December Group Read-Blue World!

[Char]

Blue World has won the poll for this month's group read! I hope you can join us as we tackle this wonderful collection of stories from Robert McCammon. Since this is a collection, I ask that you preface your post with the title of the story and then post within spoiler tags.
Thank you and I hope to see you here!

[Char]

Heads up all! The Kindle version of Blue World is on sale today for only $2.99:
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-World-eboo...

A bunch of other McCammon ebooks are on sale as well.

[Hunter]

And the NOOK, Kobo, and iBooks versions are all on sale today, too....

Hunter

[Char]

Randolph, that's so funny, I wrote that exact thing in my review about this story. :)

[Char]

I didn't know that. It's a perfect story for that type of magazine.

[Hunter]

Charlene wrote: "I didn't know that. It's a perfect story for that type of magazine."

You need to spend some time on Rick's site, Charlene! 8-)

Robert McCammon Bibliography

Hunter

[Char]

Oh geez, am I being chastised by McCammon's webmaster now? LOL

[Hunter]

8-)

Don't think of it as chastisement, but rather a PSA for all the information available on the McCammon site! 8-)

Hunter

[Chad]

At the risk of hijacking a thread, I loved Twilight Zone magazine. I looked forward every month to that back in the early 80s when I was in high school. This past year I bought a lot of about 50 issues off ebay and have enjoyed rereading them. What a great time for horror and dark fantasy the 80s were.

[Char]

Hi, Chad! You're right about the 80's horror boom, for sure. That's when I first discovered McCammon and I've been loyal to him, since. To be fair, there was a lot of junk towards the end of the 80's, once everyone jumped on the horror bandwagon. But still...some of my favorite books came out of that wonderful time.

And no worries about thread hijacking. Discussions will wander from time to time.

[Char]

Hunter wrote: "8-)

Don't think of it as chastisement, but rather a PSA for all the information available on the McCammon site! 8-)

Hunter"

I was just joking. You know I respect all of your hard work over the years and I should be taking advantage of it. :)

[Char]

That's very cool about the Twilight Zone mags. Do you think those would be worth anything at some point? Especially since you have a complete set?

And I agree regarding the stories in this collection. Green Falcon is my favorite, with all of its sentimentality. :)

[Joanne]

I have a bunch of the Twilight Zone magazines too. it's been awhile since I looked at them, I should check them out and see who I find in there
I'm looking forward to Blue World, it's one of the few I've never read.

[Hunter]

A couple of years ago, a film student named Christian Frahme did a short film adaptation of (view spoiler)["Pin" (hide spoiler)]:

http://vimeo.com/19771743

Hunter

[Char]

I reread Yellowjacket Summer again. Loved it as much this time as I did the first.

[Char]

I read Make up, just now and still got a big kick out of it. Most especially the references to Orlon Kronsteen from They Thirst. I like when authors reference some of the other works in a story. It makes me feel like I'm privy to the inside joke. :)
I would rank Yellowjacket 5*, with Make Up coming in at 4*.

[Char]

Doom City. What a trip.

[Char]

I noted a reference to Mine in The Nightcrawlers. What a vivid story that was! This is another one that would work well in a TZ episode.

Pin- wow. (view spoiler)[ This tale freaked me out. I loaded up that video that Hunter posted, but then I chickened out from watching it! I don't think I can do it. (hide spoiler)] 5 twisted stars.

[Kate]

I really enjoyed Make Up, (view spoiler)[I thought it was an interesting way to bring 'monsters' into the story. Great ending (hide spoiler)]

[Kate]

Doom City was pretty freaky.

Nightcrawlers was a great story, wasn't this made into a movie?

Pin made me cringe, extremely unsettling.

[Kate]

Yellachile's Cage, (view spoiler)[ I loved how the story had a magical feel about it, a trick to give the inmates hope and have something to believe in. I teared up at the end of this (hide spoiler)]

[Chad]

Curious as to how people are reading Blue World. Are you reading them in order, or random, or shortest to longest, or some other fashion?

[Kate]

I'm reading them in order.

[Char]

I'm reading them in order as well. :)

Chad, you can read them in whichever order you would like, if you want to participate with us. Just state the title of the story and put spoiler tags on your comments.

Hunter, if you're around..was there any such thing as a movie about or based on Nightcrawlers? I have no trouble believing that there was, because the story was so vividly told.

Kate, Pin was something else, wasn't it? *shudder*
Are you brave enough to watch the video based on Pin that Hunter posted above?

[Chad]

Charlene, Nightcrawlers was an episode in the remake of The Twilight Zone series in the mid 80s. I saw that episode when I was in high school and was blown away by what I saw on a regular network television show Remember, this is decades before computer generated effects, cable TV networks, etc. The credits state the episode is based on a short story by Robert McCammon. In fact, I just watched it again last week on Youtube.

Here's the link for anyone who wants to watch it, after, of course, reading the short story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITl2BB...

[Char]

Are you freaking kidding me? That's AWESOME!
I didn't even know it was a TZ episode when I said above that it should be. :)
Thanks so much for posting this. I'm going to watch it when I get home. :)

[Chad]

I haven't read the story yet, so I'm interested to see how true the TZ adaptation is. I'll read the story before tomorrow night.

[Char]

I posted that onto my Facebook page, Randolph. There are some great books on there. Including a couple of Machen's which were talking about a while back. :)

[Kate]

Charlene wrote: "I'm reading them in order as well. :)

Chad, you can read them in whichever order you would like, if you want to participate with us. Just state the title of the story and put spoiler tags on your ..."

I'm not sure I could cope with the video.

[Char]

Kate wrote: "Charlene wrote: "I'm reading them in order as well. :)

Chad, you can read them in whichever order you would like, if you want to participate with us. Just state the title of the story and put spoi..."

LOL Kate! Now I don't feel so bad about chickening out!

[Char]

Wow, there's a weird moderator thingy showing for me. Is anyone else seeing it?

[Kate]

Yes, it looks nice. :)

[Hunter]

The TZ adaptation of "Nightcrawlers" was directed by William Friedkin, who also directed The Exorcist. It's generally regarded as one of the best episodes of the series.

"Makeup" was also adapted for a TV show called Darkroom. It's pretty awful. They changed the story a lot. It starred Brian Dennehy and Billy Crystal. It, too, is on YouTube, if you're a glutton for punishment.

"Make-Up" on Darkroom

The episode begins at about 13:20.

And this information can be found on the Dramatizations Bibliography on RobertMcCammon.com. 8-)

Hunter

[Char]

Randolph wrote: "Yeah, they just activated the moderator comment flag today. It's been a thing people have wanted for awhile, it was always in the feedback top requests, but I'm not sure why, or what purpose it re..."

I'm finding it to be distracting. :)

[Char]

Hunter wrote: "The TZ adaptation of "Nightcrawlers" was directed by William Friedkin, who also directed The Exorcist. It's generally regarded as one of the best episodes of the series.

"Makeup" was also adapted ..."

Hunter, you rule! I think I will pass on the bad movie. Thanks for the honest post. :)

[Char]

Yellachile's Cage

Loved it. (view spoiler)[ This story had some of the same McCammon magic that he shows in Boy's Life. Plus, to have the bird be a mechanical device and a human as its cage is a pretty cool idea. (hide spoiler)] 5*

[Char]

I just checked out that Nightcrawlers episode, it was pretty good! The lead character was way over the top a couple of times, but I think that the tone and the music were faithful to the story.It was directed by Freidken and I believe I saw a credit for the Grateful Dead too. Thanks again for posting it, Chad!

[Hunter]

Yeah, the Grateful Dead did the music for The Twilight Zone. I hate the Dead with a passion, but I do love the music they did for that episode (which is very non-Dead-like).

Hunter

[Char]

It didn't sound like them at all. I'm not a Dead fan either.

[Char]

I'm still thinking about Yellachile.
(view spoiler)[ Yellachile's Cage struck me harder this time than it did the first. In a vague way it reminded me of Shawshank and how important freedom is to humanity. Freedom and Hope. (hide spoiler)]

[Char]

I read a couple of stories last night.

I Scream Man! (view spoiler)[ I thought this was almost a perfect cold war story. Radiation and ice cream. How could you go wrong? Told in such a way that you don't know what the hell is going on until just about the final paragraphs. (hide spoiler)] 4*.

He'll Come Knocking at Your Door! (view spoiler)[ I looked at the notes from my previous reads. All they say is Holy Shit that was awesome! On a second read last night, my comments stand. This was a kick ass story that really knocked my socks off. (hide spoiler)] 5*

[Char]

One more comment about Yellachile and then I promise I will stop. (view spoiler)[ I loved this quote: "Somethin in me has been set free from a cage I never knew was there. It flies with Yellachile at night, and we go together on the wind." LOVE it! (hide spoiler)]

[Kate]

Charlene wrote: "One more comment about Yellachile and then I promise I will stop. [spoilers removed]"

That chokes me up. :)

[Char]

Oh good! I was starting to think that somehow I have become a big ole sap and overemotional.
Now I know I'm not alone.

[Kate]

No, you're not alone. I'm there crying right alongside you. :)

[Kate]

I Scream Man was quite unsettling.

I loved He'll come knocking at your door (view spoiler)[ Giving gifts to a Halloween demon to keep up the towns good fortune and luck, amazing story with a great ending (hide spoiler)]

[Char]

Kate, agreed on both counts.

[Char]

Chico

What to say? (view spoiler)[ In Chico we have a discarded human being capable of so much, and only his mother believes in him. She feels better after physical contact with him, and he's bringing dead roaches back to life. Yet, he's banished into the corner. How sad. I loved the fact that Saloman would never kill all the roaches because Chico was bringing them back. Loved this story too. :) (hide spoiler)] 5*

[Char]

Kate wrote: "No, you're not alone. I'm there crying right alongside you. :)"

:)

[Kate]

Charlene wrote: "Chico

What to say? [spoilers removed] 5*"

I liked the ending to this (view spoiler)[Chico bringing the cockroach back to life, perhaps to punish Saloman the only way he could for the way he treated him and his mum. It sure did drive Saloman nuts. (hide spoiler)]