Halloween Book Sale!

For the past few years my local library has held its annual book sale right in the midst of October. I have of course capitalized on this as my own tradition to go blindly searching for some obscure horror novels to keep me entertained for the rest of the month. Usually I walk away with just two or three books but this year I did same pretty major damage. No joke; I actually had to leave a few things behind, including the novelization of Robocop 2 which I might have to go back for. Let's get on to my treasures shall we?

 

My first acquisition of the evening where these two beauties. Honestly I should have know I was in for a good sale as soon as they popped up. Confession time. I am a big Jaws fan. I don't just mean the first one either. I adore the entire man vs shark saga that spawned form such humble beginnings. I've never really owned any collectibles relating to the franchise so these just fill that little hole in my heart. Of the two, I'm most excited about reading the Jaws Log. Mostly because of the nice collection of photos, but also because the title makes me think of a turd with teeth.

 

This is what I aim for every year. Simple, often forgotten horror novels. The Brownstone was the last thing I spotted before editing down my pile and boy does it look like a hoot. The description on the back is a pretty standard people need a place and they find a great one but maybe the rent is so cheap for a reason blah blah blah. However; for as generic as it all sounds I can't help but think that it's just going to be a goldmine of spooky fun. Just something I've got a feeling about. And I've learned to trust my feelings from previous book sales.

Watchers on the other hand is something I would otherwise avoid. Simply put, I'm not a Dean Koontz fan, but I couldn't resist this one thanks to the movie series it inspired. I've you've never encountered it, here's what you need to know. Cory Haim finds a dog, names it Fur Face for some reason, finds out that the dog is super smart and mentally linked to a monster, both boy and dog must than escape from aforementioned monster as well as Michael Ironside. It's absolute crap, and I can't wait to see how it works in its original form.

 

Yet another gap in my life is that I have yet to read any Clive Barker. Obviously that will now be remedied. I wish I knew more about this particular book though. If anyone can give me a heads up I'd love to know whether I'm going into some top form Barker, or just standard issue stuff.

The Michael Crichton three novel collection demanded to be snatched up for one reason. Eaters of the Dead served as the bases for possibly my favorite Crichton flick (The 13^th Warrior). I'm not planing on reading this until November in the hopes that that it has the proper mixture of horror and adventure to help lift my spirits from post holiday depression. Nothing wrong with thinking ahead sometimes.

Meg by Steve Alton is one I've actually read before, yet I wanted to have it so I can force others around me to read it. This is honest to god, one of the doofiest fucking books I've ever read. It's like a syfy channel original movie without the limitations of budget and censorship. I've you have any interest in shark attack stuff, dig up a copy of this hot mess of a book.

 

Finally we have my pride and joy item. Some time back, I decided that it would be cool to own some of my favorite spook flicks on a multitude of different formats. Until today, I'd only ever gotten The Beast Within on CED. Now that lonely antique has a friend in the form of a Halloween II VHS. The sale also had copies of the first and 4^th movies and a different edition of this with the actors floating around the pumpkin while it shot green lasers out of its eyes, but I could not be swayed from picking this one above all others. I've always loved the skull pumpkin art in that it says everything and nothing about the movie at the same time. Fact is, most of the books I bought will be sold/loaned/donated after I'm finished with them, but not this. This is gonna stay with me as a proud addition to my mountain of horror movies.

Now just think, I got all of the above for a mere $5.25. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, I suggest you go find a used book store and just browse the aisles until you find some old dusty tome of a scary story to take home and savor. You wont regret it.