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Just finished Devolution, the new Bigfoot attack novel by Max Brooks. loving rad. Probably equal parts survival and creature horror, with elements of The Decent and Lord of the Flies thrown in. Would highly recommend it if you're looking for something engaging and easy to zone out to. The audio version was terrific.
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Feb 9, 2021 01:43
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 19:45 |
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I thought it was super entertaining, which is really all that I ask for out of a Bigfoot novel by the zombie war guy. All of the pop culture inserts are totally forced and kind of take you out of the whole thing, but WWZ was the same way and I think that's just how Brooks rolls. The description of the eco community and the eruption of Mt. Rainier was pretty cool, and I think he established a great premise for the setting. And let's face it - that's probably your first hurdle in crafting a story about a Bigfoot attack outside of Seattle. I really liked the characters too for the most part, and thought that the protagonist's evolution to a loving corpse-desecrating, Bigfoot-killing, genocidal cavewoman was really fun. Seems tailor-made for a screen play. What did you think?
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Feb 9, 2021 02:37
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Just started A Head Full of Ghosts after seeing lots of recommendations on this thread. So far it's been a slog. It seems super quippy and pop culture, and I'm having trouble picturing a good horror story coming out of that context. I've also been listening to this one on audiobook, and having the same problem with the narrator. She has this bright and cheerful voice that just doesn't seem to lend itself to the genre.
Paddyo fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Mar 18, 2021 |
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Mar 17, 2021 23:58
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Conrad_Birdie posted:Finished Blackwater. I'm just starting it and am totally hooked. What a fun combination of southern gothic, horror, and period drama. Can't believe that I never heard of Michael McDowell before reading this thread.
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Mar 22, 2021 01:08
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Wow - after a couple hundred pages of small town intrigue and levee chat, the horror/gore part of the plot really comes at you from left field.
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Mar 23, 2021 01:26
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Just about finished with Blackwater, and the last few chapters have been a kick in the gut. You spend so much time getting invested in these characters that watching them fade away is really depressing. The overwhelming sense of mortality and loneliness is having way more of an impact on me that the supernatural element.
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Mar 25, 2021 22:46
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That's where I'm at! I have an appointment for a vasectomy next month, and now this stupid book has me obsessing about how lonely I'll be if my wife dies before I do!
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Mar 26, 2021 01:39
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I read Elementals immediately before jumping into Blackwater, and yeah, you can definitely tell that McDowell approaches the supernatural stuff with a certain vagueness, and doesn't really feel the need to dump exposition on the reader. On one hand it's pretty cool because it preserves the sense of weirdness and mystery, but on the other hand I can't help but to feel like he's pulling a bit of a JJ Abrams and doesn't wrap up all of his plot threads. Like in Blackwater wtf was up with the ghosts? I get that they were out to get revenge on Eleanor, but it almost seems like they are thrown in the story without a deeper connection to either Eleanor, the river monsters, or anything else. It was kind of frustrating to spend the whole book looking forward to some kind of catharsis or confrontation there only to have them wink out of existence when she dies, especially when they are directly responsible for killing off important characters. He does something similar in The Elementals with all of the crazy family traditions and the evocative backstory not really having any kind of obvious link with the crazy poo poo that goes on at Beldam. I kept looking for an over-arching connection between all of the different supernatural components, and was frustrated when I couldn't find one. But other than that, Blackwater had a huge emotional impact and was one of the best books that I think I've ever read. I will agree that it kind of loses steam towards the end after it shifts focus to the younger generation of Caskeys. The conclusion also seems to come out of nowhere, and while I think it bookends nicely with the way the story begins, I can't help but to feel a little unsatisfied. To McDowell's credit though, I think a big part of that dissatisfaction comes as a result of the general sense of loss and emptiness that the surviving characters are left with. It's powerful poo poo. Paddyo fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Mar 26, 2021 |
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Mar 26, 2021 18:38
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Depends - if you want to lean in harder on the southern gothic than the horror I'd go with Blackwater. If you want more traditional horror I'd recommend Cold Moon Over Babylon. If you dive in to Blackwater, you might want to try the audiobook. The voice actor is terrific, and it's such a big book that I found it helpful to have it on in the background rather than having to invest the time to push through 900 pages of family intrigue.
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Mar 27, 2021 19:54
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I felt the same way about Eleanor vs. Marylove, although I thought the way that Eleanor murdered Marylove to be one of the more disturbing parts of the book. It's interesting how the same character is simultaneously responsible for the cruelest and some of the most heart-warming scenes.
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Apr 2, 2021 17:18
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Hell House was really good, but was another one of those books that introduces all of these neat ideas and mysteries only to leave them unresolved at the end.
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Apr 20, 2021 23:39
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PsychedelicWarlord posted:I'm reading Blackwater by Michael McDowell and loving it. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and really enjoying how it's less of a horror novel and more of a family saga with spooky vibes. The real horror is Mary-Love's control of her family and the struggle between her and Elinor is mostly domestic instead of supernatural. Yeah, every other page in this thread has Blackwater chat. Eager to hear what you think about the whole experience after you finish the book.
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Apr 26, 2021 19:18
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Idle Amalgam posted:While I originally found myself at odds with The Elementals, I was obsessed with Blackwater and genuinely felt sad when it ended, like I was seeing loved ones for the last time or something. I've since made my way through about everything else he's written and love his stories and the way he tells them. I've been brainstorming on this myself after getting sucked into McDowell. In my mind one of the things that sets him apart from other authors in the genre is the way the setting plays such a huge part in his stories. The climate, culture, economy, and history of the deep South provide so much context to his characters and plots, and adds a ton of nuance that creates this awesome atmosphere. The only other horror author who I can really think of who regularly uses the setting in a similar way is Stephan King.
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Apr 29, 2021 20:14
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Man, Carrier Wave is some dark poo poo. Reminds me of all of the vignettes from World War Z, except without any of the slapstick or optimism. I'm about half way through and a little burnt out on the gore and hopelessness. I hope some sort of overall narrative starts to develop soon.
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Jun 25, 2021 17:52
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You weren't kidding. Princess Sparkle Hog is one of the most jarring tonal shifts that I think I've ever seen.
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Jun 28, 2021 18:04
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Yeah, I finished Carrier Wave, and aside from an interesting premise I wasn't impressed. The first half was super bleak, but was it was still fun to see the different manifestations of the signal, and I was eager to see where the plot went. After The Walled City and Princess Sparkle Hog though I had a hard time taking it seriously. The characters also weren't very realistic or likable, and like the poster above said, the prose wasn't good enough to cover for it. The ending just sort of "happened" too, and in a random way that just came off as contrived. Seems like a lot of people on here liked it, but I guess it just wasn't for me.
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Jul 6, 2021 18:28
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Ornamented Death posted:I started Carrier Wave last night. The more I think about it the dumber that book gets. It's like The Walking Dead.
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Aug 17, 2021 19:21
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I liked the part about the celebrity hold-out mansion getting overrun. Bill Maher and Paris Hilton being eaten by zombies seemed about right.
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Aug 23, 2021 23:27
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Kestral posted:You want Michelle Paver's Dark Matter: A Ghost Story. If you have any tolerance for audiobooks I can highly recommend that version, great narrator. Wow, thanks for the recommendation! About halfway through Dark Matter and it's great. Super atmospheric with a sense of creeping dread that I'm really enjoying. And yeah, the narrator for the audiobook is top notch.
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Sep 2, 2021 18:18
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Kestral posted:I'm glad people here are enjoying it, it's nice to be able to give back to a thread that's given me so many great recommendations Someone earlier said Thin Air is basically Dark Matter in the mountains, which tbh sounds pretty cool.
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Sep 21, 2021 20:07
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I actually had no idea Paver had written more horror since Dark Matter until the thread pointed it out; has anyone read Thin Air or Wakenhyrst? Might be good Halloween reading.
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If you aren't burnt out on McDowell you should check out Cold Moon Over Babylon too. I thought that one was way darker than Elementals or Blackwater.
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Sep 21, 2021 23:54
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Is that what the Love, Death, and Robots episode was based on? Because it was awesome.
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Oct 4, 2021 23:49
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Has anyone here read the Three Body Problem? I've had it pop up on recommendations as kind of a Lovecraftian SciFi horror.
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Oct 12, 2021 19:29
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Conrad_Birdie posted:Been reading so many horror novels from Valancourt Press in celebration of the spooky month…currently onto the main event, Michael McDowell’s “Cold Moon Over Babylon.” About one hundred pages in and it is, characteristically, spectacular. It is simply a joy to read McDowell’s prose. He was so gifted. Man, "Cold Moon" is so grim compared to "Elementals" and "Blackwater". It wasn't really the horror of the supernatural that stuck with me afterwards, but the bleak and depressing atmosphere. It's a great book, but sure was tough to read at the same time.
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Oct 14, 2021 20:33
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I felt so bad for the blueberry farmers. What a lovely loving lot in life.
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Oct 19, 2021 23:15
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ptkfvk posted:i just started carrier wave and it is wonderful Yeah... there's a big tone shift mid way through. Would be interested to see what you think after you hit that.
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Dec 3, 2021 18:44
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MrMojok posted:LOL! "Tell me, do you have any tattoos?"
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Dec 6, 2021 01:06
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Opopanax posted:Do any good horror comedy books exist? The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins definitely fits. It's all Elder Gods / Cosmic Horror, but sneaks in a lot of humor without it ever becoming too distracting or off-putting.
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Mar 25, 2022 19:06
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Just started myself. It's pretty hosed up in the best way through 5 chapters. Pretty sure I know where everything is heading though...
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May 17, 2022 01:25
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Untrustable posted:I recently signed up for Scribd (it fuckin whips, by the by) and I now have so many books to read that I'm dealing with some choice paralysis. Blackwater is legitimately one of the best books that I've ever read, and will bounce around in your head for a long time after you finish. Be advised though - it's a stretch to call it a horror novel, and you really have to be in the right place before you dive into it. It's a brick of a novel.
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Jul 13, 2022 22:44
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Count Thrashula posted:Agreed on all counts. I was late to work a couple times cause I was listening to it in the car and couldn't turn it off. That narrator was amazing!
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Jul 13, 2022 22:48
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Lil Mama Im Sorry posted:anyone have any despair horror gems i may have overlooked? or maybe arent that well known? Assume that you've read "The Road"? "Cold Moon over Babylon" by Michael McDowell meets the criteria too I think. Just a non-stop misery-fest for the characters...
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Aug 4, 2022 22:42
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Conrad_Birdie posted:Are there any Michael McDowell audiobooks? Blackwater seems like it’d be awesome on a long road trip. Soap opera Southern gothic family epic? Reset the Blackwater recommendation clock! One of the best books that I've ever read, but may not be your cup of tea if you're looking for a horror novel. The audiobook narrator is awesome.
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Oct 15, 2022 01:20
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Carrier Wave has one of the worst tone shifts that I've ever seen. The first half was super bleak and kind of interesting, but then Princess Sparkle Pig out of nowhere...
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Nov 17, 2022 01:26
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You'll definitely know when you get there! Will be interested to hear your thoughts.
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Nov 17, 2022 21:17
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