Book Talk discussion

My group picks its next read today, but I will keep that in mind Chris. Thank you. : )
Do I sense sarcasm, in your "Oh yeah, that's nice" post?

To the other Chris, I enjoyed Pressure a lot, but like Dweller, it's not humor based, but there is some humor in there.

i love jeff strands books and i have the first three andrew mayhem books, waiting for a printed edition of the fourth. MANDIBLES is a fun ride indeed, am hoping to read the rest of his books as i come across them, but for now im starting the matt corbet books by mccammon, im 100 pages into SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD and there is no slowing down

Remember to hit the brakes when you reach the last chapter or your forehead will bounce off the table.

And when I want the giggles, I read Gahan Wilson and Robert Bloch.

ill hit the breaks when i put down THE PROVIDENCE RIDER my subterranian press edition just arrived today! i adore GAHAN WILSON's short fiction almost as much as his cartoons, i collect anything he puts his name on. i have a fun little collection of horror stories he edited titled WIERD TALES published by playboy, i think thats where i read Bloch's story 'A SCENT OF VINEGAR' about those fancy malaysian vampires that detach their heads and float around with thier internal organs hanging from the neck.

I think my group is going to be doing a read of Carrie, which is a short one.
So I started Anno Dracula.

Yes, it did!

So did THE BLOODY RED BARON!

I'm only a short way in, but I am really enjoying it, so far.

Hans wrote: "ill hit the breaks when i put down THE PROVIDENCE RIDER my subterranian press edition just arrived today! i adore GAHAN WILSON's short fiction almost as much as his cartoons, i collect anything he ..."

Holy cow someone wrote a story about that??? I read about them when I was a kid and was always horrified by the notion. The ones I remember were spirits, and they always came at you from the opposite direction it really looked like they were in.

Boy I'd love to read that story!

By the way, I loved Gahan Wilson's comic, "Nuts." It was reissued in book form again last year. I snatched it up!

Jon Recluse wrote: "Yes, it did!

So did THE BLOODY RED BARON!"

I didn't feel The Bloody Red Baron really held together in the end, but it was a very fun concept.

Marc wrote: "Jon Recluse wrote: "Yes, it did!

So did THE BLOODY RED BARON!"

I didn't feel The Bloody Red Baron really held together in the end, but it was a very fun concept."


It's much better than the next book in the series.

Charlene wrote: "I finished reading Cameron's Closet, it was just ok. It sure as hell wasn't scary.

I am in the mood for something funny so I started Jeff Strand's Mandibles. Are there any Strand fans 'round here?"

Benjamin wrote: "Strand makes for an excellent comedic interlude. I was giddy reading his Gleefully Macabre Tales"


I have "Mandibles" and look forward to reading it. Have started on Gifune's "Heretics" first, though.

I was disappointed with Pressure (mostly from the last chunk at the end) and less so with Dweller, liked Wolf Hunt a lot, and enjoyed Bad Day for Voodoo but found it sort of an iffy recommendation, as the characters were very thin even for Jeff Strand, who seems to specialize in momentum and voice more than anything else.

Still, I will continue reading his books. If nothing else, they tend to be fun. But I am surprised that of the four books of his I read, I would wind up liking "Wolf Hunt" the best. I think he's at his best when he keeps it light, as he doesn't seem to have full control of his voice yet.

I liked Heretics. A lot. I can't wait to see what you think, Marc.

Currently reading The Ghosts of Belfast.

I can't remember if I already posted this, but Ania Ahlborn's SEED is pretty great. I'm reading the re-released version, and it's definitely worth checking out.

I read the original version last year, Chris and I thought it ROCKED. : )

Yes, it certainly did. I am curious to see what she added because I actually wanted more back story and detail when I was reading. Which actually is a compliment and shows that I really liked the story.

I am currently halfway through Dweller. Have you read that one, Charlene?

If you liked the older one, you'll dig the new version. The new material is integrated really well, so it feels like "more" of an experience but not like there's cut stuff shoehorned in.

I did like it. I thought it was a very original story (hard to come by these days) and very compelling. What I wanted was more of the dad's back story and while I loved the ending and am glad it wasn't changed, I wanted more of the final confrontations. Quite a bit of it happened off stage and I wanted to see more of it.

" I am currently halfway through Dweller. Have you read that one, Charlene?"

LMAO! You're funny, Chris. : )
Are you enjoying it so far?

Yes. Resisting the impulse to play hookey at work and finish it....LOL

I won't tell anyone.

So you are now the devil on my shoulder?

I prefer to think of myself as Gazoo. : )

Too funny. Great one. Gazoo is very cool.

I really envy your folks that know how to paste things onto these threads.....grumble grumble.

Chris, it took me 'bout half an hour to figure it out, so I'm hoping you at least chuckled. : )

If you click on (some html is ok) it shows you how to do it.

Thank you!

Charlene wrote: "I prefer to think of myself as Gazoo. : )

"

I just remembered how goofy, in retrospect, some arguments and complaints can be. I remember how people used to say that The Great Gazoo was pandering and too commercial, and he ruined the cutting edge of ... The Flintstones. haha!

Marc wrote: "Hans wrote: "ill hit the breaks when i put down THE PROVIDENCE RIDER my subterranian press edition just arrived today! i adore GAHAN WILSON's short fiction almost as much as his cartoons, i collect..." Marc the bloch story has bee3n reprinted countless times, most recently in Cemetery dance's collection of edgar award winners edited by J.R.Landsdale, there is also a movie but the title evades me atm.

I'm going to see if I can stumble across it for free, Hans, thanks. I'm dropping way too much money on books lately.

Ok, so I got an email about some Kealan books but my funds are limited. Which of these would you choose:

Midlisters
30 Miles South of Dry County
Saturday Night at Eddies
Stage Whispers
The Aquaintance

(I've read the first Turtle Boy, but not the rest).

Charlene wrote: "Ok, so I got an email about some Kealan books but my funds are limited. Which of these would you choose:

Midlisters
30 Miles South of Dry County
Saturday Night at Eddies
Stage Whispers
The Aquaint..."

Stage Whispers!

What Jon said.

Kealan wrote: "Do you mean Stoker Award winners, Hans?"

yes! i did mean STOKER awards!

Yes, it was from Amazon. Apparantly, since I clicked "like' on a couple of your books, they sent me an email showing a bunch more of your books.
I eliminated the short story collections from what I posted here because I already have 40 ss collections on my Kindle and because I'm already reading Theater Macabre.
Stage Whispers it is then. Thanks!

Amazon emails you?

They only add to my "recommended for you" list.

And only Kealan books I've already bought....

I think I 'liked' the book that had 4 techno type stories in it. On the book's page at Ammy, right under the title and author's names there's a like button.
That's what I hit. I then received the email a few days later.

Thank you, Kealan!

I always use that "like" button.

Odd, but that's Amazon for you....

It was the first time I even noticed the 'like' button there. So, I assumed the email was because I did that.

Maybe it's something new.

I never get emails from Amazon except purchase confirmations, which are really annoying.

I get 'em.

My brother once gave me a huge list of awful songs to get for him, so they've sent me a lot of music recommendations over the years. Most of it for stuff I don't like. I'm still trying to live down those purchases I made for him!

LOL Marc!

I get emails all the time from Ammy. Too many. The Kindle Daily Deal, you may also like, blah blah blah.

I finished Anno Dracula. It RULED!
I thought I had spotted most of the characters referenced in the book, but at the end Mr. Newman had a list of all them and I missed a lot.
I think it was such a hoot for him to add Varney, Carmilla, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Moreau, etc...

Our horror group is doing a reread of Carrie. I'm 30% through already and I'm really enjoying it.

I'd like to read that one again one day. Also Salem's Lot. Carrie turned out to satisfyingly more meaty and personal than the average horror book, even though it can be read straight through easily just for fun.

I'm just reading a chapter or two a day, but am still enjoying Greg Gifune's "Heretics." His mixing of timelines doesn't make things perfectly clear, but almost all of his writing so far feels really emotionally true to his characters.

I just bailed on DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON by JL Bourne. It's written as a journal and the story is really engaging, but there are WAAAAAYYY too many typos. I get that Permuted Press is basically one guy, but the lack of editing in this thing is inexcusable. It's the kind of stuff that shouldn't have even been typed in a first draft. I don't mind a few typos here and there, especially in small press stuff, but several on each page is ridiculous.

I just picked up a copy of The Angel's Game

Marc wrote: "I'd like to read that one again one day. Also Salem's Lot. Carrie turned out to satisfyingly more meaty and personal than the average horror book, even though it can be read straight through easi..."

I'm glad to hear you are enjoying Heretics so far, Marc. I really liked that one. To me, that book as well as The Bleeding Season dealt with characters that had been seriously damaged. Gifune made them become real for me and I think that's why I like him so much.

Chris wrote: "I just bailed on DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON by JL Bourne. It's written as a journal and the story is really engaging, but there are WAAAAAYYY too many typos. I get that Permuted Press is basically one g..."

Chris, is it an e-book or DTB?

ebook. I've had this one kicking around for awhile, so I hope it's an earlier, "rougher" version.

Chris wrote: "I just bailed on DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON by JL Bourne. It's written as a journal and the story is really engaging, but there are WAAAAAYYY too many typos. I get that Permuted Press is basically one g..."

Agree with that way of looking at things, entirely. Especially if a book has been out there for a while, so there has been plenty of opportunity to fix up those little errors.

For the record, I just checked, and my version is the old Permuted Press edition, not the newer Simon & Schuster. Regardless, no publisher has any excuse to put out something this sloppy.

For anyone who's new-ish to Kindle or small press e-books, make sure you download samples prior to purchasing.

I have several friends that have native fluency in Spanish and English who have told me that the English translations of his books retain all the magic of the Spanish. We are very lucky since that isn't always true.