Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

Right then, I will get to work and start making threads for all those on the morrow, k? Every person can join into whichever story they prefer - you don't have to do them all, but this way, we're hopefully covering everyone's tastes who have responded so far.

...okay... so which stories have we all (or most of us) agreed on? It looks to me that if we choose Carmilla, the first story in The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories, and at least one M.R. James story, that we have at least one story for everyone to get into the Halloween mood? ...or is there something I have left out?

Maybe for good measure, we can add just one Poe and just one Lovecraft story? Most of them are pretty short, so, easy to fit in.

Hmm, come to think of it, I think Carmilla is also available in the public domain.
Yeah, here it is online at Gutenberg, but you can also dld it: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10007/...

..and here it is on Feedbooks- as you can see Uncle Silas is also available there: http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1506/ca...

..and here you can get The King in Yellow for free: http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1376/th...

Yes, I admit I really wondered what exactly it was that he had said - I assumed that he had really gone out of the way to explain nicely to them how they could go and F- themselves, in detail.

This is another very interesting article around a few related subjects http://www.salon.com/2014/03/16/the_d...

Oh! And I also wanted to mention that King in Yellow sounds very Borgian! Therefore a must read!

Yep, they keep the disco in - I assume they wanted to keep the movies' age restriction down, because they cleverly sailed around the proliferous use of the f-word that you find in the book - something which I am grateful for, since my daughter watched it with me, and she enjoyed it very much - something which I was actually quite surprised about.

Sumant wrote: "HP Lovecraft wanted to read him since he was inspiration for Trude detectives season one."

Well, now that is interesting! I had personally watched and enjoyed the HBO show True Detectives, so I was eager to see the connection between it and Lovecraft, of whom I have read some, including, of course, the iconic call of cthulu, and I found this: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3027126/t...
How extremely interesting! So -that- was what the Yellow King was about! I really wish I had known about that before I watched the show!

So thank you for bringing that up, Sumant, and the book you'll actually be wanting to read, is this one: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. He influenced, so it appears, H.P. Lovecraft himself and a slew of other authors.

Well, that book should be available in the public domain by now, so you should be able to find it online at places like Gutenberg.com and others.

I am definitely going to read it - anybody else with me?

Yolande wrote: "I have wanted to read The Yellow Wallpaper for a long time so I'm tentatively in (will have to see how busy those months are)"

We don't have to do it at exactly that point in time. I'm easy.

Disha wrote: "Traveller wrote: "Disha wrote: "" Turn of The Screw" sounds fun. I did enjoy it, but I don't remember why I only gave it only three stars at the end. All of you have made some lovely suggestions. I..."

Okay, doing it. I seem to remember that long ago some other members also mentioned they want to do it. Shall we read it around January - February 2016?

Disha wrote: "" Turn of The Screw" sounds fun. I did enjoy it, but I don't remember why I only gave it only three stars at the end. All of you have made some lovely suggestions. I can't think of anything new exc..."

Hi Disha! Thanks! Good suggestions. Now you mention it, I've been wanting to read The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories for the longest time! How about we add it to our schedule in any case, and save it for "non-Halloween" reading?

Good heavens, that is a lot of money - even if we're talking Canadian $ there...

Yolande wrote: ""Hunger" sounds intense and good."
It does! I must look see if it's available on Google books or Kobo. I have a Kindle, but I prefer not to buy from Amazon if I can help it.

Hmm, if we don't get to read all of this literature popping up in this thread now, right away for Halloween this year, I think we should definitely consider them for still discussing later on. (Such as The Crucible, for example).

All of this has led me to really want to read and discuss this story/novella Hunger. Oh boo, I hope it's not only available in Kindle edition...

Yeah... we only discovered it when the place was already flooded, and water was still streaming out of the heater. First thing you think of, of course, is to turn off the power going to the heater. Then you examine the thing to try and see if you can't stop the water spurting out from it somehow.
Only later, when the panic subsides somewhat, do you (ok, I) think to look for that tap thingie that switches off your general water supply. But then of course, you sit entirely w/out water.

Luckily we found a 24-hour plumber service who was prepared to come out immediately once we found them - quite a few who advertised as 24-hour, had taken the weekend off, apparently... <_<

...and only afterward did we realize we could have called the insurance emergency number. Somehow I'm not one of those people who tend to walk around planning my potential course of action in the event of pipes or heaters bursting.... #_#

Ted wrote: "Poe and Lovecraft are both good ideas, especially for short stories of course.

Michael Dirda has reviewed in the last few months a couple novels which would qualify. The Daylight Gate

Thanks, Ted. The Winterson novel looks interesting, but I think I will personally pass on the Beetle, thanks. I have a personal disaffinity with zombies. :P

Actually, the books you mentioned made me wonder if we shouldn't add this one to the mix: Let the Right One In ?

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I'm really glad you liked it; that makes me think my issues with it are more science and book based than it seemed to me walking out of the movie. I really wanted to love it, but even having been u..."

I hate to say this, but I think the book might have spoiled the movie for you. Now let's hope things don't work vice versa for me...
See, a lot of my enjoyment of the movie was not knowing what was going to happen next. Having read the book, you would have had none of that tension...

I went in not having read the book, so i was not comparing it to anything, and i absolutely adored it. I started to build up a really full bladder, but I sat there until i was in pain with water levels up to my eyes, because i didn't want to miss a single thing of what was happening.

I don't have much time now, so will say more about detail stuff later - and I should hurry with reading the book so I can compare.

Okay, thanks Amy. Looks like we're starting to narrow things down unless someone comes with new recs. (Or likes the idea of Edgar Allan Poe or H. P. Lovecraft...)

To change the subject: Why don't home-insurance companies tell homeowners that there's a little tap-thing connected to the pipe that leads to your water-heater that you can turn to an 'off' position when your water-heater bursts or springs a leak?
I mean, if one just knows things like that, you can save a lot of water damage to your property. Ugh. :(

Don't tell me I was supposed to know that. I know zero zilch about plumbing... that's why plumbers get paid so much. :P

You mean, absence makes the heart grow fonder? ;)