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Whale Vomit posted:I wondered about this remark and googled Dan Simmons jerk and got exactly the context I needed from Jeff VanderMeer: https://twitter.com/jeffvandermeer/status/1176950521468506113?t=KUPJ_QMFhC8TgTxivIQ7iA&s=19
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May 22, 2023 09:36
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Whenever Simmons comes up in a thread, I am compelled to remind everyone never to read Abominable. Just do not do it. I don't want to have to explain why, for the umpteenth time, just take my word for this one.
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May 22, 2023 12:54
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mdemone posted:Whenever Simmons comes up in a thread, I am compelled to remind everyone never to read Abominable. Just do not do it. I don't want to have to explain why, for the umpteenth time, just take my word for this one. loving  Don't do it, the book is bad, he's bad, it's bad all the way down
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May 22, 2023 13:45
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That's a bummer, I used to like Hyperion.
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May 22, 2023 14:12
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The Terror is real good
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May 22, 2023 14:54
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Former Dan Simmons fan. Hyperion, The Terror, Ilium, Drood, and Summer of Night were all really good reads. I remember when I started to read Flashback and I was like this sounds like someone has an agenda. After some googling, I stopped reading it and while I have reread Summer of Night and Hyperion, I haven't read anything new from him since. At one time he was such a versatile writer urg.
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May 22, 2023 15:19
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9/11 really hosed up a lot of dude's heads.
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May 22, 2023 15:31
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Say what you will about Abominable but at least Simmons made The Nazis the bad guys.
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May 22, 2023 15:53
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Opopanax posted:Say what you will about Abominable but at least Simmons made The Nazis the bad guys. I'm not going to talk about that book and you can't make me.
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May 22, 2023 16:08
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I've never made it more than about a quarter of the way through Carrion Comfort and I doubt I'll ever try to again, something about that book is just the opposite of engaging for me.
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May 22, 2023 16:19
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MockingQuantum posted:I've never made it more than about a quarter of the way through Carrion Comfort and I doubt I'll ever try to again, something about that book is just the opposite of engaging for me. Carrion Comfort started out as a novella before Simmons expanded it to bloat length. I wouldn't be shocked if people get as far as where the novella ended.
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May 22, 2023 17:19
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The 250ish page version of The Most Dangerous Game that wraps up Carrion Comfort is pretty fun. As is the bit where the cops are trying to make sense of the aftermath of a fight/chase scene where one of the mind vampires puppeteers a bunch a civilians which to the police looks like a whole lot of ordinary people suddenly going kill-crazy with no motivation
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May 24, 2023 09:31
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Of course, then there is the character whose mind control powers only work on women and he uses them exclusively to force them to have sex with him. And we get multiple chapters from his POV. I don't think I'm rereading any Simmons, to be honest. Summer of Night I remember being a fairly competent King ripoff and Hyperion is actually good if you pretend there are no sequels but most of his work is lovely in multiple ways.
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May 24, 2023 14:05
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Just finished The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which was a good ‘soft’ horror, or maybe low-key or folk horror story. The stakes were small and I ended up liking that about it. The reveal of the mystery/dramatic climax was a tiny bit of a letdown, but I find that’s true of my experience with most books so I can’t really hold it against this one. Nothing super scary but that also suits me fine. There’s a dog in it and I appreciated that the author lets you know right at the beginning that the DOG IS FINE GUYS
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May 29, 2023 03:58
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Hello thread! I just finished watching this fascinating video about houses and hauntings, and while it covers two video games, it also covers the Haunting of Hill House and House of Leaves, and I thought y'all might enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mexs39y0Imw
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Jun 1, 2023 18:18
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Jedit posted:On the one hand, Necroscope.  I'm late to this one but yeah Necroscope is a lot of fun. (My avatar is a piece of Necroscope art.)
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Jun 1, 2023 22:46
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Opopanax posted:Is Eyes of the Dragon ok for an 11 year old? I remember it being pretty all ages but it's been over 20 years since I read it so I don't remember much FYI I reread this to find out. It's a mixed bag; the story itself barely moves and isn't very good, but it's still King so the storytelling is entertaining enough. As far as the content, it's pretty bloodless and light, and overall very G rated, except that it's 80s King so there's some weird sex stuff at the beginning. Nothing overly explicit, but enough that I wouldn't feel comfortable giving it to someone very young, which sucks because the meat of the story is a pretty bland "intro to fantasy" that would be good for like a 6-8 year old. That part's a bit too grown up for them, but the rest is a bit too dumbed down to be good for anyone else. I guess I'd put the target age around 12-14 depending on the kid, but if it weren't for the author I don't think anyone would remember this even exists.
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Jun 12, 2023 21:17
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UwUnabomber posted:
I'm a couple hours into Necroscope and it's ridiculous and fun yeah, even if the writing is... Not great haha.
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Jun 13, 2023 00:36
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Count Thrashula posted:I'm a couple hours into Necroscope and it's ridiculous and fun yeah, even if the writing is... Not great haha. Lumley was attempting to hybridise Cold War spy thrillers and the Cthulhu Mythos decades before Charlie Stross did it, and for this he should be lauded. The vampires might have been a step too far, but they're so gleefully warped that you can't help but buy into it.
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Jun 13, 2023 10:57
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Isn't it loaded with weird sex stuff though
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Jun 13, 2023 16:18
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StrixNebulosa posted:Hello thread! I just finished watching this fascinating video about houses and hauntings, and while it covers two video games, it also covers the Haunting of Hill House and House of Leaves, and I thought y'all might enjoy: Yeah I'm gonna be checking this out
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Jun 15, 2023 10:53
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zoux posted:Isn't it loaded with weird sex stuff though Depends how you define "weird", really. If you're the sort of person whose jimmies get rustled by women enjoying rough sex then don't bother starting, but that's as far as the first book goes. It definitely gets much weirder as it goes along, but it's a series where the villains are pure body horror - literally giant leeches living inside a human host and turning them into utterly uninhibited psychopaths - and it leans into that. It escalates because horror series almost have to escalate or the audience gets bored.
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Jun 15, 2023 11:55
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any good longer horror novels that anyone would recommend? Im about to finish IT, and now im getting anxiety about finding another behemoth of a book. Ive read Black Water already, which was fantastic, and Carrier Wave, which started strong but really fell off at around the half way point not too picky about the subject, as long as it qualifies as horror of some kind
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Jun 15, 2023 16:32
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The Stand?
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Jun 15, 2023 16:38
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good longer horror novels that anyone would recommend? If almost 400 pages counts as "longer" (I am realizing most of the horror I've been reading lately is novellas), I recently read and really liked The Gone World by Tom Sweterlisch. It's sort of a thriller at its bones, but the meat is sci-fi/horror (sort of Event Horizon with time travel).
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Jun 15, 2023 16:41
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good longer horror novels that anyone would recommend? The Stand (long) or the rerelease (even longer)
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Jun 15, 2023 16:48
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You could also check out McCammon's Swan Song (file near The Stand).
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Jun 15, 2023 16:50
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DurianGray posted:If almost 400 pages counts as "longer" (I am realizing most of the horror I've been reading lately is novellas), I recently read and really liked The Gone World by Tom Sweterlisch. It's sort of a thriller at its bones, but the meat is sci-fi/horror (sort of Event Horizon with time travel). This is great, very True Detective S1
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Jun 15, 2023 18:33
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The Gone World is incredible. I don't think any sci-fi horror book has stuck with me more.
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Jun 15, 2023 18:41
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not too interested in jumping right back in for some more Stephen King, but i'll keep The Stand in mind The Gone World looks awesome so thats definitely next on my list
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Jun 15, 2023 20:10
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Swan Song was a very enjoyable doorstopper of a book. Read the first page or two of that and it might grab you. That's what happened to me. Especially good for people who thought The Stand was good but the ending sucked
Help a goon out! Lots of books - horror, nonfiction, classics and more for sale.
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Jun 15, 2023 20:17
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General Battuta posted:The Stand (long) or the rerelease (even longer) I like The Stand but for the love of god do not go for the rerelease. The original is already a doorstopper and the stuff that was cut was cut for good reason.
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Jun 15, 2023 20:40
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The Descent by Jeff Long is a kinda adventure/horror mashup thats pretty long. I really enjoyed it & it has a sequel called Deeper that is also pretty good.
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Jun 15, 2023 20:58
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I think the first half of the Stand is much better than when they get to Kansas It was def. the first King I'd read and possibly the first post-apocalyptic novel and the beginning sequence with the world collapsing utterly grabbed me.
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Jun 15, 2023 20:59
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Last Exit is another good one, although it's not strictly horror
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Jun 15, 2023 22:09
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ScootsMcSkirt posted:any good longer horror novels that anyone would recommend? I thought Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (448 pages) was decent.
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Jun 15, 2023 22:18
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Ghost Story or Floating Dragon by Straub might fit the bill too.
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Jun 16, 2023 01:03
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I'm sure this has been asked before, but what should I read if I'm on a big Diablo kick at the moment? (Nathan Ballingrud comes to mind, as does Between Two Fires, but I've read those)
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Jun 16, 2023 02:30
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Ragle Gumm posted:Ghost Story or Floating Dragon by Straub might fit the bill too. Everyone should read Ghost Story. No excuses. People reminding me how long it's been since I read Swan Song. Whole passages from that book still stick with me, my original pb copy is falling apart. McCammon was such a good writer in the 80s and early 90s, banging out great book after great book. It's sinful that he's never really been adapted for film - he's easily the most cinematic writer I've ever encountered.
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Jun 16, 2023 10:45
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I read Ghost Story for the first time this year and thought it was fantastic. It was like a soberly-written King story.
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Jun 16, 2023 14:14
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