1-23-12 Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper by Robert Bloch - Fiction

4 - This is a collection of short stories, screenplays, and novellas that Robert Bloch wrote featuring Jack the Ripper. And, wow, some are just a bit twisted. Jack does not always come out on top and Bloch played off the various theories about who Jack really was and why he disappeared. The only story I didn't read was was the Star Trek screenplay because it was published as a screenplay and I find those a little tough to actually read. He also has a spectacular short essay at the end discussing why someone who killed very few people is so well known when the student who was responsible for World War II is virtually unknown. (See, I read this and I've forgotten his name already!) And if you are trying to figure out where you've heard the name Robert Bloch before, he wrote a little story called Psycho.

2-18-11 Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker - Fiction

4 - This is a retelling of the Dracula tale with a more religious and romantic bent. The tale is standard in that it takes place at the Carpathian Mountains and deals with vampires, but instead of Mina, Lucy, and Jonathan Harker, the main characters are a set of privileged twin girls, two military men in service to Empress Catherine of Russia, and a noble Russian family. This is also a definitive love story focusing on the love between Lucine and Toma and how love can defeat evil. A nice change to the classic tale.

5-26-10 Firestarter by Stephen King - Fiction

5 - I double checked and I haven't read this since I started my journal. So here it is, a classic of the horror genre. King's earlier books are truly his best. Those books also give great flashbacks to the 70's and 80's. Do you remember what a Fotomat was? Did you know HBO used to be referred to as Home Box Office and only played about 5 different movies per month? Anyway, the great thing about King's early stories is that so many were centered around children and he brings to the forefront the innocence of a child who is then thrust into an extraordinary childhood. Charlie is seven and she's a firestarter using pyrokinesis. Her potential is unmapped. That's why The Shop is after her and her psychically abled father. They see them as potential weapons and their ticket to restart the research on Lot 6, the experimental chemical injected into Charlie's mother and father when they were in college. A good cat and mouse with very memorable characters.

4-25-10 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - Fiction

4 - I must admit that I have never read the original Pride and Prejudice but once I heard about this new version "now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem" I just had to pick it up. I confess, I think I would find the original duller than dirt. The zombie attacks and Miss Elizabeth Bennet's use of her Shaolin training made this book a joy. Picture the five Bennet girls forming the Pentagram of Death when a ball they are attending is overrun by unmentionables and imagine them cutting down all the zombies in the room. See, it seems much more fun and interesting that way doesn't it? For those Austin purists out there who have decided this is an intolerable abomination of her work I have only one request: please go out as soon as the stores are open and purchase a sense of humor. It will make getting along day-to-day much easier and more fun. For everyone else, there are reading group questions in the back. Make sure to read those for an additional giggle. For myself, I may have to see if there are more zombie classics for me to read.

3-15-10 Horns by Joe Hill - Fiction

4 - My favorite book by Joe Hill is still Heart Shaped Box but this book has cemented him as a name to know in the horror genre. What would you do if you woke up one morning with horns growing out of your head? Well that's what Ig has to decide and deal with one fateful morn. Hill gives enough of the backstory at the beginning of the book so the reader can get a feel for Ig and the other characters and then continues to feed out pieces of the backstory, giving the reader a complete picture and understanding of all the characters' motivations by the end. Hill really does spin a good tale full of human angst, supernatural temptation, and just plain old bump in the night creepiness.

2-6-10 The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff - Fiction

4 - This is a slow creeper. It draws you in with an interesting premise and suddenly it's two in the morning, you look up from the book and decide it's a perfectly logical idea to turn on every light in the house and check all the doors and windows. The storyline is based on the efforts of the Rhine lab, the parapsychology lab based at Duke University in the fifties and sixties. Sokoloff has created a story that ratchets up the suspense and anxiety in time with the main character resulting in a slow building terror and a satisfying read.

10-22-09 Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein by Dean Koontz – Fiction

5 – This was an incredible trilogy.  Koontz really did well adapting a very familiar story into a new tale.  The basic premise is that neither Victor Frankenstein nor his monster died in the arctic but both believed the other perished.  200 years later the monster again meets his master.  By the way, I think I’m going to embark on a Koontz kick (I’ll be reading the rest of the Odd series) and it’s all Patrick’s fault.  Koontz really knows how to write an engaging tale with characters that are truly enjoyable whether they are good or bad.  You want to know all about them and truly yearn to know what happens next.  If you pick up the first book in this trilogy, Prodigal Son, just go ahead and pick up the other two because there are absolute cliff hangers at the ends of the first two books.  In honor of Halloween, pick these up and enjoy.

10-16-09 When Shadows Fall by Brian Scott Smith – Fiction

2 – Garbage.  Not utter garbage or it would only rate a 1, but still garbage.  This book reads like a bad B horror flick.  Smith goes overboard on trying to make the bad guys really bad guys by pulling out all the Satanist clichés instead of giving decent back-story or information.  And his use of language is pretentious and sophomoric at the same time.  For example: “…it was their job to foil this cosmically diabolical plot and save the earth from accelerated ruin.”  I mean, really.  He uses animal and human sacrifice, spirit guides, mass murderers, demons, psychics, and zombies to try to make this scary but succeeds only in making the story messy because there is no back-story, no reason.  You don’t give a rat’s ass about any of the characters because they are shallow constructs.  Even so, some of the horror scenes are well written and the basic premise of the book is good.  The execution of the premise is what sucks.  I would suggest run screaming if you see this book.

4-30-09 Duma Key by Stephen King - Fiction

5 - This is the Stephen King I know and love. It's a long book (six days!) and absorbing just like his older stuff. A man has a disfiguring accident. His life is now completely different. His wife leaves him during his convalescence. So he decides to start again by moving from Minnesota to Duma Key, Florida. And then the weirdness really begins. Normal people, normal world, then everything kind of starts to slide sideways, little by little, building up to the climax. This style is why I fell in love with King originally. I can't express how pleased I was with this book. Thanks Patrick for loaning me this and telling me that it was really good!

6-29-08 Cell by Stephen King - Fiction

3 - Much like his older stuff, this book has a good mix of the supernatural and the human condition. Unfortunately, it strongly reminded me of The Stand so it felt more like a retelling of a favorite story that has been updated for the times. King really has a thing for post-apocalyptic road trips that have to be done on foot. Overall, not a bad book or story. The characters are well fleshed out and the ideas of the human condition are well thought out and believable. If you are a fan of older King, pick this one up and try it out.

5-17-08 The Ruins by Scott Smith - Fiction

3 - As a psychological study, it was pretty good. As a creepy horror book, not that stupendous. This book was hyped up so much that I really was expecting more. The choice of monster was different, but other than that the story itself fell a little flat. I wouldn't buy this or read it a second time.

12-4-07 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill - Fiction

5 - Joe Hill is the next great horror author. I was impressed by 'Heart-Shaped Box' and this book proves it wasn't a fluke. A collection of short stories, '20th Century Ghosts' places Hill on the level of Richard Matheson and Stephen King. Not all the stories are strict horror, but they are all slightly or very disturbing and definitely gripping. From the first story, "Best New Horror" about an editor who finds a gem of a horror story, to the bonus story, "Scheherazade's Typewriter" (make sure to read the acknowledgements), Hill immediately pulls the reader into the story, forcing the reader to turn the pages faster and faster to see where he will go next. A fantastic book. I look forward to reading whatever he writes next.

8-1-07 Like Death by Tim Waggoner - Fiction

2 - If H.P. Lovecraft wrote hard-core porn. That's my best description of this book. I'm not easily turned off or super squeamish but it really was disgusting. The basic storyline really wasn't too bad, but I almost put this book down for good many times. Blech! Now I need to go shower.

7-28-07 Strangewood by Christopher Golden - Fiction

2 - This is marketed as horror but it's not really scary and not particularly good. An author's son suddenly goes into an unexplainable coma. It turns out the son has been kidnapped into Strangewood, the setting for his books. Here's where the story loses its punch: the author writes kids books. So the author OD's to put himself into a coma and enters Strangewood to canter around with his characters. So he's charging through Strangewood with characters named Mr. Tinklebum, Brownie the dancing bear, Fiddlestick the dragon, and the Peanut Butter General. The main baddie is Jackal Lantern. You see why it's just not scary.

7-12-07 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - Fiction

5 - Stephen King notes that Matheson was very influential for him. This collection of stories displays that influence. Slightly creepy, a little disturbing, but a fantastic read!

5-10-07 Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith - Fiction

5 - This book is a neat blend of 'Twilight' and the Kim Harrison books. A girl loves the half-wolf next door but is given by her uncle to a master vampire as his bride and she has to make a choice. Bonus: Smith centers the story around a restaurant so there's foodie stuff too. I hope she continues to write like this.

4-27-07 The Stand by Stephen King - Fiction

5 - This is one of King's best works. Each character is fleshed out, good and bad, making each one human and not a caricature of good or evil. It's King's focus on human behavior and interaction in the face of the incredible that makes the basic story of good vs. evil so powerful.

2-26-07 Ivy Cole and the Moon by Gina Farago - Fiction

5 - This is an original werewolf tale. A girl wanders through the backwoods country with her caravan of dogs and settles in a small town. You know how small towns are with secrets.

2-22-07 Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill - Fiction

5 - This is a fabulous ghost story. An actual ghost story, not a haunting. Hill takes an already interesting main character and throws in a vengeful ghost with personal ties. Remember, the dead claim their own.

11-10-06 The Tommyknockers by Stephen King - Fiction

4 - This is one of his better books. King excels at the study of small town life and the secrets always found within.