Horror Aficionados discussion

I couldn't find a thread for Tim Curran, and he definitely deserves one.

So far, my favorite book of his is Fear Me. The voice is different, engaging, and most of all, very authentic. The prison setting is different and claustrophobic. I think the novella length is really good for this story, as there is a pattern established, but there's not enough room for the story to feel repetitive or boring, even with the limited setting.

What I like most about Curran is that his horror is often about as extreme as horror can get, and yet on points like character, voice and language, he's as good as or better than a lot of literary darlings. The protagonists of Fear Me, Biohazard, and The Devil Next Door are not only very different as people, but Curran also gives them very different voices, with their own speech patterns and vocabularies, one of the hardest things for a writer to do. How many times have you read an author's blog to find out they sound exactly like their protagonists?

Anyway, what do you all think of Curran's work? Have a favorite book?

Curran's definitely underrated. I've read SKIN MEDICINE, FEAR ME, and PUPPET GRAVEYARD, loved them all. I have 3 or 4 more in the TBR list on my Kindle.

Fear me is definitely my favorite of his, I loved skin medicine to though and really liked the devil next door. I want more of his western horror but a lot of his stuff is hard to find.

Underdwellings was good but I thought the end was lacking a bit

There's tons of it for Kindle.

The only western horror of his I see for kindle is skin medicine. There are a couple that I am not sure what they are but they don't look like western horror though.

Sorry, I meant his books in general.

I have bought quit a few of his books from Amazon, including but not limited to the ones I mentioned above. I was shure that skull moon was on there but I guess not, I don't remember what his other western horrors are but I know he has a few.

I'm going to have to check out Skin Medicine. I love horror westerns, but so much of it is comedic (nothing against comedic horror, I'd just like some more straight horror westerns).

I have read Puppet Graveyard and I LOVED it! I have also read Resurrection: Zombie Epic which I thought was just OK.
I own Skin Medicine and Biohazard, but I haven't had a chance to read them yet. : (

Alan wrote: "I'm going to have to check out Skin Medicine. I love horror westerns, but so much of it is comedic (nothing against comedic horror, I'd just like some more straight horror westerns)."

Nothing funny about skin medicine its extremely dark. I don't know many others who like dark western horrors I don't suppose you have any recommendations for me?

Dead Sea blew my mind and I gave it 5 deserved stars, but Devil Next Door was too formulaic for my taste. Haven't read any other books by him.

Charlene wrote: "I have read Puppet Graveyard and I LOVED it! I have also read Resurrection: Zombie Epic which I thought was just OK.
I own Skin Medicine and Biohazard, but I haven't had a chance to read them yet. : ("

I haven't read puppet graveyard yet. I read a collection of zombie stories but I am not sure what it was called, I didn't really care for it but I don't like zombie story's much either though.

Zombie pulp is what I read. Haven't read dead sea yet I will put that on my list.

Justin - I should probably ask you for recommendations. My favorite is Gunslinger by King, which I'm sure you've already read. Another good one is Loathsome, Dark and Deep by Aaron Polson.

Tressa - My issue with Devil Next Door was the repetition. I think it could have been a very strong novella or short novel, covering the same ground with more impact.

Alan wrote: "Tressa - My issue with Devil Next Door was the repetition. I think it could have been a very strong novella or short novel, covering the same ground with more impact. ..."

I agree with you, Alan. I find a lot of the "impulse killing by members of society" stories repetitive, and am not sure how much ground there is to cover in these kinds of stories. This is one of my least favorite horror sub-genres.

I read both Dead Sea and Puppet Graveyard and found them to be overrated. Dead Sea was way too long and Puppet Graveyard was very cliched and predictable. Not likely to be reading any more Curran in the near future.

Just read Skin Medicine. New favorite Curran book. Maybe my new favorite horror western. So, so good.

I guess maybe I should move it up in my TBR? Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Alan.

I just saw this under the sale thread, new releases, by Tim Curran:
Cannibal Corpse, M/C

http://www.amazon.com/Cannibal-Corpse...

SKIN MEDICINE was particularly good.

Cannibal Corpse is free today!

I have really been digging Mr. Curran lately.
Skin Medicine, Fear Me, and The Underdwelling have been my most recent reads by this author
I plan to read Dead Sea and Cannibal Corpse soon.

Why isn't this author getting more attention?
I just read his bio at his website and even that was cool!

Fear Me was the best horror novella I've read in the last year. Gatorman, you should give that one a try. I think you'd enjoy.

I'm working through Curran's backlist.

This is a writer with outstanding description and imagery talent, but I'll admit that sometimes he goes overboard (paragraphs and paragraphs describing gruesome, twisted scenes). He also has some pet words that should be used much more sparingly. But man oh man, when this guy writes a scene, he goes full bore.

If you dig writers who can paint vivid, horrific scenes, Curran should definitely be toward the top of your TBR list.

I've only ever read Long Black Coffin but plan on reading more. Long Black Coffin was good, but not a lifechanging read. Its interesting I don't see that novel mentioned here yet. How does this one rank amongst these other titles being mentioned (i.e. .)?Dead Sea, Skin Medicine, etc

Sean - Long Black Coffin has been my least favorite Curran book read to date, so no I wouldn't--and don't--recommend that one. I've seen others mention Curran titles that say they liked LBC, but I've seen very few recommending it, which suggests to me that this wasn't as good a story as they had hoped.

Here's how I'd rank from most to least liked Tim Curran books that I've read to date:

1. Fear Me
2. Dead Sea
3. Hag Night
4. Biohazard
5. The Underdwelling
6. Zombie Pulp (short story & novella collection)
7. Puppet Graveyard
8. Long Black Coffin

I'm almost done with Zombie Pulp, Curran's collection of zombie shorts and novellas. I'd put that between Biohazard and The Underdwelling right now, but I still have one long story (almost novel-length, it appears) ahead and that could drive up--or down--the rating.

Update 3/13/13: Done with Zombie Pulp and updated list above. Will try and remember to return here and update as I read the others below as well.

### haven't read yet these -- unranked -- but in order that I currently want to read them ###

1. Cannibal Corpse (just picked up for free! Woot)
2. Skin Medicine
3. Hive 1 (already bought this)
4. Hive 2
5. Graveworm
6. Resurrection (gonna probably buy the paperback instead of the 10 ebook serial)
7. The Devil Next Door
x. (he has a couple other titles with rare availability like a new short story collection called Bone Marrow Stew. I'll most likely hunt down these titles last)

You can read my review for the details, but LBC wasn't the normal Curran story compared to others I've read. At least the first third wasn't, but then it got a bit better after that. Read Fear Me next and if you like, then explore the others.

I'm reading Cannibal Corpse right now because of the free Amazon offer :)

I'll try reading in your order of preference however I may try out Skin Medicine first (I'm in the mood for a western these days).

I'm just here to revive this thread before it finds a final resting place somewhere. Tim Curran is incredibly underrated and although I've only read a few, they have all been excellent or outstanding.

I think is my favorite so far.

Dead Sea is a fantastic read. The description of the creatures encountered is top notch! And stuck in limbo...that's just horrible.

Leviathan is a great novella. If you haven't read it, you need to do so!

I'm reading his Cannibal Corpse currently. It's really good, but not as good as Dead Sea. That book is amazing.

It's been a year since I read Dead Sea and some of the scenes are still very vivid in my mind. Not many books can do that.

Leviathan is on my list. Another couple favorites are Fear Me and Long Black Coffin. I think Hiveis next on my list.

Leviathan, Sow and Worm were all excellent. I did a beta read for him not long ago...keep an eye out for Blackout. :)

Skin Medicine!!!

Ooooooo, Blackkout....you are super lucky, Charlene!!

Currently reading Levathan and Dead Sea is flying to the top of my tbr.

Bill, if I had to recommend just one horror book to someone, there's a good possibility it would be Dead Sea. It is that good. :)

It just moved up another notch, Matthew! Thanks for the rec!

I'll strongly second Matthew's rec!

Dead Sea blew me away!

It has officially risen to the top! Thanks, Jon!

Great! We can't wait to hear what you think now!

Dead Sea rocked! Except for one slightly boring part.

The endless descriptions of the fog?

Yeah, it started to get to me after a while. That's the only bad thing I can say about it. Once that's passed, it becomes un-put-downable. :)

Yup. Make it through that and it really picks up.

Thanks to a great friend I now have a copy of Dead Sea. Wishing I didn't have 2 books going already!

I have 2 going as well, Adam. Maybe we can buddy read it in the near future.

I picked up this evening for only $0.99 (normally goes for $2.99). Anytime I can pick up a Tim Curran book for less than a buck, I'll get it. Last week was going for $0.99, and now it is back to $2.99.

Huge fan of Hive.

Hey Bill, let me know when you are ready. I would love to buddy read this one.

Will do, Adam!

Cool,Bill.

Feel the need to get my Tim Curran on, since he's quickly became my new favorite horror author. I pretty much have most of his stuff as ebooks, and I'm thinking Deadlocked or The Nightcrawlers, his last two Darkfuse releases...