-Borderlands 2-5: Thomas Monteleone’s 90s anthology series of cutting edge horror/“dark fiction”

-Demon Copperhead: Barbara Kingsolver’s retelling of David Copperfield in modern Appalachia. Started off great but gets way too shitlib

-The Essential Ellison: 1200 page behemoth of Harlan Ellison at his best and worst; dipping in and out of it

-The Orchard: Charles L Grant “quiet horror” novel of four loosely linked novellas

-The Brains of Rats: Michael Blumlein collection of sf/fantasy/horror with a medical and Ballardian bent

-They Thirst: 180 Robert R McCammon vampire epic about bloodsuckers taking over LA

-4 or 5 different volumes in the 1990s erotic horror series “Hot Blood”

Currently reading the Ellison, a trashy little known horror novel from 1993 about killer kids on Halloween night called Pranks, and some of the stuff in the Complete Short Stories of JG Ballard. Have a horror obscurity en route from eBay about a disease that makes all the women try to kill the men (like Ladies’ Night by Ketchum but, I’m sure, not as good)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46011073)

I need to read more non genre lit

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46011704)

My current favorite might be Along the Scenic Route which is a proto cyberpunk story about legalized automobile duels

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46012177)

Last night I was in the mood for pure pulp but sometimes I’m in the mood for something more intellectual

And the Ellison and Ballard collections are each 1200 pages; I’m not gonna read that in one sitting

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46012184)

Since this was last poasted, I've read to completion:

-Off Season by Jack Ketchum (unexpurgated version): Lives up to the hype as one of the most authentically visceral and extreme horror novels ever. A tour de force of cannibalism.

-Splatterpunks II: Just got this in today and read most of it. Pretty much the last gasp of the 'splatterpunk' movement as such, and a good demarcation point (1994) for my tastes in 'new horror'. Better collection than the first one.

-The Orchard by Charles L. Grant: Loosely connected 'novel' of several linked horror novellas; Grant has style and class to burn but he rarely sticks the landing.

-Pranks by Dennis J. Higman: Should have been a sleazy killer kids classic, but it's just a very predictable Law & Order or Criminal Minds episode, albeit with a lot of sick shit.

-Blood Fever by Shelley Hyde (pseud. of Kit Reed): Very disappointing 'women go crazy and kill men' potboiler that has a strong opening but doesn't deliver on the exploitation. Isn't sure whether it's pro or anti-feminist and gets muddled as a result.

-The Nursery by William Johnstone: Insane, depraved right-wing reactionary Satanic panic novel with huge amounts of gore, rape, and bad dialogue.

And have read some of:

-The Earth Strikes Back by Richard Chizmar (ed): An eco-horror anthology published by White Wolf (the Vampire: The Masquerade guys)--that's as 90s 'new horror' as it gets. Unfortunately most of the stories so far aren't all that good.

-Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison: I picked this one up since it had the least overlap in stories with The Essential Ellison, and because Stephen King speaks of it so highly in Danse Macabre. But it's just not that great; a lot of these stories are basically just Twilight Zone style fantastic morality plays, but with HE's 'attitude' layered on.

Non-Genre:

Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens: Wanted to read some Dickens but don't have the time to read a whole doorstopper by him so this sampler platter of his early sketches and vignettes does the trick.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46305185)

Went on a bit of a spree while traveling this weekend:

Jack Ketchum--Peaceable Kingdom: One of my many horror hot takes is that Ketchum was the most truly MORAL horror author of the late 80s/early 00s period, and the short stories in this collection bear it out. Total masterpiece city.

Mort Castle--New Moon on the Water: Really good horror collection; sometimes a little too meta but Castle is like a nicer, less acerbic Harlan Ellison (and even more Jewish)

Jack Ketchum--The Lost: Reading it now--very gnarly, like Ketchum writing Laymon's The Lake.

The Best of Cemetery Dance Volume II: Just arrived yesterday--remaindered copy from Kansas City library system, otherwise no way I would drop high secondary market prices on it. So far it's a pretty strong horror collection

Have also been reading around various issues of horror magazines from the late 80s/early 90s publishing boom--Twilight Zone Magazine, Iniqiuities, Night Cry, Midnight Graffiti.

Started to read, but quickly abandoned:

Bryan Smith--Dead End House. Modern day fake splatterpunk that wishes it could be Richard Laymon but it just isn't

Edward Lee--Going Monstering: One of Lee's more notorious books--I went thru a big Lee phase after I graduated college, and he has a gleeful zest to his hardcore horror that most don't--but after reading the other stuff I was I didn't want to bother with glib splat

Sunny Pines--Glen Kirsh (sic?) et al: One of those Cemetery Dance round robin chapbooks--but didn't do jack for me

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46376558)

He does that a lot and it's a lot of fun

Any non-genre fiction recs for me? I need to diversify beyond horror 24/7

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46376596)

make sure to skip the faggot forward "the importance of being bachmann" which spoils the ending of the book

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46376608)

My favorite is "The Numbers Game" in Hot Blood: Deadly After Dark. I looked for a scan but can't find it. It's a fun, tongue-in-cheek technothriller that reminds me a lot of Scanners; the premise is a group of mathematicians at the NSA discover a string of numbers that cause extreme and violent sexual arousal in who or whatever views them.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46378255)

I also have a copy of the Aeneid that's been sitting on my bookshelf silently judging me as I read trash horror; I should crack that open too.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46378754)

While I wait for that to arrive I'm reading The Parasite by Campbell, which I've been curious about ever since I learned about Campbell in Danse Macabre 20 years ago.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46400558)

Right now am reading Jack Ketchum's The Lost, which is very much a Boner Police biography (charismatic adolescent New England sociopath who murders a couple of lesbians and gets away with it)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46521681)

Yesterday I started Into the Fire by Richard Laymon; no real clue what to expect but it's suitably depraved so far.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46564747)

-The Essential Ellison

-Harlan Ellison’s Watching

-Strange Wine

-Over the Edge

-Paingod and Other Delusions

-Stalking the Nightmare

-From the Land of Fear

-Dangerous Visions

Also reading Gormenghast trilogy; on the second novel but going slow

Also read Outsiders: 22 stories from the edge, which is a somewhat dated horror anthology from 2005

Currently reading the first volume of John Burke-edited midcentury horror anthologies, Tales of Unease, which is excellent

And also just poaching short stories here and there from various collections I have lying around or from online

Also read two books on adult ADHD in the relationship context lol

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5300917&forum_id=2#46863136)