Halloween and Other Seasons by Al Sarrantonio

• Purchase it here
• Published originally in October 2008 (Cemetery Dance Publications signed limited hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on April 9, 2010
• Halloween has always been a loved season by horror authors but it seems lately that a couple authors have sort of "claimed" it. While Norman Partridge is the most recent, Al Sarrantonio predated him by a couple years. In this short story collection there is only one story that really takes place around Halloween: "The Pumpkin Boy." While entertaining and better than most short stories out there, I did not find it to be one of my favorites. The ones that I did are below. What you will find is a bunch of tales that will remind you of reading EC Comics: gruesome, humorous and always a twist. Overall the book is very enjoyable, the stories are quick fun reads, and Sarrantonio continues to prove himself as an author to be followed.

  "Eels" - A young boy discovers his true nature while fishing with his father.

  "The Return of Mad Santa" - The elves must deal with a Santa overwhelmed by a 800 years of goodness.

  "Hedges" - As someone that was super scared by the moving topiary animals in Stephen King's The Shining, this story had the same effect on me.

  "Dust" - A dust storm has a family fighting to survive.

The Halloween Man by Douglas Clegg

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• Published October 1998 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 11, 2001
• I'm not exactly sure of how to rate this novel. I did find it quite enjoyable but at the same time I found myself quite annoyed at times. The story itself though it good so that lends to a more positive novel overall. It is about Stony Crawford and the part he plays in uncovering a centuries old mystery. The problem that I had with the book was that most of it was told in a flashback, very little was in the actual present. And then within the flashback there would be another flashback and yet another. So at times it was difficult to remember where, or when, they should be going back to after the flashback story was told. I think that I would have enjoyed it much more if it was mostly told in "real time." Other than that though, the story was extremely good, suspenseful, and a good number of scary scenes. Unfortunately I wasn't pulled in to it as much as I hoped and thus felt kind of detached while reading. Not sure if it was the flashback method or if it was the book; I'll let you decide.

Halloweenland by Al Sarrantonio

• Purchase it here
• Published October 2009 (Cemetery Dance hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on July 29, 2011
• While Sarrantonio did his usual good job of jumping into the action and getting you hooked, I think Halloweenland was lacking a bit to make it more appealing. The story follows Detective Bill Grant as he investigates the death of Jack Carlin, someone who is supposed to have been home, making love with his wife shortly after he was killed in a hit and run. Things get even weirder for Det. Grant as the town of Orangefield always does around Halloween: sightings of Samhain (the Celtic Lord of Death), a mysterious pregnancy and a little girl who holds the fate of the world in her hands. The story moves along at a quick pace and makes sense. The problem I had was that it seemed like parts of the story was missing. Maybe not missing but that there were more details that could have been included. While I've read Orangefield which is based in the same town, I don't remember Det. Grant; no big deal except Halloweenland seems to assume you have some knowledge that I didn't. Again nothing was missing that I could point my finger at but it just felt like there should have been something more.

Harbingers by F. Paul Wilson

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• Published August 2007 (Tor Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 5, 2009
• Book 10 of the Repairman Jack series
  Answers! We finally have answers. And not just answers but action, suspense, thrills and more sad moments to go along with the last three or four books. The answers we receive though finally give some reason and direction behind what was happening the last few books. Of course, we all knew that Wilson had a plan and was moving us forward for a reason. And we know that it would make sense at some point, but that point is now. For the few of you who might be reading this and who have not read the previous Repairman Jack books, not only are you missing out but most of this won't make sense. You should bookmark this, read the books, then come back. For the rest of you, the story starts out simply enough with a kidnapping of a minor character's daughter but that is really the catalyst for Jack to meet the yeniceri and the Oculus. These people are able to provide more answers and direction to what has been happening. At first the answers are smaller but about the two-thirds point, the answers are huge! I don't remember when because the bulk of the book was a blur as I could not put it down. Seriously, if you are any sort of fan of Repairman Jack, then do not miss out on Harbingers! Not only will you get answers but the lives of all the major characters will be changed forever. By the way, Wilson recently blogged that he was going to tie things up with Repairman Jack at book fifteen. Wilson would then re-edit Nightworld and theoretically be done with this reality at that point. With the end of Wilson's Repairman Jack now pending and with Andrew Vachss' Burke series ending, I'm going to be missing out on strong, mystery, anti-hero characters to follow. I will eagerly anticipate whatever new books both of them provide.

Hard Candy by Andrew Vachss

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• Published 1989 (Vintage Crime / Black Lizard paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 30, 1997
• Book 4 of the Burke novels
  Vachss continues the evolving saga of Burke in yet another fantastic story. Burke, "a contractor" in his own words, although hardened by jail and life on the streets still feels deeply for his causes. In this novel, Burke is recovering from the death and loss of Belle, a woman he loved deeply. Burke is on the edge of losing it completely throughout most of the novel. However, we get to see as he slowly builds back the support that he had, once more finding the instincts that make him who he is. This is another must read!!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

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• Published October 1998 (Scholastic hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on December 07, 2002
• Year Two at Hogwarts
  Another extremely quick read. Just as enjoyable as the movie. And this could be the start of the downfall of the series. No, there's nothing in this book to lend me to believe so. The characters are still fun and enjoyable. The adventure is still exciting. Harry does more to reach the final conclusion than the stumbling upon it from the first book. The problem is actually that the books can become too formula and thus lose their interest. Like the first book, Harry must stop someone (an incarnation of Lord Voldemort) from gaining a powerful charm (Sorcerer's Stone, Basilik in the chamber) which would then be used to wreck havoc upon the world. Sure, there will need to be a bad guy in each book but I know that I'm going to get bored if it's always Lord Voldemort and Harry is always stopping him and saving the world.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

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• Published July 2000 (Scholastic hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on February 22, 2003
• Year Four at Hogwarts
  Wow. Rowling's books keep getting better and better. This one blew me away. She included so much more stuff and at the same time, she didn't violate any of the rules or facts that she set forth in the previous Harry Potter books. Once we get past the obligatory "how can the Dursleys torture Harry next?" section, the story starts with Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys attending the Quidditch World Cup. This is the start of showing us more wizards and witches from around the world and not just the UK. And this continues once they get to school as there is a Triwizard Tournament between Hogwarts and two other schools from other countries. As the events and dangers unfold, we find out more about Harry's past, revisit characters introduced in the last book and even have background for side characters provided which end up weaving their way into the grand finale. I won't give away any details but let me say that I was extremely satisfied with the ending. It lives up to everything done before and easily surpasses it. My only worry now is how Year Five is going to even surpass Year Four. Actually as will be obvious when you reach the end of this book, the groundwork is already being laid for a grand finale to the series come Year Seven. I'll repeat myself from my review of Year Three, Rowling has got me hooked for the long haul.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

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• Published July 2005 (Scholastic hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on October 19, 2005
• Year Six at Hogwarts
  Wow. Stunned silence. Things are now kicked up one more level. We are pretty much leaving the more child-like atmosphere behind and striking into adult territory; it's only fitting since Harry is almost an adult himself. Since I know that I won't be able to avoid mentioning it here, let me preface this review with a spoiler alert. I'm going to mention things that will give away key plot points; if you don't want them spoiled, stop reading now. Start Spoiler Alert Right from the start we get a scene with Snape that has you immediately go "Finally, we now know that Snape is bad." Later on, I began to doubt it a little as Dumbledore had complete faith in Snape. I guess that makes the betrayal and death at the end that much harder to take. I will admit that I was disappointed Rowling made Snape bad; I was hoping that he was really misunderstood the whole time and would prove himself by the end. Not going to happen now. And then Dumbledore's death. I didn't see that coming. I figured it would be Harry and Dumbledore vs. Voldemort in Book 7; of course, Dumbledore would be injured and it would be Harry by himself against Voldemort but dying now. Wow. It means that the final showdown will now be three fold: Draco Malfoy, Snipe and Lord Voldemort. Harry better keep Hermione and Ron close because he is going to need their help. End Spoiler Alert Rowling deserves a lot of credit for continuing to escalate the action and the story. She could have worked her way into a pattern and given readers what we expected instead of what we wanted. I'm really glad that she didn't.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

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• Published July 2003 (Arthur A. Levine hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on July 17, 2003
• Year Five at Hogwarts
  Not sure if it was the hype over yet another Harry Potter book or just my impression but we've finally reached a book which is not better than the previous one. Instead it is only on par, not that there is anything wrong with being on par with a top selling, engrossing and enchanting novel. If only all books could be this good. Anyway, I just wasn't as impressed with this one. There is a lot that happens in the novel and as in the previous books, the continuity is continued flawlessly, but it just didn't seem to grab me as much. Without giving anything away, it seemed that Harry was too much the "angry young man" throughout the book; he kept snapping at everyone which wasn't really in character for him. Plus the payoff at the end was good but not totally unpredictable. And finally as for the death of one of the characters, there were too many ploys to fool the reader; it took away from the impact of the death when it did finally happen. The book was still awesome though and left me looking forward to the next, penultimate book in the collection when we get to find out how Harry did in his O.W.L.s.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

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• Published October 1999 (Arthur A. Levine hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on December 20, 2002
• Year Three at Hogwarts
  Ah, my worries of the same formula storyline taking place was in vain; this one is different. And maybe because of that or maybe because of the extra complexity in the story, this one is my favorite Harry Potter book so far. This time Harry is supposedly the target of escaped prisoner Sirius Black who was put away 12 years ago for killing another wizard in addition to 12 Muggles. Evidence of Black keeps appearing at Hogwarts and the teachers are becoming concerned for Harry's, and everyone else's, health. The story elements are set up and the ending quickly comes around. And what an ending it is! Some of it is so fantastical and not really expected in a Harry Potter book, despite it being magical. And with the amount of exposition necessary to explain the near final events, there is no way that anyone could have guessed or figured out what was going to happen. But the story is still touching and fun and enjoyable. One of the things that Rowling does that I really enjoy is to play up the continuity between the books. For example, Hagrid goes to the prison Azkaban in book 2 and here we find out more about Azkaban. And in book 1, Ron explains that Scabbers has been in the family for a long time; here we find out why his rat has such a long life span. It's little touches like that which I really enjoy. Rowling has definitely got me hooked for the long haul.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

• Purchase it here
• Published October 1998 (Arthur A. Levine hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on December 04, 2002
• Year One at Hogwarts
  I'll admit to being a late comer to the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. I was there as it was just getting started and had myself a copy of the first three books but I thought I would never want to read them and thus I traded them in for something more akin to my reading habits. Now after watching the second movie, I find myself weirdly motivated to read the books, to find out what is not making it to the silver screen. From the first book, there is very little missed. The book is an extremely fast read and just as enjoyable as the movie. You definitely get that magic feeling of a whole new world being opened up for your enjoyment. And having actors to associate with the roles actually made the reading more enjoyable; I found it very difficult to try to picture a character that did not match with the actor's portrayal. Now the book isn't going to win any great literary awards and I'll leave to others the debate about whether Rowling deserves the success for writing a unique and engaging character or whether she just happened to catch the same popularity wave that rocketed Beanie Babies, Jennifer Lopez and Vin Diesel to success. Instead I'll say that I enjoyed the book, I recommend the book, and I'm off to read the second of the series.

The Haunted Air by F. Paul Wilson

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• Published September 2004 (Tor Book paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 10, 2005
• While Wilson continues to write novels involving his favorite character, Repairman Jack, we get the enjoyment of reading those novels. And The Haunted Air absolutely fits that model. Jack's life continues forward in that zone where The Adversary Cycle has not quite completed and his position in that event is solidified by all manner of strange stuff happening to him. This time Gia is brought into the weirdness more so than usual. And while a minor spoiler, her pregnancy is mentioned early enough and often enough to be discussed here. I love the idea of the baby because it throws a new wrinkle into Jack's life, namely his new desire to become legit. To move out of the shadows and be a citizen so he can take care of his child. It also moves him away from the same old thing that he's been doing for the last couple of books. Now, I think that Jack is making the steps to becoming legit seem a lot more than what they should be. He spent a good chunk of the book worrying about how he was going to step out of the background and not be arrested or anything. I would think with a good forgery and be willing to fork over some fines for not paying taxes, he could probably claim traveling the country doing odds jobs and get away with it. I don't see it as the huge problem he does. I'm actually more curious as to how a baby will fit into the continuity of the last two chapters of The Adversary Cycle since Gia wasn't pregnant or had two children in those books. Wilson could go back and "re-create / re-write" the story or do something really simple like have Jack and Gia agree to not tell anyone for the moment and then jump continuity to after the confrontation. It sort of bypasses any issues and empowers future storylines. Whatever Wilson decides to do, I'll be there and reading the adventures.

Havoc Swims Jaded by David J. Schow

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• Published October 2006 (Subterranean Press signed and numbered hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on February 22, 2008
• When I bought this book from Subterranean Press, it also came with a chapbook of the short story "Water Music", also by Schow. The chapbook also contained an article talking about The Black Lagoon Bugle, a newsletter about the creature from the Black Lagoon. Unfortunately the chapbook and Havoc Swims Jaded itself, a collection of thirteen short stories, did not impress me. There were a couple of stories that I liked but most of them were mediocre. It starts off great with "The Absolute Last of the Ultra-Spooky, Super-Scary, Hallowe'en Horror Nights", a story that I had read previously and enjoyed but still a good one. The next three ("Expanding Your Capabilities Using Frame/Shift Mode", "The Five Sisters: A Fable", and "Plot Twist") all start well but kind of lose it part way through. They move into the bland. "Dismantling Fortress Architecture 56 28 1 34 7" is notable for its length and being co-written by Craig Spector but that's about it. "Scoop vs. Leadman" was the other gem in this collection. Something fun and engaging and interesting, but when it involves a private investigator named Franklin Fuck, how could it not. Overall though, Schow has definitely done better.

Haunted by James Herbert

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• Published May 2007 (Pan Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 12, 2009
• Haunted is a straight up ghost / haunted house story. No mass killings or demons or double-cross plots like many of the other books that I've been reading. Instead we have David Ash, a paranormal investigator from the Psychical Research Institute, trying to disprove the ghosts or haunting at Edbrook, a mansion occupied by Christina, Robert and Simon Mariell. From the start, things are a bit off and weird. Ash might not feel it but the readers do get a chill and sense of unease. And as things progress, the chill keeps growing. The book is a tad on the short side but not enough that you feel shorted. Instead Herbert packs it with enough chills to keep you reading. I will also have to say that parts of the story are relatively easy to predict; I figured out the ending about halfway through the book. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book though. I've always liked Herbert's work and this one doesn't disappoint.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

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• Published April 2006 (Anchor Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 2, 2011
• I really hate giving up on a book when I'm part way through. Part of it is me simply wanting to complete what I started. Part of it is me thinking that I should respect the author's efforts enough to finish the book. And when it is an author that I've read previously and liked, then I should really try to finish it through to see his vision. Unfortunately I was unable to do that with Haunted. The book was too boring and painful for me to get more than halfway through. The premise was no stranger than others I've read or other Palahniuk books. A bunch of people who are trying to create the Great American Novel / Movie are sequestered away to produce their work; however, rather than the nice vacation-type resort they expect, they are in an abandoned building and are fed MREs: Military Meals Ready To Eat. There is a chapter dedicated to each individual so we can get their back-story and then a chapter on the group together. The problem for me was that none of the characters were likable and their situation wasn't interesting enough for me to ignore the bad characters. During all the group chapters, the characters were scheming about who is going to play them in the made-for-TV movie of their lives and treating it like a reality show. I understood Palahniuk's commentary on the public's need for fame and doing anything to get it, especially considering the book beat it into me again and again and again. However, it wasn't something that I found interesting enough to keep trying to read. The Afterword talked about how Haunted was originally written as a bunch of short stories / characters and then combined into the book. That might explain how the book ended up being what it was; though it still doesn't excuse it from sucking.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

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• Published 1984 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on July 13, 2002
• While I thought that I had read this book before, I don't remember any of it during the reading. So with some fresh eyes on an old tale I would have to say that I was disappointed. This is supposed to be one of the scarier haunted house stories out there yet I hardly found it that scary at all. The story is about four people that go stay at a haunted house in order to investigate it. And while a few freaky and scary things do happen, the four of them pretty much ignore and downplay the events. Things pick up a bit with the arrival of the doctor's wife who is so annoying of a character I was hoping that the ghosts would kill her off. The ending was pretty quick and didn't leave me feeling resolved at all. I can see why this would make it as a book to be studied in classes though. The characters and symbolism within the book probably make for hours and hours of analysis. Unfortunately as a book read purely for fun, I would have to say that it was lacking.

Headstone City by Tom Piccirilli

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• Published March 2006 (Bantam Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 30, 2009
• Piccirilli is great at bringing his characters to life. This is the second book by him that I read where the characters are alive and presenting themselves to me from the very start of the book. And while there are some chunks that are told in flashbacks or memories, they worked perfectly as the main character was reliving parts of his life. The story starts with John Danetello about to be released from jail for running over a cop. As we are pulled into his life, we learn about Danetello's mob connections, his past loves and his ability to talk with ghosts. We also watch as he tries to pull his life together while also not knowing what he wants. The book was one that I could not put down and kept reading chapter after chapter. It was also a book that came to a beautiful conclusion but which I wanted to go for another 200 pages just so I could continue to enjoy it. It's not often that you enjoy so thoroughly a book from the first sentence all the way through to the last. Don't miss it!

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

• Purchase it here
• Published April 2008 (Harper paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 21, 2010
• This is one book that you won't regret purchasing and reading. The story is solid, interesting and gripping. By now you've probably seen other reviews or read the blurbs to know that Jude Coyne, the main character, buys a ghost online to fit into his collection of weird stuff. What you might not know is that rather than being a random purchase, he was targeted and that the ghost seeks vengeance. As with all good ghost stories, the main characters must deal with their past coming back alive and face down what wrongs occurred. For Coyne, his past includes many wrongs to address. Fortunately for us, we feel for him and every event that occurs. The characters are rich, complex, emotional and with their own problems that make them more real. The pacing of what occurs is perfect. And as in all great books, the further along in the book I read, the more I didn't want to put it down. I had to keep reading to see what would happen to their lives. I will definitely be adding Hill to my list of authors to follow.

Hearts In Atlantis by Stephen King

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• Published August 2000 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on March 25, 2002
• In a weird bit of synchronicity shortly after finishing the book I caught the film, so I'll probably slip some comments in on that one. The book is really broken up into five parts that focus on essentially three kids from one summer. The first section is excellent! It quickly became interesting with rich characters and then when Ted Brautigan started having direct ties to King's Dark Tower series, it became that much more engrossing. A must for followers of Roland the gunslinger. The next section followed Pete, a college student who goes to school with Carol, one of the three kids, and while not as engrossing I did find myself pulled in and curious as to what would happen. section three seemed to have nothing or little to do with the overall story. It was only when finishing the book that it fit in as semi-necessary background. Sections four and five refer directly back to the first and close the loop. Overall I would say that the book was OK, not great, and the major pull would be the first section for fans of King's Dark Tower books. Now as for the movie, it was bad. It focuses on the first and last sections but since it leaves out so much of the characterization and since it modified and lessened the threat of the low men (the "bad guys" in section one), it leaves viewers more confused than anything else. Definitely a movie to avoid.

The Hellfire Club by Peter Straub

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• Published August 1997 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 6, 1999
• This is an excellent book. It did start off kind of weird, mostly because there were too many characters that I just didn't like. They all seemed whiny and annoying; plus they were putting up with stuff to which any normal person would have said "Fuck off!" But then the novel takes a few nasty twists back to back. At that point, I couldn't put it down. My attention was grabbed and I just wanted to find out what was going to happen. Additionally Straub who is a master at having a story within a story continued that here. The whole novel wraps itself around the mystery of who really wrote a book called "Night Journey." Everyone seems to be wrapped up in it and as the end of the book pulls things together, you find out that the "Night Journey" involves more than one mystery and more than one solution. Don't miss this novel!!

Hide and Seek by Jack Ketchum

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• Published 2000 (Cemetery Dance hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on October 27, 2005
• There are some authors which when reading their work, I usually burn through it at a record pace. These are novels which I yearn desperately to find out what happens next, I'm eager to spend more time with the characters and at the same time I dread the ending because that means my experience with them will be over. Obviously I'm saying this now because Ketchum is on that list; and in case you are curious, others include Andrew Vachss, Joe Lansdale, and Richard Laymon. I started and finished Hide and Seek within 24 hours. It wouldn't let me not read it. At the heart of the story is the love between small town local Dan Thomas and visiting out of towner Casy White. The readers get to enjoy their relationship in a way that should remind you of your own past loves. At the same time though, not everyone has an easy life when they are young and Casey is enough here to be glad that despite envying young love, it's good to know that she's a character in a book. Anyway, while the first half of the novel establishes characters and relationships, it also lays all the groundwork and chills for the second half: for the game of hide and seek. The game is what has to happen and we know it's what we've been waiting for. I won't spoil anything but if I couldn't put the book down during the first half when "nothing was happening", imagine what I was like when the shit was hitting fan. Don't take my word for it though; pick the book up and find out for yourself.

High Cotton by Joe R. Lansdale

• Purchase it here
• Published originally in September 2000 (Golden Gryphon Press hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on September 05, 2003
• This collection contains the favorites of Lansdale's work, both his favorites and the ones that taught him the most. There are twenty one of them. And I would have to agree that some of these are also my favorites. And even the ones that aren't at the top of the list still leave an impact and are quickly memorable from the start. It was definitely a pleasure to read them again and to experience the new stories. As usual my absolute favorites are listed below.

  "Not From Detroit" - A love story about beating death but not really. I tried explaining this one to my wife but quickly realized that it loses a lot in the re-telling.

  "Steppin' Out, Summer, '68" - Some local boys go out for a good time but their stupidity prevails

  "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" - A car accident leads to a chase through the woods and much more

  "The Steel Valentine" - A husband seeks revenge for infidelity by his wife

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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• Published January 1982 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 15, 2002
• I know that I read The Hobbit and the entire Lord of the Rings series when I was a teenager but with the recent release of the New Line movies, I felt it appropriate to read them again. The first thing that struck me with the book was that the style was very much lending itself to be read aloud. I could very easily picture reading it to my children, if I had any. In case you were not already aware, the story is about Bilbo Baggins who goes on an adventure with thirteen dwarves to recover the gold stolen by a dragon. It's kind of funny that before reading the book, I didn't remember much. But then as I got to each new adventure, I would remember them. "Oh yeah, they do face a pack of wolves." Also Gollum's part was much smaller than I remember. Still a very enjoyable book and an excellent beginning for the rest of the series.

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon

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• Published March 1993 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 15, 2000
• This is an excellent book! The characters in it are engaging. The dialogue is wonderful. And the situations are both scary and amazing: amazing in how so stupid some people are and how little it takes for someone to kill someone else, scary because it is all true. In case you were not aware of that, this book is actually the story of one of Baltimore's homicide units in 1988. Simon went around with the detectives for the entire year and have put their stories down in this book. At times it is quite sad to read about the brutal atrocities that people are committing against each other. At times it is satisfying to read about the detectives tracking down or lucking in to catching those responsible for the many deaths. But it is always engrossing and fascinating to follow the process and the people involved in one of the uglier jobs possible. This book is a must for any fan of police stories, criminal investigations or anything related to law and order. And in case you further didn't realize it, this book was the basis for the TV show of the same name. It makes the show even scarier to know that not only is it based on real life, but many of the stories from the show are taken straight out of the book. If you were a fan of the show, you will easily recognize many of the exact same cases here in the book. (Or rather vice versa since the book was first.) Easily one of the best books that I've read in a while!

Homicide: Violent Delights by Jerome Preisler

• Purchase it here
• Published November 1997 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on July 18, 1999
• This really is only a novel for fans of the TV show. And even then it might not please everyone. The dialogue for each of the characters is extremely accurate and it is easy to picture the actors saying their lines. But rather than having the mystery unfold before our eyes, we get all sides of the story from the very beginning. So there is no mystery or intrigue. And knowing that all the main characters have to live (since the show is the definitive version) there really is no suspense. Instead we get led around by the nose throughout the entire story. Even in other series books (Star Trek, Star Wars) where the main characters can't be killed, you get the characters flushed out more. Or even better, the author attempts to describe something that the show never did. But not here. We get a repetitive rehash of the same characters acting in their usual manner with nothing new to add. Stick to the show instead, which you can't anymore except for reruns since it has been canceled.

Homing by John Saul

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• Published August 1995 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 5, 1998
• After I was reading this novel for a little while I began to lose interest in the story. It didn't seem interesting, I wasn't sure where it was going and it seemed totally unbelievable. But I did something which totally switched my mind around; I summed up the story in one short sentence. That sentence was "A sociopath accidentally starts turning some teenagers into giant bees." And with that one simple sentence, I realized that "Hey, this story is pretty weird yet also interesting at the same time." So with my interest re-sparked, I kept reading and the story got better and better. It turned out to be quite a good story after all, even taking into account the fantastical elements of the story.

Horror Show by Greg Kihn

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• Published October 1997 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on December 28, 1999
• Knowing the author more as a musician in relation to the Greg Kihn Band and also as a DJ at the local radio station KFOX, I wasn't too sure of what to expect. Sure, I heard great things about the book but should I really believe them? Let me tell you right now - Absolutely!! This is easily one of the best novels that I've read in a while! The characters come alive and are right there with you. The story telling is fabulous and pulls you in to it the entire way. I shared in the frustration of getting the initial interview. I had the crap scared out of me during the Halloween party. And I got that adrenaline rush that comes with being too scared to continue reading yet not being able to pull my eyes away from the page. In huge chunks, I wanted to read it really fast just to get past the scary part but then I also wanted to savor every printed word. If you see this book anywhere, grab it! Buy it or steal it if you need to but definitely read it!!

Horrors of the Holy by Staci Layne Wilson

• Purchase it here
• Published January 2000 (Running Free Press paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 16, 2006
• This book is a collection of thirteen stories all written by Wilson. Unfortunately most of them were not very good. There were a couple that seemed incomplete; after reading them I couldn't determine what story or point was being told. There were a few that were a single scene stretched out into a short story but with no character or story development to sustain that scene. And then most of the others didn't pull me in at all. About a third of the way through, I was reading just to finish and didn't really care about the stories, mostly because I wasn't made to care about them. Only "Losing My Religion" and "Portrait of a Lady" contained a spark and potential to be good; They both needed a little more depth to their characters; something to make me concerned if someone dies rather than going "Whatever." and turning the page.

Hosts by F. Paul Wilson

• Purchase it here
• Published August 2003 (Tor Book paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on July 30, 2004
• In this extremely enjoyable novel, Wilson continues expanding on the life of Repairman Jack and by extension the Adversary Cycle universe. We pick up on Jack's life about a year after All The Rage; at the same time though Wilson brings Jack's life into the present. There are small clues dropped throughout the story that point at Jack now living in the 2000s instead of the 1980s. Anyway this story has Jack by an act of weird synchronicity finding his sister who he hasn't talked to in years. The sister pulls Jack into an adventure that ends up tying into previous books and future books. As is usual for Wilson, he does a fabulous job at writing a story that is engrossing with characters that are interesting and includes enough adventure and suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. This time the story does not involve Gia or Vicky very much; it would have been nice to see more of them but they didn't fit into the story line. The one thing that I didn't like that much was near the end when Jack has revealed to him that he is an important person in the fight against the Adversary. I know that Wilson is playing into the already written Adversary Cycle finale but it was a bit too contrived; it's like the moment during a movie when you just KNOW that there are going to be lots of sequels. Same thing. It's good because I love his writing and the character. The moment was just overdramatized.

Hot Blood: Crimes of Passion edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 14 stories by such authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Lawrence Block, and Ramsey Campbell
• Published November 1997 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on August 05, 1999
• Compared with past Hot Blood compilations, this one was not as thrilling. There were too many stories that I had read before elsewhere or stories that were just not exciting. They seemed to lack a lot of passion and came across as monotonous and repetitive. Or they read well for the bulk of the story but then lacked any kind of decent ending; they just faded in to oblivion or ended too predictably. The ones that I did like are ...

  "The Great White Light" by Greg Kihn - Two horny teens experiment with drugs and sex in San Francisco

  "Tricks or Treat" by Jeff Gelb - Two LA detectives get to visit a nudist camp

  "Necros" by Brian Lumley - An old Italian folklore returns. Unfortunately I've read it before so the punch at the end was already known

Hot Blood: Deadly After Dark edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 14 short stories by such authors as Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Bentley Little, Graham Masterton
• Published November 1994 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on December 14, 1996
• Ahhh. Hot Blood again lives up to its name. Both in getting your blood hot and pumping and putting out quality horror with a sexual slant. I was quite pleased by the stories and also quite scared. This is after all the point of the book, so it accomplished its goal. The stories were well picked and they went together very nicely. If you are a fan of erotic horror, do not miss this collection. Some of my favorites are below.

  "Mr. Torso" by Edward Lee - A detective gets to the source of some missing limbs

  "A Moment Of Ecstasy" by Graham Watkins - Wife-swapping with a morale

  "Reincarnal" by Max Allan Collins - A serial killer's victim gets her revenge

  "The Numbers Game" by Bentley Little - Numbers are used as weapons by the CIA

  "Suffer Kate" by Graham Masterton - An asphyxiator's imaginary friend

Hot Blood: Fear the Fever edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 17 short stories by such authors as Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Graham Masterton, Lucy Taylor, Bruce Jones
• Published July 1996 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 2, 1998
• I'm so glad that there is still a source for erotic horror that puts out good stories on a reliable basis. Like all the other Hot Blood collections, this one gives us more erotic scary stories, or scary erotic stories depending on your point of view. And since it is quality stuff, it definitely receives my recommendation. My personal favorites are listed below.

  "Purple Hearts and Other Wounds" by Stephen Woodworth - A wounded soldier experiences phantom pleasures

  "Sole Man" by Lois Gresh - A foot fetishist enjoys his fantasy come true

  "Metalica" by Patricia D. Cacek - Pap smear exams are a turn-on to a woman

  "Daddy's Dirty Books" by Michael Garrett - A young boy discovers his dad's sex collection

  "Restin' Piece" by Nat Gertler - What coitus interruptus will do to you

  "Fantasies" by Alan Brennert - A lesson to not fantasize of someone else while having sex

Hot Blood: Kiss and Kill edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 16 short stories by such authors as Nancy Holder, Max Allan Collins, Graham Masterton, Brian Hodge, Ray Garton, Thomas Tessier and O'Neil DeNoux
• Published March 1997 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 18, 1999
• I'm not sure of what else I can say about the Hot Blood series that I have not already said. The stories are excellent: high quality, scary moments and lots of highly erotic scenes. Nothing here was really of the "Eh, whatever" story; instead they are all quite engrossing. Once again some of my favorites are itemized below.

  "Heroine" by Graham Masterton - A young woman finds strength through love and pain

  "Comeback" by Graham Watkins - A porn star makes his big return to the industry

  "Interstate 666" by Max Allen Collins - An urban legend is discovered to be true and then put to rest

  "The Healing Touch" by Terry Campbell - A woman enjoys applying a healing touch to those who are disabled

  "Hair Of The Dog" by Ray Garton - The ultimate male fantasy takes a turn for the worst

  "Erotophobia" by O'Neil DeNoux - A pulp fiction type murder mystery

Hot Blood: Seeds of Fear edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 19 short stories by such authors as Rex Miller, Bentley Little, J.N. Williamson, Billie Sue Mosiman and Edward Lee
• Published May 1995 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 3, 1997
• I don't think that I've once been disappointed by any of the Hot Blood collections, and I'm still not. This is another collection of stories to get your adrenaline pumping, your nerves cringing and your loins throbbing. One of the other things about this collection is that I end up not wanting to put it down. I keep telling myself just one more story then go to bed. But one turns into two, then three. And suddenly it's three in the morning and I have to get some sleep for work the next morning! I just hate putting it down. So if erotic horror does the same for you, be sure to read this collection. Some of my favorites are below.

  "Just A Phone Call Away" by John F. D. Taff - This one had me physically cringing through a good part of it

  "I Am Joe's Penis" by Scott H. Urban - If for no other reason than the title

  "Overeaters Ominous" by Stephen R. George - A new method of weight control

  "Grub-Girl" by Edward Lee - A twist on the zombie

  "Black And White And Bed All Over" by James Crawford - A side of 'toons that we haven't seen before

  "The Watcher" by Rex Miller and Jeff Gelb - Something to make us guys not want a menage a trois

Hot Blood: Strange Bedfellows edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 19 short stories by such authors as Greg Kihn, Michael Laimo, Christa Faust, Marv Wolfman and Graham Masterton
• Published November 2004 (Kensington Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 4, 2006
• Let me first mentioned that I kind of modified the title in how I'm listing it so that it fit with the rest of the Hot Blood series. The official title of the book is Strange Bedfellows and a sub-title of The Hot Blood Series. Minor point but still valid. The stories in this collection are overall pretty good. I've listed my favorites and in my opinion the strongest of the stories below. There weren't as many big name authors as in previous Hot Blood books but that doesn't make a difference. The stories are still tantalizing and creepy and fun to read.

  "Dance: The Devil's Orgasm" by Michael Laimo - A not so nice tale of a stripper saving the world every single day.

  "Ragnall Redux" by Abbie Bernstein - Sisters are cursed with being gorgeous in private and ugly in public or gorgeous in public and ugly in private.

  "Desire" by J. F. Gonzalez - A little black box brings a police officer's dead wife back into his life.

  "Committed" by Jeff Gelb - A man is tested for having an affair while working at his office.

  "The Next-Best Thing" by Michael Garrett - A man becomes obsessed with the sex from his relationship with his dead wife.

Hot Blood: X edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 17 short stories by such authors as Lawrence Block, Ramsey Campbell, Nancy Holder and others
• Published October 1998 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on August 14, 2000
• While I still haven't been disappointed by any of the collections in the Hot Blood series. This book now makes it ten collections of erotic horror to tantalize, tease and titillate you. And Hot Blood: X does exactly that. Overall I don't think that this collection is as strong as some others in the Hot Blood series but that still didn't stop me from staying up late and reading through the entire book in just a couple of nights. Obviously I still enjoyed it greatly. Once more my top picks are below.

  "Appetite" by Nancy Holder - A gym brings together one who hungers for fame and one who hungers for food.

  "Regeneration" by Max Allen Collins and Barbara Collins - The old get another chance at the young life.

  "Invisible" by Jeff Gelb - Not quite the fantasy that you would think it would be.

  "Picnic at Lac Du Sang" by Graham Masteron - The girl that you've always wished for who isn't quite.

Hot Blood XI: Fatal Attractions edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett

• Purchase it here
• 18 short stories by such authors as
• Published February 2003 (Kensington Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on January 08, 2004
• Like the previous Hot Blood books, this one delivers on what it promises. You get lots of high quality stories. You get scared, chilled and spooked. And of course, you get turned on and excited. While there is not too much new to say here, I do hope the series continues for a long time. There is a lot to be said about delivering quality material again and again. My favorites are below.

  "Making the Jump" by Bob Ingersoll - A man who enjoys exploiting a women's fantasies meets his match

  "Separate Vacations" by Edo van Belkom - A woman goes on a separate vacation than her husband

  "One To Die For" by Michael Garrett - A sex club with unwilling participants

  "Saturnalia" by David J. Schow - A porn star gets recruited to do some private showings

Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter

• Purchase it here
• Published June 2001 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on August 04, 2002
• I suppose that it only makes sense that Hunter give us some more info on his favorite character, Bobby Lee Swagger, by doing a book on his father. After all, Bobby Lee's life was pretty full and he did deserve a break. So this story is about Earl Swagger, the tough marine who fathered Bobby Lee. Earl has recently left the army after getting being awarded the Medal of Honor and is at a lost of what to do. He quickly finds himself recruited though to work for an ambitious prosecutor to clean up the town of Hot Springs from the mob controlled casinos and whore houses. The book does an excellent job of giving us more depth on all the characters from the previous Swagger novels by filling in an interesting and realistic family history. At the same time, we get to enjoy a story that stands by itself, that includes a lot of action with a Mob-centric theme and that keeps our avid interest throughout the book. About the only negative that I had was that the book is set in the 1940's; I enjoy stories set in current day and not "period" books. However considering that this is about the father of a current day character, it had to be set in the past.

The House by Edward Lee

• Purchase it here
• Published August 2007 (Necro Publications signed paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 23, 2009
• This book by Lee is actually two related novellas: "The Pig" and "The House". Both involve the same house / location and naturally fit together. Since they were written years apart from each other, "The House" should be considered a sequel to "The Pig," but since they are in the same book, consider them two chapters of the same story. However you consider them though, definitely consider them intense and graphic. There are detailed scenes of bestiality, sodomy, scat, and necrophilia, and the usual graphic, imaginative deaths. And not just one scene but multiple. This is Lee at his grossest. The basic story for "The Pig" is that Leonard, a down-and-out, wanna-be film maker, gets forced by the mob who he owes money to make hardcore porn films for them. The basic story for "The House" is Melvin, an introvert junior journalist, is assigned to write about a haunted house, the same house that Leonard was forced to make his films. The story for each novella is definitely light as the concentration is on the gross-out aspect. I actually thought "The Pig" was better than "The House"; there seemed to be more story and more mystery about where it was going. It also was the grosser of the two but that really wasn't part of the reason why I liked it more. At least I don't think it was. Either way, I also hoped for more from "The House". There was a lot more potential for scary than for gross that I think was missed. Only catch this book if you don't mind reading total, over the top, seriously gross descriptions.

The House by Bentley Little

• Purchase it here
• Published April 1999 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on July 17, 2001
• Like so many of his other novels, Little does a great job of bringing forth some frights, this time through a house. While not as scary or frightful as I had hoped it would be, the novel makes up for it in being a solid and interesting story. Not quite a haunted house story, the novel involves a pulling that five different people have towards the house that they grew up in. As they arrive there, they must get locked away from the "real" world and face the evil that they all grew up with. One of the things I did like was how the novel kept to the rules that it established despite breaking the rules as we know them. For example, the five people are all pulled together in to one house and one time despite their locations throughout the country. However there was also a confusing factor to the story in the way that it was written. Each chapter focuses on the story from one person's point of view which is fine but I had the hardest time identifying the characters. Sure, the chapter states it with the title of "Daniel" or "Mark" but it took me most of the book before I would remember that Mark was the one that hitchhiked across the country while Daniel was the one that was married and living in Philadelphia. Other than that, the novel was pretty damn good and is recommended to those desiring a bit of suspense in their lives.

House Infernal by Edward Lee

• Purchase it here
• Published October 2007 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on March 13, 2009
• With this chapter about his City Infernal, Lee takes it from a story into an epic. Yes, Infernal Angel was already a sequel to City Infernal and continued our view of Mephistopolis. This time though Lee does a much better job. Not only do we get a wider view of the neighborhoods of the city but we also grow the mythology of this world. The story follows Venetia Barlow as she starts her summer working at St. John's Prior House, her first step on the way to becoming a nun. Little does she know that the Prior House is the mirror location of a ceremony meant to further corrupt some angels trapped and tortured in Hell. What she does know is that weird things are happening and dreams/hallucinations are telling her a story that she would rather not hear. Simultaneously a fallen priest recruits a deceased hooker to help oppose a Grand Duke in Mephistopolis from gaining more power. It sounds a tad confusing but it's not. Everything makes sense and is very gripping the whole way through. Much more interesting than the second book. And on the plus side, it is very easy to see how this will become a much bigger series of stories with plot lines being picked up between books and characters connecting the actions in each novel. There was supposed to be additional connections between House Infernal and Slither but I would never have noticed it if it wasn't pointed out in other reviews. In my mind, it's a dubious connection but not something worth arguing about.

The House Inside by Norman Partridge

• Published 2003 (Subterranean Press signed numbered paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on November 24, 2007
• At just over forty pages, this book probably qualifies more as a chapbook than anything else. I would imagine that the story will eventually make its way into one of the short story collections that Partridge does. And if it does, it will be a good thing. The story is a solid piece of entertainment. A bunch of toys become sentient only to immediately face the threat of a sun that is more powerful. How or why they "woke up" is left unanswered as well as the details behind the sun being closer, hotter or stronger. Instead the toys must deal with a force that is strong enough to kill the humans and now melt many of the plastic toys. The lack of an explanation is really the only negative that I could possibly see with the story, but then many times things like that don't need to be explained. No clear explanation is ever given behind Romero's zombies but that doesn't stop people from enjoying the living dead. Anyway while not very poignant, The House Inside is still a good read and something that should be enjoyed.

The House That Jack Built by Graham Masterton

• Purchase it here
• Published June 2000 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on December 30, 2003
• I would have to say that this book was a hit and a miss. I was looking forward to a good haunted house story and it connected on that front to a large degree. It has the ghosts, spooky things that happened and a house that has as much personality as the characters in the book. Ok, the explanation of the ghosts and what was happening was kind of lame but it wasn't bad enough to take away from the story. What I thought was a miss was the actions by the characters. It was the situation where as the reader, the solution is so easy but the characters themselves keep doing the wrong things. I wanted to yell at some of the characters to just do this or just do that and to stop being such idiots. And from that point of view, the book was a success because I was emotionally vested in the characters and the story and stuck through it all the way to the end. I wish though that some of the emotion was not frustration, but then again if it wasn't frustrating at times, then it would have been predictable and boring.

How To Rescue A Dead Princess by Jeff Strand

• Purchase it here
• Published July 2006 (Mundania Press paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on March 30, 2008
• While Strand is known for his humor in most of his novels, I would have to say that this book is his best from a pure enjoyment factor. The story follows Randall, a clumsy squire escorting a Princess on her journey. Unfortunately she winds up dead. However since it is a fantasy story, there is a witch in it. And witches can often bring back the dead, so that becomes Randall's new task. Strand has fun with the novel by poking fun at the usual elements and bringing his usual sharp and sarcastic wit. Even the sub-headers for each chapter are incredibly amusing. This book should be required reading by everyone with even the slightest bit of a sense of humor.

Hunted Past Reason by Richard Matheson

• Purchase it here
• Published June 2000 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 26, 2004
• Matheson has demonstrated that he can still write an excellent book. With little preamble, we join Doug and Bob as they are dropped off at the woods on a three to four day backpacking trip. All part of some research by Bob for a new book that he is writing; Doug is the expert backpacker providing the in-field research. And as the trip progresses and we get to learn about our characters, we also learn that Doug is not the most well-balanced individual. And after further tribulations, Bob finds himself very much the whipping boy for Doug. While the idea has been done countless times before (man hunting man in the woods) and while I did find myself waiting a few time for the inevitable final collapse of friendship between the two men, I still found myself pulled into the characters and the events unfolding. Part of the hunt evolves from a disagreement on a philosophy for life but that can only be pulled off if you have believable characters in the first place. And we do have them here. This is a solidly good novel and I'm glad to see a new novel from Matheson as opposed to just reading all the collections of his older material.

Send comments or your opinions on these books to mike@kazba.com.

Last modified on December 31, 2011