Horror Aficionados discussion

Not sure how many Blake Crouch fans around here, but I just received this newsletter about his up-and-coming books. His novel Abandon blew me away and received a five-star rating.

Can't wait for Snowbound and I'm going to have to break down and buy some kind of e-reader so I can get access to Crouch's other stuff, especially Perfect Little Town.

He's a writer with a lot of style. Check him out!

BLAKE CROUCH NEWSLETTER - SPRING 2010

I know it’s been awhile, but I’ve been working through a long, cold Colorado winter on a number of projects. First up, my new novel, SNOWBOUND, will be published on June 22, 2010! To read an excerpt, check out the new SNOWBOUND page on my website. Meanwhile, here’s the jacket flap copy:

“For Will Innis and his daughter, Devlin, the loss was catastrophic. Every day for the past five years, they wonder where she is, if she is—Will’s wife, Devlin’s mother—because Rachael Innis vanished one night during an electrical storm on a lonely desert highway, and suspected of her death, Will took his daughter and fled. Now, Will and Devlin live under different names in another town, having carved out a new life for themselves as they struggle to maintain some semblance of a family. When one night, a beautiful, hard-edged FBI agent appears on their doorstep, they fear the worst, but she hasn’t come to arrest Will. ‘I know you’re innocent,’ she tells him, ‘because Rachael wasn’t the first…or the last.’ Desperate for answers, Will and Devlin embark on a terrifying journey that spans four thousand miles from the desert southwest to the wilds of Alaska, heading unaware into the heart of a nightmare, because the truth is infinitely worse than they ever imagined.”

Almost a year ago, my friend Joe Konrath and I released a free short story in eBook form called SERIAL, about the hazards of hitchhiking. It turned out to be the most popular (and hated) thing either of us had ever written with over 200,000 downloads to date.

Joe and I have just finished writing SERIAL UNCUT, which vastly expands upon the original story (by almost 30,000 words), and delves deep into the back-stories of those two beautiful human beings, Lucy and Donaldson. What’s more, my prequel section with Lucy also features three characters we haven’t seen in awhile: Andrew Thomas, Orson Thomas, and Luther Kite, from my first two books, DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS.

SERIAL UNCUT is available as a $1.99 download in the Amazon Kindle store, or as a gorgeous eBook designed by Jeroen ten Berge, coming soon to my website.

What? There’s more? Yes! I often get emails from folks asking to read the full versions of my short stories, so I decided to put together a little collection. FOUR LIVE ROUNDS features “*69,” “Remaking,” “On the Good, Red Road,” and “Shining Rock.” It’s currently available as a $1.99 download on Amazon Kindle, or as a spectacular eBook designed by Jeroen ten Berge, coming soon to my website.

Nope, we’re still not finished. I told you I’d been busy. PERFECT LITTLE TOWN is a horror novella I just completed.

Ron and Jessica Stahl are a power couple from Southern California, on a Christmas driving holiday in the Colorado mountains.

When they stop for the afternoon in sleepy Lone Cone (Pop. 317), they’re charmed by the quaint tourist town which is filled with B&Bs, candy stores, and gift shops.

But the folksy hospitality will vanish as the sun drops behind the mountains. A winter storm is approaching, and the Stahls couldn’t have picked a worse night of the year to get snowed into this perfect little town with a dark, dark secret.

From the author of DESERT PLACES, ABANDON, and SERIAL UNCUT comes this horror novella, which also contains an interview with Blake, excerpts from all four of his novels, and a bonus excerpt of SERIAL UNCUT.

PERFECT LITTLE TOWN is available as a $1.99 download in the Amazon Kindle store, or as an eBook designed by, you guessed it, Jeroen ten Berge, coming soon.

And we’re still not done...No, I’m kidding, we are. I’m exhausted.

Happy spring, All!

Blake

haha - i dont think he has written a news letter since, but I LOVE his Luther Kite/andrew Thomas series - really well written, exciting, violent and very entertaining!

I have never read anything by Crouch. A little bit ago I released a novel called RUN, and a few weeks later he released a book by the same name. We duked it out on the bestsellers lists for a while, and my RUN ended up going higher on the Kindle lists overall, but his has had more staying power and is still doing well, which makes me happy (any time an indie can make some headway I think it's a great thing).

That being said, I picked up his RUN and tried to read it a few weeks ago and couldn't get past the first few pages. It was a bit boring for my tastes (I'm not saying it's a boring book, it just didn't get MY particular blood racing). Still, I'd like to try something else of his since I've heard such great things about him. What are his VERY best books?

If you want to have some fun, I would recommend DRACULAS which was a collaboration between Jeff Strand, F. Paul Wilson, Kilborn (Konrath) and Crouch.
I have read his Run, not yours and enjoyed it very much.
Tressa has been talking about Abandon for a while now, she says it's awesome. I haven't gotten to it yet. : (

I read his Four Live Rounds short story colection and it was very good. I have Run downloaded but haven't read it yet.

Draculas was a fun read... I've read all of his work so far and have not been disappointed.

Armand Rosamilia

I, too, enjoyed RUN. Like Charlene, I've also read his collaborative work, DRACULAS, and enjoyed that as well. Got quite a few of his other books on my Kindle but haven't gotten around to them, yet, although I've been eyeing Eerie with Jordan Crouch. Good cover art and blurb for that one.

I did pick up Eerie. My other group has a potential reads list and it's on there. IT does look interesting.

I just started reading Blake Crouch's work this summer. I started with Serial, which was great, but I've liked everything else even more. His love of Cormac McCarthy really shows in his prose style, and I think it sets him above his peers among indie horror writers.

I will have to check him out and I absolutely love my nook I recommend and e-reader to everyone. I thought I would hate it bc there something about the way a book smells and flipping the pages that is irreplaceable. However It has opened up a whole other world of authors who are just starting out and a lot of these books are free so its def worth it. I still by books every week to build up my library tho I dont think you have to trade one for the other

My first exposure to Crouch was his shared work on DRACULAS with Strand, Konrath and Wilson. I was so impressed by that book (and frankly, prior to this had never heard of Crouch, Strand or Konrath), that I sought out work by all. The first I read by Crouch was RUN and I thought it was incredible and thoroughly enjoyed it. Since then, I've read some of his short work and am looking forward to the first Andrew Thomas book.

Vince wrote: "My first exposure to Crouch was his shared work on DRACULAS with Strand, Konrath and Wilson. I was so impressed by that book (and frankly, prior to this had never heard of Crouch, Strand or Konrat..."

I agree that Run was fantastic! Desert Places and Locked Doors are awesome as well. His latest book, Pines, comes out in month. I think it's interesting that you and I both first heard of Crouch through his collaborative work with other writers, a model I think the self-published world will be using more in the future.

I haven't heard of his work either, but am definitely going to check him out! Thanks for the heads up, all! :O)

I haven't read anything by Crouch, either, though I have heard of him. This will be rectified soon!

Hey John,

it's always a joy discovering new authors... in the old days (aka the late 80s) I usually discovered new authors by reading the latest horror anthologies...

If you haven't read Strand or Konrath yet, I really recommend them too.

In the 90s we had Dell Abyss to introduce us to new horror authors. I miss imprints like those.

I did the same thing, Vince. I would get some type of anthology, mark the stories that I liked and then track down new authors from there.

Todd - I always found the Dell Abyss line to be.... not sure of the word.... hoity toity...? Can't remember actually reading anything from that line that I enjoyed...

Vince wrote: "Todd - I always found the Dell Abyss line to be.... not sure of the word.... hoity toity...? Can't remember actually reading anything from that line that I enjoyed..."

We discussed this in the past here (along with a list of Dell Abyss titles):
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

Some gems in there ;)

I'll look at that thread right now... I remember their first release was CIPHER by Kathe Koja, and I read it and then read all the reviews praising it, and I'm thinking, "Really? I so don't agree with any of that.." The only other releases I can remember is one from R. Patrick Gates and I think, one from John Byrne. Again, in both cases, I don't remember finding anything I liked.... but I'll check out the thread. Thanks for the link.

Vince wrote: "Hey John,

it's always a joy discovering new authors... in the old days (aka the late 80s) I usually discovered new authors by reading the latest horror anthologies...

If you haven't read Strand..."

I haven't read Strand, but I thoroughly enjoyed Konrath/Kilborn's Afraid. I have a copy of Draculas that I've been meaning to get to. It's awesome that these independent writers can release so much more work without the hindrance of the industry machinery.

I agree... and at a price point that allows us to buy several books at one time!

I haven't read Afraid yet but have it. Did you read the related books, Trapped and Endurance?

Vince wrote: "I agree... and at a price point that allows us to buy several books at one time!

I haven't read Afraid yet but have it. Did you read the related books, Trapped and Endurance?"

I haven't read them yet, but (as per your comment about their price points) I purchased both after reading "Serial Killers Uncut".

I've got Serial Killers Uncut but haven't read that yet. The only thing by Konrath I've read so far is his collection of short stories, "65 Proof" and "Whiskey Sour" both of which I liked.

I recently read Endurance. It was fast paced and a lot of fun, BUT it was a bit cliche and the ending was easily guessed.
Draculas, however, was just a rip roaring, funny gorefest.

Crouch is easily in my top 5 favorites. ABANDON is pretty incredible, and check out PINES if you like Twin Peaks.

I am about halfway through Eerie and I am hooked! It's a great read so far.

I've been eager to read Pines. It comes out on the 21st! While I've enjoyed Blake Crouch's collaborations with Konrath (Serial) and his brother (Eerie), I think his solo work is stronger. Abandon, Run, Desert Places, and Locked Doors are all fantastic.

John wrote: "I've been eager to read Pines. It comes out on the 21st! "

Be sure to friend Blake on Facebook. He's done giveaways of ebook ARCs for STIRRED, EERIE, and PINES.

I subscribe to Blake's newsletter. Not sure about FB. Does he spout off about politics? This really annoys me when writers do this.

Tressa wrote: "I subscribe to Blake's newsletter. Not sure about FB. Does he spout off about politics? This really annoys me when writers do this."

I haven't seen any political grandstanding, but I did see a lot of talk of free advance e-copies of Pines this summer.

Tressa wrote: "I subscribe to Blake's newsletter. Not sure about FB. Does he spout off about politics? This really annoys me when writers do this."

I can't think of any political posts from him. It's pretty easy to guess his views from his books, but I don't think he's really heavy handed about that stuff anywhere.

That's good to know, John and Chris. It's a pet peeve of mine. Thanks.

Chris wrote: "John wrote: "I've been eager to read Pines. It comes out on the 21st! "

Be sure to friend Blake on Facebook. He's done giveaways of ebook ARCs for STIRRED, EERIE, and PINES."

Chris, would you have Blake's FB page addy? there are like 50 Blake Crouch's on FB, I dont want to friend all of them just the genius author!

Here it is:
https://www.facebook.com/blake.crouch.9

I usually borrow from the library or hunt for free eBooks, but there are a handful of writers I will fork out the dough for. Blake Crouch is one of them and I just ordered Pines for my Kindle. It looks good and I can't wait to get to it. (I also pay for Jeff Strand's and Ryan C. Thomas' books. In fact my husband bought a Ryan C. Thomas eBook from Amazon that I already owned, and I didn't lecture him!)

Blake Crouch is fantastic. Just finished Abandon because I saw a few posts from Tressa and thought it was a super great read. Also read DRACULAS which was freakin awesome. Looking forward to Run and The Pines.

Hey, glad you liked Abandon! I need to listen to it on audio; been several years since I read it.

Draculas was a freakin' BLAST! What a good time!

I haven't read Abandon or Pines. I did read Run though and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tressa, I may ask to borrow Abandon from you at some point, if it's loanable.

Well, let me clear that up. The first book I ever read of Crouch's was Abandon, and I got it from the library since I knew nothing about him. Everything after that I bought for my Kindle. Sorry.

Bummer! : )
Thanks for letting me know, though. I will just add it to my wish list.

Please get around to reading it some day. Although as prolific as you are with your reading, I'm sure you will.

PINES is great. I got it when he did the giveaway a few months ago. If you're a Twin Peaks fan you'll love it.

I did like Twin Peaks. Looking very forward to Pines.