Pedro's Horror Recommends

[Pedro Del Mar]

I was recommended The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo. Here's the synopsis:

Marlowe Higgins is a hard man; a wanderer. Since being dishonourably discharge after a tour in Vietnam, he's been in and out of prison, moving from town to town, going wherever the wind takes him. He's not really the kind of guy who can stay in one place too long. Every full moon he kills someone. Marlowe Higgins is a werewolf. For years he struggled with his affliction, until he found a way to use his unfortunate curse for good - he only kills really bad people. After years of being on the road, Higgins has found a home in the small town of Evelyn, Tennessee. He works at a local kitchen; he even has a friend, Daniel Pearce, one of Evelyn's two detectives. But one night everything changes. It turns out he's not the only monster lurking in the area. A fiendish serial killer, known as the Rose Killer, is brutally murdering young girls all around the county. Higgins targets the killer as his next victim. But on the night of the full moon, things go drastically wrong.

The prologue had me complaining a little to my wife about it being a little stereotypical but I gave it time and continued to read and found myself unable to put it down and reading into the early hours. If you're a fan of werewolf fiction then I'd definitely recommend this book. It's quite dark in places, not overly gory and keeps up the pace really well. I'd worked out some of the twists early on but it did keep me guessing a little.

Unfortunately it's the only novel the author has had published. Tragically he was killed whilst on duty for the NYPD. A real shame as he was definitely talented.

 

[BAYLOR]

I was recommended The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo. Here's the synopsis:

Marlowe Higgins is a hard man; a wanderer. Since being dishonourably discharge after a tour in Vietnam, he's been in and out of prison, moving from town to town, going wherever the wind takes him. He's not really the kind of guy who can stay in one place too long. Every full moon he kills someone. Marlowe Higgins is a werewolf. For years he struggled with his affliction, until he found a way to use his unfortunate curse for good - he only kills really bad people. After years of being on the road, Higgins has found a home in the small town of Evelyn, Tennessee. He works at a local kitchen; he even has a friend, Daniel Pearce, one of Evelyn's two detectives. But one night everything changes. It turns out he's not the only monster lurking in the area. A fiendish serial killer, known as the Rose Killer, is brutally murdering young girls all around the county. Higgins targets the killer as his next victim. But on the night of the full moon, things go drastically wrong.

The prologue had me complaining a little to my wife about it being a little stereotypical but I gave it time and continued to read and found myself unable to put it down and reading into the early hours. If you're a fan of werewolf fiction then I'd definitely recommend this book. It's quite dark in places, not overly gory and keeps up the pace really well. I'd worked out some of the twists early on but it did keep me guessing a little.

Unfortunately it's the only novel the author has had published. Tragically he was killed whilst on duty for the NYPD. A real shame as he was definitely talented.

Have you read any of Seabury Quinn's Jules De Grandin stories ?

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Have you read any of Seabury Quinn's Jules De Grandin stories ?

I haven't, never heard of him to be honest. What of his would you recommend?

 

[BAYLOR]

I haven't, never heard of him to be honest. What of his would you recommend?

Let me start with a little history. Seburty Quinn was a contemporary of Robert E Howard , H P Lovercrat and Clark Aston Smith . He was very prolific and wrote for the same pulp magazines , but he is far less well known. He outlived them al, l dying in 1969 . His most famous creations is the Occult investigator Jules De Grandin. . He and his associate Dr Trowbridge investigate and do battle wit the forces of supernatural darkness. In all, Quinn wrote about 93 of theses stories which includes one full novel. The tales were written in the period of 1925 to 1951 . They are fun to read. Nighshade books reprinted all of the tales in chronological order in 5 volumes
1. The Horror on the Links
2 The Devils Rosary
3. The Dark Angel
4. A Rival From the Grave
5. Black Moon

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Thank you Baylor. That’s very informative and does sound like a fun read. I’ve ordered the first two volumes to give him a try

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Had a brief hiatus with the Hellraiser graphic novels and now back onto some traditional horror fiction.

I recently finished The Rising by Brian Keene. It's a zombie novel but not the stereotypical zombies you'd expect. These are able to speak, shoot guns and drive cars - as well as eating people. It reminded me in parts of The Walking Dead with a few of the characters and story lines. I checked and it was written in 2004 which is a similar time to TWD so I don't think one was influenced by the other. The following novel which I started last night is City of the Dead which begins exactly where The Rising left off. They're both fun to read, a little comedy in parts and filled with plenty zombie horror.

 

[Rodders]

Hi Pedro, you took an interest in the F. Paul Wilson books. I have read the Adversary cycle and am currently reading through his Repairman Jack series of novels, (which are linked but not part of the Adversary cycle). I have really enjoyed Wilson's writing so far. The adversary cycle was excellent in my opinion and the Tomb was my favourite and was my first introduction to Jack. (The adversary cycle is The Keep, The Tomb, The Touch, Reborn, Reprisal and Nightworld)

Each of his books are about 350 to 450 pages long and are ideal for the commute into work. They're not going to win any awards, but they are very enjoyable.

Repairman Jack is an interesting character. A bit of an anti-hero, he makes a living "fixing" peoples problems when they can't get the Police involved. He lives outside of the law and has a strong but questionable morality. His book are tied to the Adversary cycle as it often features a link into "The Otherness". (A kind of supernatural theme that runs through his books.)

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Thanks very much Dodders, good to see your recommendation. Luckily a friend of mine has the collection and he's passed them over for me to read them. Got a few others in the pipeline first but hope to get round to them later this year. I'll put something up on here when I start to read them

 

[BAYLOR]

Thanks very much Dodders, good to see your recommendation. Luckily a friend of mine has the collection and he's passed them over for me to read them. Got a few others in the pipeline first but hope to get round to them later this year. I'll put something up on here when I start to read them

Sherlock Holmes and th e Misktonic Monstrosities By James Lovegrove it the second volume in the Cuthlu Casbooks of Sherlock Holms

Sherlock l Holmes and the Servant of Hell by Paul Kane Its set in Clive Barkers's Hellraiser universe

 

[BAYLOR]

Thanks very much Dodders, good to see your recommendation. Luckily a friend of mine has the collection and he's passed them over for me to read them. Got a few others in the pipeline first but hope to get round to them later this year. I'll put something up on here when I start to read them

The Manitou by Graham Masterton