What books should I read over the summer?

[Figureman2]

Of all the Star Wars books I've read, Truce at Bakura was probably the weakest, but it was certainly not bad. I personally enjoyed the Ssi-ruuk very much, and I thought that the cast of characters was very interesting. The concept itself isn't bad either, although the action was a little truncated and contrived towards the end.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Bu-bump!

I need some help/advice. In my genre-reading list (not an actual list, but a more ethereal, whispy one), I need a horror author not named Stephen King or Richard Bauchman [sp?], nor Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, or EA Poe. Any suggestions? Can be recent/old school/less familiar authors/books. Winner gets a coin tossed at them, after being shot in a cantina back booth. :shootfirst:

[OC47150]

Have you tried Laurell K. Hamilton, Bel-Cam? She writes the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter books.

Friends introduced me to this series several years ago. Her earlier books are more interesting than her later ones. The later ones took on a more kinky sexual tone than the earlier ones.

The books are set in modern-day St. Louis and the Missouri area. Blake is a re-animator during the day and moonlights with the police helping solve odd cases.

[Ji'dai]

A Victorian governess discovers that her two wards are being possessed by the recently departed in Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. The 1961 film adaptation, The Innocents, is still a watchable horror flick.

Peter Straub's style is similar to Stephen King's, but perhaps more aloof. Straub's Ghost Story is populated with not only everything from werewolves to haunted houses, but also contains a rustic retelling of The Turn of the Screw. The supernatural thrillers Lost Boy, Lost Girl and it's sequel In the Night Room, have a kind of ethereal feel to them, mainly because the boundaries between realities have grown thin.

...walls continue upright, bricks meet neatly, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut; silence lay against the stone and wood and whatever walks here, walks alone... in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Classic haunted house story.

A group of paranormal investigators discover more than they bargained for in Hell House, Richard Matheson's take on the ultimate haunted house.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

A Victorian governess discovers that her two wards are being possessed by the recently departed in Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. The 1961 film adaptation, The Innocents, is still a watchable horror flick.

Peter Straub's style is similar to Stephen King's, but perhaps more aloof. Straub's Ghost Story is populated with not only everything from werewolves to haunted houses, but also contains a rustic retelling of The Turn of the Screw. The supernatural thrillers Lost Boy, Lost Girl and it's sequel In the Night Room, have a kind of ethereal feel to them, mainly because the boundaries between realities have grown thin.

...walls continue upright, bricks meet neatly, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut; silence lay against the stone and wood and whatever walks here, walks alone... in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Classic haunted house story.

A group of paranormal investigators discover more than they bargained for in Hell House, Richard Matheson's take on the ultimate haunted house.

You write those reviews, Ji'dai? Pretty good, well worded and creative; you might have a new career there.

BTW, is that the same Shirley Jackson as in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson? If so, she might get the nod, despite the fact that there was a movie (I'm trying to ween myself away from adaptations now) of the same name.

Thanks all!

[Rocketboy]

Try the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Most of that stuff is so bad its scary!


(Sorry, couldn't resist)

[Ji'dai]

You write those reviews, Ji'dai? Pretty good, well worded and creative; you might have a new career there.

BTW, is that the same Shirley Jackson as in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson? If so, she might get the nod, despite the fact that there was a movie (I'm trying to ween myself away from adaptations now) of the same name.

Thanks! Yep, Shirley Jackson wrote both stories. Hill House has been adapted for the big screen several times. The movie version of Ghost Story merely scratches the surface of Straub's book.

[stillakid]

Save time and read the dictionary. All the other books are in there.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Save time and read the dictionary. All the other books are in there.

Don't dis the dictionary! I actually do read it, not for the books but to learn the etymology of words (even some phrases).

Try the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Most of that stuff is so bad its scary!


(Sorry, couldn't resist)

I have read all of them. Only some, not most, are "so bad its scary."

Surprised to hear no one say to read Hearts of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, due to its famous line: "huge buzzing flies." Wait, wrong one: "the horror."

[Vi Cit Tecum]

Bel

Try Richard Layman his book the "cellar"(1st book in the beast house trilogy) about a small town Urban Legend that turns out to be real (Winchester House type) or "In the Dark" a librarian gets a set of instruction with a money reward, the rewards and dares start small and increase through novel

Robert R McCammon is another good Horro writer My 2 favorites would be "Swan Song" similar in structure to The Stand and "Bethany's Sin" about Amazons taking over a small town