The Thing (1982)

Frankenstein unbound

Brian Aldiss

1973 · 184 pages · 4 reviews

Others: Leaning positive

The Fire Worm

Ian Watson

1988 · 184 pages · 1 review

Others: Positive

John Cunningham is a psychiatrist specializing in past-life therapy. Jack Cannon is his alter ego, a horror novelist who has kept his identity a secret from both his patients and the public. John has been able to keep his identities separate until he discovers his most fascinating patient. Now, drawing on the past life of his patient, Tony Smith, John written a story that creates the ultimate in terror, where a little boy gives birth to a worm as the result of a sexual exploit. Peter Nicholls calls THE FIRE WORM "a witty juggling act to delight the mind, multiple ideational balls spinning kaleidoscopically through the air and never threatening to drop and break the spell."

The Beauty

Aliya Whiteley

2014 · 224 pages · 2 reviews

Others: Positive

Nominated for the Shirley Jackson and Saboteur awards. Somewhere away from the cities and towns, in the Valley of the Rocks, a society of men and boys gather around the fire each night to listen to their history recounted by Nate, the storyteller. Requested most often by the group is the tale of the death of all women. They are the last generation. One evening, Nate brings back new secrets from the woods; peculiar mushrooms are growing from the ground where the women's bodies lie buried. These are the first signs of a strange and insidious presence unlike anything ever known before... Discover the Beauty.

On Writing

Stephen King

1999 · 291 pages · 3 reviews

Others: Overwhelmingly positive

On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen's life and will, thus, appeal even to those who are not aspiring writers. If you've always wondered what led Steve to become a writer and how he came to be the success he is today, this will answer those questions.

BadAsstronauts

Grady Hendrix

2022 · 165 pages · 1 review

Others: Negative

From New York Times bestselling author of My Best Friend's Exorcism, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix takes a break from horror and goes all-in on sci-fi in this novella about backyard rocket jockeys trying to get into low earth orbit.Melville, South Carolina was out of money, it was out of jobs, it was out of hope, and today it was out of astronauts. There were only two to begin with, and now one is stuck on the abandoned International Space Station after his mission went south. With NASA’s budget cut to the bone, there’s no one to bring him back home, so everyone is only too happy to ignore this embarrassing sign of American Failure and just let him die. But his cousin, Walter Reddie, isn’t going to let that happen.Tanked on vodka, living on a “farm” whose only crop is cars on cinderblocks, Walter's a wash-out from the Shuttle Program and he’ll be damned if he’s going to let his cousin die in the sky like a dog. And so he begins to build a rocket. If America won’t rescue its astronauts, he’ll do it himself.Violating numerous laws, good taste, common sense, logic, and reason, Walter becomes a lightning rod for people who aren’t ready to give up. His farm is transformed into the promised land for misfits, drifters, rocket junkies, pyromaniacs, dreamers, science nerds, and astro-hippies who believe that space shouldn’t just be for billionaires. But it won’t be easy. Chances are good they’ll blow themselves up, get arrested, or kill each other before they ever get into orbit.

The warren

Brian Evenson

2016 · 95 pages · 1 review

Others: Neutral

"The Warren is a tense, thoughtful exploration of a battle for survival between two beings with competing claims to humanity."--Publisher's website.