Horror Aficionados discussion

This is the thread for July 2018 Group Read with Guest Author, Jeff Strand. This month, we'll be reading Jeff's latest, BRING HER BACK. If you'd like to join us, you can order his book at the link below. Please help me welcome, Jeff Strand!

https://www.amazon.com/Bring-Her-Back...

AAAAHHHHHHH! I'm stuck at home with a sick flying monkey and sick myself but this the THE BEST news! I just finished which was the most fun you can have while waiting for the full moon. Thank you Ken, and a big thank you Jeff :)

I've read Wolf Hunt also, great book, Another good one by Strand is The Sinister Mr. Corpse. Jeff Strand does a good horror/humor mix which I love to see in a novel.

I stumbled upon Dweller and Wolf Hunt and really enjoyed them both. I've just downloaded Wolf Hunt 2 for my TBR pile too. Looks like I'll be popping back on Amazon to buy this one to make it my next read 😁

woohoo! Sounds like a fun month.

Jeff has had a fan in me ever since I read back in the day. Since then, I've read quite a few more Strand books, but my favorite remains . I'm looking forward to our author reads this month. Ken, you're doing a killer job!

I’m in, just bought it! I’ve read a bunch by Jeff Strand and always enjoy them. Looking forward to it!

Hi, everyone! This is gonna be gobs o' fun! (The discussion--not necessarily the book!)

Just finished Blister! It was awesome as usual! Keep on writing mr strand! I love your stuff! Such a great combination of horror and hilarity:)

I have read and enjoyed several books by Mr Strand. I purchased this one the other night but I am/will be moving so I can't say that I will have time to read it and join the discussion. Just know that you have a fan in me, Jeff!

I am in for this one. Just read Dweller and really enjoyed it.

I have yet to read anything by Jeff Strand that didn't leave me laughing inappropriately at the most memorable scenes. :) Can't wait for the discussion to start!!

Got my copy ordered for my Kindle. Will start tomorrow.

I take this as a sign that I must start reading more books by Jeff Strand, not only putting them on my shelves ;) Loved Kumquat, and can't wait to start with this one.

Addy wrote: "Just finished Blister! It was awesome as usual! Keep on writing mr strand! I love your stuff! Such a great combination of horror and hilarity:)"
Blister is my favorite!

I have a list of my personal Top 10 Jeff Strand books if anyone is interested :D
Also finished Bring Her Back on day 2 of purchase so I am super ready for this discussion!

I'm interested in your Top 10 list. :)

Awesome! :)

1. Blister
2. Dweller
3. Pressure
4. Cyclops Road
5. Kumquat
6. Bring Her Back
7. The Haunted Forest Tour
8. Wolf Hunt 1
9. Wolf Hunt 2
10. Sick House

Bonus: An Apocalypse of Our Own

Haley wrote: "Awesome! :)

1. Blister
2. Dweller
3. Pressure
4. Cyclops Road
5. Kumquat
6. Bring Her Back
7. The Haunted Forest Tour
8. Wolf Hunt 1
9. Wolf Hunt 2
10. Sick House

Bonus: An Apocalypse of Our Own"

That list is pretty sweet. I think my top three would be similar to yours, but Wolf Hunt 1 would be higher up and Dweller would be first. :)

It was a tough list, I love them all for different reasons. Blister was my first Strand book so it always has a special place, but Dweller is absolutely fantastic.

Jeff, when did you first start writing? Who would you say your influences were?

I'd have Benjamin's Parasite on my fav list.

WendyB wrote: "I'd have Benjamin's Parasite on my fav list."

Almost made the cut because I did like that one, just not as much as the others!

Haley wrote: "Addy wrote: "Just finished Blister! It was awesome as usual! Keep on writing mr strand! I love your stuff! Such a great combination of horror and hilarity:)"
Blister is my favorite!"

Blister was my number 2 read for all of 2017. :D LOVED it!

I just finished the audio of SICK HOUSE not too long ago and had lots of fun with it. I've been looking forward to crack open BRING HER BACK, and damn if that Michael McBride blurb doesn't completely, utterly sell me on it. I need to hurry up and finish my current read!

Ken wrote: "Jeff, when did you first start writing? Who would you say your influences were?"

I've wanted to be a writer for literally as long as I remember--and I mean the traditional definition of "literally." I was seriously submitting work in high school. It was, of course, the kind of stuff a high school student would write, but I've been at it a loooooong time.

My writing influences are primarily comedic: Douglas Adams, Dave Barry, BANANAS magazine, etc.

Thanks for hosting another month here, Jeff!

So here’s where I deserve a good tongue lashing from my fellow horror aficionados.

I am a Jeff Strand novel virgin, crazy; right??!!! I had DWELLER set up to read as a recommendation of a 1st of Strand’s work to begin soon.

But I’m going to enthusiastically jump right into BRING HER BACK with the group, which will undoubtedly be quite fun. :)

I’ve read the blurb & at the end, Michael McBride, author of SUBHUMAN says “BRING HER BACK IS LIKE A Jack Ketchum novel packed with dark humor”.
Most people know I’m a Ketchum fan, plus I’ve been in the mood for some dark humor, & I’ve yet to hear anything but exceptional things about this writer’s work! I’m really forward to this month!!!!

***WELCOME TO OUR GROUP JEFF!!! WE ARE VERY EXCITED 😊
-Sheri
Horror Freak 💀

Sheri wrote: "So here’s where I deserve a good tongue lashing from my fellow horror aficionados.

I'll defend you from their vicious tongue lashings! You're here now, and that's all that matters!

How kind of you Jeff, thanks! I'm very happy to be here too. Here's a question for you. Do you have a favorite book (or 3)? I've heard from a couple sources that your new book is darker than what you've written in the past. Do you agree?

Blister is one of my favorites as well! I also loved Cyclops Road, but Haunted Forest Tour is what got me started. I am halfway through the Andrew Mayhem books which are hilarious. Jeff you are my top horror author for sure.

I read Bring Her Back the day it came out. I read the entire book in one day. I loved it but my one complaint is that it is far too short!!!! I wish all your novels were longer.

Another edit: Sick House was amazeballs. I really enjoyed it, again too short!

Sheri wrote: "Do you have a favorite book (or 3)? I've heard from a couple sources that your new book is darker than what y..."

My answer fluctuates on a regular basis, but today, Friday June 29, 2018, my favorite books are BOY'S LIFE by Robert McCammon, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon, and ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO by Jonathan Tropper.

And, yeah, I think BRING HER BACK is the darkest of all of my novels. It's at least top three darkest along with PRESSURE and DWELLER.

Jessie wrote: "I wish all your novels were longer."

Yeah, I tend to write short books, though I try to cram a lot into them! Ironically, when I DO write slightly longer books like WOLF HUNT and CYCLOPS ROAD, I get reviews suggesting that they go on a bit too long.

Jeff wrote:

Yeah, I tend to write short books, though I try to cram a lot into them! Ironically, when I DO write slightly longer books like WOLF HUNT and CY..."

Of course, can't please everyone I suppose!

Jeff wrote: "Jessie wrote: "I wish all your novels were longer."

Yeah, I tend to write short books, though I try to cram a lot into them! Ironically, when I DO write slightly longer books like WOLF HUNT and CY..."

And WOLF HUNT is a personal favorite of mine!
@ Sheri: I think you'd love that one and the HAUNTED FOREST TOUR, as well.

Jeff wrote: "Jessie wrote: "I wish all your novels were longer."

Yeah, I tend to write short books, though I try to cram a lot into them! Ironically, when I DO write slightly longer books like WOLF HUNT and CY..."

Noooo! Cyclops Road was the perfect length and it was so good

Haley wrote: "Cyclops Road was the perfect length"

You won't hear ME argue that point!

I do agree that Bring Her Back was way too short. I read it in 2 days and didn't want it to end

Maybe it is just me, but I become so attached to the story and the characters. I am always disappointed when I am finished reading a book, I feel like I will never see them again. I enjoy the Andrew Mayhem books because there are 4 of them and I always think, what is that crazy bastard up to now?

Am I too sentimental? :P Am I CRAZY? The answer is yes. To both. Spoiler alert.

Jeff- Thank you so much for answering my questions. Those are some interesting favs. :)
I love my books on the darker side. I've already read the sample of BRING HER BACK this morning & WOW! I was ready to just keep going. I'm hooked.

Kimberly - Thanks for the recommendations on WOLF HUNT & THE HAUNTED FOREST TOUR (the cover for that one rocks!) & exists in my ever-growing beast-of-a-TBR. It looks like I'm really going to like Jeff's stuff. Maybe I can get all of his books read in 2018 like I did with Patrick Lacey & Glenn Rolfe (with the exception of both of those authors' newest releases which of course I'm currently well into but I just don't want them too end!)

So many great books in my favorite genre! (Horror Freak Happy Dance 💀)

Jeff - the first book I read by you was "Blister", and I absolutely loved it! I didn't realize "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon, is one of your favorite books?! That's really AWESOME! I just started that book a
few days ago. I'm definitely hooked on it for sure!

I'm looking forward to starting "Bring Her Back" and thanks for doing the guest author group read for us "Aficionados". I know we all appreciate it.

*Also, A BIG THANK YOU to Ken and Jon Recluse as our Moderators! You guys do such a great job at keeping us up to date every month!

Kyle wrote: "I didn't realize "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon, is one of your favorite books?!"

I haven't tested this, but I'd guess that if you did a poll asking horror authors to name their all-time favorite book, BOY'S LIFE would come up more than any other title.

Thanks Jeff for reading my comment! You're probably right about that. Maybe I will start taking a poll as well to see if "Boys Life" comes up at the top of most horror authors's lists.

How long did it take you to write "Bring Her Back"? You just put out "Sick House" and a short story "An Apocalypse of Our Own". Both great by the way! You keep pumping them out lol! Also, do you have any of your previous work pending to be made into film adaptations?

Kyle wrote: "How long did it take you to write "Bring Her Back"?"

About four months. Publication times can be a bit deceptive. SICK HOUSE and BRING HER BACK were published fairly quickly after they were finished, while HOW YOU RUINED MY LIFE was turned in to the publisher almost a year before it came out, and AN APOCALYPSE OF OUR OWN took even longer.

I had four novels published in 2014 and none published in 2015. It wasn't a productivity thing; it was just how the release dates worked out!

Kyle wrote: "Also, do you have any of your previous work pending to be made into film adaptations? "

STALKING YOU NOW (which will be called MINDY HAS TO DIE) was halfway through production in Belfast, Ireland but shut down a couple of years ago. I'm told they're on track to resume production and have the movie done by the end of the year. I've seen the first five minutes and it looks great.

WOLF HUNT has been optioned. The producers were VERY close to a deal that would've been a big-budget movie, but it didn't happen. There is other promising stuff going on with this one.

A BAD DAY FOR VOODOO has a "shopping agreement," which is when they aren't even ready to option it yet.

A writer/director who recently adapted a novel by an author who has done one of these Horror Aficionados Guest Author Group Reads has said he wants PRESSURE to be one of his next films, but nothing official yet.

There was interest in DWELLER that never really went anywhere.

Interest in THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE came from a guy who just seemed to be trying to acquire a wide portfolio of properties and I didn't sign the agreement.

COLD DEAD HANDS (based on a book that will eventually be published by Cemetery Dance) is on the long, excruciating road of trying to find funding, so if there are any really rich people participating in this thread...

I think that's it. Some high school students made a movie out of my novel THE GREATEST ZOMBIE MOVIE EVER, which you can see on YouTube. I wrote the script for the "Gave Up The Ghost" segment (based on my short story, and directed by Gregory Lamberson) of the anthology horror film CREEPERS, which is available on DVD and Amazon Video-on-Demand and also includes a Joe Lansdale, Edgar Allan Poe, and Lafcadio Heard adaptation. The wraparound segment is jaw-droppingly bad, and every review on Amazon is one star out of five, but I stand by "Gave Up The Ghost." :)

Jeff, your books always have some wonderful screwball characters and dialogue that is hilarious and some of the best anywhere. Are you that funny in real life? And do you have a favorite character from your books?

WendyB wrote: "Are you that funny in real life?"

No. :)

I was a very popular emcee of the Bram Stoker Awards ceremony for 10 years, which is basically a stand-up comedy job, but that was all scripted beforehand. If you met me at a convention you wouldn't say, "Oh, he was simply hilarious!"

WendyB wrote: "And do you have a favorite character from your books? "

My favorites include Frank from BRING HER BACK, both Kevin and Rachel/Blister from BLISTER, all of the heroes in CYCLOPS ROAD, Owen in DWELLER, Amy and many of the supporting characters in KUMQUAT, George and Lou from WOLF HUNT 1 & 2, Ivan from WOLF HUNT, Darren Rust from PRESSURE, the older daughter Paige in SICK HOUSE, Max from I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS (whose part was cut way down by the editor), and of course Andrew Mayhem.

Jeff wrote: "Kyle wrote: "Also, do you have any of your previous work pending to be made into film adaptations? "

STALKING YOU NOW (which will be called MINDY HAS TO DIE) was halfway through production in Belf..."

Just the thought of Wolf Hunt being made into a movie gives me a bit of a tingle. I know both George and Lou are big guys in the book, but I had an image of Joe Pesci in my head for George the whole time.

Melanie wrote: "I had an image of Joe Pesci in my head for George the whole time.."

I can say that Joe Pesci is NOT the name that is being floated for George, but I'd be all over that!