Horror Aficionados discussion

This is the thread for our January 2020 Group Read #2 with Guest Author, John F.D. Taff, as we read the first in his apocalyptic series, THE FEARING. You can grab a copy at the link below and join us all month long.

https://www.amazon.com/Fearing-Book-O...

I LOVED the first book in this series! I hope you all do, too :)

I will join in because I already have this on my tbr and I can't wait to read it with you. It's a great opportunity! Thanks for joining us, John!

I will be listening to this one. Thanks for joining us John!

Cool. I’m in

*commenting from my computer so i'll get notified when there's comments*

Great. So happy to be invited and thrilled you'll be reading THE FEARING. I'm here to chat, answer questions, whatever. Looking forward to connecting with you.

John

Hey John. How did the idea of THE FEARING come about and was it always your intention to do the story in multiple novellas?

I will be starting the book tomorrow. Just want to finish my current read.

I'd like to read this. Should be able to start this week.

Just want to clarify- we are only reading the first part, right? I’m surprised by how short this selection is. Not that I mind, obviously. A story can be amazing at 100 pages or 1000 pages. It’s just that this one seems shorter than our usual selection and there are two more parts (I think) after the first. I don’t want to miss anything. That’s all.

Took me a bit to notice- I like how the teenagers keep getting distracted by their general horniness. Life and death situations, but “gosh, his/her bod!” lol It’s very much how I remember that hormone driven phase of life and what I see in my kids and their friends. Meanwhile, the adults are like, “Let’s figure out what we have to do and how we can do that! Chop! Chop! Stuff to do!” lol It adds a level of realism and relatability.

We are only doing the first book, but I’m sure John won’t mind discussing the other books in the series, if you decide to continue with the story after reading Part One. In fact, I might join you. I’m loving this book.

John, there are four novellas of The Fearing, yet. Is this a finished series are can we expect even more parts?

The book is about fears and Adam seems to know quite well which one the greatest fear for everyone is, be it spiders, height etc. Do you have anything you fear and if yes, did this inspire you to write these books?

I am halfway through part one and liking it very much. In this apocalyptic and quite dark atmosphere you managed to make me laugh a few times and I didn't expect that in this kind of novel. Also, I hope Kyle will finally figure out how to get his shirt back on, lol.

I finished this one tonight. Excellent writing, John. You have me sold and I’m looking your other 3 up right now to order! Review coming.

Just added to my TBR.

I also finished book 1 a few days ago. I am waiting for books 2 & 3 to arrive and then will go on reading 🙂

Just about finished and really enjoying the quiet creepiness of the story. I like that we don't know what is happening in the world any more than the people in the story.
I've already lined up the second installment.

Sorry all! Had a bout of stomach flu that laid me low last week, but I am back. Let me read through everything and see what y'all are saying. Thanks for your patience. Ugh. Flu!

Kenneth wrote: "Hey John. How did the idea of THE FEARING come about and was it always your intention to do the story in multiple novellas?"

I worked on this book off and on for about five or six years. It was a doozy of a book, with a huge cast of characters spread across the entire U.S. And a big idea to boot. So I took my time with it, chipping away until about 2016, when I sprinted to get it finished.

As to the serialization, no, that was not the original plan. The original plan was just for a book door-stop of a book. But when I eventually placed it with Grey Matter Press in Chicago, the publisher suggested splitting it up. I ran through the manuscript and saw that there were four possible splits, if I rearranged some of the chapters. So that's what we did, and I think it worked.

Andrew “The Weirdling” wrote: "Took me a bit to notice- I like how the teenagers keep getting distracted by their general horniness. Life and death situations, but “gosh, his/her bod!” lol It’s very much how I remember that horm..."

Thanks. Even though the book is obviously plot driven, characterization is very, very important, both to me as an author and to the story. If I can't get you interested in these characters, if I can't get you to care about them, then you won't care when I ultimately knock the crap out of them later in the story.

Kenneth wrote: "We are only doing the first book, but I’m sure John won’t mind discussing the other books in the series, if you decide to continue with the story after reading Part One. In fact, I might join you. ..."

I'm available to talk about all four of the books! Hopefully when you finish Book One, you'll be itching to read the others.

Feli wrote: "John, there are four novellas of The Fearing, yet. Is this a finished series are can we expect even more parts?

The book is about fears and Adam seems to know quite well which one the greatest fea..."

He will. Promise.

Yes, the four books of The Fearing comprise the whole of the story. I hadn't originally thought there would be anything further to say on this story, but I had an idea a month or so ago about a sequel of sorts that I'm working on now. I'll be sharing more on that later, as I map it out.

Kenneth wrote: "I finished this one tonight. Excellent writing, John. You have me sold and I’m looking your other 3 up right now to order! Review coming."

Well, great! Thanks! Hope you like the rest of the story!

With the way book one ended, how could anyone not want to read on? holy moly!
I'll be starting the second installment this week. Eager to see what happens next and hoping my own biggest fear doesn't show up... I'm claustrophobic.

WendyB wrote: "With the way book one ended, how could anyone not want to read on? holy moly!
I'll be starting the second installment this week. Eager to see what happens next and hoping my own biggest fear doesn'..."

Wait until the end of Book Two. Heh...

Not for claustrophobia, mind you, just...well, you'll see.

I should be able to listen to this today. I see you have a Bell Witch book! That sounds good.

I am currently reading book 2 and am liking the new characters. Every good apocalyptic story needs a Reverend for sure. Chapter 16: (view spoiler)[Woah, that kid Dom gave me the creeps (hide spoiler)].

Latasha wrote: "I should be able to listen to this today. I see you have a Bell Witch book! That sounds good."

The Bell Witch was my first novel, and it seems to have done very well. My take on this fantastic legend.

Feli wrote: "I am currently reading book 2 and am liking the new characters. Every good apocalyptic story needs a Reverend for sure. Chapter 16: [spoilers removed]."

Hah! Yes. And Mark is main one, to be sure.

I'm reading the second installment now.
I had a bad feeling about the group heading towards Phoenix: (view spoiler)[ I live in the Phoenix area and was just blown up in a nuclear explosion (in the book of course) yikes! (hide spoiler)]

John wrote: "Latasha wrote: "I should be able to listen to this today. I see you have a Bell Witch book! That sounds good."

The Bell Witch was my first novel, and it seems to have done very well. My take on th..."

John, did you grow up with the Bell Witch legend or was it one that captured your attention from afar? How did you choose to write about that legend?

It was one of the things I read when I was a kid that really stuck with me. When I started writing, I knew I wanted to do something with that legend. Same thing with the haunting at Borley Rectory in the UK. Still want to do something with that, too.

I use to be VERY afraid of the end of the world. I thought I was over that but after listening to your book, I’m not sure anymore. It scared me.

I still have about 1 hour left to listen.

I can understand that, Latasha. It's a very scary scenario. And sometimes I think we're not too far away from something happing with all that's going on these days.

I finished book 2 yesterday and it was as good as the first one. I still can't believe those teens still have relationship/romance problems, lol, but the ending really got me. (view spoiler)[ Sarah was the character I cared most for and now... :( (hide spoiler)]

I also have book 3 here and hope to start it by the end of the week. We will see when I dare to put this up :D

Latasha wrote: "I use to be VERY afraid of the end of the world. I thought I was over that but after listening to your book, I’m not sure anymore. It scared me."

Well, that's a good thing...right? Heh.

Feli wrote: "I can understand that, Latasha. It's a very scary scenario. And sometimes I think we're not too far away from something happing with all that's going on these days.

I finished book 2 yesterday and..."

Yeah, that ending got to me, too. It snuck up outta nowhere!

Just wanted you all to know that the Preliminary Ballot for the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Awards came out today, and THE FEARING made it onto the ballot for Special Achievement in Novels. So, yay! Now I gotta hope it goes onto the final ballot. So, thanks again for all of you reading it!

Yeah that’s a good thing!

Good luck, John!

Yay, that's great to hear, John! Good luck!

I have finished part 3 and thought it really good. It was the best part for me, so far. Book 4 just arrived, so I will be reading it sometime in February.

Thank you all for the read and thanks John for joining us. I really like the series a lot and am glad that it was picked up in this group

I also just googled the Bell witch. Never heard about that legend, but maybe I will look up what you wrote about it :)

Thank you all for reading THE FEARING. I really appreciate it.

Look up my other works: THE BELL WITCH, LITTLE DEATHS, LITTLE BLACK SPOTS and THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS.