Horror Books

Just finished Hollister House! If I compare Ms. Lacy's character development to Stephen King and her Southern Gothic storytelling style to Anne Rice it's a GOOD thing and very high praise from me indeed. King's ability to get me instantly invested in his characters has always been what draws me into his writing every time and Joani Lacy has the same talent. I was instantly in love with Eve and as each new character was introduced, I was pulled further and further in . As for the ghost story itself? Genius!! Her descriptive abilities put me right there in the house, tree and gardens, I could almost smell it! Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches trilogy cast that same spell over me, I even had to make a private pilgrimage to the New Orleans home that she based her writings on. Ms. Lacy's Hollister House really came to life for me! I'm going tell everyone I know to read her book and several people are getting copies as gifts this Christmas. I simply cannot wait to read more from this author, Joani Lacy rocks!!

This book is by far now on my list of top books to own. The story is amazing and the reader will easily get lost in the story line. The characters and the scenery are both very well described. It has been years since I have read a book where the details of the scenery were so well written that I could feel like I was there. It is a summer must read, a wonderful book to read by the pool!

I don't like horror stories, I don't like Southern epics, this book is both and I loved every page of it! A recovering alcoholic, druggy musician trying to raise her teenage daughter for the first time at 40 years old is a page turner in itself. Now add a haunted house, a very sick child, and everlasting friendship to the mix and you have Hollister House. My heart beat faster and faster with every page I turned to find out what was going to happen to the children of Mandalay St. who realize too quickly how fast they have to grow up in order to save their best little buddy. With impeccable detail and a magical touch, Ms. Lacy takes you deeper and deeper into the Banyan tree until you, too feel the magic of its power.

A great Southern Gothic novel presents a set of challenges for any author. Spinning the usual multi-generational saga is work enough. Joni Lacy has completely gotten the form in her new novel HOLLISTER HOUSE. Spanning the history of relationships and families from 1799 to the present, Ms Lacy gives us remarkably real present-day teens, lively grandparents, older boomer adults, and ghosts enough to frighten William Faulkner, in a well-paced story filled with the sounds and smells of the south.

Ms Lacy is also a musician, singer, and songwriter and her musicality informs much of HOLLISTER HOUSE. She uses musical motifs from Gospel to Cajun to King Records almost as her characters use totems and talismans in the novel itself.

The pace of the book is pitch perfect, The author has a wonderful sense of when the reader needs relief from a frightened family facing ghostly apparitions to smile at the simple things that make family and community. Ms Lacy also has a great ear for southern conversation. Her dialogue plays well.

One of the author's best strengths is her ability to create young characters that are good but not perfect. The tween and teen cast in HOLLISTER HOUSE are presented as real neighborhood kids. Some are southern by birth and some by transplant, but their loyalty to each other is unquestioned.

There's plenty for you traditional ghost story fans, too! Voodoo, visions, cursed paintings, crepuscular emanations, and a haunted Banyan tree provide a full serving of chills.

On a technical note, Ms Lacy could be better served by her publisher iUniverse. Missed quotation marks and italics shouldn't happen, though they did print a page of music, and I'll be noodling on "Loa's Melody" for a long time.

HOLLISTER HOUSE is a grand story, told with warmth and just enough things that jump out and say, "Boo!"

I am a 22 year old college student with little time to read anything besides text books... however once I started reading this book I couldn't but it down! This is one of the best books that I have ever read. The author does a great job with descriptions and detail. The story is unique and sometimes feels real. I fell in love with the characters and the author who created them. Hopefully Joani Lacy writes another book, I really want to read more from her!

This book was really good. I could not put it down once I started reading it. The love scenes are similar to real ones and you will be drooling before you get through with them.. It is very suspenseful and leaves you wondering who the killer is. I gave it a 5 because I have never read anything so good in my life. I hope Kimberly Rangel keeps up the good work.

This was really a good book! Darby was a very intriguing character and I loved the Texas setting. Like someone else wrote on here I'm hoping for a sequel and more books by this talented writer!

I have never read such a compelling book before. The author truly places you in Blue's life...and keeps you wondering where he really is and how it all happened. I could not figure out the exact details during the book, and the end was shocking. It made me want to read more, and it was a cliffhanger that made me think there was more. I hope that the author writes a sequel in the same manner she did this one. This book is a must read!!!

This was truly a page truner. As I read one page I could help but to continue to the next than the next and so on. Not only does this book walk you thought the mind of Blue, it also makes sure that you know how everyone is feeling. Sex, Murder, drinking, dancing, this book covers it all. It's a must read.

Kimberly Rangel's second work is truely a masterpeice, this book delves into the mind of a serial killer - combining a thriller theme with a trace of the supernatural. The Homecoming is a great read for those of you who, like me, are bored with the same old genre plots. This one covers all the ground without being predictable and winds up to one hell of an ending. Walk on the darkside with Samuel Blue or fret over the safety of "sweet Darby" whatever your into - this'll keep you coming back for more.

A fine companion piece to HORROR FILMS OF THE 1970s, this is another tremendously entertaining overview of an entire decade of fear flicks. This was so much fun revisiting these films that I grew up with. The author is interesting and informative throughout. Highly recommended!

I saw this book and was amazed that someone had written descriptions and reviews of most of the horror movies made in the 80's. I was even more impressed after I started reading it. Just like what other reviewers have said, John Muir has a love for horror films and it shows in how he comments and categorizes them. His reviews of these movies make you feel like he's your best friend sitting beside you watching these films and either hating or loving them with you. There were many movies he commented on that I would never have watched because either they were in an overdone series (Friday the 13th Part 3) or because they look completely hokey (Re-Animator). But because of his reviews, I did and am glad for it.
Something other reviewers didn't mention but I love, is how he comments on the directors themselves and mentions how their individual style comes through all of their movies (or are edited out by their producers creating a bad movie). I learned about such great directors as Cronenberg, Tobe Hooper and Thom Eberhardt who I knew only a little about before. I recommend this book to anyone who even had a passing interests in horror movies and wants to relive some of the great ones (and horrible ones) from the 80's.

It can be argued that the decade of the 1980's was the most important ever for horror films. While the films may not have always been good, and many were downright terrible, the advent of home video soon taught filmmakers that they could turn a profit even with direct-to-video releases. "Horror Films of the 1980's" by John Kenneth Muir, is an exhaustive guide to perhaps the most memorable era of horror films. Over 300 films are covered in detail within this massive, 800 plus page hardcover tome.

Anyone who has ever read one of the fine books from McFarland knows that they don't do fluff, and this book is no different. This isn't merely a listing of films and stars like you get in some books. Each film gets at least two pages of coverage that includes full cast and crew credits, rating (one to four stars) running time, detailed plot synopsis, commentary by Muir, as well as selected critic's comments from the time that the film came out.

The films are listed alphabetically, by decade, beginning with "Alligator" in 1980 and ending with "Stepfather 2" in 1989. Even if you think you know your 80's horror films well, you're sure to find some films you probably never heard of such as The Killing Hour, Bloodkill, and New York Ripper.

As I thumbed through the book I felt like I was looking at an old scrapbook or photo album of friends and family members that I had not seen in many years. I have not seen a lot of these films since their original debuts over twenty years ago and I fondly recalled many nights at the drive-in where I saw quite a few of these films. I loved reading about these old friends, Motel Hell, One Dark, Night, Gates of Hell, The Keep, Near Dark, Night of the Demons, and countless others.

Muir, and his small group of reviewers show a depth of knowledge, but more importantly, a true love of this era of horror films, often resulting in ratings that are a bit more generous than I would have given. A lot of films included here are not true horror films. There are sprinklings of sci-fi (Saturn 3, Lifeforce, Moontrap, Terminator), thrillers (Ten to Midnight, Jaws 3D, Blood Simple, Body Double) and comedy horrors (Ghoulies, Critters, Gremlins), but their inclusions are welcome nonetheless.

The book concludes with several interesting appendices that feature the 1980's Horror Hall of Fame, Recommended Viewing Then & Now, and Memorable Ad Lines. Heres' something fun...read one of the ad lines and see if your friends can guess the film. This is simply one of the finest horror reference books I've ever read. Well worth the $60 price tag!

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

I am a huge horror film fan, and try to read every book I can on the subject. As such, I was thrilled when I received this huge release for my birthday last month. However, I honestly had no idea that it would be as entertaining and insightful as it is. I have now read up through 1988, and must say that I've never in my life read such astute critique of genre films -- generally reviewers either stick to the plot basics or try to impose some sort of critical theory on it ("the male gaze" and all that). Muir on the other hand manages to recognize and explain sub-texts that I never, EVER would have noticed by myself -- then when I think back to the films he's describing, I realize, "My God! He's RIGHT!" Plus his book has encouraged me to buy a whole bunch of horror films I'd never have considered seeing (ex. I'm no vampire film fan so I wouldn't have bothered with "Near Dark" had he not put it on his "Top 15 of the '80s" list. But wow! What a fantastic movie!)

My only problem now is that I'm dying to read his '70s book and it's not being re-released for another month!

Muir's "Horror Films of the 1980's" is an excellent companion to his like-titled "Horror Films of the 1970's". While not all-inclusive (an impossible task) it does take all of the important films (and many (many) of the obscure films) and succinctly dissects them from various viewpoints. The author is an obvious expert in the genre, easily able to cross-reference the production with what was happening in society at the time.

This is the sort of reference that you will return to time and time again and continue to be surprised by the depth of the content.

I can't wait for "Horror Films of the 1990's".

I loved reading this book, and I thought it was fantastic. However, after reading it, I saw the 1944 movie "Gaslight", and I believe the author of this book just watched that movie and totally STOLE THE PLOT. I could predict what was going to happen in the movie based on what had happened in the book. For that reason, I have to say, "SHAME ON YOU, FRANCINE PASCAL! SHAME!!!"

I thought that this book was really good because it was mostly on Lila and Bruce. (my fave charecters). Lila falls for a docter, Porter Davis after she has an accident. Porter is a phcyo who tries to make Lila belive she is crazy. Also Jess plays tricks on Tom because he moves in with her and Liz.

The House Of Death was so cool, I read it in an hour because I couldn't put it down! I'm a long-time Sweet Valley fan, and the last thiriller this good was Sweet Valley High #???-A Killer On Board. I enjoyed it.

This was a great book. I read it in about two nights because I could'nt put it down. It is very suspenceful. I was really scared for Lila. I can't believe she fell for Porter Davis. I felt bad for Bruce. You'll have to read the book to find out why I felt this way.

This is got to be one of the best SVU thrillers. So good, with on the edge of your seat action. That guy she was with was a physco. A total physco, and I'm so glad Lila went back to Bruce. They were made for eachother!

This is a completely absorbing page- turner with fascinating historical details. I thought Emily, the protagonist, was particularly interesting. Many authors label their protagonists, giving them a certain type of personality that isn't very common among teenagers. Emily is normal in every way, yet she shines. This is because she is very realistic and likable. Though she is a bit downtrodden from major changes in her life (a divorce, a new home, and a new school), she doesn't whine excessively, nor does she take it unrealistically with no complaints. I was also very pleased with the ending. There was no corny parting scene where Emily's seventeenth century friends go back to their time through a swirling vortex with tears in their eyes.

I immensely enjoyed reading this book. My only complaint concerns the title. Although the book's title is The House on Hound Hill, it was originally published in Britain as Here Comes a Candle to Light You To Bed. I think the original title is much more intriguing and should not have been changed.

I've never been so "in" to a book that it made me jump in my seat until i read this. Prince has done a fantastic job of painting history, intruige, and fiction into this story. Everything from visions of ghosts repeating the cycle of their tragic lives, the protagonist becoming lost in the past, the past intertwining with the present, plague pits, and death make this story a favorite of mine.

The House on Hound Hill by Maggie Prince was a very good book. it had suspense, adventure, and history. it is about a 16-year-old girl, Emily, and her experienceswith the Black Plague of 1665. She has just moved into an old house in a London neighborhood called Hound Hill. She starts seeing, hearing and even smalling things from the time of the Black Death. She was transported to 1665 several times. Then she begins getting stranhge symptoms. On one last trip to 1665, she learns more about the horrors of the Plague and her new acquaintances from the time. For this trip, she stays an unusually long time and, like the other times, she doesn't know how to get back.

Emily's new house in London's historic neighborhood is filled with secrets of the past - secrets which bring Emily right into the past as she begins to experience plague symptoms and uncovers a doorway to an era where the Black Death killed almost a quarter of London's people. A challenging, involving story which blends real history with supernatural overtones in a riveting style.

The House On Hound Hill is a wondrfull book about a teenagegirl's troubles and the plague of London. Emily is shattered by herparents recent divorce and her new neighborhood.She is depressed aboutfailing exams.Emily starts to hear whispers and meets an man looking for his cat.Soon odd things start to happen.Emily discovers the past is still alive.She periodically goes back in time and experiences London in 1665.She sees beggars and watchmen.This book describes how it was at the time of the plague.The imagery and details add colorful contrast to this sad story.I enjoyed this book because I learned about the plague.Parts of the book did seem confusing at first, but they were later explained.

as a teen i read hodgson's "the nightland" and "boats of the glen carrig" with the former impressing me strongly. i could never find "the house on the borderland" and was unaware of his short fiction. hearing of the release of hardcover editions of his collected works led to an enjoyable reread of "boats" and the short fiction in the 1st volume of the series.(also thank you to my teen son who suggested i seek out "house.") i preordered this 2nd volume months ago, and the wait was well worth it. "house" is a match for any work of fantastic horror (lovecraft, derleth, king, etc)and a book almost unbelievably inventive for its time. the short fiction in this volume is as much of a treat as what was in the 1st volume. the last story is a chilling comment on the danger of the western mind misunderstanding the thought processes of the east (certainlyly pertinent today) and all the short fiction has something to offer. this was strong work and is highly recommended.

Lovecraft wrote of "The House on the Borderland", ""Never has a book so hauntingly conveyed a sense of terrible loneliness and isolation" and called it a "classic of the first water". Hodgson himself saw it as being part of a "trilogy", along with "Glen Carrig" and "Ghost Pirates". He was probably too close to his own work to see that ALL of the later, better material, carried the same oppressive message: we are shielded from malign outer forces by the thinnest of barriers, that what we would like to think of as "reality" is a tissue-thin wall separating us from entities whose very existance and purpose lie far beyond our ability to understand, much less deal with.

"The House on the Borderland" is probably the most accessible of the four novels Hodgson wrote, especially since it eschews the "archaic" language device and sickly-sweet "love interest" that make "The Night Land" so difficult. It is a crisply-written narrative whose power still grips after repeated readings. "Canacki the Ghost Finder" is a more familar "occult detective", somewhat along the lines of Blackwood's "John Silence", but he reaches incredible heights of tension and sense of dread, especially in "The Gateway of the Monster" and "The Whistling Room".

The remaining eleven short stories vary in quality, but none of them is a "dud", and none of them has been available in anything other than obscure, expensive, and now out of print anthologies.

Beautifully presented in dark blue with brilliant silver stamping, this and its companion volumes don't just LOOK good, they're **fantastic** values. Absolutely my highest recommendation. Reading this, you'll see that "fantasy" and "horror" writers of today scribble in the shadows of giants.

I just received this book from Amazon and will be buying the other editions in this collection as my budget allows. I first read The House on the Borderland years ago and it is indeed a weird and memorable story, ranking up with Lovecraft's best work. This book includes a number of Hodgson's stories about a supernatural detective, and I can't wait to read them.

This edition is among the best of any horror and fantasy editions I've ever seen, with nice use of large and readable typefaces, a very sturdy binding, intriguingly strange artwork inside, and beautiful silver stamping on the cover. My wife has never read anything in this genre but when she saw my book she immediatley picked it up and was entranced by the wonderful craftsmanship in this edition. At just over twenty bucks, this is a terrific value and will not only look beautiful on your shelf but may keep you up all night!

I'd guess that if you are looking at this review you probably already know that William Hope Hodgson is one of the masters of 20th Century Fantasy Horror, and a huge influence on all who came after him in particular HP Lovecraft. Whether you know anything about Hodgson or not, this volume is a good place to start reading. It contains two of his masterworks 'House on the Borderland', with its truly brooding sense of cosmic despair, and the stories of Carnacki the occult detective. It also has quite a few other stories I have not seen before which while generally not of the same quality are definately worth reading.

The production values of the book are excellent, with decent size font, sewn binding and rather irrelevant but interesting illustrations. My only vague complaint is that the backing boards are of a plasticky nature and probably will not last as long as cloth, but this is a triviality.

I will definately be getting the others of the series as they come out, and will probably not bother hanging on my copy of the old Arkhan collection of novels. There is no better recommendation.

This odd, deeply atmospheric novel is undoubtedly the masterwork of the eccentric Edwardian English wrtier William Hope Hodgson. It presents the haunting story of an old recluse who lives in a weird borderland between ordinarly reality and unspeakable horror. The tale is presented through the experience of two friends who discover an old manuscript in the ruin of a mansion while camping in rural Ireland. The papers describe the strange visions and terrifying experiences of the recluse who, together with his elderly sister, was the house's last living inhabitant. The story is powerfully evocative of the different kinds of evil that can befall a human mind. It should appeal to anyone who likes Lovecraft or Poe, but goes far beyond the limits of the horror genre in its imaginative power and artistry.

I'll keep this brief. The stories in this book are terrific.
Some creepy, some scary but all are just extraordinarily well written stories. It truly is a shame this book is out of print. Fans of horror, sci-fi and just plain well written short stories will eat this up. Someone re-print this !!!

I do from time to time cull my collection of books I've already read. I will usually carry them to my local used book store (or send them to my brother who has his own store, A Latte Books and Music, in Hobart, Indiana) so as to help out the folks who provide me with so much reading material.

There are, however, some books that simply cannot be traded away. "The Howling Man" is one of them, and it was a lucky find for me at just such a used book store. Author Charles Beaumont's legacy is usually that of his "Twilight Zone" scripts or his screenplays for Roger Corman, but that just doesn't do the man justice. This book contains a goodly heping of his short stories, some of which were adapted into TZ scripts, and a portion of the original manuscript for "The Intruder", which is quite possibly the best movie you've never seen. Read this book and gain an appreciation for a talent that was taken from us WAY too soon.

It is a crying shame that TOR or some far-sighted indy publisher hasn't seen fit to reprint this work and perhaps collect all of Beaumont's published works in one collection. Till then, hold on to your copy of THM for dear life. I certainly will.

I bit the bullet and bought this Beaumont collection and I'm glad I did. Some publishing company needs to reprint this material so that the masses can experience Beaumont. He is largely forgotten except by those who have seen the Twilight Zones that he wrote or the handful of movie scripts that he did.

The Howling Man and other stories in this collection are outstanding. Beaumont is a great talent of the writing craft and writers like King and Straub stand on his shoulders. He's the most gifted and least recognized writers I've had the pleasure of reading.

Charles Beaumont was a visionary unappreciated in his time and unlikely to be appreciated since his passing. His mastery of short fiction characterization and plot is unparalled by Stephen King and is only approached by the Short Fiction in Orson Scott Card's Unaccompanied Sonata.

Wow, this series is awesome. The Hunt is the second book of the series Year of the Cats. This series is very hard to find. If anyone who read L.J. Smith's books, will like this series too. Because it is kind of like that. This series contain horror, adventures, and romance. 5 Stars and 2 thumbs up!

I first found the Year of the Cat trilogy seven years ago at the local library. I loved the book when I first read it. I reccomend this book to anyone interested in the supernatural and mystery.

I think this story is da bomb!@!!!It's the perfect book bacause it's about panthers(whom I love)and its not THAT scary!!!

Like a good scare in the middle of the night?(Make sure it is on a school night too)! The Hunt is the perfect book for some-one who likes that little bit unpridictableness of what happens with the nature of the characters. For example: Character one.Alex Sarandon. Original nature:Charming , sweet , romantic. Secondary nature:Evil , unpridictible , dangerous.

See?Bye!

This report was written by Mischief.

I started this series when I was 13 and 1/2 and I fell in love with it . Though I will add the 3rd book gets a little confusing . ( It also took me 2 years to find it ) I ended up finding it at the local libariy in Indiana ( I`am from CA.)Anyway the second book is the most importent in this 3 book series . This is where everything changes and true agendas are showen . Well most of them . It shows who Alex truly is. A cold , unremorseful , savage , self centered maniac. Who relishes using the gift for evil. Yet , you also see a different side of Holly. A young women with a gift of evil and fights it to protect the ones she loves. This book is such a dramtic turnig point in the series . It`s a must read and forgive me if I don`t make it sound like a great book . It is , there `s just so much you`ll find it`s hard to put in words.

This is a very heart-wrenching book, and will really open your mind to the pain and suffering felt by so many veterans. Even now, our sevicemen are returning from war, never to be the same again, to understand what they are going through read " IMAGES FROM HELL".

This book of poetry is really an eye opener of a vietnam combat veteran suffering from P.T.S.D. The poems are extremely vivid and allows people to see what a lot of war veterans are facing.
A very poignant story of the authors life after vietnam. Anyone who knows any war veteran needs this book. It will help all to understand what a lot of returning war veterans are going through.

Written by a Vietnam veteran who has coped with post-traumatic stress disorder for years, Images from Hell is as much a story told in verse as it is a work of poetry. The stark, brief lines tell of his suffering, forced into the crucible war as a naive young man, and the long, dark journey afterwards toward hope, love and redemption. A severe and intensely personal narrative, weighted heavily with nightmare experiences, yet ultimately transformative and life- affirming. "Duration": In these closed dark spaces of my mind / I feel the deepening horror, / Digging blood dripping pitchforks / Torture me throughout my whole, / Empty blackened walls they now surround me / Reaching hopelessly for a single blood soaked door, // In this dreadful while of time / I'll now spend with the devil in my soul / Never ending hell is all that's left for me / Nothing left of the world I knew / From now I'll never see.

Written by a Vietnam veteran who has coped with post-traumatic stress disorder for years, Images from Hell is as much a story told in verse as it is a work of poetry. The stark, brief lines tell of his suffering, forced into the crucible war as a naive young man, and the long, dark journey afterwards toward hope, love and redemption. A severe and intensely personal narrative, weighted heavily with nightmare experiences, yet ultimately transformative and life- affirming. "Duration": In these closed dark spaces of my mind / I feel the deepening horror, / Digging blood dripping pitchforks / Torture me throughout my whole, / Empty blackened walls they now surround me / Reaching hopelessly for a single blood soaked door, // In this dreadful while of time / I'll now spend with the devil in my soul / Never ending hell is all that's left for me / Nothing left of the world I knew / From now I'll never see.

Those who have never been in combat can only imagine the horror of it. But the imagination can just take us so far. What this book by Frank Riker does is take us into the soul of a soldier who has been through the hell that we call war. All the negative emotions of confusion, loneliness, guilt, and fear, that a man facing death and dealing out death in the killing fields of Vietnam, are brought to life in this book. Gut-wrenching emotions that are coupled with the physical pain of being wounded in battle tear at both his soul and body.

"Images From Hell" is written by a man who has indeed been in hell. And as we have read elsewhere, those who have seen and experienced hell cannot easily shake it. It remains with them. Frank's journey is not over, but his P.T.S.D has been ameliorated by another emotion that can conquer all others -- the love that he found in a woman.

Frank Riker's journey into hell and back is told here with the honesty of a saint.

This book should be read by anyone who wants to understand what war can do to the soul of a man.

Do you remember the first time you read Clive Barker's Books of Blood? All that hype, and after reading the stories, it stood up to the hype and then some! Laird Barron's phenomenal collection, The Imago Sequence, hit me a lot like Barker's stories initially hit me: the tales are unfamiliar and the situations are not resolved in expected ways; and much like Barker, I'm often left with a questioning, "Did he just do that?" and "What the hell did he just do?" or "Where did THAT come from?" The major difference is that Barron's foundation is more in the tradition of weird fiction. Of course, he's decided to pour gasoline on the genre, light a match, watch it burn, and mold something new and distinctly Barronesque out of the ashes. (If there's Lovecraftian--a cruel, pitch black ambience that Lovecraft would have devoured lingers in these pages--then there will most definitely be a description of like-minded fiction in the near future as Barronesque.) A sense of escalating dread is present throughout, as well as a distinctly hallucinogenic quality that really focuses the no holds barred, free falling, fearless imagination at play here. Repeated readings bring out different colors (though all tinted black) and devious rewards. This is as good as it gets, folks. I, as a fellow writer, pick my jaw up off the keyboard and read these stories (again) in awe.

Recommended? Nah, this is mandatory!

PS. Also check out his story, "The Forest," in the excellent Inferno anthology, an astonishing piece of fiction that confirms everything The Imago Sequence promises ... and then some! (Where it ends up will blow your mind!)

JCS

Since becoming engrossed in the works of Thomas Ligotti I've been seeking out weird horror stories. These are pretty much all I read right now. I found the works of Quentin Crisp and Mark Samuels, both kind of difficult to obtain due to the limited edition releases of their works through more obscure presses. These men possessed a slow - ponderous power in their works, quite distinctive in their own way but very tied in to the vibe that Ligotti possessed.

So after scanning Amazon I came across this collection of stories. Intrigued, I bought it and as soon as I got it read the whole thing, which is unusual for me as I usually put a book down after a few stories to give some freshness to the ones that remain.

Barron is like if Mickey Spillane wrote eldrich horror tales. Every one of his stories has a very distinct voice and even the ones that aren't in the first person are written very stylishly. This is definitely not Ligotti, but rather a very distinct and different take on horror fiction. It's tough to write stories that evoke the spirit of mind-paralyzing overwhelming horror that Lovecraft evoked without sounding derivative. I don't remember a single reference to any of the pantheon of Lovecraft beings, yet through many of the stories I felt that kinship Barron must have with Lovecraft. Many amazing and overwhelming horrors await our hapless heroes as they inch towards a fate that seems destined from the start.

He's also really good at evoking the feel and the environment of the State of Washington. Curiously enough, I was reading this book as I visited some relatives in Washington, seeing the state for the first time, and I could see and feel a lot of the locations that Barron writes about.

I highly recommend this collection and I am looking forward with great anticipation the next book from Barron.

Not since Tom Piccirilli's A Choir of Ill Children have I read a work which so utterly transcends the written page. The images Laird Barron creates are both fearsome and stunning- they will stay with you long after you've completed this astoundingly good anthology.

As others have commented, there is some small debt to HPL here but Barron takes the concept of cosmic horror and births it anew. The horror here is both mind numbing in its scope and devestatingly personal.

A truly amazing collection. I await Laird's first novel with impatient anticipation.

Simply put, Laird's first collection is a must have, and one of the best collections of horror fiction put out this decade. Tons of style and attention to narrative detail, that frankly, makes the writer-me feel lazy in comparison. These stories are so well written, you could set your watch to them.

The images are horrifying and shocking in their otherness, and beauty. Laird often writes about otherness, but it's always the damaged and real characters who flounder and search for flawed bits of redemption who discover (or are culpable for) the otherness, the truly dying world. Cosmic horror abounds, and it achieves tangible fear and disquiet by the painstakingly built atmosphere, the sheer weight Laird brings to every story, and by the marvelously real zealots, who are your neighbors, who are complicit in the whole bloody mess.

Not a clunker in the bunch. Not even close. Favorites include BULLDOZER, a Pinkerton man blazing his own ruinous path toward a mysterious murderer; HALLUCIGENIA, a tycoon and young wife stumble upon a strange, deserted barn, and images and scenes throughout this story are simply stunning; and the novella new to the collection PROCESSION OF THE BLACK SLOTH, which is a big, bubbling stew of horror references, satire, tough-talking guys and dolls, and horror galore--so much creepy fun.

Can't recommend this book enough. If you don't buy it, you're a dope.

In the age-old tradition of masterful story telling guaranteed to make your skin crawl, author Laird Barron offers us _The Imago Sequence and Other Stories_, ten heart numbing tales of terror that will leave you glancing furtively in the mirror, ever fearful something altogether unwholesome will glance back in recognition.

_The Imago Sequence and Other Stories_ comes to us courtesy of Night Shade Books, an independent book publisher with an impressive reputation for publishing outstanding authors. And should you acquire the limited hardcover edition of _The Imago Sequence and Other Stories_, signed by the author himself, you will have in your hands the edition that includes "Hour of the Cyclops", an energetic tribute to H. P. Lovecraft which first appeared in the online e-zine, _The Three-Lobed Burning Eye_. You will not want to miss this one.

Appearing in both editions for the first time is the novella "Procession of the Black Sloth", an original tale Mr. Barron penned exclusively for the collection, in homage to Asian horror. I had to read this novella several times over because it had me running hither and yon in my head trying to identify the numerous allusions embedded therein, which included big and little screen classics; classic tales of horror; literary and genre novels; authors; music, so on and so forth. The novella is a veritable puzzle, deftly crafted, at once horrifying and irreverently entertaining. Even Santa Claus takes a hit in this lurid tale of skewed reality, where the game played in Hong Kong is the game of retribution. And should you find yourself unfamiliar with some of the allusions, you will nonetheless enjoy this dark and oft-times grisly tale, in which the author pulls out all the stops, not pausing once to spare the reader nightmares. If you enjoy conundrums, you will enjoy reading "Procession of the Black Sloth".

I love all the tales in _The Imago Sequence and Other Stories_, but my favorite is "Hallucigenia", a novella as layered as the earth is ancient, offering to the reader an indirect and eerie glimpse at the Cambrian Period as it spills forth into present time, utterly annihilating everything in its path. Laird Barron performs here a deft and spine-tingling integration of H. P. Lovecraft's chthonic and inimical Old Ones with the contemporary science of paleontology -- the allusions are subtle, however, and require a discerning eye.

I first read "Hallucigenia" in the June 2006 Issue of _The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction_, and instantly recognized an award winning tale. In May of last year I wrote as much in a review I did on F&SF at Amazon, mentioning Laird Barron's outstanding novella. I've read the story three times since, and with each reading I experience something new, noteworthy, and ultimately chilling to the bone. "Hallucigenia" is a remarkable piece of writing, and will be recorded in literary history as a true classic among all the other great tales penned by master story-tellers past, present, and future.

"Hallucigenia" has been nominated for the IHG Award in the long fiction category, and should, in my opinion, take the award. The story was also nominated for a HWA Stoker Award.

It is no exaggeration to say Laird Barron has indeed joined ranks with the reigning masters of eldritch horror. His award-nominated work has appeared and continues to appear in several of the "Best of ..." anthologies -- though what a pleasure it is to read his tales in this single, elegantly bound volume.

_The Imago Sequence and Other Stories_ table of contents:

Proboscis (8500 words): "Alien horrors pursue a failed actor during a nightmarish road trip with a pair of amateur bounty hunters..." F&SF 2005; reprinted in YBF&H 19; Best New Horror 2005; and Best New Fantasy 2005. Nominated for International Horror Guild Award.

Bulldozer (10,600 words): "Jaded Pinkerton detective Jonah Koenig tracks a serial killer from Boston to an 1890s California mining town and encounters malevolence that dwarfs his grimmest imaginings..." SciFiction 2004; nominated for IHG award; reprinted in YBF&H 18 and a forthcoming Czech anthology.

The Imago Sequence (20,000 words): "One tough guy investigator explores the origin of a series of macabre photographs and discovers secrets not meant for the eyes of Man..." F&SF 2005; reprinted in Hartwell & Cramer's Year's Best Fantasy 6; nominated for International Horror Guild Award; Nominated for World Fantasy Award.

The Royal Zoo Is Closed (4500 words): "A vignette about life, angst and the end of the world..." Phantom # 0 World Fantasy Convention 2006.

Old Virginia (8000 words): "A domestic CIA operation to conduct psychological experiments on an elderly woman goes terribly awry and one man will encounter the very incarnation of evil..." F&SF 2003; reprinted in YBF&H 17; nominated for IHG award.

Parallax (9800 words): "Life unravels for a flamboyant modern artist following the mysterious disappearance of his wife..." SciFiction 2005.

Hallucigenia (25000 words): "Cosmic terrors descend upon a hapless tycoon after a tragic accident..." F&SF 2006; Reprinted in Polish magazine Fantastyka (10/2006); nominated for the HWA Bram Stoker Award; nominated for the IHG Award.

Shiva, Open Your Eye (5800 words): "A creature as old as the stars contemplates its origins and its destiny..." F&SF September 2001.

Hour of the Cyclops (4500 words): "A humble hero saves mankind from chthonic destruction in this retro-pulp tribute to H. P. Lovecraft..." The Three-Lobed Burning Eye #6 2000.

Procession of the Black Sloth (24,000 words):
"A lurid tale of skewed reality, where the game played in Hong Kong is the game of retribution..." A tribute to Asian horror; original to the collection.


Reading Laird Barron's work is comparable to watching a star nebula being born.

Highly recommended.