What are you currently reading?

[Boggle Champion]

Over the weekend I read Candy Cain Kills by Brian McCauley and The Crossings by Jack Ketchum.

Loved The Crossings. Third Ketchum novella I read in 2023, and definitely my favorite. Tight and brutal. Really reminded me of Bone Tomahawk, another movie I loved.

Candy Cain Kills was a great holiday slasher, quick read. I expect to see this in theatres within a few years.

Started reading Chasing the Boogeyman (SST). Only 50 pages in, but I'm enjoying the biographical setup by Chizmar. The SST edition is spectacular, too. (Wonder if CD will do a limited edition?)

Reading through more stories from Hark! The Herald Angels Scream. Some have been good, but so far a pretty so-so collection.

[RonClinton]

Started Dune this morning.

75 pages and thoroughly enjoying it.

Up to this point it reads more like a high fantasy story than science fiction.

B

I've tried reading it twice and stalled both times around page 50. I'm going to try again early in the year for the third and last time...hoping this time it clicks for me. If it doesn't, I guess that saves me $$$ since I'll have to jump off the Centipede DUNE train.

[brlesh]

Started Dune this morning.

75 pages and thoroughly enjoying it.

Up to this point it reads more like a high fantasy story than science fiction.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow, and it was probably the best anthology I’ve read this year.

Up next was the short novel The Scarlet Boy by Arthur Calder-Marshall.

Made it to the 2/3 mark were I DNF’d this glacially paced story. The characters were uninteresting and way too much time was spent on daily minutiae and not enough on what little supernatural aspects were presented in the story.

B

[Boggle Champion]

Hi all, my first post on the forums!

This week I finished reading Five Decembers by James Kestrel. Amazing WWII-era crime epic.

Also finished Wolf Hunt 2 on audiobook. Wolf Hunt was the first Strand novel for me. Loved his short stories I've read and loving this series. The audio narrator is spectacular too. I have Wolf Hunt 3 from Weird House so I'm gonna switch to physical for that one.

Just started reading Hark! The Herald Angels Scream. Only 1 story in so far but I have high hopes for the anthology. Going to try and read through Candy Cain Kills over the weekend as well.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Kristopher Triana's "Slasher vs. The Remake". This one was a complete blast! An 80's slasher movie in book form.  Would make a very cool movie.

Am now reading another book from the Thunderstorm versus line, the Thunderstorm LE of Michelle Garza's & Melissa Larson's "Scum Janitors vs. The Living Dead".

[brlesh]

Sounds like an interesting read. I have that one on my TBR pile.

I'm re-reading Earth Abides George Stewart. I had forgotten that this one overuses internal dialogue which also tends to bog the narrative down.

Earth Abides is one of those classic novels I’ve always thought I should read, but never get around to picking up a copy.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up The House on the Brink by John Gordon.

This was a short novel that I never got invested in.

At times it was hard to follow (due to the English lexicon, I found myself having to go back and re-read lines or entire passages that didn’t make sense to my American brain), which didn’t allow for any flow to the story.

Up next, Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow.

I’ve struggled with the last couple of Datlow anthologies I’ve read, so we’ll see how this one goes.

B

[Ben Staad]

Sounds like an interesting read. I have that one on my TBR pile.

I'm re-reading Earth Abides George Stewart. I had forgotten that this one overuses internal dialogue which also tends to bog the narrative down.

Just finished reading the SST LE of Josh Malerman's "Daphne". Really enjoyed this one and haven't quite read a story like it before. Really fun characters and a neat villain. Would love to see this one done as a movie! I do wish that there were fewer journal entries by the main character as they did become a bit repetitive and bogged the story down a bit, but I totally understand why the author used them as they were needed to convey the main character's anxiety. Other than that, the story was top-notch for me. As always, SST did a fine job with the production and art, and you really can't beat their priced for LEs.

Am now reading the Thunderstorm LE of Kristopher Triana's "Slasher vs. The Remake". Am super excited for this one. Any book dedicated to Wes Craven better be scary! Â

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the SST LE of Josh Malerman's "Daphne". Really enjoyed this one and haven't quite read a story like it before. Really fun characters and a neat villain. Would love to see this one done as a movie! I do wish that there were fewer journal entries by the main character as they did become a bit repetitive and bogged the story down a bit, but I totally understand why the author used them as they were needed to convey the main character's anxiety. Other than that, the story was top-notch for me. As always, SST did a fine job with the production and art, and you really can't beat their priced for LEs.

Am now reading the Thunderstorm LE of Kristopher Triana's "Slasher vs. The Remake".  Am super excited for this one.  Any book dedicated to Wes Craven better be scary!  

[brlesh]

Just finished up A Face in the Crowd by King & Stewart O’Nan.

It had a Christmas Carol feel it, just set in the summer.

I liked it a lot, though IMO it’s not as strong a story as The Longest December.

B

[brlesh]

Prior to Holly, I read The Longest December by Richard Chizmar (one half of a two story book, along with A Face in the Crowd by King & Stewart O’Nan).

I really liked The Longest December, a tense mystery that kept me guessing throughout.

Another winner from Chizmar.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Holly & really liked it.

How many authors out there could have pulled off a story about 80 year old cannibals!

The constant covid harping got old, but King addressed this in the afterward (based on the timing of the story & Holly Gibney’s personality quirks, he felt it was appropriate for the story), and his explanation makes sense.

Next up, the Joe Lansdale Drive-in tribute anthology.

I’m a couple stories in and not really into it

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Centipede LE of Guy N. Smith's "Bats Out of Hell", a first time read/author for me. This book was so much fun and greatly surpassed any expectations that I had for it. Figured it would just be your usual animal-attack story, but the book was much deeper than the title would have one believe. I never expected it to lean into things like virology, or conservationism. I was also amazed at how large of a story Smith was able to cram into such a short novel. Feel like many authors would have padded the book, but he kept it lean and mean, much to its betterment IMO. Overall, I'm glad that I finally pulled this from my TBR stack and gave it a chance, and I'll definitely be looking for more books from Smith. Hopefully, Centipede will go back to the well and do another!

Am now reading the SST LE of Josh Malerman's "Daphne"

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Stephen Kozeniewski's "Braineater Jones", a first time read/author for me. Wasn't quite sure what to expect, and it definitely subverted any expectations that I had. At first, the story took me a bit to get into as I couldn't quite tell if the author was playing it straight or as a satire, but once that I finally caught on, I quite enjoyed it. Definitely more of a bizarro novel than a horror novel. The book has lots of fun characters, a bonkers plot, and a few very memorable scenes. Overall, I'm glad that I gave the book and author a try and would love to see further adventures for Braineater Jones.

Am now reading the Centipede LE of Guy N. Smith's "Bats Out of Hell", a first time read/author for me.