What are you currently reading?

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the signed hardcover of Kristopher Triana's "That Night in the Woods". Am a big Triana fan and enjoyed this one a lot. Felt like a throwback 80's horror novel (whether that's a good thing or a bad thing may depend on the reader). The characterization (at least until the final page) was top-notch. All the main characters felt fully fleshed-out and like real people. Also thought the setting for the majority of the book was quite creepy. Looking at the goodreads reviews, this book seems like a mixed bag for most people, but I think it's the ending that people really dislike. It's almost designed to piss you off as I can guarantee that it's not what most people are hoping for when they get to the final page. That being said, it's by no means a bad ending and does make sense within the mythos that the author builds within the story. I personally didn't have an issue with it. If I did have an issue with the book, it would be that the mythos really should have been explained a bit more, if only to give the villains a bit more depth to their actions rather than just coming off as crazy. Either way, I still found the book a good read and am happy to have snagged a copy while available.

Am now reading the reading the Thunderstorm LE of Chad Lutzke's & John Boden's "The Bedmakers". This was a blind buy for me as I've never read either author, but I do trust Thunderstorm's taste and am hoping to find a gem!

[sholloman81]

After seeing the cover for Pay The Piper by George Romero & Daniel Kraus, I'm hoping (kind of assuming) SST will put out a nice edition of it...but I just opened their edition of The Living Dead and already learned that Romero had hoped to adapt The Stand back in the day and I'm beyond irritated that we didn't get that.Â

Wow, hadn't heard of this one before and am super intrigued! The amazon description sounds pretty cool. If SST ended up doing a version, I'm sure I would purchase it as well.

[Chuggers]

After seeing the cover for Pay The Piper by George Romero & Daniel Kraus, I'm hoping (kind of assuming) SST will put out a nice edition of it...but I just opened their edition of The Living Dead and already learned that Romero had hoped to adapt The Stand back in the day and I'm beyond irritated that we didn't get that. 

[brlesh]

Finished The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper, and though I liked it better than her short story collection that I DNF’d a couple of years ago, it still didn’t work for me. Probably my last attempt at reading Piper.

Currently half way through This World Belongs to Us, an anthology of horror stories about bugs. It’s been a very hit or miss anthology up to this point.

B

[RonClinton]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Midas". This was such a fantastic read. I was already a big fan of Jones due to his Thunderstorm Collection "Turn Up The Sun", but "Midas" has now made Jones a must-read author for me. Everything about this story works. Fully-fleshed out characters, a unique setting, a very interesting plot, a cool mythos, lots of scares, and some very memorable villains. Overall, this was an A+ read for me.

Am now reading the reading the signed hardcover of Kristopher Triana's "That Night in the Woods".Â

I made a mistake passing on Earthling’s MIDAS…one of these days I’ll rectify that.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Midas". This was such a fantastic read. I was already a big fan of Jones due to his Thunderstorm Collection "Turn Up The Sun", but "Midas" has now made Jones a must-read author for me. Everything about this story works. Fully-fleshed out characters, a unique setting, a very interesting plot, a cool mythos, lots of scares, and some very memorable villains. Overall, this was an A+ read for me.

Am now reading the reading the signed hardcover of Kristopher Triana's "That Night in the Woods". 

[dannyboy121070]

I grabbed an ARC of Ray Garton's THE LOVELIEST DEAD off of the shelf after I heard he had passed, and it's a banger so far. Really enjoying it.

[RonClinton]

That's a bummer to hear about the Beast You Are. Haven't picked it up yet and but was hoping for something more in vain of his Growing Things collection which I enjoyed. I'm sure the free-verse novella of poetic narration thing will not be my cup of tea either; however, I'm sure that I'll give the book a chance up the road.

Yeah, I really dug GROWING THINGS, too. Until recently, I'd enjoyed everything he'd written (to varying degrees), including GROWING THINGS, his second collection.

[sholloman81]

Chiming in on THE PALLERBEARERS CLUB (if I haven't already, but I don't recall doing so) with another thumbs down...and I'm a big fan of his work. Unlike Sholloman81, I didn't make it to the final two chapters, so will have to take his work for it that it finishes strong, but everything else he mentions is spot on: unlikeable characters, one of whom has the classic unreliable narration which adds nothing to the plot other than confusion, and a slow slog of a rather shallow plot...if there was some rich subtext going on under that surface telling of this story, it escaped me (or, at least, the first half that I read before DNFing it). I'm looking forward to HORROR MOVIE, his new one that's due out in a couple months, and have confidence it'll be a return to form. Then again, I had hoped that as well from his most recent offering, THE BEAST YOU ARE, half of which was a free-verse novella of poetic narration, which turned me off -- fairly or not -- immediately, so I didn't pick up that one. I like that Tremblay is experiemental to a degree in his form and isn't wary of taking chances and expanding his approach, but like all readers I guess I have my limit and "The Beast You Are" pushed it over the red line for me.

That's a bummer to hear about the Beast You Are. Haven't picked it up yet and but was hoping for something more in vain of his Growing Things collection which I enjoyed. I'm sure the free-verse novella of poetic narration thing will not be my cup of tea either; however, I'm sure that I'll give the book a chance up the road.

[RonClinton]

Thanks for the review of the Tremblay book. It pretty much sealed the deal as far as passing on it goes. Maybe if I pick it for a song the aftermarket, but the general consensus is that it just isn't that good and there WAY too many other books to spend money on.

Chiming in on THE PALLERBEARERS CLUB (if I haven't already, but I don't recall doing so) with another thumbs down...and I'm a big fan of his work. Unlike Sholloman81, I didn't make it to the final two chapters, so will have to take his work for it that it finishes strong, but everything else he mentions is spot on: unlikeable characters, one of whom has the classic unreliable narration which adds nothing to the plot other than confusion, and a slow slog of a rather shallow plot...if there was some rich subtext going on under that surface telling of this story, it escaped me (or, at least, the first half that I read before DNFing it). I'm looking forward to HORROR MOVIE, his new one that's due out in a couple months, and have confidence it'll be a return to form. Then again, I had hoped that as well from his most recent offering, THE BEAST YOU ARE, half of which was a free-verse novella of poetic narration, which turned me off -- fairly or not -- immediately, so I didn't pick up that one. I like that Tremblay is experiemental to a degree in his form and isn't wary of taking chances and expanding his approach, but like all readers I guess I have my limit and "The Beast You Are" pushed it over the red line for me.

[Sock Monkey]

Just finished reading the SST LE of Paul Tremblay's "The Pallbearer's Club". As much as it pains me, the reviews are mostly correct. While the writing was good, the story itself was a slog to get through. The two main characters were unlikable, and the plot was pretty boring. The last two chapters were pretty good, but by then, it was too late for any redemption for this story. Overall, for me, this book was a disappointment. Hope Tremblay's next one is a return to form.

Am now reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Midas". Am very excited to see if it lives up to the high praise it has received so far.

Thanks for the review of the Tremblay book. It pretty much sealed the deal as far as passing on it goes. Maybe if I pick it for a song the aftermarket, but the general consensus is that it just isn't that good and there WAY too many other books to spend money on.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the SST LE of Paul Tremblay's "The Pallbearer's Club". As much as it pains me, the reviews are mostly correct. While the writing was good, the story itself was a slog to get through. The two main characters were unlikable, and the plot was pretty boring. The last two chapters were pretty good, but by then, it was too late for any redemption for this story. Overall, for me, this book was a disappointment. Hope Tremblay's next one is a return to form.

Am now reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Midas". Am very excited to see if it lives up to the high praise it has received so far.

[brlesh]

Finished The Store by Bentley Little.

Enjoyed this re-read quite a bit, more than I remember from the initial reading.

Next up, Elsewhere by Dean Koontz.

Based on the first 100 pages, not expecting much from this one.

B

[dannyboy121070]

I've spent the bulk of today reading MONSTER-SIZED HELLBOY, a massive 1,600 page collection of all of the main Hellboy stories, from birth to death. This is probably, page-wise and just physically THE biggest book that I own. I have, dimension-wise, bigger books, and ones with slightly higher page counts, but this is printed on really thick paper, so the sheer thickness is just a sight to behold. Heavy as hell, too. I can read Hellboy stories over and over again, and always find something new, so...I'm in my happy place with this collection.
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[dannyboy121070]

I'm about halfway through Josh Malerman's SPIN A BLACK YARN, and man, it is a chore at times. Comprised of five novellas, I'm in the middle of the third one, and they just go on forever. These could have been good short stories, but at this length, they are almost unbearable.