Recent Book and Magazine Buys

I admit it: I’m addicted to buying books and DVDs. One of this blog’s uses will be as a kind of shopping diary. This entry is for some of my recent book and magazine buys. Buying these books and magazines doesn’t necessarily mean they will get read anytime soon. Like most book buying addicts, I have a mountain of a “to be read” pile.

DOCTOR WHO - THE KING’S DRAGON by Una McCormack

I have read this novel and I thought it was pretty good. A review is imminent. The Doctor, Amy and Rory visit Geath, a town and pre-industrial society on an alien planet. Geath is known for its hospitality, so the Doctor is surprised to find the town locked. Furthermore, the inhabitants' fabled hospitality seem to have been replaced by materialism.

DOCTOR WHO - NUCLEAR TIME by Oli Smith

A tale of androids, nuclear attack and weird timelines. The reviews I’ve read have been favourable, but I have to confess that on first reading I didn’t enjoy this novel very much. However, this maybe my fault because I read it in very small chunks over several evenings. I think this is a story that needs more concentration than I have given it, so I am currently re-reading this book.

DOCTOR WHO - THE GLAMOUR CHASE by Gary Russell

I haven’t read this yet, but Gary Russell usually delivers the goods with his Doctor Who novels. The plot involves an archaeological dig in 1936 that unearths relics from another planet. But why has Rory never heard of this momentous event? And why does Amy suddenly think the Doctor comes from Mars? Sounds intriguing and I’m looking forward to reading this.

STEPHEN ROMANO’S SHOCK FESTIVAL

“One hundred and one of the strangest, sleaziest, most outrageous movies you’ve never seen.” The reason you’ve never seen them is that they don’t exist! Full of fabulous poster art and text for a ton of non-existant exploitation films, this is a big (too big to fit properly in my bookcase), heavy tome. A DVD set featuring mock trailers for these gems is also available. Some examples of the titles found within this book’s pages are: They Made Me - “Sweet Cindy was an innocent teenage runaway. She was about to learn the facts of life the hard way from the Sisterhood of the Scar!” Then there’s Inferno of the Nazi Witch Hunters - “The hell of the Third Reich is about to get a lot hotter.” And who wouldn’t want to see a film called Berserk Joe and Unfriendly Flo?




With Waterstones currently offering three for the price of two on all their paperback fiction titles, I decided to visit my local branch to see what I could pick up. I came out with three from the horror section. Two from authors that I’ve previously read, and one from an author new to me.


HEART-SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill

I haven’t read this author before. But the cover blurb on this novel suggests that it may be an interesting read. It’s about an ageing rock star who collects artefacts of the macabre. The latest addition to his collection is a ghost purchased via the internet. Creepy mayhem ensues, apparently.


HEATHEN by Shaun Hutson

I’ve previously read and enjoyed this author’s tale of revenge set in an old people’s home, Compulsion. It’s been a while since I read that novel, so I thought it’s high time I paid Mr. Hutson another visit. Heathen is about a woman whose husband has been killed in a car crash. She is shocked to discover that he was involved with another woman. She also finds out that there were several other people in her husband’s life: people she knew nothing about. Danger lurks as she tries to find the answers to her questions and “she will come face to face with those who call themselves the Sons of Midnight . . . ”

NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER by Richard Laymon

The late Richard Laymon is, for me, an up-and-down writer. I’ve read about half a dozen of his novels. Some I’ve enjoyed, for example The Stake, and some I found rather ordinary, for example The Woods Are Dark. In Night in the Lonesome October, a man, left heartbroken after his girlfriend dumps him, is unable to sleep. He decides to go out for a walk. “It’s a scary night in the lonesome October and Ed is not alone. There are others out there  - roaming the streets, lurking under bridges, seeking prey. Then he sees the mystery girl . . . ” It’s been a long time since I read this author, but I seem to recall enjoying his longer novels more than the shorter ones. This novel is a long one.

MAGAZINE: SFX SPECIAL EDITION - VAMPIRES THE ULTIMATE UNDEAD CELEBRATION

The claim on the front of this package is “Every vampire film ever - rated!” We shall see. I’m an occasional reader of SFX and, to be fair, it’s a good magazine. I was hooked here by the “‘Dracula AD 1972' When Hammer Went Groovy” tag line. There are so many components to this package that it comes complete with a cardboard envelope to contain it all. It also comes with a hefty £7.99 price-tag. Aside from the magazine, there are “seven free gifts”. These attractions are: four coasters with portrait art of characters from the television series Being Human; a nice big poster for the Hammer classic Vampire Lovers with a True Blood poster on the reverse; a 114-page paperback collection of vampire stories including Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker, Count Magnus by MR James, Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe, Nyarlathotep by HP Lovecraft and The Mark of the Beast by Rudyard Kipling; and a small coffin that you can assemble from pop-out cardboard.

So far, I’ve skimmed through the magazine and it boasts some impressive photographs and artwork. There’s a section on Jean Rollin, a Doctor Who - Vampires of Venice feature, the aforementioned Dracula AD 1972 article and an article about Bela Lugosi.

MAGAZINE: DVD & BLU-RAY WORLD #86

DVD World (sorry, I keep forgetting the Blu-ray bit) is about the only magazine I buy on a regular basis these days. For those who are unfamiliar with this magazine, its contents are mainly biased towards horror, exploitation and adult films. The magazine usually comes with a free DVD. This issue’s DVD is Russ Meyer’s Mondo Topless. This DVD also conains the same director’s Faster Pussycat . . .  Kill! Kill! which you can view by purchasing a code number to unlock this feature (cost £5). I’m not much of a Russ Meyer fan, so I doubt I’ll bother with the additional film. The magazine’s regular features include Disc Detective in which readers are invited to submit their questions about movies and movie stars; Cutting Comments which cocks a snook at some of the more ludicrous decisions that emanate from the BBFC (it’s all for your own good, don’t you know); a collection of reviews of the latest horror releases; and a fair smattering of adult DVDs reviewed and rated. There are usually some interviews with porn stars complete with photos, too. This issue has Sasha Grey and Charmaine Sinclair in its pages.

There are articles on the 50th anniversary edition of Psycho; an interview with Francesca Ciardi, the female lead of Cannibal Holocaust; an interview with cult film guru, Marc Morris ahead of Nucleus Films’ release of a DVD featuring trailers and publicity material for all the films on the video nasties list; and the penultimate instalment of the A-Z of Hammer Hotties which is a series looking at the glamorous ladies who appeared in the famous studio’s movies, or, as they put it, “a celebration of Titan Books’ Hammer Glamour”. Incidentally, Hammer Glamour is a must-have for fans of the studio.

Reviews of the two magazines mentioned in this post will appear shortly.