Just got back from residency orientation @ Seton Hill. It’s nice to be back, even if it meant driving 4 hours through snow. I had a great break, had a couple of good reads while I was off. First was John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, a very entertaining science fiction book. It’s not my typical flavor, but it kept me reading, full of good action and interesting characters.
My other read was The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume 20, edited by Stephen Jones. It’s filled with some excellent short horror from 2008, and definitely worth the time. It’s late, I’m tired, so I won’t do any sort of review of them, but here’s a list of the one’s that appealed most to me:
- It Runs Beneath the Surface, by Simon Strantzas
- These Things We Have Always Known, by Lynda E. Rucker (my favorite of the lot)
- Through the Cracks, by Gary McMahon
- The Camping Wainwrights, by Ian R. MacLeod
- The Oram County Whoosit, by Steve Duffy (excellent story in the vein of Lovecraft)
- The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates, by Stephen King
- 2:00 pm: The Real Estate Agent Arrives, by Steve Rasnic Tem
That last one verges on poetic. It’s shorter than this post, a mere 3 sentences, but paints a beautifully horrific picture and punches you in the end. Loved it!
And now, I’m off to see if I can wrap up some stuff before getting into the groove tomorrow.