Tag: books

Recently Read: Macbeth, graphic novel by Gareth Hinds

Posted on By caracabe

Macbeth, by Gareth Hinds and William Shakespeare. Candlewick Press, 2015.

I might start seeking out graphic novel versions of Macbeth. I’ve read a bad one. Now, with the Gareth Hinds adaptation, I’ve read a good one. This book brings Shakespeare’s play to life, and makes me feel things. I appreciate the notes at the end, where Hinds talks about his historical research and explains some of his artistic and editorial decisions. If someone were asking for a graphic novelization of Macbeth, I’d gladly point them to this. However… I feel like there must be bolder interpretations out there.

Reading

Recently read: From the Belly, by Emmett Nahil

Posted on By caracabe
front cover, showing the shoulders and head of a submerged person, their eyes and above obscured, barnacles on their skin

From the Belly, by Emmett Nahil; Tenebrous Press, 2024.

Moby-Dick in an alternate world, but the whalers are the ones being hunted. Body horror, eroticism, mutiny, nature taking revenge, gods of the deep, capitalism at its most brutal, a main character with a secret (and then another, and another), body count and sense of dread both logarithmically increasing—this book has it all. Interior illustrations by Megan Llewellyn. (I love the pictures, I just wish there were more of them.)

Reading

Recently devoured horror

Posted on By caracabe

Recently read

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones. This unusual vampire tale takes the form of a story within a story within a story. The embedded narratives span more than a century, but they are all one story, beautifully told. (I noticed one period vocabulary slip-up, but it’s something only a pedant like me would care about.) The characters are complex, and the dueling vampires might not be the most evil among them, not even when they feed on children. Jones creates his own vampire lore, similar to what we know from Stoker and Hollywood but also alien. The Blackfeet terms were challenging for me to keep track of, but that’s not a bad thing. Blackfeet history and culture are central to the story. A tense, eerie, tragic novel, not without wit and humor.

Recently viewed

Tomie (1998 movie, directed by Ataru Oikawa). I haven’t read the manga series this is adapted from, but if I didn’t know it was Junji Ito, I would have known it was Junji Ito. Being friends with Tomie is like being friends with Hannibal Lecter: you don’t know why you’ve been singled out, and you might not want to eat everything you’re served. But Lecter probably won’t manipulate you into killing him, and if you do kill him he’ll stay dead. This movie does an excellent job of maintaining tension and mystery throughout.

Reading, Watching

Recently read: The Reformatory, Tananarive Due

Posted on By caracabe

To be honest, I was reluctant to start The Reformatory. I’d read so many good things about it, I was afraid it would fall short of its reputation. But Tananarive Due has never disappointed me yet. Characters to care about, in a suspenseful and heartbreaking story. Just to complicate things for the main characters, who already are dealing with angry ghosts, a psychopathic warden, and the Klan, they also have to manage well-meaning allies who don’t believe in spirits or who do believe in the fairness of the justice system. This book kept me up late at night turning pages.

Reading

Recent reading, Feb 5 2025

Posted on By caracabe

Queer Little Nightmares

Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry, edited by David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli; Arsenal Pulp Press, 3rd printing, 2024.

This is what small presses are for! Queer Little Nightmares is a collection of stories and poems for the monsters in all of us (especially the queer ones). Diverse in style and content, these works are both deliciously weird and grounded in emotional truth. Standouts for me include the stories “The Vetala’s Song” by Anuja Varghese and “Strange Case” by Eddy Boudel Tan, and the poems “Godzilla, Silhouette Against City” by Ryan Dzelzkalns and “Cryptid Cruising” by Avra Margariti. But they’re all worth reading.

Horror: A Literary History

Horror: A Literary History, edited by Xavier Aldana Reyes; The British Library, 2020.

This collection of essays surveys the horror genre in English and American literature from the 18th century to today. Sometimes the style is ridiculously academic, but the content is interesting throughout. Every chapter ends with a list of references and a “What to Read Next” section, making it a useful book to keep on hand.

Blog, Reading

Update 2022-09-18

Posted on By caracabe

Today begins Banned Book Week. You might want to check out the American Library Association’s 13 Scary Banned Books to Read for Halloween.

In other calendar-related news, the deadline for the Halloween 2022 issue of tiny frights is September 30th, less than 2 weeks away! If you have little scary poems or microfictions or spooky works of visual art, now is the time to send them! (Please read our submission guidelines first.)

Horror reads since the last update:

  • Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed, a combination coming-of-age novel and cosmic horror
  • The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, weird horror with humor and tenderness
  • My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones, an original and thrilling take on the final girl trope

Probably at least one of these will be reviewed in the upcoming issue.

Updates

Update 2022-07-15

Posted on By caracabe

With only two issues of tiny frights a year, I figured I should put out the occasional interim update.

Horror reads since Walpurgis night

One or more of these might be reviewed in the upcoming issue.

  • Dark Country by Monique Snyman, a horror detective novel.
  • Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from Women of the Weird, edited by Mike Ashley.
  • Manhunt, a dystopian near-future novel by Gretchen Felker-Martin.
  • What Can You Say Against a Death Machine? a collection of absurdist short stories by Marty Shambles.
  • Your Body is Not Your Body: A New Weird Horror Anthology to Benefit Trans Youth in Texas, edited by Alex Woodroe and Matt Blairstone.
  • Coyote Songs: a barrio noir, a novel by Gabino Iglesias.
  • The Curious Case of H.P. Lovecraft, a biography of the influential horror writer and notorious bigot, by Paul Roland.

My recent horror viewing

  • I watched all four seasons of Hannibal. No disrespect to Anthony Hopkins, but Mads Mikkelson plays the part better. (But then, he had a larger canvas to work on.) I appreciated the importance of William Blake in the 4th season.
  • Blake’s work and thought also played a part in the psychological horror movie Saint Maud.
  • Brand New Cherry Flavor — this miniseries kept me watching to the end, but I’m still not sure what I think of it.
  • I was disappointed by the final season of Stranger Things.
  • I rectified a grievous omission in my education by finally watching Get Out, and I’m glad I did.
  • Ditto The Shape of Water.
  • Watching the series Midnight Mass was time well spent, but it could have been even better.
  • I continue to watch my way through Wynonna Earp, but it’s starting to remind me of Supernatural.

Miscellaneous spookiness

My wife and I spent a couple of nights at The Elms Hotel & Resort, and I went on the paranormal tour. There were a few tales of apparitions, but most unexplained occurrences seemed to fall under the heading of poltergeist phenomena, or maybe just mischievous spirits moving things. We experienced nothing eerie during our stay.

The Halloween 2022 issue

The next issue is starting to take shape, with art, poetry and fiction by the likes of Kathy Allen, Jerome Berglund, Alex Bestwick, Linda M. Crate, Mort Duffy, Nolcha Fox, Madison McSweeney, Jennifer Rodrigues, and your humble editor. If you’d like to join this illustrious roster, the deadline for submissions is September 30th. See the submission guidelines for details.

Updates