FREE/BARGAIN - Horror/Supernatural

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell is $0.99 at Amazon US.

Well, that was an easy sale.

[ZodWallop]

The House by the Cemetery by John Everson is $0.99 at Amazon US.

It's also the title of a schlocky Lucio Fulci horror film, though the title appears to be an homage only.

Rumor has it that the abandoned house by the cemetery is haunted by the ghost of a witch. But rumors won’t stop carpenter Mike Kostner from rehabbing the place as a haunted house attraction. Soon he’ll learn that fresh wood and nails can’t keep decades of rumors down. There are noises in the walls, and fresh blood on the floor: secrets that would be better not to discover. And behind the rumors is a real ghost who will do whatever it takes to ensure the house reopens. She needs people to fill her house on Halloween. There’s a dark, horrible ritual to fulfill. Because while the witch may have been dead... she doesn’t intend to stay that way.

[ZodWallop]

Hey, he has several more titles on sale for $0.99. These make up a series called The Curburide Chronicles. I read the first book and enjoyed it.

Covenant

In a small town with a strange history of teen suicides, a group of five women have made a pact with a demon and must sacrifice their firstborn.

To the residents of the sleepy coastal town of Terrel, the cliffs of Terrel's Peak are a deadly place, an evil place where terrible things happen. Like a series of mysterious teen suicides over the years, all on the same date. Or other deaths, usually reported as accidents. Could it be a coincidence? Or is there more to it? Reporter Joe Kieran is determined to find the truth.

Kieran's search will lead him deep into the town's hidden past, a past filled with secrets and horror, and to the ruins of the old lighthouse atop the tragic cliffs. He will uncover rumors and whispered legends -- including the legend of the evil entity that lives and waits in the caves below Terrel's Peak...

Sacrifice

They're coming. They are a race of sadistic spirits known as the Curburide, and they are about to arrive in our world, bringing with them horrors beyond imagination. The secret to summoning -- and controlling -- them has fallen into the hands of a beautiful, sexy and dangerously insane woman.

Ariana has dedicated her life to unleashing the demons in our realm through a series of human sacrifices, erotic rituals of seduction and slaughter. As she crosses the country, getting ever closer to completing her blood-drenched mission, only three figures stand in her way: Joe, an unwilling hero who has seen the horrors of the Curburide before, Alex, a burgeoning witch ... and a spiteful demon with plans of his own.

Redemption

What if you woke up in hell?

Alex hadn’t really thought of what would happen after she dragged Ariana through the portal to close the gate between worlds. She hadn’t given sacrificing herself a thought, she’d just wanted to end the demonic summoning before it was too late.

But when Alex wakes up on the other side, in the world of the Curburide, she has to think fast if she ever wants to see Joe Kieran, or Earth, again. Her only ally is an occult serial killer. Demons are searching for both of them, and there’s nothing demons love more than human fear and pain. They feed on it. In the world of the Curburide, demons are everywhere.

[ZodWallop]

Graham Masterton's The Hymn (aka The Burning) is $1.99 at Amazon US. (He's had a lot of stuff on sale recently.)

A rash of sacrificial deaths in California leads an investigator into a nightmare world of occultism and Nazi terror: “A master of the genre.” —Rocky Mountain News

The shocking suicide of his beautiful fiancée has left Lloyd Denman devastated. Though outwardly happy, Celia Williams chose to set herself on fire, ending her young life in the most excruciating manner imaginable. Haunted by her death, Lloyd vows to uncover the truth behind her bizarre actions. An answer may be waiting for him in the California desert, where ashes and bone are all that remain of a busload of passengers who perished in an apparent mass suicide by fire that has the police baffled.

But Lloyd’s desperate search is pulling him deeper into the circle of the Salamanders—a world domination cult born of the same dark and ancient secrets that spawned Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. And once in, there may be no way out for Lloyd, except through the terrible purifying agony of flame.

A gripping masterwork of supernatural suspense from one of the very best in the nightmare business, Graham Masterton’s The Hymn is a breathtakingly original tale. Combining terrors both psychological and supernatural with the mystical secrets of Native American shamans and Nazi butchers alike, the award-winning, critically acclaimed author of The Manitou spins a web of darkness guaranteed to ensnare fans of Stephen King, Peter Straub, and other masters of first-class horror.

Originally published as The Burning.

[ZodWallop]

Mystery Walk by Robert McCammon is $1.88 at Amazon US.

Born and raised in rural Alabama, Billy Creekmore was destined to be a psychic. His mother, a Choctaw Indian schooled in her tribe’s ancient mysticism, understands the permeable barrier between life and death—and can cross it. She taught the power to Billy and now he helps the dead rest in peace.

Wayne Falconer, son of one of the most fervent tent evangelists in the South, travels the country serving his father’s healing ministry. Using his unique powers to cure the flock, Little Wayne is on his way to becoming one of the popular and successful miracle workers in the country. He helps the living survive.

Billy and Wayne share more than a gift. They share a dream—and a common enemy. They are on separate journeys, mystery walks that will lead them toward a crossroad where the evil of their dreams has taken shape. One of them will reject the dark. The other will be consumed by it. But neither imagined just how monstrous and far-reaching the dark was, or that mankind’s fate would rest in their hands during an epic showdown of good versus evil.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The House by the Cemetery by John Everson is $0.99 at Amazon US.

It's also the title of a schlocky Lucio Fulci horror film, though the title appears to be an homage only.

I've read this, found it very enjoyable.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Looks interesting...rolly-polly heads served on a platter, in extreme agony - with mouths open - always excite me!

Attachments: The simple way and the way to keep attachments at the correct size without violating the Posting Guidelines, just do this: Write your comment, and then scroll down to Manage Attachments. Find the image on your computer and upload it. Save and exit. (If you meant how to first save the image to your computer, just 'Save image as' on the Amazon site and save it to your computer.)

Thanks for the attachment instructions!

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Then again, Gravity's Rainbow.

I've heard that title somewhere but never read it.

I saw some blogger recommending to new authors to write children's books in present tense and it was all I could do to stop myself commenting because there was no diplomatic way to say what I wanted.

Imagine kids growing up unable to read Classics because they were taught this.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

Then, I started reading some of the newer (at the time) young adult "problem" novels. And because a lot of them were in present tense at the time, I got used to present tense.

Those are the ones I find most difficult. I just cannot get used to it. The Time Traveler's Wife got past me because it was written in a more adult voice but a few lines into most of these YA books has me itching inside and wanting to peel my skin off.

Hence now discarding any samples it PT and dropping any authors that decide to write it in. I was slowly becoming a Hunter Shea fan until he ruined Loch Ness Monster that way.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

^

This is especially useful for unreliable narrators:

The Sound and the Fury - Faulkner
Lolita - Nabokov
The Killer Inside Me - Jim Thompson

Psychos, murderers, mentally challenged individuals, social misfits, etc.
And people who smoke pipes.

Of those the only one I've read is Lolita and it is not in present tense. It may have some passages, I don't remember as it was a long time ago, but that works for Dickens and can be used to good effect. I just checked the book to make sure and it's definitely written in past tense.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Of those the only one I've read is Lolita and it is not in present tense.

Dr. Drib PhD. was citing books that famously employ unreliable narrators and did so, if I understand him, to reference why a fiction writer who's so inclined might want to use present tense.

But I can see why you might have interpreted the good doctor as you did, since his switch from tense to voice is clearer if you've studied the use of unreliable narrators and happen to be familiar with all of those books.

Really, you could use any Thompson novel to make that point. Also Crime and Punishment, which is reportedly the book that inspired Thompson (and probably Nabokov, though he'd never admit it because he famously hated Dostoyevsky).

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

It's also the title of a schlocky Lucio Fulci horror film, though the title appears to be an homage only.

Hey, I happen to love that Fulci flick! It's fascinating when an intelligent and technically competent director has inescapably bad taste.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Then again, Gravity's Rainbow.

Gravity's Rainbow is an extremely demanding read. I love the playful and crazy nature of his writing (when I can understand it! - haha); but then, I thoroughly enjoy reading postmodern literature. Gravity's Rainbow won the National Book Award in Fiction, but was rejected by the Pulitzer committee as being unreadable and obscene. (Literary-based jealously, I think I read, coming from one Gore Vidal who was either a member of the committee or had an undue influence in some way.)

Pynchon is highly regarded in the academic world. HOWEVER, (IMHO), I feel Mobileread is mainly a genre-focused forum - which is perfectly fine! - and has also become (in the last 2-3 years) a programmers' delightful darling - which is also fine. There just may not be that many adherents to literary fiction here to sustain an active discussion or interest of postmodernism. The influence of Gravity's Rainbow has impacted upon our culture in many different forms: in our approach toward Literature, Film, Music, et al.

BUT, if you wish to read Pynchon, then I would suggest you start with the more accessible The Crying of Lot 49.

If Pynchon has one more strong novel in him (I think he's 80 or 81 years old) and if it, too, transforms in some way our perception of thinking and is favorably received like the earlier novels V and Gravity's Rainbow, then he may finally win his (deserved) Nobel Prize in Literature.

NOW, back to Horror fiction: So this zombie stumbles into Walmart and says"Arggghhhrgg" before falling onto the floor in a glutinous mess. "Clean up in isle 8," a pimply-faced adolescent says. (Hey! I don't pretend to be a comedian, but I love zombies!)

Recommended Horror Writer: If you love finely-crafted horror short stories, let me recommend Figures Unseen, by the brilliant Steve Rasnic Tem. I just bought this from Amazon where it has come down in price to $2.99. Check out this book if you value your brainnnzzzz.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Hey, I happen to love that Fulci flick! It's fascinating when an intelligent and technically competent director has inescapably bad taste.

Yeah, I enjoy a lot of the Italian horror crap, but I've just never been able to jump on the Fulci bandwagon. Unlike Dario Argento or Michele Soavi, I feel like Fulci was pandering with no artistic vision at all.

I've tried his horror and westerns (iust watched A Bullet For Sandoval Friday night) and I always get the feeling he is a competent director just trying to get the thing finished.

[ZodWallop]

Merfolk by Jeremy Bates is $0.99. This is listed as book 4 in a series. But each book is a stand-alone. They are only a series because Jeremy Bates is a smart marketer. Calling it a series lets him write multiple similar books and instead of being unoriginal, it's a series

A renowned marine biologist’s search for creatures known only in myths and legends turns deadly when the hunters become the hunted.

[salty-horse]

Devil Said Bang (Sandman Slim #4) by Richard Kadrey is $1.99 on Amazon.com

Maybe this should be in the SF&F thread.