Monsters of Horror Book Group (Hackensack) - 2013 Books Read Thread

[Phil]

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Monsters of Horror Book Group in 2013:


WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE........Diana Rowland...............11/13/13
THE BOOK OF CTHULHU 2........................Ross Lockhardt...............10/10/13
POLTERGEIST..........................................Kat Richardson...............09/11/13
THE FULLER MEMORANDUM....................Charles Stross................08/14/13
DEADLINE...............................................Mira Grant.....................07/10/13
GREYWALKER..........................................Kat Richardson...............06/12/13
NIGHTSHIFTED........................................Cassie Alexander............05/08/13
THE HORROR STORIES OF REH, Pt 2...........Robert E Howard.............04/10/13
THE HORROR STORIES OF REH, Pt 1...........Robert E Howard.............03/13/13
THE RIDGE..............................................Michael Kortya................02/13/13
THE BOOK OF CTHULHU...........................Ross Lockhardt................01/09/13

[Phil]

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2013 Philip J De Parto.



WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, WTZ 3
The action kicks off with a death on the set of HIGH SCHOOL ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!!, a horror movie using the small Louisiana town Tucker Point as its setting. However, the film is only a cover for an evil corporation's experiments with real zombies.

Taras (who admits that he is not particularly well-read in the sub-genre), considers the series the best execution of a scientific basis for zombies he has come across. Phil is a fan of the small-town working-class setting and the character of Angel. He is concerned that Angel's improving circumstances may dilute these virtues and make her ma more mainstream middle-class heroine.

THE BOOK OF CTHULHU 2
The volume contains 24 stories by Laird Barron, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Caitlin Kiernan, Fritz Leiber and other writers. While most of the stories were in the vein of traditional Lovecraftian horror, there were also pieces done as espionage, humor, noir, pulp adventure, secret history and war stories. I was drawn to these outliers and most enjoyed Neil Gaiman's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar," A Scott Glancy's "Once More from the Top," Kim Neuman's "The Big Fish," and Jonathan Wood's "The Nyarlahotep Event."

POLTERGEIST, Greywalker 2
The books feature private detective Harper Blaine who, after an near-death experience, develops the ability to observe and interact with "the Grey," a parallel world of magic inhabited by creatures of myth.

The current book is essentially a straightforward detective procedural, a structure I was perfectly happy with, but not popular with many fans of the first book who wanted more ghosts and vampires running around. Harper is hired by a skeptical researcher attempting to duplicate a Canadian PKE experiment from the 70s. Weird things start happening, one of the test group winds up dead, and everyone has something to hide. Solid entertainment unless you're expecting something else.

THE FULLER MEMORANDUM, Laundry Files 3
This is the third book in the author's Laundry Files series featuring secret agent code name Bob Howard. The Laundry is the secret British agency created to protect the realm against supernatural peril. Most writers would use this premise to do a Men-in-Black vs vampires or ghosts. Stross, however, is a lot more somber. Howard's main foes are Lovecraftian cultists and bureaucratic in-fighting.

The memorandum in question outlines how to bind an entity called The-Eater-of-Souls to a human host and control it. But the cultists are not the only ones after the paper, Russian agents are also on the trail. There are spies, counter spies and deception on all sides.

The previous book in the series, THE JENNIFER MORGUE, was essentially a romp. FULLER is a much darker work. Bob and his wife, Mo, have chosen not to have children because the stars are aligning for the end of the world and a parent's greatest act of kindness might be to kill their children before they are devoured by the unearthly horrors heading our way. In their own minds the cultists are the good guys because should they prove useful in unlocking the arcane gates, they may be spared, thus ensuring the survival of a portion of humanity.

DEADLINE, Newsflesh 2
Taras felt the book seemed like sci-fi for the masses, with gaping lapses in logic and plausibility. Phil rated it as okay, but not up to the standards of FEED, the opening book in the series.

GREYWALKER, Greywalker 1
This is the opening volume of an urban fantasy series of the same name and features PI Harper Blaine, whose near-death experience allows her to perceive and interact with the supernatural creatures from the Greyworld who occasionally cross over into ours.

A wrathful ghost and vampire politics are the main plot threads in the book. There are a batch of interesting secondary characters, including Harper's pet ferret, who so charms a goth girld that Taras described her as having a "cutegasm."

NIGHTSHIFTED, Edie Spence 1
The novel features nures Edie Spence who works on floor Y4 of County Hospital, a floor set aside for vampires, werewolves and other supernatural creatures and their victims. It's dangerous, low-paying work, but it's a job, and you meet some interesting "people." After she keeps her head when a were-dragon busts out, the mysterious creatures that run the hospital decide that Edie would be a useful agent to investigate some weird happenings outside the facility. Nothing great here, but good enough to give the next book a chance.

THE HORROR STORIES OF REH, Pt 2
The group will devote two sessions to this collection due to the number of stories it holds. The first session will discuss stories beginning with "In the Forest of Villefere" and concluding with "Delenda Est." The second session will discuss the balance of book.

THE HORROR STORIES OF REH, Pt 1
The group will devote two sessions to this collection due to the number of stories it holds. The first session will discuss stories beginning with "In the Forest of Villefere" and concluding with "Delenda Est." The second session will discuss the balance of book.

THE RIDGE
None of us were familiar with the author and all of us were impressed by this tale of ghostly possession set near a wild big cat sanctuary. The writing was tight, characterization crisp, and goings on suitably spooky. We would all be inclined to try other works by the writer.

THE BOOK OF CTHULHU
Among the stories lauded were "Calamari Curls" by Kage Baker, "The Men from Porlock" by Lair Barron, "Shuggoths in Bloom" by Elizabeth Bear and "A Colder War" by Charles Stross. Other contributors included Ramsey Campbell, David Drake, Joe Lansdale, Brian Lumley, Bruce Sterling and Gene Wolfe. This was a strong offering.