As awesome as it's reputation would have you believe. The sun is dying above a world of diminished magic...As awesome as it's reputation would have you believe. The sun is dying above a world of diminished magic......more
Well, this was no "I Am Legend"... For most of the book, it was a 2-star book for me, but the second half picked up a good amount. There's just way tooWell, this was no "I Am Legend"... For most of the book, it was a 2-star book for me, but the second half picked up a good amount. There's just way too much of an emphasis on the main character being so upset that he's not a big man (big M.A.N.) anymore. And then the fallback stuff is that he's so small and a giant spider is stalking him in the basement he is stuck in. Which is kinda fun to read but it just dragged on too much. So, sorry, shrinking guy, I can't get myself to care that your manhood is butthurt. And yeah, surely it was Matheson commenting that that's what is important to men in our society, but it's just a boring thing to think about for me because it's so obvious and I have no sympathy for the poor butthurt men. The edition I bought has a really sweet cover, though!
I didn't know exactly what I was getting into when I started this, and about ten pages in I was kinda thinking wtf... Then it grabbed me. All the arcaI didn't know exactly what I was getting into when I started this, and about ten pages in I was kinda thinking wtf... Then it grabbed me. All the arcane language, the high expectations from the reader, lots of needing to read between the lines...this book demanded a lot more work than any sci fi/fantasy i've read lately. Next thing I knew,I had a new dictionary app on my phone, bookmarked pages of word lists from the book, and even bought my first e-book because there's a "Lexicon Urtha" to go along with the series. Also lots of used book and sci fi mag purchases to track down the short stories that are written in the same universe but not part of the main novels. An obsession appears to have bloomed. I recommend this highly, but be prepared to work. Also has lots of mythological and theological references, which I normally don't pick up on until I've read some blog about the book....more
a solid bathroom-buddy choice. Like any stephen king collection, there's some real duds, but a good amount of really awesome stuff in here. "Children a solid bathroom-buddy choice. Like any stephen king collection, there's some real duds, but a good amount of really awesome stuff in here. "Children of the Corn" is classic. "Jerusalem's Lot" gets a big thumbs up. "The Lawnmower Man" is a great, screwed up, tight short (short!) story that gets maligned because of the crap-pile of a movie that was loosely based on it. "Sometimes They Come Back" really kinda epitomizes what I like about Stephen King's short fiction- a story of a teacher haunted by an event in his past, lots of residual anger in his head, and then crazy stuff starts to happen to him. "Strawberry Spring" was also fantastic. Of course, there's the other side of things... "The Mangler", "Trucks", "The Boogeyman" (which actually isn't terrible but I just recently read Robert Bloch's Jack the Ripper story and The boogeyman feels like a not-very-good rip off of it), a few others... All in all, what I expected, and nice to revisit the ones I read as a kid. ...more
The stories in this collection are certainly inconsistent, but that makes sense (and is admitted by the author in his afterword) because Bloch startedThe stories in this collection are certainly inconsistent, but that makes sense (and is admitted by the author in his afterword) because Bloch started writing mythos stories at the age of 17 as a young acolyte of HPL. So... the first several stories are definitely HPLite. However, they are charming, if not great. And they get much better as the collection continues, finishing up with several quite good stories. By the last story he even has a bit of a Hemingway thing going on (amusingly, he even has a character insult Hemingway in the story..I got a good chuckle out of that bit of self-awareness)... spending a lot more effort in characterization and overall delivering more satisfying stories. Surely worth it for any fan of the mythos, but be prepared to slog through some weaker material at the beginning. I'd like to read some Bloch after this, surely. ...more
super awesome. Manly Wade Wellman's first collection of stories about John, a wanderer in Appalachia with a silver-stringed guitar who sings songs andsuper awesome. Manly Wade Wellman's first collection of stories about John, a wanderer in Appalachia with a silver-stringed guitar who sings songs and collects stories and generally manages to save teh day against all manner of supernatural and spooky beings. all the stories were great except one goofy jesus story. not sure how i managed to not read any Wellman up to this point. Going to read the first Silver John novel very soon....more
years late in reading this one, but it was as awesome as I figured it would be. First off- it's a loosely connected grouping of short stories, kinda fyears late in reading this one, but it was as awesome as I figured it would be. First off- it's a loosely connected grouping of short stories, kinda forced into format but with a fairly continuous overarching theme of humans destroying mars, earth, and every other goddamn thing we touch. Some of the stories are of course better than others, and several of the short vignettes are seemingly there just to link stories (though some of the vignettes are really great). The best story of the bunch, in my opinion, is Usher II- a fantastic tribute to Poe, an early development of the ideas that would become the centerpiece of Farenheit 451, and just a great great revenge story. Other really notable stories include: The Earth Men, The Third Expedition (aka Mars is Heaven), And The Moon Be Still as Bright, Way In The Middle of The Air (this story also barely fits in the book and is one of the most notable/affecting stories of the collection, dealing with the Jim Crow south and the reaction of white southerners to all of the african americans in town taking off for Mars... this story is highly recommended even if you have no plans to read the rest of the collection), The Off Season, and There Will Come Soft Rains (at first I thought the premise of this story was cheesy but by the end of it, goddamn, what a story).
Really though, you should just read any book that contains the likes of this: "Half an hour later, Mr. Aaa, seated in his library sipping a bit of electric fire from a metal cup, heard the voices outside in the stone causeway." ...more
freaking awesome short stories by a goddamned master. Right up there with Writer of the Purple Rage (some overlap in stories with that volume). So damfreaking awesome short stories by a goddamned master. Right up there with Writer of the Purple Rage (some overlap in stories with that volume). So damned entertaining and a decent amount to chew on as well. ...more
awesome. I had read several Lansdale novels, but had never delved into the short stories. These are great. There's only one total-miss in this collectawesome. I had read several Lansdale novels, but had never delved into the short stories. These are great. There's only one total-miss in this collection ("The Diaper"), but several very very strong stories that have been sticking in my head ("Pilots", "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road", "In The Cold, Dark Time", "Steppin Out, Summer, '68", "Bubba Ho-Tep"), a pretty hilarious piece about Godzilla being in a twelve-step program, and a rad nonfiction piece about Lansdale's hard-on for horror. Highly recommended if you like his style. ...more
While this wasn't quite as good as The Long Goodbye, it was still awesome as hell. I've seen the OG film version, but after reading this I'm excited tWhile this wasn't quite as good as The Long Goodbye, it was still awesome as hell. I've seen the OG film version, but after reading this I'm excited to see the 70s version also. ...more
This started kinda slow and I wasn't digging it as much as I thought I was going to, but then it really heated up. Not as immaculately written as the This started kinda slow and I wasn't digging it as much as I thought I was going to, but then it really heated up. Not as immaculately written as the Chandler, but dark dark dark. Much darker. Completely bleak. There's a cultivated atmosphere of dread and pointlessness that runs throughout this quick read, ultimately making it less enjoyable than the Chandler I just read, but more realistic also. I normally don't care for fight scenes in books, but this book has an incredible blow-by-blow fight scene that ends with a knife in the chest, and I felt like i was watching Rocky. Also, this book is set in Philly, mostly in Port Richmond, which is pretty sweet.
Now, to see the Truffaut adaptation. The edition of the book I found is a great paperback with a Henry Miller pull-quote on the cover. Now I want to re-read some Miller and read the other stuff I haven't gotten to yet.
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