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Opopanax posted:I know Max Brooks isn't the most popular around here but Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre had an interesting enough concept I wanted to check it out. It's about a small tech commune in Northern Washington that gets cut off when Rainier erupts, and winds up getting a herd of Bigfoot driven right into them. It's set up as a sort of investigative documentary like World War Z, with the brunt of it being the recovered diary of one resident, then some other bits inserted for context and background. I was a bit worried since the introduction doesn't leave a lot of room for imagination, but even knowing what it's all the about the "how it happened" was really well written. Definitely recommend it, and if you're into audiobooks it honestly seems more like it was written to be one of those. That book has a truly impressive “this owns” to “this is so loving dumb” ratio. And I love every goofy-rear end word of it. Yuppies vs Bigfoot, Fight of the Century!!!
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Jan 23, 2022 19:00
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Xiahou Dun posted:That book has a truly impressive “this owns” to “this is so loving dumb” ratio. And I love every goofy-rear end word of it. Surely nothing could have such a big foot got both a grin and a groan out of me
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Jan 23, 2022 21:32
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Opopanax posted:Surely nothing could have such a big foot got both a grin and a groan out of me It’s a book with a 3 drink minimum. I don’t know if it’s really horror, it’s got a bit too much pure goof for me when I’m in a mood for proper ooky-spooky serious time, but that’s also true of Evil Dead 2 so that’s not a critique of quality, just taxonomy.
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Jan 23, 2022 21:58
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Devolution is a fun book held back a bit by the Max Brooks format, and it made me go on an X stereotype vs Y monsters pulpy book binge for a while after reading it
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Jan 24, 2022 00:05
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If y'all like monsters with a bit a tongue in goof, The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is coming out in March of this year. quote:The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi's first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy. Also Revelator by Daryl Gregory turned out to be a very excellent book. Fantastic folk horror meets cosmic horror, but not in a lovecraft rip off way. But fair warning there's huge amounts of period typical anti blackness. The roughest stuff is off screen but it's still hard to read. Also special small shout outs to Widow's Point by Richard Chizmar with Billy Chizmar. The ending felt kind of weak because it's a real old trope, and the indigenous racism is always cringy in tyool 2022. I do appreciate a hosed up lighthouse though! You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin. This one is a neat bit of architecture horror. Apparently it's a movie?
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Jan 24, 2022 06:35
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There Is No Antimemetics Division was really fun for like the first 40% of it, but from there to where I’m at now (about 60%) has been a pretty big drop off in quality.
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Jan 24, 2022 15:55
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Lil Mama Im Sorry posted:There Is No Antimemetics Division was really fun for like the first 40% of it, but from there to where I’m at now (about 60%) has been a pretty big drop off in quality. It drags on for sure (though I say that about every horror novel) but fwiw I do think it manages to recover near the end. I was pretty satisfied with the book when I finished it, even with some rough stories in the back half.
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Jan 24, 2022 18:02
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Opopanax posted:Answering my own questions again and read Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first Dexter book. It was good, but plays out quite differently from the show. It's also kind of oddly paced, the Ice Truck Killer doesn't actually show up until about 20 pages to the end and the ending itself is pretty abrupt, but I'm interested to move to the next one and see this new status quo. That "always on" thing is an important part of Dexter's personality. Code or no code, he's still a high functioning psychopath and everything has to be all about him. The books do play out extremely differently to the show, usually for the better (especially after Scott Buck wrecked it). The first two are probably the best, but Dexter's Final Cut is very nearly as good. At the other end of the quality scale: Jeff Lindsay has profusely apologised for Dexter in the Dark on many occasions. With the sole exception of Cody killing for the first time the entire book was jettisoned from future continuity, so you can skip it if you want.
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Jan 24, 2022 19:04
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Recent book thoughts: The Deep by Nick Cutter -- I didn't like it as much as The Troop, but it was... fine. It had some really fun scenes but it really felt like it retreaded a lot of what The Thing and The Abyss did. It wasn't very inventive, but I don't feel like I wasted my time either. 3/5 Along The Path of Torment by Chandler Morrison -- Jesus take the wheel, this was a rough one. Imagine if American Psycho took place in 2000s Hollywood, was written by Marquis de Sade, and... yeah. It was a really interesting look into how past trauma can turn you into an absolute unfeeling monster, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. I gave it 4/5.
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Jan 24, 2022 19:59
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Is The Deep the one with the middle section with the one researcher’s diary about his bees going crazy and now there’s bee-rape and bees coming out of his dick and o jesus just more demon bees keep coming? Cause that part was pretty great. Not amazing but it stuck with me. The rest was just fine, I guess. Nothing amazing but it was an okay way to spend an afternoon. After the bit in spoilers, the next most memorable part was the use of “to shawshank” as a verb which I hadn’t encountered yet. Sadly it’s been over a year and I still haven’t gotten to use that in a sentence.
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Jan 24, 2022 20:58
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The Deep was pretty much Event Horizon but Underwater.
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Jan 24, 2022 21:09
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Xiahou Dun posted:Is The Deep the one with the middle section with the one researcher’s diary about his bees going crazy and now there’s bee-rape and bees coming out of his dick and o jesus just more demon bees keep coming? I don't think so no
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Jan 24, 2022 21:27
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Now I want to know what book has dick bees
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Jan 24, 2022 21:28
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There are definitely bees, but more body horror bees than dick bees. Which could be the same thing? It's been a few years. Also for some reason The End of the Whole Mess is playing out in the wider world, which has zero impact on the story outside the intro. As noted The Deep is kind of a weirdly mediocre mishmash of various other horror stories. It's not bad, but it's kind of forgetable.
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Jan 24, 2022 21:32
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Yeah there's definitely bees, and there's definitely something akin to what you're describing, but I don't remember dick bees
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Jan 24, 2022 21:40
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This is the one with the framing device where there’s a disease that makes people forget things and the vet guy has to go super deep underwater to meet his brother but then spookiness ensues? Because I swear to god the researcher has mutant bees hatch out of his dingus in his little diary thing. If I made this up, I think I desperately need some pretty serious counseling cause it’s pretty hosed up.
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Jan 24, 2022 21:53
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Aron Beauregard is a super nice guy to deal with and I'm excited to dig into these gross offerings
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Jan 24, 2022 23:23
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No. 1 Juicy Boi posted:Aron Beauregard is a super nice guy to deal with and I'm excited to dig into these gross offerings Oh hey I’m reading beyond reform right now. It is indeed very gross. Didn’t expect it to have pictures in it so that was a fun surprise
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Jan 24, 2022 23:36
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Xiahou Dun posted:This is the one with the framing device where there’s a disease that makes people forget things and the vet guy has to go super deep underwater to meet his brother but then spookiness ensues? The woman he goes with gets turned into a big beehive type thing That's all I remember
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Jan 24, 2022 23:46
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Children of the Fang by John Langan is stellar, continues his wonderful deconstruction of the genre. Anyone here dig into this yet? Also read three Laird Barron short story collections, a Phillip Fracassi collection, a Christopher Slatsky. I have found a lot of authors that are consistently good. Feel like we're in a horror literature boom at the moment.
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Jan 26, 2022 03:31
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Loved it. Langan continues to be an author that writes stuff that is designed to delight me. I didn't like it as much as Wide Carnivorous Sky but more than Sefira, with The Fisherman still at my top. I really need to reread that opening audition one cause the imagery stuck with me hard, but the actual structure was a lot to follow. You got a favorite?
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Jan 26, 2022 04:33
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Xiahou Dun posted:This is the one with the framing device where there’s a disease that makes people forget things and the vet guy has to go super deep underwater to meet his brother but then spookiness ensues? That's the one, yes. I don't think the bees got that much screen time, if a book can have that, though. EDIT: This was my summary from a couple years back when I read it: quote:I recommended this book because I like it but a large part of why I like it is how ridiculous it is. Skyscraper fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Jan 26, 2022 |
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Jan 26, 2022 11:30
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^^ That one was a disappointing DNF for me. Only got 200 out of 500 pages through. Your review confirms I made the right decision.Xiahou Dun posted:Loved it. Langan continues to be an author that writes stuff that is designed to delight me. In Wide Carnivorous, my favorite was The Revel. The ones from Children that have really stuck with me so far (only halfway through) are "Into the Darkness, Fearlessly." I love when he writes about writers. And the Max Berry story really flips that idea of "go into the light" on its head. I have both Sefira and Mr. Gaunt to read after this, as well as House of Windows. Mr. Gaunt appears to sell for over $100 on eBay these days, and I'm actually weary of opening it and reading it because of that. I snagged it a couple years back right after I read The Fisherman, for a low price, brand new, and I guess his celebrity has grown since then. escape artist fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jan 26, 2022 |
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Jan 26, 2022 19:25
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escape artist posted:
Thanks for mentioning this! I didn't realize this was a short story collection, so I was going to skip it.
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Jan 26, 2022 19:41
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escape artist posted:Mr. Gaunt appears to sell for over $100 on eBay these days, and I'm actually weary of opening it and reading it because of that. Books are meant to be read, even expensive ones.
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Jan 26, 2022 19:52
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I read Mark Edwards "Here to stay" and "house guests" and they were both honestly really enjoyable. I think they qualify as horror-ish.
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Jan 26, 2022 20:23
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escape artist posted:^^ That one was a disappointing DNF for me. Only got 200 out of 500 pages through. Your review confirms I made the right decision. I think Mr. Gaunt is about to get a reprint or was slated to last fall.
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Jan 26, 2022 20:23
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Idle Amalgam posted:I think Mr. Gaunt is about to get a reprint or was slated to last fall. Tor Nightfire has it listed on their 2022 roundup as being released sometime this month. There's a lot of weird publication shuffling because of supply chain issues though, so might be postponed
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Jan 26, 2022 20:30
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escape artist posted:^^ That one was a disappointing DNF for me. Only got 200 out of 500 pages through. Your review confirms I made the right decision. I've only read the title story of Mr. Gaunt, and it's a total banger if you like his thing where he sort of riffs off of a sub-genre and does what is a very standard story structure with his own little twist. The only reason I haven't read the rest is cause, as you said, getting a copy is pretty steep. If you read it, please just go hog wild posting about it cause I'd like to hear about it. If it's a good enough recommendation, I'll probably finally get around to finding a copy. The Revel has a special place in my heart cause it's the most obvious example of him riffing off of a real place and using it as his writing prompt for a setting. There's a little bit where he actually even lays out the geography of his little "made-up" town of Huguenot and then acknowledges that he moved stuff around. (He moves the police station slightly, but the college and the Indian restaurant and the hippy lady's store are exactly as in the real town.*) Personally, I'm a sucker for Technicolor and really like the narrative device of a subverted lecture. House of Windows is a great little ghost story done in a very intimate, almost cozy style. I'm not really a ghost story guy for whatever reason, but it's one of the better ones and I thought the framing narrative worked really well. It's just a kind of apples to oranges thing for me where it's like he's making a really good cake but I don't have much of a sweet tooth. I took Children off of my shelf and I'm giving it a re-read. I read it when it came out in one big rush with a bottle of something nice, and the stories are detailed enough that one half-drunk binge probably didn't let all the depth stick around. *I'm not actually a creep. I'm from the area he writes about so I get the references he repeats. There's like a whole Langan cosmology of itty-bitty Upstate New York towns and my dad and I like paying attention to it as a little game : we walked the area that The Fisherman takes place in cause it's literally right there and quite a nice place to visit. The stories stand on their own, but it's a little detail that raises them from very good to superlative in my highly-biased perspective.
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Jan 26, 2022 20:42
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Ornamented Death posted:Books are meant to be read, even expensive ones. I agree, but Word Horde was supposed to re-release it last fall, and I guess it is now. I kind of want to sell the original if I can get that money. And then keep a re-print around as my readable copy. If I could turn it into an $80 profit, it would be worth it to me. Skyscraper posted:Thanks for mentioning this! I didn't realize this was a short story collection, so I was going to skip it. I think Langan's best work is his stories. This one has 21 tales. Xiahou Dun posted:I've only read the title story of Mr. Gaunt, and it's a total banger if you like his thing where he sort of riffs off of a sub-genre and does what is a very standard story structure with his own little twist. The only reason I haven't read the rest is cause, as you said, getting a copy is pretty steep. If you read it, please just go hog wild posting about it cause I'd like to hear about it. If it's a good enough recommendation, I'll probably finally get around to finding a copy. I'll definitely post about Gaunt once I read it. I'll go story by story if you'd like, and get really detailed. I have heard nothing but bad things about House of Windows so your thoughts are a breath of fresh air. After reading one of each author's books, I tried to buy as much of the oeuvres of Barron, Langan, Evenson, Ballingrud, and a few others. I should do a round-up of all the books I read last year. They were 80% horror, and mostly great. Beneath A Pale Sky by Fracassi, The Boatman's Daughter by Davidson, The Only Good Indians by Jones. The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell and Father of Lies by Evenson are all honorable mentions. escape artist fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Jan 26, 2022 |
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Jan 26, 2022 22:53
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escape artist posted:I agree, but Word Horde was supposed to re-release it last fall, and I guess it is now. I kind of want to sell the original if I can get that money. And then keep a re-print around as my readable copy. If I could turn it into an $80 profit, it would be worth it to me. You can read it and then sell it? Its not difficult to keep a hardcover in near-perfect condition while reading it.
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Jan 27, 2022 05:02
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escape artist posted:I think Langan's best work is his stories. This one has 21 tales. Completely agree! I'm going to wait a while and see if it comes out on audiobook, the audiobook for Carnivorous Sky was imo pretty good.
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Jan 27, 2022 12:30
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Finally got to Dark Cities, a book of short horror stories about cities that I got from TBB Secret Santa. I was already looking forward to it, but then I took a good look at the writer's list and it's a real stacked cast Even a Cutter I hadn't read, didn't know he did any shorts. Overall it's really even for an anthology, all the stories are at least "good", the only thing that stuck out was a weird rape scene in the first one that really didn't need to be there. The standouts were probably the Carey story, and the Ballingrud (which moved North American Lake Monsters way up my list). One thing I really liked, and this may just be me, but all the stories were more or less equal length. There's a few short ones and a couple longer ones, but they're mostly all 20 pages and I think the longest was around 35. I don't know if this matters to others but I really appreciate that in this kind of book, makes it easier to pace.
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Jan 27, 2022 18:18
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Skyscraper posted:Completely agree! I'm going to wait a while and see if it comes out on audiobook, the audiobook for Carnivorous Sky was imo pretty good. I bought the audiobook and combined it with the PDF - used Amazon's "immersion reading" for this - and it was great. Langan is one where I like to see and hear his words. And, This is kind of random but: I've been thinking about downsizing my book collection as I move into a new, smaller space, and may put the sale up in SA Mart. I will let you folks know when I do.
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Jan 27, 2022 20:46
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I'm 33 chapters / 54 percent of the way through and ooh girl, this is a fun paranormal horror with scifi tinge mystery. Someone else please read Where They Wait by Scott Carson. Yes the summary sounds a lil goofy but its a nice variation from classic paranormal location horror. It's also set in Maine. Summary: quote:A new supernatural novel about a sinister mindfulness app with fatal consequences from the New York Times bestselling author of the "grips from the first page" (Stephen King) thriller The Chill.
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Jan 27, 2022 22:03
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No. 1 Juicy Boi posted:Aron Beauregard is a super nice guy to deal with and I'm excited to dig into these gross offerings 'Finished' Beyond Reform yesterday and it got pretty disappointing in the back half. The first 4-ish stories are kinda what you expect in an extreme/splatter anthology but each had at least a little twist to make it interesting. Just straight skipped the necrophilia story cause nah, I'm good. Then the last story kinda pissed me off because it was too long, felt a bit exploitive of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and had an annoying narrator popping in every once in a while to tell you how you really shouldn't be reading this and will never be able to unsee what you're about to read. Eventually I took their advice and quit reading Scooped up Children of the Fang and Dark Cities based on recent posts though so looking forward to cracking into those
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Jan 28, 2022 22:00
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escape artist posted:I bought the audiobook and combined it with the PDF - used Amazon's "immersion reading" for this - and it was great. Langan is one where I like to see and hear his words. Interesting! I'd never heard of this feature.
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Jan 28, 2022 23:34
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Skyscraper posted:Interesting! I'd never heard of this feature. It highlights the words in the text as it reads to you. I ended up buying audio and pdf copies of a lot of my favorite authors because of this feature. The only issue is - if the immersion reading is off by a few seconds, which it is on a few books, it's not worth it.
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Jan 29, 2022 01:56
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I'm about a quarter of the way through Negative Space by B.R. Yeager, and what a wild, bleak ride, psychedelic ride. drat! I just stumbled onto the book thanks to the Goodreads algorithm (I was looking at reviews for something, Negative Space was in the 'people also read' section, and it had such an interesting title, cover, and premise that I just had to check it out), but I'm not surprised it seems to have been recommended a lot here. Also, for a book that aspires to be kind of artsy and literary it's quite a page turner. There's just something to be said for the format of spasticly jumping from PoV to PoV. Gives it a real sense of propulsion.
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Feb 3, 2022 03:59
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children of the fang was a disappointment. it had some standouts - "vista" and the last section of "irezumi" come to mind - but langan's prose lacks verve and he has an annoying habit of writing stories that consist of a character describing the story in a staid matter-of-fact voice, which waters down the language further. i remember that device being the source of a neat twist in his earlier story "technicolor" but here it's mostly played straight dark cities on the other hand has been very satisfying so far, even if the first story's content did get somewhat lurid for a paragraph or five e: sherrilyn kenyon’s story was loving rancid, the worst I’ve read in a while. undergrad crap Oxxidation fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Feb 3, 2022 |
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Feb 3, 2022 04:40
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