The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

You know those pulpy "men's" western series? (i.e Longarm, Trailsman, Spur, Buckskin, etc.)

There was one series I was reading in the early to mid-ninties, the difference was the main character was a female bounty hunter, and for the life, I cannot remember the title. The only thing I can remember was the main character on the covers had red hair. I'm not interested in reading them anymore (I'm sure they're not in print anymore), but the fact I can't remember the title is driving me mad.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2008 01:48

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 11:51

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

100 Years in Iraq posted:

I believe you're looking for the "Lone Star" series by Wesley Ellis. They are out of print but you can still buy them used on Amazon for a couple bucks each. You can GIS the covers to see if that's what you're thinking of.

Thanks, I had forgotten about those, but those weren't the ones I was looking for.

Found it. The "Head Hunter" series by E.J. Hunter. I gotta remember to right this lest I forget again.

Davros1 fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jul 22, 2008

# ¿ Jul 22, 2008 21:19

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Kvlt! posted:

This is a long shot. It was a book I think about a doctor or physician and I think he was depressed or a drug addict, or generally misanthropic or negative. Maybe it was Russian but I'm definitely not sure on that. It had some sort of horror or thriller bent I think. Sorry it's not a lot to go on, but if anyone can find it i'd greatly appreciate it.

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey?

I've got one from when I was a child (somewhere between 80-85)

It was one of the "Weird, but True Supernatural" style books from Scholastic. I remember such stories in it (and they were only about a page/page and half long) about the body of a small alien creature that had washed up on a shore, a woman who had a dream that her recently deceased husband (or son) wa still alive and when they dug up his body he was still alive, and a man who when he was hanged, his body disappeared. There were probably about 20 stories in it, and it was a thin paperback with several illustrations on the cover, surrounded by a orange-ish border.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2018 20:40

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Mniot posted:

The second story is about an evil and destructive elephant. The people tell him that they want to make him their king and they give him a crown and lay out a royal carpet for him to walk on. But the carpet is covering a giant pit and the elephant falls in.

Barbar got dark

Atlas Hugged posted:

I'm trying to remember the name of a novel or series of novels I read part of as a kid. They were likely published in the 80s or early 90s. The premise is that a character or characters can see into the future and maybe they have some other psychic powers as well, I can't really remember. The scene that stands out to me is that the character sees a sign over a road collapse and he runs into the street to knock a kid out of the way before the sign falls and kills him. The sign falls and then everyone is suspicious of the character.

I thought the book was called "The Seer" or "Seer" or something like that, but searching for a book with that name hasn't been super successful.

Psi-Man?

# ¿ Mar 11, 2018 16:47

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

If it was The Screwfly Solution, it was made into an ep of Masters of Horror several years back

# ¿ May 22, 2018 00:50

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Human Tornada posted:

I'm trying to piece together which of Richard Stark's Parker novels I've read, can anybody tell me which one has him driving a bulldozer into a gun store and taking the guns he needs?

Are you sure you're not confusing it with the film Commando? (I have never read a Parker novel)

# ¿ Jan 8, 2019 03:50

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Quoting this from a while back to see if anyone can help.

Davros1 posted:

I've got one from when I was a child (somewhere between 80-85)

It was one of the "Weird, but True Supernatural" style books from Scholastic. I remember such stories in it (and they were only about a page/page and half long) about the body of a small alien creature that had washed up on a shore, a woman who had a dream that her recently deceased husband (or son) wa still alive and when they dug up his body he was still alive, and a man who when he was hanged, his body disappeared. There were probably about 20 stories in it, and it was a thin paperback with several illustrations on the cover, surrounded by a orange-ish border.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2019 15:51

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

wizzardstaff posted:

I don't know about the specific book, but "weird but true" combined with "orange border" sounds like a National Geographic publication, if that helps narrow your search.

Don't think it's Nat Geo; can't find them publishing anything "Supernatural", plus, is was the size of a paperback book.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2019 17:32

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Thanks, but I've looked at those. This was from the early to mid-80s, and I can't seem to find any of those that match.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2019 23:16

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Splicer posted:

Did it talk about the green children?

I can't remember all the stories told in it, though each one was only a page long or there about, and there was a black & white drawing on each one. When I say orange border on the cover, I'm thinking more like this (though a lot of publishers did this):

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ¿ Apr 15, 2019 17:44

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

ZoeDomingo posted:

A scene from an urban fantasy novel popped into my head yesterday, and I've been driving myself crazy trying to remember the series. I believe it's in first-person, but I could be mistaken.

The main character opens their front door and a vampire is standing there. The main character says something like "oh, but you can't come in unless you're invited," at which point the vampire steps over the threshold (demonstrating that vampires needing an invite is just a myth). The main character just responds with "well, poo poo" or something similar.

I'm wracking my brain going through the series that I've read, and even have skimmed through some of the books I own. Of the series I can remember reading, only one subverts the myth (the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman). But I have those books, and haven't found such a scene.

It's entirely possible that this is in fact a scene from a movie or TV series, but I keep visualizing it as words on a page.

Any ideas?

Vampire$?

The book by John Steakley or its movie adaptation starring James Woods?

# ¿ May 31, 2019 03:04

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Read a short story a while ago about a kid who buys a used VCR from a second hand store from a shopkeeper who looks out of it.

The VCR works fine, but when testing it the kid records live TV and when rewatching realizes he can keep fast forwarding past the present time. At first he uses this to impress classmates with NBA predictions, but one night when fast forwarding he gets annoyed that the expected game in a few weeks was being preempted by news coverage, and as he continues fast forwarding the coverage gets worse before the recording is of dead air.

As he�s just a kid he has limited options and goes back to the store and the owner is like �you watched it too, huh?�

Holy gently caress.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2019 03:54

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Biplane posted:

Does the dude go mad at the end?

Don't they all?

# ¿ Sep 6, 2019 13:54

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Expecting no one to know this, since it's such a nothing piece of information, but this bit from a book popped into my head, and now it's an itch I can't scratch.

All I remember is a bullwhip with a gold coin that was inset on the bottom of the handle.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2019 22:21

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Veni Vidi Ameche! posted:

I think this is a reasonably recent story, but I can�t swear to it.

It�s a steampunky story about a rich homegrown genius type who commissions parts to build an airship. He has come into possession of a lady-creature who is listless and sickly. He has a theory about her, so he puts her into the airship and starts into the sky. As the ship gets higher and the air gets thinner, the lady begins to come alive. Eventually, she�s beaming images into his head, and it turns out she�s like a rebel queen in exile, and I think the story ends with the implication that she is going to use the main character to help regain her throne.

Doubt it's this, but it sounds similar to the Doctor Who story "Storm Warning"

# ¿ May 6, 2020 10:04

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Shrecknet posted:

How in the gently caress is there a book about a Cleveland investigator who has a chance encounter with a vampire, but its the wrong book about a Cleveland investigator who has a chance encounter with a vampire

Was it "Vampire Beat"?

# ¿ Aug 12, 2020 03:21

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Schadenboner posted:

It was a big hardcover book much like the Gnomes book that it was roughly contemporaries with. It wasn't a children's book (I found it in the library's adult section's "oversize books" category). It was called Witches (or similar) and it was a semi-historical/semi-magical history of witches and witchcraft with amazingly good art. Normally you don't have the title to work with in this thread but damned if I can come up with a searchable term from the above, "witch" being a fairly common title term.

"Witches"?

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/witch...edition=1892429

"The Occult, Witchcraft, and Magic"?

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-occult-witchcraft-and-magic-christopher-dell/1123506671

"The Usborne Book of Witches"?

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/stori...edition=8120952

# ¿ Dec 4, 2020 04:39

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

There was an Image Comic (whose title escapes me, and only lasted one or two issues) about a military team that was being sent to Hell through a doorway discovered in a cave.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2021 03:51

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

They made a movie out of it a couple of years back

# ¿ May 14, 2021 17:31

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Runcible Cat posted:

Yesss, thank you!

It had its own thread for a bit

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3831791

# ¿ Jul 18, 2021 16:42

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

dflinter posted:

I found the English version!

It's called Super Giles!

I've ordered a copy from Amazon for prosterity

That cover art with the legend "9/11 Years" would make someone think it's about something entirely different

# ¿ Aug 25, 2021 14:14

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Absurd Alhazred posted:

It's a book I checked out of the library in the 90s, I would guess it wasn't new then so possibly 80s or even 70s.

This book features a serial killer who really hates women. At the start he's put in some kind of institution after he kills his mother, but runs away when there's a big fire. He steals the identity of a friend he made there who died in the fire.

There's a long sequence where he's found one woman he doesn't instantly want to kill because she introduces him to fellatio, but he eventually does end up killing her, burying her body, and running off with her money.

By Reason of Insanity, by Shane Stevens

# ¿ Apr 16, 2022 22:17

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Fiend by C. Dean Andersson?

# ¿ Jun 20, 2022 03:28

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Heh. I goggled novel about man "comic" "convention" "medea" (and it turns out adding those quotation marks was really loving important) and it popped up eighth on the search results.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2022 03:41

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

There's been an audiobook version available for a while:

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/rebecca-s-world-journey-to-the-forbidden-planet-196

# ¿ Nov 14, 2022 23:56

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Tehan posted:

I read a book in the early 2000s where the central plot was about a group of terrorists who are... angry at TV, I guess? who take a bunch of people hostage and say they'll execute them live on TV unless everyone tunes away or turns off their TVs, because they were monitoring the ratings for the broadcast. But people don't tune away and a bunch of people get killed and everyone who survives blames and sues each other. The same author wrote a bunch of other books that always ended really depressingly, the only other thing I really remember is that in another one (or a subplot of the same one, possibly) a cop that infiltrated an ecoterrorist group was found out because he kept repeating a bunch of 'the earth is dying' talking points, but the actual ecoterrorist community apparently had an unofficial policy where they don't bother talking about that stuff because they're all already on the same page and it's just a pointless circlejerk.

The first one sounds like "Popcorn" by Ben Elton

# ¿ Jul 21, 2023 08:19

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 11:51

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Annath posted:

I'm trying to remember the name of a book that was about, like, someone resurrected a Neanderthal in modern (or futuristic?) times, and he was like educated and able to interact, but had definite differences for Homo Sapiens.

It was an interesting premise and I can't remember what it was called.

"Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer"?

# ¿ Dec 11, 2023 22:59

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy