I love this one. Always recommend it to anyone wanting to try horror from a new author. I emailed KPB after reading to thank him and he gave me a great response. He told me this book was a response to those who said he could only write subtle, quiet ghost stories or something along those lines. The other one I've tried from him and really enjoyed was his short story Blanky. Excellent portrayal of grief in that one and uncomfortable reading if you're a parent.
Wow Olly, this is slightly surreal, recent convert to your channel and bought Selby Jnr's The Room on your recommendation. Anyway the bizarre thing I was good friends with Kealan at school and during my college years, then we lost touch as I've lived all my life in Ireland and he moved to the US. Haven't spoken to him since my early twenties but just thought I'd mention the unusual coincidence. Keep up the good work.
I enjoyed Kin. Although it definitely started strong and then delivered a less than satisfying finale. The big showdown was something of a damp squib. Kealan is a solid writer though, so I definitely recommend checking out more of his work.
I agree that there's some plot stuff in the middle that could probably be cut. But, I thought the writing for most of the book was absolutely kinetic. I don't usually get that "edge of your seat" feeling from a book as much as a movie, but there were definitely scenes in here that had my heart racing. Also some messed up stuff that really stuck with me for a while after reading it.
You're being way more generous with this book than I was when I read it. 😅 You're right about the opening being really strong, but it was downhill after that. None of the decisions the characters made in the story made any kind of sense, the heavy-handed attempts at social commentary were wildly out of place, and the ending was such a load of crap. 😒 I feel like the author really bungled what could have been a pretty neat story, unfortunately.
@@kari8853 I mean, don’t expect it to be quite as good as the book, but it was neat seeing it in that medium. It called “John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Sour Candy” and is by Storm King Comics
Looking forward to hearing what you think of Pallbearers Club. I have only read Cabin at the End of the World by Tremblay but didn't enjoy it the way a lot of people did (actually, was really frustrated by it lol). I have head full of ghosts on my kindle, so now that you say you enjoyed that, I'll have to finally give it a go!
Excellent review Olly! Kin is on my tbr and I am dying to read it. Now that I have a kindle I will definitely get around to reading it and others that were previously not available in this country .
Yeah, Kin has been sitting in my office for a while… just haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve read a number of KPB’s books and loved them all. We probably already talked about this, but we had the same takes on Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts. Looking forward to trying this new one.
Great review. Even though you were mixed on it, you still liked it a lot more than I did. I HATED this book. First of all, I thought it started after most of the interesting stuff already happened, so it broke the James Elroy rule of "leave out the dull parts." It *started* with the dull parts. It's like if somebody had decided do all of Saving Private Ryan after Ryan gets home and just leave out all the battle stuff. Odd choice. Then it started getting gory-gross-out just for gory-gross-out's sake... which usually I don't mind at all, I'm all for it, (viva Richard Laymon & (sometimes) Edward Lee), but if it tries too hard and becomes stupid, it throws me out of the book. I don't want to give spoilers to anybody who hasn't read the book, but you'll know what I mean -- the whole "rebirth" thing, from Mama-In-Bed. That was just dumb and more goofy & silly than horrific. It wouldn't work physically (no matter how obese somebody is, their insides & skeleton remain the same size. I have a pathologist friend who can verify this. That's also a flaw in Duncan Ralston's vastly-overrated Woom, by the way. Anyway, I started feeling like the author was childish, lost control of a book he'd started badly, and it became a trudge to finish it. I finished the book but gave up on him. I haven't wanted to give him another chance so far. I thought if he came up with something THAT dumb he probably wouldn't have much for me. But, it could be that I'm missing out on something because of that. His prose was okay, it's just his ideas that were inept. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my favorite films ever, so it kinda ticked me off that Burke tried to re-make it, but taking a goofball Troma films approach. And wow do I hate Troma. Worst thing? I bought this book, forgot I bought it, and ended up buying it again later, so I have TWO copies of the damn thing. At least they have different covers... which is part of what tricked me into buying it.
I'm still not sure what I thought of The Pallbearer's Club. As always with Tremblay it's well written, but for a writer known for being ambiguous, he really turned it up to 11 this time. I will certainly be rereading it at some point in the future, but it's too soon for that. Let me know what you think of it!
I'm a huge Tremblay fan but I really, REALLY did not like Pallbearer's Club. Did not succeed for me as a horror, a coming of age story, a comedy, or anything really. Huge letdown
I agree. I’ve enjoyed all of Tremblay’s novels save for PALLBEARER’S CLUB, which I really, really didn’t care for. As far as KIN, a solid four-star read.
Hey Olly, I would like you to check out THE BONE WEAVER'S ORCHARD by Sarah Read. It's a pretty good gothic horror novella which I just finished. Also MASTER OF THE MOORS by Kealan Patrick Burke.
Hi Olly. Slightly off topic but could you explain why you found NOTICE (Heather Lewis) so disturbing? I tracked it down after a huge amount of time and found it almost boring. I'd hate to think I'm a potential psychopath/ serial killer but there was nothing overly disturbing in it. Obviously the acts perpetrated on the protagonist by the three men was horrible, and in real life the word disturbing wouldn't come close to describing that crime, however to class the entire book as one of the most disturbing novels you've read begs me to ask for specifics. (Try reading BIG HEAD by Edward Lee and then we'll discuss disturbing). Thanks for your time, and love your channel.
I love this one. Always recommend it to anyone wanting to try horror from a new author.
I emailed KPB after reading to thank him and he gave me a great response. He told me this book was a response to those who said he could only write subtle, quiet ghost stories or something along those lines.
The other one I've tried from him and really enjoyed was his short story Blanky. Excellent portrayal of grief in that one and uncomfortable reading if you're a parent.
Oh wonderful that he replied to you. And yeah, I've heard great things about Blanky
We appreciate your dedication and consistency, Olly. God bless you.
Burke is one of my favorite writers. He writes with real heart and emotion despite the horrible things that seem to happen in his books.
Yeah he did do a great job of bringing the characters pain to life
I really liked Kin it was pretty much my limit on the gore, but the story was written so well that I kept reading just to see how it ended.
Wow Olly, this is slightly surreal, recent convert to your channel and bought Selby Jnr's The Room on your recommendation. Anyway the bizarre thing I was good friends with Kealan at school and during my college years, then we lost touch as I've lived all my life in Ireland and he moved to the US. Haven't spoken to him since my early twenties but just thought I'd mention the unusual coincidence. Keep up the good work.
That's very cool!
I enjoyed Kin. Although it definitely started strong and then delivered a less than satisfying finale. The big showdown was something of a damp squib. Kealan is a solid writer though, so I definitely recommend checking out more of his work.
I agree that there's some plot stuff in the middle that could probably be cut. But, I thought the writing for most of the book was absolutely kinetic. I don't usually get that "edge of your seat" feeling from a book as much as a movie, but there were definitely scenes in here that had my heart racing. Also some messed up stuff that really stuck with me for a while after reading it.
You're being way more generous with this book than I was when I read it. 😅 You're right about the opening being really strong, but it was downhill after that. None of the decisions the characters made in the story made any kind of sense, the heavy-handed attempts at social commentary were wildly out of place, and the ending was such a load of crap. 😒 I feel like the author really bungled what could have been a pretty neat story, unfortunately.
super excited to see ur review of the pallbearers club; i adored this book when i read it!
That’s great to hear!
I’ve only read the shorty Sour Candy by this author and really loved it. He is a good follow on the Twitter as well. 😊
Agree with all of this.
I read that one too and it creeped me out so much for a few days! 😅😱😰
@@kari8853 If you don’t know, there’s also a graphic novel version now. The imagery in that is creepy. They need to make the movie.
@@BookBlather alright! That goes on my TBR. Just to probably freak me out even more 😉 ! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
@@kari8853 I mean, don’t expect it to be quite as good as the book, but it was neat seeing it in that medium. It called “John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Sour Candy” and is by Storm King Comics
It is Interesting how it seems horror novels are taking more and more inspiration from the more pulpy violent horror movies of the 70s and 80s.
I think that's definitely a big thing right now, much like horror movies and books in the 80s taking a lot of inspiration from the 50s
Looking forward to hearing what you think of Pallbearers Club. I have only read Cabin at the End of the World by Tremblay but didn't enjoy it the way a lot of people did (actually, was really frustrated by it lol). I have head full of ghosts on my kindle, so now that you say you enjoyed that, I'll have to finally give it a go!
I've read both of those and I liked Ghosts a lot more than Cabin, which I shared your frustration with
Excellent review Olly! Kin is on my tbr and I am dying to read it. Now that I have a kindle I will definitely get around to reading it and others that were previously not available in this country .
Yeah, Kin has been sitting in my office for a while… just haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve read a number of KPB’s books and loved them all. We probably already talked about this, but we had the same takes on Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts. Looking forward to trying this new one.
Have added it ti my TBR
Great review. Even though you were mixed on it, you still liked it a lot more than I did. I HATED this book. First of all, I thought it started after most of the interesting stuff already happened, so it broke the James Elroy rule of "leave out the dull parts." It *started* with the dull parts. It's like if somebody had decided do all of Saving Private Ryan after Ryan gets home and just leave out all the battle stuff. Odd choice.
Then it started getting gory-gross-out just for gory-gross-out's sake... which usually I don't mind at all, I'm all for it, (viva Richard Laymon & (sometimes) Edward Lee), but if it tries too hard and becomes stupid, it throws me out of the book. I don't want to give spoilers to anybody who hasn't read the book, but you'll know what I mean -- the whole "rebirth" thing, from Mama-In-Bed. That was just dumb and more goofy & silly than horrific. It wouldn't work physically (no matter how obese somebody is, their insides & skeleton remain the same size. I have a pathologist friend who can verify this. That's also a flaw in Duncan Ralston's vastly-overrated Woom, by the way. Anyway, I started feeling like the author was childish, lost control of a book he'd started badly, and it became a trudge to finish it. I finished the book but gave up on him. I haven't wanted to give him another chance so far. I thought if he came up with something THAT dumb he probably wouldn't have much for me. But, it could be that I'm missing out on something because of that. His prose was okay, it's just his ideas that were inept.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my favorite films ever, so it kinda ticked me off that Burke tried to re-make it, but taking a goofball Troma films approach. And wow do I hate Troma.
Worst thing? I bought this book, forgot I bought it, and ended up buying it again later, so I have TWO copies of the damn thing. At least they have different covers... which is part of what tricked me into buying it.
This sounds great! unfortunately I can't afford to buy it and it's not in my library :( Will scour the charity shops!
Hope you find it!
Thank you for that! Just in time really! Almost bought the German out of print version for over 100€ 😱 on eBay!
I'm still not sure what I thought of The Pallbearer's Club. As always with Tremblay it's well written, but for a writer known for being ambiguous, he really turned it up to 11 this time. I will certainly be rereading it at some point in the future, but it's too soon for that. Let me know what you think of it!
I'm a huge Tremblay fan but I really, REALLY did not like Pallbearer's Club. Did not succeed for me as a horror, a coming of age story, a comedy, or anything really. Huge letdown
I agree. I’ve enjoyed all of Tremblay’s novels save for PALLBEARER’S CLUB, which I really, really didn’t care for.
As far as KIN, a solid four-star read.
Based on this review and your comment, I will definitely be checking out Kin. Sounds pretty good! (If you're comfortable calling it that)
Yeah it does seem to be one that divides people!
Hey Olly, I would like you to check out THE BONE WEAVER'S ORCHARD by Sarah Read. It's a pretty good gothic horror novella which I just finished. Also MASTER OF THE MOORS by Kealan Patrick Burke.
Hi Olly. Slightly off topic but could you explain why you found NOTICE (Heather Lewis) so disturbing? I tracked it down after a huge amount of time and found it almost boring. I'd hate to think I'm a potential psychopath/ serial killer but there was nothing overly disturbing in it. Obviously the acts perpetrated on the protagonist by the three men was horrible, and in real life the word disturbing wouldn't come close to describing that crime, however to class the entire book as one of the most disturbing novels you've read begs me to ask for specifics. (Try reading BIG HEAD by Edward Lee and then we'll discuss disturbing). Thanks for your time, and love your channel.
The book is autobiographical which I think might be what pushes it over the edge.
@@eriebeverly I'm pretty sure it's not autobiographical. But I agree that that would definitely push it over the edge regarding disturbing content.
✨💃🏻🔮✨
Thank you!
Yeh less is always more when it comes to fiction.
hard agree!
Sounds gross. I'll read it. :)
LOL - have fun!