Lord Samper's Library

I'm hoping that by now, you'll know that I'm honest in my reviews here. If I liked something then I'll tell you exactly why that is, if I don't like something then I'll do exactly the same thing. Spare no punches etc etc. Sometimes though, something comes along that makes objectivity a little harder to achieve. And that's ok, half the reason we're here is because we love what we read and when you fall in love, something's faults suddenly become a little easier to ignore.Well, that's me and 'The Goon'. I've been reading about the Goon's efforts to keep Lonely Street free of the Zombie Priest's minions (and take more than his fair share of the other illicit operations happening in the area) for years now; long enough to see my first collection sold (money being horribly tight at the time) and for me to build up a second collection. It's not quite complete yet, although all the important books are there, which m...

And so my quest to find some decent horror fiction, written when I was a kid, finally took me to the work of Richard Laymon; an author where I always mean to check out more of his work (I've read 'Friday Night in Beast House' and 'Savage', both of which promised more than they delivered) but always seem to end up reading something by Dean Koontz instead. It's funny how that always seem to happen, it's not as if I even like Dean Koontz' work that much...But anyway, Richard Laymon. I paid a visit to my old friend Amazon and between us, we decided that 'Flesh' and 'One Scary Night' would be good places to start reading some Laymon (and they were cheap, my cash card also got involved in the conversation). A few days later and I'm halfway through that particular book package. In a turn of events that I really should have seen coming by now, I'm also left feeling a little disappointed by 'One Rainy Night'; a book that...

I gave up on keeping up with the ins and outs of the Marvel universe a long time ago, at least with the comics. It's too big and far too complicated for what little time I have left in the day. I will always make time for a new Deadpool trade but everything else?I keep up with the big yearly events and spend the rest of my time dipping into comics depending on whoever I think has done a good job in whatever MCU film I watched last. Which reminds me, my 'Far From Home' DVD is still in its wrapping... But anyway. It was roughly that approach that led me to pick up a copy of 'The Unworthy Thor', that and having enjoyed Jason Aaron's 'The God Butcher' when I read it a couple of years ago. 'Baal' (see yesterday's review) had also proved to be quite the intense read in some places and I thought a bit of comic book reading would take my mind off it, for a bit, until I moved on to my next book. As luck would have it, 'The Unworthy Thor...

The last time I saw a copy of 'Baal' would have been just over fifteen years ago when I worked as a cleaner in a psychiatric hospital. I wasn't the best cleaner that hospital had ever had, especially not when I came across 'Baal' and spent most of that particular week reading when I should have been cleaning... Never saw another copy after that, not until the other day when I was browsing eBay (trying to find alternatives to Guy N. Smith) and came across 'Baal' at a price that I could afford. It was the work of but a few moments to buy the book and the work of about a day to read it and see whether it was the book that I remember reading all those years ago. 'Baal' isn't a bad book but it's not the best of McCammon's work that I've read, not by a long way... From the seething cauldron of the Middle East, his followers burst forth in unholy fury... He is the foul seed of evil, the dark prophet who sees what is – and cr...

I know, I know but all my plans for my day off yesterday slowly turned into things that I absolutely had to get done which turned into a day off where I only had a couple of hours to curl up with a book. Time was of the essence and so I ended up picking up 'Night of the Crabs' on the basis that it's only a hundred and forty three pages long (I know I said it was a hundred and thirty something pages, the other day, but me and numbers have never particularly got on...), so I knew I'd finish it in one sitting, and because it will be a strange day indeed when a book about giant crabs doesn't entertain my simple needs ;o) After this book, my Guy N. Smith reading will be slowing right down as I 'm back to searching out cheap copies in old second-hand shops or online. 'Night of the Crabs' is a good one to bow out on then, It has it's issues but ended up being more fun than I thought it would be. You've never let me down giant crabs, please don...

I was going to leave it at least another week until tackling volume 3 of Avatar's 'Night of the Living Dead' series but I was so disappointed by the last volume that I think a part of me just wanted to get the series over and done with. Having bought volume 3 already, it was almost a case of having to finish it really. So I did and... The most terrifying night in American history was only the beginning! The year is 1969, and though the risen dead had ravaged the eastern seaboard a year earlier, two thousand miles of distance bring comfort to a handful of young and carefree “weekend warriors.” Eager to leave their tensions behind, they head out into the Californian dunes for three days of hot sun, dune buggies, and skimpy bikinis.But the pristine white sands will soon run red, as a secret even more gut-wrenching than flesh-eating ghouls coes to light! Collecting the entire “Death Valley” story arc by horror comic legend Mike Wolfer, with an added bonus story set i...

I'm not going to lie, I went a little bit crazy on Amazon and eBay this week... One thing I've noticed about myself is that I'll buy (more) books when I'm particularly stressed about something; this last week has been very stressful, what with one thing and another so it's no surprise to me that the end of the week sees a big pile of books on my bed. I was also looking for more horror to read, after deciding to give my Guy N. Smith reading a bit of a break. You can see how successful that was in the picture below... I know, I know... I knew his stuff was on Kindle now but not that you could pick it up in reissued paperback as well. In the absence of a charger for my Kindle (which must be around somewhere...) I went ahead and treated myself to a copy of the paperback. It's crazy to think that in seven years, 'Night of the Crabs' will be fifty years old. What's even crazier is that this means I'll be fifty years old in just six years... ...

This week has been a brutal one at work so weeknights have been more about watching , and trying not to fall asleep during them, than anything else. And here's the thing, I know I've watched three movies but I can't for the life of me remember what the third movie was. Did I watch something so awful that I've erased it from my memory? Check out the two movies that I can remember watching and form your own conclusions... 'Ice Spiders' (2007) When a young ski team training for the Olympics arrives at the remote and isolated Lost Mountain Ski Resort to focus on training, they're thrilled to find a retired Olympic skier is there to help them train. But their plans are halted when a scientist working at a nearby government lab arrives with the horrifying news that a top secret Government project has produced giant spiders and they have escaped, killing and eating everything in sight. Quite possibly the worst CGI spiders that I've ever...

Or as I've come to think of this book over the last few days that it's been my book, 'Elric vs the Giant Green Flea that likes to sit down a lot'... Covers like these are the main reason why I absolutely love the old Grafton covers for the 'Eternal Champion' series and I'll snap these up whenever I see them, even if I already have them in a different edition. I first encountered Michael Moorcock's books during 'library lessons' in my first year of high school. That was well over thirty years ago now (today's reminder of just how old I am now...) and I can't quite remember whether it was 'Elric at the End of Time' or 'The Prince with the Silver Hand' that I picked up first. Either way, I've been reading (and re-reading) these books ever since so whichever book was the first read, it was a good one. 'The Vanishing Tower' is a re-read but it's been such a long time since I picked it up that it ...

As I said in my review of Volume 1, despite my issues with the book, it ‘ Still won't stop me buying future volumes though...’ And here we are, thanks to some good luck encountered while trawling ‘Amazon New and Used’. I’m a little more discerning with my zombie fiction these days but will still manage to find time for anything with ‘Night of the Living Dead’ on the cover and stayed up late, the other night, finishing this book off. In a lesson that I never thought I’d end up having to learn, it turns out that sometimes it’s not worth staying up late to finish off a zombie comic… The original zombie horror returns, as a legion of undead ghouls marches towards an Anti-Vietnam War protest in Washington, D.C.! The most horrifying night in American history continues as the next chapter of Night of the Living Dead is revealed by writers Mike Wolfer (Gravel, Wolfskin) and John Russo, the co-writer of the original film classic! It’s not often that I finish a read and feel,...

The Fellowship of the Ring, the Black Company, the Raven and the Bridge Burners. In fact any group of characters that band together for whatever reason, in a fantasy novel, make that book one that I will read no matter what; not so much for the battles and derring do (although that never hurts) but for those moments round the campfire, at the end of the day, where conversations happen and friendships are forged. If they’re doing it for money then so much the better as it opens the story with so many possibilities for our brave heroes (or, in some cases, ‘heroes’). All of this is a roundabout way of saying that as soon as I read the blurb for ‘the Black Hawks’ I just knew that I would have to pick up a copy and try it for myself. So I picked up a copy and tried it for myself. ‘the Black Hawks’ took some getting into but not too much; it’s well worth that initial effort though, half of me is wishing that I hadn’t torn through the last few pages as now I’ve got to wait for the ...

I loved this show when I first saw it, a few years back, and pretty much gorged myself on it via, erm… disreputable sources. I only got through the first couple of seasons (mainly because there were only a couple of seasons to watch) and then promptly forgot about it in the middle of everything else that was going on for me. How can you watch a TV show if you don’t have a home to watch it in and other issues of that nature… Don’t worry, it did get that bad but it’s all sorted now; my flat is lovely thanks. So, one flat and a hefty dose of Amazon Prime later and I realise that there are now three whole seasons of ‘Stan Against Evil’ for me to get stuck into… That was pretty much all I did for large chunks of the weekend and it was great. I polished off all of Season 1 and just over half of Season 2 as well but am going to take things one season at a time here… The New Hampshire town of Willard’s Mill is home to any number of dead witches and assorted demonic creatures, a...

This was going to be Saturday's 'Retro' post but I was looking after my daughters and when I wasn't looking after my daughters I was binging on 'Stan Against Evil' so you can see why not a lot happened on Saturday. It was good though, how was your weekend? Anyway... So last weekend I was saying how film tie-in books were great for a boy like me who didn't go to the pictures as much as he wanted to.Turns out that movies weren't the only media to get the 'novelisation' treatment, computer games had their turn as well. Well 'Shadowkeep' did, a 1984 role playing game that completely passed me by at the time (as did most computer games until the mid to late eighties). I can't quite remember where I found my copy of the book (given the location of the annual family holiday, I've narrowed it down to Norfolk...) but I can remember enjoying it as a kid. I can also remember it ending up in a charity shop and a recent bout of nos...

Because I bought one of the books from a charity shop, any excuse to use the word 'misnomer' in a post... It's felt like a bit of a quiet week for books turnting up on the doorstep/being picked up in charity shops etc; mostly because I've got other things to spend my money on as Christmas (and my youngest daughter's 6 th Birthday) gets ever closer. I'm pretty pleased with what I picked up though. Lets have a look at them... 'The Vanishing Tower' – Michael Moorcock Elric of Melniboné, proud prince of ruins, last lord of a dying race, wanders the lands of the Young Kingdoms in search of the evil sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. His object is revenge. But to achieve this, he must first brave such horrors as the Creatures of Chaos, the freezing wilderness of World's Edge, the golden-skinned Kelmain hordes, King Urish the Seven-fingered with his great cleaver Hackmeat, the Burning God, the Sighing Desert, and the terrible stone-age me...

While my incredibly old and creaky phone is still able to take pictures, I thought I'd share a quick shot of what my TBR pile is looking like at the moment. Here you go, It's not as big as it has been, as it has been in the past (although I haven't counted all the comic books), but I actually like it like this. When the TBR pile is overflowing onto the floor then there's pressure to read quicker and reading, for me, is about actually engaging with what's in front of me instead of worrying about what to read next. That doesn't mean to say that there aren't books that I'm looking forward to getting round to though; I'm thinking of 'Empire of Grass' which is a book that I'll save for when I've got a day off and plenty of time to kill. What about you guys? Are there any books here that have caught your eye? I can't promise that I'll get round to them any quicker but I'm interested to know what you think so leave a commen...

So we come then to the palate cleanser for the book I read that was meant to be a palate cleanser for the book before that... I won't go into detail about my experiences with 'Bats out of Hell', not when you can scroll down a little bit and read about them for yourself. You go right ahead, I'll be here just minding my own business... … You all caught up? Brilliant, cool, lets keep moving then. I needed something to put a little space between me and 'Bats out of Hell'. I was about due a comic book read and I'd had a lot of fun with 'Head Lopper Volume 1' so it wasn't exactly a chore to grab the book off the shelf and take that on my commute. I'm very glad that I did ;o) In a quiet region of the world, an ancient evil stirs. The CRIMSON TOWER is awake! Blood has not wet its face for an age, but the tower runs red once more. Warriors from distant lands are drawn to its gate with revenge, or glory, in their hea...