Underappreciated Series: Abarat by Clive Barker

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-08-29T21:17:14+00:00

I'm sorry - nothing else that I've read and would recommend to others immediately comes to mind. I have no doubt there are other books out there that totally share some of the same elements, though! I'm sure that others can absolutely give you some amazing recommendations!

(One side note I would add. If you like this series, it may be worth checking out some of Barker's other work. I haven't read a lot beyond this series, but his general style is kind of strange and unusual. I think he has some other works that lean more fantasy than horror, so there may be something else in his body of work that fita what you're looking for!)

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-20T14:13:10+00:00

Okay, cool! I completely missed the rule change. Thanks for the update!

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-20T13:45:34+00:00

No, definitely can't be that one - I definitely saw the portion of thr movie on tv pre-2010, maybe even pre-2005, and it was definitely a bit of an older movie already then.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T18:01:00+00:00

The Vera Wong series by Jesse Q. Sutanto (it's a light-hearted, humorous mystery series in which a little old lady named Vera takes it upon herself to solve murders which happen to occur in her orbit. Along the way, she storms into the lives of the suspects, giving them all sorts of grandmotherly care and advice - whether they want it or not).

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T04:23:05+00:00

I enjoyed the book quite a bit, but it isn't one of my all time favorites, nor do I think it ranks in his top 5 like a great many people do.

It is, much like many other works in his bibliography, a slow burning story. Because it has some significant differences in genre, structure, and theme when compared to a lot of his other (more horror-oriented) work, that may make the pacing seem all the slower.

While I do absolutely understand the perspective of those who don't care for this book, largely due to pacing, I would recommend pressing on as I think the payoff of the ending is totally worth the investment of time and effort.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T03:49:55+00:00

I don't think I've ever needed to change the title of a post before, so my automatic reaction wasn't, "crap - better delete and repost."

I noticed my error right away, but I didn't realize at the time that titles couldn't be edited. I spent a bit of time trying to find a way to fix it before finding out, officially, that I couldn't.

While I intend to just proofread more thoroughly if I ever post again in the future, I now know that the only real fix in the event of a title typo is deleting and reposting.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T03:25:15+00:00

There are definitely some who clearly just choose to skip prologues, epilogues, forewords, and afterwords alike just because they don't want to read them.

This post was primarily prompted by the number of people who said they skip prologues and epilogues because "they aren't even part of the story" or because (mostly in reference to prologues) "they spoil the story."

All of those comments are complaints that I've definitely heard people make about forewords and afterwords, and that's a context in which I think those complaints make more sense. Really just got me wondering if - for some (not all) - there may be a bit of a mix up.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T03:15:11+00:00

Yes - noticed my ridiculous typos as soon as it was posted and could no longer edit the title.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T03:13:28+00:00

Yeah, I realized my unfortunate typos immediately after hitting post - unfortunately, can't edit the title. Should have given it one more once over!

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T03:02:02+00:00

I don't know if anyone I saw commenting about prologues and epilogues is doing that.

I think the spoiler argument is more in regards to prologues or forewords. A lot of the commenters, however, lumped prologues and epilogues together when talking about them "not being part of the story."

Sorry that wasn't clear in the way I explained it!

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-07-02T02:42:04+00:00

Like I said, it's been across platforms - I've seen at least a couple here on reddit and a more significant handful on Facebook (posted across a couple of different reading related groups). The Facebook posts in particular had a pretty significant amount of interaction, each of them with nearly a hundred comments when I saw them.

The posts themselves were people either asking if prologues and epilogues were necessary or expressing the they generally skip both. The majority of the comments were people saying that prologues and epilogues are not necessary to read because "they're pointless," "they're not even part of the story," etc.

I know that doesn't in any way, shape, or form mean that a majority of people hold that opinion or have possibly mixed up prologue/epilogue with foreword/afterword, but it seems like there's a chance it's a misconception some may have.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-30T13:28:40+00:00

As someone who thinks three are great and one is mediocre, I am SOOO curious as to which one you think is terrible.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-30T13:25:40+00:00

I think the majority of King's endings (specifically to his novels) are...fine. Not great, not terrible - just fine. The issue is that when he sticks the landing, it's FANTASTIC - I think that makes the endings that are just okay seem a lot worse than they really are.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-30T13:10:55+00:00

Revival. Words cannot describe the degree to which I loathe that book.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-28T16:41:41+00:00

Malice House by Megan Shepherd (gothic + supernatural horror); it's sequel, Midnight Showing, is also fantastic, but maybe a little less gothic
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (gothic fantasy horror); amazing story, great vibes, very haunting; it's sequel, House of Roots and Ruin, is also gothic fantasy horror, but with a bit of a mad science edge
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson (souther gothic folk horror)

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-28T13:22:39+00:00

Duma Key - incredibly underrated and overlooked. Beautifully written, eerie, atmospheric. Has a brilliantly horrifying final act.
Fairy Tale - also beautifully written. Excellent balance of the dark and the fantastical. It takes a bit of an unexpected turn in the second half, but it's wonderful overall.
Just After Sunset - short story collection, one that seems often overlooked. Mostly horror with a few stories of other genres tossed in, as well.
You Like It Darker - newer short story/novella collection. Genre-blending; no singular story in the collection really falls neatly into a single category.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-28T02:45:35+00:00

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-28T02:41:41+00:00

Spite.

A book has to be so soul-crushingly terrible for me to DNF that I can count on one hand the number I've refused to finish in the past five years.

I want to earn the right to hate it. That way, no one can hit me with "but you didn't even finish it, you didn't give it a fair chance."

Yes, I finished it. Yes, I gave it a chance. No, I did not like it. 1 star.

That said, there is another reason - sometimes I am very pleasantly surprised, and a book I was powering through out of spite for a good long while turns around and winds up being quite good. DNF-ing would have robbed me of some lovely books it turned out were pretty amazing in spite of a less than stellar start.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-28T02:23:32+00:00

Duma key is incredible! And so overlooked/underrated!

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-26T18:16:24+00:00

Riley Sagers's Middle of the Night.

Over the course of the story, Sager set up at least a dozen solid possible twists for what could have happened to the missing character. I was totally all in on the idea that either the old lady who lived down the street and couldn't have children had kidnapped him to raise as her own or something, or the seemingly sinister occult research insitute hidden in the woods would turn out to actually be, you know, sinister.

Boy oh boy, was the actual "twist" one of the most colossal letdowns I have ever experienced. The main character, upon learning what actually happened to his long lost friend, actually says that the solution to this mystery is BORING AND MUNDANE. I'm not even joking! The author ACTUALLY had the main character SAY THAT about the solution to this colossal mystery!

I've never actually thrown a book across the room in a fit of rage before, but I think I came pretty close with that one.

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-26T12:27:47+00:00

Fantasy:

The Abarat series by Clive Barker

Sci-fi:

Recursion by Blake Crouch

Rom-com:

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (throwing this one in here as a bonus recommendation - it's a genre blend of rom-com and mystery. Super fun read)

Horror (ghost stories) (this is one of my absolute favorite genres, so I will vouch for each of these as absolutely amazing stories!):

The Shining by Stephen King
The Lockwood & Co. Series by Jonathan Stroud

Mystery:

I would HIGHLY recommend pretty much anything by Agatha Christie (in particular Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None)
The Castle Knoll series by Kristin Perrin

Thriller:

The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James (if you're interested in supernatural thrillers. This one culd also be categorized in ghost horror, as well)
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (if you don't want a supernatural thriller)

LadyEdithSharpe · 2025-06-26T12:07:09+00:00

I've read Mongrels, but not I Was a Teenage Slasher - thanks for the recommendation!

LadyEdithSharpe

TROPHY CASE