Horror Aficionados discussion
This topic is about
Noose
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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December 2022 Group Read with Guest Author, Brennan LaFaro
This was a great book, I'll be lurking in this thread
So excited for December. My first Horror western read and what a titular Noose!! December can’t come soon enough.
So excited to get my hands on this one!!
Hey all! So glad to be back here. This book was a blast to write and contains some of my favorite characters that I’ve ever written. I’ll be here to answer any and all questions and talk horror and western stuff. In addition, it was my pleasure to work with DarkLit Press to put this book out. DarkLit has offered to do a giveaway exclusive to Horror Aficionados. Anyone who participates in the group chat will be entered to win a DarkLit paperback bundle featuring NOOSE, THIS IS WHERE WE TALK THINGS OUT by Caitlin Marceau, and THOSE YOU KILLED by Christopher Badcock.
Hi Brennan! Welcome and thanks for joining! DarkLit is very generous! We appreciate them!
I just put my order in. Glad to be joining the group.
Loved Noose.You're all in for a treat.
Oooh I’m intrigued. There aren’t a lot of horror/westerns out there. Or is this more common than I know? I’ve only read a couple. Thanks for joining us.
I'm looking forward to this group read! I love a good western and good horror. So I'm ready to jump in! Thanks to Brennan for joining us as well. This is my first group read with the author. 😊 Many thanks to HA for arranging it!
Lace wrote: "Oooh I’m intrigued. There aren’t a lot of horror/westerns out there. Or is this more common than I know? I’ve only read a couple. Thanks for joining us."
They're not uncommon. Death's Head Press put together a line of what they call splatter westerns, stories set in the old west that lean into the gore and depravity side of horror. I think they have about 13 or so out.
Noose has plenty of blood and bullets, but I think it fits better into adventure horror as it does into splatterpunk.
Good evening Mr. LaFaro and Afficianados. My Kindle is locked and loaded! Much obliged for the chance at some free books, Partner. Happy Trails to you.
I've already read this one (and enjoyed it), so can't wait to see what you all make of it!
Hi Brennan! I'm sorry we didn't have the chance to talk more at the Merrimack Book Festival. I picked up a copy of Noose and I'm looking forward to joining this discussion!
Char wrote: "Hi Brennan! I'm sorry we didn't have the chance to talk more at the Merrimack Book Festival. I picked up a copy of Noose and I'm looking forward to joining this discussion!"
It was so excellent to meet you, Char, and no worries. I couldn't survive long in that sea of people, but I'll be back next year.
I was excited to see this is on Kindle Unlimited! I've wanted to try a horror western, just haven't pulled the trigger on it. :DDownloaded and ready to go!
I missed this until just now. I'm excited to read this one. I have only dipped my toe in western horror so I will be looking forward to reading it. Mr. LaFaro, if you were going to curate a music playlist to go along with this book, what would be a couple of songs you would include?
Darklit press is incredibly generous for this offer. They are becoming one of my favorite indie press authors.
Jason wrote: "I was excited to see this is on Kindle Unlimited! I've wanted to try a horror western, just haven't pulled the trigger on it. :DDownloaded and ready to go!"
Glad to have you on board, Jason.
Badseedgirl wrote: "I missed this until just now. I'm excited to read this one. I have only dipped my toe in western horror so I will be looking forward to reading it. Mr. LaFaro, if you were going to curate a music..."
DarkLit has been great to work with. Andrew Robert, the owner, lives to get horror books in people's hands.
What a great question. A lot of the books I've written, especially recently, have a playlist I used when writing. Sometimes an album, sometimes a single song. Noose did not, but I gave it some thought and put together a playlist of songs that inspired me in some way to create the atmosphere of the book or songs that capture the spirit.
Enjoy.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jL...
I started this yesterday evening, now at Chapter 4 (18%). This reminds me of the paperback westerns my father used to read, although I suspect NOOSE is a bit more gruesome. I'm ready for a rooting-tooting, rip-roaring weird western adventure yarn. I believe this will be a quick read, even quicker if I wasn't trying to multi-task and read several books at the same time.
My favorite line so far, about 13% into the book: "I'll spare you the grisly details, Rory, but you ever been so sick you felt like you was gonna vomit 'til your innards turned to outards?"
Michael wrote: "I started this yesterday evening, now at Chapter 4 (18%). This reminds me of the paperback westerns my father used to read, although I suspect NOOSE is a bit more gruesome. I'm ready for a rootin..."
Thanks for reading, Michael. There were two scenes in the book that I would say were my favorite to write. One is that conversation between John and Rory in the bar that your quote comes from. I loved their dynamic. The other happens in the chapter, "Welcome Home".
Mr. LaFaro: I'm starting your book today and will be listening to your playlist while I do it! What a nice surprise that playlist was. I was just hoping for a few song suggestions. Thank you so much for that.
Mod
Kenneth wrote: "Brennan, with the recent uptick of releases in the horror western sub genre, is this something that has always resonated with you? I know the sub genre was revitalized by the Death’s Head Press ser..."It's not really something that always resonated with me, truth be told. The 1993 movie Tombstone has been a top 5 movie for a long time, but it's not necessarily because of the western aspects. If I had to nail it down, it's the larger-than-life characterization of Val Kilmer's Doc Holiday.
This is just my opinion, and subject to being nonsense in others' eyes, but I think the genre of weird western is almost the opposite of horror, but works in the same way. Horror is elastic, it's composed of elements that can be sprinkled into any story, making it accessible and relatable. Weird western is a setting that allows for gritty violence and those Doc Holiday, tall tale-esque characters (see "Noose" Holcomb) but there are no concrete rules for what has to go into the story, and that's something I'm having fun with writing in this world.
I have stories coming out that are set in Buzzard's Edge and fit the western narrative but respectively fall into the categories of whodunnit mystery, supernatural romance, cosmic body horror, and more. It's malleable and easy to put humanity at the root.
Badseedgirl wrote: "Mr. LaFaro: I'm starting your book today and will be listening to your playlist while I do it! What a nice surprise that playlist was. I was just hoping for a few song suggestions. Thank you so m..."
Thank you for asking, because I definitely had fun putting that together.
About 38% into the story. The supernatural element has been introduced as well as the remaining members of the Noose gang. 21%: I had about as much energy left as a horse that just hauled a fat man up a mountain."
I’ve never even considered reading a horror western, so I can’t wait to dive in and see what I’ve been missing!
I'm at 40% according to my Kindle - The beginning of Chapter 8.I love the story so far. Ghost is such a good, refined, ladylike horse... Oh, I hope nothing happens to her.
Just finished Chapter Nine, the most brutal and violent encounter so far. Oh, and before I forget to mention this . . . . . well done, Brennan!
Mod
Kendall Cupp wrote: "I’ve never even considered reading a horror western, so I can’t wait to dive in and see what I’ve been missing!"Hope you enjoy, Kendall!
Michael wrote: "Just finished Chapter Nine, the most brutal and violent encounter so far. Oh, and before I forget to mention this . . . . . well done, Brennan!"Thank you, Michael. I've been digging the percentage updates with quotes and parts that worked for you.
Jason wrote: "I'm at 40% according to my Kindle - The beginning of Chapter 8.I love the story so far. Ghost is such a good, refined, ladylike horse... Oh, I hope nothing happens to her."
My lips are sealed.
Kenneth wrote: "Brennan, without giving away any spoilers, can you tell us a little of how the story of Noose came to be?"A lot of it comes from the Death's Head Press splatter westerns that have been mentioned a few times here. I was in between projects and thought I might like to try that, but in my own style. Character first and if the over-the-top violence proves necessary, that's where we'd go. I wrote the first chapter on the train and then let it sit for a few months, occasionally hopping back and forth between first and third person. Eventually I settled on first, and I'm glad I did because Rory's inner dialogue is one of my favorite things to write. Side note for western fans, Rory's surname Daggett is taken from the lawyer in True Grit.
When I sat down to continue the story, I took a hard look at what I had so far and realized the setup had more than a few elements in common with Batman. Rather than scrap it, I leaned into it and took a lot of elements, not for George Holcomb, but for other characters from the Batman comics/movies. My youngest son, a tried and true comic aficionado, helped me gameplan. Hence the dedication. Once the characters popped to life, the book was done in about three weeks. One of the most fluid, if not easy experiences I've had writing a novella.
Once I started this story I could not put it down. Any chance we might see Rory and Pip in the future?
Now at Chapter 12 (72%). I enjoyed the mirage-like entry into the saloon. A different beginning to that encounter. Hate to stop mid-way in a fight scene. Hope to get back to this soon.
at 61%: ". . . the setting sun bled a mixture of pink and purple so vivid, it looked more like a painter's palette than the hellish sky that had overseen this day."
Badseedgirl wrote: "Once I started this story I could not put it down. Any chance we might see Rory and Pip in the future?"Hey, one of my favorite questions to answer. Yes! I've signed a two-book deal with Dark Lit Press to do more in this world. A direct sequel to Noose will follow what comes next for Rory and Alice, and should be out early 2024. There's also a collection of stories set in and around Buzzard's Edge set to be released late 2024.
Oh no! That was over too quick! The 'Afterword' snuck up on me at 78%!Noose was a lot of fun to read. Once I got into the story, it just flew by. All of the fight scenes were great. I think chapter 9 was my favorite part. :D
I finished one of our other group reads and will be starting this today. I am a fan of horror westerns so I've been looking forward to this!
Jason wrote: "Oh no! That was over too quick! The 'Afterword' snuck up on me at 78%!Noose was a lot of fun to read. Once I got into the story, it just flew by. All of the fight scenes were great. I think chapt..."
Quiet as a mouse fart.
Just finished the main story. Still have to read the back-up feature.Following the story closely, I instinctively felt that the ending might be anticlimactic. But, there was just one little thing that kept it vague enough to satisfy. (view spoiler)
Read the whole thing yesterday and it was so much fun! Did you have fun writing it?
I liked the supernatural and western aspects, but I liked the characters the most. I’m glad to hear there will be more about Rory and Alice.
Finished the secondary story this morning and posted my review of NOOSE . . . . . .https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have never read Western Horror. That would be new to me. I am new to HA and enjoying checking out all of the threads. Not sure I will join this. I have a lot of other buddy reads going. Looks interesting tho and I will look it up on Amazon. :-)
Char wrote: "Read the whole thing yesterday and it was so much fun! Did you have fun writing it?
I liked the supernatural and western aspects, but I liked the characters the most. I’m glad to hear there will ..."
Thanks so much, Char. I loved writing both Rory and Alice and the wheels are already turning regarding developing their future interactions. To answer your question, yes, out of everything I've written so far this might be the most fun I've had and I like to think that shows when you're reading it.
Michael wrote: "Finished the secondary story this morning and posted my review of NOOSE . . . . . .https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Thank you reading and reviewing, Michael. Truly appreciated.
debbicat *made of stardust* wrote: "I have never read Western Horror. That would be new to me. I am new to HA and enjoying checking out all of the threads. Not sure I will join this. I have a lot of other buddy reads going. Looks int..."Welcome to HA and thanks for stopping by. If you decide to give Noose a try, I hope you enjoy.
To grab your copy, click on the link below. Please help me welcome back to Horror Aficionados, Brennan LaFaro!
https://www.amazon.com/Noose-Brennan-...