Horror & Sci Fi

A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter - Peter Straub (Pegasus Books, 2010)

A small book with a BIG punch! This 122-page novella may leave you squirming.

The book spans several years of Keith Hayward's adolescent and teen years. Keith is a boy fascinated with torture and death. His father's brother, Tillman Hayward (Uncle Till), who has secrets of his own, recognizes Keith's inner evil and becomes his mentor.

This book was effective for me on so many levels. The language was spare and powerful; not a word was wasted. The horror and violence weren't "in your face," but, oh boy, were they there! The characters of Keith and Uncle Till were so seemingly typical of people we encounter in everyday life, but their "special places" were so incredibly awful. It makes me wonder about people as they pass through the library! It had been some time since I'd read horror, but this was an "enjoyable" experience. I know i'll be re-visiting the genre soon.

Kress, Nancy. "Images of Anna." The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2010. Prime Books, 2010.

In this short story, Boston photographer Ben snaps glamour shots of 50-something public librarian Anna - pictures she intends to give her boyfriend, whom she met on the Internet. When Ben develops the pictures, the images are not of Anna but of other people. After a second photo shoot with the same results, Ben trails Anna to investigate the mystery. Not only does Ben find out about Anna, but he also makes some discoveries about himself.

I'm not generally a sci-fi fan, and this particular short story didn't kindle any warm, fuzzy feelings for the genre. While sci-fi and fantasy might not be my things, I do like the themes/lessons that are inherent in the genres. The readings in the class text were also helpful in providing background information about the genres.

Fiction reads of note:

Dolores Claiborne - Stephen King (Signet, 2004)

This King tome is about so much more than the horrible deaths of Dolores Claiborne's husband and then her employer. It's a psychological study of Claiborne's brutalization and her attempts to protect the people and things she loved.

Flying Children series – James Patterson

Patterson took a break from his “Alex Cross” series to pen the titles in this series (When the Wind Blows, The Lake House, and Maximum Ride), which reveal the ethical questions inherent in a genetic research study that involves winged children, a Colorado veterinarian, and a handsome FBI agent.

Nonfiction reads you might try:

The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago – Douglas Perry (Viking, 2010)

This book is hot off the press and relates the Jazz Age story of the real ladies from the musical Chicago, who were accused of killing their guys and became media sensations. This book was chosen because it’s true crime yet doesn’t seem to have the level of graphic violence that is blatantly described in other true crime works.

Genetics for Dummies – Tara Rodden Robinson (For Dummies, 2010)

Unless the reader is a biology student, this is probably a book that a lay reader would just want to skim and read selectively to answer one’s personal questions about this subject. Part of the highly regarded For Dummies series, this is an approachable text, which further explains the premise for a number of sci-fi and fantasy works.