Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Well, it wasn’t part of the plan - I got stuck somewhere with only this book handy - but I’m sneaking this in ahead of Blood and Rain. Anyway, so far it reads like a 1929 version of Necroscope…which is interesting, because I only read Necroscope weeks ago.

I enjoyed the story by Charles Cloukey; it's a pity that he died so young, but at least he managed to get some stories published, though I guess they are all obscure now. Next is 'Lunar Lilliput' by William F. Temple. I did like his novel Four-Sided Triangle, so let's see what he does with the Moon (story title is tantalizing hint, I guess...)!

Well, I guess it's werewolf time

Was fun to revisit a portion of Wells's First Men in the Moon, after so many years. That one and The Invisible Man were the first Wells novels I read as a youngster, then War of the Worlds for uni and Island of Doctor Moreau because it was on a "Best of" Horror list. Not long ago I knocked off many other SF novels by Wells, especially enjoying The Food of the Goods. I love his non-SF book The History of Mr Polly.

Brutal stuff, from a different time.

Sorry, for all the confusion; I kept changing my mind about my next Crime read, but this is definitely next. It turned out Seven Slayers was short stories, not a novel, so I’ll save that for later. And hopefully I’ll get to Westlake’s Castle in the Air very soon.

Intro provider Mike Ashley compares this novel to some predecessors, and I’m thrilled to have read almost all of them, no matter how obscure: Wieland, The Coming Race, Trilby, even The Crack of Doom. He didn’t mention a book from a few years later, Land Under England. Anyway, it seems I’m well-grounded in the mental-powers/telepathy/mind-control/hypnotism tradition; evil hypnotists have always drawn me in…

Coming back down to Earth, after Malpertuis, and I need something a little less mind-numbing. Ed Lacy has been reliable, and Room to Swing was more than that. This also continues my noir/hardboiled foray, though I get the feeling my next Crime & Mystery novel will be a break from noir. We'll see.

It’s a challenging read, as Horror novels go. I’m thinking of other fictions as I read it; the movie Shutter Island; Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd; The Glamour by Christopher Priest; Poe; Shirley Jackson, if just a little; Strange Toys by Patricia Geary; Lovecraft; Fata Morgana by William Kotzwinkle…but Malpertuis and is its own creature, after all that. I’ll think of this one a lot, later.

It’s a fascinating read - made up of strange puzzle pieces, so I’ll need to finish, to do a major assessment.

Um, is this going to be Last Year at Marienbad meets Locus Solus?...because if it is, I'm not sure I'm anything but a grease spot by the end. On the other hand, the opening was terrific.

'The Southwest Chamber' was a pip. I wish this author were a bit more of an effective Horror stylist, to match the ideas, but this was probably my favourite story so far.

Should finish this tonight. I love it.

The 'Further Recommendations' section of a Horror reading guide originally from the 1980s continues to lead to a lot of interesting reads for me. I've actually got more modern Horror choices handy than ever before, thanks to a newer reading guide, but in spite of all that, I'm getting tempted by older books, like Benighted, and this. Newer stuff soon, though - like The Shaft, Coyote Songs, The Cipher, The Ritual...

After Worlds Collide is reminding me just a little bit of Orbitsville, so of course that's kind of cool. But the surprises on Bronson Beta seem a little more nerve-wracking than the pleasant immensity of Orbitsville. Not everything is what they expected...

Back to this book - specifically the sequel, After Worlds Collide, which is included in the lovely Bison edition of When Worlds Collide. Things already tense - meteor shower, and it’s bits of what was our Moon…!

I have wandered into a few reads this month that have turned out to be interesting reads for Pride month. Paul's arrival at what turns out to be a gay nightclub was at first written with the kind of slurs and intolerance I could have predicted...but then the writing unexpectedly changes tone, as Paul becomes more comfortable and actually throws his attitudes aside. The way the chapter plays out was interesting.

So far, it's terrific.

uhh...'propliopithecustian'??