What are you currently reading?

[JJ123]

A Clive Barker book was mentioned above, and that has me thinking...there are two I was thinking of looking into, but I am not certain whether I should or not (not his biggest fan, but I did enjoy the Books of Blood). Any insight on The Damnation Game and The Great and Secret Show?

As for what I am currently reading, well...it isn't horror or science fiction, but I will mention it anyway for those who may be interested: Unscripted, a book about the late Viacom chief Sumner Redstone. Pretty engaging, as many of these kinds of nonfiction books are...

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Joe & Kasey Lansdale's "Dark Kin". Really enjoyed it, as I do all of the Lansdale's stuff. My favorites in the collection were "Tremble", a sweet little riff on Sk's Carrie, and the new one "Sea Legs", perhaps the start (hopefully) of a new series featuring a merwoman detective! In terms on the production, as always, Thunderstorm knocked it out of the park. Really love the covert-art & overall color-scheme on this one. I do wish Paul had left the title off of the spine like the rest of the BV series, but it's not the end of the world. it just sticks out when you have it among the other BV titles. Overall, am very glad to add this to my Lansdale & Thunderstorm collections and would give the book a B-.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Phillip Fracassi's "Beneath A Pale Sky". Sweet Jesus what a collection of stories! I read Fracassi's "Behold the Void" just prior to this and thought that there was no way he could top it. Boy was I wrong! Every story in Beneath A Pale Sky was fantastic, and a few absolutely destroyed me. My top three in this collection were Fragile Dreams, Symphony, & The Wheel. I haven't been able to stop thinking about all three of those stories. Overall, this was an A+ read for me. "Behold the Void" & "Beneath A Pale Sky" have converted this reader into a Fracassi fanatic who is jonesing for the next collection!

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Phillip Fracassi's "Behold the Void". This was my first Fracassi read, and HOLY CRAP, what a fantastic collection of stories! Totally lived-up to the hype. Not a weak sister in the bunch. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be "Alter". Haven't been able to get that one out of my head since reading it. Definitely will be on my all-time favorite short stories list. "Surfer Girl" and "Madala" also really stood out for me as well. Overall, IMO, this is an A+ collection of stories. Really glad that I opted to pick-up the Fracassi set from Thunderstorm and hope they can release more of his stuff in the future!

[sholloman81]

I’m a third of the way through Imajica by Clive Barker (275 pages). Been reading it for the last week.

Don’t really have an opinion at this point, as the story tends to run hot and cold for me, though I do have this niggling feeling in the back of my head that I wish Barker would get on with it.

B

I had this same feeling reading the Suntup version last year. It wasn't until around half-way through that the book really clicked for me and I could grasp what the heck was going on and where the story was heading. Once that happened, the book really took on a new life. Hope the same happens for you as this ended up being a great read for me.

[dannyboy121070]

Didn't really like WE SOLD OUR SOULS much because 1). not really a fan of the rock-music-and-horror-fiction shtick, and 2). Hendrix took it far too seriously...the whimsy, humor, and casual tone that make his other works so digestible was largely absent in SOLD.

I loved it. and I think the darker tone was part of the reason why. I'm also not a fan of Rock-themed Horror novels, but I thought Hendrix pulled it off better than most usually do.

I enjoy Hendrix so much that I'm sitting on a few of his books so I can enjoy them down the road after I've read a few duds and need a surefire winner, lol.

[TacomaDiver]

Same on that Fracassi book. Hovering around $300 on the aftermarket, which is just too much for me. Same goes for when I passed on Goblin by Malerman that one year. I am on the list for the lettered but I doubt I'm high enough on there to actually get one and the limited is too much on the aftermarket at this point.

If you're talking about the Earthling edition of Goblin, I have a copy and I'm willing to sell it. I'm not sure what a fair price is (eBay is stupid high with the CD auction, or stupid low for the private seller). Make me an offer. It's in unread like-new condition. I added a Brodart and then shelved it.

[RonClinton]

Which one didn't you like?

Didn't really like WE SOLD OUR SOULS much because 1). not really a fan of the rock-music-and-horror-fiction shtick, and 2). Hendrix took it far too seriously...the whimsy, humor, and casual tone that make his other works so digestible was largely absent in SOLD.

[dannyboy121070]

Good to hear. I've really enjoyed all his books, save for one, and while I'm just 50 or pages in, this one has a feel of being yet another great one from him.

Which one didn't you like?

[RonClinton]

 Great book. I gave my copy to my mom after I finished, and she stopped reading it at one point, because she didn't want it to end so soon.

Good to hear. I've really enjoyed all his books, save for one, and while I'm just 50 or pages in, this one has a feel of being yet another great one from him.

[dannyboy121070]

Starting HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, the new one by Grady Hendrix.

 Great book. I gave my copy to my mom after I finished, and she stopped reading it at one point, because she didn't want it to end so soon.

[RonClinton]

Starting HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, the new one by Grady Hendrix.

[brlesh]

 The Laird Barron made me tap out, so you can imagine how I felt about the Mellick, lol.

HA! Never heard Mellick mentioned as a potential author in the line.

I have all 4 of the Infernal House books, but a Mellick title would have been a hard sell to myself, especially given the price of these of these books at the time.

Makes you wonder, with so many better authors out there, why Larry would have even considered a small press bizarro author like Mellick for a high end collectible book series.

B

[brlesh]

Just a finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Kevin Lucia's "The Horror at Pleasant Brook". I think I would give it a solid B to B- grade. This was my first read by Lucia and I liked it a lot. Felt like old school 80's horror run through a modern filter and had lots of good gore. Also had some strong characterization, especially the relationship between Scott & Jasper which really jumped off the page. I also liked that it was set in our current time period rather than the past or something undefined. Have always felt like a lot of authors/stories avoid that; so, it always feels a bit ballsy when it does occur. All that being said, this novel did have a couple small dings which pulled down my overall grade. There were a few phrases and plot points that I felt were mentioned a few too many times leading to the book feeling a little padded and some sections to feel repetitive. For example, I felt like this story occurring during Covid was mentioned way too many times. As a reader, I got it after the first few mentions and didn't need it to keep being hammered-on as to why a town looking emptier than normal might be overlooked. Also, and I don't know if this was an issue with the printer or proofreader, but this one could have used some slightly better editing as I did run across a few grammatical errors and misspellings which occasionally would pull me out of the story and cause me to have to reread a line/section. All that being said, this was still a very positive read and I will definitely be looking out for Lucia's future novels. MY GRADE IS B to B-.

Think I will be reading the Thunderstorm LE of Phillip Fracassi's "Behold the Void" next. This will be my first Fracassi and I can't wait to see if the hype is true!

Other than the opening story, which I was kind of lukewarm about, there’s not a bad story in Behold the Void.

B

[brlesh]

I’m a third of the way through Imajica by Clive Barker (275 pages). Been reading it for the last week.

Don’t really have an opinion at this point, as the story tends to run hot and cold for me, though I do have this niggling feeling in the back of my head that I wish Barker would get on with it.

B