What are you reading?

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

The Nightrunners. Been on a serious Joe Lansdale kick recently . This is some very unsophisticated splatter horror and I almost gave up on it early on, as too trashy even for me. It's kind of a home invasion story where the Invaders are possessed/disciples of the God Of The Razor. A supernatural entity who wants slaughter. As much as I was writing it off early it does get propulsivly readable by the end. Thrilling? I guess I was thrilled.

It's interesting to see how his writing style evolves over the years. Super underrated writer in my opinion, but yeah, that one is pretty much splatter as you say.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

It's interesting to see how his writing style evolves over the years. Super underrated writer in my opinion, but yeah, that one is pretty much splatter as you say.

Was just remembering, you were the one who got me into Joe Lansdale when we were at Powell's and I got a copy of Mucho Mojo and Freezer Burn. Found Captains Outrageous at a library here (I since grabbed one of Joe's autographed hardcovers of that one and Vanilla Ride) and became a Hap and Leonard devotee. I really wish that the TV series had taken off, even though we probably still would've lost Leonard in real life.

But yeah, so strange to read different eras of his writing, it's almost like a different author. I didn't mind the splatter stuff, but I definitely liked that he got more refined as he went along.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

But yeah, so strange to read different eras of his writing, it's almost like a different author. I didn't mind the splatter stuff, but I definitely liked that he got more refined as he went along.

Yep, I remember that Powells trip and agree with what you say.

Oddly enough, just last night I read and issue of Dark Horse's Creepy Comics that had a Lansdale short story in it, reminded me that I haven't caught up with his last few novels and should probably change that.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Yep, I remember that Powells trip and agree with what you say.

Oddly enough, just last night I read and issue of Dark Horse's Creepy Comics that had a Lansdale short story in it, reminded me that I haven't caught up with his last few novels and should probably change that.

I think that the last ones I read were a Hap&Leonard that was just okay, The Thicket, which I quite enjoyed, and one that was too close to the The Thicket for me to remember what it was about specifically.

Really loved his short stories in High Cotton (there's another collection as well with Bubba Ho-Tep in it that I can't recall right now), I thought that he worked best outside of Hap and Leonard when he was in short stories, though that Dead Man's Gun or whatever it was called was a little too young adult for me.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I think that the last ones I read were a Hap&Leonard that was just okay, The Thicket, which I quite enjoyed, and one that was too close to the The Thicket for me to remember what it was about specifically.

Really loved his short stories in High Cotton (there's another collection as well with Bubba Ho-Tep in it that I can't recall right now), I thought that he worked best outside of Hap and Leonard when he was in short stories, though that Dead Man's Gun or whatever it was called was a little too young adult for me.

Have you read the Jonah Hex comics he did with Tim Truman? Those are fucking great, super underrated and easy to find in $1 bins or trade format. You'd dig them.

"Joe R. Lansdale, the acclaimed horror novelist of such titles as EDGE OF DARK WATER and DEAD AIM, took on DC's famed bounty hunter Jonah Hex in these darkly comic epics from the 1990s. In these twisted tales of the Old West, Hex battles a doctor determined to transform him into a zombie, joins up with Buffalo Will's (yes, Will's) Wild West Show and learns the dark secret behind the existence of a demonic baby, and discovers an ancient race of man-eating worms from beneath the earth.

Collects JONAH HEX: TWO-GUN MOJO #1-5, JONAH HEX: SHADOWS WEST #1-3 and JONAH HEX: RIDERS OF THE WORM AND SUCH #1-5."

https://www.amazon.com/Jonah-Hex-Sha.../dp/1401247156

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I did read those, yes!

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Mo Better Deals was another Lansdale that I enjoyed alot. The story is a walking fucking trope but he makes it fun. It's the age old story of the beaten down guy who meets the ridiculously hot chick who has a husband whom she doesnt like, but who is well insured, and she ropes our hero into a murder, which leads to more death and- massive spoilers obviously- it does not work out well for anyone.

I think it's borderline cheeky to tell that story again but he writes with so much character that I got sucked in anyway. It's great train reading and I'm spending a lot of time on public transport at the moment.

Enjoyed The Thicket too. Wouldn't have thought I'd enjoy a western but apart from the usual Lansdale charm I thought it was into pretty rich thematic territory and I enjoyed the philosophising dwarf.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Enjoyed The Thicket too. Wouldn't have thought I'd enjoy a western but apart from the usual Lansdale charm I thought it was into pretty rich thematic territory and I enjoyed the philosophising dwarf.

I watched the film adaptation a couple of weeks ago. It was alright, and although it had some brutal stuff in it, I felt it was sanitized and the musical score is all wrong: I bet Lansdale hated the music. Juliette Lewis is pretty good as Cut Throat Bill and Peter Dinklage is solid as usual. Worth a rental.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I watched the film adaptation a couple of weeks ago. It was alright, and although it had some brutal stuff in it, I felt it was sanitized and the musical score is all wrong: I bet Lansdale hated the music. Juliette Lewis is pretty good as Cut Throat Bill and Peter Dinklage is solid as usual. Worth a rental.

I felt the same about the film. Glad that I saw it, but it was certainly a solid case for book > film

[s.chivers Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close s.chivers]

I finished Houellebecq’s Annihilation yesterday, which I think is his best novel in years. It’s also something of an outlier, because while the familiar themes are all present - the criticism of contemporary culture, the estrangement and alienation prevalent in the West - the tone is different, being close to quiet resignation by the end.

For anyone who might look up a synopsis or review, this is sometimes described as a political thriller but it’s really nothing of the sort. It’s ultimately far more concerned with aging, illness and familial relationships than the cyber attacks which feature prominently in the first third but only fleetingly thereafter. Anyway, it’s highly recommended and I sincerely hope this isn’t his last novel, as the acknowledgments suggest it might be.

One final point: I’ve never seen as many typographical errors in one place as there are here. It’s genuinely shocking to me that no one at Picador picked up on them before this went to print.

[s.chivers Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close s.chivers]

Time for some non-fiction. American Heire$$: The Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst, by Jeffrey Toobin.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Must See Sci-Fi: This is a book that Turner Classic Movies had a hand in producing, which goes through fifty significant science fiction over the decades. While it does have a number of the ones you'd expect to see, like Fritz Lang's Metropolis, The Thing from Another World, The War of the Worlds, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, The Time Machine, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, and so on, there were some unexpected but definitely welcome choices, like The Blob, The Fly, Them!, These Are The Damned, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and the original Godzilla. They also mentioned some films I'd either never heard of or had never heard talked about much, such as La Jetee, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and The Brother From Another Planet. Some examples of classic horror were also put in there, like Frankenstein, Island of Lost Souls, and The Invisible Man. While I bought this book on a whim and because it was cheap, it proved to be a much more interesting read than I was expecting.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

on screen... David Cronenberg: A book picked up the last time I was at McKay's a little over a month ago. David Cronenberg is a director who, while I don't love everything he's done, I really admire, and this book, which was already on my radar, grabbed my attention when I saw it there for very cheap. It was interesting read, with the author first giving an overview of Cronenberg's career, then going through each film, including both his short films and features, and analyzing them. The book also touches on the TV work that Cronenberg has done, as well as the various remakes, sequels, and spin-offs of his own work that he wasn't a part of. It's less than 150 pages, and since it was written before Crimes of the Future, it's a little out of date, but it feels pretty thorough and exhaustive in its analysis, regardless. If you're a fan of Cronenberg, I would recommend it.

[Cody Layne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cody Layne]

Godzilla vs. Kong: Official Movie Novelization: Out of all these MonsterVerse novelizations, this is the one that really improves the story of the film it's based on, as it fleshes out the characters and their motivations much, much more, with a number of scenes that aren't in the final film but were likely in a lot of the material that was said to have been trimmed off. While it still wouldn't have been a classic by any means, I think if the movie itself were more like this novelization, it would've been better received critically. Ironically, where the novelization falters is what the movie itself excelled in: the monster battles. It feels like the author breezes through them and makes them feel much swifter than they actually are.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Having a reread of Brothers which is the sequel to Marathon Man. Very different book to Marathon Man, which is as good a thriller as you'll find. This one focuses on Babe's (Hoffman in the film) brother Doc/Scylla (Schneider in the movie). 'Wait!' you say, 'didn't he die in the movie?' Well, yeah, but turns out he wasn't fully dead. The CIA patch him up and send to recuperate in secret on a desert island.

He gets recalled to action years later when an army of exploding robot children try to take over the world. Which is not a problem for Scylla because 'he can kill with either hand' making him the most deadly man in the world.

Anyway this is some ridiculous bullshit that mostly exists for Goldman to get hyper macho and write fight scenes that go for chapters.

I love it.

I understand why Hoffman and Schneider couldn't be lured back for the sequel, but I love it.