Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

My Horror picks for this spooky season have been better, the last two books. I hope the trend continues here.

This has been the best part of the Collection, issues 93-99 - and I’ll save issue # 100 for tomorrow. Issues 101-107 make up the back section, and memory says things are very hit-and-miss - too many routine one-issue stories that create no overall momentum. Still, I’m ready for that, and the parade of strange B-and-C List villains. I like Doombringer’s costume, there’s a new Crime-Buster, and Whirlwind spins by.

Stopping here for tonight. Very enjoyable whodunit. I have picked a likely culprit, and will find out tomorrow which one of the other suspects is the killer.

That takes care of the Chemistro plotline. I think the next time I pick this up, I’ll read issues 97-99 together in one sitting, so as to really build the momentum to big issue #100. These issues are all one main storyline, from what I can tell/recall.

Just under way - deft and effortless work by the author to establish key characters clearly, in just 17 pages. I have a good feeling...

It has been a long time since I read a book by this author to check off a “100 Best” list suggestion. That was To Make a Killing. I remember some key details from that book (35 year old memories!). I hope this one is also memorable.

I’m going to try and finish it tonight. It’s very scary - and gross gross gross GROSS GROSS!

It's pretty scary. It's sort of a mix of The Mist and Cabin Fever - plus, some of these kids have scars and trauma haunting them from their lives as they were even before the end of the world. I may seek out more by the author, if this stays strong.

Well, it was nice to hit a 2-part story, with issues 93-94. If there’s a downside to this period in the series, it’s all the quickie single-issue stories…although things are more interconnected for a while - up to issue 100. Then we’re back to a bunch of one-issue stories, but at least we get a whole lot of villains. Chemistro is a big favourite of mine, any version - his gun is terrific, makes him like Molecule Man.

It’s rockin’, gross and gory, and hard to put down or throw up (the book, I mean). I had not realized that I had a lot of Horror lined up featuring young people. That’s okay: I’ll save Something Wicked This Way Comes for a few books along.

So, by going to this on Oct. 1st, I use up what is really the only monster book I have handy, for the Horror reading ride of terror planned right up until Nov. 1st. The rest of what I have doesn't look outright tame or wimpy, but I leave myself with ghosts, strange 'psychological Horror', and weird landscapes (I think). Right now I'm in the mood for something gory and visceral, something shlocky and a bit noisy.

When I read a comic with the villain Man Mountain Marko in it, I’m reminded of the only plot idea I sent to Marvel Comics where I actually got a reply - a written rejection, but with positive comments. I had dreamed up a story starring three minor Marvel villains, not heroes - except these villains had to reluctantly do something heroic. The letter back to me said it was great use of minor characters!

I like it. Slight Lost Horizon vibes, but Shangri-La has become more like Huzuz out of the D&D Al-Qadim setting (uh...yeah). The city tour and the conversations during it have shown that Mary has woken up and been brought to a civilization with a totally different culture than what she knew in London, England. The next chapter is 'The Palace', so maybe I'm about to meet Queen Beatrice.

Off and running - Intro absorbed, as well as 'The Sexton's Adventure' by Sheridan Le Fanu. I suppose I count as a pretty big Le Fanu fan, having read and enjoyed various works, especially Uncle Silas, and Carmilla. Wylder's Hand got read by me not too long ago - it was a good book, but he scratched a 4-star rating out of me with the beautiful style attached to an average, and slightly plodding story.

I don’t usually read an old paperback and then order another old paperback that’s shown in an ad at the back of the first old paperback - basically getting hooked on the cover and title and just taking a chance - but here we are! Now I’m glad this is handy for spooky season, because most of the Horror books I own are paranormal, psychological, old Gothic, and so Kafka-esque they are actually Kafka. This is Horror/SF.

Ready for some feminist photo-SF that I didn’t know existed until a few weeks ago. 1909! Edwardian SF!

It has started to explain itself, and I love what it’s all about. We just need a solid last section. I should finish it later today…unless the one writing me stops short…

Vintage Power Man and Iron Fist material from their solo stints, or when they became a duo, is a trip down memory lane. I was going to order one of their other Collections, but I talked myself into this. I get Chemistro, Whirlwind, Hammerhead, a weird bunch of villains even less known than the ones I just listed…but as a Nova fan, I had to have ish #105: Crime-Buster, and the amazing Firefly in-joke return…!

I’m already hooked.. I’m a Ramsey Campbell fan, I’m trained not to care what the average star-rating is.

So far, it’s perfect. I love it. It’s like a team-up of Peter Wimsey and Dr. Gideon Fell - USA versions - plus early use of forensic details in a whodunit, but not so that they dominate. I’m surprised I only knew of this author as of a few days ago.

I'm looking forward to another Straub. It wasn't too long ago that I read A Dark Matter, which doesn't seem to be well-liked by the majority of readers...and I found it fascinating. Not always that scary, but compelling. This looks like a great Horror novel for late September - I'll save some monsters, some gore, and some Kafka bleakness for October.