Bentley Little's THE BURNING

Mark Justice · **Joined:** Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:28 am **Posts:** 1683

While I've found something to enjoy in every Little novel, my favorite is probably The Store, with it's evil Wal-Mart (not such a stretch

).

David T. Wilbanks · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:14 am

Monty Grue · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:19 am

The Burning is off and on the top of my TBR pile. I'll get to it someday.

Matt Cowan · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:31 pm

I bought a Bentley Little book at a used book store the other day called, The House. I've never read any of his books before, is it a good one?

David T. Wilbanks · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:33 pm

Mark Justice · **Joined:** Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:28 am **Posts:** 1683

I liked The House. Give it a try.

Kreep · **Joined:** Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:19 pm **Posts:** 237

I've read two of his books:

The Return: After the first 70 pages, I determined it was the scariest book I had ever read and I ran out and bought about 5 more of his books because I was going to devour everything he ever wrote. By the time I got to the end, it had devolved into a tale of pure silliness and absurdity. It was well written, the characters were great, and the whole concept was EXTREMELY cool and creative. But once you find out what's causing the whole problem, you say to yourself, "you've got to be kidding." It's really freaking stupid. And the "fight scene" at the end? Really...really...lame. I would not recommend this book as the first or second one of his to read. I'd only read this one if you like a lot of his other stuff. It's too bad the "villain" sucked, because the concept of the book was top-notch.

The Walking: A whole lot better, with a lot less silliness. Another really creative idea for a book, with a plausible backstory to explain everything. Kind of a half-human nature / half-supernatural story. I'm don't think the ending was really strong, but it wasn't all that bad, either.

His short fiction is good. Pick up The Collection for some odd shit. His stories range from the slightly creepy to the disturbingly ridiculous.

Matt Cowan · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:48 pm

David T. Wilbanks · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:32 am

Matt Cowan · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:52 am

Scott Bradley · **Posted:** Fri Apr 13, 2007 1:50 am

Hey, guys, just back after Hell in technical problems. I'm a HUGE Bentley fan, though a recent convert. And, I will say, THE BURNING is BY FAR the most conventional of his books that I've read. THE STORE, THE ASSOCIATION, and his collection called, ahem, THE COLLECTION, are my faves.

And for those of you who watch Showtime's MASTERS OF HORROR, do NOT judge his writing by the ultra-lame adaptation they did of BL's great short story THE WASHINGTONIANS. Ugh. A real missed opportunity there.

Cheers!

SB

Bentley Little's THE BURNING

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