FREE/BARGAIN - Horror/Supernatural

[Critteranne]

"Of One Blood: or, The Hidden Self" (Haunted Library Horror Classics) by Pauline Hopkins. This is the special edition published by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) with an introduction by Nisi Shawl. This is a pioneering novel that was first published in 1903.

You can view it in the SourceBooks newsletter. (SourceBooks owns the Poison Pen imprint.)

https://mailchi.mp/f17069bafc79/a-br...7?e=7a439295e0

[ZodWallop]

The Missing by Sarah Langan is $1.99 at Amazon US.

A remote and affluent Maine community, Corpus Christi was untouched by the environmental catastrophe that destroyed the neighboring blue-collar town of Bedford. But all that will change in a heartbeat . . .

The nightmare is awakened when third-grade schoolteacher Lois Larkin takes the children on a field trip to Bedford. There in the abandoned woods, a small, cruel boy unearths an ancient horror—a contagious plague that transforms its victims into something violent, hungry . . . and inhuman.

The long, dark night is just beginning. And all hope must die as the contagion feeds—for the malevolence will not rest until it has devoured every living soul in Corpus Christi . . . and beyond.

[ZodWallop]

All My Colors by David Quantick is $1.99 at Amazon US.

The book sounds great. But reviews are mixed, so...

When an aspiring writer—and well-known jerk—plagiarizes a book only he seems to remember, he’s dogged by consequences straight out of a horror novel

It is March 1979 in DeKalb Illinois. Todd Milstead is a wannabe writer, a serial adulterer, and a jerk—only tolerated by his friends because he throws the best parties with the best booze. During one such party, Todd shows off his perfect recall, quoting poetry and literature word for word plucked from his eidetic memory. When he begins quoting from a book no one else seems to know, a novel called All My Colors, Todd is incredulous. He can quote it from cover to cover—and yet it doesn't seem to exist.

With a looming divorce and mounting financial worries, Todd finally tries to write a novel, with the vague idea of making money from his talent. The only problem is he can't write. But the book—All My Colors—is there in his head. Todd makes a decision: he will “write” this book that nobody but him can remember. After all, if nobody’s heard of it, how can he get into trouble?

As the dire consequences of his actions come home to both Todd and his long-suffering friends, it becomes clear that there is a high—and painful—price to pay for his crime.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

All My Colors by David Quantick is $1.99 at Amazon US.

The book sounds great. But reviews are mixed, so...

This looks great. It's about someone who's a real asshole. Now let me tell you something: I've met some real assholes in my life, and this one looks to be one of the best, one of the really best assholes around, a real hum-dinger of an asshole!

Thanks for the heads up. I just purchased it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

This looks great. It's about someone who's a real asshole. Now let me tell you something: I've met some real assholes in my life, and this one looks to be one of the best, one of the really best assholes around, a real hum-dinger of an asshole!

[ZodWallop]

The Wakening by JG Faherty is $0.99 at Amazon US

I read a different Faherty book, Sins of the Father. A Lovecraftian novel. That one was kinda boring.

A team of paranormal investigators, a priest and a defrocked priest with a dark secret join forces to combat of a vengeful ancient demon, and the evil spreading throughout a small New York town.

Fifty years ago, Father Leo Bonaventura, a young exorcist, cast a demon out from a young boy in Central America. The demon, Asmodeus, vowed revenge. Now the demon has returned, in the same town where Bonaventura is a retired priest nearing the end of his life. In a series of not-so-coincidental events, the possession of a young girl brings together an unlikely group of people, all of whom are linked in their pasts in some way: A group of paranormal investigators, including twin psychics. Robert Lockhart, a defrocked priest with a dark secret that only the twins know. A father whose dead wife was a college girlfriend of Robert’s and once conjured an evil spirit with him through a Ouiji board. Now they must all join forces and help Father Bonaventura rid the town not only of Asmodeus, but also the plague of poltergeists that have followed the demon into our world.

He has another $0.99 book: The Changeling

Struck by lightning, developing new superpowers, and pursued by a power-hungry secret military group who wants to force her into being a weapon of mass destruction...it's so not the birthday week that high school senior Chloe Olivetti was hoping for. In this sci-fi thriller, a high school senior is the accidental target of a top-secret weapons test and afterwards she develops amazing powers, including the ability to see in the dark, look through walls, and transport herself through space and time. Now the Army has kidnapped her so they can recreate the experiment and build an unstoppable team of invincible soldiers. It's up to Chloe to save the people she loves and put an end to the experiment. But her powers are also slowly draining the life from her, and she has no idea if she'll have the strength to stop her enemies before it's too late.

Kinda sounds like: what if it's Firestarter, but lightning? But I'm sure the book is better than that.

He also has one that I have been waiting to see on sale (but it is full price): Hellrider. It asks the ages old question: what if Marvel's Ghost Rider was a horror novel? We must get to the bottom of this ASAP!

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Love it!

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Wakening by JG Faherty is $0.99 at Amazon US

I read a different Faherty book, Sins of the Father. A Lovecraftian novel. That one was kinda boring.



He has another $0.99 book: The Changeling



Kinda sounds like: what if it's Firestarter, but lightning? But I'm sure the book is better than that.

He also has one that I have been waiting to see on sale (but it is full price): Hellrider. It asks the ages old question: what if Marvel's Ghost Rider was a horror novel? We must get to the bottom of this ASAP!

Some questions have no answers.

[Dr. Drib]

Just an update on fans of Norman Prentiss, who also visits this horror Forum.

I finally started his novel, Life in a Haunted House. I'm 57% into it. It's a fine - but understated - horror novel that (for me) I can relate to on a personal level. This is a novel that explores those who were influenced by horror movies during the (I think?) period of the 1960s. But it's also about how we connect with friends and with family, and how these connections sometimes get broken and/or crossed and how we sometimes lose our way, which means we sometimes lose who we are. In many ways, I see it as a coming-of-age story, using some of the familiar horror tropes that many of us recognize due to our shared love of this genre.

Personal info: In the mid 1960s I started reading Famous Monsters of Filmland and then in 1969 I discovered Castle of Frankenstein, and a host of other magazines devoted to horror. I remember listening to Old Time Radio on a small transistor radio as I lay in bed at night, preparatory to falling asleep. This was in Japan during the period of 1961-1964. I listened to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, I love A Mystery, The Whistler, and so many other wonderful OTR shows - almost every single night. About this time I discovered the wonderful Universal Horror films of the 1930s and 1940s. The theater on base (in Japan) had every Saturday morning - for 25 cents! - 1 newsreel covering WWII, 2 Loony Tunes cartoons, and a serial. We were in that theater for hours, and I loved every minute of it! Every week, for years! Years later, I realized that this is what my parents and (possibly) some grandparents must have experienced during the 1940s. This sense of discovery. This sense of the magic that embraced our active imaginations.

For me, Mr. Prentiss captures much of what it was like to be a child totally immersed in all things labelled 'horror' and 'fantastic'.

There's no real overt horror in this book. So far. But that's perfectly fine with me, because I see this novel as a serious work that makes inquiry into those things that I just mentioned.

Norman Prentiss is a very fine writer, and I very much admire his work.

I just want to say 'Thank you'.

[Dr. Drib]

^

Finished Life in a Haunted House.

Two dismembered thumbs up.

[Dr. Drib]

I'm continuing - happily - with my Norman Prentiss 'reading apprenticeship' (; ):

Just now finished In the Best Stories . . . and other Uneasy Horror Tales, by this wonderful author.

One story, in particular, is one of the most incredible stories I've read in recent memory. Please direct your attention to In the Porches of Your Ears. This story had me in tears. And then, after thinking about it and living with the characters, I was in awe at how he told the story.

Pick this book up. It's only 99 cents. Or FREE with Kindle Unlimited. It's a very short read, but a wonderfully rewarding read. Prentiss provides a truly revealing Afterword that gives additional information on how these stories came about and what they mean to him.

One and 3/4 dismembered thumbs up.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

^

Finished Life in a Haunted House.

Two dismembered thumbs up.

Are you planning on taking the spin off books? Those look like a lot of fun.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Are you planning on taking the spin off books? Those look like a lot of fun.

Absolutely!

I already have #2. I'll read that after I finish my current novel: The Interim, by Wolfgang Hilbig, a literary novel.

I'm pretty much convinced, however, that I'll be purchasing #1, #3, and #4 in those spin-off books. As you mention, they look like a lot of fun.

[nprentiss]

I already admired your taste in literature from other comments you've made here, so your dismembered thumbs mean a lot to me! (plus the generous comments about my mini-collection.) Thanks so much!

Also very cool to hear about your monster fandom, and old-time radio, and serials, etc., which align with so many of my own experiences.

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

^

Finished Life in a Haunted House.

Two dismembered thumbs up.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I'm continuing - happily - with my Norman Prentiss 'reading apprenticeship' (; ):

I think I'm going to have to check these out too. Bud Preston sounds a lot like real-life schlockmeister Larry Bchanan, who made "It's Alive!" (not the monster baby movie), which haunted my childhood, and which my daughter brought back to me in 2019 by taking me to see Onyx Cave in Eureka Springs, AR, where parts were filmed.