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The Scream
by
Rock 'n' Roll. Hell. Two great tastes that taste great together. Long before Elvis gyrated on the Sullivan Show or the Beatles toiled the smoky red-light bars of Hamburg, music has been sowing the seeds of liberation. Or damnation. With each new generation the edge of rebellion pushed farther. Rhythms quickened. Volume increased. Lyrics coarsened. The rules continued to be
...more
Hardcover, 448 pages
Published
June 1st 2001
by Stealth Press
(first published 1987)
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I didn't like "The Scream" one bit.
I'm an eighties kid, alright. One of my all time favourite movies happens to be Trick or Treat , a monumental, humongous piece of crap of a horror movie about a snuffed rockstar coming back from the dead because some bullied high-school kid spins his records backwards. Pure, unadulterated & delicious eighties cheese, boyos. Check this out: https://youtu.be/pjOnfKvqGEQ ("Gonna drive my long steel missile down on your love channel")
Even though "Trick or Treat" is ...more
I'm an eighties kid, alright. One of my all time favourite movies happens to be Trick or Treat , a monumental, humongous piece of crap of a horror movie about a snuffed rockstar coming back from the dead because some bullied high-school kid spins his records backwards. Pure, unadulterated & delicious eighties cheese, boyos. Check this out: https://youtu.be/pjOnfKvqGEQ ("Gonna drive my long steel missile down on your love channel")
Even though "Trick or Treat" is ...more

Lurid and over the top, but also features a giant monster who eats people with her vagina, and the first female character is introduced when we peer up her skirt while she's onstage. So there's that.
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Skipp & Spector's fourth collaborative novel is a sex & drugs & rock'n'roll splatterpunk gore fest, extremely graphic and disturbing at times, with controversial examinations of the changing world and values of the 1980s. It's a pretty good story, too, though not for the squeamish. I'd put it on the same shelf as Martin's Armageddon Rag, McCammon's The Five, and Denton's Wrack and Roll, except with a more horrific heavy-metal punkish slant. Rust never sleeps... let God sort it out.
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This is a far more complex book than any of the tag-lines would lead you to believe. Yes, it's an incredibly visceral horror story set in the world of rock-and-roll, but there are far deeper subjects that get addressed and discussed throughout the book.
One of the most obvious - and controversial - is that of abortion. One of the side characters struggles with the keeping of a pregnancy in light of her career, her history, her temperament, and her relationship with the father. Because of the natu ...more
One of the most obvious - and controversial - is that of abortion. One of the side characters struggles with the keeping of a pregnancy in light of her career, her history, her temperament, and her relationship with the father. Because of the natu ...more

When I first heard about this I jumped at the chance to read it, with it having numerous ingredients to whet my appetite to the point where I was salivating: heavy metal, demonic forces, a hedonistic band as the main protagonists, Catholic-bashing, and Vietnam, the most rock 'n' roll of all wars (at least in fiction, obvs in real life all war just flat-out sucks!!). And having read the Book of the Dead Vol. 1 & 2 as a feral child, I knew that The Scream wasn't going to skimp on the gory carnage
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Read this MANY moons ago, senior yeah of high school I think, on the recommendation of a friend. Very intense, very visceral, very graphic. The characters are fairly well developed and diverse in a complex story.
A few common tropes for the late 80's (Vietnam, heavy metal satanism, single mothers, corrupt televangelists, the works). But that's what the story is about, taping into the absurd paranoia of the time. It literally is a parent's rock and roll nightmare.
If you were going to compare this ...more
A few common tropes for the late 80's (Vietnam, heavy metal satanism, single mothers, corrupt televangelists, the works). But that's what the story is about, taping into the absurd paranoia of the time. It literally is a parent's rock and roll nightmare.
If you were going to compare this ...more

Skipp and Spector's third novel The Scream, published in 1988, is a real blast from the past, but many of the cultural links I believe will be lost to those not living in 1980s. The center of the novel is the band called The Scream-- a heavy metal act that is taking the nation by storm. Our main lead Jake Hamer is a Vietnam vet and leads his own heavy metal band. Early on, Jake appears on a talk show with a few other rockers (one side) and a minister and the wife of a senator (the other side) wh
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Recently finished THE SCREAM by John Skipp and Craig Spector and was amazed at how talented these guys are. They can tell one hell of a story. In THE SCREAM, Jake, a Vietnam vet and leader of a heavy metal band, jousts with Christian fundamentalists campaigning against what they see as Satanic rock music. What neither understands is that mega-cult band The Scream is actually using their music to plant the seeds of slaughter and literally raise Hell. Grounded in rich detail about the rock industr
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Jan 22, 2017
Albert
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
ha-tbr-shelf-challenge-2017
Ok I guess. This is my fourth Skipp/Spector novel and so far I'm all over the place when rating these guys.
This is the second book of theirs where I was completely indifferent towards all the characters, and to me forming some kind of emotional attachment to a character goes a long way towards making or breaking a novel. I thought the story itself was pretty unique though and somewhat interesting, and I had no problem with the writing style. ...more
This is the second book of theirs where I was completely indifferent towards all the characters, and to me forming some kind of emotional attachment to a character goes a long way towards making or breaking a novel. I thought the story itself was pretty unique though and somewhat interesting, and I had no problem with the writing style. ...more

Rock'n'roll and its bastard child Heavy Metal were more conversational in the 1980's than at any other time thanks to organisations like Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center and countless TV evangelists. John Skipp and Craig Spector made this fact the foundation of their third novel The Scream. The Scream is a Heavy Metal band led by an impossibly beautiful woman; the ultimate femme fatal. Jake Hamer is a rocker as well, but his group is less extreme. He publicly takes on the wowzers, led
...more

The Scream by John Skipp and Craig Spector wasn't much of a fun read for me. I loved the descriptions of the band members, fans, and the life styles of both, but for
the most part the book felt like a mess of undicisive writing. Half the time I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on and when I did think I knew what was
happening I didn't know why. I hated the dream-like quality of this novel. Perhaps it was the purpose of the authors to write a book that felt like it was on the same
mind ...more
the most part the book felt like a mess of undicisive writing. Half the time I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on and when I did think I knew what was
happening I didn't know why. I hated the dream-like quality of this novel. Perhaps it was the purpose of the authors to write a book that felt like it was on the same
mind ...more

Has all the visceral gross out factor of their other collaborations, and could probably be considered one of the better heavy metal or rock and roll horror novels, but it felt overlong and I didn’t care about the Christian/Antichristian elements, the ‘safe’ rocker lead characters or the other commentary here on issues like abortion. Meanders too much and thus dilutes all the good stuff. Doesn’t hold a candle to their other books like THE BRIDGE or THE LIGHT AT THE END.

The defining 1980s splatterpunk novel and the pinnacle of Skipp and Spector's collaboration. What I'd give for a copy of The Scream's "Critical Mass" CD! One of the most entertaining horror novels ever written.
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As always, Skipp and Spector NEVER fail. This book is so well written I am certain other writers of their generation hate them for being so good. And I don't blame them! The authors know how to deep dive into emotions and characterization. The people in the book were my family by the end. I read this every few years. Awesome book
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All the 80s kids are going crazy about rock music and the band of the moment is The Scream, an enigmatic and openly diabolical outfit that nobody really knows nothing about. Their debut album soon becomes a soundtrack to murder and mayhem as the band's hardcore fans, the Screamers, sort of zombies with their eyes gouged out, begin their slaughter-spree and suburban homes and concert venues become killing grounds. EEYAAOW! as them kids say.
Splatterpunk, which is basically a synonym for excess, w ...more
Splatterpunk, which is basically a synonym for excess, w ...more

TITLE: The Scream
AUTHOR: John Skipp and Craig Spector
GENRE: Horror
PAGES: 432
We have all heard the phrase "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll". Well, if you go to the flipside of that coin you will see "Blood, Gore, and Goo!" Lucky for us, John Skipp and Craig Spector own that coin, and they have flipped it over and over and over again in their novel The Scream.
The Scream is a heavy metal rock and roll band that have legions of fans. Their fans see an awesome heavy metal group that goes beyond the norm ...more
AUTHOR: John Skipp and Craig Spector
GENRE: Horror
PAGES: 432
We have all heard the phrase "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll". Well, if you go to the flipside of that coin you will see "Blood, Gore, and Goo!" Lucky for us, John Skipp and Craig Spector own that coin, and they have flipped it over and over and over again in their novel The Scream.
The Scream is a heavy metal rock and roll band that have legions of fans. Their fans see an awesome heavy metal group that goes beyond the norm ...more

"Welcome to the food chain!"
A classic of epic horror, evil vs badass rock'n'roll, and cults of zombie teenagers. ...more
A classic of epic horror, evil vs badass rock'n'roll, and cults of zombie teenagers. ...more

Rock'n'roll and its bastard child Heavy Metal were more conversational in the 1980's than at any other time thanks to organisations like Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center and countless TV evangelists. John Skipp and Craig Spector made this fact the foundation of their third novel The Scream. The Scream is a Heavy Metal band led by an impossibly beautiful woman; the ultimate femme fatal. Jake Hamer is a rocker as well, but his group is less extreme. He publicly takes on the wowzers, led
...more
![Ed [Redacted]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1429513592p2/3968676.jpg)
After reading THE CLEANUP by Skipp and Spector, I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, I was treated to a big pile of "rock and roll" fetishism and the type of stereotypical Vietnam veteran characters so common in the 80's. despite all of this, S&S are clearly talented writers. The writing is crisp as ever and several scenes in the book are quite effective. Unfortunately the whole plot left me cold, and the deeper themes I enjoyed so much in THE CLEANUP were missing. I had alre
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A dark journey through the excessive 1980's Heavy Metal scene. Skipp and Spector craft a brilliant tale set around a rock band whose goal is nothing less than the end of the world. Throw in jabs at the evangelical right wing and top it off with over the top gore and you have book that will keep you up until the wee hours of the morning. Do yourself a favor, skip the eventual DVD release of the rock musical "Rock of Ages" with Tom Cruise and get this e-book. It is a work truly rooted in the 1980'
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A great, big, wild rock and roll horror novel by the masters of 'splatterpunk', Skipp and Spector. It isn't a perfect novel, but it is such a daring book that asks big questions in such a fearless style that you can't help but love it. Highly recommended.
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Apr 22, 2009
Sherrie Gingery
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Light at the End
It's hard to impress me with a horror book because I not only do I require good writing, I want to feel creeped out. This is a fast moving story and there are quite a few characters to follow. It's scary!
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Hahahah! I read this Rock n Roll horror novel when I was 17 and just picked it up again out of nostalgia. It's not very well written, but it's entertaining in the way trashy reading can sometimes be.
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The perfect early-80s rock and roll horror novel. It takes the whole Satanic Metal/PMRC scare thing and takes it to its logical conclusion. I'm also convinced that Joss Whedon borrowed some elements of this for the Judge plotline in Buffy, but that's neither here nor there.
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I've given this book to avid readers, and all of them pretty much told me the same thing.. they couldn't put it down once they started it, it scared the crap outa them, it was a kick ass book but to plz not ever give them another one like it... LOL this book rox... they need to make a movie outa it
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Pulp '80s horror and rock and roll. Fun but empty. Not nearly as good as The Light At The End, by the same authors, about a punk rock vampire hunting in the NYC subway system. I will explore more Skipp & Specter in the future.
...more
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