I wish I didn’t have to sleep just so I could read more books. My goal in June was to immerse myself in weird fiction, a genre I greatly enjoy. I was only two books in, however, when I relapsed into my beloved horror. I can’t get enough of it, it seems. Still, going forward, I plan to mix in more weird fiction and other genres.

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Vol. 1 ed. August Derleth

H.P. Lovecraft’s work has been built upon many times, sometimes brilliantly, others… not so much. This anthology contains ten stories that, in my opinion, represent some of the best adaptations. It includes authors that I’ve always wanted to read, including Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth. It was Smith’s two stories that stood out among the others. I plan to pick up more of his work. On the other hand, Frank Belknap Long’s metafictional “The Space-Eaters” was quite the letdown. This is an elusive book given its age, but I’m eager to find Volume 2.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

This book is perhaps the most well-known of the New Weird genre, having been a New York Times bestseller and the subject of a major motion picture. I can say that all that attention is well-earned. It is remarkably complex as the reader unravels mystery after mystery about the enigmatic Area X. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t confused during portions of the book, but the need to figure out what was happening drove me on. My one complaint was that the scientific nature of the novel made the prose dry and unengaging at times.

Dead Sea by Brian Keene

Before I read Keene’s The Rising, I didn’t care much for the zombie subgenre. In this book, the author revisits the living dead. On the surface, it seems like a generic zombie novel but set at sea. But as I read, I discovered it was something much more. The characters drive this book, making you feel their fear as they flee the undead. It was an incredible page turner. The scenes of character development were as fascinating as the action, watching the zombie apocalypse tear people down only to have them fight back against impossible odds. Keene earns his title as “Horror Grandmaster”.

Insomnia by Stephen King

I was in the mood for a long book and Stephen King is my go-to in that regard. Ultimately, Insomnia proved to be my least favorite novel he’s written—by far. It started out promising. For the first third, I was adhered to the page. But as soon as the “auras” appeared, I lost interest. The depictions of these strange colors were beyond tedious and fill much of the book. It is described as “horror/fantasy” and it was these fantasy elements that ruined an otherwise fascinating novel. I would have put it down, but I genuinely cared for the characters and what happened to them.

In the Scrape by James Newman and Mark Steensland

I like my horror supernatural. When it’s not, I like it extreme. This novella was neither and yet it is one of my favorite horror books I’ve read this year. What made it so chilling was the fact that it felt so plausible. The events, while horrific, could have happened—some tragedy you might have seen on the local news. The characters—especially the protagonist brothers Jacob and Matthew—were expertly drawn, lifelike human beings you care for. The story is incredibly disturbing, and it accomplishes that by making us believe it is real.

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As I was about to post this, I realized that for the last several months I haven’t summarized the books in these reviews. In my opinion, recommendations aren’t helpful if you have no clue of what the book is about. So from now on, I’ll devote at least a sentence of summary to each review.

Tchau,

Zé