The Horror Book Club

Shirley Jackson has been a long time favourite author of Horror Book Club and we are going to tackle her short stories for the first time. Our discussion will be focussed on the below 6 stories from the collection.

• The Daemon Lover
• Like Mother Used To Make
• The Witch
• Pillar of Salt
• The Tooth
• The Lottery

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:
The Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker. "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery:" with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson's remarkable range--from the hilarious to the truly horrible--and power as a storyteller.

The meeting will start at 7pm and finish between 9.00 and 10pm (BST), with breaks in between. Just a reminder that the pub lets us to use the room at no charge so please do purchase drinks/food from the bar. Bringing in your own food from outside the pub is not allowed!

Our long terms regulars may remember reading Tender is the Flesh a few years ago, and while it received mixed reviews, no-one can say it didn't provoke a great discussion! Agustina Bazzterrica is back with her new book "The Unworthy" and is discussing it at Waterstones.

PLEASE NOTE: this is a ticketed event by Waterstones and everyone is responsible for purchasing their own tickets
https://www.waterstones.com/events/agustina-bazterrica-in-conversation-with-eliza-clark-at-waterstones-piccadilly/london-piccadilly

BLURB:
We are honoured to welcome Agustina Bazterrica, bestselling author of Tender is the Flesh, to Waterstones Piccadilly to discuss her latest slice of dystopian fiction, The Unworthy. An unusual newcomer brings a flicker of hope into the eerie darkness of the House of the Sacred Sisterhood – a place of questionable refuge for the 'unworthy' – in Bazterrica's chilling novel that brims with secrets and deep-buried resentments.
Agustina Bazterrica is an Argentinian novelist and short-story writer. She is a central figure in the Buenos Aires literary scene, working as a cultural organiser and workshop curator. She has received several awards for her writing, most notably the Premio Clarín Novela for her second novel, Tender is the Flesh, which has been translated into over 20 languages and is also available from Pushkin Press.
Eliza Clark is the author of Boy Parts (2020), Penance (2023) and most recently, She's Always Hungry (2024). In 2020, Boy Parts was Blackwell’s Fiction book of the year, and in 2022 Eliza was chosen as a finalist for the Women’s Prize Futures Award for writers under thirty-five. In 2023, she was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. She also writes for film and television. A stage adaptation of Boy Parts premiered at Soho Theatre in October 2023.

This comic was decribed to me as Dexter meets Winnie the Pooh - and who could turn that combo down!

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:
Don’t murder the locals—this is small-town serial killer, upstanding citizen, and adorable brown bear Samantha Strong’s cardinal rule. A sea of potential victims is in the city just beyond the forest, but when you’ve worked as hard as Sam to build a cozy life and a thriving business in a community surrounded by friendly fellow animal folk, warm decor, and the aroma of cedar trees and freshly baked apple pie, the last thing you want is to disturb the peace. So imagine Sam's indignation when one of Woodbrook’s own meets a grisly, mysterious demise. You wouldn’t blame her for doing anything it takes to hunt down her rival before the town self-destructs and Sheriff Patterson starts barking up the wrong tree.

The meeting will start at 7pm and finish between 9.00 and 10pm (BST), with breaks in between. Just a reminder that the pub lets us to use the room at no charge so please do purchase drinks/food from the bar. Bringing in your own food from outside the pub is not allowed!