Prince of Nightmares, by John McNee

Review:

Full disclosure: I do not know the author of this book, but I do greatly admire his collection Grudge Punk, and when he approached me with a review copy of this novel, I couldn't turn it down.

First off, Grudge Punk is one of my favorite books. Did I like Prince of Nightmares as much? Frankly, no. And I'm not quite sure they are comparable entities. One's a collection of intertwining stories set in a shared hard-boiled universe populated with rough characters made of metal, flesh, and plastic bits. The other is a novel which brings to mind the dark and icky kind of '70s psychological horror films in which you'd find a rather worn-down and unsavory Donald Sutherland. That type of film but directed by Ken Russell after he'd peered into the future to view Clive Barker's Hellraiser.

To me, Grudge Punk is a unique and exciting thing, whereas Prince of Nightmares isn't quite as fresh. Sometimes it even seems to be an homage (not in itself a bad thing at all). Don't get me wrong, Prince of Nightmares isn't a bad novel by any stretch. I'm just taking the long way around in saying that, to me, it suffered by comparison to his earlier work that I enjoyed so much. Also, I must admit that crazy shit like Grudge Punk is more my bag anyway. I can easily see differently wired individuals preferring this work over the other.

Some things that didn't bother me but I know will bother some readers:

1. Lack of sympathetic characters. 2. Dreams/nightmares are a huge part of the premise, so you're going to run into the 'is this or is this not a dream?' scenario at some point in the narrative. That's a given. If that bothers you, stay away.

What I would have liked more of:

Honestly, I'd love to read a prequel to this book. The backstory at times was more interesting to me than what was going on in the present.

Elements I really enjoyed:

1. The main character is a man in his eighties. 2. The imagery in this book is visceral and fantastic.

John McNee is an author to watch, and I'll be buying his next book on day one.

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1304532/prince-of-nightmares-by-john-mcnee

My Top 11 Reads from the Past 12 Months

Of all the books I've read in the past twelve months, these are my favorites.

Note: Only a couple of these books were published in 2015 (or in December, 2014).

 

11. Cipher, by Kathe Koja

 

 

10. We Are All Completely Fine, by Daryl Gregory

 

 

9. Kiss Me, Judas, Will Christopher Baer

 

8. Windeye, by Brian Evenson

 

 

7. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, by Haruki Murakami

 

6. Black Hat Jack, by Joe R. Lansdale

 

5. Bleeding Shadows, by Joe R. Lansdale

 

4. Cruelty, by Edward Lorn (I feel compelled to disclose that I know the author of this one, but in no way do I feel the need to apologize for this book's inclusion on this list. It deserves to be here as much as any other.)

 

3. It, by Stephen King

 

2. Bubba Ho-Tep, by Joe R. Lansdale

 

1. Summer House with Swimming Pool, Herman Koch

 

 

 

 

 

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1300381/my-top-11-reads-from-the-past-12-months

Happy Halloween!

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1280019/happy-halloween

Halloween Outfits & Xenophiles

I wrote an autobiographical piece on Halloweens past for THe GaL iN THe BLue MaSK's 31 DAYS OF HORROR feature. It's somewhat notable because it's the only place online where you'll find a photograph of my ugly mug.

 

You can read it here.

 

Source: the-gal-in-the-blue-mask.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-gals-31-days-of-horror-gregor-xane.html

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1276296/halloween-outfits-xenophiles

Creation

Here's another Jeffrey Ford story in audio format. This one's a short story entitled "Creation."

 

Give it a listen, if you please. (Story starts at around the 00:34:30 mark.)

 

• Hugo Nomination for Best Short Story 2003.
• Nebula Nomination for Best Short Story 2002.
• World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story 2003.
• Featured in Datlow et al.’s ‘Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror’, Sixteenth Edition.

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1274852/creation

The Empire of Ice Cream

Sadly, none of my favorite author's short story collections are available in audio book format. I had the idea recently to revisit all of Jeffrey Ford's short works through audio to see what I could learn from a modern master of the form, but I quickly found that my educational plan could not be enacted in full. Luckily, a number of his stories were recorded for various podcasts and are available for free in disparate locales across the internet. 

 

The Empire of Ice Cream is one such story. And I highly recommend you give it a listen. Genre-wise, it falls somewhere between science fiction and fantasy set in the modern world.

 

You can find it here. (The story begins at approximately 00:09:30)

 

 

• Hugo Nomination for Best Novelette 2004.
• Nebula for Best Novelette 2003.
• World Fantasy Award Nomination for Best Novella 2004

 

 

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1274564/the-empire-of-ice-cream

Kill Your Thirst for Halloween Horror!

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

Here there be puppets!

It's 2 Day! The Kindle edition of Bad Apples 2: Six Slices of Halloween Horror is now available (the paperback edition is right around the corner). Reach out and grab it, if you're so inclined.

 

This anthology contains my new novella Doctor Proclivity & Professor Propensity. And, yes, as advertised, there are scads and gobs and oodles of puppets therein. 

 

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

 

The minds behind the bestselling BAD APPLES: FIVE SLICES OF HALLOWEEN HORROR return this October with another batch of frightful fare. This time, they brought along a friend - Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke!

Dive into the season with these six Halloween treats:

• Two boys enter a Halloween attraction that holds a devilish secret - but one of the boys has a surprise of his own in Edward Lorn's HALLOWEEKEND.

• Halloween was his birthday, and all poor Bob Talley wanted was for his family to be together again. This year, his wish might come true amid whispers of CANDIE APPLE, from Evans Light.

• A deserter seeks to escape the horrors of war and pave a new existence in a foreign land in Jason Parent's DIA DE LOS MUERTOS.

• Does something putrid truly reside in a small town’s pumpkin patch, or is it only a local legend? Find out in Adam Light's TOMMY ROTTEN.

• An old man and his dog await Halloween visitors with candy and a shotgun in Kealan Patrick Burke's THE ONE NIGHT OF THE YEAR.

• Jimmy Stones and his Uncle Shel uncover the dark secrets of Medium, Ohio's annual Halloween puppet show in Gregor Xane's DOCTOR PROCLIVITY & PROFESSOR PROPENSITY.

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1264667/here-there-be-puppets

Little Saint Sidewise

Source: www.classyhalloween.com/collections/617401-pumpkins

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1264248/little-saint-sidewise

Goody, goody!

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1263195/goody-goody

Get yourself a little something to kick off the month of Halloween

To celebrate the imminent release of Bad Apples 2: Six Slices of Halloween Horror, the man at the helm of Corpus Press (Evans Light) is offering the original Bad Apples for just 99¢.

 

I believe this promotion is only going on for a couple of days, so if you're at all interested, you may want to grab it while the grabbing's good.

 

 

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK (£0.99) | Amazon AU

 

Original post: GregorXane.booklikes.com/post/1262581/get-yourself-a-little-something-to-kick-off-the-month-of-halloween