Horror Novel Month: The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King remains my all-time favorite book. I read the complete and uncut edition in the 1990's, and I remember not being able to get into the book until I was around 600 pages in. After that the book flew by. At times I wonder why I muddled through so many pages without giving up. Lord knows there are other books I've abandoned 100 pages in (though not many). Part of the challenge was there were so many separate stories going on, and until some type of connection existed among some of the characters, I couldn't put the puzzle together. Once the characters knew where they were heading, so did I.

While I consider this book much more post-apocalyptic fantasy than horror, the presence of the ultimate evil bad guy in The Stand gives it a foot in the horror category.

The premise of the story is that the government is working on a human-made biological weapon, a superflu, at a U.S. Army base. The superflu, known as "Project Blue" is released at the base, and a guard and his family escapes thanks to a security malfunction. Since they were already infected, this causes a pandemic that wipes out the majority of the human and animal population.

Those few that survive are called through similiar dreams to go on cross-country journeys where they end up either in Nebraska with Abigail Freemantle, a woman who becomes their spiritual leader that they call Mother Abigail, or in Las Vegas, Nevada with Randall Flagg, an evil man with supernatural powers.

The two groups work to recreate society as they knew it, but they are posed for an ultimate battle of good versus evil.

The Stand was turned into a television mini-series in 1994. Though I didn't care for some of the storyline changes, the superb acting on the part of Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, and others more than made up for the alterations.

I would read this book again if I had the time, but at well over 1,000 pages, it's not a book you tackle when your reading time is already committed.

Horror Novel Month: It by Stephen King

If there was ever a book to make you scared of clowns, that book was It by Stephen King.

An unspeakable evil comes to Derry, Maine. A group of seven outcasts band together and form their own group, the "Losers Club." They soon discover they have encountered It in various forms. Eventually they are forced to face their fears and defeat It.

Years later, a series of brutal killings, calls the "Losers Club" back to Derry, where they are forced to meet It all over again.

In 1990, Stephen King's It was made into a movie starring: Richard Thomas, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Annette O'Toole, Tim Reid, Richard Masur, and the late John Ritter.

Tim Curry played Pennywise the clown, one of the forms It takes when he kills Georgie Denbrough, Bill (Richard Thomas) Denbrough's little brother when they are just boys. Even though it's been years since I've seen this movie, recalling Pennywise's face still gives me shivers.

I definitely couldn't hold  Horror Novel Month without mentioning some of the books from the King of Horror. Feel free to share your favorite King novel.

Book Spotlight: The Liquid City by Curtis Hopfenbeck

Shadoe Kilbourne is the consummate intellectual assassin, with an impressive arsenal of both wit and weaponry at his disposal. As Seattle’s most successful nightclub owner and restaurateur; he is also a man of great resource, humor and humanity. His lethal charms and deadly ideologies are a devastating double-edged sword; brandished at will to put the bad guys in their place and get the good girls back to his. Driven by vengeance, derived from a painful and poignant past we can only speculate on, his ties to the highest echelons and lowest corridors of humanity also make him the perfect middleman for those who seek to solicit his fervor and favor in the hunt for his brand of justice, both inside and outside of the law.

This book was just named by GQ Magazine as one of the 5 Best Books of 2010 alongside titles from Stephen King and John Grisham.

Join the Online Tour by visiting http://mediaguests.net/online-tours/the-liquid-city/

“My passion and impetus to write has been in existence since birth. I pursued adolescence in the shadow of Ian Fleming’s ‘Bond’; survived my teens in the company of John D. MacDonald’s ‘McGee’; and grew to adulthood under the guidance of Robert B. Parker’s ‘Spenser’. My infatuation with literature’s lethal lotharios, including Spade and Marlowe, is as innate as it is undeniable, and is much of not only who I’ve become, but of who I’ve come to encapsulate within my writings. I hope I have done my predecessor’s proud, and that the legends will continue to mentor and wax immortal within my written prose and pages. Please enjoy, for it is truly a writers only silent ovation!”

– Curtis J. Hopfenbeck

PURCHASE A COPY OF THE LIQUID CITY FROM AMAZON!

Grayrider Virtual Book Tour '09

Gabriel, the exiled king of Rivalin, comes before King Airell to warn him the Ansgarian army will invade his kingdom before the night is over. Airell tells him he has no one to send. Gabriel wants revenge for the murder of his family by the Ansgarians. He decides to fight the incursion without help.

Deirdre (Airell’s daughter), flees the kingdom of Cynyr north of Boadhagh. She knows now her mentor, Morrigan, created the Ansgarian army her father has fought for years. She goes south to warn him of her. Because Deirdre does not believe in herself, the young sorceress has difficulty in performing magic.

Once she is reunited with her father, she tells both he and Grayrider about Morrigan. Her power is growing; only Gabriel’s magical sword may yet destroy her. He must go to Cynyr to fight her. He agrees if Deirdre attends him, seeking her counsel. On that journey they fall in love and foil many efforts by Morrigan to kill Gabriel by both armies and sorcerers.

Grayrider fights Morrigan and sees his beloved slain by the sorceress before he is finally able to kill her. He returns to Rivalin brokenhearted. The ending is a complete surprise the reader will not expect at all.

AUTHOR'S BIO:



A former technical writer, detail is important to Bruce Skye. His research for the Deathsong Chronicles included medieval armor and fortresses, as well as Celtic names and magic. "If you create a world, it must be consistent. And that's what I strive for Grayrider's world to be. I've built a database of material for each of the Deathsong Chronicles. Those databases aid me in keeping the world the same from book to book.

"When I wrote Grayrider, I followed the advice of Stephen King. I did not write the book following any sort of outline. I have no more idea than my readers do when I write a novel what will happen in the midst of the story. It makes it more exciting for both the readers and myself."

You can visit his website at www.bruceskye.com.

TO SEE WHERE BRUCE AND GRAYRIDER STOP NEXT, VISIT http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/