Let's Talk About Horror Fiction and Film
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Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
I have 'World War Z' as well, and I'm looking forward to reading it. It's been highly recommended by some of my friends.
I read Stephen King's 'Cell' a while back and loved it.
I'm planning to read 'I Am Legend' again for the first time in many years in preparation for the movie.
I have 'World War Z' as well, and I'm looking forward to reading it. It's been highly recommended by some of my friends.
I read Stephen King's 'Cell' a while back and loved it.
I'm planning to read 'I Am Legend' again for the first time in many years in preparation for the movie.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
Hmmm, a combination of second and first person, judging from the first few pages; I wonder if that will have some significance later on....
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
Out of nowhere last weekend I got onto on a Thomas Ligotti kick. Ligotti is one of those obscure but highly-praised writers of horror, frequently compared with Poe and Lovecraft but possessed of his own distinctive voice.
In keeping with the theme of the thread, I'll mention Ligotti's two stories that are set at Halloween. "Alice's Last Adventure" is the narrative of an elderly children's fiction writer. The past year of her life has been odd. Strange things have been happening. Nothing big enough to be truly alarming, but there are these strange... inversions, moments that seem to be building to something but don't. Ligotti manages to make these trivial occurrences quite unsettling, and the story builds to a grim crescendo.
The other Halloween story, "Conversations in a Dead Language," deals with several successive Halloweens in the life of a solitary young man with an unpleasant past. It's difficult to say more about the plot without giving the story away, but it combines unpleasant real-world horrors and the supernatural in a way that is both satisfying and disturbing.
"Alice's Last Adventure" is available in The Shadow at the Bottom of the World, a nice sampler of Ligotti's work. "Conversations in a Dead Language" is probably most easily found in October Dreams, a Halloween-themed collection originally published by Cemetery Dance.
Out of nowhere last weekend I got onto on a Thomas Ligotti kick. Ligotti is one of those obscure but highly-praised writers of horror, frequently compared with Poe and Lovecraft but possessed of his own distinctive voice.
In keeping with the theme of the thread, I'll mention Ligotti's two stories that are set at Halloween. "Alice's Last Adventure" is the narrative of an elderly children's fiction writer. The past year of her life has been odd. Strange things have been happening. Nothing big enough to be truly alarming, but there are these strange... inversions, moments that seem to be building to something but don't. Ligotti manages to make these trivial occurrences quite unsettling, and the story builds to a grim crescendo.
The other Halloween story, "Conversations in a Dead Language," deals with several successive Halloweens in the life of a solitary young man with an unpleasant past. It's difficult to say more about the plot without giving the story away, but it combines unpleasant real-world horrors and the supernatural in a way that is both satisfying and disturbing.
"Alice's Last Adventure" is available in The Shadow at the Bottom of the World, a nice sampler of Ligotti's work. "Conversations in a Dead Language" is probably most easily found in October Dreams, a Halloween-themed collection originally published by Cemetery Dance.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
Dark Harvest was great. I read it over the weekend. It's a real page turner, as this guy writes at about ninety miles an hour. It's got a bunch of surprises, a few lingering mysteries and a really nice ending. I recommend it.
I also watched The Abominable Dr Phibles last night. Halloween Week has begun!
Dark Harvest was great. I read it over the weekend. It's a real page turner, as this guy writes at about ninety miles an hour. It's got a bunch of surprises, a few lingering mysteries and a really nice ending. I recommend it.
I also watched The Abominable Dr Phibles last night. Halloween Week has begun!
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
I could kiss you right now. I went to Borders about a month or so ago, and I saw The Shadow at the Bottom of the World, and thought about getting it, but didn't. A week later, I went back and it was gone, and I couldn't remember the title or author. And searching the horror section of Amazon with "shadow" as a keyword...well, there were a few results.
So, thanks.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was pretty confident you would. I might have to read it again next year.
There was an interview on Partridge's website (I can't seem to find it now), where the interviewer said that it felt like the book was written in one sitting. The pace really makes it feel like that.
Such a weird little movie.
I'm a sucker for revenge tales.
I could kiss you right now. I went to Borders about a month or so ago, and I saw The Shadow at the Bottom of the World, and thought about getting it, but didn't. A week later, I went back and it was gone, and I couldn't remember the title or author. And searching the horror section of Amazon with "shadow" as a keyword...well, there were a few results.
So, thanks.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was pretty confident you would. I might have to read it again next year.
There was an interview on Partridge's website (I can't seem to find it now), where the interviewer said that it felt like the book was written in one sitting. The pace really makes it feel like that.
RJDracula said:
I also watched The Abominable Dr Phibles last night. Halloween Week has begun!
Such a weird little movie.
I'm a sucker for revenge tales.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
Tonight, I'll either watch the sequel or start reading The Willows. 
Yeah, really. I felt like I could have read it in one sitting, if circumstances permitted; or maybe not sitting, but pacing back and forth.
I had forgotten about the silly bits. I saw it when I was very young, so I remembered it as being more serious.Such a weird little movie.
Tonight, I'll either watch the sequel or start reading The Willows.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
In addition to the things I've mentioned above, I'm now reading 20th Century Ghosts, the first short story collection by Joe Hill. Hill's real name is Joseph Hillstrom King; he's Stephen King's son, but started writing under a pen name so as not to trade on his father's influence. He made a big splash earlier this year with his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box. I read it after my mom was bowled over by it. She thought he was a better writer than his father. I wasn't so sure. On a sentence-by-sentence level he's probably better at prose than his father, but there's more originality in King's best work than in the rather conventional Heart-Shaped Box.
I'd heard that the stories in 20th Century Ghosts were more inventive, but I've read about half of them so far and I'm not seeing it. That said, a couple of the pieces are effective as traditional horror. "Best New Horror" has a nicely-executed description of creepy backwoods life, and the spirit in "20th Century Ghost" has the chilling effect of the best ghost stories. Not all the stories in the collection are horror, or even genre; there are a couple of slice-of-life pieces, though in my opinion they tend to mark the low points of the book.
Glad it helped.Spookman Spiff said:
So, thanks.
In addition to the things I've mentioned above, I'm now reading 20th Century Ghosts, the first short story collection by Joe Hill. Hill's real name is Joseph Hillstrom King; he's Stephen King's son, but started writing under a pen name so as not to trade on his father's influence. He made a big splash earlier this year with his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box. I read it after my mom was bowled over by it. She thought he was a better writer than his father. I wasn't so sure. On a sentence-by-sentence level he's probably better at prose than his father, but there's more originality in King's best work than in the rather conventional Heart-Shaped Box.
I'd heard that the stories in 20th Century Ghosts were more inventive, but I've read about half of them so far and I'm not seeing it. That said, a couple of the pieces are effective as traditional horror. "Best New Horror" has a nicely-executed description of creepy backwoods life, and the spirit in "20th Century Ghost" has the chilling effect of the best ghost stories. Not all the stories in the collection are horror, or even genre; there are a couple of slice-of-life pieces, though in my opinion they tend to mark the low points of the book.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
My Halloween reading consisted of re-reading "I Am Legend" and "Hell House" by Richard Matheson. I'm still working on "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. It's a great book about two British exploration ships (circa 1848) that become icelocked in the Artic Circle. If that's not enough there's a mysterious Eskimo woman, and an enormous creature feeding on the crews. It's a good read.
Nathan
My Halloween reading consisted of re-reading "I Am Legend" and "Hell House" by Richard Matheson. I'm still working on "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. It's a great book about two British exploration ships (circa 1848) that become icelocked in the Artic Circle. If that's not enough there's a mysterious Eskimo woman, and an enormous creature feeding on the crews. It's a good read.
Nathan
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
^^ That sounds interesting.
And Night Shift is definitely recommended. Stephen King was always better at short stories than novels, and that collection shows him at the peak of his powers.
^^ That sounds interesting.
And Night Shift is definitely recommended. Stephen King was always better at short stories than novels, and that collection shows him at the peak of his powers.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
Where movies are concerned, last night I watched Haxan. If you haven't see it, it's an interesting early documentary with some downright creepy visuals. Very Hallowe'eny. I may have to make an avatar from it.
I thought I might find a good Caption This! image from it, but no dice. I'm a bit stumped for the Golden Cthulhu this year.
Where movies are concerned, last night I watched Haxan. If you haven't see it, it's an interesting early documentary with some downright creepy visuals. Very Hallowe'eny. I may have to make an avatar from it.
I thought I might find a good Caption This! image from it, but no dice. I'm a bit stumped for the Golden Cthulhu this year.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
I read Dark Harvest over the weekend as well (I went and bought it, because it turned out not to be a book I picked up over the summer).
It moved fast. I'm not sure if I loved the run and gun style, and it certainly left me hungry for a little more info and back story about some of the characters and the town, but it was an enjoyable little book.
I read Dark Harvest over the weekend as well (I went and bought it, because it turned out not to be a book I picked up over the summer).
It moved fast. I'm not sure if I loved the run and gun style, and it certainly left me hungry for a little more info and back story about some of the characters and the town, but it was an enjoyable little book.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
I was actually planning on reading Something Wicked This Way Comes... but I might be going with some Stephen King tonight.
I was actually planning on reading Something Wicked This Way Comes... but I might be going with some Stephen King tonight.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
The Willows was great. And it was kind of blustery outside, which helped the ambiance.
The Willows was great. And it was kind of blustery outside, which helped the ambiance.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
It seems a shame to let this thread drop away. I wonder if we should rename it to something like "Let's talk about horror novels" or maybe just bump this old thread.
What do you guys think?
It seems a shame to let this thread drop away. I wonder if we should rename it to something like "Let's talk about horror novels" or maybe just bump this old thread.
What do you guys think?
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
I agree. It's not like the forum is exactly overburdened with discussion of literature. I'm all for renaming the thread to something more general.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
I'm up for more Horrorification.
I'm up for more Horrorification.
Re: Hallowe'en Reading 2007!
Spiff! Mummy: Dark Resurrection finally shipped!
Spiff! Mummy: Dark Resurrection finally shipped!
