The 31 Horror Book Challenge: Week Four – Challenge Completed

Nightmares From A Lovecraftian

I’ve managed to successfully complete the Challenge! I’ve read a lot of good books this past month. Some were forgettable and there was only one I’d call bad. A good month, I’d say. Let’s go right into the last nine books.

23. The Cipher by Kathe Koja
Nicholas and his on-and-off girlfriend Nakota discover a mysterious hole in the storage room of his apartment building that seems to defy the laws of physics that they dub the “Funhole.” Not only that, but anything that goes in or near the hole becomes “wrong.” Mice and insects twist into dead and deformed creatures and a human cadaver’s hand comes back to life. This seems like it would be a relatively straight forward horror premise, but Koja takes it in a much odder and darker direction. The Funhole causes Nicholas and Nakota’s lives to spiral into a surreal nightmare. Koja writes in a choppy yet poet style that takes some getting used to but fits the story well. The Cipher made a huge splash, winning and being nominated for several awards when it was published in 1991 and it’s easy to see why. Highly recommended.

24. Creepshow, written by Stephen King and art by Bernie Wrightson
The anthology horror movie Creepshow, written by Stephen King and directed by the recently deceased George A. Romero, was a tribute to the horror comics of EC and DC of the 1950s. A comic adaptation was such an obvious next step that it was released as a tie-in the same year as the movie. The stories here are direct adaptations of the ones in the movie. The biggest difference is that the framing story is gone with the character of The Creep book-ending each story with introductions and commentary. The artwork by Bernie Wrightson is excellent and captures the 50s horror vibe perfectly. While you’re not getting much new if you’ve seen the movie, this is worth picking up for a quick and entertaining revisit of those sometimes cheesy, sometimes horrifying stories.

25. Porn by Matt Shaw
Victoria Sheldon is an actress who enters the adult film industry when she’s unable to get regular acting gigs. Her career goes fine until she meets Harry, a snuff film director. This book pissed me off, and not in a good way. The story is suspenseful, nasty, and entertaining for most of it, some nitpicks aside (who leaves a chainsaw just sitting on a kitchen table?). Then the ending comes. This is one of the worst endings I’ve read in a novel and it ruins the entire book – it’s not often I see an ending do that. When I finished it, I felt like I wasted my time. It’s clear Shaw can create a fun page-turner, so I may give him another try in the future. Maybe this was just a bad place to start. Don’t bother with this one, it’s not worth your time or money.

26. Nightmares from a Lovecraftian Mind by Jordan Krall
As the title suggests, this is a collection of Lovecraftian horror fiction. However, the stories here are much less traditional than the label “Lovecraftian” would suggest. There are few direct references to the Lovecraft mythos and, while definitely horror fiction, the narratives here are surreal and often fractured. For example, “Nightmares from a Pampiniform Mind,” a story about a murderous creature that preys on junkies, whores, and homosexuals, seems to take just as much inspiration from William S. Burroughs as H.P. Lovecraft. “We Shout Our Omens” and “Xnoybis Itself” read like Ligottian prose poems. Krall has a talent for creating nightmarish, otherworldly visions with his prose. I recommend this strongly to fans of experimental fiction. Note that what I read is the first edition. The second edition includes three additional pieces and an afterword by T.E. Grau.

27. Mighty in Sorrow: A Tribute to David Tibet and Current 93, edited by Jordan Krall
As the title suggests, this collection is a tribute to the neofolk band Current 93 and its front man David Tibet. Like Current 93’s music, the pieces here are often abstract, esoteric, and very dark. The collection includes prose, poetry, and prose poetry. Some of the stand out pieces include Thomas Ligotti’s “In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land,” which was originally released as chapbook to accompany a Current 93 EP of the same name, “The Suffering Clown” by Nichole Cushing about a clown that can extinguish stars, and “The Inmost Darkness” by Robert M. Price, a Lovecraftian story in which a student translates a pessimistic Gnostic text. This is an excellent collection that includes many strange and experimental pieces. Few of the stories directly reference David Tibet or Current 93, but fans of the band will recognize many of the themes here. Those looking for more traditional stories may be disappointed, but it’s still an excellent anthology well worth reading.

28. Stork by Shane McKenzie
Suzey has recently suffered her third miscarriage. She and her husband Eddie are heartbroken, but he’s convinced that they will eventually have a child. Suzey’s miscarriages bring her awful back to her, how her grandmother would beat her and tell her that the stork never brought her a soul. She vows to protect her fourth unborn child, no matter what. McKenzie tells a tragic and brutal story in this novella. The story of Suzey’s past and how she reacts to her miscarriages are extreme but convincing. McKenzie takes an already dark fairy tale (read the Hans Christian Anderson story if you don’t believe me) and makes it even darker. This is a short read, but I highly recommend it for fans of psychological horror.

29. Hate from the Sky by Sean M. Thompson
In this bizarro horror-comedy, an average man named Kyle finds himself bullied by the Sky itself for no apparent reason. After the sky destroys his home, his relationship with his girlfriend, and gets him fired from his job, he sets out on a journey to try to appease the Sky. This is one of of the funniest bizarro books I’ve read in a while. The stops on Kyle’s journey make for hilarious set pieces. Despite the loose plot, Thompson keeps it moving at a fast and entertaining pace. My only complaint is that ending felt very deus ex machina. Unlike Shaw’s Porn, it’s not bad enough to ruin the book, but is still a bit of a let down after how fun the rest of the book was. Pick this up if you’re looking for a quick and fun absurd comedy. If you follow my personal blog, I’ll have a more in depth review there within the next couple days as well.

30. The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
In this horror-comedy play, a writer named Katurian and his brother Michael living in an unnamed country under a dictatorship is interrogated by police regarding his stories in connection with a string of child murders that resemble those in his tales. The play goes between Katurian and Michael’s interrogation at the hands of two brutal police officers and enactments of Katurian’s dark fairy tales. I actually saw this play on stage several years ago and felt this was a good time to revisit it in written form. This is one of those plays that works just as well being read as being watched. The humor and the brutality comes through in McDonagh’s writing. The dark fairy tales are woven in excellently to the action. This play is perfect for anyone who likes pitch black comedy, and I also encourage you to see this on the stage if you get a chance.

31. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
While on a hiking trip with her family, 9-year-old Trisha wanders from her mother and brother to escape their squabbling and have a bathroom break in peace. While trying to find her way back to the path, she ends up hopelessly lost in the woods. With little food and slowly getting sick, she attempts to find her way back to civilization, imagining her favorite baseball player being her guardian angel. I wouldn’t rank this as one of King’s better works. It’s an entertaining read and kept me turning the pages to see what happened to Trisha. The climax, however, is somewhat weak after the build-up to it. There is a supernatural element that’s pretty ambiguous as to whether it’s real or hallucinations by a sick and lonely Trisha. However, it’s a bit underdeveloped. It could have been cut without losing much, but could have worked better had it been expanded on as well. I might have also liked this book better if I was a baseball fan. While not King’s best work, I’d say it’s still worth reading if you already enjoy his work.

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