Literary Horror discussion

I recently found a website dedicated to HP Lovecraft, not like there isn't enough of those. Anyways, they have been producing old time radio shows of HPL's key works. I have heard two of them so far and they are both dynamite. If you like HPL and like old time radio shows, I think this is a fantastic amalgam. Its called dark adventure radio theatre.

http://www.cthulhulives.org/radio/DAR...

Mike wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "I recently found a website dedicated to HP Lovecraft, not like there isn't enough of those. Anyways, they have been producing old time radio shows of HPL's key works. I have heard ..."

My favorite so far has been Call of Cthulhu. I loved Inspector Legrasse's Louisiana accent. They really know how to nail the drama in these things. They seem so well produced.

I've only seen Whisperer in the Darkness. I was really impressed. Loved the black and white feel to it.

Randolph wrote: "Your intrepid mod spent the day and night crossing the continent only to end up talking about the ways to properly kill zombies and vampires with the Waffle House waitress at 5:30 am."

A little compelling conversation over a breakfast of country ham, grits and fried apples.......Waffle House at its best!

I love country ham, but can't buy it locally in this godforsaken tundra. I brought some back from Kentucky but now it's gone. The closest Waffle House is a four hour drive to Ohio.

Probably the best decision you ever made. I only have 10 more years here and then I am relocating to either the Bluegrass, Virginia Hunt Country or western NC......where I will eat country ham every day.

I'm shocked by all this ambivalence towards waffles. What terrible things were done to you people to turn you away from God's love (in the form of waffled syrup treats)? I would like some waffles right now. In fact I would marry a waffle if the law would allow it.

New Harry Potter ?

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/10/0...

Harry Potter returning? I'd like to see where his story goes. :)

Aww, I loved Harry Potter. What did he ever do to you, Mike? :)

Harry Keough was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

Karl wrote: "Harry Keough was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup."

Harry Potter is a series of seven epic fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The series chronicles the adventures of a young wizard, Harry Potter, the titular character, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Aww, I remember that series! I still have a bunch of those paperbacks somewhere. I loved Lumley's take on the vampires.

Mike wrote: "Necroscope is a fun series."

I thought so too, Mike. I did drift away from reading them though...somewhere around the 5th or 6th book I think.

Horror lovin' readers tend to do that. :)

Randolph wrote: "It's amazing how this thread came back to on-topic: horror books."

I was thinking that this thread was perhaps heading into the soccer field. And that would be Horror-able.

That's a groaner. :)

Charlene wrote: "That's a groaner. :)"

Happy Hollow-eene :)

Randolph wrote: "I just got a job where I HAVE to write book reviews for it from time to time. I definitely cannot post them until they're published and maybe not even then for copyright reasons. What do you thin..."

Looking at GR reviews, there are times I see reviews for books months and months prior to their publishing dates. If the publisher sends out copies to folks they are fair game to review. I notice that on certain manuscript early copies it states something to the effect of not using quotes from the book till it is officially published, it never asks anyone to refrain from talking about the book. Isn't that why they are sent out - to get a buzz going about a book ?

Randolph wrote: "Karl wrote: "Randolph wrote: "I just got a job where I HAVE to write book reviews for it from time to time. I definitely cannot post them until they're published and maybe not even then for copyri..."

Well, don't take any risks with reviews here for GR if it would endanger you dream job. Not many of us get a chance at an opportunity like that.

I agree with Karl. Congratulations on the job.

I didn't know where to post this, but I thought it might interest you, Randolph.
This is a link to S.T. Joshi's blog, specifically his response to something Robert Dunbar wrote about Lovecraft.

I'm not sure how you feel about Lovecraft, but this response is well thought out, IMO.

http://stjoshi.org/news.html

Charlene wrote: "http://stjoshi.org/news.html"

Excellent article, Charlene.

Nice to see someone put Dunbar in his place.

The man thinks far too much of his own opinion.

I saw this yesterday.

"...for by some regrettable accident he has not yet been made the subject of a Wikipedia entry."

Oh, that made me laugh. You just got read. The library is now closed.

Ryan, it's true! I feel that sting all the way over here.

Having had some personal experience with the man, this article pleased me. I can be petty sometimes, I admit.

Randolph wrote: "Charlene wrote: "http://stjoshi.org/news.html"

Delivered with a deserved sneer. This made my day. Thanks."

I thought you might enjoy it. :)

Randolph wrote: "Not everybody is familiar with my little tiff with Dunbar over at "Literary Darkness." It's out there in my blogosphere somewhere, suffice it to say he used to have a group on goodreads called, in..."

Been there, done that with the egomaniac.

Jon Recluse wrote: "Been there, done that with the egomaniac..."

Yep. :)

That is too funny.

Yeah, it was a similar Dunbar anti-Lovecraft diatribe that led to my quietly departing his group some time ago. Frankly, I’m not always that keen on Lovecraft; I still find some of his stories enthralling, but I don’t think that anyone is ever going to convince me that (just as an example) “The Colour Out of Darkness” is a well-crafted story (in spite of its legion of admirers). I really don’t mind that Dunbar is so utterly certain of his opinions; what bugs me is his tendency to paint anyone who dares disagree with one of them an idiot or worse. Unfortunately, I find that Joshi is just as bad in this regard; his predilection for engaging in self-puffery and ad hominem attacks is just as pronounced as Dunbar’s.

Canavan, excellent comments.

I find them BOTH to be rather pretentious! I was a member of Dunbar's group here on GR for a little while and I wholeheartedly agree about his conceit. Anyone that does not agree with him, or someone who enjoys a book that is less than what he deems to be "literary" will get his full attention.

I laugh at the fact that these two pretentious people who are both so full of themselves are at odds with each other.

Concurring with Canavan. It's annoying.

I've dealt with Dunbar, too.

They are almost two of a kind, which stands to reason.

Only an egomaniac can handle an egomaniac.

As far as the two of them go, Joshi at least knows what he's talking about.

Jon commented (in part):

As far as the two of them go, Joshi at least knows what he's talking about.

Joshi is usually right on the facts; he’s a decent scholar. I don’t always agree with his opinions. Of course, the only person whose opinions I always agree with is me. ;)

Canavan wrote: "Jon commented (in part):


As far as the two of them go, Joshi at least knows what he's talking about.


Joshi is usually right on the facts; he’s a decent scholar. I don’t always..."

Brilliant!
Your opinion of your opinion concurs with my opinion of my opinion! ;)

I head that Dunbar's novel _Willie_ is pretty good. Is it worth reading?

I think I for one will specifically not agree that Dunbar is a lightweight, because it'd be sloppy of me to pass that judgment without reading a relevant amount of his work and I haven't done that yet.

That said, Randolph, thanks for the rec on Willy; will put it on the to-read list. :)

At the time I was a member of what has now become Literary Darkness, I picked up one of Dunbar’s books in the expectation of reading it along with the rest of the group, but — as often happens — I never really got around to doing so. In other words, like Frances, I have no opinion on his skills as writer. I do have opinions about the way in which he moderates social groups.

Canavan wrote: "At the time I was a member of what has now become Literary Darkness, I picked up one of Dunbar’s books in the expectation of reading it along with the rest of the group, but — as of..."

You were part of his group, Canavan? May I ask why you are no longer?

I left mostly because of his (and that of a few other members) attitude. Very pretentious-especially if I happened to mention a pulpy book that I was reading for fun, and they were not shy about putting me down either.
You know, I'm sorry if I'm not reading 100% "literary" books ALL THE TIME. Sometimes, I just want to read about some killer crabs without anyone giving me shit about it.
All that, plus they treated one of my friends very poorly. And for that I will never spend one dime on anything he, (or the other lady whose name I will not mention), writes. Ever. (Unfortunately, by the time this happened, I already owned a few of his books. I still haven't read them and probably will not.)

I was in that group and I think I left because it seemed like every monthly read was one of his own books!

Charlene asked:

You were part of his group, Canavan? May I ask why you are no longer?

Yes, but only for a relatively short time. In the group’s description, you’ll find the usual stuff about treating discussants with courtesy, but that wasn’t quite what I was seeing. It wasn’t anything as blatant as the experiences you describe — more of a snarkiness displayed by an inner clique whereby those who failed to conform to the groupthink were judged as somehow less than worthy. Was I ever treated that way during my stay there? No, but I saw it happen to others. I suppose my thinking was something like this — if I’m going to have to constantly worry that any post I make offends someone or invites scorn, am I really going to enjoy participating? And if I’m not going to enjoy myself, then why am I here?

More generally, whereas some people really thrive in a combative, no-holds-barred social environment, it’s not for me. I played that game for a while on Usenet about ten years ago and grew to hate it.

Canavan wrote: "a snarkiness displayed by an inner clique whereby those who failed to conform to the groupthink were judged as somehow less than worthy."

This is about the only group I've been in where I haven't seen that.

Scott wrote: "I was in that group and I think I left because it seemed like every monthly read was one of his own books!"

Yes, that happened when I was there, too.

Canavan, it sounds like your experiences were similar to my own, even though it didn't happen directly to you. Thanks for sharing.

Randolph, I shall leave it off at that. Thanks. :)

Technically, I'm still in the LD group, but I find this one far friendlier. I did enjoy Dunbar's book of short stories, and gave it a good review, but don't know much beyond that (and what I've just read here). I find I come to this group instead for book recommendations and insights. So thanks!

Charlene wrote: "Canavan wrote: "Sometimes, I just want to read about some killer crabs without anyone giving me shit about it...."

Nothing wrong with killer crabs. Or giant freaking rats!:)

Or hordes of regular-sized rats. Or tapeworms that were genetically engineered to supplement the human immune system and are crawling up their hosts spinal columns and chewing through their brains and taking over!

Or, you know, just a good old-fashioned psychotropic gas attack which happens to coincide with and reflect the resurgence of an ancient curse.

(Good times. Admittedly, I'm thinking a bit of Herbert and Straub, here, so possibly also a bit literary, but they can totally be done pulpily! Was the killer crab book a William Meikle one?)

I think there have been a few books about killer crabs, but the one I was referring to was Night of the Crabs by Guy N. Smith.

I was at school when I read it, so I'm guessing it came out in the mid-seventies. Very much pulp fiction, but also a fun read.

When I think killer crustaceans, I think of the lobstrosities in the Dark Tower series... And the movie Deep Star Six

Randolph, I've added The Troop to my TBR list.

Jason, I'm still early days with the DT series. And Deep Star Six? Never heard of it.