because I'd like to finish the HWA top-forty someday if I can find all the books, so I was prepared for what I call "a Richard Matheson experience." (Where I close the book and say okay, it wasn't my kind of horror, but I can see why people were impressed with it in the 60's.) "Some of Your Blood" isn't even really what I'd call a horror novel, but it's very, very good--not to mention very short and accessible.

#358 Phlox72
I sympathise with your plight, but I must say, I really love your post, especially your depiction of the standard plot.

LOL, Phlox. Here's your problem right here. After that 358 post, I went to your page to see just what all these books were you'd gotten suckered into reading, and just for giggles I clicked on the "What should you borrow?" recommendations (where they suggest books I should loan you from my own library). List started with "Haunting of Hill House" and "Rosemary's Baby" and continued with half-a-dozen more on down the list with almost exactly the same plot--either male or female ("Burnt Offerings" and "The House that Jack Built," for instance). :-D There appears to be a conspiracy against you...

LOL, thanks for the sympathy everyone. Fact is I am my own worst enemy, because after reading and loving both The Haunting of Hill House and Rosemary's Baby , I keep trying similar books hoping for the same magic. Enough of that, my next read will be Moonwalking with Einstein...geeez.

>363 Phlox72:. LMFAO. Thank you, at least, for outlining that plot for me. It appears to be pretty successful, and I think I could write it! I'll get right on that. :-)

#357 Thanks for that Booksloth, just reserved The Ritual. I read Apartment 16 last year and really enjoyed it (just checked - I gave it 4*s)

#364 - Funny Bentley - don't forget to send it to Phlox72 for first review ;o)

#364 #365

Lol, I would be honoured to review Bentley's work. After all, I have total faith that it would be better by leaps and bounds than my recent reads (well, it could hardly be worse).

#365 I do hope you enjoy it bibliobeck. In the end it just went on a bit too long for me and I started to lose interest somewhat but it's an intriguing plot and the horror works well - possibly a little too well for my liking. I just don't think I have the stomach for horror I once had.

358 Phlox

I am with you Julia sucked. I loved Ghost Story and enjoyed some of his other books but that one just plain stunk. I read all kinds of stuff, and sometimes a change of genre is the way to go for a while. I find that reading some nonfiction tends to clease my reading palette.

Well Im nearly halfway thru Hell House by Richard Matheson- my first by this Legendary (sic) author. Great so far!