The High Five Podcast Episode 30 – The Works Of Grady Hendrix!

Posted on by TJDietsch

On this week’s episode, I discuss my recent journey making may way through most of author Grady Hendrix’s fantastic horror novels. I’m mainly covering Horrorstor, Paperbacks From Hell, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls and just a bit about The Final Girl Support Group!

For what it’s worth, I think I realized why some might not connect to We Sold Our Souls as much. I think it’s because there’s no friendship at the heart of the story like there is in most of the other ones. This also explains why it feels more akin to HorrorStor to me because Amy’s in a similar boat.

If you’re interested, I wrote a bit about HorrorStor here and covered Paperbacks From Hell here.

As always, you can email me at high5tj at gmail.com or follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

The High Five Podcast Episode 12 – Great Current Horror Writers…Who Aren’t Stephen King

Posted on by TJDietsch

On today’s episode, I’m running down five rad horror authors working right now who are not the master Stephen King. Over the course I talk about a dozen different books that have really hit me over the past decade or so. Hopefully you’ll find someone new to read as you listen!

I’ve written about a lot of these books here on the site: Final Girls, The Last Time I Lied, A Head Full Of Ghosts, HorrorStor, Paperbacks From Hell, Locke & Key, Heart-Shaped Box, Horns, NOS4A2, 20th Century Ghosts, The Shining Girls and Broken Monsters.

In the episode I also mentioned Valancourt Books, Thriftbooks, Bookbub and the Kindle Daily Deals email list. Check them out!

Halloween Scene Book Report: When Darkness Loves Us (1985)

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I feel like, by this point, my love of all things Paperbacks From Hell and Valancourt Books is well-established. If you follow that first link you’ll see my review for the book that started me down this path as well as the first installment in Valancourt’s PFH series, The Nest. I’ve also written about the imprint’s Stage Fright as well Manhattan Ghost Story, which I first found out about through the original book. Now I’m getting back to the original series with the second installment in Valancourt’s Paperbacks From Hell line, When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom. Wow, it was good.

Continue reading Halloween Scene Book Report: When Darkness Loves Us (1985)

Book Report: Paperbacks From Hell & The Nest

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Do you ever keep hearing about an author so many times that reading their books just seems like a delightful inevitability. That was kind of the case with Grady Hendrix. I remember his early fiction books getting talked about on my favorite horror podcast, Shock Waves, and then he went on to appear on the show a few times (a bonus ep from May 2017 and episode 115 if you’re looking for specifics). Between those appearances and the time he showed up on Teen Creeps (episode 150), Hendrix quickly jumped way up on my radar of authors to keep an eye out for. Luckily, several of his books, including Horrorstor and Paperbacks From Hell soon showed up on the cheap digitally and I grabbed them both. I briefly wrote about the former in my 2019 year end list, but now it’s time to talk about Paperbacks…and what it’s lead to.

Continue reading Book Report: Paperbacks From Hell & The Nest

My Favorite Book Reading Experiences Of 2019

Posted on by TJDietsch

Let’s keep this Best Of 2019 thing going! So far, I’ve covered my favorite classic horror movie viewings of last year and now I’m on to books. I keep this rad super hero wall-mounted shelf in my office and stack up the physical books I’ve read throughout the year. As you can see in this photo, I also have a list next to it that I can put digital and library conquests on as well. It sure makes it simple to do a list like this!

Continue reading My Favorite Book Reading Experiences Of 2019

Halloween Scene 2019!

Posted on by TJDietsch

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That is, the time when my kids have gone back to school, the weather gets chillier and I inject unhealthy quantities of horror into my veins. Last year, I went way too big with a project that might change into something else, so this year I’m keeping it somewhat simple when it comes to the horror films, books and comics I’ll be putting in my eyeballs. Continue reading Halloween Scene 2019!