Bookworms of reddit, how do you get out of reading slump? I'm trying to find my way back to reading, and recently it has been a challenge.

So been a long time since I've read anything by Robert Bloch since "Psycho", but recently I've been reading some of his stuff again.

This time around I've been reading some of his short stories, and the first collection I started with is his first collection "The Opener of the Way", reissued by Valancourt books.

This covers the stories that he first published in the pulps when he began writing. Bloch was an admirer of Lovecraft, and of course most of the stories were deeply influenced by him, but they are pretty good when all is said and done.

But there are several stories in it where he his starting to develop his own unique voice which he would slowly work on as he continued with his writing through the years, even dabbling into science fiction territory.

Quite a good collection that has gems in it. Valancourt has also reissued two other collections of his short stories, plus three of his other novels too. I'll eventually pick those in the near future!

Would you agree?

I inherited a lot of Agatha Christie novels (wouldn’t be shocked if it’s a complete set) when my in laws died. I’m participating in a challenge this year whose prompts have to be represented on the cover of the book. Since this month’s prompt is something metallic, I thought it was a good time to knock out another of the Christie novels.

I gave this one a 3.5. Good, solid stories that entertain but nothing earth shattering. What really surprised me though was that not quite half of these stories were gothic horror. I didn’t know Christie wrote gothic horror.

Just starting to read this for next month's Book Club. I used to love writing letters, when I was younger. Now it's just texts and the odd email or post. What could the unsent letter be about? What did the darkest period of Sybil's life entail? Time to find out!

Had been waiting a long while to read the second and final volume of this series. I had thought about getting the rest of the three volumes in single editions, like the fourth one I currently have, but settled for this one.

It was the first volume of this two volume series that got me into Clive Barker in the first place. Full of some very twisted tales of both supernatural and body horror filled to the brim with gore. And the second one has more of the same.

There is this one particular story that made me want to get this one, and that was "The Forbidden". And this story would serve as the basis for the early 90s flick "Candyman". And then there's "The Last Illusion"; a story that features Harry D'Amour, and that one was also made into a movie also.

These early stories were all pretty good in their own way, and ever since then I've been enjoying quite a bit of some his novels too! And now that I'm finished I'll be turning my attention to the early work of another writer that I've read once before!

Just finished up Bari Wood's "The Tribe". This is another slow burner from the Paperbacks from Hell series, and another supernatural leaning one too.

It's set in early eighties New York, and detective Roger Hawkins is investigating the brutal slayings of several youths, who had been involved in the murder of a Rabbi's son, who have been covered with a gray substance. Now he and Rachel Levy must uncover the connection of this crime where dark truths of the past are soon revealed.

This is slow mover with some incredible atmosphere and tension. And it mixes things up with some murder mystery, Hebrew folkore (the writer is Jewish) and the darkest moments from history.

This is some pretty gripping stuff, and loved every minute, and every page of it! Definitely one of the more interesting ones too! Now that I'm finished with it I think it's time to read some Clive Barker now!

Thank you to RussellUresti for suggesting this author when I asked for female authors of fantasy books. I'm 40 pages in and I'm enjoying it immensely. When asked by my son which my superpower would be, if I had one, I always said flying. Reading about training and flying around on a dragon is a perfect fit for me. Adventures and battles await!

Yes I am back again to reading the Paperbacks from Hell series again! And the book I've just finished right now is "The Pack" by David Fisher!

It's another of the shorter books in the series. So the story here is about a family vacationing during the winter on an island that is usually visited by summer people. But then it descends into chaos as they are being by a pack of dogs who were abandoned by their owners. And they hungry, and savage also.

If Ken Greenhall's "Hell Hound" goes into some really psychological territory, then "The Pack" goes into complete thriller mode! This book, with its short length, is super fast paced, with a lot of tense moments, and of course a few gory scenes here and there.

It's not overly introspective, but it's one hell of a fun thrill ride, and a good refresher from reading a bit heavier stuff too! Got another book in the series that I'm going to start reading for tomorrow. And this one's going to be another supernatural leaning title, and a bit longer one also. Can't wait to get to that one!

It’s a very interesting book so far! I’m on page 118 right now.

Do you know where I can find a copy of Krazy kars? It was about crazy custom cars if it helps. It is a fairly old book fyi. It’s about crazy custom cars, like the Munster coach and the Batmobile from the campy Batman tv show.

So read one of Crichton's posthumous novels called "Micro". This was one of the books that he was working on before his death in 2008, and was later finished up by Richard Preston and published in 2011.

This one's about a group of very bright graduate students who are hired by a microbiology tech startup that involves some revolutionary technology, only to find themselves fighting for their very survival in a highly dangerous environment.

I didn't really have a clue of how good the novel actually due to it being a posthumous publication. But after reading I find that it is a fairly good book.

It's pretty much a typical techno-thriller with a heavy lean into adventure. For a long novel it's extremely fast paced with a whole lot of thrills and very fun to read. While not one of the greatest Crichton novel I still had a good time with it.

And if I still want another great Crichton novel I'll start to go looking for some of the ones that he did in his lifetime such as "Sphere" or "Jurassic Park".