Horror Aficionados discussion

Terry and I will be starting sometime in August. Plenty of time to join us if u like:) We tend to read a few chapters a day but if u go ahead, just use spoiler tags.

Any other Gregory fans? I've read just about all his books, except Woodwitch, this one, and maybe one other. His books always incorporate animals in disturbing ways, gives them a more human quality. He needs to write more!

I've read just about everything by him, except for The Perils and Dangers of This Night, which I do own, but am saving for just the right time.
Of all of Gregory's books though, I think this this one was my favorite. :)

Good to know! I have loved every one I read. I can always picture something from each book that shocked me somehow. He certainly has a thing for birds!

This will be my first by Gregory, but I've seen all the praise, so I'm expecting it to be good.

It was a really good one! He nailed a Cormorant's personality quite well.. ;)

Some great comments! Can't wait!

I think you guys will really enjoy this one, so many WTF moments in it. ;)

One of my favorite writers, I wish all the time he would write more! My favorite is between Wakening the Crow and The Cormorant.

lol. That's great! I love WTF moments! Wakening the Crow is one of my favorites:)

My copy of the book got here today!

No fair! I'm still waiting:( Hoping to get it today as well.

Totally fair, especially if yours arrives too :-). Most of The Blackwater books made it here, too. Good week!

You're right! It is fair....lol. What a creepy cover. Mine is from the Chicago public library. Interesting. You can tell it was a library book. And now it's got a good home;)

From one library to another

Did u want to start today? I'll prob read 2 chapters.

I'm not sure I'll have time tonight, most likely start tomorrow.

Ok. I won't be able to read tomorrow so I'll just read a coupe tonight.

I'm only in the middle of ch2 and I have to say...it's a great set up for what's to come. I mean, what could go wrong?.....:)

This isn't a spoiler, but a nice little quote from ch1. "Archie stood erect, croaking and hissing, a black, malignant priest in a multitude of angels."

It's been a crazy day, so I've only made it thru ch1. I'll catch up tomorrow! That is a good line, clever imagery.

End of ch1 (view spoiler)[ and I already don't like Archie! (hide spoiler)] and what you said - what could go wrong....lol

Just wait til u get to the end of ch2!

I've made it to the end of ch2, and see what you mean! (view spoiler)[ What a strange situation to be at the mercy of this crazy bird! (hide spoiler)]

I'm not sure if you guys would be interested, but The Pigeonhole is releasing Stephen Gregory's Plague of Gulls in sections (staves) and there are 40 free spots available. How it works is you sign up and a little piece of the story is released every day, or week, (I forget which.) Its free to sign up and it's a pretty cool system. If you're interested, check them out and sign up here:
https://thepigeonhole.com/

Plague of Gulls starts on 8.8.16.

Thanks Charlene! I've read it already though, I thought I read it with you and some other ppl. It was a great read!

I was going to look into it, Charlene as that sounds like an interesting way of reading a book. Thanks for the info! I've never heard of The Pigeon Hole before.

You should look into to it Terry. It's an interesting way to read a book not to mention it's a fantastic story!

I stopped at ch4 (view spoiler)[ It's pretty cool that that the cormorant hunts fish for ? Wait a minute, do we even know his name? Anyway, I wonder who the guy is that is secretly watching the other guy and his cormorant. (hide spoiler)]

I'm up to ch4 also. (view spoiler)[ the bird hunting is crazy! As much as I didn't like it before, it's growing on me. It's kinda cool that it brings fish back for the guy (I can't think if we know his name either...). I can't decide if I think the guy watching them is the ghost of the dead uncle, or the uncle himself who didn't really die... (hide spoiler)]

Hmmm...I like it:) It very well could be the uncle.

Hey quick question for ya? I know we will prob be done with this book by the weekend and I'm leaving on a trip this weekend. What do u wanna read next so I can bring it?

Good question...I'm pretty open. Anything in particular you were wanting to get to?

Did u want to start the Blackwater series?

Sure can. Book 2 is the only one that hasn't got here yet.

Great! Sounds good! I'm still waiting on Hell House, but we got plenty of time for that one.

I was going to read into the middle of ch5 today (which is about pg 90 in the copy I'm reading), and then finish the last 30 or so pages tomorrow. In ch5, I'm not sure what to make of what happened on Christmas morning (view spoiler)[ Was that not a strange part with the whole family in the bathtub! Are you thinking that something is wrong with Harry now, like he's possessed or something? Too weird! (hide spoiler)]

Spent all morning trying to fix my kindle fire. It's not downloading anything. Turns out I need a computer to fix it, so it'll have to wait. I'll try to catch up but it's been s rough morning.

That sounds like no fun. No problem and no rush!

Yes, I agree. The bathtub scene was soo weird! And yes, I think something is not right with Harry and once again, the mysterious cigar has made an appearance. I'm thinking its uncle Ian but he's a ghost and little Harry can see him. Not sure though....

I'll second that guess! Should find out tomorrow I guess.

I finished this morning. (view spoiler)[ What a cruel ending! I felt so sorry for Archie as it seems none of this was his fault. If anything, he was the good guy, and all the mistakes were the man's. Wasn't expecting Harry to get it either! We never find out if there was something wrong with him. So many hints that he was not quite right. The mysterious guy was left without knowing if he was a ghost or a real person - it seemed that he was both. (hide spoiler)] I can definitely understand why in the introduction Gregory talks about getting some unfavorable mail about this book!

I'll get to ch6 today and finish tomm. Can't wait to see what u mean!

Sounds good. I'm curious to see what you think.

What does Gregory say in the intro? I don't have that in mine.

Ok. I stayed up late finishing because after reading about the fiasco Christmas evening, how cud I not? But......Im not saying that im disappointed, but I kinda am only because I'm not a big fan of ambiguous endings. My only weird thought that I cud come up with is that Archie was Ian's baby and because he was so unfairly killed, he did the same thing to them by possessing Harry and causing him to throw himself into the fire. Eye for an eye? Idk just my thoughts. Kinda sad about Archie now:( So wasn't expecting that. I was expecting Archie to be some kind of devil bird, but he really wasn't that bad.

I totally agree with ur previous spoiler tag:) Any more thoughts? Do u think this was a good intro to Gregory's writing? I'm not sure if I do. This was good but his other books are better!

You were up late! I get what you're saying, kinda disappointed in the ending, but for me, it was one of those stories where I held on to the suspense for most of it, which was fun. I was OK with the hanging ending, although I would have liked to know more for sure. I was really 3.5 stars, but rounded up. I hadn't thought of Uncle Ian doing that to the family through Harry, but that does explain some of the weird situations that occurred. If that was it, then the Uncle was pretty evil. Their lives were destroyed -including Archie :( ! The introduction was by Gregory himself, and he didn't give anything away, but talked about how he got pretty equal parts good response and bad response to the story, which I certainly get. I thought his writing was OK - he certainly took the story to places I wasn't expecting! I'll go on and read others of his books.