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John Howard Griffen's "Black Like Me" made me really anxious and uncomfortable in away that most non-fiction books decidedly don't. The situation he basically put himself in, willingly, in such a way that he couldn't easily extract himself really got to me. Dweller by Jeff Strand rates super high. Essentially, a young boy befriends a bigfoot. You think it is going to be charming and cute. Instead of it being a "Harry and the Hendersons" moment, it turns out his bigfoot totally kills and eats people. It is this odd story of friendship, and horrific, devastating self destruction. Pressure by Jeff Strand hit me really hard too. Similar in some ways to Dweller, but a lot less charming. It is really overwhelming and relentless. Strand is really good at getting you to feel really good about something, and then just absolutely crushing you. It made for an interesting experience when I read his book Kumquat, which it turns out, is a really adorable romantic comedy. Not knowing that, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. I also just finished Richard Laymon's "The Traveling Vampire Show" which was a nice surprise. I read "The Cellar" and it made me feel dirty, (a woman and her young daughter go on the run from her rapist/child predator husband and end up in a house with a rape monster... ugh) so I was reluctant to give Laymon a second chance. He did a really good job slowly building the tension and letting it go, and then ending with a fit of pure insanity. Jack Ketchum's "The Lost" and "Ladies Night" hit pretty hard too. "The Lost" mainly because it is heavily based on real people. (I can't bring myself to read The Girl Next Door after seeing the film version), and reading about the story it was based on.
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Nov 8, 2016 02:38
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 08:11 |
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