Monday, September 21, 2009

Creepy Reads. Take two...or three. I forget.

Its been a while since I've slung out some book recommendations so here are a few!



Gill's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

A short read but insanely hilarious. A story about a redneck vampire, a truck driving werewolf, a ghost and her ghost dog, a large kick ass woman, and many almost Lovcraftian twists and turns. Plus it shows you the true meaning of the Magic 8-Ball and why girls named Tammy are evil. Freakin' HILARIOUS! What I enjoyed most about Martinez's work is how cinematic he writes. Its very easy to visualize everything he puts out on the page. Its a very quick read and really fun.


Monster also by A. Lee Martinez

While I didn't find it quite as funny as Gill's All Fright Diner, its still pretty dang fun. Monster is the story about a guy named Monster who's job it is to collect supernatural creatures, sorta like a dog catcher in Hell. This of course leads him to meet up with Judy, a supermarket clerk and Slacker. And this leads to an almost end of the world plot involving ancient Gods and a crazy cat lady. Gill's was funner but I felt Monster had a more interesting story, really rich characters, and a fantastic world created for it. And I know I'm going to enjoy a book when it opens up with a Yeti eating everything in the Supermarket frozen foods section.

Heart Shaped Box - By Joe Hill

Now for a COMPLETELY different pace. Stac recommended this one to me and to be honest I was pretty skeptical after reading the summary. The story revolves around an aging rocker named Jude who buys a haunted suit off of Ebay. But I assure you there is SO much more than that to the story. I would say more but it would give a lot of the surprises away. Hill creates a wonderful complex character in Jude and as the story progresses you learn about him, his past and his sins. The book is haunting and bleak but with a surprisingly optimistic message. It also goes in directions that are completely unexpected. A great page turner, and one of the creepiest and frightening ghost stories I've ever read. Books don't usually scare me. Heart Shaped Box did.


Zombie CSU - By Johnathan Maberry

Johnathan Maberry is slowly becoming a favorite of mine. First with Patient Zero (which I finished and it was AWESOME!) and now with Zombie CSU which was one of the most enjoyable "nonfiction" books I've ever read. Yeah, I did say nonfiction. Let me explain. Maberry interviews experts in Forensics, Medicine, Police, Military and more to discuss how these professionals would really act in a zombie uprising. He writes each chapter like a police case file and gives some wonderful insight that we don't get from the movies. Maberry is obviously a lover of the zombie genre and his love shows through in this book. And being a zombie genre lover myself I hung on every word. Its a really unique book, well researched, and has some great supplements such as zombie quizzes, movie recommendations, and interviews with zombie authors and artists. My favorite chapter of course was on zombie pop culture. If you like the zombie genre, this is a must read.


And that's all for now! More to come when I'm able to unpack my books again!

7 comments:

Stac said...

I so wanna red Monster and Zombie CSI; I've got both on the whishlist o' doom.

I love Gil's; I love the Pig Latin is the tongue of evil, and I loved Loretta busting out that gun and wasting those zombies. But most of all I loved the phrase "If planets could make out, Earl supposed that was about what it would look like."

Heart Shapes Box is so interesting because it's horror, obviously, but I really feel like that book's soul is poetry.

Nojh said...

So which comes first? Patient Zero or Zombie CSU? I have both but I'm not sure which to read first!

And the first two books sound great but the third one sounds really awesome. I just wish I didn't have so many books on my shelf that I want to read!!

Cins said...

Stac>>Read Monster! You'll love it!
And thanks for recomending Heart Shaped Box. One of the best books I've read in a while.

Nojh>>It really doesn't matter since the two books aren't really related other than both are about zombies. I read Patient Zero first. But honestly, it doesn't matter.
Heart Shaped Box is an incredible book. You'd like it!

Anonymous said...

I LOVED Gil's!

I want to read Monster, but have so many other books to get through first before I feel right about getting to it.

Nojh said...

Ooh! ooh! Creepy Kitch should have a field trip! Well Cins could anyway.

http://games.ign.com/articles/102/1027481p1.html

An entire maze based off of Silent Hill in LA for a limited time. This thing could be even cooler than The Haunted Mansion! One of you should go and then tell me all about it so I can live through it vicariously.

Cins said...

Chris>>I HIGHLY recommend Monster when you can get to it. Its extremely clever.!

Nohj>>OMG....I WANT TO GO THERE!!!!

Nojh said...

Cins>> I DEMAND you go there, and take tons of pictures, and video, and audio recordings (make sure to take a radio!! and a flash flight! And a random butch lesbian!) and report EVERYTHING!

This is your mission, should you choose to accept it.