what are you reading?

[Craig Herbertson]

Reading 'Weird Shadows from Beyond ', editor John Carnell. Interesting for its inclusion of two Mervyn Peake stories one being Danse Macabre.

[andydecker]

As I just was sitting here I can help out :-)

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Just finished Crow 1: The Red Hills - James W. Marvin (Laurence James). Can see why you enjoy them so much bushwick & your praise for them got me interested. Brilliant violent stuff.

Also been reading a few from Pan Horror 3, like the Charles Birkin tales particularly (I'm assuming Charles Lloyd is Birkin as well? seem to remember it being mentioned in one thread or other round here).

[shonokin]

I'm reading THE BAT STRIKES AGAIN AND AGAIN. Pulp scholars, such as Will Murray who writes the intro to this collection, claim the true writer of THE BAT stories is Johnston McCulley who created Zorro (amongst other pulp heroes). The evidence is fairly compelling but certainly not definitive. As a responsible publisher I think Altus should have stuck with the house name C.K.M. Scanlon, since it's totally conjecture with absolutely no shred of hard evidence that it's McCulley.

Despite that, the stories are very simple, with terse writing. Each story really seems more like one chapter of a larger book, so it actually works out having all 4 stories collected together.

I've also been watching the cliffhanger serial "Mysterious Doctor Satan" (not associated with the Ernst stories, outside of the name of the antagonist) and find that especially the first chapter borrows a lot from the first Bat story THE BAT STRIKES.

This is very simple but entertaining short pulp. Reminds me a bit of Paul Chadwick's WADE HAMMOND series.

[killercrab]

ILIUM by Dan Simmons . I've read myself into a standstill this week so broke out the DC SHOWCASE: House of Mystery Vol.3 just to have a break from the tremulous tome. I used to collect the old DC mystery books like Ghosts , House of Secrets , Unexpected , Madame Xanadu and House of Mystery. I've been picking up the compilations when I can and love dipping into them for a nostalgia hit.

KC

[Chuck_G]

Currently reading 'Haggopian and Others' by Brian Lumley. It has a lot of his early Cthulhu Mythos stories. I also have 'The Taint and Other Novellas' on by TBR pile.

[killercrab]

Currently I'm on a Guy N Smith jag again - reading the hard to find The Resurrected. A man's wife dies and is brought back to life by arcane means. She's cold to the touch , her breath isn't good but she's a nymphomaniac - Guy does it again!

Finished Erebus - not bad if a little predictable. Hutson lacks Guy N Smith's touch with prose and no amount of exit wounds make up for it.

Finished The Island - another great little book from GNS who again manages to weave a scary supernatural story with skill - recommended.

Just ordered GNS' The Lurkers - long time since I read this.

KC

[Jojo Lapin X]

I am reading BRIDE OF PENDORRIC by Victoria Holt. Why not, I thought. I am something of a "loose cannon."

[David A. Riley]

And I'm reading "The Lost Legion" by Ben Kane - because I have a weakness for anything to do with Ancient Rome.

David

[Dr Strange]

Just finished "Apartment 16" by Adam Nevill. It's horror, it's (fairly) pulpy, and it's published by Pan. What else do you need to know?

OK... (whisper it)... it was just published this year (sorry).

I've also read his previous book, "Banquet For The Damned": That one was more "Jamesian", this one more... I dunno, "modern" I guess. I would recommend both.

Next, I am gonna take a break from fiction and try to wade through the new (and massive) book, "The Visions of Isobel Gowdie" by Emma Wilby. This book is likely to raise a few eyebrows in academia, as Wilby seems to be arguing that Isobel Gowdie was operating as a sort of "shaman" (in 17th C. Scotland). I already know that some of you here are familiar with Isobel Gowdie (from the various fictional accounts, the SAHB song, possibly even the opera?) - but Wilby appears to have re-discovered the original trial transcripts, which were (apparently) lost for ages; either that, or this is the most audacious historical hoax since "The Hitler Diaries".

[noose]

Reading the biography of Eliza Lynn Linton by Herbert Van Thal

[dem]

Nov 16, 2008 17:48:14 GMT killercrab said:

I'm considering a review, but I'm afraid i'm just crap at writing & never manage anything long enough, we'll see. >>

I'm not a reviewer either or a writer - just tell it like it is. I'd rather read a few sentences about The Rage than nothing. No one might answer or they might try - but if you gotta a kick outta it - share that kick.Good stuff mate.

KC

only just spotted this. the best definition of what Vault is about to date. thank you mr. crab!

Jul 1, 2010 19:15:35 GMT Dr Strange said:

Just finished "Apartment 16" by Adam Nevill. It's horror, it's (fairly) pulpy, and it's published by Pan. What else do you need to know?

OK... (whisper it)... it was just published this year (sorry).

Damn! i keep forgetting we're supposed to be "destroying modern horror" or some such nonsense. Won't be buying Mr. Nevill's book then

Jul 1, 2010 19:15:35 GMT Dr Strange said:

Next, I am gonna take a break from fiction and try to wade through the new (and massive) book, "The Visions of Isobel Gowdie" by Emma Wilby. This book is likely to raise a few eyebrows in academia, as Wilby seems to be arguing that Isobel Gowdie was operating as a sort of "shaman" (in 17th C. Scotland). I already know that some of you here are familiar with Isobel Gowdie (from the various fictional accounts, the SAHB song, possibly even the opera?) - but Wilby appears to have re-discovered the original trial transcripts, which were (apparently) lost for ages; either that, or this is the most audacious historical hoax since "The Hitler Diaries".

which reminds me, we've not yet had a thread for The Diary Of Jack The Ripper. The Emma Wilby sounds very interesting, Dr. Strange. sure as hell don't know of the opera but i learned of her exploits via Alex Harvey's tribute, then kept coming across her name in various 'non-fiction' witchcraft & black magic efforts.

the bride of demonik is currently alternating between Peter Ackroyd's The Worst Street In London (Dorset Street circa the Ripper murders) and Sarah Wise's The Italian Boy: Murder And Robbery In 1830's London and advising me to get stuck into both. Recently finished Mark Lynch's Jack The Ripper Wordsworth but wasn't too impressed.

[killercrab]

OK... (whisper it)... it was just published this year (sorry). ..

Stoke the bonfire fellas...

KC

[dem]

yeah, blooming troublemaker. a plague on your nasty 2010 book!

[Dr Strange]

Jul 2, 2010 8:16:44 GMT dem said:

damn! i keep forgetting we're supposed to be "destroying modern horror" or some such nonsense. Won't be buying Mr. Nevill's book then

The Emma Wilby sounds very interesting, Dr. Strange. sure as hell don't know of the opera but i learned of her exploits via Alex Harvey's tribute, then kept coming across her name in various 'non-fiction' witchcraft & black magic efforts.

I made a start on the Isobel Gowdie book last night - quite heavy going, but also interesting. And that's pretty much how I became acquainted with the story too - but I think I'd probably read something about her a bit before I heard the SAHB song. It's not exactly "local" to where I grew up, but it's not that far away either.

I was attracted to the first of those Adam Nevill books ("Banquet For The Damned") for two reasons - the "Jamesian" theme, and the Scottish setting (St. Andrews). I enjoyed it (and the second book), but I don't know anything else about the author - except he has a pretty cool website:

www.adamlgnevill.com/


LATER ADD: Apparently (or maybe I should say "allegedly") Adam Nevill used to write erotica under the pseudonym "Lindsay Gordon".

Stuff like this: www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/lindsay-gordon/

The weird thing is, I don't remember there being any sex in either Nevill book.