I hate to fly (HATE). I am the textbook white-knuckle flyer who really believes gripping the seat rests and concentrating really hard is what keeps thI hate to fly (HATE). I am the textbook white-knuckle flyer who really believes gripping the seat rests and concentrating really hard is what keeps the plane from plummeting 40,000 feet straight into the ground or ocean (or into the side of a mountain). It hasn't gotten easier over the years, to the point where I have considered hypnotherapy -- but the woo-woo of hypnosis and the dreadful doors THAT could open also doesn't appeal to me.
So because flying is one of my lizard brain primal fears, it's no surprise an anthology wholly dedicated to this insane thing humans do thousands of times a day all over the world (let ourselves be hurtled through space defying gravity at crazy speeds in an object that weighs on average 87 tons) would have its dark, mesmeric appeal.
And it's an okay collection. I wish I could give it a more expansive, enthusiastic recommendation, but it's really just okay. King and Joe Hill fans will be pleased that there's new material here but even their contributions aren't anything to flip out over. Both men have written MUCH stronger short stories in the past. This isn't in league with their best work so curb your expectations going in.
Some stories are reprinted classics like Matheson's excellent Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, the source material for one of the best Twilight Zone episodes (it's always fun to re-visit that one). There's also an Arthur Conan Doyle entry that's a sharp departure from his Sherlock Holmes stuff and ventures into Lovecraftian territory.
My favorite entry comes from Dan Simmons called Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds. It's short, plays with time travel and packs a darkly fun punch that's very Twilight Zone, Night Gallery. And bonus -- I found it online for free if you want to read it without tracking down a copy of this collection.
Ooops! Made a mistake here that I have to fix - got my stories mixed up. My favorite is actually Lucifer! by E.C. Tubb available for free here. It's this classic short story (not the one by Dan Simmons) that plays with time travel and is very Twilight Zone, Night Gallery.
So make sure your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright positions. Keep those seat belts fastened as we will be flying through some heavy turbulence. And whatever you do, do not look out the window. Happy flying!...more
Interesting little novella that has a House of Leaves vibe going on, I just wish it had a little more meat on its bones. Still, nice creepy atmosphereInteresting little novella that has a House of Leaves vibe going on, I just wish it had a little more meat on its bones. Still, nice creepy atmosphere and set-up, that will leave you feeling claustrophobic and paranoid....more
It's been so long since I've actually reviewed a book that I'm feeling a lot rusty, but this little terror of a gem is so gripping and so good that I It's been so long since I've actually reviewed a book that I'm feeling a lot rusty, but this little terror of a gem is so gripping and so good that I felt I had to write something. This one is a Kemper rec -- and we all know what a persnickety pants he is -- so that alone should put this tightly written 200 page nightmare high on your TBR radar.
As Kemper points out in his review -- this book isn't going to be for everyone. It contains graphic -- and readers, I do mean graphic -- depictions of violence. Jonathan Moore is a talented writer (his skills on full display here) and his vivid, descriptive prose will grab you by the throat and you will SEE EVERYTHING in your mind's eye unfold in full, unrelenting technicolor. The suspense and tension are almost unbearable at times, both exquisite and excruciating. It's an often overused compliment of any decent thriller to refer to it is as a "page-turner", or a "nail-biter" or as "unputdownable". But sweet jebus people, if ever a book qualified as being any of these, it's this one.
Despite its lean 200 page length that's jam-packed with details about the logistics of sailing the perilous high seas, Moore still manages to find room for a shit ton of nerve-wracking action sequences, and to make us deeply care about our main protagonists -- married couple Kelly and Dean. He will put our intrepid heroes through A LOT, and you will go through all of it with them. ...more
"What an excellent day for an exorcism." ~The Exorcist (1973)
This is an okay book. Fair. Acceptable. But it takes too long to really get humming
"What an excellent day for an exorcism." ~The Exorcist (1973)
This is an okay book. Fair. Acceptable. But it takes too long to really get humming (I'm all in for foreplay, but Hendrix really pushes the limits to impatience here). More than three-quarters of the novel is essentially an angsty teen, coming-of-age high school drama about a group of girls and their growing pains with each other and with the world around them. It could very well be Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill -- except that one of the main characters might be demonically possessed (instead of merely being a catty bitch). Sometimes it's nigh on impossible to tell the difference.
Here's the thing -- this book suffers by comparison to a lot of other things. Nobody writes the mysterious, dark and turbulent interior lives of teenage girls better than Megan Abbott. Seeing Hendrix attempt to do the same thing here as he explores the iron bonds of friendship forged by Abby and Gretchen when they were children pales in execution and gravitas to Ms. Abbott's vast talents with her mighty quill.
The demonic possession and exorcism angle is adequately covered -- but again suffers by comparison to 2015's Bram Stoker Award winning A Head Full of Ghosts. And no matter who you are, if you're writing about this subject, your book is always going to be compared to Blatty's classic horror novel The Exorcist and Friedkin's enduring film adaptation of the same name.
Hendrix might have thought he was doing something new and clever here by mashing-up a coming-of-age teen drama with the horror tropes of demonic possession stories, but he doesn't quite make it. Some scenes are definitely creepy and unsettling, there just weren't enough of them (too few of them coming too late in the story) to sustain any kind of coiled tension and impending sense of doom in the reader. And boy, is it really hard to write an exorcism scene that chills, rather than have it feel like a spoof out of a Scary Movie sequel, or a daytime soap opera.
Oooooh, this is a tough one to review, because it's not going to be for everyone, and I also don't want to give too much away. It's a slim volume thatOooooh, this is a tough one to review, because it's not going to be for everyone, and I also don't want to give too much away. It's a slim volume that packs such a WALLOP! that creeps up on you, it would be super easy to spoil it for someone if you weren't careful.
Many people have this filed as 'Mystery' or 'Psychological Thriller' and it's sorta a blend of those, but way closer to 'Psychological Horror' for me than anything else. It's an unsettling, paranoid mindfuck that at first appearances seems pretty slow-moving and innocuous. There's a young couple on a road trip to visit the guy's parents at their secluded farmhouse, and the girlfriend is "thinking of ending things". In her head she's ruminating on the course of their courtship and mulling over the nagging feeling that it's time to pull the plug on a relationship whose expiration date is past.
But she also has a secret. Dun-dun-DUUUUUN.
But the boyfriend -- who starts the novel normal and quite nice -- starts to appear odd and off kilter as soon as we get to the farmhouse. Then things inexorably creep to majorly weird and unsettling with the parents by the time we get to dessert.
And just as you're processing what's happening in that farmhouse and freaked the hell out because you don't know where the threat is coming from, the book will move to its final act in a deserted high school.
This isn't a book about what HAPPENS. It's one of those HOW WE GET THERE. It's a book of atmosphere and tension and a narrator who absolutely takes the cake on unreliable. It's a paranoid chant in places, and I was literally gripping the book as I was reading it because everything started to feel so portentous, so HEAVY, that the most horrible thing could happen at any moment. All bets are off. As a reader, when I am in the hands of a writer like that, and at their complete mercy, there is no other place I would rather be.
It was horror god Nick Cutter who brought my attention to this book first when he tweeted this about it:
"Creepy as hell. You owe me a few fingernails, Reid, because I've bitten them off reading your book!"
When Mr. Cutter endorses a book like that I will do just about anything (and I do mean anything people) to get my hands on a copy. Fortunately, I didn't have to kill anybody (and lose precious reading time getting rid of the body since my woodchipper is in the shop). The publisher provided a review copy for free, no violence required, no cleanup in aisle four. Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada!
I want to compare this short read (which you should do in one sitting for maximum impact) with other great stories of the same ilk, but I don't want to risk spoiling anything. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is psychological, subtle, mind-bendy, and utterly unnerving. I can't wait to read this one again to enjoy its construction and appreciate even more the flawless execution of its moving parts.
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