Horror Aficionados discussion

Anyone here a fan of his work? I've read most of his books, with my favourites being Tengu, The Manitou (which was filmed with Tony Curtis), the Night Warriors series, Ritual and Black Angel. His work often centers around religion and demons.

I've only read The 5th Witch, which I neither loved, nor hated. As big as his bibliography is, I'm willing to give him another try.

Tengu is probably one of my all time favourite books.

Sadly, the only book I believe I've read of his is The House That Jack Built. And I really liked it. Not sure why I haven't gone exploring his many other books.

Tressa wrote: "Sadly, the only book I believe I've read of his is The House That Jack Built. And I really liked it. Not sure why I haven't gone exploring his many other books. "

I have that one.

Reading "The House That Jack Built" in March.. If anyone wants 2 join me?.... My 1st Masterton.. Hope it's as good as the summary :)

I loved Ritual and am currently reading The House That Jack Built. Walkers is on the shelf.

One scene in Ritual actually made me a little squeamish...which says a lot!

I loved Ritual and am currently reading The House That Jack Built. Walkers is on the shelf.

One scene in Ritual actually made me a little squeamish...which says a lot!

I read the Manitou when I was a teenager, but that is the only one I think. It stuck with me though.

Yes, I've enjoyed most of what I've read so far. Prey is my favorite.

Hmm,yet to read any Masterton-where to start?

What kind of horror stories do you like?

Scott wrote: "What kind of horror stories do you like?"

Good scary stuff,not all blood and gore.

Prey is very scary and drawn from Lovecraft. For a good ghost story try Spirit.

Thanks for the recs Scott!

I've read Trauma,Walkers, A Terrible Beauty, The Manitou,The Devil In Gray. All were good reads.

I've only read The House That Jack Built, and I thought it was very badly written -- flat characters spouting implausible dialogue, dopey premise, and gratuitous gore scenes.

The only thing I didn't like about that was the tiresome cliche of a house making the husband go crazy. But otherwise I thought it was good. I liked the in-story explanation for "ghosts."

I have only read Mirror.

Scott, somebody's got to go crazy in a haunted house story. Why not the husband?

I remember liking The House That Jack Built but it's a forgettable story for me. I can't remember many details.

I've read Tengu, Charnel House, Djinn and the Manitou. I thought they were all pretty good.

House That Jack Built.

Expect my review this week, that is if I can find 10 minutes free. I'm 2 chapters off finishing book #6...and that takes priority!

Tressa wrote: "Scott, somebody's got to go crazy in a haunted house story. Why not the husband?

I remember liking The House That Jack Built but it's a forgettable story for me. I can't remember many details."

The ? is Tressa; About how old were you when you read it? You don't have to give details but it could have been years ago.

I read The House That Jack Built about three years ago. Like everyone here I read a lot of books in the course of a year and not all are that memorable.

Tressa wrote: "I read The House That Jack Built about three years ago. Like everyone here I read a lot of books in the course of a year and not all are that memorable."

I thought I was alone in this. I have a lot of books I read that later I couldn't tell you what they were about while only a few really stand out.

Is it our age? Or is a lot of literature just eh?

Some stories & authors run together, so it's- A lot of literature!

In my case, it's age. If I read something thirty years ago, I can remember having read it, but unless it was so good that I've since reread it (several times), I won't remember much about the book itself apart from author and title.

The thing that gets me, is when someone can actually quote lines from the book or remember what character did what to who... I'm not even that sharp

OK. As much as I love horror, a lot of horror is just not memorable for me, and I think the reason is that it's not written in a poetic way. I love poetry and I love when words are strung together in such a way that the passage is like a poem.

From Khaled Hosseini's unforgettable A Thousand Splendid Suns:

"She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last."

From Edward Lee's forgettable Monstrosity:

"A gut-shot blew Rob backward, dropped him on the bed where he howled for a few moments, trying to put his innards back into his abdomen."

Always, from my favorite literature I can remember plots and characters and even quote my favorite lines. This is even true of horror. I vividly remember passages from Stephen King's earlier books when he could wax poetic even in a horror setting.

And I'll never forget horror books that grabbed me like The Pilo Family Circus, The Haunting of Hill House, or The Cannibal Within. I'll never forget those books because they're more than just the garden variety horror that's published.

Always wrote: "Some stories & authors run together, so it's- A lot of literature! "

I think it's just as bad to read a "new" book, and realize the plot, situations and sometimes even the words have been plagiarized from elsewhere. I've read a few books this past year that were definitely take practically verbatim from some of the older books I've read. and yeah, Tressa, Edward Lee has some very unforgettable situations and lines! I'm still trying to shake "Bighead" out of my head

I just went to our library web site to order "the house that jack built", and saw listing of some of the settings. One was listed as "Dark, dreary city populated by religious zealots". I thought that was kind of funny... sorry

Tressa, I am chuckling over your Lee and Hosseini comparision. Your point was right on.

:-) Well, in all honesty it's really not fair to compare them. But one prose is unforgettable and the other prose is forgettable. There's no denying that.

Tressa wrote: ":-) Well, in all honesty it's really not fair to compare them. But one prose is unforgettable and the other prose is forgettable. There's no denying that."

True, you're right about that. We should be happy that we can appreciate all kinds of writing, either literature or pulp/entertainment writing, some people can't. Sometimes I read to learn and to enrich my understanding of people and then sometimes just for pure fun.

Tressa wrote: "OK. As much as I love horror, a lot of horror is just not memorable for me, and I think the reason is that it's not written in a poetic way. I love poetry and I love when words are strung together ..."

What do you think of 'The Strain' by Del Toro & Hogan?? I've read 1/2 & think it's just flowing so well.. Shear Poetry IMO

I loved The Strain and remember quite a bit of it. Very well written and memorable.

I Concur.. Loving Every Moment of it..
However, there's 2 more books..

I know. Can't hardly wait.

Tressa wrote: "I loved The Strain and remember quite a bit of it. Very well written and memorable."

now see, I hated the strain, I'm sure I've read that story in a zillion variations over the years, thought it was predictable. Maybe I should pick it up again in a bit and try to read it again. I'd just read a few Scott Smith and Jack Ketchum books (offseason, ruins to name two), and strain just didn't compare.

I had gotten burned out on vampire books, but something about the writing style of The Strain held my interest. I enjoyed how he slowly set up the different stories; how we got to really know and care about the characters. A lot of characters in horror books come on stage just in time to get killed and we hardly knew or cared about them.

How did you like The Ruins? I love that book.

Interrupting here... (clearing throat)
The writing style of 'The Strain' just Flows & doesn't Insult, I think.
But then I don't really seek out Vampire stories.

Tressa wrote: "I had gotten burned out on vampire books, but something about the writing style of The Strain held my interest. I enjoyed how he slowly set up the different stories; how we got to really know and c..."

I did also, and yet Offspring and offseason really overshadowed everything else for a bit there. I just picked up The Girl Next Door, and am not even going to start it until I have my two night shifts out of the way this week. Working nights and reading horror really gives me the heebie jeebies. No place looks familiar and safe at 3am. *shiver*

Mari, do you park in a deck? I usually park on the 4th or 5th floor of our city parking deck and it's pretty spooky some nights if I leave too late.

Have you seen P2?

LOL. No. I might be too scared to walk to my car at night if I did. But I might learn a thing or two. Hmmm. Dilemmas, dilemmas.

I saw P2 & really Loved it.. The acting was Great, most of it.

It wasn't bad.

Does she do really stupid things? I hate movies where characters do really stupid things. I stupidly listen to my iPod as I'm getting on/off the elevator to walk to my car. If I were watching me in a movie I'd scream about how stupid I was.

No, she's actually pretty smart in it.