A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Goodness gracious, I am super late writing this review.  My schedule just exploded after the middle of October, and I had no time. Because it's been nearly a month, I don't have the best memory of all the plotlines. But I promised I would write a review for every book I read, so better late than never, and my review will be of the more general sort.

I was fortunate to find this at my library and it fit very well thematically into my October Scare Fest reading.  I enjoyed it overall.  It's an odd little book, no question about it.  I would consider it a bit of a pastiche to the famous literary figures of Dracula, Frankenstein and his monster, Sherlock Holmes, Merlin-type druids, and the Wolfman. I rather enjoyed that about this book.  What I loved the most is that the narrators are the familiars, or animal companions of the human (or humanlike characters).  They all strike up a strange sort of friendship driven by mutual interest and that old adage that drives too many middle grade friendships, especially among girls:  better to be friends with someone than to have them as an enemy.

The story's chapters are broken down into each one representing a day in October.  They are getting ready for some very important magical event that will have seemingly profound consequences. It sort of reminded me of the Highlander movie where the various characters are pairing off against each other, but this was more of a semi-good versus evil sort of standoff. Just my take. Forgive me if I am way off here.  I didn't quite understand all of that, but I don't think it was as important as the unfolding paranormal mystery as various human (or humanlike) characters start to be picked off, one by one. The main character is a dog, who is the familiar of a male wizard.  He's an endearing narrator.  I liked how he plays dumb dog when necessary, but he's not the average canine (I truly feel some dogs are incredibly intelligent, so don't assume I'm picking on dogs here).  I liked his wry and atypical friendship with a cat, who is the familiar of a witch. Along with the fact that their humans are striking up a courtship that may not end well if they end up choosing opposites sides. There is also a bat, rat, snake, and owl character.  I'm sorry I don't remember all their names.  I do remember the snake's name was Quicklime, so go figure.  Strangely enough, the humanlike character who was most developed was Larry Talbot.  Classic horror movie buffs will recognize that name as that of the Wolf Man. He did have the tragic vibe of the character in the movie, but he was quite likable.

This book isn't that deep. I mean it's a short book and probably has some hidden meaning, and I think a very prominent satirical tone that some readers will pick up on immediately.  It's not super scary, it's a bit.  Enough to make for a nice Halloween read. 

I'd say this one is worth tracking down if you can find it at your library. Unfortunately, it's out of print. 

A good read for this time of year. And fun for animal lovers like myself.



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The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings

The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings by Scott Allie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another library find that works very well for October Scare Fest reading.  Probably my most favorite type of horror/scary story is ghost stories. Even though ghost stories have been around, well, forever, they have the potential to be very diverse. And I feel that each one can feel different.  I haven't read very many graphic novel-format ghost stories, so this was a new one for me.  Wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I think that the authors successfully plumbed the deep waters of the ghost story, with each one in this volume having a distinct feel.

Truthfully, there were two prose narratives.  The first was a classic, "Thurnley Abbey" by Perceval Landon.  It feels very much like a classic story, and that's good. I feel that the actual ghost was a bit unclear, but I am not unappreciative of a ghost story that depends more on atmosphere than description of the actual scare-causing element. The accompanying illustrations were lovely.  I liked it.  Definitely gave me the classic ghost story infusion I enjoy so much.  The other, "Spirit Rescue", was an interview with a medium IL Dreller.  It was interesting hearing his encounters with real-life ghosts and his insight into the modern spiritualist movement.  I do believe in ghosts in real life. And I watch all the ghost shows, so it was an interesting addition to this book.

As far as the graphic novel stories, I enjoyed them all. The artwork was uniformly well done, showcasing the distinctive styles of all the contributors.  I enjoyed Mignola's addition, "Dr. Carp's Experiment," but that's no surprise.  I actually liked all the stories. My favorite was "Stray", which is about a poor Beagle whose dog house is haunted and has to get some professional help from a ghost hunting dog. It was cute!  Some of the stories were definitely eerie, although none were "I can't sleep" scary.

Overall a good collection, and a quick read.  Recommend to fans of both graphic novels and ghosts.



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The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Can I be honest? I feel... a bit manipulated.  I am going through a horrible reading slump right now, so I know that I am a lot less tolerant than I would have been prior to this dry spell.  So my review of this book might be a bit harsher.  I feel that despite my rather harsh criticism, I am being fair and respectful, which are crucial to me as a reviewer.

I loved the first book, The Name of the Star, and I gave it five stars. I actually thought it was quite brilliant. In comparison, my feelings are not complimentary for this second book. 

I am on the edge of giving up YA books because of reasons that this book sort of ties into. So forgive the segueway. I'll get back to my review in a little bit:

1) I am so sick of love triangles (this one doesn't quite have an in your face one. It's more of an obtuse triangle if anything).



2) Oh the high school drama! I am just sick of the whole high school setting, to be honest. This book isn't so bad in that sense. 

3)So, so, so heartily sick of cliffhangers.  Now this is where I felt manipulated. That ending was just wrong with this book.  Not well done, and contrived.  I think it ended this way so she could have a springboard for the next book. I'm not Maureen Johnson and so I don't get to tell her to write her books. But that was just pain unnecessary.  If I could issue a plea to YA authors, stop the madness with this terrible, meaningless cliffhangers. You can write a series without them. If the publishers are behind this conspiracy, tell them no!

Okay, back to the book.

So I mentioned above how I was not feeling the ending. I was actually quite mad when I finished this book.  I am doing a Bible Study and we talked about anger today, so I was glad I got that lesson prior to finishing this book. I was able to process my anger and determine the reasons for it. I felt manipulated and abused.  I felt frustrated.  I think that processing the anger has made me better able to review this book, but my reasons for feeling anger still stand. 

The storyline itself was okay.  However, it lacked the pizazz and the strength of the last book.  It was meandering and rather dull in comparison.  The word ennui is perfect for this feeling I had when I read this book. Although I can understand Rory being in a fog after the trauma she suffered, the feeling of malaise seemed to affect the whole narrative, and I didn't feel a sense of purpose or momentum as I read this novel.  That was highly disappointing and contrasts very negatively with the first book, which has such a powerful, chilling atmosphere of menace that I found wonderfully effective .  I had a feeling that this new character and her connection with Rory was going to lead to disaster, and I was right about that. But I'm not sure I really care, you know? 

What I liked just as much as the first book was the atmosphere, the presence of London as a character in this novel. It makes me want to jump on a plane and go to England right now.  In fact, London was more distinctive than the actual main character, which is a shame, because I love Rory.  In this book, Johnson seems to be going through the motions in her characterization of Rory. She is blunted and hard to connect to her as a main character in this novel.  My absolute Achilles' heel as a reader is that I can be so drawn into a story that I feel utter empathy for a character, if the writer is able to bring this character to life for me.  With Rory, that connection established in The Name of the Star felt so attenuated, it hurt this read for me.  Also, with such vibrant characters as Boo and Callum, they felt almost like the Shades of London they concern themselves with.  Other important secondary characters, the same. And Stephen, well, he's one of my favorite characters, and even he didn't feel as real to me in this book, although I still love him.

Maureen Johnson established herself as a very admirable suspense writer with the first book in this series and "The Law of Suspects", a short story I had the pleasure of reading as my introduction to her.  I feel she was off her game with this book.  That ability to catch a reader and lead them down a dark, twisted path wasn't as evident in this book. My biggest reaction is that she was going through the motions.  As a result, this reader is dismayed and disappointed.

Will I read the next book?  With that ending, I have to do so.  But my expectations are very low at this point.

Please up your game with the next book, Ms. Johnson.  I need to know that you can finish what you started in this series successfully.





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Astro City, Vol. 2: Confession by Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, Brent Anderson

Astro City Vol. 2: Confession by Kurt Busiek

My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars


Confession takes the Astro City series to the next level with this story of a young man who comes to the big city to make his name and becomes the sidekick of the mysterious superhero Confessor.  The drawing and coloring was gorgeous and vivid.  It seemed to almost leap off the page at me.  I think this volume was more emotional and much darker than Life in the City.

This reminded me a lot of Batman, which may or may not be intentional.  I felt like the young boy was both a Batman in the making and Robin at the same time.  He has his share of anger at this father's passing and the way he feels that his dad failed him. And an anger at bullies and the unjust.  While Bruce Wayne was more angry at the criminal who murdered his parents, I think he also resented his parents for leaving him, for putting their philanthropy before him. In the Robin parallel, he takes on a mentor who is mysterious and driven, who inspires his loyalty the hard way. And from whom, he takes on a mantle and continues his legacy.

Some aspects of this novel hit home very closely. It deals with suspicion and prejudice, and the injustice that seems so intrinsic to a society. How people use ridiculous reasons to hate each other, and that allows deep injustice to occur in the world, often right under their prejudiced noses. The fact that being a hero rarely pays off materially, but requires an unflinching commitment, often at the risk of personal endangerment, and dealing with the fact that your work is often uncongratulated and the public opinion can change in an instant.

While Life in the City is a more upbeat, bright view of superheroes, this is superheroes in the dark.  There are moments that hit me hard, and I had to go back and double check that I had read the former panel right.  And I was sad to see my understanding was correct.

I think this is a seminal graphic novel work for superhero fans. Maybe I don't get an opinion (because I haven't read as many GNs as others), but that's how I feel. It shows the truth of the nitty gritty of being a superhero, and the narrator (the young man) is like a stand-in for all of us readers who were in awe of the various superheroes growing up (and even now as grown up geeks).  We can see that it's not all it's cracked up to be.  The first volume also showed this, but I still think it was more of a 50s style, everything is bright version of that. This is the version in which all the illusions are ripped away and you see the unvarnished truth.

This is a strong graphic novel and it deserves a high rating. I think if I wasn't in such a persistent reading slump, it might have been a five star book.  It caught me at a less than ideal time, so I'm going to give it a 4.25/5.0 stars.




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Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things by Ted Naifeh

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things by Ted Naifeh

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Courtney Crumrin has a very informative preface by Kelly Crumrin, addressing the inherent scariness of childhood. It gave me something to think about.  I know I was a kid that loved reading scary books, although I admit I did get a bit too scared a time or two.  One part of his commentary that hit me hard was that he felt the collective conscious of children picked up on the real monsters that prey on children in the world. I didn't like to think about that, because I hate the idea of children being harmed or suffering.  However, I can see some logic to his comment that childhood nebulous fears might be a manifestation of a subconscious awareness of what real children face.

With that thought-provoking beginning to this graphic novel collection, I had some higher expectations but also that this volume would 'go there.' It did. I'm not sure how I feel about some of the plot elements.  I stand strongly against children being harmed or killed, and there is one aspect that felt so wrong to me in this book.  I kept wondering why Courtney didn't use the power she gained over the goblin for a different result.  I do feel that there was a bit of nihilism to this graphic novel, and that's something I just can't go for.    Courtney has had a tough life, and her parents are beneath contempt. I can see things from her viewpoint and accept that she didn't get a very good moral foundation for her life, and that certainly affects her choices. I did cheer for her that she pursued her baby sitting charge into the Goblin Market, even though she did it for selfish reasons. The result of that didn't hit me with the right note, although the faerie enthusiast in me loved a look at the inhabitants of the Market, not to mention the changeling folklore and a talking cat (not sure I want my own cats to be able to talk, since they'd probably cuss me out).  One thing I did like about this novel is how it addresses the situations that kids face everyday: bullying, isolation and ostracism, and parents who aren't sufficiently involved in their day to day sufferings (for whatever reasons).  Of course I hope most parents are better at parenting than Courtney's but I acknowledge that good parents can have so much going on that they don't have the energy to address issues that seem so trivial like being mildly bullied or feeling like a social outcast.  I was bullied and I know how that felt.  I know my mother cared, but how much could she do, day to day? And children are very creative in their cruelty.  Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. In a lot of instances, parental interference can make it worse, although there are certainly times when a parent definitely needs to step in.

I didn't like Courtney's dabbling in witchcraft at all.  I have an aversion to witchcraft, so that's part of it. I don't have an issue with magic in the abstract sense, but I really dislike the use of spells to control people (which is the crux of my dislike of witchcraft), which is what Courtney was doing. At least, the author shows the negative results of this, and has Courtney's Great-Great Grand-Uncle step in.

One of the things I wasn't keen on with this book was the ambiguous and somewhat unresolved  and rather dark endings.  Yeah, yeah, that's the whole theme of this book, I know. Maybe this is going back to the overall theme of the inherent darkness of childhood.  I am more of an upbeat ending girl, even as a fan of horror. I think you can have horror and still get a sense of hope, and in the case of Courtney's situations, I don't feel that much hope, even when the original crisis is somewhat resolved.

Will I continue to read this series? Probably, but not back to back. It's a bit too dark to pile these on one after another.  I wish this was in color, but I did like the drawings and the manner in which the character personality is conveyed. And I loved Courtney's hair so much!

Overall, this was pretty good, but I didn't love it, for the reasons above.  It's definitely an appropriate choice to read in the month of October for an atmospheric and horror-esque book.  Or just anytime if you like books that are dark in theme with younger characters.

I think that this book is for readers over 11, more or less okay for the middle grade/juvenile age group.



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Afterward by Edith Wharton

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


I read this as part of the Classic Horror Lovers group, Tales to Chill Your Blood series that we started in October.  A member reminded me that it was available in the Tales of Men and Ghosts collection, which is free on Kindle, so I was jazzed.

Overall, it didn't catch my interest. I found my attention wandering and boredom setting in as I read it. I think it was probably a situation where the writing style didn't work for me.  Wharton seems to have a sort of elaborate, flowery style, and I usually don't care for that kind of writing.  I didn't feel the tension build that much, even after the pivotal events occur.  I was looking for that moment, I'll call it the 'crunch moment', although that is probably not the best word, and when it occurs, I didn't feel anything.  I am a reader who likes to be involved in the story, and I felt detached from this story.  I really didn't care about the characters.  It's hard to feel horror or fear when you don't care and aren't drawn into the story.

While the idea was good, the execution didn't work for me.  I'm disappointed because I was definitely looking for a good vintage ghost story to get my October Scare Fest started, and this wasn't the one.

Edith Wharton is obviously touted  as a well-respected author, and I won't even try to dispute that. I do have to say she had quite a vocabulary, which is always enviable. Unfortunately, I'd have to say that this ghost story didn't work for me.  I read it late, late at night in bed on my Kindle with the lights off, and I didn't feel a single chill.  Not good for a ghost story.  I'll try her again though.

Overall rating: 2.5/5.0 stars.



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