3 Picks with Hunter Shea

 

It's time for 3 Picks! This week features a monster of a writer, Hunter Shea. Hunter Shea is the author of a library worth of books including Creature, The Montauk Monster and The Dover Demon to name a few. 

Up and down and all points in between, Hunter loves to write books about monsters. From his take on classic monsters to his vison of cryptids and on through unexpected monsters. Hunter knows monsters. So it's with that in mind that Hunter has been tasked to come up with 3 Picks of his favorite books featuring monsters.

When you have a passion for monsters, its difficult to whittle it down to just 3 choices but Hunter persevered. Here are his 3 Picks:

Pick 1: Night of the Crabs by Guy N. Smith - Covid-19 might have taken Guy N. Smith from us, but he left behind a hefty library of pulp horror (and softcore porn!) books to enjoy for generations to come. His giant killer crabs series is flat out fun. The man is a legend and his crab novels and short stories are the kind of glue that holds the genre together, along with a dash of bay seasoning. I can't recommend them enough...dipped in clarified butter.


Picks 2: The Ruins by Scott Smith - I grew up an enormous fan of Day of the Triffids, and I honestly thought I was never going to read or see another killer plant concept that could top it. Until The Ruins came to town. Many people smarter than me say The Ruins is one of the best horror novels of the past 20 years, if not all time. The movie kicks some serious chlorophyll, too. The human mimicking, carnivorous vines are some of the most terrifying monsters I've ever come across. Fuck lizard brain. Plant insanity knows no bounds!


Picks 3: The Bog by Michael Talbot - I just discovered this little gem from the 80s last year. Talbot only wrote a few horror novels before his passing, which is a huge loss for us fans. I've always been fascinated by archaeology (I plant to do it full time when I retire), and bog people rank up there with the top things I'd like to explore firsthand. In The Bog, an archaeologist moves his family to a strange old estate to spend a year pulling up and studying preserved bodies from a nearby bog. That would be enough for me, but there's also a creature out skulking around the bogs that has been terrifying - and eating - people for centuries. I don't know, something about this book got to me, and my heart beat just a little bit faster whenever the prey - I mean people - entered the bogs.

There you have it! 3 monstrous picks of monster books more classic than a Universal Monster. Is that even possible? You've gotta trust Hunter Shea on this one. He ain't the Monster Man for nothing.


You can find out everything there is to know about Hunter Shea and his work at HunterShea.com

A Year in Reading 2019

Its time to reflect on my year in books for 2019. This is my favorite annual blog post. It has become my annual tradition to spotlight my noteable reads for the past year. I think it's a fun way to reflect on the best material I've had the honor of reading instead of making some inaccurate, ever changing and God forbid, controversial ranked list.

I like to present those books that really stood out to me in the past year. I managed to ready forty one books this year, one more than the previous year. The following are the books that have left an impact for one reason or another. They are presented in chronological order as I read throughout the year. I hope you will be inspired to check out any on this list that you haven't and discover those you wouldn't have ever considered.

And now, my most notable reads of 2019:

• BANG UP: A FILTHY COMEDIC THRILLER by Jeff Strand (2018) Jeff Strand: This book didn't seem to connect with fans of Jeff Strand's more comedic horror books but I loved it for the off-the-wall comedic romp that it was. If I were going to read erotica, it would all have to be like this. A solid 4.75 star effort.

• MY BEST FRIEND'S EXORCISM by Grady Hendrix (2016) Quirk Books: There has been a lot of buzz around Grady Hendrix since Horrorstor and Paperback's From Hell. Instead of starting there, I decided to start with this. If everyone is talking about those other books and this one made my notable reads for 2019 list then I best get cracking on the other's for 2020.

•  IMPOSSIBLE DRIVEWAYS by Justin Grimbol (2018) Atlatl Press: A perennial favorite of mine. Justin Grimbol always delivers with his unique brand of poetry/prose story telling. There is charm and beauty in the uncomfortable truths and honest observations of the poet laureate of the weird and wacky.

• OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES by Chad Lutzke (2019) Poltergeist Press:  Last year, Chad Lutzke made my list of notable reads with OUT BEHIND THE BARN, a collaborative effort with John Boden. I wanted to be sure to read a solo effort from Lutzke. OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES is, without a doubt, my favorite read of 2019. This is the only 5-star rating I awarded this year. I love that the world is slowly starting to discover this extremely talented horror author. I expect to see more awareness and great effort from him in 2020.

• A CONFEDERACY OF HOT DOGS by Christoph Paul (2017) Clash Books:  I've been meaning to read this one forever. I put it off afraid that it would read as an inside joke. The protagonist, Phil LoPresti is a real person and the character is based on that real person. Hence my apprehension of that turning out as an inside joke. But, I did finally commit to reading it and the result was it was my favorite weird/bizarre read of 2019. I think this will translate well and not come off as an inside joke to those in the know. Its simply fucking funny.

• BITCOIN BILLIONAIRES by Ben Mezrich (2019) Flatiron Books:  Ben Mezrich updates and turns the tables on his notorious book, THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. Where that book left the Winklevoss twins looking like the devil incarnate, BITCOIN BILLIONAIRES recasts them as the brilliant entrepreneurs that they are in real life. I have a love a affair with the story of Bitcoin and this telling of the Winklevoss twins story in cryptocurrency with gorgeous, sexy and Romantic. I've fallen in love with it that much more.

•  JURASSIC FLORIDA by Hunter Shea (2018) Lyrical Underground: Beautiful in its simplicity. This is a giant monster book. That's all. Its a great story wrapped around a giant iguana monster book set in Florida. Hunter Shea keeps it simple stupid (k.i.s.s.) and pulls off a notable read for 2019 in the process. 

• TERROR MANNEQUIN by Douglas Hackle (2019) Douglas Hackle: Douglas Hackle turns in a darker, more horror focused offering for 2019 and the result is TERROR MANNEQUIN. This title wins cover of the year handily. Its also backed up by one weird, twisted story full of macabre crazy. This book feels like its own new thing and others will only follow suit. Read the original, whatever it is!
  
  
   

• POPSICKLE HEART by J. Peter W. (2018) DP Books:  POPSICKLE HEART by J. Peter W. represents the sleeper hit of 2019. A full on, bizarro tale of one clown's struggle against the world. So bizarre, so weird, so artistic and visceral. Great weird writing, it's time everyone found out that J. Peter W. has got the write stuff. Dip your pink little toes into this quiet gem.

Honorable mentions for 2019 include: THE WARRIORS by Sol Yurick, a classic that I finally got around to reading: different but as good as the classic film inspired by the book. PRESTO! by Penn Jillette a different type of diet book. F*CKED UP STORIES: VOL. 1 edited by Ira Rat, a stand out DIY 'zine that wasn't big enough to warrant a mention of the main list but still a standout offering in short form for 2019. And lastly, Tim Meyer's LIMBS a twisted tale that simply fell one slot shy of getting main stage recognition.

2019 was punctuated by the fact that I only rated one book at 5 stars. And yet, I probably awarded the most 4-star reviews in a given year at the same time. Lots of great books but just one super stand out. 2020 promises to have more great reads in store. Weird will rise again and horror is sure to birth new great names. Catch ya in 2021!

You can check out the complete list of the forty books I read on Goodreads.
You can check out my notable books read from 2018 HERE.