A-Z Wednesday: Playing Catch-Up (Again)

So, here I am, once again, playing catch up on A-Z Wednesday. Hopefully, from here on out I’ll be more regular about posting these. As I’ve mentioned on this blog … one of the things that I really enjoy in my reading is what is called Weird Fiction and its descendents. That old school horror and science fiction of the 30s and 40s are some of my absolute favorites and so I’ve decided to showcase some of what I feel are the best and essential works of the Weird Fiction, Horror Fiction and Science Fiction that are on my shelves. I set 26 books aside, and actually have been able to post A-M and since this Wednesday’s letter is S, I’ll still have some back filling to do. Just in the interest of time I won’t be giving any “Thoughts” on letters N-R other than to say I endorse every single one of these books, and a few of them have been reviewed on the blog in the past, and I’m thinking of reading some of these in the near future and so will be reviewing them, probably soon. (How’s that for equivocation?)

And, just by way of fun, here are the links for the past letters: A-G, H, I, J, K, L, and M.

A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Reading at the Beach.

Here are the rules: Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the Letter of the Week and post the following:

1. A photo of the book
2. Title and synopsis
3. A link (Amazon, B&N, etc.)
4. Come back here and leave your link in the comments

If you’ve already reviewed this book, post a link to the review as well. Be sure to visit other participants to see what books they have posted and leave them a comment (we all love comments, don’t we?) Who know? You may find your next “favorite” book.

So, without any further ado, here are my N-R books:


N: The Nightwalker
by Thomas Tessier
(New York: Signet, 1981)
Paperback, 184 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780451015280, US$2.50

From the Cover: Bobby never meant his lover to end his life beneath the wheels of a London bus. Yet when the uncontrollable tingling sensation began in his hands, he could only watch in helpless horror—powerless to prevent those savage, killing hands from pushing her to her doom. … He almost convinced himself it was all a bizarre accident, till the day he saw the jogger. Gazing at the man in almost hypnotic fashion, Bobby felt that same eerie power flowing into his arms and legs, found himself racing with effortless, animal-like grace to overtake the runner. He never knew when the race was transformed into a chase that signified the beginning of a devastating reign of terror, terror that would relentlessly stalk the streets of London—and, again and again, would end in the bloody jaws and rending claws of death.


O: Off Season: The Author’s Uncut, Uncensored Version!
by Jack Ketchum
also includes the bonus short story “Winter Child”
(New York: Leisure Books, 2006)
Paperback, 308 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780843956962, US$6.99

From the Cover: September. A beautiful New York editor retreats to a lonely cabin on a hill in the quiet Maine beach town of Dead River—off season—awaiting her sister and friends. Nearby, a savage human family with a taste for flesh lurks in the darkening woods, watching, waiting for the moon to rise and night to fall. … And before too many hours pass, five civilized, sophisticated people and one tired old country sheriff will learn just how primitive we all are beneath the surface … and that there are no limits at all to the will to survive.


P: Psycho
by Robert Bloch
(New York: Bantam Books, 1969)
Paperback, 137 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: N/A, US$0.60

From the Cover: She stepped into the shower stall … and let the warm water gush over her. That’s why she didn’t hear the doo open. At first, when the shower curtains parted, steam obscured the face. The she saw it. … A face, peering through the curtains, hanging in midair like a mask. A head-scarf concealing the hair, and glassy eyes stared inhumanly. The skin was powered dead-white and two hectic spots of rouge centered on the cheekbones. But it wasn’t a mask. … Mary started to scream. And then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher knife…


Q: Quicker Than the Eye: Stories
by Ray Bradbury
(New York: Avon Books, 1996)
Paperback, 294 Pages, Short Fiction Anthology
ISBN: 9780380789597, US$5.99

From the Cover: The first new collection in nearly a decade from America’s preeminent storyteller. The internationally acclaimed author of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury is a magician at the height of his powers, displaying his sorcerer’s skill with twenty-one remarkable stories that run the gamut from total reality to light fantastic, from high noon to long after midnight. A true master tells all, revealing the strange secret of growing young and mad; opening a Witch Door that links two intolerant centuries; joining an ancient couple in their wild assassination games; celebrating life and dreams in the unique voice that has favored him across six decades and has enchanted millions of readers the world over.


R: Rosemary’s Baby
by Ira Levin
(New York: Dell, 1968)
Paperback, 218 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: N/A, US$0.95

From the Cover: Suppose you were an up-to-date young wife who moved into an old and elegant New York apartment house with a rather strange past. Suppose that only after you became pregnant did you begin to suspect the building harbored a diabolically evil group of devil worshippers who had mastered the arts of black magic and witchcraft. Suppose that this satanic conspiracy set out to claim not only your husband but your baby. Well, that’s what happened to Rosemary … Or did it…?


This brings us, finally, to this week:

THIS WEEK’S LETTER IS: S

My “S” Book is:

The Silence of the Lambs
by Thomas Harris
(New York: St. Martin’s, 1989)
Paperback, 367 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780312924584, U$7.99

From the Cover: A young FBI trainee. An evil genius locked away for unspeakable crimes. A plunge into the darkest chambers of psychopath’s mind—in the deadly search for a serial killer…

My Thoughts: While it is not strictly “weird fiction,” as has been my theme for A-Z Wednesday these past 19 weeks, The Silence of the Lambs is certainly one of the most horrifying and psychologically thrilling novels to have been published in the last 40 years. I mean, honestly, since 1970, the three scariest novels to be published have got to be William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist (1971), Stephen King’s The Shining (1977) and Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs (1988). It also introduced the literary world to one of the greatest villains in contemporary literature: Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter. It is true, now, that Sir Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the good doctor in the 1991 film is what people immediately go to when you say “Hannibal Lecter”, but if you truly want to get to the roots of one of the best villains in the 20th Century, then you need to pick up Harris’ novel because what Hopkins (and director Demme) have essentialized in the film (in spite of Hopkins’ nuanced acting) is so much more complex in the book, and if you thought Hopkins’ Lecter was scary, then you need to meet Harris’ original. Add to that, one of the scariest serial killers—Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb—in literary history (probably since Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s Psycho) and a really taut plot, and The Silence of the Lambs is a real gem of a horror novel.