The Vault of Horror's Summer Reading List!

You know, sometimes you have to shut the damn TV off and curl up with a good book. Checking out BJ-C's recent summer reading post at Day of the Woman, I was inspired to quit vegging out for just a moment and stretch those brain cells that once helped me attain a Master's in English Lit. so long ago. That's right, we're going to put the movies aside and talk about books tonight.

I've been taking more of an interest than ever in horror reading ever since I started this blog, presumably because I've been exposed to more of it. I was always about the science fiction, but never really strayed too far into horror on the printed page. But that's changed lately, as even the most perfunctory glance at my overloaded bookshelves would attest.

So, with an eye to the summer months ahead, here is a list of some of the books that I'm looking forward to getting to as I wile my hours away working on my George Hamilton-like suntan...

Infected
By Scott Sigler
Three Rivers Press
My dad lent me this one, about a strange disease turning thousands of Americans into rampaging murderers. And anything that's good enough for my own personal Obi-Wan Kenobi of horror is good enough for me. Besides, BJ-C also tells me it's good. But I'll probably check it out anyway.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
By Katherine Howe
Voice
My sister picked me up this supernatural thriller for Father's Day. She works for Barnes & Noble (corporate--she ain't slingin' Seattle's Best, no offense), and apparently this brand-spankin' new novel about the Salem witch trials is currently one of B&N's "Main Selections".

Frankenstein: A Cultural History
By Susan Tyler Hitchcock
W.W. Norton & Co.
I discovered this one via Pierre Fournier's indispensible Frankensteinia blog a while back, and I've been itching to get to it ever since. A fascinating-looking study of the impact of Mary Shelley's novel throughout the past two centuries, as well as its countless incarnations, this looks like a crucial tome for any classic horror fan.

Gospel of the Living Dead
By Kim Paffenroth
Baylor University Press
Yes, Kim is indeed a fellow member of the League of Tana-Tea Drinkers, but I assure you that has nothing to do with my selection. Because I owned this book before I ever knew Kim, or was even a member of the league. This is a one-of-a-kind look at George Romero's Dead series from a religious perspective. Scholarly, spiritual and horrific all at the same time, from a guy who proves you can be religious and still love horror.

The Rising
By Brian Keene
Leisure Books
This one goes back a few years, but I've found Keene to be one of the most promising new horror novelists, and so I'm anxious to jump into what looks like it could be his best. He won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel for this zombie uprising tale.

The Loch
By Steve Alten
Tor Books
Hot off the proverbial presses, this novel is all about Scotland's infamous Loch Ness--only it seems that the creature living in it is not the gentle, mysterious Monster of familiar lore, but rather a bloodthirsty beast consuming luckless Scotsmen by the fistful.

Deeper
By James A. Moore
Berkley
Another brand new novel, this one has been thus far one of the best reviewed of the year. A salty sea yarn set in New England and drawing heavily on Lovecraftian themes, it also looks like a breezy, easy little read at just 273 pages. A welcome break from typical doorstopper genre novels.

They Hunger
By Scott Nicholson
Pinnacle
This 2007 effort from the Bram Stoker-nominated Nicholson (a professed Vault Dweller, by the way) brings us subhuman, bat-like vampires hunting hapless white-water rafters and anti-abortion activists on the run from the FBI. How's that for original? Publisher's Weekly describes it as a "vampiric Deliverance". Nice!

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