What Are You Reading At The Moment?

[jacksmith1983]

As the title would suggest here is a brand spanking new thread where you can share with everyone else what you're reading at the moment and your thoughts on it.

Personally I've just started reading Shaun Hutson's Slugs. Despite having a soft spot for the loosely adapted Juan Piquer Simon film of the same name I'd never actually read Hutson's novel, despite having it sitting on the bookcase for quite some time.

I got stuck into it this morning however, and have to say I'm enjoying it. It's an effective, well-written and fast moving pulp horror story with some pleasantly icky bits. Just my sort of book really!

I think I may have to revisit the film soon too even though I seem to recall reading that Shaun Hutson isn't exactly a fan...

Slugs (by Shaun Hutson): amazon.co.uk

Slugs: The Movie: amazon.com l amazon.co.uk (Anchor Bay US DVD)


So what is everyone else reading at present?

[Jonny Rojo]

Was laid up in bed ill all last night so I read one of my stocking fillers, an easy read as I did the whole thing in a few hours. Entertaining though if you grew up in the 70's and 80's. A nice nostalgia kick.

Things Ain't What They Used To Be by Philip Glenister

[AndyBlade]

Shaun Hutson is a great author, Jack. He hasn't written any out and out horror for 15 years or so now though, but his other stuff is just as good.

Compulsion, about a bunch of pensioners who take their revenge on 'the youth of today' is one of the nastiest books I've ever read, and his Sean Doyle novels (Renegades, White Ghost, Knife Edge and Hybrid) are superb too.

[gax]

I'm reading Richard Laymon's The Cellar, the 1st of the Beast House series of books.

I'm only about 130 pages in, some torture and a rape so far. I can't wait for the beasts to enter with their long fingernails and giant cocks to start there their rampage. If you like hardcore sex, violence and gore you should check him out. Why they have never made a film out of one of his books is beyond me

[Pinback]

I think they're making a film of In the Dark. I like Laymon's writing. He's not as long-winded as Stephen King, and isn't afraid to tackle a sex- scene, unlike Stephen King. On that subject I can't think of any of King's novels that have any sex references apart from The stand. Not that I go sieving through Stephen King's prose looking for porn, but, hey, take notes from the now sadly neglected horror master Graham Masterton...now there's a writer who's quite at home with Eros and Thanatos.

[jacksmith1983]

I think they're making a film of In the dark. I like Laymon's writing. He's not as long-winded as Stephen King, and isn't afraid to tackle a sex- scene, unlike Stephen King. On that subject I can't think of any of King's novels that have any sex references apart from The stand.

Didn't the principal protagonist in King's Gerald's Game wind up in her predicament as the result of a sex game gone awry? Or am I remembering it wrong?

[Pinback]

No, you're quite right. Jessie kills her husband somehow while they're having a bondage session and she's handcuffed to the bed. I honestly can't remember much of that one at all.

[Pinback]

For horror fans perhaps not familiar with Masterton he's often gorier and more erotic than other mainstream horror writers, though not to the point of pornography.

Books I would recommend would include; Black Angelwhich opens with one of the nastiest scenes I've ever read, Tengu, and Family portrait are another two I'd particularly recommend. He's a sophisticated writer in a similar vein to King and Koonz but like Laymon he pushes the envelop just that little bit further out than the other two writers and has a better built- in editor than those two.

I think he's still alive and writing, but can never find his books at Waterstones though Amazon have a huge selection, he's very prolific.

[AndyBlade]

Richard Laymon's In The Dark was filmed back in 2000, while Laymon was still alive. He financed some of it himself. Its little more than a slightly more expensive film school movie, has never been released commercially, and doesnt even have an entry on IMDB. While Laymons books are entertaining reads (with a couple of exceptions) I dont believe they'd translate very well to film. Theres nothing in most of them which would differentiate them from any of the myriad straight to DVD releases which are coming out every week, and most of his stories borrow huge plot chunks from popular films (Friday 13th influence his camping horror novels, Halloween references are in most of his work, Endless Night owes a big nod to Henry, Ressurection Dreams is a modern take on Frankenstein, and so on...)

Graham Masterton is indeed still alive, too - he's only in his early 50s, even though he seems to have been writing for a hundred years. He publishes through Leisure in the US and Severn House in the UK. Of his more recent work, The Doorkeepers and Edgewise (a sort-of sequel to his 80s novel Burial) are titles I'd recommend.

[Pinback]

I'd read vague rumours about In the dark being filmed. A quick net search informs me it was produced by a company called Gemineye which I've never heard of. I'm surprised to hear that Richard Laymon is dead, though!

It seems to me like Graham Masterton has been around ever since I started reading horror novels as a kid, along with James Herbert. The Devils of D-Day was the first of his I read, which must have been published in the same period as James Herbert's debut, The Rats which spawned a brief but very welcome fad in killer animal horror novels; writers like Guy N Smith and his killer giant crabs.

The most memorable I recall of this largely defunct sub-genre was a very gory novel about giant praying mantises that went around ripping women's breasts off. I think the writer of that one must have had serious issues.

[AndyBlade]

I'm surprised to hear that Richard Laymon is dead, though!

Yeah - he's been dead since Valentines Day 2001, believe it or not. Died of a massive heart attack. He had a couple of manuscripts almost finished which his friend Dean Koontz edited and released (Amara, The Lake and The Glory Bus) and Cemetary Dance had a few new pieces to publish but its all seen the light of day now and theres nothing else to be published apart from a short story collection he edited called Bad News.

Graham Masterton was hugely prolific in his late 70s/early 80s heyday. Known mainly for his horror work, he also wrote a couple of historical epics and even a sex guide. After he was dropped by Headline in the early 90s he drifted for a while. The book clubs picked up a couple of his manuscripts and he got going again off the back of that. He's not as well known over here anymore, Severn House only publish his work in hardback and it's expensive, even online, but he releases a couple of new titles a year via Leisure in the US (which some Waterstones have from time to time) and is apparently the biggest selling writer of all time in Poland!

Guy N. Smith (who I never really liked) is still writing too, but again via the limited edition, print on demand publishers.

[Pinback]

Thanks for the info on Masterton, Andy. I do think it's a shame he's being marketed like this and it would explain why when I logged onto Amazon I found at least twenty titles by GM I'd never even heard of. It does annoy me slightly whenever I peruse the horror section of WH Smiths or Waterstones they are still dominated by King, Koontz and endless teen vampire novels by someone Hamilton. I find more variety in the charity shops, like Edward Lee's Creekers which I bought today at cancer research. I like forward to getting stuck into that one.

[Timmy Lea]

Got four or five on the go at the mo - The Magus (again) The Owl Service (again, hopefully I'll finish it this time) Leslie Phillips' autobiography Hello, Andrew Collins' Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal In the 70s and a book on etymology.

[jacksmith1983]

No, you're quite right. Jessie kills her husband somehow while they're having a bondage session and she's handcuffed to the bed. I honestly can't remember much of that one at all.

To be fair mate I can't really remember much else about Gerald's Game either. I shall have to re-read it again I think.

As far as King is concerned I'm afraid to say that he hasn't wrote anything which interests me in years. As great as his best works such as Salem's Lot, the Night Shift collection, Different Seasons and The Shining are, I still think at a certain point he started believing his own hype and took to writing one overlong, self-indulgent novel after another, more often than not bogging his narrative's down through excessive characterisation and taking 500 pages to tell a story which would have been more direct, involving and effective if trimmed down to about 300.

As for Graham Masterton I have to admit that I've only really ever really read The Manitou and Revenge Of The Manitou. Based on the positive comments I've read here howevr I'll try and seek out a few more of his novels.

James Herbert used to be great. His ghost stories Haunted and The Ghosts Of Sleath were both genuine spine chillers in my opinion and I enjoyed both immensely. However, in recent years I think he's lost it to be honest. The most recent book of his I attempted to read was The Secret Of Crickley Hall which is I'm afraid to say one of the most chiched and predictable haunted house novels I've ever had the misfortune to come across. It was like one of those Goosebumps or Point Horror type books they used to do for the kids, only 600+ pages long. However, Herberts older stuff like The Rats and its follow ups are of course terrific, nasty pulp horror.

On the same note I must confess I really do love Guy N. Smith's imfamous series of Killer Crab novels which are terrific fun even if they are all a little on the short, cheesy and repetitive side. In the same vein another trashy British horror novel I read not so long back and found pretty amusing was The Pike by Cliff Twemlow (yes the Cliff Twemlow) which concerns a giant killer pike killing all and sundry on Lake Windermere. As some of you British horror movie buffs may be aware The Pike was actually set to be adapted into a film. They made a mechanical killer pike and even roped Joan Collins into starring in it, but sadly couldn't get the finance together to actually produce it.

[mrb]

The collected Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

[Timmy Lea]

To be fair mate I can't really remember much else about Gerald's Game either. I shall have to re-read it again I think.

As far as King is concerned I'm afraid to say that he hasn't wrote anything which interests me in years. As great as his best works such as Salem's Lot, the Night Shift collection, Different Seasons and The Shining are, I still think at a certain point he started believing his own hype and took to writing one overlong, self-indulgent novel after another, more often than not bogging his narrative's down through excessive characterisation and taking 500 pages to tell a story which would have been more direct, involving and effective if trimmed down to about 300.

As for Graham Masterton I have to admit that I've only really ever really read The Manitou and Revenge Of The Manitou. Based on the positive comments I've read here howevr I'll try and seek out a few more of his novels.

James Herbert used to be great. His ghost stories Haunted and The Ghosts Of Sleath were both genuine spine chillers in my opinion and I enjoyed both immensely. However, in recent years I think he's lost it to be honest. The most recent book of his I attempted to read was The Secret Of Crickley Hall which is I'm afraid to say one of the most chiched and predictable haunted house novels I've ever had the misfortune to come across. It was like one of those Goosebumps or Point Horror type books they used to do for the kids, only 600+ pages long. However, Herberts older stuff like The Rats and its follow ups are of course terrific, nasty pulp horror.

On the same note I must confess I really do love Guy N. Smith's imfamous series of Killer Crab novels which are terrific fun even if they are all a little on the short, cheesy and repetitive side. In the same vein another trashy British horror novel I read not so long back and found pretty amusing was The Pike by Cliff Twemlow (yes the Cliff Twemlow) which concerns a giant killer pike killing all and sundry on Lake Windermere. As some of you British horror movie buffs may be aware The Pike was actually set to be adapted into a film. They made a mechanical killer pike and even roped Joan Collins into starring in it, but sadly couldn't get the finance together to actually produce it.

I haven't read any Herbert since PORTENT. My parents used to buy me his new one every year in hardback for Christmas, from DOMAIN onwards, but when he started attempting to go all 'non-genre' and pretentious I lost interest. He was my favourite horror writer for years, though, and I think it a shame that not more of his work was filmed: having said that, the terrible mess 'they' made of HAUNTED, THE RATS and THE SURVIVOR might explain that. Actually, come to think of it, THE SURVIVOR isn't bad, and does have some genuinely creepy moments, but one still has to wonder at any film that casts Jenny Agutter in the role of a 75 year old male psychic...even if she is more fun to look at.

As for Guy N Smith, I have about 30 of them- I found them quite addictive in the 80s. My favourites were THE WOOD and THE SUCKING PIT, as they both tapped into local mythology and legend for inspiration, but his best novels in terms of plot construction and theme, if one can make such a judgment on an author of this kind, are THE PLUTO PACT, ABOMINATION, DOOMFLIGHT, DEATH BELL and SATAN'S SNOWDROP.

I would have also loved to have seen his 'Sabat' novels (an ideal role back in the 1970s for Peter Wyngarde had his career not stalled following his outing as a gay man) and his 'Naughty Confessions' novels (written under a number of female pseudonyms) filmed.

Obviously I'm well aware of his adaptation of Tyburn's THE GHOUL, and I also know of the proposed Amicus adaptation of KILLER CRABS etc which never came off. Which leads me to THE PIKE and 'that' Cliff Twemlow. I have said novel, and the followup THE BEAST OF KANE, but was unaware of both his film and "bouncing" careers until five odd years ago when I discovered the existence of GBH (the movie, not the drug!!). I've still never seen it, though, nor its ultra-rare sequel. But Twemlow is fascinating character- the sort one should make a documentary on.

Now there's an idea Marc- could Nucleus get the budget together for a series of short doccos on cult film personages? You could almost use them as a kind of market reserach-if they sold, and audiences showed suitable interest in the actors or director involved, maybe some of his work could be acquired for release.....

[jacksmith1983]

Which leads me to THE PIKE and 'that' Cliff Twemlow. I have said novel, and the followup THE BEAST OF KANE, but was unaware of both his film and "bouncing" careers until five odd years ago when I discovered the existence of GBH (the movie, not the drug!!). I've still never seen it, though, nor its ultra-rare sequel. But Twemlow is fascinating character- the sort one should make a documentary on.

Now there's an idea Marc- could Nucleus get the budget together for a series of short doccos on cult film personages? You could almost use them as a kind of market reserach-if they sold, and audiences showed suitable interest in the actors or director involved, maybe some of his work could be acquired for release.....

By all accounts Hammer were at one point looking at adapting The Beast Of Kane as part of a return to the big screen, but such a project never got off the ground. Most if not indeed all the talk of this more than likely came from Twemlow himself...

[MarcMorris]

Now there's an idea Marc- could Nucleus get the budget together for a series of short doccos on cult film personages?

Anybody doing this would need a commission - it would be too much of a gamble to just make a documentary that might never be sold.

When I was in Rome a few years ago with Kit Gavin filming the extras for ZOMBIE 3 we decided to go and interview Renato Polselli. We called him up and spent an afternoon there, with Kit asking heaps of questions and me filming. It would be a real shame if the interview remained unseen as it's the only one that I'm aware of.

[AndyBlade]

Just finished a couple over the weekend - Brian Keene's latest novel, Castaways amazon.co.uk is a full length version of his short story of the same name from a few years ago. There are a few authors who openly credit Richard Laymon as one of their big influences, and Keene is one of them. Castaways could almost be a Richard Laymon novel from the mid 90s. It has a very similar feel with lashings of sex and violence and is even dedicated to Laymon. Its an entertaining story about a reality TV show gone wrong - imagine the Channel 4 show Shipwrecked with mutants and you're almost there - which keeps things short at around 250 pages. Keene is a very good author who published via the independent publishers for years before getting some much deserved mass market success off the back of some great word of mouth, and while this doesnt quite hit the heights of Kill Whitey or The Rising, its still well worth a read, particularly as its currently just over £4 via Amazon.

I also finished Ray Gartons The Loveliest Dead amazon.co.uk which is a decent haunted house novel that sat on my to read pile for about three years.

Next up - Bill Hussey's Through A Glass, Darkly. amazon.co.uk

[Wynter]

Started reading The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester last night - should finish it tonight cos it is fantastic.