what are you reading?

[killercrab]

Am reading Guy N Smith's The Lurkers again. I last read it back in '82 and wondered if it would hold up. Well it's nothing short of brilliant so far. A writer and his family move to a remote Welsh village. The landlord and locals are inhospitable to say the least but the Wilson boys hate the English with a passion and take it out on Gavin the writer's son in the school playground. Gavin's cat goes missing and is found at a local druid stone circle hanging from a tree limb eviscerated whilst a raven *cronks* enthusiastically overhead.

Thick with atmosphere that only Wales could merit - this shoots up into my overcrowded GNS top five.

KC

[lemming13]

I'm alternating between Wordsworth's collection of H P Lovecraft collaborations, The Horror In the Museum; the John Joseph Adams collection of zombie stories, The Living Dead; and the 13 volume manga set, Death Note (I'm just at the end of Volume 1). Got to admit, though I'm a big fan of HPL and zombies, Death Note is one hell of a piece of work - if only more modern western writers realised you can tell a good story with fantasy elements and teen appeal, while still retaining intelligence, edge, and discussion of ethics.

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Just finished Dead Streets by Tim Waggoner, very good & plenty of Horror film references (in Victor Baron's lab there's an upside-down head creature with spider legs running around, a slacking doctor with fly's body & human head calling out help me! & a doctor who insists on his name being pronounced Fronkensteen). They're not overdone, but scattered throughout & there's probably some I didn't notice.

The main character is Matt Richter, a self-willed Zombie (not a flesh eater or voodoo type - he still decays, for which he needs preservative spells, but he is aware & in full control of himself), who happens to be a private eye in Nekropolis, another dimension where the 'Darkfolk' retreated to when humans lost their fear of them & hunted them. Matt arrived there whilst still a living cop, following a suspect through a portal to Nekropolis, dying in the ensuing fight & coming back as a zombie (this incident is covered in more detail in the first book - Nekropolis).

The first book is just as good & it's better to start with that one to get the idea, though it's not essential. The version out now, is an expanded version & there's also an interesting interview with the author at the end, detailing how the book came about. He mentions having trouble getting it published for 10 years or more, as publishers weren't interested in something crossing that many genres. The genre mix is certainly its strength though, it's so easy to get the balance wrong, but Waggoner gets it just right.

Too much in the books to cover everything, I'll just say they're recommended - they may be modern horror, but certainly have pulpy spirit & even the humour works. I think you'd even like them, Dem.

There's also a third book coming later this year called Dark War.

I've also just started Last Rites by Shaun Hutson, glad to say he's still got it & still hasn't got a 'good taste filter' (thankfully) ;D .

[andydecker]

Aug 3, 2010 18:23:49 GMT H_P_Saucecraft said:

I've also just started Last Rites by Shaun Hutson, glad to say he's still got it & still hasn't got a 'good taste filter' (thankfully) ;D .

I hated it Really liked the first half, but boy, it fell badly apart at the end. And in a kind which was sad for such an experienced writer.

[andydecker]

Pulled Drums of Dracula from the shelves and started the first Night Hunter by Robert Faulcon aka the late Robert Holdstock. Want to re-read this series for ages.

Lunchbook is Cutthroat by Slade. Also a second reading. Want to read them in sequence, as the last ones were only bought and never read because I lost interest. Enjoying every page. What a compilation of mad ideas. Crazy chinese killers, the missing link, Custer´s last stand, genetics and Special X. "Political correctness is the new Creationism". You just don´t read statements like that in current horror fiction.

[H_P_Saucecraft]

I think I see what you mean about Last Rites, Andy. I still liked it, but the end did seem a little rushed & nothing that hasn't been done before, when the rest of the book promised so much more, but on the whole, I still Find Hutson's new books good - I've got Body Count & Compulsion in the to read list.

Also been reading:

Joe Hill - 20th Century Ghosts (collection). I really liked his novel Heart Shaped Box & his short stories are just as good, It kept me reading & I nearly finished it in one go (at 382 pages that's not bad going for me)

Arthur Machen - The Great God Pan (new collection comprising the title story, The Shining Pryamid & The White People). I have got the stories in various different anthologies I think, but saw this in the library & thought it was time to re-read it.

Brian Keene - Urban Gothic. College Kids break down in a bad neighbourhood, & flee into an odd victorian house from local wannabe gangster youths - who aren't really as bad as they think, but they're not to know that - mistake no.1. The mutants in the house are far worse.

Keene is fast becomig one of my favourite authors, if you like Laymon you'll certainly like him, though he's no rip-off merchant. From some of their horror output, I think Leisure Paperbacks may be the modern equivalent of Hamlyn during their nasties phase, so there are still things worth reading in new horror (You just have to chuck the paranormal romance mountain & the resurrection of 'dark fantasy' to one side, to get to them).

Brian Keene - Ghost Walk. 50 pages into this follow-up to dark Hollow (you don't need to have read the it to appreciate this one) and up to Keene's usual standard. I'd recommend the first book & especially if you liked The Worm Stone - I was certainly reminded of it by Dark Hollow. I've just put in reservations at the library for Keene's zombie novels, can't wait.

[Chuck_G]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who has several anthologies going at one time! Right now I'm reading:

The Avon Ghost Reader
Savage Tales of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard
The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories
Necronomicon: The Best Weird Fiction of HP Lovecraft
and my lunchtime novel is Dray Prescott # 15 Secret Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers (Ken Bulmer)

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Finished Ghost Walk, great stuff. Lovecraftian entity & mentions of great old ones. Another nice touch of Keene's that he doesn't overdo, is mention of events from his other books - I'm sure I read something about them all being connected (though they're not a series & do stand alone). If you haven't read any of his work, I'd recommend starting with Ghoul.

Just started Edward Lee - The Golem, already nearly a third of the way into its 300 pages. It's reminding me slightly of Labyrinth with its jumping between the 1880s & the present day. Lee doesn't mess about, already a few nasty murders & a spot of necrophilia (though he doesn't get graphic on the latter), though Hutson is in no danger of losing his crown. Also a steamboat called the Wegener (Paul Wegener made the 1921 silent film Der Golem).

Think I'll start Piranha or Drums Of Dracula, next.

[andydecker]

Inspired by Dem´s post, I bought Wolf Men. I am not a big friend of short fiction, but it sounded interesting.

Also on the new books shelf:

Cthulhu´s Reign, a collection of new stories.

Poe, also a new collection.

And Edward Lee, Bride of the Impaler. I still read him, even if he still hasn´t written the one novel which I unconditionally liked.

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Who is Cthulhu's Reign published by, Andy?

[H_P_Saucecraft]

After finishing The Golem, I did start Drums Of Dracula, but have put it on pause - Having picked up Dracula's Gold & finding Drums to have a bit of a long winded start. I've since got my way through Pirahna, Edge no.4: Killer's Breed & I'm about 30 pages away from the end of Peter McCurtin - Operation Hong Kong (Gloriously un-pc & bloody). NEL certainly knew what they were doing.

I think I'm going to have to tackle a Hamlyn next, haven't read one in a while.

[dem]

Dave, you really should have given that Tim Waggoner review a thread to itself - great stuff, type of thing that has me scribbling the author's name in my notebook of doom as "one to look into". And as to your recent run of luck with Robert Lory - you can never have enough!

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Sept 2, 2010 20:25:15 GMT dem said:

Dave, you really should have given that Tim Waggoner review a thread to itself - great stuff, type of thing that has me scribbling the author's name in my notebook of doom as "one to look into". And as to your recent run of luck with Robert Lory - you can never have enough!

Yeah, afraid I left it too long between books to remember all the details from the first & as said, Waggoner fits a lot of ideas into the books, so they need their 300 - 400 pages each.

It also seems from his fantastic fiction page, he has done quite a lot of other horror novels & some fantasy - on the strength of Nekropolis & Dead Streets, I'll be checking the Library (where I borrowed the 2 I read).

I certainly think I'll be giving these a re-read at some point & will hopefully putting up separate threads for them.

I've gone for starting a Hamlyn, Thomas Page - The Man Who Would Not Die. Best line so far "What the frogshit, is this a Hospital or a train-wreck?"

[lemming13]

Well, HPL is finished so now I'm onto the Oliver Onions release from Wordsworth; William Hope Hodgson's Boats of the Glen Carrig; and Ambrose Bierce's poems, Black Beetles in Amber. And I've got hold of Rashomon and other stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa - I love my Kindle...

[lewistown64]

Just finished The Cool World by Warren Miller. Teen-age gangs in Harlem, great book.