A few other memorable horror novels that I overlooked in my earlier post about good scary reads:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Creepy, atmospheric, unsettling fun… What more can you say?

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood. Many people disliked this novel. I was captivated by it, however. A young man finds a series of ghost stories written by his great-grandmother. The stories serve as stories within a story. The ghostly narratives are interwoven with his family history, and the main character sets out to solve the riddle of his past. Similar in many ways to Henry James, this is a classy, gothic read.

Speaking of Henry James, I can’t believe I forgot Turn of the Screw. I first read this in high school for my 10th grade English class. I still get a chill from the finale.

Another favorite of mine is Skull Session by Daniel Hecht. This was advertised as a neurological thriller when it came out, and that is a fit description. Mysterious events, family secrets, and psychological horror. Full disclosure: The main character has Tourette Syndrome – I was drawn to this since I also have TS. The author did a great job portraying the condition.

Clearly some additional works will be occurring to me as time goes on. 

Too bad I never really kept track of all of the novels I’ve read over the years. Any effort to write a review for my blog or for Goodreads often results in me scratching my head while trying to recall portions of the plot. Imagine me trying to recall the plot details of books read 10-40 years ago.

With this in mind, I thought I’d offer a few short comments about books read in the past and why they stick in my mind. For this discussion, I’ll stick to horror – my favorite genre. Below are novels that I’ve read since I was a kid – you’ll notice they span quite a few decades.

The Other – Thomas Tryon. Some incredibly creepy moments that made my blood run cold… including a shocking development about two-thirds of the way through. It just about blew me away. I was 18 when I read it, and I gobbled up horror fiction ever since.

The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty. This came out the same time as The Other, and if you check the New York Times Best List from that time, you’ll see at some point these two books were numbers 1 (The Exorcist) and 2 (The Other). The Exorcist had brain jarring moments that broke all taboos. I remember sitting on our terrace out back and lightening hit next door, so the thunder was loud and instantaneous. I almost died of a heart attack.

Rosemary’s Baby – Iran Levin. One of the creepiest endings ever.

Burnt Offerings – Robert Marasco. A very original haunted house story, with a decent movie adaptation.

The Search for Joseph Tully – William H. Hallahan. A riveting supernatural investigative story. I still recall the beginning where the sword maker tests the still molten blades on… well, enough.

Dragon Under the Hill – Grodon Honeycomb. Ancient Viking curse, Norse lore, possessed child, Lindisfarne, ancient Scandinavian torture (something about cutting out the lungs…). What more can you ask?

Salem’s Lot and The Shining – Stephen King. Spine chilling moments in both, but most people already know this.

Dark Gods – T.E.D Klein. Four novellas. The first two, Children of the Kingdom and Petey, are outstanding. They are creative and I haven’t read anything like them before or since.

Ghost Story – Peter Straub. There were multiple places where I had goose bumps while reading.

A Good and Happy Child – Justin Evans. I still can’t understand why this isn’t a huge hit among the horror masses. Great characters, intriguing plot twists, creepy moments, and an exorcism scene that I found unnerving. And, an unsettling ending to boot.

There are more, but I was just writing this off the top of my head. When other great horror novels come to me, I will devote space to them in the future. If anyone is interested in a good scary read, and you haven’t checked these out, I strongly recommend them.

The other day, I sent out two columns from the NY Times Book Review discussing the reluctance of novelists to post less than glowing reviews about the novels of their peers.

The columns, written by Zoe Heller and Adam Kirsch, pursue the topic from slightly different angles.

According to Ms. Heller, the fiction-writing world is quite small and a novelist serving as reviewer would not be likely to hide from a peer whose work was, well, panned. You’re going to run into the other author sooner or later. In addition, empathy for the other novelist is also high, because the reviewer also has firsthand experience in all that entails in crafting a novel. As a result, authors are often reluctant to inflict pain by taking down someone else’s baby – even to a slight degree.

Nonetheless, Ms. Heller writes it must be done – in order to maintain the vitality of literary discussion and defend the vocation of being a novelist.

Mr. Kirsch takes a somewhat different track. While writing a negative review can make enemies in the literary world, in the long run the reviewer goes a long way towards defining his or her identity and informing others about contrasts between novelists. The novelist reviewer is essentially drawing a contrast between his/her artistic self and the art of someone else. Like Ms. Heller, Mr. Kirsch indicates the task must be done, despite the risks.

Okay. I am clearly not in the league of these writers nor am I even in the same galaxy of the individuals they cite in their articles. However, I was fascinated by the discussion and couldn’t help applying it to my life – specifically as it applies to my new found efforts to provide written book reviews.

When I took on the task of trying to engage in social media, I decided one thing I could offer readers is my opinion about horror novels and novellas I was currently reading. I never considered myself as an author – even though my social media efforts were part of an overall promotional device so people could learn about me. I am though, an avid (although quite slow) reader – and I love horror novels.

So, what the heck, I could provide reviews of the stuff I was reading. I realized rather quickly in the review process that I adopted an approach very similar to what I use when grading papers of my graduate students. I am not an English professor, but a counseling psychology professor. But my grading often addresses topics like structure, organization, and clarity. I start with what I like about the paper, and then provide feedback on what needs work. My comments are meant to inform and be constructive.

How is this approach (that is, commenting on positive and negative aspects) taken in reviews, especially by other authors?  I have received many “likes” from authors, and I took that at face value – that they liked or at least appreciated my comments. My review efforts do not have a long history. I’ve only done a handful, but I have been fortunate to have read very good novels and novellas. There hasn’t been a dud in the bunch – I’ve been fortunate in that regard (I haven’t had to written a negative review). In fact, most have knocked my socks off. Have there been flaws? Sure. Most novels have flaws. But I feel it is my responsibility to let people know, especially authors, what my take was on the work. I am certainly aware that I am only one opinion of many, and the author can take it with a grain of salt. However, if I have informed him or her in any way, then that is great.

But what about potential readers? Does adding a criticism in a review deter readers from purchasing or reading a book? I hope not. I am very careful to qualify my remarks and make sure a reader of my review has a sense of context within which the criticism is written. On a personal level (and I’ve addressed this in an earlier blog), I often become very intrigued about a work of fiction when it receives a 3 or 4 star review and the person writing the commentary takes special care in addressing the reasons for the rating. Often it is these very comments that make me search out a book. After all, the reviewer has taken great pains to address the pros and cons… to me that clearly says that the book had quite an impact on the reviewer.

Sigh. I have no idea if I am making any sense. I do know that I will feel honored when someone takes the time to give me thoughtful feedback on my novel, Birth Offering.

Psst: I hope to have the same attitude when negative reviews appear….

Count me as one of the folks disappointed with the adaptation of Under the Dome. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and the complexity of the story and characterization. I’m not sure why the adaptation needed to be altered to the degree that it was, but more creative people than me seemed to think it needed the new story line. Nonetheless, the increasing claustrophobic tension and growing peril present in the novel is nowhere to be seen in the mini-series.

I have been watching the BBC production of Broadchurch. This is a gripping murder mystery, and creepy to boot. 

I've been more or less MIA on the blog this past week or so. The semester is starting - this is the fist week of classes. That means final tweaking of the syllabus for my classes, meeting with colleagues and students... Not a bad time of year, just hectic. That also means my (non-academic) writing has been non-existent. My email has been piling up too, so I am more or less running behind. On top of this, it's back to the sleep lab next week to try out CPAPs. I have mild to moderate sleep apnea - I stop breathing 20 or so times an hour. Creepy.

Anyhow, the blogs will resume soon. A few book reviews will be coming, etc. 

I was recently talking with Shari Stauch from Where Writer’s When who is teaching me about the uses of social media in preparation for the launch of Birth Offering. Somehow we had gotten on to the topic of review ratings on Amazon. I expressed doubt about the veracity of reviews that were one-sentence, 5-star reviews. My reasoning was simple (or so I thought): the reviews were likely from friends and family of the author – and maybe the publisher. The one-sentence comments indicated that few, if any, read the book.

Shari is too kind to say this out loud, but I think she thought I was crazy – or self-destructive. Five star reviews were coveted by everyone – the best marketing for selling a book. Of course that’s true. I want 5-star reviews for Birth Offering when it comes out next week. But, then I wondered, am I shooting myself in the foot for thinking this way – and now writing about it. Am I inviting reviews that describe my book as mediocre (or worse)? I thought about this, and (gulp) maybe I am.

Here is my logic. When I read a review on Amazon or Goodreads, I pay close attention to thoughtful reviews that provide logic or rationale or some kind of analysis. These don’t have to be necessarily long, but they are often multiple sentences at least, and quite typically multiple paragraphs. A 3 or 4 star review that indicates what the reviewer found exciting, pleasant, or gripping, along with a mention of flaws or less than ideal prose are worth their weight in gold to me as a potential customer and to the author. The reviewer shows that he or she read the book and felt strongly enough about the book to provide the review. That means it had an impact. I can trust this type of review. Sometimes, even the described flaws can make me curious enough about a book to read it. I suppose even some 1 or 2 star reviews can have the same impact (assuming of course, these are moderated by a lot more 3-plus reviews).

On the other extreme, I do not give any credence to 1-star reviews along the lines of “the book sucked” and “I only read the first 40 pages and then gave up”. The former reviewer should give more detail as to why the book sucked, and I wonder whether the latter reviewer should even write a review.

During all of my considerations on the topic, I began to wonder if I am in the minority – and that some of the less that 5-star reviews I have “awarded” may have dissuaded readers from reading outstanding novels. For instance, I have read and provided reviews for a number of horror novels and novellas in recent weeks (The Tent, Fevered Hills, The New Flesh, The Cold Spot, The Bleeding Season, Conjure House, The Dazzling Darkness, Old McDonald). All of them were wonderful reads… scary, exciting, gripping (use whatever adjective you want). I don’t think I gave any 5-stars, mostly because of my approach to rating things. When I review, I try to outline things I liked, and things I thought were weaknesses. This comes from my day job – a university professor. I find myself rating novels like I am grading a research project or an assignment.  In the case of these books, the extensive pluses far outweigh the few minor negatives. They are fantastic works of horror fiction. I would give anything to be as talented as these writers. So, by all means, read them.

When Birth Offering comes out, (please) read it. I will be pleased, honored even, to receive thoughtful and honest 3 and 4-star reviews. Of course, don’t feel bashful about giving a 5-star one either. I’m not that crazy to turn those down.

The other night I was evaluated at a sleep clinic. My snoring has been driving my wife crazy, and she reports that I often snort and gasp myself awake – indicative of sleep apnea, I suppose. So after some considerable foot dragging that went on for years, I succumbed and made an appointment with the help of my primary care physician.

I enjoy a certain amount of fascination regarding medical and health procedures. I am comfortable with visits to my doctor, and I make sure that I get my money’s worth by asking all kinds of questions – some of which have little if anything to do with me or my health. The MD perspective is rather unique and I enjoy picking his or her brain. This sleep clinic experience was going to be uncharted territory for me, and I anticipated storing up nuggets of information.

As luck would have it, I was the only patient that night. The technician was a young guy named Eric, and he was friendly and eager to talk about the process and his work. I knew a fair amount about sleep disorders from my own work, but I quizzed Eric on his experience with sleep walking (I did that a lot in my twenties), sleep terrors (not my experience), sleep paralysis (ditto, and evidently quite terrifying for those who experience it), people who act out their dreams (e.g., start hitting their sleeping partners or try jumping out windows) and the other mundane sleep problems. Turns out that the sleep clinic serves children to people in the 90s. The “average” patient is in his or her 40s or 50s, although anecdotally Eric has been noticing an increase in folks in their 60s and 70s.

I wish I kept track of the number of electrodes attached to me. There had to be twenty of them, and they were attached to my scalp, forehead, near my eyes, on my jaw, neck, behind the ears, and even my legs (to monitor restless leg syndrome). I also had two straps around my chest for measuring heartbeat and breathing. With the exception of these straps that were attached by Velcro, the electrodes involved this gooey paste-like substance. When Eric was done attaching everything to me – and the process took twenty minutes – I looked like something from a science fiction movie.

By Eric finished, the time was approaching 11:00 PM and I was getting pretty tired. Eric asked me to start the night sleeping on my back. Snoring and issues with sleep apnea are more likely to occur when someone is sleeping on his or her back. When you fall asleep, everything relaxes, including your throat and tongue, so there is a tendency for these things (including that thing that hangs down the back of your throat) to collapse. For those individuals who are prone to sleep apnea, the throat collapses entirely – and you stop breathing. At that point, your brain has to make a decision, either remain sleeping or wake up and breathe. The resumption of breathing is the default option, so the sleeper is jolted awake, often with a (loud) snort. The most common patient with sleep apnea is obese with poor health habits, but I don’t fit that description. I’m 6’2” and 170 pounds, and I work out 4-plus days a week. However, my problems seem to be structural… I don’t have much of a chin so stuff is rather tight in that area to begin with. When I doze off, it doesn’t take much for the inner structures to relax and close.

Anyway, I digress. Sleeping on my back, as per Eric’s request, was not going to be a problem. I often start out in that position anyway, so this was no big deal. So, lights out.

I couldn’t fall asleep.

Surprising as it sounds, the wires were not a problem. Rather, I kept thinking I’ve got to fall asleep. If I don’t I’ll screw up the data. So, I talked myself into a mini-frenzy. I wanted to “do well”. I wanted answers. The only way to get answers would be to fall asleep.

The other factor adding to the pressure was that if I met criteria for sleep apnea, Eric would try out a CPAP unit on me. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. The unit keeps a relaxed airway open by providing a constant flow of air pressure. And, I wanted to see if that would be beneficial for me.

Finally, I feel asleep, but only after turning slightly to my side. Sometime later, Eric asked me via an intercom to turn to my back. I complied, but couldn’t fall asleep again.

This was getting crazy.

Finally, I said the hell with it, and turned to my side, and fell asleep.

There was no clock in the room, so I couldn’t tell the time, but sometime later I vaguely remember Eric appearing and putting a CPAP unit on me. I was thankful, because this meant my breathing data suggested something. I could sense the slightest pressure opening my airway, and I recall thinking the experience was remarkable.

Morning came, and more staff was on duty, including a woman with blue hair. People started giving me feedback about my results, which was surprising given that Eric told me the night before that he couldn’t provide any information. The doctor would be doing that next week.

Suddenly, I hear Eric say, “Okay, Tony, time to wake up.”

I did when he pulled the drapes open slightly to let some light in. He told me it was 6:15 AM. No one else was in the room. No young woman with blue hair. I had been dreaming that part of the whole thing. It was just Eric and me.

I asked him when he came in to put the CPAP on me. He stopped and stared.

“I didn’t.”

I brought my hand to my face. Sure enough, there was nothing there beyond the numerous wires from the night before. I was stunned. I thought I was getting a great CPAP experience.

“You had a very difficult time sleeping on your back.”

I was disappointed. That meant that the results might be inconclusive. My breathing didn’t justify putting on a CPAP. But maybe that was because I didn’t sleep well on my back, and I really had sleep apnea – but they won’t know because I wasn’t a “good” subject. Would they have any answers for me? I don’t know. I won’t meet with the physician later next week.

My poor wife may have to live with a loudly snoring, non-sleep apnea husband. Sigh.

When I found out that Birth Offering was accepted for publication, I was ecstatic, of course. But very quickly I realized that I needed to learn the ropes of self-promotion/marketing. All authors do it now, or so I was told (and later found to be true). The bulk of the promotional efforts would be through social media.

Here’s what I knew about social media: nothing.

I’m 59, which means I’ve been able to live my life without having to use any of the platforms. I learned to use email – that was simple. Everyone uses it in academia, and typically that is how students communicate with their professors. In addition, email approximated the timeless practice of writing notes and mailing letters. Except, the process was a lot faster.

I learned about online course platforms to bring my teaching into the 21st century. That task wasn’t too bad either. I was able to develop a wide range of activities for the delivery of information to students. So, not only do I use traditional face-to-face lecturing, I also have asynchronous online discussions, group projects, portfolios and so on. In addition, some assignments involve the students recording presentations on YouTube and uploading them to the online course platform.

All well and good, and the variety of activities serves the students well.

Now, though, with Birth Offering slated to be published, I had to learn an entirely new set of skills – all of which had been unnecessary for a happy life up until this point. Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus. Sheesh.

“Get you kid to create a Facebook page,” more than one person said.

“But, doesn’t marketing need more than stupid pictures of me?” (Or some variation of this…)

“Nah, nope, I don’t know…”

I was overwhelmed with the task. So I started seeking help.

Thank God my wife’s cousin creates web pages for a living (Webbones). She created the website (thanks, Susan).

The social media would need a lot more work, though, for one simple reason – the stuff is very confusing to me. Not the least of which is the rationale for even doing spending time doing it.

I signed up with Shari of Where Writers Win to train me in the art of social media involvement. Her guidance has been outstanding and I’ve learned about all of these strategies and then some.

There have been some clear positives to these things. I’ve networked with other authors. I’ve obtained some ideas about how to write blogs (although I find this rather difficult to maintain on a daily basis). I’ve made contact with potential readers who are horror fans. Goodreads has been a very pleasant adventure. I’ve gathered some good book recommendations and I’ve had interactions with horror authors. Google Plus and Facebook have resulted in similar experiences.

The downfall of engaging in social media is the sense of drowning in quicksand. Time disappears. Hours are swallowed in a black hole regardless of the form of social media. To make things worse, the process of developing a connection with other people “out there” is slow and often painful. Like most other authors trying to do engage with potential readers, I do have a day job with takes most of my energy. In addition, I still want to write my own fiction, and of course I have a family with whom I like to spend time.

A number of bloggers recommend being choosy with the social media. That is, go with the form that you enjoy and not worry about the others. I haven’t figured that one out yet, and I need to learn how.

After a week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I am back at the old routine. Well, not really, but working my way into it. I managed to read a few novels and novellas (one was The Dazzling Darkness, and I was able to post a review last week). I will be posting more shortly and over the next few days. Also, Birth Offering is coming close to its launch date. The excitement builds.

I often hear the comment that for horror fiction to really work – that is, grab and hold a reader to the end of the book, the reader has to suspend disbelief. The job of creating a story that makes suspending disbelief possible falls to the author, of course. Let’s face it, horror fiction frequently involves plots that are often ridiculous, and authors must make them “work” for the reader.

When I read horror (which is, well, a good part of the time), I find that continuity of character within this context makes the story believable. Plots that are constructed well are necessary, of course, but the characters need to be grounded in a natural and human way. The emotional and behavioral reactions of the main characters must remain inherently true to themselves. There has to be a baseline level of character depth that sets the stage for the character action later in the book. The emotional responses need to be consistent and logical given their personalities.  When this doesn’t happen, we can’t trust the characters, and quite frankly we can’t trust the author to lead us honestly through frequently bizarre twists of plot development.