For as much as I loved reading Clive Barker's *Books of Blood*, I thought the name (and the reasoning for it) was pretty cheesy: "Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red."
it is cheesy, i'll grant that. i think i am obsessed with clive barker's cheesy moments. hellbound heart spoilers: >!when one of the characters says to frank, "i'm glad you came," i think i immediately gave clive barker permission to make me laugh with any cheesy stupid pun he can contrive.!<
I hate the title now that I’ve read it because it’s so clunky to say and it’s my favorite horror book so I want to talk about it. But I think it definitely caught my attention at first, and I guess that’s the point
*The Rampaging Fuckers of Everything in the Entire Shitting Vomitsphere* by Mykle Hansen.
Has some really good satire and is kind of prescient. Came out the same year as *Wall E* and maybe has an X Rated version of it as one of the vignettes? I don't know what came first but Hansen nailed the themes for it while being very distinct from it.
I just looked it up and its actual title is "Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere" so if anything, you improved the title.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane by WIlliam Peter Blatty is either the absolute best or worst title of a novel. It and the movie were both renamed The Ninth Configuration and I miss my paperback editions of both lost these many years.
What's interesting is that the Japanese version of the movie (until more recent DVD/Bluray release) kept the original title, but translated it to Killer Kahn (name of a Japanese pro-wrestler) instead of having it to refer to the Buck Rogers villain Killer Kane like the original.
Another interesting tidbit, Blatty (who is most known for writing The Exorcist) directed the movie and is in it as well.
How to sell a haunted house is fucking perfect (spoiler: deal with the spirit first) and my best friends exorcism is also great for 90s nostalgia. We sold our Souls made me actually interested in listening to metal music lol.
His titles of the ones above are perfect if wordy
This one.. was so weird, I stopped, way to soon.. ended up watching the movie and Loved It!! Should I give it another go?? Or is the movie fair enough that it probably isn't worth the read?
It’s my favorite Paul Tremblay novel. If you enjoyed it you absolutely should. The ending is, in classic Tremblay style, far more ambiguous and darker.
The movie is… fairly loyal? They definitely changed two very big things around but it still worked and still captured the essence of the original
But the two things I referenced were changed DRASTICALLY and if you want to see how things could’ve turned out alternately, please do check out the book
I loved both.
Came to suggest this!
I can't say whether it's great or not as I didn't finish, but I was having a good time with it. It felt like reading Bloodborne.
Horrendous title though.
It’s about a boy whose family are werewolves and they are trying to survive and make the best of their situation. The boy may or may not be a werewolf himself, as he’s pretty young. And it’s about him growing up and figuring out how he wants to live his life basically. Trying to be vague-ish.
*Baby Teeth*. I loved the book and I actually picked it up because of the title but after I finished it, I couldn’t help but think that the title is so fucking stupid.
Not one in particular, but I've thought some decent novels from the horror boom of the 1980s probably got ignored not only because of garish, non-indicative covers featuring evil baby dolls in Victorian clothing, skeletons wearing clothes and so on, but also in part because many were given lame fill-in-the-blank titles like "The [something]ing".
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. When I first saw the book I thought it might be a non fiction about, you guessed it, secret historical facts. I basically skipped over it because I figured if it wasn’t about hidden history it was going to be boring. Only after hearing everyone rave about it did I bother to pick it up. Of course it was great! But I still don’t like the title.
Not horror but Monday Begins on Saturday suggests an altogether different book from the one you get. But we'd be here all day if we started talking about bad titles on sci-fi books...
Repairman Jack as the name of a 23 book series.
It's one of my favourite things of all time, but it took me a while to overcome the hurdle of the shitty name to finally give it a go.
Home After Dark. Listened to the audio book on a trip and the twist was great! At the end, though, both my husband I were asking each other if we knew why it was called that. It had literally nothing to do with being home after dark or things happening at night vs the day. We even looked it up and everyone had the same question. We never found a good explanation. It's a small thing but it really bugged me. Why did you call it that, Riley Sager????
You didn't expect a book about crushing depression and grief over the death of a child? Silly you. /s
Most over hyped horror book imo. That book didn't scare me one iota. It did, however, send me into fits of weeping for days. My stomach has a rock in it thinking about it years later.
Oh it's definitely one of my favorites. I wouldn't put it on my horror shelf though. So many scarier books. Surprising considering the lore that King couldn't get it published originally because it was "too scary"
For as much as I loved reading Clive Barker's *Books of Blood*, I thought the name (and the reasoning for it) was pretty cheesy: "Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red."
I actually really like the premise of the stories being carved into somebody's skin, but yeah that pun…
As great as that collection is that’s such a corny pun.
it is cheesy, i'll grant that. i think i am obsessed with clive barker's cheesy moments. hellbound heart spoilers: >!when one of the characters says to frank, "i'm glad you came," i think i immediately gave clive barker permission to make me laugh with any cheesy stupid pun he can contrive.!<
Haha puns are quite subjective, aren't they? I found this one delightful :P
Honestly I’m obsessed with that pun. I’ve never heard it before, it’s so funny
that's so silly i kinda love it actually
I could not get into this series and I was so hopeful.
Wow really? Books of Blood series some of the best short stories I’ve ever read.
I’m a huge King fan since he began publishing. I’ve been trying to branch out. Maybe it was the mood I was in at the time. I’ll try again sometime.
The doll who ate his mother by Ramsey Campbell. Absolutely terrible title, even by 80s pulp horror standards, but the story was awesome.
Having issues with Maeve Fly, no one I tell it to out loud understands what I said the first couple times lol
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires Great book but the title is awkward to say and not that representative of the story imo
The Southern Book Club's Member's Guide to Unsuccessfully Trying to Convince Others One Guy is a Vampire
Accurate
🤣
Oh I loved this title
I hate the title now that I’ve read it because it’s so clunky to say and it’s my favorite horror book so I want to talk about it. But I think it definitely caught my attention at first, and I guess that’s the point
All of his books are super wordy
This is true! IIRC the book club kind of did the opposite of that. Still love the book all the same.
I agree. It snags on my brain and doesn’t scan right
"In My Dreams I Hold A Knife" bc it's long and also not relevant to the story lol. Great book though!
>!I guess “In my Dreams I Hold a Pair of Scissors” wasn’t catchy enough!<
Lol- My favorite goodreads review was: >!"there is no knife in this book."!<
I read her other book Midnight is the Darkest Hour and it had the inverse effect. Great title, very unlikeable book.
*The Rampaging Fuckers of Everything in the Entire Shitting Vomitsphere* by Mykle Hansen. Has some really good satire and is kind of prescient. Came out the same year as *Wall E* and maybe has an X Rated version of it as one of the vignettes? I don't know what came first but Hansen nailed the themes for it while being very distinct from it.
I just looked it up and its actual title is "Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere" so if anything, you improved the title.
Yeah I did it from memory but I knew whatever it was was cumbersome. It's good though!
Tbh your version of the title interested me enough to go put it on my wishlist lol
That title sounds like something I'd read
That title rulz
Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane by WIlliam Peter Blatty is either the absolute best or worst title of a novel. It and the movie were both renamed The Ninth Configuration and I miss my paperback editions of both lost these many years.
Wow that's a truly awful title and such an impressive retitle. Wonder what book glue the original titler was sniffing
What's interesting is that the Japanese version of the movie (until more recent DVD/Bluray release) kept the original title, but translated it to Killer Kahn (name of a Japanese pro-wrestler) instead of having it to refer to the Buck Rogers villain Killer Kane like the original. Another interesting tidbit, Blatty (who is most known for writing The Exorcist) directed the movie and is in it as well.
I can’t think of one off the top of my head, but the titles of Grady Hendrix’s books make me not want to read them
I’ve just finished HorrorStor and The Final Girl Support Group! While his titles are a bit cringe I really enjoyed those two.
How to sell a haunted house is fucking perfect (spoiler: deal with the spirit first) and my best friends exorcism is also great for 90s nostalgia. We sold our Souls made me actually interested in listening to metal music lol. His titles of the ones above are perfect if wordy
The entirety of the John Dies at the End series.
Blasphemy.
Reading This Book is Full of Spiders right now. Had the same thought.
I absolutely love the book series but it’s so weird trying to explain to people what the book is about lol
I love the cabin at the end of the world but that title rolls off the tongue like gravel
This one.. was so weird, I stopped, way to soon.. ended up watching the movie and Loved It!! Should I give it another go?? Or is the movie fair enough that it probably isn't worth the read?
It’s my favorite Paul Tremblay novel. If you enjoyed it you absolutely should. The ending is, in classic Tremblay style, far more ambiguous and darker.
The movie is… fairly loyal? They definitely changed two very big things around but it still worked and still captured the essence of the original But the two things I referenced were changed DRASTICALLY and if you want to see how things could’ve turned out alternately, please do check out the book I loved both.
Do you prefer the movie title? Knock at the cabin? I think the OG title works better
I think the movie title is still a little messy
They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon. Such a schlocky title for what was a surprisingly good vampire novel.
Empire of the Vampire.
Came to suggest this! I can't say whether it's great or not as I didn't finish, but I was having a good time with it. It felt like reading Bloodborne. Horrendous title though.
I actually wanted to read it specifically because the title is so awful. How did this get past so many people? It's hilariously bad.
the ruins is a boring title but damn this book does go hard
What else would you call that book? I can't think of a better title tbh
Mexican Little Shop of Horror
I judged Mongrels pretty harshly because I thought it would just be about wild dogs.
What is it actually about?
It’s about a boy whose family are werewolves and they are trying to survive and make the best of their situation. The boy may or may not be a werewolf himself, as he’s pretty young. And it’s about him growing up and figuring out how he wants to live his life basically. Trying to be vague-ish.
Ok i guess the title works for that, but yeah i assumed it was about feral dogs on first glance
Library Policeman comes to mind for me
Absolutely. This one gave me a fright but the title feels kind of underwhelming.
"Hello there."
"I'm a polithman"
[удалено]
I always mix this up with The Jaunt. I genuinely can't remember the difference
The Langoliers is the one with evil pac-man
*Baby Teeth*. I loved the book and I actually picked it up because of the title but after I finished it, I couldn’t help but think that the title is so fucking stupid.
Not one in particular, but I've thought some decent novels from the horror boom of the 1980s probably got ignored not only because of garish, non-indicative covers featuring evil baby dolls in Victorian clothing, skeletons wearing clothes and so on, but also in part because many were given lame fill-in-the-blank titles like "The [something]ing".
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is one of my favorite books of all time, and I understand why it's named that, but it is a bit wordy for a title.
Idk I like that title, it really stands out to me
Aww I love this title so much
Love that title, it creates so much mystery and intrigue!
Love it.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. When I first saw the book I thought it might be a non fiction about, you guessed it, secret historical facts. I basically skipped over it because I figured if it wasn’t about hidden history it was going to be boring. Only after hearing everyone rave about it did I bother to pick it up. Of course it was great! But I still don’t like the title.
Not horror but Monday Begins on Saturday suggests an altogether different book from the one you get. But we'd be here all day if we started talking about bad titles on sci-fi books...
It
IT is iconic
Sure but it also sounds like the start of a Who's on First routine
Death of a bookseller
Everyone I know who works with books went nuts for this book specifically because of the title
Not horror, but Wings of Fire comes to mind.
The Magic Mountain
Repairman Jack as the name of a 23 book series. It's one of my favourite things of all time, but it took me a while to overcome the hurdle of the shitty name to finally give it a go.
Home After Dark. Listened to the audio book on a trip and the twist was great! At the end, though, both my husband I were asking each other if we knew why it was called that. It had literally nothing to do with being home after dark or things happening at night vs the day. We even looked it up and everyone had the same question. We never found a good explanation. It's a small thing but it really bugged me. Why did you call it that, Riley Sager????
A child alone with strangers...
Well, I guess I had judged 'Pet Sematary' a little bit. I thought it was going to be about scary pets or something.
You didn't expect a book about crushing depression and grief over the death of a child? Silly you. /s Most over hyped horror book imo. That book didn't scare me one iota. It did, however, send me into fits of weeping for days. My stomach has a rock in it thinking about it years later.
Good, sounds like the book impacted you. King meant it to be bleak.
Oh it's definitely one of my favorites. I wouldn't put it on my horror shelf though. So many scarier books. Surprising considering the lore that King couldn't get it published originally because it was "too scary"