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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 19:52:56 GMT
You know, I'm not having much luck with the search function.... But yes, that's the cover.... seven! Erm... I'll be sure to look out for them. Or maybe not.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 18:24:41 GMT
Would love:
Rattlers - Joseph L Gilmore Bats Out Of Hell - GNS
I'm just getting a copy of "Bats out of Hell" from elsewhere, but my buddy would LOVE a copy too.......
Can we make arrangements?
ps: Oops, silly me, I see you're looking for swaps. My extensive collection of a handful of books means I don't have anything to swap..... still, if you feel you can sell let me know.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 18:22:06 GMT
Sorry folks, I really must make the effort to get my scanner connected, since I can't find cover art for this one in my quick search...... just laziness on my part to be honest........
Anyway - this book is an NEL and was published in 1978.
Chill is a story of intrigue, possession, and detective work of the spiritual variety. 'Chill' refers to our central character, Dr. Childers, who is a "Psychic Investigator". The story is set in the US, in an old house that contains many secrets......
Patty and Tom, having recently inherited the house, have recently moved in. Their daughter, Joan, is with them - 15 and looking forward to being 16 very soon. She's not the only one waiting! An evil spirit has marked the 16th birthday as a day to complete the possession, but without understanding who and why this is being done, how can the girl - now in a state described as "hibernation" be saved?
Enter Dr. Childers, known as 'Chill', and friend of the family - along with his two sidekicks, a researcher and Laura, clairvoyant and mystic.
Chill is the Paul Temple of Psychic Investigators, seems to know all, and which steps to take. So much so that he comes across as a super-hero of sorts. In fact this ensured this book would never really get too scary - as soon as he was on the scene things quickly sorted themselves out. He's a decent character, but not he led the thing more into the realm of a Scooby Doo episode than out and out horror. Even at 190 pages it felt strung out.
It is saved somewhat by the climatic scenes though, which are nicely done - with the house heaving, and attacks coming left and right. All loose ends are nicely tied up, and one gets the impression there was going to be a long string of Chill books - maybe there were!
Nice cover - brief, if somewhat stilted read. However, it really didn't do too much for me if I'm honest. It's all a little too 'friendly', and sometimes super-heroes can ruin a good bit of drama - you know?
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 15:27:16 GMT
I have this one, but after a couple of Laymon titles I decided to spread out my reading a bit. I look forward to reading it. After my extensive experience with him (I've read TWO books ) I must admit I have found bits and pieces of his more sexual text squirm inducing. For instance, 'Allhallow's Eve' spends time - more than once - describing erections from 13 year old boys, and then tells us what they'd like to be doing with their classmates and teachers..... It totally works for shock factor, but doesn't move the story along!
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 15:20:11 GMT
You don't need word recognition software (though ideally it'd be great). All you need is an image of the page, which can be stored in PDF format. That would at least preserve things.
Mind you, some of your collections are probably huge (I'm only just starting out) and to call the task arduous would be understatement.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 8:47:29 GMT
Agreed on the cover, that's terrific!
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 8:46:06 GMT
Actually, this is very VERY depressing. I sometimes donate things to the charity shops, but when it comes to books it really is in the expectation that someone will buy them to READ - I'd never want them pulped!
Can anyone provide email addresses for the charities in question? I'd certainly email them to protest this practice. Frankly, I'd rather they dump all the rubbish they shelve and give space over to the old stuff. As it is they're trying to compete with Borders, Waterstones, and WH Smith!!!
We need a campaign....
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 8:41:04 GMT
Enjoyed the linked review - a single sentence at the end of it was probably all many of us needed: "Dennis Wheatley in a panda car." I prefer artist renderings as a rule, and would have much preferred a female victim.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 8:33:55 GMT
(Leisure Book - Published 1987) Having just read a review by 'Steve' I am prompted to write a couple paragraphs about a book I finished yesterday - Blood Mist. Steve was drawn to hsi book by the cover blurb, while I was drawn to this by that wonderful cover (sorry it's so small, borrowed from Amazon!) The cover shows a beastly claw, with four brutal, bloodied talons grabbing at the books title, a red mist swirling between. In the background we have a high moon, full, showing in stark relief a crane. Good stuff - if not wholly accurate (the beast actually has six bony fingers, and the mist is described as "silver'). The cover blurb also seems to deny us of any peace or happy ending: "It could not be killed, for it was already dead; it could not be stopped, for it was invincible; it could not be satisfied, for its lust was boundless." Hm, kind of leaves you with nowhere to go one would have thought. Actually though this was a terrific little read (365 pages) and I enjoyed it very much. The setting is South Carolina, and things begin at the excavation of a new apartment building on the beach. Unlike many movies of the time, the businessman behind the enterprise is actually our hero, rather than an evil developer. At the dig for the foundations and evil force is released, and it's mere pages before we have the first attack, a swift and bloody dismemberment. The book doesn't hold back with the characters either - we have three cops, each representing different levels of responsibility, a librarian with plenty of time for research, a doctor who's a part time wizard type, a black pimp type who actually has a heart of gold, and of course the beautiful red haired goddess who anyone - and anything - would find irresistible! As the murders continue we are introduced to demons, sacrifices, zombies, and shape changing - it's all rather wonderful actually. The writing is bright and breezy, and moves at a good pace. The book is broken into three points of view - that of the main characters, that of the "It", and that of the past. The past is represented through tales of Vikings, Romans, the Spanish and French - groups who through the years have come upon the beast with predictable results. It breaks things up, and nicely gives the impression of a creature living not only in this time, but through all time. With a climax reminiscent of Dennis Wheatley's "Devil Rides Out" it's quite exciting, and certainly enjoyable. What chance flesh against spirits who fought Zeus? This book seems rather common around here (I saw another copy in a bookshop yesterday), and if the mystic/demon type thing is your bag, then I'd recommend it (though it might well be a very common book). It positively flies by, and I was never bored. Nice.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 25, 2009 8:15:17 GMT
Needless to say I've never seen this book before (let alone actually read it) - but the basic premise, as flimsy and joyously silly as it is, if of great interest. Beasties and Bugs, you just can't go wrong!
Thanks for your review (I take it there is more to come) which I really enjoyed. As you say, I don't really need convincing it would be worth a buy, not with that cover blurb!
Thanks again!
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Post by vaughan on Jun 24, 2009 21:49:54 GMT
It's a done deal - I'll have all of those!
I'll email you the details!
You sir, are a star!
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Post by vaughan on Jun 24, 2009 10:21:30 GMT
Price is good, and of course I'll cover postage. I don't have ANY of the Smith's you just mentioned, so they'd all be right up my alley. My collection, thus far, is spartan (to say the least) so any duplicates you have might well be of interest - whether they be Smith, beasties, or anything really..... Sorry to put you to all the work - but know the books will be going somewhere they'll be cherished, and above all, READ.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 24, 2009 0:45:30 GMT
The Clairvoyant is a screenplay (written by D. Jonathan Ringhamp) that has been reworked as a novelization. You can find details of the movie here: www.imdb.com/title/tt0087555/AKA: The Killing Hour (US). There are novelizations that are merely briefly annotated screenplays, and then there are some where the author has gone the extra mile, and tried to exploit the different form. In this case we get the former, with entire chapters coming and going in less than three paragraphs. You can almost hear the director screaming "cut!" Still, the film seems to be a tad "lost', in that no-one has seen fit to release in on DVD format, so in lieu of the film itself, this will have to do. The plot is intriguing - an art student is getting visions from various murder scenes, which she sketches through automatic drawing. The murderer is known as the "handcuff killer", and he/she seems to be picking victims at random...... Once the girl tells the police what she can do she is catapulted into the limelight, and eventually finds her way on television. But won't this put her in danger from the killer himself? Couldn't she become the next victim? And is there a connection between the killings and a spooky childhood experience? To say the writing here is "cursory" is to play it a huge complement. One suspects it was written over a weekend. As such it's a VERY quick read (215 pages in all, but don't forget, entire chapters might well consist of a couple paragraphs). I sat in the garden with four bottles of Old Speckled Hen this afternoon and easily polished it off. Without the beer I'd have been quicker. But you know, sometimes these bright and breezy "devil may care" titles are quite a bit of fun. The rush at quick a speed, never spending a moment on anything other than dialog (unless they're forced to describe some action sequence). The cop in this is a "comedian", a very very BAD comedian - he was annoying int he book what with all his (out of date) impersonations, goodness knows how he comes across in the movie itself, but I wouldn't imagine too well! Still, worth a read on a sunny afternoon that's for sure.
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Post by vaughan on Jun 23, 2009 16:16:48 GMT
My initial return to horror fiction offered up "Cat's Eyes" by an author I didn't know. The cover promised "A blood-chilling novel of revenge and terror", which seemed just about right. The cover is of a cat's head, staring right at you, with two sets of lights hanging ominously above...... And so I delved into this short (170 page) novel, hoping for a good scare. What I got, however, was something else entirely... The plot here is of an American woman, recently married to an author, and relocated to the wilds of the Sussex Downs. Having taken up residence near a small village, and knowing next to no-one, the husband is called away to the US in order to work on a screenplay - leaving her alone with her thoughts and fears.... Many of the fears stem from a recent car accident in which, inadvertently, she had killed a local workman. Obviously this doesn't endear her to the hearts of some of he locals...... Still suffering from nightmares about the death, and feeling alone in a reclusive home, it isn't long before strange happenings begin - writing appears, faces at the window, scratching sounds...... It's all rather mysterious, and slowly our heroine begins to lose her mind.... And the book, as it turns out, starts to drop clues that it's not only the woman who is in for a surprise, the reader is too. Because half way through the novel there is one thing that is really clear - this is NOT a horror novel. It's more akin to a thriller, in fact, if you remember the TV Series "Thriller" then you'll have an idea of what you'll find here. I won't spoil the ending, but while it is satisfying, it just isn't horror... But then, I can't dismiss the book because of some marketing blurb that mislead me, or the cover art. And the fact is, I did enjoy reading it. There are various bits and pieces of "action" and mystery, and the writing is fine. The falt was here was my own expectation - I wanted more of what the author wasn't even trying to give me. So in that light I recommend Cat's Eyes for those that enjoy a thriller, but don't go expecting a classic slice of horror, because it isn't here!
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Post by vaughan on Jun 23, 2009 16:06:08 GMT
Since I've started reading horror again I had already gone through my mind and listed the authors I remembered from a misspent youth: Guy N. Smith, John Saul, Blatty etc. And of course there was Graham Masterton! The book that really stuck in my mind was The Djinn (I now have a copy of that, and will read it later). But there was something about "Prey" that attracted my attention. Perhaps it was the rather strange cover (an almost man with green glowing eyes, but claws for hands) or the promise of a tale about a haunted house.... And so I dug into Prey after having read some Layman and Koontz. I was altogether happy with initial reads, so this I hoped would be something better. And was it ever! Of the (very few) authors I had thus far revisited, Masterton was, from the outset, the best writer. While he liked to spend time in long descriptive passages they were honed to creating atmosphere or tension. The characters were (mostly) believable, and the setting was nicely strange. Prey tells the tale of Fortyfoot House, a mansion on the Isle of Wight. Long abandoned its owners want it renovated so they can sell. David Williams takes the job - which will take all Summer - since he's just broken up with his wife and been left with his young son. Local tales tell of flashing lights, strange noises, not to mention the death of groups of youngsters through the years....... Better yet, Masterton starts the novel without any pretense or hesitation. The opening paragraph ends with "scuffle-scuffle-scuffle. Then silence again." David is lying in bed, and he can here these noises coming from the attic. Later he hears it in the walls, under the floor, all over the house. Is it just rats, or something more? Without giving spoilers let's just say there is plenty here to keep you hooked as each page comes along. Masterton is, well, a Master at what he does. On top of all that there us plenty of strange things going on to keep us entertained. The climatic scenes are fun too, as the book takes a wild ride and turn that I wasn't expecting. If this were a movie script the necessary budget to film it went from 10 million for the vast majority o the book, to 100 million in the final 100 pages. terrific - and so very over-the-top. Just what the doctor ordered. Downsides? Well not many. The plot does get rather complicated, and frankly I tried to explain it to my wife but had trouble getting her to understand it - you've really just got to read the book. At 347 pages it's not too much of a hardship. Other than that the book was class, and I enjoyed it very much. ps: Sorry for the terrible cover scan, but I took it from Amazon!
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