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Just finished Nevill's "Cunning Folk", it's well written, half horror half family drama, very unsettling atmosphere. So unsettling not sure I'll ever reread this novel. Just started James Herbert's "Haunted". Anyone read his "the Mist"?No, Blastro, haven't read "Creed", gotsta check it out later.
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Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks..
(last edited Oct 30, 2023 02:28PM)
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Not read that un Post. Have read The Mist by Stephen King however and that's bloody brilliant! Frank Darabont did a great job adapting it for screen too.... even having the cajones to totally change the ending. And it worked!! At least for me it did. Very very dark twist that hits ya like a train!!! Did ya read the book (it's a 'long-short' story in the Skeleton Crew collection) or see the film, Post? Both highly recommended.Hope ya enjoy Haunted, but problem with reading it nowadays is that you'll quickly work out the twist because you're forced to have seen at least one film that's copied the idea. Spoils it somewhat if that's the case but should still be enjoyable enough for ya.
Like most novels, it's been a while since I read Creed but I remember having a good time with it... and found it refreshingly funny at times. I like my straight-up 'serious' horror but also like a laugh with it. I put up a list of my top 'Horror Funny Films' elsewhere and I'll C&P it over to here. Problem being.. ya don't find many books that go down that road.
oops... what I meant, Jame's Herbert 'The Fog'! Seen the cult film by his book, not bad. "The Mist" of course by Stephen King. Read and seen both, book and film. Yeah, the ending was shocking, can't tell I enjoyed it though...
Post Soviet wrote: "oops... what I meant, Jame's Herbert 'The Fog'! Seen the cult film by his book, not bad. "The Mist" of course by Stephen King. Read and seen both, book and film. Yeah, the ending was shocking, can'..."Well... we can't all like the same stuff can we? It'd be a bit like Demolition Man if we did. Ha ha dunno if ya remember that... Stallone flick with Sandra Bullock and Wesley Snipes?
I've no doubt mentioned this before but, as a King fan, I was victim to the ultimate crime. Having collected all (save for three or four more recent ones) King's books over the years.... the ex took them while I was living elsewhere for a few months. The bloody lot!!! I never got a say in it. Bah!!
What's yer fave King book then dude?
Sorry to say but imo best King's output came when he was under influence (drugs & alcohol), roughly til he wrote Needful Things, stuff he wrote was dark, mean, twisted, as horror should be. After that it was hit and miss, more miss. Overindulgent, preachy (was in AA myself, know how it feels, too rosy sometimes), overbloated only with couple good ideas in the beginning and simply boring... eugh! Exception would be compilations of short stories with no space getting melodramatic, still good. My first King's novel I read in original was Dreamcatcher, read for months!
My fave? I dunno, many his early works. Best film by King would be Pet Sematary, then Silver Bullet, Carrie, Cat's Eye, The Shining, Children of the Corn. That's it.
Oh, sorry about loss of your books! Ever considered buying Kindle? Could send you over some ebooks easily!
message 658:
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Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks..
(last edited Nov 02, 2023 02:25PM)
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Nice one Post, that's very kind. I'm a proper luddite tho and don't know how that all works. Also struggle with the idea of reading from anything other than an actual book. The ex read on her laptop and her phone. Certainly cringe at the thought of reading a novel on a phone!! Maybe I just gotta get with the times? I intend to build up the collection again on the cheap. There's a flea market in town every Thursday and books - even hardbacks - go for a couple of quid.. regardless of condition so there's usually bargains to be had. Had the odd book from there in the past in great condition. She did leave all other books like my crime fiction and some of horror's usual suspects - Masterton, Herbert, Laymon, Koontz, Straub and such... so I got stuff to read. Just narks me that the King stuff was spirited away.
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Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks..
(last edited Nov 02, 2023 03:00PM)
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Post Soviet wrote: "Sorry to say but imo best King's output came when he was under influence (drugs & alcohol), roughly til he wrote Needful Things, stuff he wrote was dark, mean, twisted, as horror should be. After t..."Sorry dude, I'm not getting notified of all posts on here... just the odd one. Almost missed the one above your last un.
Everybody to their own n all that. Have read almost everything he's done (just a few recent ones to catch up on) and enjoyed almost every one... including the ones in the 'Dark Period' you speak of. I really enjoyed Dreamcatcher.. which seems to put me in the minority maybe. Not seen the film. I reckon his output over last ten years has been a little hit n miss. More hit but odd uns not up to what I expect from him but still not bad by any stretch. Best uns from said period imo are Doctor Sleep, The Institute and The Outsider. Thought they were excellent... especially first two.
Personally don't think many of his adaptations to screen have been up to it. Only ones that I rate, really are The Shining (Kubrick), Carrie (De Palma), The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist (all Darabont) and that's about it for me. I do like a couple of his films not adapted from books. Creepshow bloody brilliant. Maximum Overdrive too... regardless of its many faults which I can't be bothered to mention. Still loadsa fun "I'll knock your teeth in Bubba!" ha ha.
Finished Haunted, enjoyed it, reminded me of movie The Others with Nicole Kidman, found it pretty creepy at the time. It appears I've another Herbert's book on a shelf - The Magic Cottage, if I remember correctly it was pretty lame.Probably gonna find Haunted 1995 movie adaptation.
For non horror reading my next is Cervantes "Don Quixote", read it long ago in my teen years.
Yeah that's what I was saying, Post. There's been a few films - probably books too - that have cribbed Herbert's idea with Haunted... not least The Others. The Sixth Sense kinda leans in that direction too. Still good film.Cervantes aside... do ya read any other non-horror stuff? I quite like my crime fiction... Ed Bunker being a fave of mine for his gritty realistic style... which obviously came from him being an ex con. Puzo, Elroy, Kellerman, Grisham are among other stuff I go at. Really need to read Craig Holden's other stuff cos the two of his I have read - The River Sorrow and Four Corners Of Night - were excellent imo. Gotta mention Irvine Welsh too. Trainspotting, both book and film exceptional. I never find films doing too much justice to the book versions but Danny Boyle did a brilliant job with Trainspotting... possibly even matching the book. Sequel Porno great too but not to be confused with the Trainspotting film sequel. Different plots altogether.
Just thought of another writer (like Holden and McCammon) where I've only read two books and need to get more - Robert Rankin. No convicts, mafia, bent cops or H addicts here tho. Dunno what genre Rankin belong in. Comedy fantasy perhaps? Thought his book Apocalypso was hilarious. My sense of humor is very much an acquired taste tho it has to be said so probably shouldn't recommend it to folk.
Dunno if you've read owt by any of the above, dude?
Haven't read any from above, Blastro. Latest non horror book Alan Moore's Jerusalem, read it twice.As a kid I ploughed through lots of world classic authors, Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, Dreiser, Twain, Fransua Rable, Conan Doyle, Dedirot, Balzac... you name it! In my twenties started King, always loved sci fi & and fantasy, Dan Simmons, Roger Zelazny, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov etc
After giving up booze in 1995 took interest in esoteric books, Buddhism, biographies. Castaneda is entertaining and mind blowing. Oh, and Kurt Vonnegut!
So yeah, bits of everything.
Hang on, I read Mario Puzo, that's on your list! Trainspotting - just a film.
Bloody hell Post, yer a damn sight more cultured than I.. looking at some of those names! I'm guessing you read The Godfather? Outstanding book is that... tho, if I remember correctly, with the screen version, it took the first two Godfather films to cover it. In a way, that's no bad thing as it allows more of the book to be included. I'm afraid that the novel's proper sequel The Sicilian didn't do too much for me. I finished it, so it wasn't terrible but nothing on the first un. The Last Don's another splendid Puzo outing. Did they make a film version of TLD? Or maybe a TV series out of it? Seem to vaguely remember something like that? Ahh... I might be getting it mixed up with the Tom Sizemore TV film Witness To The Mob? Old memory banks need some maintenance but nobody will go near em due to many clusters of oval-shaped things that look like eggs! We all saw what came outta John Hurt's chest!
Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks.. wrote: "Bloody hell Post, yer a damn sight more cultured than I.. looking at some of those names! I'm guessing you read The Godfather? Outstanding book is that... tho, if I remember correctly, with the sc..."
Nah, I'm not, Blastro. Kid with no money, just read anything from my Dad's bookshelf. So consider myself as a well read fool.
Post Soviet wrote: "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks.. wrote: "Bloody hell Post, yer a damn sight more cultured than I.. looking at some of those names! I'm guessing you read The Godfather? Outstandin..."
Your modesty gains as much - if not more - respect from me as your cultured childhood. It does fascinate me re how things were over there when you was a kid. To hear it from the horses mouth so to speak. Be nice to arrange some kinda PPU but there's hardly enough of us left on here to fill a phone box never mind a table in a pub!! : )
Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks.. wrote: "Just thought of another writer (like Holden and McCammon) where I've only read two books and need to get more - Robert Rankin. No convicts, mafia, bent cops or H addicts here tho. Dunno what genre Rankin belong in. Comedy fantasy perhaps?..."Wow, that's a name i'd totally forgotten. Read a ton of his stuff back in the day when i actually used to buy books (as opposed to downloading and forgetting about them.)
On another note, i'm happy to see my review on Amazon for Jerusalem is still one of the most helpful . . .
Sera69 wrote: "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Blastronaut Rocks.. wrote: "Just thought of another writer (like Holden and McCammon) where I've only read two books and need to get more - Robert Rankin. No convicts..."Can ya remember the standouts Sera? I wun't have a clue which are the better ones. Just know that I very much enjoyed Apocalypso. Totally bonkers but that suits me just fine. Antipope was ok but not belly laugh funny like Apocalypso. All just in my humble opinion of course.
I couldn't honestly give you stand outs as it's been so long since I read any Rankin. I started with Antipope and the Brentford books and tried other stand alone titles as well, Dog called demolition, snuff fiction. He gets mentioned along with Pratchett when people ask for comedy but Rankin is certainly not as deep or funny as Pratchett. I think Antipope is representative of his works from what I can remember.
Someone I'd recommend, in a similar absurdist, silly, humourous way (nothing approaching Prachett) is Martin Millar. Writing as Martin Scott, his Thraxas fantasy series is an easy fun read. And as Martin Miller he has several slightly left leaning, counter culture novels that throw everything into the mix.
"...On another note, i'm happy to see my review on Amazon for Jerusalem is still one of the most helpful . . ."Awright Sera, found your review '0)
Yes, it is a bit longish. I would rate it 4/5, otherwise wouldn't have read it twice.
Naughty angles, heheh...
edit: by "longish" I meant book.
awright, finished another folk horror from Adam Nevill (must be my fave horror writer lately) The Vessel and James Herbert's The Fog, which I found so so. Now on Masterson's Ritual, that's better!Another my horror recommendation - Dan Simmons "The Terror", loved it, read it twice.
Have anyone here read John Fowles "the collector"? Just read Stephen King's preface, looks creepy and erm... enticing.
I think I read it back in my student days (late 60s) but I have no clear memory of it apart from the basic premise. John Fowles was all the rage among the student body. How pretentiously we debated what was The Magus all about. And how disappointed we all were with the film version.
Val wrote: "I think I read it back in my student days (late 60s) but I have no clear memory of it apart from the basic premise. John Fowles was all the rage among the student body. How pretentiously we debated..."Thanks Val, gonna read it.
Finished Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I dunno, good start, loved India's people, streets, Mumbai (been there) description, as for the rest - including main hero, not so delighted.
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You're not the first person to recommend They Thirst so looks like that's gonna be one to get. I've never been a fan of gothic vampire stuff and/or Dracula etc but I got time for it in a modern day setting which, I believe is the case with They Thirst. Don't got much time for vamp films but do like Blade. It does have its corny moments but yeah, I do like that film. Sequels are not bad either but first one the best. 30 Days Of Night and Daybreakers were good vamp flicks too imo.