Horror! in time for Halloween
My friend Grant McNall asked me to do a blog on scary/supernatural/creepy books … so here it is.
I love the horror genre - and I’m currently writing a supernatural novel (or three) - and I read tons of ghost/supernatural stuff … love it. When I was a teenager Nightmare on Elm Street was a favorite movie. My friend, Yim, and I would huddle together in her mom’s living room and peek out from between our fingers at Freddy’s horrific doings. Man, how I love/hated those movies. And how I hated walking home (by myself) through the backyards at midnight after watching those movies. Never moved so fast in my life … (except one time at the fair when a crazed cow escaped … but that’s a different blog).
So Grant loves horror novels and movies* and over the years he’s suggested some pretty good books to me … so I trust his judgment (at least where horror novels are concerned!). Grant recommends the author Dan Simmons. “He has more Easter Eggs than the Easter Bunny. Read his book Summer of Night.”
To which I replied - Easter Eggs???
Yup. New term for me. Grant tells me that an Easter egg is something hidden in one book that connects it to other works by that author (or maybe a nod to another book or movie?). Easter egg is so much more interesting than the term literary reference … so cool … Mr. Simmons is like the Easter Bunny. Got it. 
Here’s what Library Journal had to say about Summer of Night:
A monstrous, timeless entity is devouring children. Adults either refuse to understand what is happening, or are themselves agents for the monster. A group of young boys, in uneasy partnership with an outcast girl, realize they must kill the creature before it devours them all. Simmons (The Fall of Hyperion, LJ 3/15/90), winner of several prestigious awards for science fiction and horror (most recently a Hugo Award for Hyperion , Doubleday, 1989) ranks with the best the genre has to offer. In outline, this novel resembles Stephen King's * It* ( LJ 8/86). The children are well drawn and affecting in their bravery. This book should be in most horror fiction collections. BOMC alternate.-- Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Hedberg owns one copy of this book in the Adult Collection.
Sort of reminds me of the movie Super 8, which, for the record, I enjoyed.
The term Easter egg made me think about a great children’s book that I recently read: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu. For those readers familiar with classic fairy tales and children’s literature -- this book is brilliant. Ursu references so many classic stories while her story unfolds … I thought of the references as a trail of breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout the text for the careful reader to gather up … Grant would be busy collecting Easter eggs and filling his baskets … to each his/her own! 
Here’s what KirKus Reviews said about Breadcrumbs:
Like a fairy-tale heroine, Hazel traverses the woods without a breadcrumb trail to save a boy who may not want to be saved in this multi-layered, artfully crafted, transforming testament to the power of friendship. (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ) Hedberg owns one copy in the Children’s Collection.
So what are you reading? Anything scary for Halloween? Any Easter eggs or breadcrumbs to share with us?
Happy Reading.
P.S. Grant and I were also having a lively (if nerdy) discussion of the comic book hero adaption Hellboy movies. Have you seen these? Are they great or really terrible? Seems there was debate between us … so if you’ve seen the movies … please add your two cents here.
- Grant does not love horror movies ... that was my mistake! Sorry, Grant!!
Jamie Swenson is a children's author and an employee of Hedberg Public Library. She is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. Her opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.
Oct 27, 2011 at 9:28 a.m.
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He has one Hollywood A lister interested, Bradley Cooper.
http://io9.com/5806746/bradley-cooper-wa...
That would be great, maybe it would lead to more of his works being adapted.
Oct 27, 2011 at 5:45 a.m.
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Interesting about the movie mention - I don't think any works by Dan Simmons have been adapted to the big screen. They are working on the Hyperion Movie (http://HyperionMovie.com) but that's the least of his horror works. There were some rumors about adapting some of his other works, but I haven't seen anything concrete yet.
Oct 26, 2011 at 6:27 p.m.
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Grant - sorry! That might explain why you were not WITH your darling wife and children at PARANORMAL 3. Sorry!
Thanks for the great titles ... adding to my MUST READ list now ...
And yes, I think our tastes change as we change ... I don't really love horror movies anymore either ... but when I was 15 - I couldn't get enough of them! Now, I've got plenty of real life things to scare me ...
Oct 26, 2011 at 4:54 p.m.
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I'm so glad someone mentioned Brian Keene. I've been a huge fan of his for years and while I knew he has been getting more and more popular this is the first time I've heard anyone around here that has heard of him. I did notice the last time I was at Hedburg that his books have quite the wear and tear however. I would also recommend Keene's novel Terminal.
I have been considering picking up a couple Edward Lee books as well.
Oct 26, 2011 at 2:29 p.m.
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First, the Hellboy movies rock. I liked the first more than the second but both are well worth watching. Lots of fun.
I think many newer authors have looked at what Stephen King did by intertwining many of his stories and are working to do the same with their own works. Brian Keene is one such author. Many of his books connect via what he calls The Labyrinth. I don't think it started out that way but that's where he's going now. He's written some great stuff -- The Rising, City of the Dead, Ghost Walk, and Gathering of Crows are all excellent.
For fans of gory movies like Saw, you can't go wrong with anything Edward Lee writes. I like that sort of stuff in very small doses myself.
Christopher Golden is another writer somewhat like Simmons in that he writes a wide range of stuff, from science fiction to horror. While not really scary stuff, if you enjoy folklore and mythology, you simply must read his Veil trilogy, starting with The Myth Hunters. If vampires are your thing, he has a truly unique spin on them with his Saints and Shadows series. And no, they don't freakin' sparkle ;)
Oct 26, 2011 at 11:53 a.m.
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Thanks Jamie for the shout out. I want to clarify one detail, I love horror stories, hate horror movies.
For those that have not heard of Dan Simmons, he is a very versatile writer. He is equally at home with horror, sci fi, historical fiction, spy novels...etc. He is known for incorpoating real people into fictional stories. For example in "Fires of Eden" Mark Twain is a main chracter. In "The Crook Factory" Earnest Hemmingway in a protagonist as well.
Back to "Summer of Night." It is a very scary book that mixes elements childhood innocence with pure evil. There is a very effective scene that, well I will just say I have never looked at a combine the same way since.
Oct 26, 2011 at 10:23 a.m.
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I don't read much downright horror anymore - I wonder if you just lose your taste for different genres? But I've always enjoyed Stephen King and I'm looking forward to his new book, 11/22/63, about a man who travels back to 1958 to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination.
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