Paste: Read 12 plus abandoned another on the list. Can't fault their #1 choice.NPR: 37, +1 abandoned, rather to my surprise, though this list is very heavy on the classics
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Monday, 3 September 2018 07:03 (five years ago) link
I think I'm up to like 7 on the Paste list and 13 on the NPR (the short story anthology section of the latter spooked me out because they basically took a photograph of one of my bookshelves). Of the top of my head, I'm only disappointed that House on the Borderland is missing from both. Definitely bookmarking these for future reference.
― Digital Squirts (Old Lunch), Monday, 3 September 2018 14:12 (five years ago) link
Ketchum's The Girl Next Door from the Paste list is an extremely disturbing read. Although I'm not sure I'd even classify it as a horror novel
― Number None, Monday, 3 September 2018 15:44 (five years ago) link
LL's description of Harvest Home sounds appealing. I'll try to track that down.
― jmm, Monday, 3 September 2018 15:49 (five years ago) link
It's really good! The Widow Fortune is a character I will never forget.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 3 September 2018 16:01 (five years ago) link
I've read 17 on the Paste list, 29 on the NPR list ... there are a lot of titles on both that I've intended to read for a long time, especially those Tryon novels.
The Elementals is a perfect horror beach book.
― Brad C., Monday, 3 September 2018 16:29 (five years ago) link
Started / the woman in black / , going well so far. Review was correct in saying that it could pass as having been written a hundred years ago
― calstars, Monday, 3 September 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link
“Burnt Offerings” comes close to being a masterpiece and just might be.
― calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 17:59 (five years ago) link
Still need to read that. The paperback cover (for movie tie-in?) used to give me the heebie jeebies as a kid. I wasn’t even familiar with the title phrase at the time, which added to it.
― Recnac and my 📛 is Yrral (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 November 2018 18:34 (five years ago) link
Actually don’t think they had movie tie-ins per se at the time, when the book was written beforehand. There were novelizations of course, but that’s different.
― Recnac and my 📛 is Yrral (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 November 2018 18:37 (five years ago) link
It starts kind of pedestrian but then gets good.
― calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:01 (five years ago) link
I just bought the movie sight unseen the other day. I'm guessing it isn't quite as classic.
― My mother set great store by that microwave oven! (Old Lunch), Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:03 (five years ago) link
I don't know how it compares to the book, but it's a very decent 70s horror flick ... good cast, good score, lots of atmosphere, some scary set-pieces
― Brad C., Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:32 (five years ago) link
Book is undoubtedly a source for king’s shining
― calstars, Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:37 (five years ago) link
I think he's acknowledged that, yeah
― Number None, Saturday, 17 November 2018 19:43 (five years ago) link
Anyone read the Ceremonies by Klein?
― calstars, Friday, 23 November 2018 03:28 (five years ago) link
Yes... about 20 years ago. My recall of it is hazy but it’s on my reread list
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Friday, 23 November 2018 04:58 (five years ago) link
Just two weeks ago!
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 23 November 2018 09:19 (five years ago) link
I read it relatively recently too. Felt like all sizzle and no steak to me. Plus the villain is lame
― Number None, Friday, 23 November 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link
The villain is a centuries-old charred treehugger with one eye. Not lame at all.
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:01 (five years ago) link
He's a little old man who runs around giggling a lot
― Number None, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:22 (five years ago) link
That's the sidekick.
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:25 (five years ago) link
Familiar perhaps. But he has a lot more screentime
― Number None, Friday, 23 November 2018 14:51 (five years ago) link
I see it's discussed way upthread, but it's new to me:
I'm working my way through the VanderMeer-edited The Weird anthology, and so far it's the best-curated collection of this kind I've seen. I like the way it's limited to the 20th and 21st centuries, with all the texts presented in chronological order, and I especially like the way stories by the canonical English-language writers sit side-by-side with equally strong works in translation (many of them newly translated for this book). About a quarter of the way through, my biggest discovery has been the Belgian writer Jean Ray, represented by two quite different but equally unnerving stories. I've already downloaded some more of his work for future reading.
I'm glad I've got The Weird on my iPad -- handling the dead-tree edition would be a strength workout.
― Brad C., Friday, 23 November 2018 15:23 (five years ago) link
Wow - 110 stories, you’re not kidding
― calstars, Saturday, 24 November 2018 07:35 (five years ago) link
my gf got me the dead-tree anthology and i always feel terrible for not reading more in it but it's not exactly a book i can toss in the bag for an idle moment.
― JoeStork, Saturday, 24 November 2018 09:11 (five years ago) link
xxp description of The Weird also applies to the VanderMeers' massive Big Book of Science Fiction, which suggests to BB reader me that you should brace yourself for recurring bouts of inconsistency, esp. when DO YOU SEE social commentary trumps art & entertainment value. But keep on keepin' on.
― dow, Saturday, 24 November 2018 16:08 (five years ago) link