I have been slowly reading Drood by Dan Simmons all this month in the spirit of Halloween, breaking now and then for more fast-paced reads. I am now 110 pages in and only now slowly getting hooked as the spook factor rises.
I do have to say that in some places the book gets just a bit too grisly for me.
Many – I should say most – of these graves remain unmarked. But not necessarily undiscovered. Those men digging new graves each day or night here in London invariably sink their spades into rotting flesh – layers of it, I am told – and then into unnamed skeletons beneath.
Some churchyards hire men to check the grounds each morning for chunks of decaying parishioners that have risen to the surface – especially after heavy rains – in too-eager anticipation of the Final Trumpet Call.
I have seen these workers carrying arms and hands, and other, less distinguishable parts, in wheelbarrows while in pursuit of their rounds, rather like a diligent gardener on an estate will carry off fallen limbs and branches after a storm.
~ Drood by Dan Simmons
Have you read this book? So far I have found it gory but am missing that gothic horror feeling I was expecting to get.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Nice take! I don’t like much of horror…better i sleep properly 🙂
@SinghalAlok:disqus I wouldn’t call this book pure horror. This section is one of the more grisly sections but overall it is tamer than I thought it was going to be.
OK…
hello nishita its dennis the vizsla dog hay dada sez he wants to reed this but hasnt gottin arownd to it yet!!! he did like wun of dan simmons other buks tho it wuz kalld the terror and livd up to its naym!!! ok bye
@dennisthevizsla:disqus I want to read The Terror soon. Drood is nice but not scary enough for me!
Grisly, gory books don’t appeal to me at all. I don’t like to be scared!
My Tuesday post features Shem Creek.
Even the cover looks ominous. The teaser on my adult blog comes from a new military thriller – Tenacity by J. S. Law. Happy reading!
Wow, wonderful! I’ve never heard of this book before but it seems right up my alley. Adding to my TBR! 🙂
Oh this sounds like a perfect Halloween read! Creepy!
My Teaser
That’s pretty grizzly. I’m not sure how realistic, though. You’d think they’d bury them deeper.
@aliceaudrey:disqus There was a pretty detailed explanation. It seemed there was a graveyard congestion problem during that time, and people just sort of got buried hodge-podge, and then started coming up. I just googled and here’s a Guardian article about it: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jan/22/death-city-grisly-secrets-victorian-london-dead
I’m not sure if this would be a read for me. I used to watch old black and white British movies with grave diggers and such but I’m not so much into grizzly as I get older. My teaser is from Dashiell Hammett’s The Continental Op: http://wp.me/p4DMf0-Zp
@@MsM2000:disqus I’m not too crazy about the graveyard bits either. It’s just a bit too much for me.
Graves and Halloween – sounds like an excellent match.
Mine: https://storytreasury.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/teaser-tuesday-ancillary-mercy/
@son@sonialal:disqus that they are 🙂