A good book for horror fans

Daniel Moore · Jun 28, 2006

The library that is my girlfriend has lent me her Stephen King's "Everything's Eventual" short story compilation. It's really good so far, and I'm only four or five stories in (out of fourteen). Even for these ones alone I'd buy the book. The funny thing is, it seems like it's been pretty realistic so far, with only one unrealistic horror story. The other ones are really well written action/drama stories with nothing supernatural involved. I never knew that King could write so well outside of his usual focus of monsters. I highly recommend this to any King fans. Just to give you a little teaser, there is one story called "Autopsy Room 4" about a man who appears to be dead but is really just unable to show any vital signs and who is on the table preparing for an autopsy. Another, "The Death of Jack Hamilton", speculates on the last days of Homer Van Meter, Jack Hamilton, and Johnnie Dillinger in their last days of being depression-era gangsters. It's really an incredibly well-written book, and I didn't realize how new it was until one of the stories reference a Game Cube. Definitely worth a trip to the bookstore, a few bucks, and some down time :thumbup:

tyr_shadowblade · Jun 28, 2006

If you'd like to try something really scary, check out The Nightmare Factory, by Thomas Ligotti.

Bob W · Jun 29, 2006

Thumbs Up from me too. It's much better than some of his later short story collections (Nightmares and Dreamscapes), and almost as well-written and imaginative as his early short stories (Skeleton Crew and Night Shift).

Hearts in Atlantis is sitting on the shelf too, but I haven't opened it yet. Instead, I'm temporarily setting it aside to read a collection of Elmore Leonard short stories.

-Bob

oz23 · Jun 30, 2006

tyr_shadowblade said:
If you'd like to try something really scary, check out The Nightmare Factory, by Thomas Ligotti.

An awesome book Tyr, IMHO he's up there with Lovecraft. Have you heard of a group called Current 93? they did an album called "In a foreign Town, In a Foreign Land" in collaboration with Ligotti, you play the CD whilst reading the text,

, creepy.
As to the Stephen king book, I always felt that King was at his best with short stories or novellas, with a few notable exceptions his novels seem to me to run out of steam. Just read "Cell" his latest novel and asides from his characters, who are always well written and engaging, it just didn't work for me.

knife_nut73 · Jul 3, 2006

Did anyone read "Cell"?

That was a good one.

tyr_shadowblade · Jul 3, 2006

oz23 said:
An awesome book Tyr, IMHO he's up there with Lovecraft.

IMHO, he is even better than Lovecraft. He is obviously well studied in things that aren't meant to be discussed on a public forum. Nearly everyone who reads his work cannot appreciate, or even comprehend, much of it. Definitely not intended for mass consumption.

cerulean · Jul 4, 2006

I read Cell a couple of months ago and really liked it. It kind of lost steam towards the end, but the first 100 pages or so were great - just total chaos.

Everythings Eventual was very good too. All of the stories are pretty strong, but my favorites were probably 1408 and Lunch at the Gotham Café. Those are sort of classic Stephen King type stories.

Im currently reading the last Dark Tower book and was surprised to see that Dinky from the title story of Everythings Eventual has a part in it. The Doctors from The Little Sisters of Eluria also make a brief appearance at the beginning of the book.

tyr_shadowblade · Jul 5, 2006

oz23 said:
Have you heard of a group called Current 93? they did an album called "In a foreign Town, In a Foreign Land" in collaboration with Ligotti, you play the CD whilst reading the text, , creepy.

I've heard of Current 93, but as of yet I haven't heard any of their stuff. Looked up "In a Foriegn Town. . ." on Amazon. Apparently, there were 2 limited edition releases -- one with a hardcover book, and one with a CD-sized booklet. Both were sold out via pre-orders before their release dates. Found a used copy on Amazon for around $250 -- apparently, it is rather rare.

Walking Man · Jul 5, 2006

cerulean said:
Im currently reading the last Dark Tower book and was surprised to see that Dinky from the title story of Everythings Eventual has a part in it. The Doctors from The Little Sisters of Eluria also make a brief appearance at the beginning of the book.

For those of you who didn't get it.... It's a story about Roland from the Gunslinger series.

oz23 · Jul 6, 2006

tyr_shadowblade said:
I've heard of Current 93, but as of yet I haven't heard any of their stuff. Looked up "In a Foriegn Town. . ." on Amazon. Apparently, there were 2 limited edition releases -- one with a hardcover book, and one with a CD-sized booklet. Both were sold out via pre-orders before their release dates. Found a used copy on Amazon for around $250 -- apparently, it is rather rare.

Sadly, a lot of their stuff is issued in limited editions. It's worth checking out their site www.Durtro.com if you're interested in Ligotti, 'cause they'll soon be publishing some exclusive new work by him. go to the site and get on the mailing list. As to their tunes, Tyr, they're what you might call "apocalyptic folk/industrial/experimental. hope this helps.

Vivi · Jul 8, 2006

I'd suggest House Of Leaves