Lord Samper's Library

I haven’t been so good with this in recent years (Halloween being more about following my kids around the streets while they do Trick or Treat) but I do like to pop on a scary(ish) movie, on the day, and have a watch 😊 Not a lot of difference from most other days, I know, but… it’s Halloween 😉 ‘Trick ‘r Treat’ isn’t the scariest film ever but it’s an ‘anthology’ movie (and you know how I am with those) and I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for it anyway so I thought I’d make it the first of my ‘Halloween’ movies today. First? Yep, I’m planning on a couple more if I’m not on ‘Trick or Treat’ duty tonight. We’ll see how that pans out but in the meantime… Four separate tales regarding a secret serial killing high-school principal, a college girl virgin, a woman who hates Halloween as much as her husband loves it and a group of school kids who carry out a wickedly sadistic prank. As the night unfolds, danger descends, as unspeakable things roam free and the townsfolk must do all they can i...

Well, it's been coming for a while and yesterday , it finally happened. I love books and I love my books but I've been buying them far quicker than I can read them and my flat is tiny... Something had to give ;o) Over the last couple of days, I've taken a good hundred (or so) comic books and horror/fantasy/sci-fi books to the little 'Phone Box Library', on Lewisham Way, and left them there for anyone who happens to be passing. If you're in the area, there may be a few left... ;o) How does it feel? I'm feeling pretty good actually. There are still a lot of books in the flat but I'm feeling less and less like a hoarder and more like someone who has a few too many books, that can't be a bad thing :o) And some of those books were in pretty good shape (the comic books in particular) so it's nice to think that someone else will get some use out of them. I can't see myself doing it again for a while but I'd recommend having a little clean out ev...

My little journey to finally finish off that little pile of half finished books continues with ‘Dominion’, a book that should never have been on that pile for as long as it was. As much as I enjoyed ‘Dominion’ whenever I had the chance to pick it up, and I’ll tell you more about that in a second, several other things would inevitably combine to make sure that it would be a while before I got another chance to read. But, like a settler heading off into the wildlands (not a settler mauled to death by the fauna…), I got there in the end and it was a journey well worth taking. Let me tell you about it (quickly though, too much to do and not enough Graeme for it all…) In the rain-soaked shanty towns of Excelsis, sellsword Niksar Astaboras drunkenly barters his way to a meaningless existence. Little does he care for the war that rages between men and monsters beyond the city walls, despite portents of its encroaching threat. Mortal life in the Realm of Beasts is short enough, and to leave ...

I found my copy of ‘The Best Horror Of The Year’, lurking in a TBR pile, the other day and after finishing the deliciously creepy ‘Slipper’ , I realised that I wasn’t quite ready to send it back into the depths of Mount TBR just yet. I wanted some short, sharp doses of horror and seeing as the book was right in front of me… Well 😉 It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything by Simon Bestwick but I still remember ‘The Faceless’ and ‘Tide of Souls’ being bloody brilliant, back in the day, so I figured it was a safe bet to give ‘Below’ a shot. Actually, it was a bit more than that. I was really excited to read it. And I won’t lie, ‘My Name is Ellie’ came straight after ‘Below’ so I just kept going. And I’m really glad that I did but I’ll tell you all about that a little further down the page. It’s another ‘quick thoughts’ post I’m afraid, it’s my first day back after three days off and work… Well, there’s been a lot of it and not a lot of time to get my head round it all. And th...

It's been a busy couple of days (good days but... busy, always seems to be the case during half term) and I'm looking at another busy day today so I declared last night a 'Movie Night', got some pizza in and let myself unwind a bit ;o) I hadn't really planned on watching 'Deadstream' (the main character looked like he was designed with the sole aim of doing my head right in although that's just the mood I'm on these days) but Melanie Stone was awesome in 'V/H/S/99' so when I realised that she was in 'Deadstream' as well, well... Of course I was going to give it a shot ;o) And as it happened, I'm really glad I did. I'm not a massive fan of 'found footage' films but 'Deadstream' really worked for me and just the right blend of horror and comedy. Let me tell you about it a bit more... After some controversy, online show 'Wrath of Shawn' is back and host Shawn is all up for earning some money by facing up...

Another shortish post for today as I've got a few bits and pieces on; most of it around keeping my kids occupied, the rest of it divided equally between hanging out with the pets and hanging out with the in-laws. It's all good ;o) While I'm doing all of that (and chewing frantically on a Nicorette), you get a small slice of horror, short story style... ;o) I was rooting around the TBR piles the other day, looking for some horror fiction that my twelve year old daughter might enjoy, and I came across my copy of 'The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Twelve'. She loved 'This Was Always Going To Happen' but I haven't let her read any of the other stories, not yet, not after I had a quick read through Sarah Langan's 'The Night Nurse' and scared myself silly. I wanted to feature something from the collection though and in the end, I settled on Catriona Ward's 'Slipper' (not her actual slipper, the story... oh, you know what I mean). I...

I just had to go back and count, just to be sure, but 'Unsafe Spaces' is (definitely) the eleventh instalment in Brian Keene's 'Reader Recession Relief' deal where every week, a different title of his is discounted to within an inch of its life so that we can have some good reading and afford to pay the bills at the same time. I can get behind that and in fact, that's what I've been doing for the last few weeks, reading along with each deal to fill in some gaps as well as revisit some old favourites. And there are more gaps than I thought but, I'll get there ;o) With the new deal kicking in tomorrow, I've cut it a bit fine to be talking all things 'Unsafe Spaces' but work, being a Dad, and my kid's new pets all ganged up to give my reading time a right kicking over the last week. And you know what? I'm more than cool with that (well, apart from the work bit). It's going to be more of the same today, swap 'work' for 'p...

I know... I said that I was going to try and cut back on the ol' book buying ahead of a weekend away in a couple of weeks. That was the plan but then the last five days happened and 'Past Graeme' decided that 'Future Graeme' could do with a few treats (thanks, 'Past Graeme). As per usual, it's nothing that I can't handle but there's a hell of a lot of work to be done and only one of me to complete it all ahead of deadlines. This does get me down but it's the nature of the job and I do have some time off next week so... Hopefully I can relax a little ahead of going back.  But anyway... Sorry for banging on like that, I wouldn't have minded if you'd just scrolled down to the pictures ;o) Basically, I got paid and work was stressing me out so, book buying happened; that's the long and short of it. Come and take a look at what I bought, I've given up trying to read this series in any kind of order but luckily, I know where it's al...

I know I've said it before but I'll say it again, I have a real soft spot for the 'V/H/S' franchise. It's not perfect by any means but the ratio of Good Stories to Bad Stories always seems to work in my favour and these movies also occasionally throw up a classic in stories like 'A Ride In The Park' and 'Safe Haven'. You can't ask for a lot more than that; well, I can't. 'V/H/S 94' proved to be a very solid entry to the franchise so when I saw that 'V/H/S/99' was a thing, I got very excited and settled down, last night, for a watch. I suppose that falling asleep, halfway through the movie, should have warned me that something wasn't quite right this time round... I'd normally write a little bit here about the 'wraparound plot' that frames the rest of the stories but... There wasn't one this time round. What we get instead are a series of stop motion animations that tie into one of the other stories. I wa...

It feels like it should be a lot longer ago but it was only last month that I read Richard Lewis' 'Spiders', a book that was as relentless as the flesh-eating spiders it unleashed on an unsuspecting public. I'm not a big fan of spiders anyway so while it didn't do anything particularly new, what it did do was creep me the hell out (you can read my review over Here if you fancy it). As soon as I realised there was a sequel, that was it. I found a copy (thanks eBay!) and have spent the last couple of days finding out what happened next. You know what happens next ;o) Let me tell you all about it.... It is six years since Britain was crippled by a monstrous onslaught of flesh-eating spiders. Now at last, life is back to normal – more or less – but Alan Mason's recurring nightmare is that the spiders will return... Angus McInne's grisly death is the first sign of a fresh tide of horror. For the spiders are on the move again, infecting their victims with a dea...

Sometimes, things just come together and you find that the next book you read more or less chooses itself. I'd had it in the back of my head that I'd barely read any of Joe Lansdale's work ( 'Conan and the Songs of the Dead' , that's all) and that was something that I really wanted to change. Where to start though? Well, I happened to be reading one of Brian Keene's essay's, in 'Trigger Warnings' , and he was waxing pretty lyrical about 'The Drive-In' so... My next read went and chose itself. Before I go out and find myself more of Lansdale's books to read (recommendations welcome, I hear that the 'Hap & Leonard' books are worth a look), lets take a look at 'The Drive-In'. It was the All-Night Horror Show at the Orbit drive-in. Four thousand high school scream-agers, Saturday-night-fevered for the in-car wrestling, the popcorn eating, the beer drinking – and the horror. The horror that began where nightmare left...

With everything that’s going on at the moment (up to and including making sure that the kitten and the rabbit remain on good terms, it seems to be working at the moment), I find myself forgetting to post all sorts of stuff here. And that includes my TV watching, two shows of which ended last week. You know the ones, most of Twitter was banging on about them last week and like someone who has finally worked up the nerve to go to that party (only to find that it’s been over for almost a week…), well.. Here I am 😊 I’ve got a few other bits and pieces to get done tonight so quick thoughts on ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘The Rings of Power’ are the order of the day once again. Not just that, everyone has said all the cool stuff about these shows already so I’m going to try and see if I can do this without repeating myself too much. Here goes… ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ 8. Ribbit and Rip it. 9. Whose Show is This? Two episodes left and two things to cover before the series ended… Daredevi...

I’ve been itching for a chance to get into ‘Tales of the Old World’ (look at that cover and tell me you wouldn’t feel the same…) and I finally got the chance last night. Now I’ve cracked the book open, you can expect to see more posts covering the short stories within but, that’s for another time. Right now… I had no idea where to kick things off but the great thing about anthologies is that you don’t necessarily have to start at the beginning. I mean, you can but I generally tend to go with whatever catches my eye and this time round, it was the deliciously ambiguous sounding ‘Hatred’. There’s a lot of scope for that in the Old World, whether it’s on the battlefield or elsewhere so I thought I’d give it a go and see where it took me…  Murder has been committed, in the sleepy village of Kurtbad, the killer still lives and they might just be a mutant… A witch hunter is called but when the threat of Chaos meets the evil in men, anyone in Kurtbad could be guilty… ‘Hatred’ is a ...

Amongst the pet watching (and pet calming after having to remove the rabbit from behind the drinks cabinet...) and other bits and pieces, I managed to catch up on a few bits on Prime over the weekend. While I try and get my head round Joe Lansdale's 'The Drive-In' (which was awesome but I can't just say that for a whole post, can I?), have some quick thoughts on what I managed to watch. Really quick thoughts, I'm waiting for my pizza to show up... 'My Best Friend's Exorcism' (2022) It's 1988 and teen best friends Abby and Gretchen are having to confront the fact that Gretchen will be moving away. Before they can deal with that though, there's the small matter of Gretchen's demonic possession to take care of first... I enjoyed this film so much that I went straight out and bought the book after I'd finished watching :o) That should pretty much tell you everything you need to know... What, you want more? You know what? It was nice to s...

A few days ago, my ex picked up a rescue rabbit, the most adorable fluffy little thing you've ever seen. We've all fallen in love with her but the poor little thing has gone through a fair bit of upheaval, before ending up at my ex's, and gets stressed very quickly, making a beeline for her favourite hiding place (behind the drinks cabinet) if things get a little too much for her. It'll take a little time but we're working to settle her in and chill out her out as well. If you're reading this and have any tips on de-stressing rabbits, leave a comment on this post or drop me an email; I'd love to hear from you :o) And now, onto the books... It's been a quiet week on the book buying front, I'm trying to buy fewer books anyway but I've also got a weekend away coming up and I'm trying to save book shopping for then. But... It's me :o) A few books have turned up this week, just a few but I think they're going to be good ones (I would say t...

I'm always on the look out for more fantasy and Sword & Sorcery comics so when I heard tell of 'Grit' (thanks @AnthonyPerconti), it was a very easy purchase to make. And after half a day of chasing a frightened rabbit around my ex's living room, it was a very easy decision to crack open 'Grit', when I got home, and give it a read. Let me see if I can tell you all about it before Saturday becomes Sunday... When a routine troll hunting gig takes a gruesome turn, the curmudgeonly Old Man Barrow finds himself in the company of a wannabe backwoods doomsday cult. Faced with a problem that can't be solved with the swing of his axe, he's forced to deal with the unintentional consequences of his brutal style of problem solving with the help of Ari, a wandering witch with a short fuse and a firm stance against ultra-violence. Things are bound to get strange for these begrudging traveling companions! 'Grit' was one of those very accessible reads that ...

I thought the worst of the week was over but apparently, there was still time for added stress with a pet rabbit that absolutely refused to be in its cage. I don't often do this here but if you're reading this blog and you own a pet rabbit, drop me an email? I've got loads of questions for you... :o) But anyway, back to the books. I love to have a Black Library short story on hand for journeys to/from work as well as when I just want to take five minutes out and clear my head a little. It never fails to entertain and it's funny how reading about superhuman soldiers fighting Chaos can chill me out, just a little bit ;o) I thought I'd give 'Bloodhowl' a shot the other day as a I needed a quick read to get me down the rest of the Old Kent Road and into New Cross (plus, I never seem to read enough Space Wolves tales and there's a lot about this Marine Chapter to love). 'Bloodhowl' is only twenty nine pages long so don't expect a long post here,...

It looks like it will be another short post today, work is being really demanding and I’ve got to finish in good time so I can go and hang out with my daughter’s pet rabbit (who is absolutely adorable but that is the subject of another post in an entirely different blog, anyway…) So, no change from normal then 😉 ‘Kings of the Wyld’ is another one of those books that was lost in a number of culls/house moves back in the day. A few weeks ago, I had a real hankering to read it again and so here I am to tell you all about it 😊 It is definitely the book I remember reading and in this case, that is very much a good thing. Glory never gets old… Clay Cooper and his band were the best of the best, the most feared and renowned crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld. Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay’s door with a plea for help – the kind of mission that only the ve...

So, it's October which means it's the time of year when I start feeling like I should be reading more horror, ghost stories, you know what it's like...We'll see how that goes (the smart person would put money on the 'as well as it ever does' option which is to say, 'could do better'...) but in the meantime, I found this Lovecraft collection in Oxfam, not so long ago, and figured I'd take a look at the contents and see if anything sprang out and demanded that I read it. Well, a title like 'The Evil Clergyman' is all it takes to pique my interest. I've known a few clergymen (and a couple of clergywomen) in my time and they've generally been a quite pleasant bunch; it was time to find out what an evil one was like ;o) As it turns out... Let me tell you about the slightly disappointing read that was 'The Evil Clergyman'. Our narrator is shown the rooms of a clergyman (yep, the evil one) who met a violent end. The narrator is warn...

Nope, this isn’t a ‘Reader Recession Relief Readalong’ book, although the latest deal is yet to appear so it could well end up being just that this by this afternoon. Lets wait and see 😉 The other day, it struck me that while I’m pretty well acquainted with Brian Keene’s horror work, there’s a whole load of other stuff that he’s written and I haven’t read it. So many books and not enough time to read them all… It’s a fair enough reason but I thought I’d take a little step outside my comfort zone and read something of his that was a little different. It came down to a choice between ‘Hole in the World’ or ‘King of the Bastards’ and there’s nothing like a cover with a dinosaur mauling a bus to really make your mind up for you 😉 ‘Hole in the World’ it was then…   An hour ago, they were nineteen strangers on an airport shuttle, braving travel delays and a freak blizzard. Then they fell through a hole in the world. Now, they are nineteen strangers trapped in a dangerous dimension ...