Chillers for the Season

 Selections by Jeanne

I’m not normally a horror reader.  Oh, I used to be, years ago, but that was before Richard Matheson’s Hell House aka The Legend of Hell House scared the bejezus out of me and kept me awake a couple of nights. Since then I’ve been cautious about the scary stuff I read because I am now much older and I need my sleep.  I do still pick up the occasional creepy book, especially this time of year.  Here are some I have enjoyed in the past:

Hell House:  Nope, nope, not going to pick this one up again.  The ending is still too vivid.  Matheson’s tale of a group of investigators who spend the night in an allegedly haunted house may be tame by today’s standards, even be considered stale after a legion of books on this theme, but I don’t care.  I’m not going to read it again.  I’m just going to respect it from a safe distance.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson:  Most people like The Haunting of Hill House, but I was drawn to this story of two sisters who are shunned by most of the town over an incident in the past.  Of course, Jackson's story“The Lottery” is an absolute gem; but I also very much like – and often refer to—“One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts.”  (For a different view of Jackson, by all means pick up her two domestic humor books, Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons. )

The Seeker by R.B. Chesterton: Graduate student Aine Cahill has a journal written by a female relative who was a friend (and perhaps more) to Henry David Thoreau.   As part of her research, Aine has come to Walden Pond to try to find evidence to corroborate Aunt Bonnie’s story but soon she begins to wonder if there is something else lurking in the woods.  This is one of those books that the minute I finished I tried to find someone else to read the book so we could discuss it.  Extremely well written, atmospheric, and with fascinating characters, this is one I recommend often.  (Chesterton is a pen name for Carolyn Haines, who writes the Sarah Booth Delaney mysteries, but the Chesterton titles are darker in tone and, so far, are standalones.)

The Other by Thomas Tryon:  Another book I read years ago, but which left a strong impression.  The story revolves around young brothers Niles and Holland who live on a farm in New England.  While twins, the two boys are very different in personality:  Niles is sweet natured and cautious, while Holland is daring and reckless, with a cruel streak. But is he responsible for a series of “accidents” around the farm?  This was Tryon’s first novel, but it was followed by another semi-classic horror tale, Harvest Home. He later turned to historical fiction before his untimely death.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill:  After a number of folks on DorothyL recommended this title, I picked it up.  I soon put it back down again. This tale of a young solicitor sent to a remote village to settle an estate was written in the Victorian first person style and just seemed too slow.  A few months later, I picked it up again and was drawn in immediately.  The setting is vivid: a dark, desolate old mansion out in a salt march with the fog rolling in, and a dampness that seems to seep out of the words and straight into the reader’s bones. The ending is abrupt, shocking.  At first I felt a bit cheated, but I certainly remember it; so it certainly fulfilled its purpose.  By the way, if you’ve seen the movie with Daniel Radcliffe, then you have some idea of the atmosphere of the book.  That part was very well done.  However, the movie took a number of liberties, including changing the ending and turning it into more of a standard horror movie.

‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King: This was King’s second novel after Carrie and I liked it better.  For one thing, it was a dandy modern-day vampire story.  Set in Maine, the story revolves around a small town where two strangers have moved into a house with an unsettling reputation.  Then things really start to go downhill. . . . King has said that the inspiration for the book was wondering what would happen if Dracula moved into to a contemporary American village and the parallels are easy to see. 

Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin: Long before the first Game of Thrones book, Martin wrote a number of science fiction/fantasy books, including this gem.  Abner Marsh is a Mississippi steamboat owner whose fleet has been pretty much demolished.  Enter Joshua York, a mysterious gentleman who is willing to bankroll a fantastic new boat. . . but York’s secrecy worries Marsh.  Just what is York hiding? And what plans does he have for this boat? This is another great example of Martin’s ability to take a genre and reform it in new and interesting ways.

Happy reading!

Nevermore: Dan Brown, Christopher Coake, DNA and Game of Thrones

Dan Brown’s new novel, Inferno, was the subject of discussion in more than one Nevermore meeting. Robert Langdon, the professor of symbology from The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, etc. awakens in a hospital in Florence with a touch of amnesia.  The next thing he knows, he’s on the run and following Brown’s trademark trail of codes, ciphers and clues. The first reviewer was definitely unimpressed, feeling that the book had too much padding-- much in the form of architectural description. Another reviewer found it very slow going at first, but then the plot did pick up.  He too noted the abundance of information on various Italian cities and architecture as well as on Dante. Finally, the book was sort of summed up as "excellent plot, terrible narration."

Another reviewer highly recommended a collection of short stories by Christopher Coake entitled We’re In Trouble.  As the title promises, each story opens with a character in some sort of serious trouble, love in the face of death.  Each character is challenged and the reader anxiously waits to see how the character will react.  Our reader said she was instantly drawn into each story and thinks Coake is definitely a writer to watch.  The book earned strong reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is proving popular across various media.  The recent HBO series has attracted a wide and avid viewership, and putting the original novels back on the library’s reserve list in both printed and audio formats.  A Nevermore member put in a plug for the new graphic novel version of the books, and requested we get the others in the series as they come out.

Louise Erdrich’s novel Love Medicine was mentioned by another reader.  This was Erdrich’s first novel and revolves around two Chippewa families, spanning some fifty years. The novel moves back and forth in time, and is actually a series of interwoven short stories that form a whole.

Two non-fiction books were mentioned, both involving DNA.  Origins of the British by Stephen Oppenheimer uses the latest genetic, archaeological, and linguistic findings to determine the composition of the British people.  Oppenheimer argues that the bulk of the genetic heritage predates the Anglo-Saxons and is a great deal more complex than was previously believed.  The subject is fascinating, but our reviewer found the book to be almost too technical.

A similar comment was made about The Violinist’s Thumb by Sam Kean.  The title refers to the Paganini’s extremely flexible fingers, the result of a genetic mutation which aided his musical ability but may also have shortened his life. Other parts of the book discuss an assortment of human and some non-human DNA (Neanderthals, for example) which makes for an interesting book, although the reviewer said there was a bit of a slog through the more technical aspects of DNA.

Halloween Treasures You May Have Missed

 Comments by Jeanne

There are lots of lists of classic horror tales, of the newest horror tales, of best-selling horror tales, but there are still some good books by well-known authors which don’t show up on the usual lists. Here are some that deserve to have a wider audience:

Legend of Hell House by Richard Matheson is also known simply as Hell House or Richard Matheson’s Hell House. A wealthy man on his deathbed wants proof of life after death. He sends a group of people including two mediums and a physicist to Belasko House, a place rumored to be haunted by the malevolent spirit of its former owner. This book kept me up for nights after I read it back in high school. I don’t know if it would scare me quite so much today but I’m not willing to take the chance. I need my sleep.

(Matheson is also the author of the cult classic vampire novel I Am Legend and the time travel fantasy Somewhere In Time. He also wrote a number of scripts for shows like Twilight Zone, including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” which to this day keeps airline passengers peeking at the plane’s wings, hoping NOT to see a gremlin.)

Thanks to the HBO series, George R.R. Martin is reaching a whole new audience who come to the library for his epic fantasy novels. What many don’t realize is that Martin was writing long before Game of Thrones and has other wonderful novels. One of these is Fevre Dream. Set in 1857, a steamboat captain is contacted by a gentleman who offers him the dream of a lifetime: construction of a steamboat which will be the greatest on the Mississippi: larger, faster, and more luxurious than any other. The boat is duly built, but questions soon arise about the gentleman and his unusual assortment of friends—none of whom seem to venture out in daylight. (A quick plug for another Martin book: Tuf Voyaging, about a space-going environmental engineer who specializes in collecting animal species and genetic engineering. Tuf is a bit of a rare creature himself: an honest man.) While you wait for Winds of Winter, give these a try!

Barbara Hambly has written in a number of genres, including mystery, historical, science fiction and fantasy. She’s best known for her Benjamin January mystery series set in Louisiana in the 1830s, but she’s also the author of the James Asher series of vampire novels. Asher is a professor and former secret agent who is contacted by Simon Ysidro who wants Asher to investigate the murders of several London vampires. He encourages Asher’s cooperation by threatening Asher’s wife. The first book in the series is Those Who Hunt the Night, followed by Traveling with the Dead, Blood Maidens, and Magistrates of Hell. Hamby does a superb job of evoking places and time as well creating exciting stories with memorable characters.

Raven Report for July 26, 2011

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind lingers on, and not just in the movies! It was the topic of a lively discussion at this week’s Nevermore Book Club.  The question was, “Why is Scarlett such an icon?” The answers were varied, but included the idea that in some ways she could be considered a feminist because she “acted like a man” and went after the things she wanted.  The question of how race was handled in the novel was also discussed.

All Things Shining:  Reading the Western Classics by Hubert Dreyfus wonders about the best way to find the sacred in a secular world is. As religion becomes less an element of our society, can Great Literature answer our search for meaning in our lives?

Next up was Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich.  The question there was, has Stephanie “jumped the shark”?  Has the series lost its spunk? Opinions differed, with a plug for Evanovich’s  Wicked Appetites, which is a sister series to the Plum saga, as being funnier than the current Stephanie novel.

Quinn by Iris Johansen is the second book of a three book trilogy which is supposed to clear up one of the long-running mysteries of the Eve Duncan series.  Eve is a forensic artist with the uncanny ability to sculpt a victim’s likeness from skeletal remains.  Her passion for her work is due in part to her young daughter’s disappearance years ago.  The first book was entitled Eve; the last book, out in November, will be Bonnie.

Sixkill  is the new Spencer book, the last one completed by Robert B. Parker before his untimely demise.  Perhaps fittingly, a new character is introduced, Zebulon Sixkill, whom other characters keep comparing to Spencer and who seems destined to continue in the books.  In some ways it seems to be a passing of the torch, which is a propos, given that Ace Atkins had been hired by Parker’s estate to continue the Spencer series.

Daniel Silva was named as a writer to watch.  His Gabriel Allon thrillers are fast paced, topical and very well written.  Silva himself is a former journalist and knows the places about which he writers.  The first in the series is The Kill Artist.  His most recent is Portrait of a Spy.

Last but not least, the discussion turned to George R.R. Martin, a long time author whose books have gained new fans after the premiere of a  TV program based on his “Game of Thrones” series.  Martin has just released the next book in the series, A Dance With Dragons.  Martin is also known for his Wild Cards series as well as some wonderful stand alone books such as the space adventure Tuf Voyaging, the vampre tale  Fevre Dream (and yes, it is Fevre and not Fever) , and Armageddon Rag, a murder mystery with fantasy and rock and roll elements.

As you can see, the Nevermore Book Club ranges far and wide!  If you’d like to join us, just be at the Frances Kegley Conference Room on a Tuesday at 11 am.  Coffee is provided and the doughnuts are from the fabulous Blackbird Bakery!