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I’m never reading dan Simmons again after the abominable. That book was a false bill of sale and pissed me off to no end. He’s a garbage writer with the occasional good idea
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Apr 26, 2020 20:19
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I enjoyed Summer of Night (I liked it more than King’s IT) and the Hyperion Cantos. Also I might be one of two people who sort of liked Drood. That said Obama getting elected broke him, and we saw what a true garbage person he truly is. I haven’t read anything yet Simmons in almost 10 years, and I doubt if I will again. Just too uneven. Also I agree about The Terror. I would say 75% enjoyable until it sunk hard the last 25.%.
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Apr 26, 2020 20:46
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I enjoyed (most of) Drood. Summer of Night just felt like a knockoff Stephen King to me and Hyperion should have ended with the first book. Simmons has this thing where he can set up an interesting mystery but the answers he supplies (and he always does) are always incredibly boring, stupid or both. That and him being a complete shithead has put me off Simmons for good. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Apr 27, 2020 |
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Apr 26, 2020 22:43
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https://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Carvers-What-Talk-About/dp/1632460610 What exactly is this Evenson book?
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Apr 27, 2020 01:35
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escape artist posted:https://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Carvers-What-Talk-About/dp/1632460610 The Bookmarked series is basically authors writing extended essays on classic literary works, as I understand it. So it's him reflecting on What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.
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Apr 27, 2020 02:30
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Was the description not clear enough?quote:A haunting meditation on love, loss, companionship, and finding one’s way through the dark, Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is one of the most important and influential short story collections in contemporary literature. In his entry in the esteemed Bookmarked series, acclaimed author Brian Evenson offers his personal and literary take on this classic Carver collection.
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Apr 27, 2020 02:35
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Ornamented Death posted:Was the description not clear enough? Prior to looking at the item on Amazon, I read a recommendation from another website that seemingly conflicted with Amazon's description
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Apr 27, 2020 03:07
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escape artist posted:Prior to looking at the item on Amazon, I read a recommendation from another website that seemingly conflicted with Amazon's description Ah, fair enough!
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Apr 27, 2020 03:47
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In a stunning reversal, I ordered Song of Kāli without actually noticing that Dan Simmons wrote it. I was so mad that I bought another of his damned books. I spite-read it. It was pretty great. Tons of dread, a reasonably good ending with hopeful message, and only a small amount of weird sex poo poo. On the whole I enjoyed it. It’s probably because he wrote it back in the 80s before the brain worms got him.
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Apr 30, 2020 17:28
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I finished the TV version of The Terror and it nails the landing far better than the book.
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May 2, 2020 08:40
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just read all of bob lemans stories, and I particular loved Window and Instructions. does anyone have a horror novel that are like those two stories?
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May 3, 2020 21:31
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PawParole posted:just read all of bob lemans stories, and I particular loved Window and Instructions. Where in the world did you find all of his stories? “Feesters in the Lake,” the only collection I’m aware of, goes for hundreds of dollars online.
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May 5, 2020 22:30
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May 6, 2020 00:46
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Wow. EDIT: shipping is free!
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May 6, 2020 00:51
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Just to be real clear, I didn't pay anywhere remotely near that much for my copy. Also my copy is signed by Leman. Edit: There's a copy for about 10% of that price on Abebooks. Still way more than I paid for my copy 
Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 01:05 on May 6, 2020 |
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May 6, 2020 00:53
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Ornamented Death posted:Just to be real clear, I didn't pay anywhere remotely near that much for my copy. Hah, I saw the Abebooks copy and it was still too rich for my blood. I keep hitting the “tell the publisher you want to read this on kindle” link on Amazon. Color me jealous!
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May 6, 2020 01:43
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Muninn posted:Hah, I saw the Abebooks copy and it was still too rich for my blood. I keep hitting the “tell the publisher you want to read this on kindle” link on Amazon. Color me jealous! Midnight House was the publisher and they've been closed down for over a decade now, so that's not going to do a whole lot unfortunately. I'm actually kind of surprised that someone else hasn't put out an affordable collection.
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May 6, 2020 01:57
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Muninn posted:Where in the world did you find all of his stories? “Feesters in the Lake,” the only collection I’m aware of, goes for hundreds of dollars online. I uh, have a guy. I want some good cosmic horror where there’s ineffable unscrutable cosmic entities ( and it’s been written in the last 30 years)
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May 8, 2020 06:36
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The Tehama and others is far superior to Feesters in the Lake as an anthrology. It has all of the best stories ( Window,Instructions,Loob, etc) and none of the boring ones. It’s on google play
PawParole fucked around with this message at 06:52 on May 8, 2020 |
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May 8, 2020 06:50
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PawParole posted:The Tehama and others is far superior to Feesters in the Lake as an anthrology. It has all of the best stories ( Window,Instructions,Loob, etc) and none of the boring ones. It’s on google play It's not available in the US.
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May 8, 2020 11:22
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are Kiernan's short stories good? I know what everyone says about her novels. But she released a collection of short stories last year and I haven't heard anything about that.
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May 16, 2020 07:25
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escape artist posted:are Kiernan's short stories good? I know what everyone says about her novels. But she released a collection of short stories last year and I haven't heard anything about that. I feel like it's a coin toss with her-- I've loved some, others I have really kind of hated. Kiernan occasionally writes in this style that I think is supposed to evoke a kind of timeless, chaotic madness but to me just reads like empty gibberish. I can't remember which stories I've liked and which I haven't, unfortunately, but I'm willing to bet that you could find a fan of hers that feels the exact opposite anyway. In general I think Kiernan is one that you just have to give her writing a try, because either it'll work for you or it won't. I do feel she's a better writer the shorter the form-- I haven't read any of her books, so I can't comment on those, but I thought her short stories tended to work better than the novellas I've read, as when she makes more extreme stylistic choices, they don't last longer than they really need to. Unrelated, but has anybody read Ted Klein's The Ceremonies? I'm reading it right now and A. didn't realize that it was written to expand on "The Events at Poroth Farm", and B. is surprisingly slow-moving in a way that rivals some other classic overly-verbose American horror writers, but for whatever reason I'm still enjoying it a lot. My expectations are actually pretty low, since I really liked "Poroth Farm" as it was, and didn't really need it expanded on, but I'm curious enough to see what he does with the story.
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May 16, 2020 21:52
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Ornamented Death posted:It's not available in the US. I had to go the extra mile and register a reddit account so I could DM a guy that has the PDF, this poo poo better be worth it. im tainted now.
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May 16, 2020 23:26
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Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself!
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May 17, 2020 03:19
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COOL CORN posted:Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself! Uhh well this was sort of the case with me when I read The Troop, though the problem wasn't so much that I thought it was too grotesque, and more that I felt like it was nothing but grotesque, with a half-baked plot that was just along for the ride. I guess that also happens with me with movies, I don't have a lot of patience for gross-out horror anymore, if there's not much plot to back it up. That's the only instance I can think of that I've read recently though. As for straight-up too unsettling for me to keep reading? I don't think it's happened to me in recent memory. I don't do well with violence towards pets in books so I've put down books because of that, though.
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May 17, 2020 04:19
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COOL CORN posted:Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself! There's an entire subgenre for that. Check out Edward Lee, Wrath James White, Monica O'Rourke, or Matt Shaw, amongst others. Note that I"m not saying the books by these folks are necessarily good, as it were, but they are exactly what you're asking for here. Lil Mama Im Sorry posted:I had to go the extra mile and register a reddit account so I could DM a guy that has the PDF, this poo poo better be worth it. im tainted now. I guess it depends on your tolerance for weird fiction/cosmic horror written in the '70s and '80s. Personally I think "The Window" is in the top ten of weird fiction stories, but it's far and away the best story Leman wrote so take from that what you will.
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May 17, 2020 04:33
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COOL CORN posted:Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself! I always hear Cows by Matthew Stokoe is the grossest book. I haven't checked it out because I'm not into that genre. Couldn't get through an Edward Lee.
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May 17, 2020 06:08
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How do people feel about Ramsey Campbell? I’m halfway through Thirteen Days By Sunset Beach and it seems okay? Worried as always cause horror stories die in the last part, but the set up is okay. I don’t think the Greek is right but I’d basically have to ask a friend to read the whole book.
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May 17, 2020 08:37
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Xiahou Dun posted:How do people feel about Ramsey Campbell? I like Campbell a lot. the drearier and more run-down his vision of england is the better too. my favorites of his are Ancient Images, The Nameless, Midnight Sun and the collections of his young Lovecraft mythos stuff. that said, his stuff does tend to deflate a bit at the end. I don't think quite as spectacularly as King but it feels like a whimper instead of a bang a lot of the time also the films of his books are invariably awful haha
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May 17, 2020 10:59
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COOL CORN posted:Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself! Jack Ketchum really pushes it, I've never touched any of his stuff based on what people have said.
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May 17, 2020 11:55
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Window alone was worth tracking down the entire short story collection. Thanks for the rec.
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May 17, 2020 19:33
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fez_machine posted:Jack Ketchum really pushes it, I've never touched any of his stuff based on what people have said. Oh yeah, I did drop The Girl Next Door fairly early on because I found it pretty abhorrent. I haven't read anything else by Ketchum but something about that book made me feel like I wasn't sure whether the writing was intended to just make the reader feel disgusted and disturbed, or if it was intended to pander to someone who was into abuse fantasies. It's one of very few books that I'd actively steer people away from.
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May 17, 2020 21:31
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Reading through The Imago Sequence and Laird Barron seems to feel about old people the same way Ligotti feels about puppets. Just finished Hallucigenia and it's definitely the best in the collection thus far. I also liked Procession of the Black Sloth, but all the others have felt kind of samey, if competent.
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May 18, 2020 15:47
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MockingQuantum posted:Oh yeah, I did drop The Girl Next Door fairly early on because I found it pretty abhorrent. I haven't read anything else by Ketchum but something about that book made me feel like I wasn't sure whether the writing was intended to just make the reader feel disgusted and disturbed, or if it was intended to pander to someone who was into abuse fantasies. It's one of very few books that I'd actively steer people away from. it's based on a true story. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sylvia_Likens
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May 18, 2020 16:04
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escape artist posted:I always hear Cows by Matthew Stokoe is the grossest book. I haven't checked it out because I'm not into that genre. Couldn't get through an Edward Lee. When I was a teenager I read a short story about horror authors in a zombie apocalypse. All of the writers were obviously real horror authors with the names changed that the author knew or was friends with. The least disguised one was “Lee Edward” who was portrayed as an absolutely enormous rear end in a top hat that died immediately
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May 19, 2020 02:30
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COOL CORN posted:Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself! There are parts of American Psycho that are extremely gnarly, a ton of gorey horrific stuff was not in the movie. Glamorama also has some intense torture stuff. It’s weird, when I was younger my motto was basically the gorier the better, but in my advancing age I’m a huge wuss.
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May 19, 2020 07:03
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remigious posted:There are parts of American Psycho that are extremely gnarly, a ton of gorey horrific stuff was not in the movie. Glamorama also has some intense torture stuff. It’s weird, when I was younger my motto was basically the gorier the better, but in my advancing age I’m a huge wuss. American Psycho cranks it up so high that it becomes ridiculous, like there's Gilbert Gottfried waiting around the corner to yell "The Aristocrats!" to finish the joke.
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May 19, 2020 14:13
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COOL CORN posted:Have any of y'all ever encountered a book that's too obscene or grotesque or unsettling? I just realized that's happened to me movies but never with books. Maybe it has something to do with the limits of my imagination. I'm not sure but now I want to push myself! Ed Lee. My experience of trying to read a couple of Ed Lee novels was like sitting on the school bus next to the kid who keeps shouting "YOU KNOW WHAT'S GROSSER THAN GROSS?" and spewing out whatever hosed-up thing he thinks will trigger your gag reflex.
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May 19, 2020 14:27
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escape artist posted:I always hear Cows by Matthew Stokoe is the grossest book. I haven't checked it out because I'm not into that genre. Couldn't get through an Edward Lee. Cows is the truly the grossest book I have ever read. Maybe I read the more mainstream Edward Lee books, but I don't find it anywhere close to how insane Cows was. Also read Stokoe's High Life, but I don't remember much about. What about The Wasp Factory? It's been like 15 years since I read it, but I remember it begin intense also. remigious posted:There are parts of American Psycho that are extremely gnarly, a ton of gorey horrific stuff was not in the movie. Glamorama also has some intense torture stuff. It’s weird, when I was younger my motto was basically the gorier the better, but in my advancing age I’m a huge wuss. Glamorama was also torture to finish (I am not sure how I feel about it overall). I felt like it just droned on and on. I say this as someone who enjoyed a few of Ellis' works. Fake edit: Roger Avary was going to make Glamorama into a film? I thought he did ok with The Rules of Attraction, and the whole Victor Ward European sequence was amazing. Reading Wiki, that sequence was an actual a movie that was suppose to bridge The Rules of Attraction with Galmorama. It has only been shown at private screenings due to the the film being ethically questionable.
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May 19, 2020 14:59
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I actually read The Wasp Factory a few months ago, and while it's intense it's bearable because the narrator is so detached. He's describing awful things, but it's all in a matter-of-fact way, so it's more a look into the mind of a budding serial killer than WHAT'S GROSSER THAN GROSS? READ ON TO FIND OUT!
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May 19, 2020 15:25
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