30 Day Book Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: Book that scares you

Another one that I really didn’t need to think about, because seriously, who wouldn’t be terrified by this book?

The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty

Though, I have never actually read The Exorcist. I tried. A few years ago I was enrolled in a Popular Literature subject and we read some amazing books. Books that I never would have thought twice about reading, and then absolutely loved (Fahrenheit 451, And then there were none, Casino Royale, Psycho, The Princess Bride, etc.).The Exorcist was on that list of books to read, and – having enjoyed all of the other books in the subject – I did really want to read it, even borrowed it from a friend.

And I just couldn’t do it. Hardly even got past the first page. Truth is, I’m a scaredy cat. I’m the kind of girl who will go to the movies to see a horror film with friends and promptly close my eyes for the next two hours. Naturally, I know roughly what The Exorcist is about, I’ve seen stills and even scenes from the film. The friend who I borrowed the book off had even warned me not to read it in the middle of the night. All of this seems, to me at least, to be a pretty good reason not to read something.

But none of those reasons are what stopped me from reading The Exorcist.

This was:

Youcannot tell me that isn’t terrifying!

Yes, I tried to read a horror book, and I couldn’t get past the cover. It’s just too… horrifying!

Oh the horror!

The most unimaginable, horrible thing has happened to me lately… I – traditionalist, lover of all things paper and bound – was forced to do the unspeakable. The unspeakable being not only downloading a Kindle reader, but also purchasing and reading several e-books…

I know, I’m so ashamed.

And yet, you may ask, if the very idea of purchasing e-books is so repulsive to me (and trust me, it usually is), why then would I download, purchase and read them. The answer is actually quite simple.

His name is Christopher Ruz.

And he’s a good friend of mine. Ruz has been an aspiring writer for many years. In fact, in the past I have helped him by (happily!) proofreading several of his novels and short stories. Unfortunately, he has been unlucky in finding a publisher for his works, so recently decided to self-publish his stories as e-books, exclusively to the Amazon store.

I held off for as long as I could, but eventually I caved, my desire to support a friend far outweighing my prejudice against e-books. And I wasn’t disappointed.

I generally stick to works in the fantasy genre, but there’s something about Ruz’s work that I still find captivating… If you’re interested in short stories in the genres of horror, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, the paranormal or black comedy (and just about any combination therein), then Hayes-Kossman might just be your kind of author! I’d encourage you to take a chance, either way.

Don’t get me wrong, I still badger Ruz to make hard-copy versions of his work every time I see him, but until he does, I know that I’ll be supporting my friend and getting some fantastic (and fantastically cheap) reads in the meantime.

Even if that does mean having to purchase e-books… 😛