What are you currently reading?

[dannyboy121070]

I finished my slog through Glen Krisch's HUSKS, which was a mess all around. The story needed a firmer editorial hand, as I personally found it to be both pointless and endlessly padded, despite the short length. Production-wise, the dust-jacket was too large for the book, it was cut wrong and folded wrong, almost every page of the book had a crease or a crinkle...just sloppy, sloppy work. And as a former CD proofreader, I was amazed and aghast at all of the spelling and grammatical errors.Something I took very seriously when I proofed for CD was overuse of words, such as using the word "Soon" three times in one sentence, variations of which happen with alarming frequency in this book.It caused the book to seem very unprofessional.

This is my second Krisch book, and my last...nothing in this mess clicked with me at all.

[brlesh]

I remember reading several times in the past -- possibly interviews with Piccirilli...? -- that DEEP INTO THAT DARKNESS PEERING was a poor seller for Terminal Fright. Tom's theory was that the collection was far too ambitious for its own good...he was a relatively new voice on the scene, or at least generally unknown, when it was published, and it was a massive collection (think it collected most of his fiction up to that point) with a price-tag that required some buyer confidence in this generally unknown author's work. I remember him saying something like he wished that the project had been more modest in size and price, because the poor sales of that massive volume was a stumbling block early in his career, and set his momentum back a bit, whereas a properly sized and priced volume would have theoretically created more sales and more buzz. I suppose something like that's impossible to prove in the end, but it's not a bad theory. Fortunately, whatever stumbling block it did create was pushed aside later in his career by his tenacity and skill.

Interesting.

I wonder if Deep Into That Darkness Peering was the final nail in the coffin for Terminal Fright Publications.

As I recall, they only published two or three books, and Deep Into That Darkness Peering was by far their most ambitious project.

B

[RonClinton]

Interesting.

I wonder if Deep Into That Darkness Peering was the final nail in the coffin for Terminal Fright Publications.

As I recall, they only published two or three books, and Deep Into That Darkness Peering was by far their most ambitious project.

B

I remember there was also an anthology called TERMINAL FRIGHTS, a Brian McNaughton collection (THE THRONE OF BONES, which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Collection), and a David Niall Wilson collection (THIS IS MY BLOOD). Beyond those three and the Piccirilli, I'm not sure there were any others or not...could've just been those four, and then like all too often in the small press arena, they imploded for any of the usual reasons.

[Chuggers]

I remember there was also an anthology called TERMINAL FRIGHTS, a Brian McNaughton collection (THE THRONE OF BONES, which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Collection), and a David Niall Wilson collection (THIS IS MY BLOOD). Beyond those three and the Piccirilli, I'm not sure there were any others or not...could've just been those four, and then like all too often in the small press arena, they imploded for any of the usual reasons.

It really is a shame they were only able to publish such a small amount of books. The copy i purchased just arrived, its another massive collection that was designed very well. There's a little more damage to this copy than I was expecting but revisiting the listing after work and see it was all laid out for me there in the description. Oh well, still happy to have it!

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading Aron Beauregard's "Handyman", a first time read for me. I usually enjoy Beauregard's version of splatter-horror, but this one fell a bit flat for me. There were truly no characters to root for which hurt the book, and while it did have some crazy splatter scenes, a lot of the book felt boring. Also, a lot of the mythology within the story was left unexplained or just didn't make sense. The ending was also very predictable and not something that I especially enjoyed. Overall, while I will be reading Beauregard again in the future, this particular book just wasn't for me.

Am now reading Daniel J Volpe's "Runts", a first time read and author for me. I've heard Volpe's name mentioned within the splatter community for a while and decided to finally give him a try with this book. Am only a few chapters into it, but boy does it read like vintage Ed Lee!

[brlesh]

Officially half way through The Stand.

When I started I was figuring on three weeks to get through it, but now it is looking like a good month at least.

That’s OK.

Taking my time with it and enjoying the journey.

B

[RonClinton]

HARD RAIN FALLING, Don Carpenter. George Pelecanos’ introduction in my NYRB edition is duplicated here:

https://therumpus.net/2009/11/02/an-...-rain-falling/

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading Daniel J Volpe's "Runts", a first time read and author for me. This book was dedicated to Ed Lee's Luntville series of stories and reads exactly like one of them; so, if you liked those stories, you will definitely like this one. Nothing ground-breaking, just a pure-high-octane splatter story.

Am now reading Aron Beauregard's "Playground", a first-time read and rather infamous book. Will be interested to see how it lands!

[Ben Staad]

Both stories sound up my alley. Thanks for mentioning them.

Just finished reading Daniel J Volpe's "Runts", a first time read and author for me. This book was dedicated to Ed Lee's Luntville series of stories and reads exactly like one of them; so, if you liked those stories, you will definitely like this one. Nothing ground-breaking, just a pure-high-octane splatter story.

Am now reading Aron Beauregard's "Playground", a first-time read and rather infamous book. Will be interested to see how it lands!