
This book is about a French soldier that is writing a letter to a local SS officer.
The letter is split up into chapters to make it easier to read.
I don't particularly like the person Paul-Jean Husson who is writing to the SS officer, he is a fascist, and a pervert, his son Olivier is married to a German-Jewish woman named Ilse but he doesn't find out till later that she is Jewish.
He hates the Jewish people, and believes that they are turning France in 1940-1945 into a “cesspool” due to foreign people in his country his “motherland” and something must be done about the “Jewish problem or the Jewish question” as it was referred to in the book.
I do not share this opinion and I haven't read much about this era in time yet, but I don't understand why they condemned the Jewish people just due to their race and nationality or because they didn't like the way they worshiped god, because they are christian.
Paul-Jean is lusting after and in love with his son's wife, who is only 19 and he is old enough to be her father which is disgusting, but eventually he manipulates the situation so they are intimate and she becomes pregnant with his child and was considering getting rid of it because it is suspicious why she is pregnant again after, having two of Olivier's children Hermione and Aristide so she thought it was a “silly or stupid mistake” and wouldn't speak to him afterwards because she was ashamed and didn't want Olivier to find out.
Since she was a German she married Olivier and he insisted on her becoming a French citizen so no one would suspect anything and Paul-Jean asked people that he knew to hide her documents so they wouldn't look any further in her background and find out that her religion was Jewish.
However even though the “naturalization process” whatever that is I don't really understand what it is and what the Germans did to “naturalize the Jews”
She was still questioned by the authorities and sent to a concentration camp where she died.
I think due to her thinking that it was a mistake that Paul-Jean Husson told the authorities that she was a Jew and that's why she was sent to Auschwitz and died, because that is exactly what happened to her, while still pregnant she was murdered by the Nazis!
He said “he still loved her and he also said that he hated the Jews” Ilse was Jewish so she was already doomed to die sadly.
I liked this book more than the woman in black mainly because the pace of the book was a bit quicker, and the plot was creepy. There aren't many books about doctors or surgeons that want to resurrect the dead back to life.
The book is quite short and you could read it in one day, I like the characters the plot and especially the mysterious ending. If you like Frankenstein, or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde then you'll like this book.
Weather or not you believe in ghosts, the afterlife or the supernatural this is a unique and creepy story.
I am giving this book only 3 stars because for me this book was a frustratingly slow paced, bleak and depressing book to read with a horror ending.
Why was the information about the woman in black only mentioned towards the end of the book?
I didn't find the book scary, and it was frustrated that whenever the main character Arthur Kipps did see the woman in black nothing in particular happened.
This book for me was very disappointing to read.
I did like this story, but it disappointed me because whenever the woman in black was seen she didn't do anything other than just stand and stare at the main character Arthur, even time she appeared not much happened.
If the explanation about why she was still around or the fact the that town and townspeople were cursed was explained a bit sooner in the book, (nearer to the beginning of the book rather than near to the end of the book) then the rest of book would have made sense.
I find the chronological order a bit annoying.
It would make sense that if a town was cursed then there would be sightings or a terrifying ghost but the author took to long to get to the point or explain this.
I prefer the film to the book, because at least the time frame in which all the creepy encounters with the woman in black are disturbing, I was hoping that this book was going to be at least creepy or disturbing but it was disappointing and didn't scare me, although vengeful spirits/ghosts that want revenge & would curse you, kill your children is quite disturbing, I did like this book but it could have been a lot better.
A tragic love story This is one of my favourite books/films, since I am a big fan of Vincent Perez and the crow series of books/graphic novels. The only problem I had with the book is that the name of the character is Ashe Corven but kept changing to Ashe Craven in the book for some reason. I wish the film adaptation followed the plot of the book a bit more and that the ending was the same, I haven't seen the film for awhile so I have forgotten how it ends.
The ending in the film is different to the ending in the book, which is annoying since I love the film.
Some of my favourite scenes in the book/film are when Ashe Corven goes to the
peep-o-rama to kill the first victim Nemo and he says “do you want me baby?” before he kills Nemo, then he gets vengeance for himself and his son Danny since they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and they were both murdered.
I believe that the person who is resurrected whether it is a man or a woman is a martyr for their cause, since they have suffered greatly at the merciless hands of other people that are evil. They are given a second chance to avenge their deaths or murders, for being wronged, so that they will be at peace and finally be able to join their loved ones in the afterlife.I wish there were more books about a variety of subjects and more female characters since there was only one female character in a graphic novel or book in the crow series. Hopefully the crow: wicked prayer is about native americans like the film is. I don't understand why there isn't a book based the film the crow:salvation either.
This book was okay, It was probably my least favourite, however I did like the evil character that is a serial killer Dirk Temple and the woman that is psychic/a shaman.
This book is based in Thailand, it is about a Journalist named Stephen Lelloit and his wants to make a documentary or tv show about the sex industry in Thailand but it is a little exploitative of the women that he talks to.
His grandmother Linda Dusit who is the Shaman, can astral project herself into the spiritual/astral realm while there she senses an evil presence which is Dirk Temple.
Dirk Temple who is my favourite character because he is depraved and psychotic, he goes on a killing spree so he can metamorphose into a godlike being and then rule over human beings to collect their souls.
However things don't exactly work out for him so eventually he is punished. One of his murder victims and her brother are finally set free.
An interesting book This book is about an angel that is stuck in hell and wants to save a human soul so he will be allowed entry into heaven. One of the demonic character was really annoying, since it is a snake so it pronounced everything it said a certain way. This book is like all the other crow book, because the main character isn't resurrected until 100-160 pages into the book, and it t is 237 pages long. This book is about demons in hell that come to earth to pursue a renegade angel that was in hell and escaped to save a hell bound soul that was currently suffering or in pain in some way and would need his help. However his is a liar and cannot be trusted. If you like reading about angels, demons in the human world possessing and tormenting human beings then you will like this book. I liked some of the phrases used in this book such as “summinaries of darkness” and “vessels of inequity” but I forgot what that means.I did like this book, but I wish it was more connected to the original graphic novel it gains inspiration from.All of these books are original stories but don't really relate to the crow much, which is a bit annoying that they are using the name the crow and it is only very loosely connected to James O'Barr's work.
An original story While reading this book, I was wondering what this has to do with the original graphic novel because it doesn't really relate it that much. Although the main character is resurrected it doesn't happen until about half way through the book. William Blessing is one of the main characters he is an expert and obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe the writer and poet from the 18-19th century. At first I found his character a little boring, but one he was murdered and he was resurrected the plot for this character picked up the pace. Mick Prince and the gothiques are a group of friends who are goths and they get the idea from William's protege to break and loot the Poe collection of first edition signed books in William Blessing's library. Mick Prince is a psychopath and a murderer, he would willingly murder anyone for money or if that particular person was a nuisance with a big mouth for example.However things don't go according to plan, after William discovered that he was betrayed by his protege Donald Marquette and the direct result of it is that his wife Amy is beaten and raped and William is murdered by Donald and his friends the Marquis and count Mishka. William is resurrected and allowed by the crow to seek vengeance upon the people that were directly responsible for the rape and beating of his wife and to avenge his own murder. I liked reading the parts of the book about Edgar Allan Poe and his siblings and parents. I wasn't aware that he had any siblings because his family isn't mentioned much in books or in any adaptations about him. If you are a fan of Edgar Allan Poe then you will love this book, because before the start of every chapter there is a quote from Edgar Allan Poe's poems and short stories.
The copy that I have of this book, is a pre-owned used copy but it's in relatively good condition, since it was very cheap and I was lucky to find a copy of it. This book is inspired and loosely based on the graphic novel The Crow by James O'Barr.
I haven't read any books by this author before but I was pleasantly surprised, I really like the way the book was written the characters and the plot of the book. I have never read a book about a character that was resurrected and reanimated after they had died before, I really liked the graphic detail that described what it would be like to be dead but then brought back to life for a particular purpose.
There were also references to authors and a particular style of music and goth characters in the book that I appreciated.
This book is about twin brother and sister Benjamin and Lucrese Dubois and their relationship with the main character Jared Poe who is an S&M photographer. There is a serial killer on the hunt in New Orleans where the boom is based and his victims are trans-gendered or transsexual people that are male and female. He believes that they are an abomination and should be wiped off the face of the earth (I don't share this belief and I don't hate or discriminate anyone just for their sexuality) Jordan the Ripper slayer of New Orleans, likes to do experiments on his victims and then murders them once he is finished. However, on one particular evening Jared wakes up to find Benjamin has been murdered and he is covered in his blood, Benjamin was slaughtered and the only suspect is Jared, eventually he pays for this crime with his life.
While the murders are occurring detective Frank Gray is investigating the case and following the crimes until it leads him to the real murderer Jordan.
This is a short book, and you could read it in one day, I really enjoyed reading this book, I like the pace of the plot and characters were interesting and it was well written. I liked how the focus shifts between the characters in the book and how they are all intertwined and eventually all the lose ends are tied and you reach the conclusion. If you liked The Crow graphic novel by James O' Barr then you'll like this book as
well. This is the first crow novel based on James O'Barr's work that I have read but it was really good.
I had some many pet peeves while reading this book, so it took me a long time to read all of it.
One issue I had with this book, was the way the text on the pages looked.
On some of the pages the text looked like it was written on a old fashioned type writer and the text was very blotchy and difficult to read, whereas the other pages were fine and the text was normal.
The next issue I had with the book, was the way the sentences were very long and written in a disjointed way in which it made the book sometimes a bit difficult to understand or read. There was a lot of boring legal technical jargon that I didn't always understand and it was boring to read about. The information about the police investigation was fine but the courtroom proceedings was really boring and a drag to read about.
Other things about this book that were incredibly annoying was the fact that whenever the author could use the term female to describe one woman that was either a “Ted Bundy groupie” and in love with him or a woman that Ted loved in the past, the would used the term woman instead. For example a “woman” eye witness in court gave a testimony about seeing Ted Bundy at the Chi Omega fraternity house on the evening of the attack of the female students that were sleeping. Why would you say woman when it would make more sense to just say female? This really annoyed me while I was reading this book and kept thinking about why the authors didn't say female instead of woman all the time. This might be a minor issue to some people that want to read this book, but if there is something that occurs in a book that i'm reading that annoys me then I will be bothered by it the whole time, that i'm reading the book.
None of the people that were investigating Ted even themselves believed he wasn't capable of murder, until he was arrested and the evidence that was collected was used to prove Ted whereabouts on certain dates/times. It wasn't until a jury found Theodore Robert Bundy guilty that people took it seriously that hes was in fact capable of murder, rape, kidnapping etc The author and anyone else that either knew or met Ted vastly underestimated him.For some women this mistake would be fatal.
One other thing about this book, which was really annoying was how naive the author was to not anticipate the fact the Ted was guilty and also capable of vile, disturbing disgusting acts of violence towards women that he found attractive. Leading up to the time, that Ted was arrested, tried in court and found guilty of murder on multiple accounts the author still didn't believe that Ted might be found guilty and what he was capable of.
I think the author's opinion of Ted was biased because she was “friends” with him, and they worked together in a crisis clinic to aid people that were suicidal and considering killing themselves. She was however caught up in the facade of Ted's personality and acute ability to deceive people in a nice and pleasant demeanor, so you wouldn't suspect the darker intentions or agenda he was planning and scheming the whole time he was friends with the author Ann Rule. I don't think she even realized that maybe Ted was manipulating her and their friendship, because she was closer to him than most women, except for the women he did love although, I think he lied about his intentions to get married to Meg Anders. Ted Bundy was a pathological liar, he was good at lying, at manipulating people to do what he wanted or he expected them to do. Just because he was nice and polite, or pleasant to women or people in general on the surface it doesn't mean that was his true nature. He was always capable of murder, rape or kidnapping, he also could have stopped anytime that he wanted to but his compulsion controlled him, not the other way round. Whenever he was around one or more women, he felt an uncontrollable urge or compulsion to hurt them.
The chronological order of the book was annoying and all over the place.
For example the author mentioned that Ted was an illegitimate child and his family lied about who his parents were due to being born in the 1946 I think it was, I could be wrong about the date. Ted was brought up to believe who he thought was brought to believe that his grandparents were his parents but he wasn't told about this and he later found out for himself in medical/hospital files. His “grand-dad” was actually his father and his “sister” was actually his mother. During one disturbing incident when Ted was only three years old, Ted was standing outside of his Aunt's bedroom and she woke up to find knives arranged around her head while she was sleeping, and she turned and looked at Ted he just stood there and grinned at her. There was also another incident that involved Ted and a cousin of his, when they went out to the garden shed they found a stash of violent pornography that showed images of violent and sexual violence directed towards women. He was only five years old when this supposedly happened. In his life later on after being arrested and questioned Ted blamed these violent detective magazines (that he was obsessed with) and alcohol as the cause of his violent behavior towards women.
I think it did warp his perception of women and sex but he chose his victims, because they were vulnerable and by themselves. They were all easy targets, they were all easy to manipulate or overpower and take advantage of.
This compulsion took over his life and controlled him. Eventually his compulsion to kill would be triggered by the first woman he ever fell in love with rejecting him. Stephanie Brooks was the first woman that Ted ever loved, but she thought that Ted wasn't ambition or going anywhere in his life so she broke up with Ted. Ted couldn't stand to be humiliated and reject so this triggered him to kill women that looked exactly like her, so he could effectively kill her over and over again. Stephanie meant everything to Ted, she was the first woman that Ted had an intimate relationship with, although sometimes Ted's behavior was very strange such as Ted staring at Stephanie's body while she was sleeping. Ted was arrested for having what was believed to be “burglar kit” in his car, and on one other separate occasion his was stopped by the police but he tried to get away in his car but he was arrested again and lied about where he was going or coming from.
He started his criminal career as a peeping tom, and voyeur by spying on women from outside of their house while they were getting changed, he also stole credit cards and used fake names to obtain more credit cards to be able to afford to buy fancy French cuisine which was his favourite. He also stole other items such as a tv set and anything else that he needed but couldn't afford to buy. It was only after but a direct result of his failed relationship with his first girlfriend Stephanie Brooks that he escalated from petty crime, to coercion, kidnapping and murder. He would stalk potential victims, then use a ruse like he had a broken arm, because he was wearing a sling or cast and “needed help to carry his books to his car” then when no one was looking he would hit them over the had with a crowbar or other blunt object and kidnap them in his car, while they were unconscious. He would take the victims to a secluded area, when he would sexually assault the victims and then strangle them. His crimes were premeditated and vicious vile acts towards women and at least two children. His youngest victim was 12 years old, but I believe he killed a local girl that went missing when he was 15, because he lived in the same general area and not far from where the girl lived, she disappeared and was never seen or heard from again ever..
I was stunned to read that he was treated like a minor celebrity while in prison, because people were aware of who he was, and he liked having power and control due to the legal knowledge he had.There are many young women that have gone missing, in or around the time that Ted was alive, but we will never find out just exactly how many women he killed, so some family will never get answers about if Ted killed them or not, which is devastating to the survivors or family members of the victims that weren't so lucky.
Most of Ted Bundy's crimes took place in the 1970's so I wasn't even born yet and he died via the electric chair on January 24th 1989, two years after I was born.
I liked reading this book, but I would have preferred reading it if it was written but a police detective that was involved in the police investigation.
Most of the book was really interesting, and chapter 49 was the most informative about Ted's personality, motivation, or the way he thinks, but after that chapter the rest of the book was a drag to read and it was a bit boring and repetitive due to the death sentence for Ted being delayed all the time, he was in prison for a few years before he was executed.
This book is offensive, funny and I love Scottish slang & Scottish humour. I enjoyed reading rhis book and watching the film adaptation of it when it was released. (Ihad to look up rhe old fashioned Scottish slang because some of it I have never heard of or I was sure what it neant, so this maybe useful to anyone else that reads this books as well)
It packs a punch to your brain I liked reading this book, it was fun, darkly funny and hypnotic to read. Apparently while Chuck Palahniuk was writing this book, he had the album The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails on repeat and Trent Reznor the singer from Nine Inch Nails had the film Fight Club on repeat while he was writing the album The Downward Spiral. Since I am a big fan of both of these people I think that is inspiring :) If you like gritty, dark stories about self-destructive losers then you will love this book. After awhile, I have to admit, that I get get a bit fed up with the protagonist or other characters talking about the rules of fight club, since it is all about macho men, beating their chests and showing everyone else who is bigger and better than them.I liked the fact that the protagonist suffered from insomnia, and he hated his life, his job and his boss and everything was a copy of a copy of a copy, just like the Nine Inch Nails song A Copy of A which reminded me them so that's why I mentioned them above. His insomnia is so severe that he can't even tell when he is awake or when he is asleep and dreaming. I did however like the surprising twist about Tyler Durden's character and weather he was just an hallucination, or a separate entity altogether. Overall, I liked the fact that the main protagonist was relate-able, and self-destructive till he was severely hurt and still continued on with his job and attending the various different fight clubs or project mayhem.
This book is very funny, to me it's like the program Ugly Betty if everyone involved in the fashion industry was a vampire. If you haven't seen this program, it's about a girl with no fashion sense whatsoever, that works for a company that publishes a fashion magazine, where she doesn't fit in.
The first time I read this book, I though it was entertaining, however I myself are no fashion expert, I adore the Gothic/Alternative fashion so that would also make me a misfit in society like Ugly Betty.
I enjoyed reading this book, but I didn't always understand the fashion references, to certain fashion designers or styles of clothing or looks that have created. To be honest, I wish that there was a little less emphasis on that and more emphasis on the characters that the main character could relate to. Kate the main character and James have a least one thing common that they are both anti-fashion, due to all the models or anyone that's involved in the fashion industry looks the same.
They are all skinny, pale, dressed immaculately, and they all live on a liquid diet of human blood (described as red berry juice or a smoothie, since that's how Kate describes it in the book)It's human blood, because everyone she works with is a vampire.
Kate finds out, that there is something weird going on, while she is at work for her internship at Tasty magazine. Someone keeps staring at her, from behind the photocopier, her boss stares at her for long periods of time, all the staff sleep during the day, in their offices in secret. All of the staff seem to drink this red berry juice as is described by Kate in the but, it isn't a smoothie.
The best thing about this book is the humor, since Kate's mother was a fashion designer, it's a big deal to the staff at Tasty magazine. Although Kate doesn't want to be known as Eva's daughter, she wants to work on her own merit, and be recognized for her own work. I like the fact, that at least two of the characters in the book, are
anti-fashion, since not everyone will be a part of the industry, not everyone will fit in, due to the requirements.You have be petite, to be considered pretty, so all the staff members starve themselves, until, a dog is found dead in a supply cupboard. Kate finds out who is responsible and why. If you like reading paranormal romance or just books about vampires with a sense of humor then you will like this book.
I am obsessed with vampires so I will read any books about vampires as long as it's funny, or about the co-habitation of humans and supernatural creatures and the things that go wrong, in their daily lives.
If you like vampires then, I would recommend this book to you.
Eldritch Tales: A micellany of the Macabre
H.P. Lovecraft was a fascinating poet and writer of the 1920's. He was also a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe, which is obvious in some of his work, that it was influenced by Poe. I can also say that I am a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe as well. In the supernatural horror in literature essay by H.P. Lovecraft himself,he gives his opinion on other writer's work and criticizes it as well. This book like the Necronomicon contains the lesser known work by H.P. Lovecraft, but it has a refreshing mix of short stories and poetry and like the necromonicon, it is beautifully bound in leather and illustrated.
The following will be a list of the contents within the book, and I will give a summary of the stories and poems in this book. Their may be some spoilers sorry :/ Beside all my favourite stories/poetry I will but this symbol Contents:The History of the Necronomicon
The AlchemistThe reminiscence of Dr. Samuel JohnsonThe Beast in the Cave
The Po-et's Nightmare (Poem)MemoryDespair (Poem)The Picture in the House
Beyond the Wall of SleepPsychopompos- A Tale in Rhyme
The White Ship
The House (Poem)
The Nightmare Lake (Poem)Poetry and the Gods (With Anna Helen Crofts)
NyarlothotepPolarisThe Street
Ex OblivioneFacts concerning the late Jermyn and his family
The Crawling Chaos (With Winifred Virginia Jackson)
The Terrible Old ManThe TreeThe Tomb
Celephais
HypnosWhat the Moon Brings
The Horror at Martin's Beach (With Sonia H. Greene)The FestivalThe TempleHallowe'en in a Suburb (Poem)
The Moon-BogHe
Festival (Poem)
The Green Meadow (With Winifred Virginia Jackson)
Nathicana (Poem)Two Black Bottles (With Winifred Blanch Talmon)
The Last Test (With Adolphe De Castro)Fungi from Yuggoth:1-The Book2-The Pursuit3-The Key4-Recognition5-Homecoming6-The Lamp7-Zaman's Hill8-The Port9-The Courtyard
10-The Pigeon-Flyers
11-The Well
12-The Howler13-Hesperia14-Star-winds
15-Antarktos
16-The Window
17-A Memory18-The Gardens of Yin19-The Bells
20-Night-Gaunts21-Nyarlathotep
22-Azathoth
23-Mirage
24-The Canal
25-St Toads26-The Familiars
27-The Elder Pharos
28-Expectancy
29-Nostalgia
30-Background
31-The Dweller32-Alienage33-Harbour Whistles34-Recapture35-Evening Star36-ContinuityThe Trap (With Henry s. Whitehead)The Other GodsThe Quest of IranonThe Challenge from BeyondIn a Sequester'd Providence Churchyard Where Once Poe Walk'd
Ibid
Azathtoth
The Desendent
The Book
The Evil ClergymanThe Very Old FolkThe Thing in the MoonlightThe Transition of Juan RomeroSupernatural Horror in Literature
Afterword Lovecraft in Britain By Stephen Jones*
Collaborations and other Revisions
History of the Necronomicon: The historical information is insightful, and interesting information about the abhorrent Necronomicon.
The Alchemist: This is a good story about French characters that are cursed with witchcraft.
The Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson: This story is about the journal and last remaining thoughts of a dying man.
The Beast in the Cave: This is a good short story about a beast in a cave, that a man discovers.
The Po-et's Nightmare (Poem):This poem is about demons
Memory: This short story is about apes that are man, the first of their kind.
Despair (Poem): Another poem about demons. (I will add a bit more detail about them when I have re-read them)
The Picture in the House: This story is about a picture of grotesque origin and a haunted book about cannibals.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep: A mentally ill man, in an institution is plagued by nightmares that result in his death. He is afraid to sleep, because when he does he dreams, and he has nightmares.
Psychopompos-A Tale in Rhyme: This is a poem about wolves and demons, it is similar to Poe's writing style. H.P. Lovecraft was a big fan of Poe's work so his influence is recognizable in Lovecraft's work, since I am also a fan of Edgar Allan Poe as well.
The White Ship: The boat in the story is used to travel to strange distant lands.
The House (Poem): This is a poem about Forgotten memories.
The Nightmare Lake (Poem): This is a poem about creatures in a lake being devoured.
Poetry and the Other Gods (With Anna Helen Crofts): This is a poem about artisans and poets, one of them is the muse and poet of the Gods in Olympus. I really liked this story, since I am really interested in Greek Mythology and Artisans of the 18-20th Century from all over the world, they are interesting, intelligent people, and they inspire me.
Polaris: This story is about an alien race that exists in a dream world.
The Street: This short story was about an ancient street that had a soul, that is affected by a necromancer.
Ex Oblivione: This short story was about demons that exist, in a secret place that you can visit but not return from.
Facts concerning the late Jermyn and his family: This story is about the Jermyn family. There was madness within the Jermyn family and they all posses obscure facial features. There was “an object” in a box that was of strange and terrifying origin. The protagonist turned out to not be human, he was of an unknown race, that was not from our world.
The Crawling Chaos (With Winifred Virginia Jackson):
De Quincey is the main character in the story, he used opium to avoid sentient beings that wished to harm him.
Hypnos: Two people in this story do whatever is possible for themselves to avoid sleep at all costs, no matter what. They both avoid sleep, in the aid of a drug that they both take. Time is dis-proportioned and at a rate that is out of their control and beyond our laws of time and science.
What the Moon Brings: A dead sea creature arises from the sea and it is powered by the moon. Other dead creatures also awaken, whenever the moon glows.
The horror at Martin's Beach (With Sonia H. Greene): A strange and unique creature is washed ashore, a group of men are curious and go and investigate what it is. However, they get pulled into the water by the strange creature and die, while something is laughing in the background unseen.
The Festival: An ancient sea town celebrates forgotten hideous ceremonies during their festival of Yuletide. They perform hideous rituals and summon demons.
The Temple: The Main character in this story, is a German Imperial Navy Officer named Karl Heinrich Graf Von Altberg upon the U-29.
The Imperial Navy discovers Atlantis, after the U-boat falls to the bottom of the ocean. One of the crewmen kept a strange coin in his hand most of the time, since he was superstitious. However whenever a person was in possession of this coin, it had a strange affect on them psychologically. It caused visual hallucinations and drove the crewmen mad. Karl escapes the U-boat, to wander around the ancient crumbling underwater city, he discovers that the temple he found is beckoning people to it, to their death.
Hallowe'en in a Suburb (Poem): This poem is about vampires and other supernatural creatures. Dead creatures are beckoned by the moon.
The Moon-Bog: The servants and laborers are disturbed by the moon-bog since that is where the dead are including the protagonist.
The moon-bog is illuminated by the moon.
He:This short story is about a man with knowledge of ancient civilizations, that is a guide to a fellow antiquarian. He is also a necromancer and shows off his powers.
Festival (Poem): This poem is about cannibalistic druids.
The Green Meadow (With Winifred Virginia Jackson): Fishermen have found a slate rock or meteorite, that contained a strange book inside. People started chanting in the green meadow.
Nathicana (Poem): This poem is about a godlike, pure beautiful being the land of it's people is destroyed by the presence of a demon.
Two Black Bottles(With Winifred Blanch Talmon): The main character Vanderhoof is in league with the devil. Another character Abel Foster is similar to him, but he is a grave robber.
The Last Test (With Adolphe De Castro): A scientist (Dr. Claredon) sets out to create a cure for the disease black fever, he had good intentions, but along the line he becomes very cruel and evil. He is cruel especially to his animal specimen and eventually to his sister and assistant Surama. Dr. Claredon, does experiments on his sister's dog, but it later dies.
The antidote he created for the black fever disease is not yet perfected, so that is why he has animal specimens in cages. It is not quite ready for human testing. Surama his evil assistant that always chuckles is neither living or dead or entirely human when he is killed in a fire, when Dr. Claredon burnt the animal specimens, his sister's dog and his assistant Surama. Surama's remains look human, even though while he was alive, he looked like he was anything but human.
Dr. Claredon is bewitched by Surama and the primordial gods that he worships. Surama chuckles at the pain or destruction or others human or animal alike. However the last time he chuckled was when Dr. Claredon said that his sister would be the first human subject for the antidote that he created, even though it would have unstable results and result in her death. When it fails to work he burns all of his specimens, his research. I don't like the fact that this story involved animal cruelty, like the story The Cats of Ulthar.
The Wood: This poem is about a wood that has been destroyed, but the dead have awoken upon words that have been spoken there.
The Ancient Track: This poem is about an ancient track that no one knows about except the person that discovered it.
The Electric Executioner (With Adolphe De Castro): A man left the mining company that he works for with important legal documents.
The main character needs to retrieve them, so he travels by train, where he notices to his annoyance another person, in the carriage opposite him. The man notices that the strange passenger is possessively holding a suitcase that contains a strange devise.
The devise affects the man's appearance and time itself. The man that is holding the suitcase radiates light, but no one ever pays enough attention to notice. The man, wishes to use the other passenger as his first human test subject. The end result of the story was that the man was either never really there or he disappeared completely. I think that the tired passenger fell, asleep and had a very vivid dream, since that would explain why he wasn't there when he woke up.
Fungi From Yuggoth (Poetry):
1-The Book: Old crumbling books in a library are discovered.
2-Pursuit: Someone is in pursuit of the book thief.
3-The Key: The book thief has acquired key, the person that is in pursuit of him, is fumbling at the window of his house.
4-Recognition: An altar was discovered, the man recognized that he was inhuman and feasted upon a human being.
5-Homecoming: The man is reminded of his home by a demon.
6-The Lamp: The man discovered a lamp in the hollow cliff side. There is also a scroll with written incantations and obscure symbols all over it.
7-Zaman's Hill: Dead animals, and dead people were supposedly found. People have also disappeared.
8-The Port: An eerie port shrouded in darkness.
9-The Courtyard: A courtyard full of corpses that have no hands or heads.
10-The Pigeon-Flyers: There are lots of evil pigeons from other-worldly lands.
11-The Well: Two farmers are trying to cover up a well, one of them went insane while the other covered the well and killed himself.
12-The Howler: An animal with four paws but a human face was discovered howling in pain.
13-Hesperia: Sphinxes, the river of time. The land has never been soiled by humans.
14-Star-Winds:
Twilight gloom's inspiring poets of forgotten ancient alien lore.
15-Antarktos: A distant forgotten land that is dimly guessed by the elder gods what actually inhabits it.
16-The Window: An old house with a window sealed with stone.A blast of air unveiled a dream world in another reality.
17-A Memory: At a campsite, a dead cloaked form appears.
18-The Gardens of Yin: Moss covered towers with terraced gardens.
19-The Bells: The bells recoil buried memories, summoning people to the sea.
20-Night Gaunts: Creatures crawling out of a crypt, they are horned demons with wings and tails, they are taking a man to a hideous lake.
21-Nyarlothotep: Ancient mummies bow down to Nyarlothotep and wait for his command, to arise and play hideous ancient music and dance.
22-Azathoth: In the presence of a demon, where there is no space or shape to anything that is natural, only chaos exists in this realm of the demon.
23-Mirage: A vague image of a floating world, that may or may not exist.
24-The Canal: An evil place, that has a spectral glow.
25-St. Toad's: Warnings from the toad's of the chimes of the bell's.
26-The familiar's: John Whately is talking to his demon familiars. The town, that he lives in believes that he is mad.
27-The Elder Pharos: Ancient elder beings that still communicate with their brethren.
28-Expectancy: Expectancy of unrivaled marvels in the universe.
29-Nostalgia: Birds wish to return to a land of their memories.
30-Background: A land remembered from childhood dreams.
31-The Dweller: A long forgotten buried secret in ancient times, that a dweller discovers and then leaves with it.
32-Alienation:A creature that does not belong in our time, our even in our world.
33-Harbour Whistles: Sounds emanate from a ship that no one else other than the main character in the poetry has ever heard before or since.
34-Recaptured: The man was recaptured back into the dream-world.
35-Evening Star: The rays of the evening star reveals the man's lost home.
36-Continuity: Without any form or weight ancient beings are connected to time and space in our world.
The Trap (With Henry S. Whitehead): A teacher posses a strange ancient mirror, one of his students has gone missing and is now stuck in the mirror. There is a portal-lie entrance to the mirror, that sucks people in and traps them there forever, so long as the mirror is still intact they will remain stuck there.
The Other Gods: This short story is about elder Gods that miss their land and want it back.
The quest of Iranon: The prince of Iranon, a singer wishes to own the land of his childhood memories. Iranon is supposedly dead, but he still remains at the end of the story.
Thew Challenge from Beyond: This story is about ancient beings that are travelling trans-galactic gulfs of space with their minds. They are worm-like in appearance, they use a human being's body as a vessel, in which they are able to animate.
In a Sequester'd Providence Where Once Poe Walk'd:Edgar Allan Poe spectral form is walking around in a graveyard, which is befitting of the style of poetry and short stories that he wrote.
Ibid: A writer/scribe in Roman times is murdered and his skull is passed between leaders of invaders.
Azathoth: “Mere walls and windows soon drive a man to madness” Edgar Allan Poe Quote A dreamer glimpses a fascinating world at night time.
The Descendant: A man shrieks at the sound of the church bells ringing he lives by himself, and it driven mad by the sound they make. The main character is dying and wishes to avoid all forms of thought, anything that might inspire his imagination is abhorrent to him. Lord Northam is a descendant of an ancient castle, in his mind and soul, he holds the key to other worlds.
The Book: A worm-infested book was discovered in a ancient decaying room. It contained a key or guide, that opened a way to beyond our realm of three dimensions.The man felt as if someone was following him, after he discovered the book. He has no memory who he is, or if he had a family, or even the year that he was alive. His soul was temporarily separated from his body when he was chanting incantations from the book that he found.
The Messenger (Poem): To Bertrand K. Esq. This poem is about the arrival of a demon.
The Evil Clergyman: An evil clergyman performed evil rites at the church, the other priests are very afraid of him, and won't even say his name. They refer to him as “him”, “it” or the evil clergyman.
The other priests are unaware of the grave of the evil clergyman.
An object was left on a table and the priest said not to tamper with it. Another person, was curious and they did pick up the object, it hurt his mind and personality till it drove him to insanity and he shot himself. This man became the evil clergyman, that the other priests are afraid of.
The very Old Folk: Strange older mountain folk, that speak very fast perform hideous rituals. Some people have gone missing, these people might have from their tribe and were sacrificed, in their rituals. People from the tribe have noticed their absence, and they are curious about what happened to them. Tethered horses at the bottom of the mountains screamed as a man killed himself, and a group of centurions were seized by flying demon.
The Thing in the Moonlight: A man unable to speak English coherently suddenly feels the urge to write in English. He was haunted, by a man howling at him in a strange dream-world every time he fell asleep.
The Transition of Juan Romero:Juan Romero, a Mexican miner died during a strange storm and stole his friend's ring. It might have a been a dream, or it may have been real.
Supernatural Horror in Literature: This essay is about influential and possibly lesser know, authors of supernatural horror in literature in the 18th-19th century and on-wards. Of course Edgar Allan Poe is mentioned among some of the greatest authors of supernatural horror fiction or horror in general. Some are known to me, while others are of a foreign land so I have not ever heard of them or read their work, but I look forward to discovering new authors of influence in this genre of writing.
Afterword-Lovecraft in Britain: This afterword is very informative, as was the information about H.P. Lovecraft in the Necronomicon. It was interesting to read, but I never quite understood why. H.P. Lovecraft never bothered to claim, intellectual property rights of his short stories and poetry so no one could illegally publish it with his or August Derleth's permission.
This book was much like the Necronomicon, because it is a collection of stories by H.P.Lovecraft but also contains poetry. It was refreshing to be able to read poetry between the short stories, since before reading this book I wasn't aware that H.P. Lovecraft wrote poetry. Some of the short stories however, seemed like they were rushed, when they written, and the story wasn't long enough for anything interesting to happen. Most of them seemed like they were half a story, since they were only a few pages long. I liked reading this book, and would recommend this to fans of H.P. Lovecraft. I like the poetry and the beautiful illustrations, just like in the Necronomicon. I also have the complete collection of his work, and I intend to read that, the second Anthology comic book as well as a Necronomicon by Alan Moore and a book about the films that were made based on his work.
H.P Lovecraft is a horror/sci-fi writer from the 1920's.
He is among one of the greatest writers in the 20th century, some of my other favourites are Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley.
I have read all the stories in the book, but i'm still reading the information about the Author, because it's really long..
So my favourite stories were:
The Statement of Randolph Carter
The Cats of Ulthar
Herbert West-Reanimator
The Music of Erich Zann
The Hound
The Rats in the wall
The Unnamable
Pickman's Model
Call of Cthulhu
The Shunned House
The Dunwich Horror
The Dreams in the Witch-House
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The thing on the doorstep
The case of Charles Dexter Ward
To a Dreamer (Poem)
My Least favourite stories:
Dagon
The Lurking Fear
The Doom that came to Sarnath
The Nameless City
Under the Pyramids
In the Vault
The Outsider
The horror at Red Hook
The Colour out of space
Cool Air
The Silver Key
The Whisperer in the darkness
The Strange High House in the Mist
From Beyond
Through the gates of the Silver Key (With E.Hoffmann Price)
At the mountains of madness
The Shadow out of time
The Haunter of the dark
The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath
I really liked all of these stories in particular, because they were entertaining, and creepy.
Most of the time, I read these stories really late at night, when it was quiet.
I couldn't sleep after reading some of these stories. Since H.P. Lovecraft had strange and vivid dreams, that's where he got the inspiration for his stories, but he was possibly mentally ill. He was an intelligent, quiet, shy introvert, some people may of thought of him as a father figure or teacher.
To be honest I much preferred the horror stories more than the sci-fi stories because they were to the point, and creepy.
The sci-fi stories were incredibly detailed, but to the point that it distracted you with laborious details, that I was confused by. If the stories were more about horrible things happening to the protagonist, than going into great detail about an ancient civilization that I've never heard or don't understand how to even pronoun their name, then I would have been happy to read them. However, because there was so much attention to every single detail, or what an ancient long since dead creature would look like, it took me a lot longer to read some of these stories. In the mountains of madness, would be a good example. Due to the attention to detail in the sci-fi stories, I found it incredibly boring to read some of these stories, and was glad once I reached the end of the story.
If you are like me and would like to read the horror stories first, then I recommend that you read the stories that I listed above. You will not be disappointed.
However if you are more of a sci-fi fan, then by all means, read the rest of the stories that I have mentioned as my least favourite above. I would recommend this to horror and sci-fi fans, although I personally didn't like all the stories, due to the attention to detail, it made reading some of the stories to read, very tiring. Some of the stories in my opinion, once I read them were not very memorable, I preferred reading some of the more obvious, creepy and disturbing stories.
This book, might not be for everyone however, since the author wrote these stories in the 19th century, so the language and vocabulary are unlike anything that I am used to, so I had to look up what certain words mean, because I didn't always understand what they meant, or how to pronounce them.
This book is perfect, if you have a lot of spare time, since it will take you months to read it all, this book is not for the faint of heart, some people might be disturbed by the subject matter of the stories.
The Cats of Ulthar is violent, the animals are harmed, so some people might be offended by this for example.
H.P. Lovecraft is considered a controversial person due to the name he gave his black cat, something he will forever be judged for, even though he lived in the 1920's a notoriously racist Era.
One of my favourite books I had seen the film before I read the book.Both are as good as each other, although I think maybe some people might be disappointed if they watch the film first then read the book and vice versa. However for me, since I have a very vivid imagination, I could picture the film in my head while I was reading this book.
The film/book each have a slow pace, that builds the tension.
This leads to one of the most memorable scenes in a book/film. (In my opinion, the part of the book/film at the hotel on-wards is the best part)
I love this book, and I really enjoyed reading it, for a full day, because at the time, I was really ill, so this helped a lot. If you like Japanese cinema/culture or just Japanese or Korean Literature in general then I think you will enjoy reading this book, and watching the film. Although the pace sometimes, might be a little slow, for some people.
Personally I am a huge fan of foreign literature, especially if it is set in Japan, Russian, Germany and it involves a crime, or it is a horror story. I also really like the dark humor in these types of books, when the main character is considering doing something out of character, and thinks of it in a funny way.
I recommend this book, to fans of Japanese culture or foreign literature. I just ordered another book by this author, and I can't wait to read more of his work.
The introduction at the beginning of the book is informative and interesting, not many books have a introduction that mentions real-life FBI agents like Robert Ressler or John Douglas. Both are significant FBI agents that have had interesting careers. Robert Ressler was one of the FBI agents responsible to Ted Bundy being caught. John Douglas work with the FBI in the Behavioural Science unit that created “psychological profiling” of serial killers, to categorise the characteristics, mindset, personality of serial killers. If psychological, geographical or other forms of profiling never existed, then a lot of serial killers would have not ever been discovered, so Israel Keyes (an Alaskan serial killer and someone that terrified the FBI when he was questioned about his crimes would never have been known about or caught. That is terrifying!)
Profiling is absolutely necessary to discovering a serial killer, murderers, terrorists etc..
It is not a exact science though, and a psychological profile of a serial killer, or potential murderer, mass murderer can be wrong, inaccurate.
Jack the Ripper has always interested me, but some aspects of the information available about the murders can be false, a hoax for attention or inaccurate. If Aaron Kosminski's brother Wolf, was a Jack the Ripper suspect then why was he never questioned about the murders? Why is there no information about him in the book? It's a bit frustrating, as a reader of true crime.
I love the franchise of videogames and I wish there was a graphic novel series of the games, or a series of books. I love the era of time it is set it, and the underwater city.
My review is for the eBook.
This book is written by Daniel “Danny Rolling” A.K.A the “Gainesville Ripper” he was the real-life inspiration for the Scream horror film franchise.
The book was written by Danny Rolling while he was incarcerated and collaborated with Sondra London.
He is a paranoid schizophrenic-he has visual & auditory hallucinations, due to experiencing trauma, from his abusive father, his psyche was fractured and split into several alters (alternative personalities that represent fragmented parts of Danny Rolling's fractured psyche)
He seemed quite charming and manipulative, feigning ignorance, during the writing process of this book, he seems like the type of person that would say or do anything to gain the sympathy of anyone that would listen to his sob story.
Nothing obviously excuses a parent(s) that are abusive, but Daniel Rolling is responsible for his own behaviour, attitude, poor impulse control, or the way he views or perceives women.
He glorifies rape, murder, robbery and expressed his love & feelings towards Sondra London during the writing of this book, which is a usual situation to be in to write & publish a true crime, real-life account of a serial killer's life, motivation, intention or purpose for their premeditated murderous plan.
I don't really believe the bogus demonic posession narrative that Danny Rolling expects people to automatically believe, so he can justify or excuse what he did.
Although disasosciation and DID-(Diasaociative Identity Disorder) would be believable since it is a real-life mental illness, it's not known as “split-personality anymore though.
Mental illness doesn't automatically mean anyone will automatically become violent, sadistoc, cruel or a murderer.
Danny Rolling is similar to Ted Bundy he was a peeping tom, a voyuer, a rapist, necrophile and a serial killer of women that he hated.
There are a lot of similarities between Danny Rolling and Ted Bundy, which is not something any man should ever feel proud about or boast about, it's not a good thing.
If your a man and you feel the same way about women, or act in a similar way to either serial killer, then go and see a therapist ASAP!
It really disgusted me how Danny Rolling kept referring to one of his female victims as a “little girl” or when he called her “daddies little girl” or a “good girl” for pleasing him sexually, while she is being raped several times and she was unable to defend herself or prevent it from happening or he would stab her to death.
This book is not for everyone, I don't recommend people read this book if they are squeamish, they have a vivid imagination because this case, and the Luka Magnotta case which is similar are very graphic and violent, so the details are hard to forget. In case you don't know Luka Magnotta, tortured and murdered cats, sometimes more than one cat. He filmed what he did and posted it online for attention. He also stabbed a man with a ice pick, cut their throat, dis-articulated their body, and had sex with their corpse he filmed the whole thing and posted it online which was also for attention. If it wasn't for animal rights activists and “arm chair sleuths”online then he would never have been caught. He originally planned to make similar or more “movies” as he called them.
Armin Meiwes filmed himself, killing his submissive and willing victim (The victim wanted to be eaten, which is a type of fetish. The way the victims were murdered was a similar, but Armin Meiwes intended to consume the victim, which he did afterwards for several months. Anyone that has seen the original recording were and are deeply disturbed by it.
If his parents didn't get divorced, if he wasn't snubbed by his brothers and a lack of a relationship which made Armin resent his family, didn't occur then he wouldn't have turned out to be the person that he is now. I will finish my review when I have read the rest of the book.
The copy I have of this book, which I haven't read yet is falling apart, the pages are falling out but I at least laminated the cover to protect it from further damage.
I need to buy a replacement copy of this book, so I can read it.
I love Gizmo he's my favourite he's so adorable.
This book is about the serial killer “the monster of Florence” the investigation into the murders was poorly handled and evidence was contaminated, he was never caught.
The version of the book that I own is the Penguin Classics version, I like the cover the book has, it depicts demons, since the theme of the book is about demons, temptation and depravity/debauchery.
I like it when a book cover reflects the theme of the book, and it's one of the reasons that I bought the book, I already know about the controversy about this book, but I think even if you are religious, you should read this book, form your own opinion about it.
There is and was a lot of controversy about the publication of this book in 1796 historically and maybe there still is some controversy in the modern era, due to the themes, context of the book, it is considered to be blasphemous, obscene, a lot of writers/poets were opposed to the book and publically severely criticised the book & the author Matthew Gregory Lewis.
He could have been charged with blasphemy since there a law against doing something that is considered religiously offensive or blasphemous on purpose just to offend people.
I don't think the author wrote the book to be offensive, obscene, to seem immoral or blasphemous on purpose, it's just their creative idea, which is unique, so it should be appreciated for what it is.
A good example of blasphemy is the British metal band Cradle of Filth designed a t-shirt & hoodie that showed a nun masturbating which to me seems funny, I've always been a fan of the band, I have a dark sense of humour as well.
They don't purposefully create perverse, entertaining music just to be blasphemous on purpose, like people assume.
I understand why it is considered to be blasphemous, or a book promoting the belief in demons, or the worship of demons in certain ways, due to how the Capuchin monk in the book is influenced by demons or tempted by Satan overtime.
No one can withstand the influence of demons or Satan forever, eventually you will give in, and accept their influence, you will embrace the darkness, your inner animalistic, depraved, perverse, predatory, base self.
This is what the Capuchin monk does in the book, so while being influenced by demons & tempted by Satan he becomes more and more depraved, sexually deviant, perverse, animalistic and sexually predatory.
Everyone has this within themselves, but some people choose to suppress/repress it, while other people are very hedonistic and unashamed about it, there is always a dichotomy of the psyche, personality, in terms of your energy and which path you choose to follow.
A path of righteousness, and piety, & faith or trust in God or a path of darkness, depravity, hedonism, sexual perversity/sexual depravity, consorting with demons/Satan instead.
Anyone can originally be a good, kind, loving person, but their innocence can be corrupted, taken from them so they become something else, depraved, deviant, perverse, hedonistic, and unashamed of their perverse sexual appetite.
I think this book says a lot about innocence being corrupted, taken and the dark sexual appetites, taboo sexual desires people have, but they would never admit to, because they would be too ashamed, judged, shamed for their taboo sexual desires, their perversity, hedonism, predatory sexual nature as a person, they would be judged/shamed for their impiety.
I don't always understand why anyone that feels lust/lustful, or they sexual desire that can some be considered taboo, forbidden, or immoral in some way is considered & portrayed in a negative way, but it does depend on the context of their lust,sexual desire especially if it is perverse, depraved, and involves debauchery. A sexual Libertine like Giacomo Casanova.
Obviously there ae things I consider to be a taboo sexually
(hurting animals & kids, in any context or capacity including sexually/ritualistically is disgusting, it's morally wrong, I will never understand it) I don't understand why this in particular is not condemned a lot more, then just judging people just for feeling natural lust & sexual desire for someone they love/care about. It's nothing to be ashamed or,or fearful of unless you have been abused, religious abuse is part of it, intermingled with sexual abuse, which is why some people feel ashamed about sex, to like sex or feel ashamed after sex, which is understandable if you have been abused. Lust, sexual desire, or being into B.D.S.M is normal, I think it is more of a problem when you try to suppress and repress your natural lust & sexual desire which is what Ambrosio tries to do in the book, but that doesn't work forever, eventually he would naturally want to experience having sex and express himself in a sexual way.
I know from experience, how frustrating it is to be sexually repressed, to have sexual desire, but you don't always have the intention to act on that sexual desire,so you just suppress it, repress any sexual desire you have, which isn't healthy.
I have my own personal reasons for that though.
So in my pinion, the more you try to forbid someone from doing something, by condemning it, vilifying or demonizing it, the more the person would want to do it anyway, because it seems appealing, attractive because it's taboo, forbidden.
This can apply to various things such as sex, drugs, drinking alcohol, practicing witchcraft, using a Ouija board, communicating with the dead etc..
The introduction at the start of the book, is helpful but it is a very wordy, long & tedious to read.
I am a fan of Zak Bagans and the Ghost Adventures paranormal investigative team of his friends including Nick Groff and his wife.
I think sometimes Americans in general have a atypical boastful, arrogance and seem to think they are better than everyone else, have more experience or knowledge than everyone else about the paranormal.
If they were willing to accept other people's point of view, their beliefs and spiritual practices, personal, individual paranormal experiences it would be helpful to expand their point of view, knowledge of the paranormal, occult/witchcraft as well.
You just have to be more respectful, open-minded and accepting of various spiritual beliefs, spiritual practices.
I personally think the term/phrase “
I received this paperback book as a early birthday present and I look forward to reading it, since the plot of this book is interesting and it has now been adapted into a film.
I like the actor Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot (a fictional Belgium detective)
I already like the adaptation of And then there were none and the adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express was okay.
This book is about a group of people attending a Séance in Venice, Italy but things don't go according to plan and people are murdered so then it turns into a murder mystery.