Horror Aficionados discussion

First, let me confess that I myself have never before stopped reading a book. I follow every story to its (bitter) end, hoping against hope that it could still get better, and otherwise I feel it would be unfair on the author.

I remember a friend once telling me she stopped reading American Psycho and even threw it in the bin, which really upset me, as I would never be able to go to such extremes. On the other hand, I secretly admired her for doing so ;)

However, recently I feel myself drifting towards the other side, where the thought of abandoning a book becomes more and more appealing, thinking there are too many good stories out there to waste my time with crap. I guess it will take some more time and bad books until I finally reach that side, but I'm definitely on my way there ( some form of encouragement would be welcome at this point). A first step was to 'punish' all culprits by selling the books or giving them away, though of course a lack of space had also something to do with it.

How about you? When did you start abandoning books and do you still remember which book was the trigger? Or are you like me, feeling guilty just for thinking such nasty thoughts?'

I once read the movie tie-in book, "Battle for The Planet of The Apes" and I think that the author of the book must have had a bad hair day or was just in it for the quick buck the book represented. The writing was worse than awful and as I was reading it in on the train, the closer to despair I was getting for my initial hope that the book would get better was dying with each turn of the page.
Eventually I had enough of reading such dross and so I pulled the window down and flung the book out as hard as I could, it vanished into some bushes alongside the rail track.
Have I regretted it? Nope!

I don't think I've ever actually thrown a book away after not finishing it, though it probably ended up sold on ebay or donated to charity.
The first book I remember being unable to finish was The Silver Chair from the chronicles of Narnia. I hate to admit it, because I love the chronicles so much even now, but for some reason I still can't explain I just cannot read it to the end. I have tried again and again over the years (I have the set so would never get rid of it) but just cannot get further than a certain point. I was the same with the TV adaptation oddly enough. It just never seemed to grab me like all the others.
There have been a few other books too that I could not finish over the years, though thankfully not too many. Maybe I'm just really picky but I am as yet to read something mind-bendingly awful!

the only book I gave up on was the girl with the dragon tattoo I didn't get to 50 pages, I will be trying it again tho because I have already bought the trilogy

" The Vampire Lestat " by Ann Rice . I Left it after 200 pages , just couldn't finish it , the " gayness " was way too much and nothing interesting was happening in the meantime . I am in the process of giving up on " Inferno " by Dan Brown , because it is repetitive and boring as hell .Still struggling though .

I didn't start abandoning books until I was in my thirties (about the time you realize that life is short and wasted time cane never be retrieved). I can't remember if it was Insomnia by Stephen King or Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice......but it was one of those two because that was also right around the time I stopped reading both of those authors.

I read insomnia to the end and hated it, I was put off stephen king for a while but glad I've gone back to his books now

house of leaves I just gave up on that recently. It has stuch a cult following too! But I just couldn't get Into it.

I've never seen the point of reading something that I didn't enjoy. Reading on in the hope that it will get better never made sense to me.

I've abandoned every Stephen King book I ever tried, most of Dean Koontz's books too. I remember dumping C.J. Cherryh's "The Pride of Chanur".

I was just having this conversation with a friend of mine last week.

I abandoned Auto-da-Fé because I really hated all of the characters and couldn't make myself care what happened to them.

It's still on my bookshelf though and I will try again at some point.

I've never come across a book I would throw out but if I'm not enjoying a novel it gets shelved. Sometimes you have to be in a certain time and place to enjoy the right book.

Rhian wrote: "I read insomnia to the end and hated it, I was put off stephen king for a while but glad I've gone back to his books now"

I don't give up on books that often, I can count on one hand how many I could not get through, but Insomnia was definitely one of them. I don't remember what part I gave up on but I know for sure I never got to the end of it.

I have no problem at all abandoning a book that is not pulling me in. I do give it ample chances to hook me, though. Since I'm very careful about the books I choose to read, looking at suggestions/reviews from trusted friends, I don't read too many stinkers. While I can't remember the first book I abandoned, here are some of the ones I do remember:

House of Leaves - too convoluted

Any Given Day - couldn't get past the boring sports opening

South of Broad - Conroy's flowery descriptions are ridiculous

Backseat Saints - realized I was so tired of southern stereotypes, especially loopy women with goofy names

Fall on Your Knees - really, how much condensed tragedy could happen to one family?

Big Brother - cannot believe the woman who wrote the fantastic We Need to Talk About Kevin wrote this garbage.

The Almost Moon - godawful

I've abandoned several and mostly for the same reason, they never seem to get moving:

Dune

Legion - what a disappointment after The Exorcist

We - a chapter of sci-fi then a chapter of Soviet propaganda. I gave up on this one but managed to finish Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy that was written in much the same manner.

Frankenstein - ugh!

The Witching Hour - ugh! ugh!

Afterward - snore!

The Ghost of Guir House - ghost story hidden among socialist mumbo jumbo.


Some I just abandoned because the subject or style of book just didn't excite me:

The Strain - Koontz writes vampires...oh, that wasn't Koontz?

The Bourne Identity - a story-line so complex that the author decided to begin EVERY chapter with a recap of the entire book!

The Satan Legacy - just a bad story!

The Spirit Seeker Society - ditto!


I also gave up on Hell House but I plan on picking that one up again.

Hmm, I've heard from several people that Legion is a good book.

Tressa wrote: "Hmm, I've heard from several people that Legion is a good book."

Scroll through the reviews...5 STARS or 1 STAR. Very little down the middle!

Same kind of reviews for the EXCELLENT The Ruins!

Erin insomnia is one I wish I had given up on

I think the only book I've ever given up on mid-stream was The Turn of the Screw. I had heard it was the greatest ghost story ever, but I only made it maybe a third of the way through before wondering what was so great about the story and gave up.

Around 2002 (and nine books in) I gave up on Robert Jordan's 'The Wheel of Time' series because I jokingly said at the time that I thought he was going to die before he ever finished the damn thing since he never would say how many books it would take to finish off the series. Oops. I do plan on reading the entire series now that Sanderson finished it.

I'm not planning on abandoning 'A Song of Ice and Fire', but it seems to me George R.R. Martin may be straying into Robert Jordan territory...

Dreamcatcher- Three ideas, only one of them good, welded together and padded.

Gerald's Game- WTF?

Unfortunately, I persevered with Dreamcatcher.

I only liked the parts with Duddits.

Dark Rivers of the Heart- Koontz celebrates his paranoid schizophrenia.

Jon Recluse wrote: "I only liked the parts with Duddits."

God, I can't even say that.

Tressa wrote: "Jon Recluse wrote: "I only liked the parts with Duddits."

God, I can't even say that."

I know it was pure sap, but it was the only nearly coherent idea in the book.

Jon Recluse wrote: "Dreamcatcher- Three ideas, only one of them good, welded together and padded.

Gerald's Game- WTF?"

I started Gerald's Game and put it down. I am not yet ready to abandon it.

I first attempted it when I was 16, and then again around 21. I wasn't able to get through it either time. I'm sure I'll attempt it again sometime. It's just one of those books I feel like I should love, and it annoys me that I don't/can't get through it.

I really wish I had given up on Gerald's Game. That was one sorry excuse.

Leah wrote: "

I first attempted it when I was 16, and then again around 21. I wasn't able to get through it either time. I'm sure I'll attempt it again sometime. It's just one of th..."

Kind of dry, huh?

Holly wrote: "I really wish I had given up on Gerald's Game. That was one sorry excuse."

Haha. Oh, I really, really loved GG.

I'm not sure of the first book I abandoned, I wasn't much of a reader until recently so there are some there I'm sure. I know the first book I abandoned back when I first joined GR was 'From the Dust Returned' by Ray Bradbury, I was lost, confused and could not get into it. Also I would have stopped reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown but needed to read all of it for a project.

Justin wrote: "I would have stopped reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown but needed to read all of it for a project. .."

I finished that one....ugh! ugh! ugh! I hate when authors solve their loose story ends with randomish explosions!

The first book I abandoned was Silas Marner.

The first horror novel I abandoned was Punish the Sinners.

I had a very bad time with Peter Straub's Ghost Story. Twice I tried to get into and twice I put it back down.
It turned out that the third time was the charm and I'm so glad I kept trying as it's now one of my favorite horror novels of all time.

I have now instituted a 10% rule, though I usually will stretch that out if a book looks as if it has any promise. If I don't like it by then, it's out.

Tressa, The Given Day was so good, I wish you would try it again. Just skip the portion about the Babe.

I'm prone to keep a book I gave up on and try again at a later date.
Punish the Sinners is one of the few books I ever threw away after one try.

Charlene, I know. I think I will one day because I love Dennis Lehane's books so much. That's just a book so thick and with so many characters and dimensions I know it'll take a while for me to hit my stride with it, and the slow opening chapters are not helping.

One that a lot of people love and I could not finish was Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. I tried it twice. I hated it even more the second time.

Bill wrote: "One that a lot of people love and I could not finish was Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. I tried it twice. I hated it even more the second time."

Bill I did finish that one and like you hated every page I turned. But then I practice self-flagellation also.

Michael wrote: "Bill wrote: "One that a lot of people love and I could not finish was Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. I tried it twice. I hated it even more the second time."

Bil..."

LOL

I keep putting off The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I could tell you exactly where it is in my library and bookstore but the fact it's 700 plus pages makes me cringe at the thought of reading..

First book I gave up on was a fantasy. Either Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb, or it's first sequel, Mad Ship. There was nothing wrong with it exactly, I just kind of put it down while I was studying and never really picked it up again.
I gave up on The Strain after the part with the dogs, cause I'm a wuss that way.
Most recently I stopped reading The Summer I Died, but I have every intention of picking that back up, it just got a bit much for a while.

Elke wrote: "First, let me confess that I myself have never before stopped reading a book. I follow every story to its (bitter) end, hoping against hope that it could still get better, and otherwise ..."

I almost always read to the bitter end, even if I have to push myself. However, I have only ever given up on two books: Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk and House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. The first was just too gross (and I'm not easily shocked) and the second was more trouble than it was worth (too complicated).

The first horror book i gave up on was Richard Laymons Cellar. I must of been 16 and while reading i reached a really disgusting part and i put it down and never read until i was in my early 20s. The book when i finally finished was still in my opinion a bad book.

Justin wrote: "I keep putting off The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I could tell you exactly where it is in my library and bookstore but the fact it's 700 plus pages makes me cringe at the thought of reading.."

It was tough for me to keep going with that book at the beginning but then I felt the book improved by the half way point. It would have been so much better if the entire story was interesting but I felt the beginning was a struggle.

Rhian wrote: "Erin insomnia is one I wish I had given up on"

Yeah and it's to bad because King is my favorite author and to not be able to get through one of his books was a disappointment.

Debbie wrote: "Elke wrote: "First, let me confess that I myself have never before stopped reading a book. I follow every story to its (bitter) end, hoping against hope that it could still get better, and otherwis..."

I gave up on Haunted too. Too disjointed to keep my interest.

Erin wrote: "Justin wrote: "I keep putting off The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I could tell you exactly where it is in my library and bookstore but the fact it's 700 plus pages makes me cringe at the though..."

Yep. Gave up on this dry story too.

Mehmet wrote: "The first horror book i gave up on was Richard Laymons Cellar. I must of been 16 and while reading i reached a really disgusting part and i put it down and never read until i was in my early 20s. T..."

I knew it was a bad book when I read it in high school, and knew it years later when I re-read it. This sicko still read it though.

I gave up on a game of thrones. I wanted to read it see what all of the hype was, but after about 25% in I gave up because I just couldn't keep torturing myself anymore.

I have false starts on The Historian as well. I haven't yet abandon it.

I have read Laymon's "The Beast House", #2 in The Beast House Chronicles. I am not likely to read The Cellar. Just not that interesting to me for some reason.

Amanda, I tried reading Hunger Games for the same reason, just to find out what all the hype was. Just not really interested in dystopian stories. Maybe I'll read it later. Doubtful though.

Tressa, my mind is bit fuzzy but i remember still reading Laymon Stake and Island. But Cellar stopped me from reading Horror for awhile. Still returned though :-)