But one of my book groups, knowing our next meeting will be just before Halloween, chose The Haunting of Hill House--which immediately made me think of the 1999 adaptation, so I was less than enthused. I ordered the book slow-mail used from Amazon, and hoped it wouldn't arrive on time. In the meantime, I started browsing recipes, determined to find something in a pumpkin for our next meeting--this recipe from Saveur is looking rather tempting.
But, well, the seller lived up to his five-star rating, and a few nights ago, I started this Shirley Jackson classic.
It's--well, it's lovely. I find it--of all unlikely things--charming. The characters are remarkably well-drawn. The house manages to be both beautiful and terrifying. The piece is very clearly from a different time, with clever, understated dialogue. It is scary, but delightfully so. It's not "Here! Not scared? Well, I happen to have this five-gallon tank of stage blood over here..." horrific, but clever and imaginative.
Not convinced? Check out this first line: "No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream."
In other words, it is a most civilized thriller. Highly recommended.
13 comments:
Now, I'm hungry. I don't think you can go wrong with that recipe, it sounds awesome.
So does the book! I will never catch up on my reading list.
I didn't know you represented thrillers. Have you been requesting a lot lately? Any good ones?
Okay, you made that sound so good that I may just read my first horror.
That does sound good. Literary horror, eh? Don't drop the book in the soup.
I think the thriller was originally designed to be sophiscated - the 'civilized' aspect tempers the 'horrific' aspect of the thriller itself, and makes an otherwise alien scene of horror and violence more human and relatable.
But yes! Pumpkin soup? Squash is the food of awesome people (and the poor saps - moi - who can't get anything else to grow in their garden!)
I also really liked In Cold Blood. Strange to say this, given the subject matter, but it's beautifully written.
And yes. We're officially open to works that are thrillers (probably not horror), though we haven't taken one on in awhile.
There are probably about nine or ten in my inbox at present.
For whatever reason--the season and its spookiness, perhaps? Life in the city getting me down?--I'm enjoying them more lately. There's one we seriously considered a few weeks ago. And, as I mentioned, I've been cheering on violent protagonists. Sigh.
Hokka Hey,
Yes the book is loverly, the movie with Owen Wilson is an abomination. However, you might want to try the early film version directed by Wise. It's a much closer adaption and works very well.
For those book lovers at this time of year I recommend the works of Thomas Ligotti, and the story "Out of copyright" by Ramsey Campbell, and "The Man Who Collected Barker."
Would love to try your soup!
Greetings from the weird
Lazarus Lupin
http://strangespanner.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Lazarus! I'll check those out. I'm always very impressed by thrillers I like--it means the writing is so good that it makes up for the (usually unpleasant, to me) subject matter.
Also really liked In Cold Blood.
Um. Okay.
I shall tentatively trust the AG on this one and try it. If it's too scary, though, I'm so outta there.
Know what was so good it was terrifying? The pumpkin cream cheese whoopie pies my husband and I snuck yesterday. (It was unavoidable. It was pouring rain, it's Fall, and there was a toasty warm bakery beckoning. We had no choice.)Loved this recipe too...thank you for linking to it.
Hey, since you liked the book (which is great), you might like the original 1963 movie, The Haunting. B/W, psychological rather than gore-based scares, genuinely good movie. Perfect for Halloween viewing!
Dear Kelley,
You can start by reading it on a nice, sunny day. That's what I did.
And most libraries have it, so you can check it out and return it posthaste, if you need to.
Thanks, Dreamingbetweenthelines!
It's strange: somehow, older horror films don't bother me nearly as much.
I'll check it out. Thanks!
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