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Taking a break from All Hallows’ Eve and started the another novella in the Clegg collection, The Attraction.
So far it is OK at best. Five rather annoying college kids road trip from Virginia to California.
I’m about a third of the way through, and they have just arrived at the truck stop with the titular attraction, so I’m hoping things pick up from here.
B
I remember really enjoying THE ATTRACTION. Give me a good monster story, and I'm happy, lol. I just stumbled across the Delirium hardcover while I was getting my comic collection in order a few weeks ago.
Posted : October 24, 2026 4:00 am
Taking a break from All Hallows’ Eve and started the another novella in the Clegg collection, The Attraction.
So far it is OK at best. Five rather annoying college kids road trip from Virginia to California.
I’m about a third of the way through, and they have just arrived at the truck stop with the titular attraction, so I’m hoping things pick up from here.
B
I remember really enjoying THE ATTRACTION. Give me a good monster story, and I'm happy, lol. I just stumbled across the Delirium hardcover while I was getting my comic collection in order a few weeks ago.
Yeah, things picked up in the second half, but I never really got into the story.
I thought Purity was a much better story. Still have The Words in this collection, which I will probably read after finishing up the All Hallows’ Eve anthology.
B
Posted : October 24, 2026 9:55 pm
I've been sitting on an ARC of Jenny Kiefer's novel THIS WRETCHED VALLEY for a few years, and finally decided to give it a try after reading Brian Keene's recommendation on his blog last week.
I was hoping for a Bigfoot/Cryptid type of wilderness story, which it definitely is NOT. In fact, without spoilers, it's a Horror novel of a subgenre that I absolutely despise, and have zero interest in reading about. But once I start a book, I try to give it a fighting chance before DNFing it.
I'm glad I gave the book a fighting chance, because Kiefer is the real deal. This woman can write. I'm about three quarters of the way through, and finding it very hard to put down. Hoping she can stick the landing, and very interested in reading more from her.
Posted : October 28, 2026 3:53 am
Finished up All Hallows' Eve last night, which turned out to be a pretty standard Datlow anthology.
Nineteen stories, most of which were serviceable, if unmemorable. Three or four stories that I thought were really good, and two or three that were completely WTF.
This morning I started The Words, the third novella in Douglas Clegg's Coming of Age collection.
Twenty pages in and it has my attention so far.
B
Posted : October 29, 2026 10:06 pm
Finished up All Hallows' Eve last night, which turned out to be a pretty standard Datlow anthology.
B
I do not like Datlow's efforts as an anthology Editor at all. I'd probably read about two dozen before I just decided to avoid her work entirely.
Posted : October 30, 2026 3:56 pm
I finished Jenny Kiefer's THIS WRETCHED VALLEY last night, and can safely say that she's a name I'll be watching closely in the future. She's quite a talent.
Posted : October 30, 2026 3:58 pm
Last night I started Annie Neugebaurer's third (and final?) novella in The Outsiders Sequence, Spare, which I got as an eARC from Shortwave Publishing. So far, so good. As with the other two stories in the sequence, it starts a little slow as the characters are introduced and she gives us the lay of the land. About 20% of the way in and things are starting to pick up ...
I really enjoyed the first two (The Extra and The Spare) and I hope this one delivers the same unsettling punch.
Posted : October 30, 2026 7:46 pm
Last night I started Annie Neugebaurer's third (and final?) novella in The Outsiders Sequence, Spare, which I got as an eARC from Shortwave Publishing. So far, so good. As with the other two stories in the sequence, it starts a little slow as the characters are introduced and she gives us the lay of the land. About 20% of the way in and things are starting to pick up ...
I really enjoyed the first two (The Extra and The Spare) and I hope this one delivers the same unsettling punch.
I'm really glad to hear that. This trilogy remains on my radar...the first two sounded great when I first heard about them, and I've had them on my Amazon Wish List for a year or two, but I never quite get to the point of ordering them, for whatever reason. Then I heard a third one was coming out, and that was excuse enough to hold off ordering the other two so I could wait and get the full trilogy (even if they're not necessarily connected that rigidly). Now the time for excuses is over, and I probably need to finally pull the trigger on all three.
Posted : October 30, 2026 8:41 pm
rmquist reacted
Now the time for excuses is over, and I probably need to finally pull the trigger on all three.
The Spare doesn't get released until March, 2027 so it will be a little while yet.
I actually read the second novella, The Other before I read the first (The Extra) and didn't feel like it mattered. There are certain common elements but the characters were different and there weren't any spoilers/cross-references.
Posted : October 30, 2026 11:20 pm
Now the time for excuses is over, and I probably need to finally pull the trigger on all three.
The Spare doesn't get released until March, 2027 so it will be a little while yet.
…aaannd I’ve been given an extension!
Kidding. I’ll still probably pick the duo up before March.
Posted : October 31, 2026 4:55 am
Now the time for excuses is over, and I probably need to finally pull the trigger on all three.
The Spare doesn't get released until March, 2027 so it will be a little while yet.
…aaannd I’ve been given an extension!
Kidding. I’ll still probably pick the duo up before March.
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
I finished The Spare last night and it really was every bit as good as I hoped! It feels/reads like the other two books in the sequence, but it could certainly be read without ever reading the earlier books. Anyone who does read either (or both) of the previous two before this will have an idea of where the new story is going, but not enough of an idea to spoil it. That additional knowledge made the whole story better for me - it provided a building sense of dread without knowing exactly what was going to happen.
Posted : October 31, 2026 3:09 pm
RonClinton and dannyboy121070 reacted
Finished up All Hallows' Eve last night, which turned out to be a pretty standard Datlow anthology.
B
I do not like Datlow's efforts as an anthology Editor at all. I'd probably read about two dozen before I just decided to avoid her work entirely.
I agree.
I’ve always found that her anthologies tend to land on the mediocre side.
That being said, there’s usually at least two, and if you’re lucky, three stories that make her books worth reading.
Of course, I could the same for most of the anthologies I’ve read over the last couple of years, not just those edited by Datlow.
B
Posted : October 31, 2026 4:45 pm
Finished up The Words by Douglas Clegg last night, the last novella in his Coming of Age collection. The Words was a very dark story that I liked a lot.
Up next, I started Joey Leonard’s Last Horror Movie Marathon by Kevin Lucia.
Lucia is, IMO, such an under rated story teller, and his stories tend to have a Halloween feel to them, whether they involve the holiday or not.
Half way through, and no surprise, I’m really enjoying it.
B
Posted : October 31, 2026 4:52 pm
I needed to pivot away from horror for a book or two, so just finished Thomas Perry's HERO, a crime(ish) thriller. I haven't really clicked with Perry on a couple previous attempts, but I really enjoyed this one. I'll have to give him another shot.
Starting Brian Keene's THE COMPLEX.
Posted : November 1, 2026 7:12 pm
I needed to pivot away from horror for a book or two
... pivot away from horror ... ?? I'm not sure I understand the concept 🤣 🤣 🤣
No, really, I get it. Sometimes you need a "palate cleanser"
If you're still looking, check out either of the following - I'd classify them as suspense/thrillers
- The Lost Ones by Chris DiLeo
- In Their Eyes by Simon F. Godin
Posted : November 2, 2026 1:38 am
RonClinton reacted