GNS Top Five

[andydecker]

Hmmm ...

1. Night of the Crabs - Because it is a classic.

2. The Sucking Pit - so unappologetic over the top.

3. The wood - great supernatural tale with some truly creepy scenes.

4. Sabat 1 - Sabat is such an utter bastard. And there is evil!

5. okay, this is a tie. Satan´s Snowdrop or Doomflight.

[dem bones]

Not read nearly enough GNS to do this justice but;

The Slime Beast - lovable monster from outer space antics with loads of killer touches like top unfriendly pub interlude, the obligatory army vs. slime beast encounter, even a touch of pathos. Too many books are described as unputdownable, this one really is.

The Sucking Pit and it's under-rated sequel The Walking Dead (it's only the rushed ending that ruins it). In the case of an Omnibus, I'd have them separated by these two.

Bats Out Of Hell: Contaminated bats escape from laboratory and wage war versus the West Midlands. Villa supporters will be especially unhappy. Handily, the bats also pay a visit to the Sucking Pit so it all ties in nicely with above.

Crabs On The Rampage: Nothing to choose between this and Night ... really, but the crustacean attack on the Isle of Dogs swung it.

[justin]

Easy! Easy! Easy!

The Slime Beast
The Sucking Pit
Son of the Werewolf
Killer Crabs
Bamboo Guerillas

[bushwick]

Shit, this is quite hard. There's still loads in my To Read pile, but for today, I will say:

The Sucking Pit (first one I read...outrageous, nasty, plenty of LOL moments, and it's got gypsies in it)

Bamboo Guerillas (one of the most audacious books I've read...hard-boiled, gruesome and sexually explicit...a real MAN'S BOOK)

Thirst (really enjoyed this apocalyptic scenario...good set-piece where some bankers who are about to die lament all the things they've never done - sleeping with prostitutes etc. And an axe murderer as one of the main characters)

Sabat 1 (very original concept, unusual, sexually-driven anti-hero...)

hmmmm...

possibly Satan's Snowdrop (inspired nastiness, more serious in tone perhaps)

or maybe The Black Fedora? (hippies, Polish communists and a very Western styled hero)


But if you ask me tomorrow I'd probably say a different 5...still haven't read Manitou Doll, Killer Crabs, the trucker ones or the ones about donkeys!

[killercrab]

The only problem with a boxset is that the vast majority of his books are easily and cheaply available. You need a specific hook in my view like a Crabs set including the under printed SACRIFICE for instance.

PONY RIDERS - naff title - sorry Guy - sounds like Follyfoot.

I think some more westerns by Brit authors is not a bad thing. >>

But is there a profitable enough audience. I know there is an audience out there judging by my local library western section ( Blackhorse Books) but I wonder if the sort of westerns we are talking about - emphasis on savage not authentic western still exists? I think this too might be the problem with selling Guy to a new audience - an audience weaned on torture porn movies - he might not cut it y'know? Not trying to be downer here but Guy is a product of his times - especially to us old lags who buy and read the vintage paperbacks.That vintage aspect is the reason we return. At least I do.

I think Westerns are history myself - the movies should tell you that - though there might be one or two FORGIVEN's out there - but then again that was filmed with a post modern eye looking back...

[orlof]

Here are the ten I put over on the GNS forum.

I'll discount the crabs...we know 'em and love 'em. That would grab up a bunch of slots on my list.

-Bamboo Guerrillas!! Penile Peril...the novel!! I love this book. Every second is a ghoulish pleasure and it has that great feeling of a writer just cutting loose on an assignment and going way beyond the call of duty. I read it at least once a year.

-Cannibals! A lot of action and it has a Hills Have Eyes vibe cast through the GNS looking glass.

-Thirst! The human bbq sequence is one of GNS' most effective set pieces in a career built on set pieces.

-Deathbell! Gothic horror so loud it scares deaf kids.

-Slime Beast! Pure gooey sensationalism.

-Wolfcurse! Not really a popular one as best I can tell from looking around, but I love this book. It is a paranoid classic and really has a lot of GNS' signature tropes applied in a slightly different way.

-Phobia! This has a funky narrative style that stresses the isolation of the characters and maintains a good sense of dread.

-The Sucking Pit! Sex, slime, wet spots and sex and slime and horror.

-Alligators! The opening sequence is so great (it reminds me a lot of Crabs:The Human Sacrifice) that it earns an instant spot. Plus, I sure love animals going berserk.

-The Wood! I just finished this and it is always hard to drop a last read in a tops list for me. But I loved it.

KillerCrab makes some good points. I would personally love to see double feature books. Two of the novels (since most are quite brief), perhaps put together thematically. As a bonus I would love to see a little commentary by GNS between the books, and perhaps a Grindhouse style "double feature trailer" for the books done by some crazy comic artist and a writer with lots of exploitation movie love

Box sets may be too pricey for new readers, but a good value trade (check out the recent Spider or Doc Savage reprints perhaps)-that would be cool.

[franklinmarsh]

Night Of The Crabs - first GNS I ever read, brilliant and memorable cover.

The Sucking Pit - came to this late, but it's a classic sex 'n' violence 70s NEL pulp horror.

The Slime Beast - as above but with a 1950s ambience.

Deathbell - GNS comes as close to The Reptile as he dare.

Werewolf By Moonlight - not exactly a great book, but when I met GNS (swank, swank) he signed my battered copy. I love him. 4 Ever.

[killercrab]

I would personally love to see double feature books. Two of the novels (since most are quite brief), perhaps put together thematically. As a bonus I would love to see a little commentary by GNS between the books.>>

Nel actually released at least one triple feature book that included BATS OUT OF HELL , THE SUCKING PIT and THE SLIME BEAST. That to me gives you at least three of the obvious choices for a boxset. I think you need to look to eye catching titles first to help differentiate the product from modern stuff. You do not find books or movies titled like this these days - go look. Also consider ENTOMBED as a choice - it's excellent if little read.

-The Wood! I just finished this and it is always hard to drop a last read in a tops list for me. But I loved it. >>

No .. no - don't include this snorefest.

[ghostwriter2109]

Crabby...you still didn't put your listing down.

The Crab box set was/is a no brainer...for obvious reasons.

But I have a hankering for a 'creatures amok' set...a best sellers box set and a fans selection set.

That should cover all the bases and keep some of the cranky old timers happy.

It's funny that we forget that a lot of us read our GNS books in our teens...but as we got older...can critique with ease. But there are always new teenagers that want to read something a bit more 'titillating' than Horowitz, R L Stine and Rowling...so there is always a market. Personally, I'm looking further than the UK shoreline...especially the US/Canadian market along with Spain/Italy (deals in the works).

Anyone who has seen the proof copies of the next couple of books will say that changes have been made...introductions... new chapters etc. Nothing new...but for new markets, the introductions and back history, opens doors to the 70 plus novels.

I'm sure that Smithism will host a new breed of fans...and the artwork on it's front cover, is the sort of thing that will fly off the shelves in places like The Works in UK...Borders in Canada...and Barnes and Noble in US...bright colourful and with monsters.

He may have been a man of his time...but if you REALLY understand the way that the media business works...a 70 novel back cataloue is a huge draw for producers.

I think 2009 is going to surprise a lot of folk with regards to our Guy...in my opinion.

[killercrab]

Crabby...you still didn't put your listing down. >>

Excluding crabs. BATS OUT OF HELL ( best title he ever came up with) - THE SLIME BEAST ( because it's a proper monster book) - THE SUCKING PIT ( most original idea) - DEATHBELL ( old skool colonial revenge drama) - ENTOMBED ( priest must find his lost faith in a Welsh slate mine).

[steppedonwolf]

1) Warhead - the definitive 80s nuclear nightmare novel
2) Dead End - a real departure, one of GNS' most original novels. A hidden treasure
3) The Island - for using a double-narrative and of course THAT ending.
4) Killer Crabs - I know I'm on my own in this, but I still think it's the best of the crab books and the most cinematic.
5) Anything with Sabat in - the GNS answer to Mack Bolan (The Executioner)!