T.'s comments (member since Feb 02, 2009)

T.'s comments from the Literary Horror group.

Robert wrote: "Oy! That could be the mantra for most of my friends. (Problem these days is spotting a vanity press. They hide it well.) Veneration of the amateur is a blight on the genre, but if you rail against ..."

You've been blasted as an elitist because you've railed against self published books?

I can understand being labeled as an elitist because someone denergrated novels that they may consider "unitelligent" or "unprofessional". After all, those are subjective terms (though I've been told they are 'certainly not' by an author/editor whom I love and respect). ; )

T

For my review in Horrorworld on Robert Dunbar's new release, please click on the linc below. It's the third review.

http://www.horrorworld.org/reviews.htm

Thank you.


Robert wrote: "Thanks, Tony -- I'm glad you enjoyed M&M. I'm very proud of that book.

And,yes -- House of Leaves -- bewildering, exasperating, fascinating novel."

Michele wrote: "Have you tried Orgy of Souls? It's tempered by Maurice Broaddus' style so it's not as extreme.

Typically I'm the same way. I can only handle so much gore, but there always seems to be this, I don'..."

I met both Mo and Wrath at Mo*Con this past weekend and picked up Orgy Of Souls based on your recommendation.

If you have some time, you can read about my meeting with both these gentlemen as well as a few other horror authors please click the link below. I will admit that I am a fan boy, I love the genre, and this was the first time I ever got a chance to meet my literary idols. If you do read it, please forgive the typo's and other mistakes, I was in a hurry to post while it was so fresh, and so I wouldn't forget any of the details.

http://horrorworld.org/phpBB3/viewtopic....

Some day I hope to meet Braunbeck, Gifune, Robert Dunbar, and Steve Vernon. Then my fan boy horror obsession will be over and I can retire in relative contentment.

T

(Sorry if this shows up twice, the first time I tried to post the darn thing dissapeared on me as I was typing it. I have several theory's on this, but they all involve other worldly origins and I'm sure you would not find them all that interesting)

I will echo the shout on House of Leaves, it was a fascinating read.

I would like to add A Boy's Life by McCammon to the list as well as all of Greg Gifune's novels.

Finally, I would also submit Martyrs & Monsters, a new release by some guy named Robert Dunbar. This one will not only chill your blood and put hair on your spine, it will have you up all night chanting "...there, but for the grace of God...".

(Shameless plug time): There will be a far more articulate review in June's Review Section of Horrorworld.

Last item, maybe its just me, but I am becoming very disappointed in all the bashing of contemporary literature, including horror. What readers enjoy is subjective, and blanket statements about how horrible the new releases are in any genre seems to me to be a bit self serving. What I would rather read about, and enjoy reading, would be recommendations of books by readers. That is one of the things I really enjoy about this site, that there are some great suggestions given out here.

T.

Congrats on your novella! Good luck with it, Skullvines seems to know how to market so I bet you'll have good luck with it.

I got Sloppy Seconds and couldn't finish it. In fact, I have never finished a Wraith James White book that I've started. He is way toooooo intense for my tastes. However, I am going to be meeting him soon and I look forward to any discussion I might have with the man. He is such an interesting character.

Tt

Skullvines is a for real publisher and they've been around for a bit now. I've corresponded with those guys in the past and it is very apparent that they really know and love their horror.

That said, Skullvines publishes the most filthy, disgusting, and vomit inducing books I have ever read. These same books are also some of the most halariously funny and sexually deviant books I've ever come across.

I have reviewed Necrotica for Horrorworld (the review will be published on May 1st) and the review will give you a good idea of the type of reading you can expect with a Skullvines book.

A typical Skullvine release isn't for everybody, hell, I'm not even sure who its target audience is, but if you like that kind of debased, sexually abusive, and black humor flavored story telling, give them a try. Nessie Pimped My Wife or Necortica would be two good places to start.

T

Thank you for the kind words. The checks in the mail!

I tried to listen to Gifune's interview but for some reason I couldn't fast forward on the site to get to Greg's interview.

I can't stand heavy metal music and there were at least two segments with it blaring and causing my pets to howl in pain before Gifune's segment came on. I had to preserve my sanity and turn it off. I did ask Greg about it and he said it will be on You Tube in a day or so...I'll catch it there.

T.

I agree, Children Of Chaos is brilliant, as is most of the stuff Gifune writes. I feel awkward posting this linc, but I did review Children Of Chaos for Horrorworld this month. If you are interested please click below.

I am looking forward to both your books Rob, and to Gifune's intro.

http://www.horrorworld.org/reviews.htm

T.

Try Gina Ranalli's "The Wall". You should look it up on Amazon or Horror Mall. It will fill your need.

If you like a lot of sex thrown in, you should get something from the Hot Blood Series of books. All horror, some great authors, and lots of demented sex and love.

T.

Thanks Rob. If you go to the home page you will see 'Reviews' up on the top right hand side.

If you are looking for The Cellar, go to message boards and click on 'other', then hit the linc to 'The Cellar'.

If you get far enough into it, when you get to the Board Index page, it has all of the different boards all listed so you don't have to travel to all these different pages.

I hope you can find some good author's or books there that may be to your liking.

Lately we've all been discussing Greg Gifune in The Cellar. In fact you'll find a review in one of the threads (Deep Night I think) by Robert Dunbar who I see posts here alot.

T.

I’m new here, been lurking and have not really participated. But I did want to make a few comments.

I continuously hear the same complaints about horror; how it’s derivative, how you can’t find it in bookstores, how it’s been tamed for the young adult market. No offense, but people have to start finding new excuses to bash the genre; the old ones simply do not cut it anymore.

First of all, there are so many new horror titles out there in the past year alone that are so fresh, involving, and intellectually stimulating that it puts the derivative argument to shame. Just pick up The Pines, Children of Chaos (or any Gifune novel), Wraith’s books, Tom Piccirilli’s noir or small press books, Gary Braunbeck’s Prodigal Blues, Gord Rollo’s Jigsaw Man, Gene O’Neill, Ronald Malfi, I could go on and on.

Big deal, so we can’t find horror books at Borders. We all have the internet, and all we have to do is go to Amazon and type in 'horror novels'. Read the reviews if you’re not sure what you want to buy or not. In addition, both Delirium and Leisure have horror book clubs with some of the finest horror novels and chapbooks available today.

To give you an idea of the numbers of horror novels sold, the big publishers usually sell around 80,000 to 100,000 titles of a novel to consider it sucessful. Leisure considers success differently; if they sell around 20,000 -40,000 novels of a horror novel (depending on the author) they consider it a sucess. The small press is much different, you might see sales limited to as little as 300 copies of a novel and if its sold out, its considered a success.

In fact, Horror is thriving, and in part, it is the small press that is leading the way by introducing new horror authors to the market and allowing established ones to publish work that might be unsuitable for the big publishers. Lurk on some message boards and see what small press books the members are talking about, The Cellar in Horrrorworld is a great place (in the interest of fairness, I will admit to contributing reviews in the review section at Horrorworld), the book forums in The Haunt is another great way to discover new authors and horror titles. Speaking of The Haunt, it is a brand new social networking site devoted to Horror and in its first few weeks it has had about 1000 members join.

And as far as Twilight goes, more power to it. It is a way to get young people reading horror. If only a few of these young people graduate to the adult novels, I for one would be quite happy.

Sorry for the intrusion. I guess I just wanted to share my enthusiasm for the genre. I have been following this thread and have enjoyed it and just wanted to add my two cents.
Thanks.

Children of Chaos is one of the best books I've read in the past year. I can't go into it too much as I've got a review coming up in next month's Horrorworld on it, but I can say it does Joeseph Conrad well, and its subtext of loss/reacquired faith is a mind blower. Not to mention....the horror...the horror.

Tt