Cool New Books, December 2017

I often grouch about books, or just give you a list of books I thought were cool.

Not today!

Today I will present you with a few books and explain why these books are really fun and special. Happy reading!

Paperbacks from Hell, Grady Hendrix

The 70s and 80s: a many-splendored time for literary horror. This coffee table book, lavishly illustrated and hilariously written, tells the tale of the rise and fall of pulp paperback horror fiction. Each chapter is devoted to a topic, such as "Giant Crabs" or "Splatterpunk" or "Books with Skeletons on the Cover." Every plot description or historical anecdote is a well-told gem.

To Be a Machine, Mark O'Connell

Fascinating examination of transhumanism. Interestingly, when you type "transhumanism," Google does not recognize it as a word. Take from that what you will.

Horrorstor, Grady Hendrix

I liked Paperbacks from Hell so much, I decided to see what the author would do with an actual horror novel. The answer: he did great with it! Concept: an Ikea-style store where the employees are trapped in the labyrinthine halls and rooms and it opens up a gateway into a deeper darker netherworld. Wonderful metaphor of consumerism and the disorienting, hypnotic Ikea layout. Also great explanation/examination of the panopticon. With cool illustrations of the store's furniture that increasingly come to resemble torture devices as it goes on. Super-fun and also great as a straightforward, Kafka-esque horror novel.

Hail to the Chin, Bruce Campbell

BRUCE! This is his third book and it's a wonderful look into the life of The Man Behind the Chin. Surprisingly, the renowned character actor doesn't talk about acting much. Mostly a fascinating look into life in his rural Oregon mountain town and the customs of its people and how he learned to adapt and assimilate there. Some neat adventures working as a director for the first time in Bulgaria, along with wonderful tales of Miami, where he filmed his seven-season hit Burn Notice. A worthy follow-up to his first memoir, If Chins Could Kill.

Carnivore, Leigh Clark

A wonderfully loopy 1997 pulp sci-fi book about an unfrozen t-rex egg in the arctic, which suddenly HATCHES! And the t-rex attacks! I was skeptical, as there were already not one, but two movies/books in the Jurassic Park franchise by the time this came out. So did the world really need another dino attack book? Yes. Yes, it did. This is a literary Sharknado. The writing is relatively competent, but the characters are insane, the plot zigs and zags all over the place, the science is delightfully nonsensical, and never once does it try to make any sense. This next-level literary masterpiece makes Brothers Karamazov look like a cave painting in comparison.

-Phony McFakename

* * *

I exist on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. And my books are on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo and probably some other places, too.