Recent Reading

[In A Dark Light]

Quote Originally Posted by Miss Happy Die Happy

Yeah, I think I could conceivably edit anything into being alright, but I lose hope at the sight of a bad page and can't continue to return to it.

That's exactly the way I feel. I'm sure it's quite a common feeling, even amongst established writers.

[Gnosticangel]

Interesting article on plagues, antiSemitism and the Other in light of the classic silent film, "Nosferatu."

Tablet Magazine

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Quote Originally Posted by Gnosticangel

Interesting article on plagues, antiSemitism and the Other in light of the classic silent film, "Nosferatu." Tablet Magazine

That's really great. I didn't know a lot of that.

[GirlyGirlMask]

Salem's Lot

Huh. First, Pet Sematary and now this. I'd heard Stephen King was a hack, etc. Granted, I'm only two books into his stockpile but the guy can weave a ####ing horror tale. Or maybe I'm starting with his masterpieces and will soon realize its all downhill soon after.

To me, if you wrote Pet Sematary and Salem's Lot, you're a ####ing boss, no matter what the rest of your career looks like. The same way Coppola can produce nothing but mediocrity the last thirty years but who gives a #### because Godfather I, The Conversation, Godfather II, and Apocalypse Now all in a row.

Salem's Lot is amazing. Most Stephen King hatred in weird fiction circles is due to his popularity and bears no relation to the merit of his best work. The amount of Lovecraftian small press/connoisseur culture people I have gotten to give him and Barker a chance who then ended up loving them is quite large.

King still writes good horror books. Revival is worth a look.

[GirlyGirlMask]

Quote Originally Posted by Miss Happy Die Happy

Salem's Lot is amazing. Most Stephen King hatred in weird fiction circles is due to his popularity and bears no relation to the merit of his best work. The amount of Lovecraftian small press/connoisseur culture people I have gotten to give him and Barker a chance who then ended up loving them is quite large. King still writes good horror books. Revival is worth a look.

There are those rare artists who are really popular because they are actually really good. King appears to be one of them.

The Stand is one of my favourite novels. Recommended. Even many of his weaker books are addictive as hell for stretches.

I don't see character development as filler in horror. Hence why I love Aickman and de la Mare's horror stories so much.

[Frater_Tsalal]

I find that so far this year I've read very little horror/weird fiction, one of the few exceptions being Christopher Zeischegg's masterful The Magician. Instead I've been focusing on other areas of interest: books related to Ancient Egypt (one of my longtime fascinations: I've also been reading history books on the Aztecs, the Mongols, and Ancient Rome), various books put out by some of the small presses I like (such as Amphetamine Sulphate and Snuggly: their reprint of The Crowds of Lourdes by J.-K. Huysmans in particular being worth a look), science fiction books like John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar and Samuel R. Delany's excellent short story collection Aye, and Gomorrah and Other Stories, quirky oddities like Yeats' The Celtic Twilight and Wilhelm Reich's odd little screed Listen, Little Man!. I also re-read Grant Morrison's The Invisibles comic book series in its entirety, something I have not done in many years now.

My main focus at the moment is finishing up Yukio Mishima's The Sea of Fertility quartet. I read the first book, Spring Snow, in March, and more recently I finished the second book, Runaway Horses. Currently I am halfway though the third book, The Temple of Dawn, and I think this one may be the best one of the series yet. I hope to read the 4th and final book before my birthday on June 17 (when I turn 40).

[Michael]

Snuggly is SOOOOO awesome.

I'm not hip enough for you lot. I'm spending the day listening to Lana Del Rey and revisiting T.E.D. Klein's The Ceremonies.