Ended 2022 on a low note, as I only finished 3 books this month.
1. Return of the Old Ones ed. by Brian Sammons was an average anthology of stories based on the return of the elder gods of Lovecraft lore. Good stories by Jeffrey Thomas and three authors I’d never heard of before; Sam Stone, Edward Erdelac, & Christine Morgan. 3 / 5
2. Let’s go Play at the Adams by Mendal Johnson was a truly disturbing look at child psychology run amuck. Often compared to Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, thematically the story reminded me more of The Lord of the Flies, though the story ends with the same visceral gut punch as the Ketchum classic. Not a story to look at logically, as the plot line doesn’t hold up, but certainly one that will remain with me for a long time. 4.5 / 5
3. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Liberally annotated by Leslie Klinger, Stevenson’s classic tale of psychological horror gets a modern update from Mysterious Press, with numerous pictures & movie stills throughout, an extensive introduction by Klinger, and appendices detailing the movie, stage plays, and various comic book / graphic novel publications. This is pretty much a definitive history of Stevenson’s classic story.
5 / 5
B
1. Return of the Old Ones ed. by Brian Sammons was an average anthology of stories based on the return of the elder gods of Lovecraft lore. Good stories by Jeffrey Thomas and three authors I’d never heard of before; Sam Stone, Edward Erdelac, & Christine Morgan. 3 / 5
2. Let’s go Play at the Adams by Mendal Johnson was a truly disturbing look at child psychology run amuck. Often compared to Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, thematically the story reminded me more of The Lord of the Flies, though the story ends with the same visceral gut punch as the Ketchum classic. Not a story to look at logically, as the plot line doesn’t hold up, but certainly one that will remain with me for a long time. 4.5 / 5
3. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Liberally annotated by Leslie Klinger, Stevenson’s classic tale of psychological horror gets a modern update from Mysterious Press, with numerous pictures & movie stills throughout, an extensive introduction by Klinger, and appendices detailing the movie, stage plays, and various comic book / graphic novel publications. This is pretty much a definitive history of Stevenson’s classic story.
5 / 5
B