Horror Aficionados discussion

Our first Group Read/Listen for 2018 will be Strange Weather by Joe Hill.

Due to Strange Weather also winning the group listen, we will be combining the Read/Listen into this one thread.

Please use spoiler tags and have fun.

Great. Am reading NOS4R2 right now and ordered Strange weather before Christmas, so I will definitely participate. Can't wait!

I'm in.

I'm in!! Currently reading NOS4A2 for the buddy read. This one should be good!

Great, gives me the push I need to pick up the audio book!

I was JUST looking at picking this up last night! That's awesome. I ordered it, should be here Friday.

I got it from my Secret Santa and immediately went to vote on the poll. I'm in.

Ooh! This is at my library! I'm in! :D

I happen to have read this last month, so I'm happy to join in the discussions.

I'm in got this for Christmas can't wait to start reading this on monday

Just finished the first story. It was unfortunately “meh”. Interesting concept it just didn’t seam to go anywhere.

I’m in!

So excited for this read!

I’m in! I’m going to be travelling a fair bit over the next few weeks so this will help me get through all those long travelling hours

I have ONE credit left at Audible and I...do not like Joe Hill's work. Not YET, at least. I've read only 2 of his books. I'm gonna keep an eye on what folks are saying about this novel before deciding if it is worth gambling my last credit or not! ---Jen from Quebec :0)

I read this one a few months back and loved it! I hope everyone here enjoys it as much as I did!

Jennifer Lynn wrote: "I have ONE credit left at Audible and I...do not like Joe Hill's work. Not YET, at least. I've read only 2 of his books. I'm gonna keep an eye on what folks are saying about this novel before decid..."

The only one I've liked of his is NOS4A2 the audiobook version.

I liked N0S4A2 but not Horns. That’s all I have read of his.

So I am on the fence on this on as well. Plus I am am booked solid this month for club reads etc etc. Also I am not sure if I am in the mood right now for short stories.

How many stories are in the book?

Nancy wrote: "I liked N0S4A2 but not Horns. That’s all I have read of his.

So I am on the fence on this on as well. Plus I am am booked solid this month for club reads etc etc. Also I am not sur..."

Four, described as "short novels." Hill dislikes the term novella, supposedly.

I just started.

The library book just became available, I'll be picking it up tomorrow!

I'm in! Just got the book from B & N.

I'm in. The book just arrived.

All copies at our local library are currently checked out, but there was the option to borrow the ebook version. Can’t say I like the front-end program being used to access the text on the iPad (you can only read the book by holding the tablet lengthwise), but it’s not a horrible annoyance.

dang library still havent got the book in yet i am on waiting list

My plan's to read one story of this per weekend so this fits perfectly for January and thus I can squeeze it in along with my other reads for this month :)

I hope it's good. A lot of people don't seem to like Hill... I just read NOS4R2 and none of his other works. I hope I'm going to like this one

Half way through Christine by his Dad, and joining in right after!

I just got done with the first story, “Snapshot”. I am a little disappointed. I read Heart Shaped Box and Horns and loved both, but the thing that made them shine was Hills ability to get me emotionally attached to the characters. Snapshot didn’t do that for me. Maybe Novellas aren’t my thing. Haha

I think I'm going to join in with the audio. As much as I'd like to read it, since I don't get as much out of audiobooks due to distractions, it's the only way I'll have time right now, and I haven't done a group read or listen in a while - looking forward to the discussion!

I liked two of the stories far more than the other two - curious to see if others have a similar experience.

How do we do this? Is there another thread for our comments?

I’m in 👍

Benjamin wrote: "I liked two of the stories far more than the other two - curious to see if others have a similar experience."

Yes, I agree. Loaded and Rain were the best. Aloft and Snapshot weren't that good in my opinion. 3.5

Joe wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "I liked two of the stories far more than the other two - curious to see if others have a similar experience."

Yes, I agree. Loaded and Rain were the best. Aloft and Snapshot weren..."

I preferred Aloft to Loaded, but we definitely agree on Snapshot and Rain

Joe wrote: "I preferred Aloft to Loaded, but we definitely agree on Snapshot and Rain"

I also thought that Aloft and Rain were the best. Loaded was a little too close to reality which made it scary as hell but not all that likable. I think I prefer my horror a little more far-fetched.

I think the ending to Loaded was what undermined it for me - it felt a little too much like a punchline or a polemic rather than a piece of storytelling.

Lee wrote: "How do we do this? Is there another thread for our comments?"

Sorry for my tardy response, Lee. This is the discussion thread, so please feel free to discuss and please use appropriate spoiler tags as necessary.

Just finished 'Snapshot' and I get a Lovecraft to me I didn't love it but didn't hate it I gave it 3.5 to 4 stars

I'm going very slow on it. Hopefully once I'm further in, or even past Snapshot, I can get into it.

I finished Loaded a few days ago and am taking a short hiatus to read Ready Player One with my friend. (Entertaining Novel) I’ll get back to Aloft next week. I have higher hopes for the next 2 Novellas the premise seems more down my alley. So far I’d give Snapshot a 3 and Loaded a 3.5.

I personally enjoyed the ending of Loaded I’m assuming that Hill’s views are more liberal like those of his father but that ending makes me kinda curious on what his personal stance is on the issues he’s writing about in that one.

I thought the ending of Loaded was clever. Yea it was sort of a punchline but it was a short story. Thats how I want my short stories to end. I don't know, I also like M. Night Shyamalan movies so that could be why. What a twist!

Just finished the first Story. It seems I am the only one who really liked it here. I loved it, but thought maybe the ending a bit weak. (view spoiler)[That Polaroid/Solarid Man really freaked me out in the shop scene (hide spoiler)] and some parts of the story really made me feel sad. Plus: (view spoiler)[The sparrows made me think a lot about some of his Dad's stories, like The Dark Half for example (hide spoiler)] For me this are 4 stars for Snapshot

I liked Snapshot a lot. I thought it was the more terrifying story out of all 4 stories. But losing memories a big fear of mine, so the idea of someone being able to just take them from you was unnerving. I agree about the ending. It kind of went on a little too long. It should have ended after the reveal about the camera. And I thought the story over all was VERY sad. Loss and loneliness.

But then again, all 4 stories are kind of like that. Very sad, lonely characters.

I did not like Loaded that much though. It felt very slow and a little forceful with social commentary. It needed to be dialed back a little bit.... but then again, I am not a fan of that type of horror ( real life horror) story. I felt this was this weakest story of the 4.

I thought Aloft was the creepiest over all story. I felt bad for the main character, and the cloud. Lonely, wasted lives. I didn't like the ending though because it seemed kind of abrupt.

Rain was my favorite. Again, a little heavy on the social commentary, but this story plot was more my style. I did not see that twist coming. I was pleasantly surprised. I did not like the animal scenes though. But GEEZ, another cast of sad, heartbreaking, lonely people.

Are his books normally filled with so much loneliness or was it just this book? I've never read this author before.

Other than just having trouble getting into it, my biggest problem with it was the ending (view spoiler)[mainly how much of it there was. Way too much stuff after the climax that just seemed unnecessary. (hide spoiler)]

started listening this afternoon, just finished with Snapshot. Enjoyed it, but it definitely felt more like a short story than a short novel.

Ami wrote: "Are his books normally filled with so much loneliness or was it just this book? I've never read this author before. "

I'd say it varies - Horns certainly is, Locke and Key not so much, and the others are kind of in-between.

Heart shaped box is pretty lonely, I think. (view spoiler)[Everyone is taken away from him as it goes (hide spoiler)]

Just finished the second story. All I can say is DANG! Brutal.

I'm just about half-way through and enjoyed most of it so far, although there are some things that might be better.
"Snapshot" really had a general creepiness about it, and there were a lot of very specific individual details that fleshed out the characters to make them believable, real. But in a way, the details sometimes cluttered the story, a lot of the extra information really didn't need to be there (the mother's backstory for example).

I finished up. I'm a huge fan of Joe Hill, especially love NOS4A2 having read it and listened to it multiple times, but this is my least favorite of his works, though I still haven't read The Fireman yet, have it sitting on my kindle as well as the audio on my iPhone, and while I enjoyed all the stories to varying degrees, I do wonder if a less well known author had submitted these to a publisher if they would still have ended up publishing the book. Of course not every book is going to be a homerun or appeal to every reader. I will also say that listening to Kate narrate that final story makes me want to re-listen to her narration of NOS4A2 or perhaps look into what else she has recorded.