What are you currently reading?

[brlesh]

Finished up Alabaster by Caitlin Kieran, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Next up, starting All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes, which is pretty a much a blind read for me.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Red Inside by Bridgett Nelson, a short novel that tried to go in too many directions, and ultimately fell short in going anywhere.

After Red Inside, I started Alabaster, the first collection of Dancy Flammarion stories by Caitlin Kiernan.

Three stories in and I am really enjoying this one. Of course, I am a big fan of Kieran’s short fiction.

B

[dannyboy121070]

Did you buy this separately or as part of the bundle with the new set of movies?

As much as I would have liked to grab the films, between my new job totally changing our benefits package in December, and inflation in general, almost all of my (Formerly...) entertainment money is going to medical insurance now, so luckily they were selling the book by itself. I'm buying almost nothing anymore, but I'm on a Folk-Horror kick, so I couldn't pass this up.

(Edited to note that they have the book on Amazon for $31.50, and there is a 20% off coupon that can be used today.)

[Sock Monkey]

Reading, and really enjoying, Severin's folk-horror anthology ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS. It's a gorgeous little hardcover designed to look like the old "Little Golden Books", and (So far) the stories have all been great. The illustrations are wonderful. So glad I picked this up.

Did you buy this separately or as part of the bundle with the new set of movies?

[brlesh]

Finished up a reread of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.

Easy to understand why this is considered a classic ghost story, but honestly I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I did on the initial reading.

The creepy atmosphere couldn’t overcome the annoying characters the second time around.

After Hill House, I started Red Inside by Bridgett Nelson, an over the top exotic spider grue fest novella.

Enjoying it so far, though there is a definite lack of logic in the storyline (which maybe explained later on).

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading, "A Savage Breed" by Patrick Harrison III, another first time read/author for me. Enjoyed the story, even though nothing was groundbreaking. The saving grace of this story for me was the character of Liz who was both quite a hoot and completely despicable. Overall, another solid but not spectacular entry in the Splatter Western series.

Am now reading the Centipede LE of Graham Masterson's "The Hell Candidate", a first time read for me.

[dannyboy121070]

Reading, and really enjoying, Severin's folk-horror anthology ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS. It's a gorgeous little hardcover designed to look like the old "Little Golden Books", and (So far) the stories have all been great. The illustrations are wonderful. So glad I picked this up.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading one of my Thunderstorm splatter westerns, "Hunger on the Chisholm Trail" by M Ennenbach. This was a first time read/author for me. While nothing groundbreaking, it was a pretty fun story. Wendigos are such a great horror monster! If I did have one complaint, it would be that there were a bunch of editing/misspelling issues which kept pulling me out of the story. Always disappointing when an LE has them as these should be definitive editions of the story/book. Overall, I'd probably give this one a solid C rating.

A now reading another Splatter Western, "A Savage Breed" by Patrick Harrison III, another first time read/author for me.

[RonClinton]

Currently reading Grady Hendrix's latest, WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS, and am not particularly digging it. I’m about 2/5 to halfway through it, and find its pace plodding, its characters too archetypal for a character-driven narrative, and the basic conflict too buried in a book that ultimately didn't seem to know what it wanted to be...Hendrix mentioned in the introduction that he had a difficult time figuring out what the book should be (but finally did), and I'd argue that he never quite did. While there are a couple of his I'm not too fond of (esp. WE SOLD OUR SOULS), I've never become impatient or bored with a Hendrix book, so this is a new experience for me in that regard, and WITCHCRAFT may be my first Hendrix DNF.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Suntup AGE of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. This was a first time read, and I enjoyed it a lot. Wish I would have been exposed to it when I was younger as I'm sure I would have loved it even more during that period. While some of the slang feels a bit goofy nowadays, the sentiments are timeless. Stay gold indeed. I would recommend this to any reader and am very glad to have the Suntup edition on my shelf.

Am now reading one of my Thunderstorm splatter westerns, "Hunger on the Chisholm Trail" by M Ennenbach. This will be a first time read of the book and a new author for me.

[brlesh]

I was very close to picking up The Omen, but was afraid that it would fall in the same camp as The Amityville Horror. I have not read Jaws. I did read Benchley's Beast, at least I think that's what it was called, about the killer octopus. I found it incredibly underwhelming.

I read The Omen novelization last year and really liked it.

If you’re a fan of the movie you will probably like the novelization, as it follows the movie very closely.

Of course, that’s to be expected, as David Seltzer wrote both the original screenplay and the 70’s novelization.

Definitely preferred The Omen over Jaws (the novel). I reread Jaws last year, and had the same reaction as I did the first time I read it.

Jaws is one of the few instances where, IMO, the movie far exceeds the book.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up The King in Yellow, Robert Chambers classic collection, which I found to be kind of a mixed bag.

Right now, I’m about a third of the way through Gwendy’s Final Task, which has kind of a major shift in tone from the first two Gwendy books.

B

[Sock Monkey]

I was all set to buy a copy of the Suntup edition for exactly that reason, it's pop-culture significance, even though I'd heard it was very disappointing read (I'd not read it before), until cooler heads prevailed and I realized that's a silly reason to drop over a hundred bucks, especially for someone like me who purports to be as much a reader as a collector, so I skipped it. I did buy Suntup's JAWS, even though it's a book that I find many problems with (the film, in contrast, is of course terrific), but that was kind of a one-off and its nostalgic appeal for me is off the charts, bad book or not, and I'm very pleased to have it in my library. Same with Suntup's THE OMEN, which I think is a better written book than either of the other two.

I was very close to picking up The Omen, but was afraid that it would fall in the same camp as The Amityville Horror. I have not read Jaws. I did read Benchley's Beast, at least I think that's what it was called, about the killer octopus. I found it incredibly underwhelming.

[RonClinton]

Yeah, The Amityville Horror is pretty much a stinker if you're over than, say, ten years old. My wife read it a few years back and thought it was pretty horrible. I couldn't really argue with her. Anson's prose is perfunctory, at best. Frankly, I was surprised that Suntup did a limited of it. For me, the only reason to have the limited is for its "cultural significance" rather than its contribution to the genre. It doesn't help that said "significance" has diminished over the years as the whole thing besides the DeFeo murders have been debunked as a hoax.

I was all set to buy a copy of the Suntup edition for exactly that reason, it's pop-culture significance, even though I'd heard it was very disappointing read (I'd not read it before), until cooler heads prevailed and I realized that's a silly reason to drop over a hundred bucks, especially for someone like me who purports to be as much a reader as a collector, so I skipped it. I did buy Suntup's JAWS, even though it's a book that I find many problems with (the film, in contrast, is of course terrific), but that was kind of a one-off and its nostalgic appeal for me is off the charts, bad book or not, and I'm very pleased to have it in my library. Same with Suntup's THE OMEN, which I think is a better written book than either of the other two.

[Sock Monkey]

Just finished reading the Suntup AGE of Jay Anson's "The Amityville Horror", another book that I picked-up via their dinged sale. Had never read this book previously nor seen the movie but was generally aware of its cultural impact. Apologies to people who enjoyed this story, but for me, it couldn't have been more boring. None of the characters were interesting and a lot of the chapters felt repetitive. I honestly have no idea how this book managed to sell so many copies other than it must have captured the zeitgeist of the moment. While this Suntup production is very nice, I can't imagine wanting to read this again so it will most likely end up at the local trade counter at my used bookstore.

Am now reading the Suntup AGE of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, another book that I picked-up as a part of their dinged sale. My godson is actually reading this at school right now, so I told him that I'd read my copy with him. Ashamedly, this is a book that I've never gotten around to reading, even when I was young (but I did see the movie).

Yeah, The Amityville Horror is pretty much a stinker if you're over than, say, ten years old. My wife read it a few years back and thought it was pretty horrible. I couldn't really argue with her. Anson's prose is perfunctory, at best. Frankly, I was surprised that Suntup did a limited of it. For me, the only reason to have the limited is for its "cultural significance" rather than its contribution to the genre. It doesn't help that said "significance" has diminished over the years as the whole thing besides the DeFeo murders have been debunked as a hoax.

Anyways, you are in for a much better read with The Outsiders. A book that's also probably more poignant when read at an early age, but still has heft to it.