What are you currently reading?

[brlesh]

Finished up American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

At times a frustrating read, but overall a satisfying read.

Then onto With Teeth by Brian Keene, a novella and two short stories all revolving around vampires.

Keene doesn’t break any new ground here, but these stories were a lot of fun. Good old fashioned horror stories.

Also finished up Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities, and Other Horrors, an anthology about monsters.

Might have been better if some of the stories had actually had monsters in them!

Currently about 80 pages into Where They Wait by Scott Carson.

So far really enjoying this fast paced techno-thriller (??).

B

[dannyboy121070]

I've never read nor heard of ANNO DRACULA before and your post sent me on an Amazon search. I'm not a huge vampire fan, but this sounds really interesting. And there's SIX books in the series? How did I miss these?

I "discovered" Kim Newman in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FOLK-HORROR, and his story there was good enough to send me on a search for everything that he's written. ANNO DRACULA takes place in a London where Van Helsing and company failed, and Dracula weds Queen Victoria, becoming Prince Consort and spreading a wave of vampirism across England. I enjoyed how it wasn't a "Vampires run wild" book....Newman explores how society would be effected by the various classes in Victorian England willingly choosing to embrace vampirism, from the slums of Whitechapel to the inner workings of government. If you choose to get in on the series, see if you can find a copy of the handsome 30th anniversary hardcover from Titan Books....the annotations are worth the price of admission by themselves. Newman packs the book with characters from Victorian fiction and real life, and his insights are a lot of fun.

[Sock Monkey]

I finished ANNO DRACULA (Mostly...still working through the backmatter...annotations, afterword, deleted scenes, bonus story), and WOW. The book is a slow burn, but the ending just knocked me on my ass. I spent the bulk of the book thinking we WOULDN'T see what we see at the end, and then Newman hits you over the head with it. Amazing. I used a Father's Day B&N gift card to nab the rest of the books in the series. I'll also say that after reading this book, and knowing it came out before Alan Moore's LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN really gives that book, and Moore himself, a black eye. I feel like LOEG and FROM HELL were both greatly influenced by Newman's work.

I've never read nor heard of ANNO DRACULA before and your post sent me on an Amazon search. I'm not a huge vampire fan, but this sounds really interesting. And there's SIX books in the series? How did I miss these?

[dannyboy121070]

I finished ANNO DRACULA (Mostly...still working through the backmatter...annotations, afterword, deleted scenes, bonus story), and WOW. The book is a slow burn, but the ending just knocked me on my ass. I spent the bulk of the book thinking we WOULDN'T see what we see at the end, and then Newman hits you over the head with it. Amazing. I used a Father's Day B&N gift card to nab the rest of the books in the series. I'll also say that after reading this book, and knowing it came out before Alan Moore's LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN really gives that book, and Moore himself, a black eye. I feel like LOEG and FROM HELL were both greatly influenced by Newman's work.

[Sock Monkey]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Mike Lombardo's "Please Don't Tap on the Glass & Other Stories". Had never read anything by this author beforehand but will definitely being do so going forward as this collection of stories was fantastic. While it had one or two that I might consider filler, the rest were knock your socks off good. I especially loved "Dead Format" & I'm Dreaming of a White Doomsday". Don't think those two will be leaving my noggin for a while! Overall, I can't recommend this collection enough and am glad to have added it to my Thunderstorm collection.

Am now reading the Thunderstorm LE of Brennan LaFaro's "I Will Always Find You: The Complete Slattery Falls". This will be another first-time author for me.

As always, curious to hear your thoughts about the LaFaro book. I was tempted to pick it up upon announcement--omnibus love and all that--but ultimately held off.