December 2009

  • H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

    By erika on 12/14/09 8:11pm
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    Although Lovecraft's name has become inexorably bound with that of his creation, Cthulhu, the great ancient god, Cthulhu itself only appeared in a major role in one Lovecraft story, "The Call of Cthulhu."  Needless to say, the impact of that short story (published in 1928 by the magazine Weird Tales) is such that it is frequently considered one of the most influential short stories ever written.

    Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos arrived in his short story fully formed, and being discovered by a contemporary researcher.  "The Call of Cthulhu" is presented as a nested series of stories, not unlike the structure of Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves.  The story was found by the narrator in manuscript form among the papers of a Boston anthropologist (Thurston), who himself found the story in the notes left behind by his grand-uncle (Angell).


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  • Vampyre

    By akgoemans on 12/14/09 3:00am
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    VampyreVampyre

    This is a must-have story for fans of vampire stories. After all, the Vampyre by John Polidori is the starting point for modern (non-sparkling) vampires – charming, cunning undead beings who seduce the pious and feed on their blood. Prior to that, vampires were not that different from zombies, ugly little creatures who flailed their arms and snacked on their families. These folks didn't have a plan, a method for attacking their prey, at least not until Polidori added a bit of sexiness and oomph to the vampire image.



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  • Beasts

    By sarajean on 12/13/09 8:34pm
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    In the market for a book that will leave you feeling as if you’ve witnessed something dreadfully revealing about humans as a species—something taboo and dark, something that lurks both behind corners and perceived innocence; something that will make you bite a nail, flush with heat (embarrassment? rage? recognition?), and want to scrub yourself clean afterwards?

    Beasts is your book.

    Psychological thrillers aren’t abundant in number, let alone in effectiveness; in my experience, Joyce Carol Oates defies the status quo with most of her work, far surpassing the believability and disturbing nature of humanity only glimpsed at in many a read. She’s not afraid to show the basest parts of us—the rutting, ape-like (or more depraved than ape?) nature of primal humans and what they will or won’t do to each other.

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  • Zombie

    By sarajean on 12/12/09 11:52pm
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    Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most terrifying books I’ve ever read—and certainly the scariest in the past couple of years. Rather than the typical villain we’re given—someone crafty and clever and evil to the core, or perhaps a monstrous being that surpasses our wildest nightmares—Oates provides someone even more horrifying: someone who could be our next door neighbor, our slow cousin, our very selves.

    Quentin P.—I actually just shivered while typing his name—is the strange kid you always wondered about in school. Maybe he had a sick smile for everyone he greeted, causing an uneasy feeling in your stomach. He was probably held back a year, or at least failed a class or two, and was never particularly bright. But he was someone we all knew, maybe even talked to or befriended out of pity or sheer curiosity or our own need to “be nice.”

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  • The Haunting of Hill House

    By sarajean on 12/11/09 8:37pm
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    Hailed as one of the most important horror novels of all time—and perhaps the greatest “haunted house” story ever written—Shirley Jackson’s masterpiece The Haunting of Hill House is a classic horror novel for the ages. The psychological dread throughout the novel grows on the reader, slowly inciting a creeping dread that makes one’s skin crawl.

    Today’s media simply doesn’t have what Jackson portrayed in her novel. We’re bombarded with blood and guts, images of monsters, demons, killers wearing masks, whatever—rather than allowed to fear what we simply cannot see.

    I’ve heard from many readers of Hill House who claim that the book didn’t scare them in the least; some even say it shouldn’t be classified as horror. In one way, they’re right; rather than generic horror, Hill House has a class of its own in a more terrifying category.

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  • Mary Shelley, "The Last Man"

    By erika on 12/11/09 7:52pm
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    Everyone has heard of Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein, but her other horror novel The Last Man is far more obscure.  Which is a shame, really, because in many ways it is at least the equal of Frankenstein.

    The Last Man is a bleak, post-apocalyptic novel, albeit not as bleak as certain other bleak post-apocalyptic novels.  It follows the protagonist, Lionel Verney, from a childhood of poverty through his rise to political power, and finally to his epic walk and other efforts to escape the plague.


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  • Rose Madder

    By sarajean on 12/10/09 11:25pm
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    It would just figure that the Stephen King book I love most holds the author’s own distaste. In his memoir On Writing, he stated that, alone with another novel, Rose Madder was “overwritten, too hard working novels.” Now, that is something I would agree with when attributed to a few of the author’s other novels—but not this one.

    Rose Madder isn’t only my favorite King novel; it’s my favorite book on the planet, period. I’ve used it in reports, dramatic interpretation for class, and have probably dog-eared it more than most other books I own. What isn’t to love about Rosie Real and her escape from her monstrous, abusive husband Norman (“as in Bates”)?

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  • Poe's Children: The New Horror (An Anthology)

    By sarajean on 12/5/09 10:21pm
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    When I read that Poe’s Children had such mixed reviews, I was baffled. Why wouldn’t any horror fan enjoy this twisted collection of dark humor, macabre stories and plain old scariness? I get that a lot of Stephen King fans aren’t as impressed with his newer works as they have been with older ones (I’m included in a couple of such instances, myself), and that as horror is gradually becoming a recognized genre of substance (when applicable), higher standards could be upheld; but what ever happened to just enjoying the ride?

    Some dubbed it up to being “too philosophical.” Others say it doesn’t live up to its name—that the stories selected aren’t near the quality of Poe and don’t deserve to be attributed to him as such. Whatever the reason, most naysayers have remarked on the academic nature of the collection and not the value of a good story instead.

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  • The Beast With Five Fingers

    By akgoemans on 12/4/09 2:27am
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     The Beast with Five FingersThe Beast with Five Fingers

    The name may sounds quite silly but The Beast with Five Fingers is a good horror tales, full of suspense and creepy moments. Written by W. F. Harvey, this book and its author became famous after this story was adapted into a movie in the 1940s. Funnily enough, while the flick was good in its own right, it lacked all the elements that made this story stand out.

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  • Mark Z. Danielewski, "House of Leaves"

    By erika on 12/3/09 12:23pm
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    House of LeavesHouse of LeavesI have read House of Leaves three times over the last ten years, and I'm still working on it.  Danielewski's book is an amazing puzzle, a truly outstanding work of fiction, and a haunting story about love, loss, and alienation.  

    There are many nested levels of stories in House of Leaves, but at the most superficial level there are three: the Navidson family and the Navidson Record, Johnny Truant, and the Whalestoe Letters.  

    Johnny Truant's story is the framing device.  (Well, one of them, anyway.)  Truant, a Los Angeles tattoo artist, junkie, and all-round punk, finds himself squatting in the apartment of a recently-deceased man named Zampano.  The contents of Zampano's apartment include a scholarly manuscript regarding "The Navidson Record."


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  • Stephen King, "The Shining"

    By erika on 12/2/09 1:48pm
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    I'm genuinely surprised by the number of people who have seen the movie (or the miniseries), but not read the book.  The best thing that could be said about the movie is that it is "closely based upon" the novel.  There are several points at which it fails, and it leaves out a huge whack of the greatness of the book.

    The movie tips its hand early and loses all credence by casting noted crazyman Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance.  It is crystal clear from the start that Jack Torrance is a man on the edge of attempting to slaughter his family with a croquet (excuse me, roque) mallet.  The Shining is the story of a man who mostly has his life together, having gathered up the scraps after a difficult time, and finally found some stable ground.  Only to see it all unravel before his family's eyes.


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