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Post by bishop746 on Sept 29, 2010 19:49:55 GMT -5
Dean Koontz, Night ChillsNot Koontz’s greatest fan. I can’t help thinking that someone who is so prolific must be doing it by numbers. Anyway, this is about a scientist, a billionaire tycoon and Korean war vet turned security chief who join forces to rule the world. Their method? Subliminal messages of course. Written in the days before cellphones and when computers were huge scary things that only rich folk could afford and only geniuses could operate, it rattles along at a fair old pace and is an easy read provided you overlook the hokey science, the plot-holes, the lack of character development/motivation and the limp ending. Uh, that’s not much of a sales pitch is it? I’m currently reading Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. Anthologies are my favourite thing and right now I’m relishing every page. I’ll get back to you. Hey, you brought back some memories with this one. I went into a big Dean Koontz kick in my late teens. I started with Twilight Eyes and loved it. However, they never got any better that. I remember being really bored with Night Chills and I dont remember if I finished it. What was the Koontz book called where the town was eaten by some sort of monsters and apparently it had been happening through the centuries?
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Post by Stuart on Sept 30, 2010 2:28:47 GMT -5
Don’t know but I hope someone can come up with the title coz it sounds like my kind of read. I've pretty much milked the local library of all the good horror. All that’s left untapped is a shelf of Koontz and I can't separate the wheat from the chaff.
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Post by bishop746 on Sept 30, 2010 15:41:02 GMT -5
i looked it up and its called Phantoms. Apparently there is a Ben Affleck movie version but I've never seen it. It was one of Koontzs better novels.
Have you read Robert R. McCammons "Stinger"? Great B-movie style story about an alien invasion in a West Texas town. Lots of fun and gore.
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Post by bubba522 on Sept 30, 2010 19:05:12 GMT -5
Avoid the film version of Phantoms at all costs. It is awful. the book is SO much better. Night Chills was the first Koontz book I read by him. Way back then, I thought it was pretty good. After that, his stuff just kept getting better. Arguably, his best that I read has to be Watchers. Another GREAT book turned into a horrible movie and an even worse sequel. As for Robert R. McCammon, his best has to be Swan Song. Similar to King's The Stand in premise only. Highly reccommended. Speaking of Stephen King, I recently finished Duma Key. This was the first King novel I read in many, many years. It's about a former building contractor who suffers a massive head injury and loses an arm in a crane accident. He moves to the Florida Keys where he starts painting only to find out his paintings have a "ghostly" effect on people. It's a pretty good story, but, in typical King fashion, it's spread out over almost 700 pages. It's not boring, just long-winded. I'm going to start his novel Desperation next and it's even longer than Duma Key. His long-windedness is the reason I stopped reading him but, this was adapted into a miniseries, which I have not seen, so I'll check it out.
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maarow
Ghost in the Graveyard
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Post by maarow on Sept 30, 2010 19:27:29 GMT -5
I've read Watchers and Lightning by Koontz, both mashes of sci-fi and horror. They were good, quick reads, but rather forgettable, and Koontz has too much of a tendency to sermonize.
Intensity was pretty good--just a straight-up, fast-paced thriller about a girl's showdown with a serial killer. I've heard much of the plot, right down to individual scenes, was cribbed for Haute Tension, but I can't comment as I've yet to see it.
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Post by kingstownted on Sept 30, 2010 22:10:56 GMT -5
I'm going to start his novel Desperation next and it's even longer than Duma Key. His long-windedness is the reason I stopped reading him but, this was adapted into a miniseries, which I have not seen, so I'll check it out. You should be aware of the sister publication of King's that was released in the same year titled The Regulators as part of his big revelation and retirement of the Richard Bachman pseudonym. The Regulators and Desperation tell stories in the same universe but oddly shuffle the names of the characters around. My preference was in fact The Regulators as Desperation ventured too far into King's tendency to sermonize about the context of religion in his horrific concepts.
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Post by jpollard on Oct 2, 2010 13:52:04 GMT -5
I'm reading a latter Richard Matheson book called "Hunted Past Reason" (which as I continue the book I suspect might be a play on words). The only other Matheson I've read is I AM LEGEND, though I really want to read Hellhouse after the Wolf-man's review a while back.
On a non-horror note, Canadian though, I also recently completed the comic series "Cerebus". If ANYONE would like to talk about that with me, let me know.
And on a horror/comic note, I'm all caught up on Walking Dead. Just read issue 77. This series just keeps getting better. Can not wait for the series.
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Post by Demon Sprocket on Oct 6, 2010 17:59:17 GMT -5
Just got done reading "The Strain" by Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan. Excellent book about a vampire brought aboard an airplane in the cargo hold and infected the entire plane. Destination? Of course Manhattan. The Strain spreads, causing chaos and only a small group of people(2 doctors from the CDC,a pawn broker and an pest exterminator) to try and stop it. Reading this book you can kinda correlate it with the "Blade 2" movie, of course directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Talking with other book/vampire junkies, they tend to see several different vampire backgrounds mashed up into this story. This book was a quick read for me because I couldn't put it down. And, I look forward to book number 2 of this trilogy in the mail soon. Check out the website and watch the interview with Del Toro using the widget link www.thestraintrilogy.com/Finished book #2 The Fall. Great follow up with the character development and background setup. We still have our group of heroes with some new additions.Both human and elder vamps combine forces to stop the newest and youngest master vampire to procure their pure lines. Killing the vampires has become easier with force but exterminating them all together takes a broader approach. In the meantime the Master is setting up the human race as a food source and preparing the world for the domination of the vampire race. Using his human resources promising immortality to build riches and possessions and trying to procure the one item that can lead to the down fall of his plans. The ending of the book definitely leads into the third and final book of the trilogy. As with any other movie/book it sucks having to wait for them to come out.It was a quick read consisting of approx 300+pages in a hardbound book(roughly 100 pages less than the Strain). On another note, comparisons to Blade II is still evident ,but, I would very much like to see this made into a movie depending on how they conclude the series.
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Post by Demon Sprocket on Nov 9, 2010 17:55:23 GMT -5
Completed "Neverland" by Douglas Clegg. Not impressed by this story. Found it hard to follow in some places and was nowhere near chilling or riveting. Quick rundown. A family vacation spot on an island is known for its superstition. To escape their alcoholic and fighting parents children go to a shed in the woods that is supposed to be forbidden to play in. They start worshiping a creature they call "Lucy". Sacrifices and mind trips ensue (seems they were doing acid to me). In the end only one adult knew about the truth of the deeds done in that shed and puts an end to it. Sorry I cannot give this book a good rating. I only hope I can get a decent trade at the used book store for it.
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maarow
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 509
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Post by maarow on Nov 21, 2010 19:33:45 GMT -5
Stephen King's latest--Full Dark, No Stars. A quartet of novellas (a la Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight) based around themes of dark secrets and destructive revelations. "1922" is about a man who convinces his son to help him murder his wife, and the downward spiral of guilt and conspiracy that follows. "Big Driver" follows a woman taking revenge on her rapist. "Fair Extension" is the only supernatural tale, about a cancer-afflicted man who makes a deal with the devil. And "A Good Marriage," perhaps my favorite, details a woman's discovery of her husband's sinister double life.
King isn't my favorite writer, but Full Dark, No Stars is quite decent for a later work of his, due in no small part to its brevity.
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Post by kingstownted on Nov 21, 2010 20:34:09 GMT -5
I'm curious to read King's take on the rape-revenge tale. He's done the revenge motive before (Dolan's Cadillac being a good short story example), and one of his true strengths can be exploited in the theme - getting the internal thought process of the vengeance seeker. Too often the moral complexities are overlooked for the payoff, and King has the ability to bring us into the mind of the antagonist.
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Post by Demon Sprocket on Nov 29, 2010 19:02:31 GMT -5
Reading something different for a change. In 50 Years We'll All Be Chicks. by Adam Corolla. If you listen to his podcast you have already read his book. Myself, I do not regularly listen so I am thoroughly entertained by it. For those who do not know who Adam Corolla is, he is a man who likes to rant on various subjects anywhere from immigration, schools, gays or anything current. Nice thing he says what he needs to and does not think about the politically correctness of it. Better part, I am going to see him (with my girlfriend) here in Vegas this weekend and get the book signed.
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Post by Stuart on Nov 30, 2010 3:25:07 GMT -5
Stephen King's latest-- Full Dark, No Stars. A quartet of novellas (a la Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight) based around themes of dark secrets and destructive revelations. "1922" is about a man who convinces his son to help him murder his wife, and the downward spiral of guilt and conspiracy that follows. "Big Driver" follows a woman taking revenge on her rapist. "Fair Extension" is the only supernatural tale, about a cancer-afflicted man who makes a deal with the devil. And "A Good Marriage," perhaps my favorite, details a woman's discovery of her husband's sinister double life. King isn't my favorite writer, but Full Dark, No Stars is quite decent for a later work of his, due in no small part to its brevity. Looking forward to picking up Full Dark, No Stars. Judging by the last couple of anthologies, short stories are still King’s forte. Mostly disappointed by his later novels. Someone on the recent book club episode mentioned Tommyknockers? I think that’s about where he started to become self-indulgent. Cell was the last novel I read. I have no interest in Under the Dome. I can’t shake the Simpsons out of it. I’ve been picking through the Dean Koontz back catalogue lately. Recently read Intensity which I thought was extremely well written. It kept me hooked throughout. Currently on Seize the Night. Not sure what it’s about yet but there’s secret government labs involved and smart monkeys so right now it’s coming across as clichéd and silly .
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maarow
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 509
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Post by maarow on Dec 6, 2010 0:02:49 GMT -5
I'm curious to read King's take on the rape-revenge tale. He's done the revenge motive before (Dolan's Cadillac being a good short story example), and one of his true strengths can be exploited in the theme - getting the internal thought process of the vengeance seeker. Too often the moral complexities are overlooked for the payoff, and King has the ability to bring us into the mind of the antagonist. It's an interesting enough story, but...it falls into the strange twilight realm of stories that try to be psychologically realistic even though the circumstances are clearly the contrived machinations of plot. Sometimes this works; when said plot is surreal, for example, a la Joe Lansdale, who gives real emotional depth to absurd situations. And sometimes it doesn't. "Big Driver" is, for me, a case of it not working because it tries too hard to insinuate itself into our own reality at the start. So when the heroine sets about getting her revenge and everything falls into place just a bit too neatly, you can't help but think, "No. This doesn't happen in real life." In real life rape victims (or is the term survivors?) don't get that kind of neat yet cinematically compelling closure. I personally think the story would have worked better had it either started out full-on exploitation flick or simply followed a woman who endured a traumatic encounter and tried to piece her life back together afterward, without the benefit of vigilante justice or clean dramatic arcs. Because it tried to be both, it failed at either one.
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maarow
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 509
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Post by maarow on Dec 10, 2010 18:46:05 GMT -5
I love Joe Hill as a writer of short stories but I'm not sure how I feel about him as a novelist. His sophomore effort, Horns, is more focused and dynamic than Heart-Shaped Box, but at the end of the day it's still just too long. Even at 370 pages, far from an epic, the thin plot goes through way too many convulsions to stay afloat.
There are lots of good things about Horns. It's a lot of different things--revenge tale, coming-of-age story, gritty horror show, dark comedy, and examination of practical philosophy. I loved the first 200 pages unreservedly. Such a shame that I had to find myself cooling down, souring on beloved characters because they overstayed their welcome, and raising an eyebrow at unbelievable plot twists. Yes, in a novel where a man inexplicably grows horns, there can be unbelievable plot twists. And the way everything came together in the ending felt a bit forced.
Despite my negativity, it wasn't a bad book. Just a good one that promised to be great.
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