Horrortober Reading List
Yes Hellions, it’s that time of year again. Horrotober is fast approaching and it’s time to pull out all of the books and movies I plan to devour like a hungry Critter. What’s on your list?
DECAYED by JASON BRANT
I’m going to start Horrortober right by reading my buddy Jason Brant’s latest, Decayed. It’s book 5 of what I kiddingly call his Hunger trilogy. If you like witty, sarcastic banter, action and gore, and post-apocalyptic terror, you’ll love every book in The Hunger series. Can’t wait to see what he cooked up for this one.
AIN’T WORTH A SHIT by JACK BANTRY & ROBERT ESSIG
These authors are new to me but I couldn’t resist a book with a title and cover like this. Seems there’s some weird stuff going on under the streets of London. Poor Issy and Matt are about to find out just what. Bring on the mole people!
BLACK MAD WHEEL by JOSH MALERMAN
Look, Josh Malerman is one of the best horror writers around. I loved Bird Box and Unbury Carol and can’t wait to sink my teeth into this one. A rock group is tasked by the government to find the source of a mysterious sound that is very much a weapon. Josh is a musician, too (his band did the theme song for Shameless), so I know this is going to be black mad intriguing.
ZOMBIE BIGFOOT by NICK SULLIVAN
Did you think I wasn’t going to read a cryptid book during Horrortober? Not a chance. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Nick, an established audiobook narrator with a penchant for all things squatchy. We are long overdue for some undead Bigfoot. So excited to read this.
I also have my October issue of Rue Morgue magazine sitting on my bedside table, waiting for the calendar page to flip. For my hard earned dough, this is the tops of all the current horror mags, especially because they review books!
There are so many other books I want to read, but alas, there’s just so much time in the day. Any suggestions on what I should read if I get through these early?
The Last Word in Horror – Birth of THE FINAL GUYS Podcast
In an effort to spread the love of horror far and wide, I’ve teamed up with my Monster Men brother, Jack Campisi, and author Jason Brant to start a brand new podcast called THE FINAL GUYS. This time around, it’s an audio podcast with a live feed on YouTube every Tuesday night at 7pm EST. We kicked things off last week with a review of Alien : Covenant.
THE LAST WORD ON HORROR!
Each week, we’ll talk about the movies we’ve watched in our lairs and books we’ve read, all the latest horror news and devote the second half of the show to reviewing the newest offering in terror and suspense.
Now, I know there are a lot of horror podcasts out there, so my question is : what do you want in a horror podcast that you’re not getting elsewhere? We’re doing this for you, the fans, so your input is invaluable. Send us suggestions and we’ll give you a shout out and perhaps some special prize packs.
Give THE FINAL GUYS a listen and join in the fun. Here’s where you can find us. We’re everywhere, kinda like a plague :
FB – facebook.com/FINALGUYS
TWITTER – @FINALGUYS
EMAIL – finalguyspodcast@gmail.com
YouTube Channel (click to view and subscribe)
Top 10 Horror Reads of 2015
Howdy there, Hunter’s Hellions! I figured I had to call you all something. I think Hellions fits.
Looking back, I managed to read over 80 books last year. Any time I can get in over 75 books, I’m happy. I’m envious of folks who can speed read books yet still retain everything. I’m no tortoise, but I’m no hare, either.
Coming up with a top 10 horror books list was no easy task because I read so many damn good books. I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting a clunker from a mile off, so if I sit down to read a book, it’s usually good.
Now, some of these books didn’t come out in 2015. All that matters is that I read them in 2015. I’m hoping this can help you discover some titles you might have missed over the past couple of years. So, without further ado, here are my 10 favorite horror reads of last year (in no particular order, because I was fracturing my brain trying to do it), plus some honorable mentions…
10. THE HAUNTED by Bentley Little
Little has always been one of my favorite authors. He takes all of the everyday insanity we’ve surrounded ourselves with in America and injects it with pure evil. The Haunted is one of the best he’s written in years.
The Perry family’s new house is perfect-except for the weird behavior of the neighbors, and that odd smell coming from a dark corner in the basement. Pity no one warned the family about the house. Now it’s too late. Because the darkness at the bottom of the basement stairs is rising.
9. VIDEO NIGHT by Adam Cesare
Oh man, this book reminded me of all the great horror flicks of the 80s. Adam is one of the best new writers out there, and Video Night is a great place to start!
Who knows more about fighting a monster invasion than a group of teenage horror fans?
Billy Rile is smart, adept at Nintendo and has a killer Hi-Fi setup. Life is good. But he has no idea that an alien life form has infected his town, a creature that overtakes and transforms its host.
8. DARKNESS RISING by Brian Moreland
Hands down the best novella of 2015. Brian Moreland always kicks ass…and I mean always. This is now my favorite of his books. Tender yet terrifying.
t’s all fun and games until…Marty Weaver, an emotionally scarred poet, has been bullied his entire life. When he drives out to the lake to tell an old friend that he’s fallen in love with a girl named Jennifer, Marty encounters three sadistic killers who have some twisted games in store for him. But Marty has dark secrets of his own buried deep inside him.
7. LITTLE GIRLS by Ron Malfi
This is classic horror in the vein of Peter Straub and Stephen King at their best. This is sure to go down as a classic. I know it’s one I’ll read again and again. I was extra proud to be his Kensington Publishing brother in 2015.
When Laurie was a little girl, she was forbidden to enter the room at the top of the stairs. It was one of many rules imposed by her cold, distant father. Now, in a final act of desperation, her father has exorcised his demons. But when Laurie returns to claim the estate with her husband and ten-year-old daughter, it’s as if the past refuses to die.
6. THE BORDER by Robert McCammon
The master returns to the genre that he defined! It doesn’t get any better than that. I’ve long said McCammon is the best who ever scribbled a tale of terror. The man hasn’t lost a step.
World Fantasy award-winning, bestselling author Robert McCammon makes a triumphant return to the epic horror and apocalyptic tone reminiscent of his books Swan Song and Stinger in this gripping new novel, The Border, a saga of an Earth devastated by a war between two marauding alien civilizations.
But it is not just the living ships of the monstrous Gorgons or the motion-blurred shock troops of the armored Cyphers that endanger the holdouts in the human bastion of Panther Ridge. The world itself has turned against the handful of survivors, as one by one they succumb to despair and suicide or, even worse, are transformed by otherworldly pollution into hideous Gray Men, cannibalistic mutants driven by insatiable hunger.
5. MR. MERCEDES & FINDERS KEEPERS by Stephen King
I got up to Maine a week after King was signing copies of Finders Keepers. My timing sucks. The first 2 books of his trilogy are as different from one another as they are engaging. I can’t wait for book 3 to come out!
In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.
In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.
4. PRISONER 489 by Joe R Lansdale
Lansdale should be a household name. Every book he writes is gold. Prisoner 489 is a terrific novella that centers around one of my favorite horror tropes. I won’t spoil it for you. Get the book, now!
On an island with a prison for the most evil and powerful criminals in the world, a new prisoner is strapped to the electric chair for execution. After multiple surges of electricity and nearly knocking out power to the entire island, the prisoner is finally dead. The staff buries him in the prison graveyard with a simple marker baring three numbers: 489.
After the body is buried, a violent storm rocks the islands and a staff member goes missing. The crew rushes into the storm, searching for their lost comrade. They find that the burial site of prisoner 489 has been unearthed, and the body that was inside has gone missing.
3. LORDS OF TWILIGHT by Greg Gifune
You all know I’m a sucker for anything that deals with aliens. In fact, another alien book is part of the honorable mention crew. This is one of the most terrifying ones I’ve read in a while. Loved it.
Strange things are happening in the small, isolated town of Edgar, Maine. Mysterious lights dot the night skies. A local farmer is found dead at the summit of a hill with no evidence as to how his body got there. Livestock is disappearing, only to be discovered later, dead and mutilated with precision-like wounds. And despite the coming of an enormous winter storm, odd men identifying themselves simply as ‘federal agents’ have converged on Edgar in government vehicles as if in anticipation of some greater event.
2. JAGGER by Kristopher Rufty
Cujo on meth. That’s the best way I can describe this. Once again, Rufty populates his novel with sketchy characters doing terrible things. I couldn’t put it down.
Other than the trailer park left to her by her deceased daddy, Amy’s favorite treasure is Jagger, her 180-pound bull mastiff. One day while she is away, Clayton, her best friend’s scumbag boyfriend sneaks into her yard and takes the dog. His prize fighting pit bull was killed during its last match, costing a lot of bad people a lot of money. To make up for his dog’s losses, and to save his own life, Clayton enlists the help of a medical student dropout to turn Jagger into a killing machine by pumping him full of experimental drugs and muscle enhancers. Now Jagger is a monster, a beast that can’t feel pain, with an unquenchable thirst for blood. He quickly breaks out of his pen and starts making his way home, tearing apart anyone in his path on his way to the one he feels has betrayed him the most—Amy.
- THE HUNGER SERIES by Jason Brant
I ate this trilogy up like they were White Castle and I was fresh off a 2 day bender. This is a post apocalypse world bursting with beasties that would make the walkers in The Walking Dead shit themselves, if they had working colons. I highly recommend them. The books, not the shitting zombies.
Day One: A series of terrorist attacks spread a cloud of noxious gas over highly populated areas.
Day Two: Higher brain function erodes in those exposed to the gas. Their bodies begin to distort, faces distending, skin sallowing, teeth elongating.
Day Three: The infected disappear into the shadows, fleeing the harsh daylight which has begun to sear their flesh.
Day Four: The world is DEVOURED.
And now for the honorable mentions. All of them could easily have made my top 10. It was that close! Get these books as fast as you can.
Q ISLAND by Russell James (apocalyptic goodness!)
THE PENDLE CURSE by Catherine Caendish (witches & time travel – yes!)
BLOOD AND RAIN by Glenn Rolfe (restored my faith in werewolf tales)
BEHIND THE DARKNESS by Robert Dunn (aliens done right – scary)
GOBLINS by David Bernstein (cryptids – what more can I say?)
OK, there you have it, my top 10 (really 15) horror tales for 2015. I could had added so many more, but I have to get out of the house.
Have you read any of the books I listed? What would make your top 10? What do you think I should be reading in 2016?
Keep flying the horror flag, my Hellions!
The Honeys of Hammer Horror In Your Hands
OK, I realize that was a bit of a cheeky title, but it’s true! The Monster Men take a deep dive into a wonderful book about the vixens of Hammer. It’s the ultimate coffee table book for horror fans. We also give some reading recommendations to warm up your cold winter nights.
Crack open a beer, turn down the lights and step into the Monster’s Lair!
A January of Monsters and Mystery
January can be one long, boring month, even for a guy like me who loves the winter. Hopefully I’ll get to enjoy watching my Seahawks right through to the first Sunday of February. Other than that, it’s huddling in the house while the wind rattles our windows most nights.
The up side is that means I get to catch up on my reading. To inject a little oomph into January, I’ve laid out my reading list with enough monster and thrills to keep me warm and feeling like a little kid reading deep into the night by flashlight.
So, here’s my reading list. I hope yours includes my latest, ISLAND OF THE FORBIDDEN. When you’ve gotten your chills with the ghosts from that one, feel free to pluck one of these from my TBR pile…
IT WAITS BELOW By Eric Red (Alien sea monster! Hell yeah!)
It waits no more!
In the 1800s, an asteroid carrying an extraterrestrial life form crashed to earth and sunk a Spanish treasure ship. Now, a trio of salvage experts dives a three-man sub to the deepest part of the ocean to recover the sunken gold. There, they confront a nightmarish alien organism beyond comprehension, which has waited for over a century to get to the surface. It finally has its chance.
As their support ship on the surface is ambushed by deadly modern-day pirates, the crew of the stranded sub battles for their very lives against a monster no one on Earth has seen before.
BIGFOOT TRACKS – A CREEPSQUAD COLLECTION By Steve Vernon (Gettin’ squatchy!)
Everything that you have read about Bigfoot is a lie.
Everything that you have HEARD about Bigfoot is the truth!
Enjoy three stories from the files of The Creep Squad – that pack of cryptids, legends, and nondescript rumors who fight crime and misjustice anywhere that you aren’t looking.
What if ALL the stories were true?
What if Bigfoot really did exist? What if he depended upon people’s belief in him for his very existence?
TOXIC BEHEMOTH By David Bernstein (Freakin’ kaiju by one of my favorite writers!)
A creature born of flesh and toxic waste stalks the ocean depths, devouring every living thing in its path as it grows to a colossal size.
Weeks after its inception, the monster rises from the deep and attacks a cruise ship, alerting humanity to its presence.
The United States armed forces are called in to stop it, but with its human like intellect, mammoth size and organic, alien-like weaponry, the toxic behemoth will prove the most formidable enemy humanity has ever seen.
ABRAM’S BRIDGE By Glenn Rolfe (New Samhain blood with some serious writing chops!)
There is a darkness in this town, and it’s buried beneath Abram’s Bridge.
When Lil Ron meets Sweet Kate under Abram’s Bridge he is mesmerized. And when he realizes this beautiful girl is a ghost, it frightens him, but also draws him to her. Curiosity and a drive to make things right lead Lil Ron into a tangle of small-town secrets involving his own father and other members of this otherwise quiet community. Bit by bit, he will uncover the truth about Sweet Kate, a story of heartbreak, violence…and fear.
DEVOURED, THE HUNGER BOOK 1 By Jason Brant (Honorary Monster Man. I have been dying to dive into his series)
Life isn’t kind to Lance York. A full-time job has eluded him for years, his wife loathes the sight of him, his bank accounts are empty, and his wealthy father-in-law revels in his failures.
After he lunges in front of a car to save a sick and disoriented woman, Lance awakens in a quarantined hospital. A devastating plague is spreading worldwide, driving those infected with it insane. Their bodies begin to mutate into horrors that have haunted mankind’s nightmares for centuries.
The world descends into chaos as the infected flee to the shadows, emerging at night to devour the remnants of civilization.
With the help of an unlikely ally, Lance must navigate through the collapsing city of Pittsburgh, striving to escape the madness of the apocalypse that unfolds around them.
What’s on your reading list? Convince me to add your fave to my February list, when the days seem even longer!
Horror Flix Gone Bad
I’ve often been overheard saying I prefer a bad horror movie to a good non-horror movie. I won’t go so far as to say I’d rather sit down and watch THE COLLECTION over THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, but you get the point. On a side note, I saw an extended version of my favorite spaghetti western, introduced by the late Eli Wallach, about 8 years ago. I even got to meet him before the show. Talk about the most magical night you can have at the movies!
Anyway, if you dig horror, you regularly sift through a lot of stinkers, panning for terror gold. We here at Monster Men Central invited author Jason Brant to wax unpoetic about some of the worst the genre has had to offer. Some are so bad, they must be seen, sometimes enjoyed again and again. And others, well, we’ve warned you.
Finding More Found Footage Films In Time For Turkey Day
Yep, I dropped a lot of F bombs in this post’s title. Before I ramble on, I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to you all. If there’s one thing I’m grateful for (actually, there are many), it’s all of you who wander over to my blog and read my books and just keep me going. You are all bad motor scooters and mean go-getters.
I also want to give thanks to fellow author and horror douche (his words, not mine), Jason Brant for being on the Monster Men. We actually shot 2 episodes with Jason because we had such a good time. The first one is all about found footage movies. Just when I thought the subgenre was done, a slew of new flicks flooded the market this year. Jack, Jason and I go through a bunch, telling you which ones to seek out and which to avoid.
As you can see, I found my cowboy hat in the bottom of my closet just before we started filming, much to my wife and daughters’ chagrin. My youngest asked me if I was going to a rodeo, since I was also wearing a flannel shirt and jeans.
Just a quick update on the writing front, my next cryptid novel is in the hands of my beta readers and line editor, aka my sister. As soon as I sent it out, I got to work on a little novella that promises to be a demented ride straight to hell. If all goes well, expect 4 new books in 2015, plus some short stories.
And now I’ll leave you to your turkey and booze and football. Enjoy the long weekend.
Hunter Shea 