Horror DNA

Actually, take that back. Just went in to the profile to see the avatar functionality and saw this message:

The avatar functionality is currently disabled.

So that's a setting.

Dan probably disabled it because you and Ron keep acting like little bitchbabies.

shiki-jitsu wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:04 pm It's probably the same thing for the avatars.

Weirdly, all the avatar functions were switched off. I've turned them back on now and mine and Ron's are showing, but I'm not sure what's happened with yours and ARs.

Alien Redrum wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:12 pm Dan probably disabled it because you and Ron keep acting like little bitchbabies.

I think Dan is realizing that Ron and I are not the problems here....

Oh yours is back too. I guess that's everyone that matters sorted.

DJBenz wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:15 pm Oh yours is back too. I guess that's everyone that matters sorted.

I had to re-upload mine.

Thank you for the responsiveness to a crisis like this. Unlike AR, you are a true (honorary) American Hero.

I'm fully focused on this one right now:

Lullabies for Suffering: Tales of Addiction Horror, edited by Mark Matthews


And I'm about an hour away from finishing it. Holy shit, this one is great. It's theme is obviously addiction, but each story has this...otherness...within it and it's all very Lovecraftian. So much so, it's motivated me to read more Lovecraft.

This is something I think Tom would really like. I don't know if Ron will. But I like it. I wish one of you would read it so I can talk about it after I review it.

This thread.

If I ever finish Gilchrist.

Alien Redrum wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:12 pm Dan probably disabled it because you and Ron keep acting like little bitchbabies.

Finished up True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik. Really great, up there with The Girl Next Door as far as helplessness and brutality.

Here's my review: https://www.horrordna.com/books/true-cr ... ook-review

https://www.amazon.com/True-Crime-Saman ... horro06-20

I'm reading a couple for review, but I left my stupid Kindle at home today. Luckily, I carry a separate tablet my dad gave me (this cheapo LG tablet he got free when he got a new phone at Verizon), so I quickly downloaded something on the Metro (free wifi) to keep me busy. A bit tired of horror (like the last 5 books I've read were horror), I decided to crack open this Laird Barron thriller my buddy Shane has been telling me I need to read since forever.

Holy fucking shit did this thing grab me. It's very noir. I'm about 30 pages in and absolutely hooked. I've read Barron's short stories before in anthologies and really liked those, and it looks like he's damn good at long-form prose too.

It's called Blood Standard and the only thing I know about it is from what I've read so far. Dude used to be a heavy for The Outfit, but due to some choices, he's been forced out and there may or may not be a price on his head (I haven't gotten that far). (I didn't read the synopsis because some people I trust implicitly and when they say read something, I go with it; no need to see what it's about. Shane is one of those people.)

This is basically an (updated) repeat of my post before the upgrade.

Finished The Corruption of Alston House. I dug it for sure, and I'd recommend it, but still working out my upcoming review in my head because it does have some issues.



I also finished this little short The One That Knows No Fear. Fun little read, although it suffers at the end. Definitely worth a buck though. This series also has one from Barbi Wilde, so I'll probably pick that up.



Started The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. So, so, so good so far. Love this author. He's Native American and incorporates a lot of his culture in his books. I wish there were more, or I knew more Native American authors besides him and Owl Goingback. The stories from these folks is an untapped well in both film and books.



I was at a superb book sale this weekend and picked up Ace Atkins' first book in Quinn Colson series. I've never read Atkins, but I'm giving him a shot because with Lee Child's brother taking over the Jack Reacher series, I may want a replacement. I have no idea how Child's brother will do, but I'm hoping for the best yet expecting the worst.



At that same sale, I also picked up Donald Ray Pollock's Knockemstiff. I think I might already have this, but the $1 I paid is worth the risk. Both he and Atkins fall under the genre "hillbilly noir", which is something I've been somewhat getting into lately (Hank Early comes to mind).



Really great thing about this book sale is it's run by this company that collect tons of books, box them up and put them on pallets, then ship out to areas that need books (world wide). To offset costs, every couple of months they have books sales. The sheer variety is impressive AF. They don't have a horror section (which can be frustrating because you have to go to a few different spots to check), but their sections are in alphabetical order and things relatively easy to go through because they don't have a ton of genres sorted.

I've found some REALLY good books there, from great publishers.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, February is "Women in Horror" month, so I'm going to try to get a novella or short story (or 2) in the mix too. I'd read more if I didn't have these review copies taking priority.

Ideally I want to knock out Barbie Wilde's Patient K because I don't think I've read anything by her and a short story is always a fine place to start.



I also have a novellette by Kelli Owen (the title escapes) about a mother dishing out some revenge on a pedophile (IIRC) that I've been wanting to read since I saw her read a passage from it at Scares That Care.

Ideally I'd like to read Somer Canon's A Fresh Start too. That one's been staring at me for a while. I don't think I can get all of these knocked out, but worth the try.