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Post by doomovertheworld on Jun 10, 2011 18:04:08 GMT
currently i'm about 2/3 of the way through this: the basis of the book is a photo that the author found of himself as a baby with al desalvo who was subsequently convicted of being the boston strangler. however, it is much more than that with junger using this as a hook to engage in a social history of the united states during the 1960s and the changes that took place during that decade while at the same time telling the story of the hunt for the boston strangler highly recommended
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Post by lemming13 on Jul 20, 2011 13:24:05 GMT
About halfway through Ramsey Campbell's Hungry moon, as well as The Men Who Stare at Goats and two art books, Jack Vettriano and Hiroshige. And I just got a package of audio cds from Nunkie, with Robert Lloyd Parry reading stories by M R James and Lucy M Boston, can't wait for those.
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Jul 21, 2011 0:03:14 GMT
I've just finished Blind Panic by Graham Masterton, the fifth & apparently final Manitou novel. Everyone across America is suddenly & inexplicably going blind.
Yes, our old friend Misquamicus is back & he's still bearing a grudge. You know what to do Mr.Erskine - although as ever, it's tougher than the last time to beat this persistent Indian.
Masterton finds another inventive way to bring back Misquamicus & his research as usual is evident & used well for the background to the magic being used. Wether this truly is the last Manitou novel I don't know - I could easily read more, but if it is the end, then it's a fitting finish to the series.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 21, 2011 9:13:56 GMT
I've just finished Blind Panic by Graham Masterton, the fifth & apparently final Manitou novel. Everyone across America is suddenly & inexplicably going blind. Yes, our old friend Misquamicus is back & he's still bearing a grudge. You know what to do Mr.Erskine - although as ever, it's tougher than the last time to beat this persistent Indian. Masterton finds another inventive way to bring back Misquamicus & his research as usual is evident & used well for the background to the magic being used. Wether this truly is the last Manitou novel I don't know - I could easily read more, but if it is the end, then it's a fitting finish to the series. Well that shows my ignorance - I thought there was only The Manitou and its sequel! What are volumes 3 & 4 called, HP?
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Jul 21, 2011 17:08:06 GMT
Lord P., no.3 is called Burial & no.4 is Manitou Blood.
There's also a short story called Spirit Jump, but I'm not sure where that falls (possibly between Burial & MB, although it could be between Revenge of the Manitou & Burial), but it's in the Manitou Man collection & the Faces of Fear collection & may be online, I'm not sure (I can't find it in the fiction section of Masterton's official site).
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 21, 2011 19:29:02 GMT
Lord P., no.3 is called Burial & no.4 is Manitou Blood. There's also a short story called Spirit Jump, but I'm not sure where that falls (possibly between Burial & MB, although it could be between Revenge of the Manitou & Burial), but it's in the Manitou Man collection & the Faces of Fear collection & may be online, I'm not sure (I can't find it in the fiction section of Masterton's official site). Ah - thanks very much HP! I'll look out for those!
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Jul 24, 2011 13:22:07 GMT
Finished Guy N. Smith - Abomination (Thanks dem). Or pesticide in Pen-y-Cwm. There's something nasty in the air & it's coming from Roeder Agrochemicals, causing all the local insects, frogs, etc. to grow to large sizes & they're viscious with it. I think Smith was rounding up all the creatures he could for this one, to give several nasties in one. He throws in his standard sex as well, including one poor lad who only has to dance with one of the town tarts before he's Mr.sticky trousers & don't even ask where those earwigs are going! We also get some slugs on license from Mr.Hutson. I think some more Smith is in order, once I've finished David Peace - 1974.
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Aug 3, 2011 16:38:15 GMT
David Peace - 1974 & 1977. Interesting to compare & contrast to the films. With there only being enough funding to make 3 of the books into films, 1977 missed out & it's a shame.
The books go into more detail & the cops are just as bad as the villians they're after, sometimes worse. Though fiction, the books are based around real incidents - particularly the Yorkshire Ripper case & police corruption investigations. It's grim stuff, but brilliantly written. I haven't got 1980 & 1983 with me at the moment, else I would be straight onto them.
Guy N. Smith - Night of the Crabs. Finally read it, rattled through it in a few hours. Smith is just great entertainment. The other Crabs books will get looked at soon (though Crabs: The Human Sacrifice eludes me).
Just started Sweeney: Regan & the Venetian Virgin. Not bad at all.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Aug 8, 2011 13:10:49 GMT
Reading a series of horror anthologies. Have just finished "New Terrors Omnibus", edited by Mr Campbell & thoroughly rate it. Only one duff story & a couple of so-so ones I reckon - not bad out of 640+ pages worth.
Just moved on to "The Best of Masques", which kicks off with the brilliant "Nightcrawlers" by Robert R McCammon. This was adapted for an episode of The Twilight Zone & can be seen here
and then here
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Aug 11, 2011 15:26:20 GMT
Richard Lewis - Parasite.
More Hamlyn nastiness, this time with snail parasites rather than spiders. Great Stuff.
Michael R. Lineaker - The Touch of Hell
A plane has crashed in the small village of Shepthorne & the Army seem very interested. The plane is carrying a deadly cargo & it's not long before Shepthorne is sealed off, with no-one allowed in or out. Not the novel I was expecting from the title & the cover ripped off from The Burning, but it's still another great NEL.
Just started Return of The Living Dead (Arrow version).
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Aug 30, 2011 19:01:36 GMT
I did post a few days ago, but lost everything I typed doing preview message (must remember to copy text before doing that), so it'll be a briefer version: Neil Williams - Scorch. Mid seventies NEL involving a vietnam veteran, now working as a private hire pilot. He's been hired by wessex university, who are developing suits to combat a far stronger version of napalm (the 'scorch' of the title), unfotunately one of the students is a bit of a maniac & is sabotaging things... Jo Gannon - Plasmid DNA meddling, Army back-up & a journalist who won't be fobbed off. There's also something nasty in the sewers. It starts off with a fair whack of mutilation, but then trails off towards the end. Good but a bit of an anti-climax. Not sure how Hamlyn didn't pick this one up. Jeff Rovin - Hollywood Detective: Garrison. Set around major film studios in 1927. There's plenty of sex & violence & it seems the Manor books mafia rumor could well be right, from the tone of this. Definitely vault matertial. Guy N. Smith - Mania. Three strangers seek refuge from the snowdrifts, in Donnington Country House Hotel - mistake no.1. The hotel used to be a looney bin/nursing home, but the ex residents are just paying guests now instead. There's Jack Christopher - the religious flasher, Barbara withernshaw - a health nazi & 20 year old Vera Brown - who's prone to frigging herself off in front of everyone. Add to that Alison Darke-Smith in the upstairs room, who is pregnant with the spawn of satan, the reincarnation of the owners' daughter or both - depending on whom you believe. The owners are nuttier than residents too, ammonia throwing 'mother' & George, plus his ocd book collecting brother Harry (Smith manages a subtle plug for Blackhill Books here ). It's brilliant as only Smith can make it. Leon Whiteson - Scanners (novelisation). Short & entertaining. I've not seen the film, so I can't compare it. good anyway. Craig Shaw Gardener - The Lost Boys (Novelisation). I'm about halfway through at the moment. I haven't seen the film in years, perhaps it's time to break out the dvd.
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Post by pulphack on Aug 30, 2011 19:42:45 GMT
dave - the rovin is excellent, and i've been trying to track down the follow-up for ages now! his book on the Hindenburg disaster is similarly wonderful and well worth picking up if you see it!
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Post by Dr Strange on Sept 9, 2011 15:52:56 GMT
Just started on "The Guardians" (2011) by Canadian writer Andrew Pyper. I picked it up in a second-hand bookshop and don't know anything about the author, except it's not his first novel (I think it's something like his fifth). It's pitched as a "haunted house" story and so far nothing much has really happened apart from the introduction of characters and some background stuff. In style and basic plot set-up it reminds me a bit of Peter Straub or Stephen King (neither of which could count me as a big fan, but it's not going to put me off either) - small town North America; "something" happened in that house years ago; and now some guys who spent their childhood together in the town, but then moved away, are coming back for the funeral of a friend who has apparently committed suicide...
It seems a bit generic, but so far he's only set the stage... so here's hoping something a bit different happens along the way.
ADDED ABOUT A WEEK LATER: Finished "The Guardians". Nothing special unfortunately. Biggest problem is that so much hinges on the characters doing really stupid and unlikely things (especially given all the other details the author gives us about them). I think this writer's previous novels were more "crime" than "horror", and this story tries to combine the two genres but isn't really successful IMO.
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Post by andydecker on Sept 10, 2011 17:06:12 GMT
Started Dead Roses for a Blue Lady by Nancy Collins (October 2003 White Wolf Publishing) today. It sat unread for years on the shelf and fell into my hands while dusting. 8 stories, 5 new one, 3 reprints. All with Sonja Blue, the first goth female vampire-hunter there was. I am half-way in, these are short stories. Collins lost a lot goodwill in the last years, and these stories are not exactly re-inventing the wheel. Still, a lot of ultra-violence and sex and talking the noir. Dawn is well underway by the time I re-enter the nave. The white-washed walls are dappled with light dyed blue, green and red by the stained glass. I take a couple of steps backward, then drop-kick Rhymer´s head right through the Lamb-of-God window.
Last night was a bust, as far as I´m concerned. When I go out hunting, I prefer bringing down actual game, not faux predators. Still, I wish I could hang around and see the look on the faces of Rhymer´s groupies when they find out what´s happened to their "master". That´d be good for a chuckle or two. No one can say I don´t have a sense of humor about these things.What´s not to like
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Post by mrhappy on Sept 10, 2011 20:03:58 GMT
Just finished Bernard Taylor's 1999 release Since Ruby. Enjoyable but not remarkable. This appears to be the bridge novel between his horror and suspense output. While the events are definitely horrific, this novel is rightfully filed under mystery.
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