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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 24, 2016 18:26:11 GMT
Nevill's first collection of short stories, written between 1995 and 2011. And it is a cracker - seriously, BUY THIS BOOK (or put it on your Xmas wants list). Where Angels Come In - "A lot of things go missing in our town: cats, dogs, children. And they never come back. Except me and Nana Alice. We came home, or at least half of us did." A schoolboy recounts what happened when he and two of his mates broke into an abandoned house with a bad reputation. The MR James influence is fairly explicit here, but it is MRJ at his most unsettling, like Lost Hearts with all the knobs turned up to 11. The Original Occupant - The MRJ influence is apparent again, in the form of a well-to-do narrator who, through no fault of his own, finds himself facing an ancient pagan evil. This story later became the novel The Ritual, a huge favourite of mine. Mother's Milk - A creepy and grotesque story about a creepy and grotesque family, who may not be entirely human. Some Lovecraftian influence here, I think. Yellow Teeth - The narrator has offered to help out an old friend who has fallen on hard times, by letting him crash at his flat. Bad mistake: the friend seems to be taking over, and he also seems to be going insane. He even seems to believe that he has direct contact with "The Goddess". Hints of Machen here. Pig Thing - Set in a remote part of New Zealand, there's something nasty lurking in the bush, and it's scaring the crap out of the recently arrived Poms. Can it really be a "pig-thing", as the kids describe it? What Hath God Wrought? - A weird wild west story about an ex-cavalry trooper hunting down a religious cult that "took" his family (think "zombified Mormons"). Very violent, and one of my favourite stories in the book. Doll Hands - Set in a dystopian future, the story is told by a man who looks after "the residents" who are safely ensconced in a large apartment block. Today he is taking delivery of the food for the Head Resident's Annual Banquet. To Be And To Be Forgotten - Some similarities with the previous story, but this one is present-day and told by a night porter working in a creepy apartment building where all the residents seem to be sinister and grotesque old women and their servants. This story is clearly related to Nevill's novel Apartment 16, and has the same strange hallucinatory feel to it. The Ancestors - A J-horror influenced story, told from the POV of a young girl who has moved into a new house with her mother and father. The father appears to have had some sort of nervous breakdown, and the new house doesn't seem to be helping. The Age Of Entitlement - Another story set sometime in the not too distant (and not so happy) future, it's less overtly "horror" than anything else in the book but very creepy nonetheless. Florrie - A haunted house/possession/obsession themed story that I had read before in Jonathan Oliver's House of Fear anthology. Frank buys an old-fashioned terraced house with the intention of giving it a modern makeover and making it "his". But the house seems to be changing Frank instead.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2016 20:44:04 GMT
I have been looking forward to this for a while, and it's now on the (virtual) 'to be read' pile. The only one I've read previously is FLORRIE, which I thought was a really top-notch piece of work.
Love the cover illustration, too.
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Post by Mike Brough on Dec 1, 2016 13:47:31 GMT
Me, too. I picked it up last night on Amazon, on sale for 99p. I think a couple of these stories were in a taster that I got for free when I joined his early readers group (sounds like a bunch of five-year-olds).
Looking forward to this but I think I'll ration myself to one story a night. I'm doing the same with all the Poirot short stories and I've got Simmons The Terror and a re-read of Dracula on the go. They all seem appropriate for this time of year, even Poirot.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 1, 2016 16:48:07 GMT
I'm looking forward to hearing what others think. I've definitely got favourites, but I didn't think there was a single disappointing story in the whole collection.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 17, 2016 20:32:59 GMT
I thought it was an excellent collection. I'd previously read 'Where Angels Come In' and it remains a favourite among these tales, and the Jamesian touches in 'The Original Occupant' certainly appealed, but I also liked the variety of different styles and moods throughout. I can't think of a weak story among them, and there are a fair share of genuinely unsettling moments. Nevill also seems to be able to write utterly loathsome characters who are all too horribly believable, as in 'Yellow Teeth'. Yes, a marvellous set of stories.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Dec 17, 2016 21:32:56 GMT
I read "Pig Thing" while on holiday in a remote part of New Zealand. Prior to that I'd idly toyed with emigrating. Nevill killed that idea.
Stone dead.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 17, 2016 23:22:23 GMT
I have been looking forward to this for a while, and it's now on the (virtual) 'to be read' pile. The only one I've read previously is FLORRIE, which I thought was a really top-notch piece of work. Love the cover illustration, too. I really enjoyed "Florrie" too.... |
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 19, 2016 15:29:49 GMT
I also liked the variety of different styles and moods throughout. Yes, I think that is one of his greatest strengths. It's the same with his novels - it isn't that he doesn't have a particular style of his own (he definitely does) but, if his name wasn't on the cover of them all, you very likely wouldn't guess they were all written by the same person. |
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Post by benedictjjones on Jan 17, 2017 15:44:42 GMT
Been meaning to pick this up. Ran out of readies at FCon so had to leave this one then.
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Post by Dr Strange on Oct 7, 2017 19:44:26 GMT
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Post by Mike Brough on Oct 7, 2017 19:51:24 GMT
Hasty for the Dark is every bit as good as Some Will Not Sleep. I read a review copy, hoor that I am, and loved every bleak moment of it. Nevill is one of the best 4 current UK horror writers along with Neil Spring, F G Cottam and... Mr Campbell. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Oct 7, 2017 20:49:37 GMT
Nevill is definitely my favourite contemporary horror writer - here's hoping the film of The Ritual brings him to a wider audience. The only thing by Neil Spring I've read is The Ghost Hunters - I have to say, I thought it was very poor and it put me off trying anything else by him.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 8, 2017 10:57:34 GMT
Yes, a far shorter version than the one you've linked to, but still enough to make me want to see it once I've read the novel. Made a start on it, liked what I was reading, but book was on loan from library and I hate that three week ceiling. Have since turned up a copy on book trawls, so it's time will come. Also like the sound of No One Here Gets Out Alive and Some Will Not Sleep. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Oct 17, 2017 12:21:45 GMT
Caught the film of The Ritual at the weekend - and it is very good (though it does simplify the book plot a lot). It was a toss up between seeing it or the new Bladerunner - which basically came down to a choice between spending 90 minutes versus nearly 3 hours in the cinema - and I'm glad I chose this. It's not hugely ground-breaking or anything - but impressive locations, believable characters, some smart/funny dialogue, and a very cool monster meant the time just flew by.
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