Are the Goodreads Choice awards worthwhile? Reading 10 years of HORROR winners

Check out the videos reviewing other genres here:
• 10 Years of Goodreads ...
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Books discussed:
2013 - Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
2014 - The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey (runner up)
2015 - Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
2016 - The Fireman by Joe Hill
2017 - Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King
2018 - Elevation by Stephen King
2019 - The Institute by Stephen King
2020 - Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
2021 - The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
2022 - Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
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Music: Who's Afraid of Halloween by Alfred Grupstra from Pixabay

[@LifeasMonae]

Dean Koontz’s success coming from sharing an initial with Stephen King is a conspiracy theory I totally support!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha ha thank you

[@Mondomeyer]

The theory doesn't make sense. Since when has SK ever not had a new book out?

[@gls888]

The more interesting test may be to read the lowest vote getter among the finalists. They might actually be better than the winner.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That’s an interesting idea

[@aliaswired]

I completely agree - I’ve been noticing that the books I like tend to be lower on the final list and have therefore concluded that’s were the gems are.

[@JediJuniper92]

That’s honestly brilliant. Or even maybe a mid-point voted book.

[@davidbrian6498]

This is a great idea.

[@michellerever3564]

I love that idea!

[@mitzireadsandwrites]

People also vote for books they HAVEN'T read! I know this because I watched someone vote for each category and they said as they were voting, "I haven't read any of these, but I do want to read this one, so I'll vote for it." It was then that I realized the Goodreads award wasn't valid. 😂

[@Topdoggie7]

The best-selling New York times list are also riggable. All it takes is a certain amount people buying mass copies of it for no reason and they can go up in the realest thing. In the past there have been groups of people who do this and raised search of books up in the rankings so they end up looking like they won but really it was all rigged.

[@Lala47362]

You can actually see the data on this too! On the book page you can see the statistics on how many people have shelved it as “read”. There was a book that I found really overrated and when I looked it had 62 thousand votes but only ~50 thousand had read it!!

[@lindala2602]

I'm waiting for a book that will come out in 2025 and it already has hundreds of ratings and reviews

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! That's amazing

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Fans gotta fan, I guess

[@kathleenbrashier2579]

The best thing this challenge has done is to help me find new booktubers I like. 😊📚

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! (Assuming I'm on of them!)

[@chelsey8737]

Have I ever purposely read a horror book? Absolutely not. Will I ever? Absolutely not. But I'm going to love this video anyway 😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

ha ha! Hope you enjoyed the video!

[@exomake_mehorololo]

This collab is such a fun idea 😁so far most people seem to have been suffering a lot 🤣🤣there goes my hope to find some nice book ideas

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha ha ha yeah the overwhelming vibe is meh!

[@FrshChees91]

Your Koontz theory is exactly how I found out about him lol

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha!

[@goddessofgore]

I just looked at my subscription feed and I got all my favourites discussing Goodreads. I thought something had happened. How exciting! This might be REALLY REALLY good or REALLY REALLY bad 😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Hope you enjoy them all!

[@dylanholm1509]

I came from Reads with Rachel who did a different category of this challenge. I agree with all the takes you had on books I’ve also read and love horror, got a few suggestions from you here. Looking forward to more reviews!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the video and hope you enjoy the suggestions when you come to read them

[@motherbipsy960]

I also came from RWR, hello neighbor!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@motherbipsy960 Greetings!

[@davidbrian6498]

I definitely agree about the Goodreads Choice awards being a popularity contest. Although I think this probably applies to most book awards. I used to make a point of reading each year's top picks. Maybe it's just me, but too often I was left shaking my head. So many better picks out there.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah shaking my head sums up my experience well

[@JediJuniper92]

I applaud you for getting through the Goodreads list. I typically avoid Goodreads and instead use Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards to help me choose new reads because I’ve also noticed Goodreads is full of people just jumping on hype trains instead of actual quality novels. Edit: I also disliked Final Girls Club and Loved Best Friend’s Exorcism. Soo many people I know recommend Final Girls to me because they loved it but they hadn’t read any of Grady’s other work.

[@MarcelleLeiturasPreguicosas]

Final Girls was shallow and so "in your face". From 2021, I've read Near the Bone and The Last House on Needless Street which were better reading experiences for me than Final Girl.

[@JediJuniper92]

@@MarcelleLeiturasPreguicosas i LOVED Last House on Needless Street. My personal favorite of late has been Mary by Nat Cassidy.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I really did think FGSG was very weak. Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed the video

[@kennanlukacs]

29:43 love the review of Hidden Pictures. Looking forward to reading it. Fun fact: Rekulak was once Grady Hendrix’s editor!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ah, that explains why there is a blurb from Hendrix on the book!

[@allisonreilly1952]

Enjoy the cup of tea!!! You deserve it after making this video!! I really enjoyed that you compared the Goodreads winner to the Stoker winner!!!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! The cup of tea was great!

[@20DYNAMITE06]

Mike Carey has a fun pulpy series featuring the character Felix Castor - he's sort of a psychic private eye, and he investigates crimes that involve the occult, demons and the like. It's fun. The first book is The Devil You Know, and it's worth a look. 👍

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think I have a copy of one of those books somewhere, I'll have to check it out!

[@99breyerproblems13]

I love your comment on Doctors Sleep where it’s like a Netflix team were asked to write a sequel 🤣 I enjoyed the book but completely agree with this feeling

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Thank you. 😊

[@bookslikewhoa]

Why I am a perversely relieved someone else had to struggle with good old Uncle Stevie 😅

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha ha ha I actually really like the Bill Hodges books - I’d much rather have read those again than these ones

[@bookslikewhoa]

@@CriminOllyBlog They were at least entertaining, so that was a definitely a win

[@heidifogelberg3544]

I think that these days King writes as much to please his fans as to tell his stories. I think it makes a difference to the quality of the story that he doesn't feel that hunger and NEED for success any more. Now he really is like a very engaging old uncle sprawled in his chair talking his talk - you can tune in and out, but you don't need to hear it all because you're dying to experience it, like I often felt with some of his best stuff.

[@knitwitch914]

Your review on Doctor Sleep was exactly as I felt. I wish I never read it and I knew going in he was going to blow this sequel. Did he even have any intention to have a sequel to the Shining? Outside of King writing about Danny’s addiction, the rest of the book was a story of whatever cartoonish garbage he could come up with to make something “safe” his new audience could emotionally handle. It misses all the depth and brilliance we were privileged to have experienced. I loved Abra’s character outside the lazy relationship he wrote with her backstory. I really wish he could have reenergized that older self to work a better story around Danny and Abra. I’m really afraid his politics and the years away from his leaner times just infect his newer writings.

[@ASIF_M1934]

I normally use the Stoker Awards / runner ups as a guide but now I refer to your channel for recommendations - so no pressure Olly!😄definitely recommend Owl Goingback (Crota and Breed are great reads by OG) Carry on the great work sir.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Thank you Asif, that's very kind

[@emmabrandel9870]

I'm here after watching Reads With Rachel, and I love horror! Just subscribed and looking forward to watching your other videos :)

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yay! Thanks so much for subscribing Emma. Hope you enjoy the channel

[@fiig5196]

I’m here from mynameismarines and readswithrachel. I hate horror books but I’m a completionist . I also read Mexican Gothic for a book club and The Fireman sounds so good, ima give it a shot!

[@Michael_Wertenberg]

Blood Kin, I really liked. One of my favourite villains of all time in the snake handling preacher. (But grain of salt, because I loved Doctor Sleep)

[@glyndwr15]

It seems like modern King novels will often devolve into pointlessly elaborate plot machinations which feel like filler. A million things will happen in the book, but it's all so elaborate that you don't even remember most of them. I can't even remember half of what happens in the last 1/3rd of Doctor Sleep, for instance. I'd make the same criticism of The Institute and a number of King's more recent novels. King wasn't above pointless filler during his classic period, of course -- he's famous for bloated, meandering books -- but it was a lot more fun to read because it was character driven. Rather than an endless series of mechanical and bland plot points that unfold, he instead would go into character's internal monologues, for instance, and the characters were more memorable and relatable for it. You got way more emotional and psychological realism than you get in modern King novels. I remember King's characters from his classic period, not so much from his more recent period.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I definitely agree with that, although I've recently read Billy Summers which I thought was far more successful

[@worldofbare6727]

i'm super glad you shouted out stephen graham jones twice in this video. i haven't read mexican gothic yet (although it's on my list!) but the only good indians was so excellent that i can't imagine many other books topping it (at least within the same year of publication). i haven't read my heart is a chainsaw yet but only bc ive been meaning to watch more slasher films (esp OG ones). currently reading cabin at the end of the world & am so far loving it

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Watching loads of slashers before reading MHIAC is a great idea - hope you're enjoying them and like the book when you get to it!

[@spookyfirst9514]

I've relied on the Stoker awards for years. Good reads reminds me too much of Twitter, which is a total dumpster fire.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'm not sure it's quite as bad as Twitter right now lol, But yeah I tend to use it just for logging what I read rather than anything else

[@WildeBookGarden]

oof, you had a lot of bad ones here! glad you at least had a few you'd already read - and that is dedication for reading that entire Dean Koontz series!! 😅 really love the way you reviewed these! I got a great sense of these books even though I've only read Mexican Gothic, which I LOVED - glad you enjoyed it too!!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video. it was an ORDEAL :D

[@davebrzeski]

I agree, but it's the same with any set of awards, with the possible exception of the Brits, which seems to be based on which artists brought in the most money in that year. People can only vote for what they know. I remember the music mag awards in the 70's. People voted for their favourite band, and voted for the individual members of that band in their individual categories. There were problems with the comic awards, when it became obvious that the publisher's of an X-Men fanzine campaigned for their entire readership to vote for X-Men in every possible category. As far as book awards go, it's down to how easy it is to get enough people to read, let alone vote for the books they considered of high quality. I have in the past been active in the British Fantasy Awards as a member of the judging panel for a particular category. They ran on the basis that members of the British Fantasy Society, and attendees of Fantasycon in the relevant year nominate their favourites. Then the books/authors/stories are shortlisted on the basis of how many nominations they got. Then the top 5, or so are passed to the judging panel for that category to read, and rank. We were also allowed to add an egregious omission to the list at that stage if we wished. I quite liked being on that end of things, as it was fun just having a handful of books/authors/stories/publishers to read & consider. I think that was as fair a system as I've ever seen, but it still depends so heavily on enough people having read a book for it to have any chance at all of being noticed. Naturally already Popular authors will always have an unfair advantage.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Totally agree.- I think anything where the winner isn't voted for by a panel who actually read all the books is going to be a bit iffy! But then panels have been known to make mistakes too

[@Lara-mx4cd]

I wish that they put out the list earlier in the year or actually on the last days of december and then hold the votings a few months later, so that people could have a decent chance to read the books.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah that would be better

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

Loved watching your break down and find your channel thru this collab!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! And same. It’s been great to meet new folks I’d never come across before

[@leandropaulo2921]

Do you know what would be interesting? Reading the winners of the Bram Stoker Awards from the last 10 years, but I loved the idea of your video. I believe that most of these winners (goodreads choice Awards) only won because of hype and/or the author's fame, rather than the quality of the horror. I recently discovered your channel and I'm absolutely obsessed with your videos, I'm loving your work.

[@cylesteblue]

I’m so glad you were involved in this project! I thought it was crazy that three of my favorite booktubers posted this kind of video on the same day 😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LOL yeah it was a really fun thing to be part of - I loved it!

[@dianak.5412]

Would have been interesting to know about the average rating and your rating of the book. Plus a „read this instead“ part.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That would have been a good idea!

[@books-on-a-wire]

What a cool collaboration! I enjoyed Doctor Sleep, would actually love a prequel of Rose the Hat and her group. I never trust Goodreads Awards, they seem to have their favourites across all genres who inevitably win. I need to check out more of the Stoker books - Tremblay and Jones have been excellent but the other winners I've never heard of.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'm definitely going to dip into some of the Stoker winers I haven't tried yet

[@isirlasplace91]

This was such a great idea for a collab!! I'm new to your channel and I'm here to stay. I love reading horror!!💕

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it was a really fun collab to be involved in! Hope you enjoy the rest of the channel 😊

[@linahill7341]

I appreciate the facts and humor in your videos!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Lina :)

[@ammalyrical5646]

I've watched several of those videos now (I think this one was the 5th or 6th) and I feel like this was the most interesting one even though I barely read horror. It doesn't really appeal to me and when I try regular horror it often misses the mark. Same goes for thrillers (except I like detective thrillers when done well). I really like Mexican Gothic too and I also like how Silvia Moreno-Garcia used the inspiration of The Yellow Wallpaper in the book. I read that short story after the novel. I've since areas some more from Moreno Garcia and all books I've tried by her have some kind of really satisfying eerie element to them even if I don't like the books. I like horror set in settings like the one in Mexican Gothic btw, the atmosphere just invites the bit of a possible paranormal twist I enjoy. Hence my enjoyment of the Fred, The VAmpire Accountant books (which is a fantasy horror comedy). I was wondering if you've read The Ritual by Adam Nevill? I read that one, needed several tries and the audiobook to finish it and afterward I felt like it felt flat. I didn't care for the characters or the mystery. The atmosphere missed the mark totally (the movie did it better, but I only watched it for maybe 20 minutes because I wasn't done with the book yet). In hindsight I think it was what he was trying to do with the writing. It was something he wasn't very skilled in. It's like that for me with Scott Lynch as well: his writing doesn't work for me, but the massive difference that that man actually has the skill to pull off what is trying to do. At least in my opinion. Still think he overwrights and leaves too little to the imagination though. Same happened in The Ritual: it's overwritten but in a style the author didn't pull off that well. Anyway. I hope this makes sense. I find it interesting to find the horror one the most interesting video even though I still haven't found out what exactly I like in the genre (except the paranormal fantasy stuff) and avoid it because the premises don't really appeal to me much. Hmm... Interesting thing your are, my brain...

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hi! Thanks so much, I'm really glad that you enjoyed the video. I'm going to be reading The Yellow Wallpaper soon so will see what I think! I've not read The Ritual (or any Neville books) but am trying him soon!

[@ammalyrical5646]

@CriminOllyBlog I'm curious what you'll think. Let me know? I'm trying to limit by KZbin time because I need more time to apply for jobs and it takes a lot of effort to find ones that suit me.

[@jessekuroki473]

Love the insights, they really help me figure out what I will read with the limited time I have. I've read a few of the Stoker winners, which were exceptional even if they weren't my personal cup of tea. I'll definitely have to pay even more attention to them.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Really glad my ramblings are helpful!

[@krisprepolec5616]

I read the audiobook for Doctor Sleep, and I highly recommend. I also saw the movie, and I loved how the Overlook section of the book carried on from what happened at the end of the Shining book, but the movie carried on from what happened at the end of the Shining movie, which was different. It validated my opinion that each has their own merits, and are their own thing. As an aside, I was not thrilled with the casting of Rose the Hat. I love the actress, but not right for this part.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I am intrigued to watch Dr Sleep and a lot of people have praised it

[@ohladysamantha]

Thanks for being a part of this project!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

My pleasure, it was a great thing to be involved in

[@NovelFindsByKassi]

Something I thought was pertinent about The Institute is that it was published right at the same time that Stranger Things was at its height of interest, at least among my peer group. Because it had a similar vibe with the tweens all sort of getting together to try to overcome this force that was just out of their control, I felt that similarity probably also carried it through a bit more at the time. I personally loved The Institute (compared to your review, at least) and couldn't quite put my finger on why until you mentioned in your review that it was sort of like firestarter which was my introduction to King at an impressionable age. So, thanks for answering that nagging ask in the back of my mind.

[@ChrissyM]

I also loved The Institute. I had read Firestarter as a kid many years ago so understand the comparison, and I really loved the first half of that with the experiments, but felt it really dragged at the end. On the other hand I was engaged throughout on The Institute so preferred that. So many good characters to root for.

[@WhatRyansReading]

Kudos on getting through all those! I thought about doing this myself but decided instead to start a project to read all of the Stoker winners and it seems like it's been a much more rewarding experience. Though it's also quite a bit of King (and a shocking amount of Peter Straub).

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah the Stokers would be a much more rewarding experience I think

[@FullyBookedMelissa]

Very interesting to see the difference with the stoker. I also loved The Only Good Indians but DNFed My Heart is a Chainsaw. Will have to try it again sometime.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Sorry you didn't like MHIAC more! I thought it was pretty great

[@JoshsBookishVoyage]

Great video and discussion. A few years ago I decided to branch out in my horror reading bc I had only really read King. I used the stoker and Jackson awards to find new authors, and many of them did not dissapoint

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I think those are much more reliable sources than GR

[@leannj.3706]

it was cool to hear your thoughts about the goodreads winners! horror isn't really my genre but i'm trying to get into it more

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Topdoggie7]

I definitely recommend it for when you're in the mood to have a little bit of darkness and atmosphere, it's not something to consume en mass outside of movies because the books often stick with you and if you have a long hard day it'll definitely follow you into your sleep. Once you figure out what type of horror you really like you can usually narrow your search down into a specific genre of it and then all of the related ones become easier to find.

[@randamnlee6259]

I honestly agree with you. It’s a popularity contest not the best book. The fantasy category highlights this very well

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it's certainly not any measure of quality

[@amandabarrett7945]

Dude,I had the exact opposite feelings about the institute. I really dug the part about the kids (not a school by the way, a research facility). I hated the cop.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! I guess we all react differently to the books we read

[@davebrzeski]

I'm a big fan of Mike Carey's work, but I don't even have a copy of that one. I'll be interested to see if I agree with you when I do get a copy, or not. Coincidentally, Mike has a new SF novel comic from PS Publishing in a few months, and I believe it's another 500+ page book. So that's going to be interesting. As I think you know, I generally tend to prefer shorter works, by which I mean novellas, not short stories as such. I'm wondering now if I should apologise for my two comments being longer than usual. I definitely need a cup of coffee! 🙂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'm definitely interested to try more of his work. I think I have one of the Flexi Castor books somewhere

[@anthonyprice4862]

Haha! If it wasn’t for Doctor Sleep I’d probably never have become a Patreon of yours😊 its the book that got me back into reading. Mr King will hate it when I state I find great comfort and familiarity in his work. Despite it being nowhere near his best, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Any book that gets someone back into reading definitely deserves some praise!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thanks for joining in the project! The Fireman sounds interesting and I’ve not read from Joe Hill yet. I’m sorry so many of the books were less successful!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

That comment about Hidden Pictures is spot on 😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I loved it! LOL

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think the quality thing was kind of to be expected (or at least I expected it). Joe Hill is pretty good from what I've read by him. Not amazing, but definitely entertaining and interesting

[@lordramoth3416]

Great video gonna watch it as soon as I stop reading

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you!

[@kevinjudge8406]

Maybe you should do the Olly's as an award in future. You are pretty trustworthy in that it is clear that you have read the books and, more importantly, you have read a range of titles in the genre. It feels like a commendation from Olly would be a thing that readers/viewers would acknowledge. Enough of the praise - I also want to identify that with the Stoker awards, if you go back far enough the King problem is there too. And, in 2000 old Richard Laymon won the award but I think they renamed it to the Stroker awards on that occasion! Ahh, that was cheap!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

😂😂😂😂 Stroker awards.

[@M-J]

I hope you received a certificate for this massive project. 😀 King/Koontz - You know what they say…location, location, location. - MJ

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Very true

[@JoseMGonz-ib4rh]

Found out your channel looking up book reccomendations a few days ago, it has been a great experience, please keep at it you're a very pasionate reader and analytic, hope you have a great day! P.S: If possible in the future do a video talking about psycological horror or post-apocalyptic theme book reccomendations.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Really glad you're enjoying the channel!

[@pucksandpaperbacks]

I really enjoyed Mexican Gothic. I picked it up in October, but things got in th way and I haven't finished it. This just reminded me!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you enjoy the end!

[@Anthingll]

Well done Ollie for getting through that lot, I don’t think I’d have had the patience. You mentioned Ararat, I very recently read that, I thought it was okay but it was too much of an adventure style story, not a bad book but probably not right for my taste. I’ve had a bit of a horror set on mountains thing recently, by far my favourite was The White Road by Sarah Lotz, I’d highly recommend that one. Both creepy and had an emotional punch. I also read Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt which was…I’m still not sure. It was a lot, about four books worth of story crammed into one long book.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I've heard good things about Sarah Lotz - need to check her out. Thanks for watching!

[@mastersal4644]

Great video - and thank you for the comparison. Even though I am a chicken and dont read much (any?) horror I found the video quite a bit of fun!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video1

[@darkfaetarot]

“… I didn’t like this one either…” 😂 needs to be the title of this video. I didn’t like Firestarter either. I watched the whole of this video because you’ve read the whole of those books 😅. I want to read Mexican Gothic for ages … another horror book tuber also recommended it. I’m glad it was a Collab, at least you weren’t alone 👯

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Mexican Gothic is definitely the one to read! And yeah I did end up saying that so much!

[@fiberartsyreads]

I think you may be on to something regarding Koontz. This was so interesting to see. I definitely don’t put a lot of stock into goodreads awards because it seems like a popularity contest.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Crystal, it was a fun project to be part of

[@lynnomara7652]

Thanks for this review very interesting.

[@stews9]

Olly, you're reliable. If you don't like it, I will. If you do, I might, but probably for reasons entirely different from yours.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha - well that's something at least

[@cherylstevens9665]

A lot of interesting tidbits woven into the commentary. And yes, the Goodreads awards is definitely a popularity contest among other things. I voted in it, but most of the books I hadn’t read. I suspect this is true for many people. Thanks.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I think that's the fundamental problem - it encourages people to vote even if they don't really have an informed opinion

[@paulflint6254]

I like Goodreads, i'm on there. It has a friendly community, I have friends there too.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I’ve not really explored the community aspect of it too much. I probably should

[@allgirlreview433]

While I quite liked, The Girl With All the Gifts, I agree with everything you said. Plus I felt like it was more like a movie script than a novel.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That’s a really good way of describing it!

[@heidifogelberg3544]

I haven't read this title, but I did read the short story it's based on, called Iphigenia in Aulis (sp?) which was tight and crisp and mean. Maybe Carey should have stopped there with this idea.

[@LauraBCReyna]

Super interesting. I'm also subscribed to bookslikewhoa and Mara did her mega review on mystery thrillers which is my fave genre. Stephen King shows up a lot on her list & it was not an enjoyable experience either. Gonna go check out other channels participating in this project.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Mara's video was so great - I actually think she got better Kings than I did - I liked the ones she read by him a fair bit more than she did.

[@WestAussieDiamondArtReads]

I loved Joe Hill's The Fireman (the first of his that I'd read. I was drawn to it because the cover was orange and orange is my favourite colour). I read The Institute which I found OK. I also read Sleeping Beauties and never thought it was a horror story or at least not what I thought would be horror. The first of Stephen King's novels that I read, Rose Madder, was closer to a horror story than the other ones of his that I've currently read.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I haven't read Rose Madder since it came out. I might have to revisit it!

[@javelin60]

My partner gave me How To sell A Haunted House for Valentine’s ( not sure what to make of that😎) but so far I literally could not put it down. Looking forward to hear your opinion on other Grady Hendrix books.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I just started it actually and I'm really enjoying it. I did do a review of Horrorstor here a while back

[@stephennootens916]

I hate to point this out but the Chef unless they change his name in the UK edition was name Dick (I just watched a video review of the mini series and they made more than a few jokes of the name) and the baddies were more like vampires that feed of people with the shine. Personally I think nothing could ever compare to The Shining so I wasn't all to upset when Doctor Sleep turned out to be a middle sort of book. And you can't really say he mixed two stories so much as put two stories in one book. The whole first half is all about Danny journey to sobering up and then you get a horror story that he is in with a kid that has the shine and the roaming immortal homicidal baddies.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah they changed the name in the UK edition. But only in the copy I read and then lost. 😬

[@johnnythepillpopper1974]

Honestly I don’t believe good reads know crap about horror, they base themselves on bestsellers……now if Olly is involved then that brings credibility to the whole thing.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Very kind of you to say!

[@debbiestuckey2239]

I read a couple of Joe Hill’s books and it might as well been written by his father. The characters, the description of things, the attributes of each character could have been taken from a Stephen King book. Joe even has the dry and boring portions followed by interesting portions just like his father.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

The ones I have read by him I've enjoyed, but yes you can definitely see the paternal influence

[@heidifogelberg3544]

Never liked Anne Rice's horror stuff. I tried at several of them, but always noped out. I think Joe Hill may well end up being a much better writer than his father. I've liked him since Heart Shaped Box, which I remember being pretty scary. Quite the Tuesday post!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Heidi! Yeah this was a loooong video for me

[@heidifogelberg3544]

@@CriminOllyBlog It was longer than you usually do, but it was on an interesting topic that needed the extra time. You didn't really waste any time, and the minor divergences from the EXACT topic (talking about The Shining, your reason for not doing the Rice title, eg) were important to your commentary and so worked. It was interesting and well done, and while I guess the Stoker Prize part was again not EXACTLY on topic as far as the Goodreads people might feel, I think it was also necessary in order to give viewers who might want the info an additional and better - for your purposes - option. Bottom line is that the length worked and because you did the whole thing engagingly I didn't mind the time at all. I only noticed it when I looked at the image before I started. After that, I was into the narrative. Job well done!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@heidifogelberg3544 Thank you. Heidi, glad you felt it hit the mark. I'm always conscious of people's time

[@georgeparkes3863]

Great video. The trouble with Stephen King is he gets an idea, starts and gets bored quickly! Can’t stand Anne Rice but loved Carey’s ‘Girl with all the gifts’ I guess it’s all personal taste at the end of the day! The other trouble with following lists is my pile of shame keeps growing so thanks for that! 😃

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Sorry about your pile of shame! I do wonder sometimes if King has an idea and then just tosses a coin to decide if it will be a short story or an 800 page novel

[@horrorandinconvenience5036]

I know our tastes diverge in some crucial ways, but I am BEGGING you to read books 2 and 3 of the Vampire Chronicles. They’re narrated by Lestat and far more unhinged than Interview with the Vampire. I want to know your opinion on Queen of the Damned, because it is genuinely one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. Please. PLEASE!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hmmmm.... maybe!

[@horrorandinconvenience5036]

@@CriminOllyBlog it can’t possibly be worse than the experience of reading even one Odd Thomas book

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@horrorandinconvenience5036 well that's true....

[@richardgill1309]

Well done trimming down the video if only Stephen King could follow your example. I think you deserve a medal for reading all the Odd Thomas books. Something like the Order of the Flowery Bollocks would be ideal for anyone putting themselves through a Koontz ordeal. I salute you .

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha ha thanks Richard.

[@DDB168]

I LOVE your letter K hypotheses. One way to test it - Kriminolly 🤣 2 out of 10 😭

[@heidifogelberg3544]

Accidents while browsing. Sometimes they work out, and sometimes Dean Koontz ...

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LOL

[@CriminOllyBlog]

hahahah!

[@readandre-read]

I actually liked The Institute but it did have a weirdly long first portion. Loved The Fireman. I still haven't figured out what to make of Elevation.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah Elevation really was quite weird

[@maryanne1830]

Elevation just sounds like thinner to me. I'm interested to read the fireman though. Thanks for the reviews ☺️

[@CriminOllyBlog]

The Fireman is definitely a lot better

[@paulaj7860]

I’m still a King fan. Joe Hill is an amazing writer, but the Fireman wasn’t my favorite of his books. Another great video, Ollie.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! I definitely need to read more Hill

[@denisadellinger4543]

I think that Goodreads is in cahoots with the publishers of these books. They want to promote the new and favorite authors who have published new material. They throw the titles out and let the ones who like the books vote on them. As you say, it's a popularity contest.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think that's almost certainly true1

[@Set666Abominae]

When I read them both, I significantly enjoyed Final Girl Support Group more than My Heart is a Chainsaw, but in the time that’s passed the latter has stuck with me much more. At the time I wasn’t a fan of MHiaC’s protagonist, but the more I thought about it, the more her struggle with trauma and systemic discrimination dug deeper into me. It also helps that the supporting cast are much more fleshed out than the rather cardboard cutout ones in FGSG. Out of curiosity, have you read Grady Hendrix’s earlier novel ‘Horrorstör’? I completed that one recently and whilst it’s not perfect, I preferred it to FGSG.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah agree - I thought Jade was a really great character. And yes I have read Horrorstor - I didn't like it as much as some of his other books, but it definitely ranks above FGSG for me

[@carolinesconcertvids860]

I also loved The Shining, but I did DNF Doctor Sleep. The Girl With All The Gifts I picked up in a charity shop for £1. Haven't read it yet and not sure if I would've picked it up if I had to pay full price

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think that’s how I got my copy of Girl with all the Gifts as well!

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

I haven't read much of Stephen King since 2000, I read a lot in the 1980s. I did read Cell and felt King's mojo is waning, the Goodreads awards do seem like a popularity contest. The last three years has seen Sarah J Maas win the fantasy genre....there are plenty of other good fantasy writers out there.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah Maas seems to be huge at the moment, Which having read some of her books, I don't really get

[@nylorac1984]

Amazing how many times Stephen King won, I also noticed he was winning in other categories as well. Fantastic collaboration 👏

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah he won all over the place. And thank you, it was a really fun collab to be part of

[@ruplayinggame3080]

I just found you through this project and I gotta say, it is always satisfying for me to hear someone criticize Hidden Pictures, damn that was sooo bad, I just viscerally hated the ending and also the rest of the book was completely boring, while the most interesting part was the first chapter (or was it a prologue?) with the study the character participates in, but the author seemed to want to do nothing with that? I also quite liked Mexican Gothic and disliked The Final Girl Support Group. My Heart Is a Chainsaw (and Don't Fear the Reaper, which I read last week and LOVED) is much better on the film reference stuff. And I don't want to read that much Stephen King anymore, I would prefer to read everything Stephen Graham Jones has ever written. Thanks for your sacrifice in reading alll of that for this project!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah that prologue was intriguing and ended up being completely irrelevant LOL I think the sacrifice was worth it, it was an interesting experience at least. SGJ is so good - I can't wait to read Reaper

[@eriebeverly]

Interesting video. Congrats on finishing Odd Thomas? The Goodreads Choice Awards are so weird in that they're almost always determined by how many followers authors have on other social media platforms.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah completely! It really is just about getting people to vote

[@SheilaTheGrate]

The Dr. Sleep movie was quite good (I didn't read the book because I'm laaaaazy). :D I thought the acting was incredible. The script was OK, but I feel like the story was better as a movie.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Lots of people have said that - I definitely need to see the movie

[@brianneb7691]

The cook in The Shining is named Dick.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I have no idea how I got that wrong🤦🏻‍♂️

[@mattrance208]

Just found your channel and loving it. Have you read The Cormorant by Stephen Gregory or anything by Simon Maginn. Would love to hear your opinion.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I haven't read The Cormorant but have heard good things about it. I've read Sheep by Maginn and liked it quite a bit - genuinely creepy

[@rosiealma4276]

A second vote for reading The Cormorant.

[@BooksCauseInsomnia]

You have me wanting to read the Fireman. Elevation sounds like Thinner in the beginning. I felt exactly the same way you did about Sleeping Beauties. I feel like I'm supposed to read Mexican Gothic. I keep hearing things that peak my interest. Welp, we agreed on Final Girl Support Group. 🤣 I love Hendrix, but not that book.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I described Elevation so badly! It's not that he is getting thinner it's that he's getting lighter. Like he looks exactly the same, but when he gets on the scales he loses like a pound a day. Mexican Gothic is great - I think you'd like it

[@BooksCauseInsomnia]

@CriminOlly Oh, okay. I was wondering why he did another Thinner. I did really like Thinner years ago when I read it. I just added Mexican Gothic to my wishlist. 😀

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@BooksCauseInsomnia Hope you enjoy!

[@anotherbooktubechannel]

I thought the Mike Flanagan movie version of Doctor Sleep (particularly the Director's Cut) was significantly better than the book (which I thought was fine, but forgettable)

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I do want to watch that

[@BookwormAdventureGirl]

This is a really interesting project. From the list I’ve only read Elevation and Mexican Gothic. I did not enjoy Mexican Gothic as much as you did. The Institute is on my TBR. Too bad you didn’t care for it. 😊💙

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Jolene - hope you like The Institute more than I did

[@heidifogelberg3544]

Isn't it excellent that different people can read the same book - or watch the same film - and have different responses? Maybe The Institute will speak more to you, and that will be great! Secret: Olly doesn't love the film Blade Runner as much as I do, though I hear from a very reliable source that he doesn't hate it. But I still really like his content and I get a lot of enjoyment from his channel, so it's all a win. Keep participating and have fun with all of us!

[@ChrissyM]

There's so many people on Goodreads that refuse to rate anything less than 3 stars because "writing a book is hard" lol. Can't trust it these days.

[@katherineeaster5799]

I liked the movie Doctor Sleep, but had not read the book. Stephen King, and every author I'm about to mention, is very hit or miss for me. I'm a big fan of the Odd Thomas series. The plots get more outlandish as you go, but the character is so good that I didn't mind following him through it. As far as Grady Hendricks, I really enjoyed My Best Friend's Exorcism (way better than the movie) and Horrostor has a really unique concept, but I didn't make it far into Final Girls Support Group.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'm actually reading Hendrix's latest book now and really enjoying it!

[@ellagoreyshorrorstories7524]

The cook was Dick, not Mike. I had to wonder who you were talking about for a minute! What I disliked the most about Doctor Sleep was the (SPOILER ) *secret love child* reveal. This was a stupid "twist" when Carrie 2 did it, and for King to rip off his own ripoff...Just makes me itch. Dumb dumb dumb.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I really don't know how the hell I got that name wrong

[@nursemain3174]

The prince lestat is 16 in the vc btw

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

I came here after Rachel (comedy) said someone had to read a bunch of Stephen king😅 I love him as a whole but I can imagine that might have been a bit * waves hands randomly-insert your favourite adjective here * to get though😆

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That's exactly what it was like! And I love him too!

[@bybookandbone]

Stephen King is such an inconsistent author that his constant winning really illustrates that Goodreads Choice is a popularity contest. It never pretended it wasn't tbf. I wonder how many people that voted for all of the newer King books actually read them... Did they just see his name and vote for his books?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I suspect that might be the case - I think people vote on categories even when they haven't read any of the books

[@pappywinky4749]

I no longer trust anything on goodreads. Some of the (objectively) best books ever written are given 2-3 stars, but really badly written, surface level, juvenile books are given rave-reviews, 5 stars, etc. It's a populist website mostly populate by YA readers (i dont have a problem with YA) who read for entertainment and that alone.

[@danielmarlett1421]

So many of these books I wouldn't even qualify as "horror"

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah, agree!

[@drstrangefreak]

Interesting theory about Koontz, I think your onto something there.😂

[@stephennootens916]

Well it makes sense special when you know that Koontz has been called a second rate King.

[@drstrangefreak]

@@stephennootens916 Probably the reason I have kinda kept away from his stuff. Might have read a book from him in the 90's

[@stephennootens916]

@@drstrangefreak I have only read one of his books Demon Seed years ago. My dad gave it to me when he finished it. If I remember right it was about a smart house of some sort and force impregnates a woman (I forgot how or why) while keeping her trapped in the house. I was far from impress and just happy that I manage to finish the book, Years later I had a friend suggested From the corner of his eye but I have yet to find the will to try him again.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Yeah I think I'm right

[@robynprice8289]

I think a big problem with the horror genre for the Goodreads Choice Awards is just because it's by Stephen King does not mean it's a horror novel. Yes he's known mostly for his horror but he can also write a great coming of age story, science fiction, etc. Elevation to me is not a horror story and neither is The Institute in my opinion as a big King fan. It just goes to show you Goodreads does not pay attention and neither do fellow readers sometimes.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah completely agree!

[@Robbo_C]

This is great. I love the longer videos! As for Elevation, I really didn't care for it at all, and I would say that it is my least favorite King book. It seemed to me like a cheapjack version of Matheson's The Shrinking Man.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That’s a great point re The Shrinking Man. That book is SOOO much better.