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Cold Moon Over Babylon (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)
Cold Moon Over Babylon (Valancourt 20th Century Classics) | Michael McDowell
12 posts | 16 read | 25 to read
"The finest writer of paperback originals in America." - Stephen King "Readers of weak constitution should beware." - "Publishers Weekly" "McDowell has a flair for the gruesome." - "Washington Post" Welcome to Babylon, a typical sleepy Alabama small town, where years earlier the Larkin family suffered a terrible tragedy. Now they are about to endure another: fourteen-year-old Margaret Larkin will be robbed of her innocence and her life by a killer who is beyond the reach of the law. But something strange is happening in Babylon: traffic lights flash an eerie blue, a ghostly hand slithers from the drain of a kitchen sink, graves erupt from the local cemetery in an implacable march of terror . . . And beneath the murky surface of the river, a shifting, almost human shape slowly takes form. Night after night it will pursue the murderer. And when the full moon rises over Babylon, it will seek a terrible vengeance . . . "Cold Moon Over Babylon" (1980), the second novel by Michael McDowell (1950-1999), author of "Blackwater" and "The Elementals" and screenwriter of "Beetlejuice" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas," is a chilling Southern Gothic tale of revenge from beyond the grave that ranks among his most terrifying books. This first-ever reprint features deliciously creepy new cover art by Mike Mignola.
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ShyBookOwl
Cold Moon Over Babylon | Michael McDowell
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This book is very #creepy. Full of atmospheric chills. #screamathonphotochallenge @4thhouseontheleft

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ReadingOver50
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Pickpick

This is a classic ghost story. Well written it starts a little slow, then builds to an exciting second half. Once the haunting starts it escalates quickly. I was rooting for the ghost to get revenge on her murderer. He is truly a terrible person. I liked the portrayal of small town life. When everyone is so close to everyone else, it is hard to imagine your neighbor is a murderer.

109 likes9 stack adds
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lolaandrioo
Cold Moon Over Babylon | Michael McDowell
Pickpick

5 of 5 Stars

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BekahB
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Day 1: This is my #AprilTBR. I started The Perfect Nanny, Cold Moon Over Babylon, and The Merry Spinster in March. I‘m also listening to Pet Sematary, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, and Mr. Splitfoot on audio. Mr. Splitfoot is going a little slow for me, so I might switch to the ebook.

There are also a few books coming out this month that I‘m really excited about, so those will be part of my TBR too!

#ReadingResolutions

86 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Lucylovesreading
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Pickpick

Small town ghost story turns Murder mystery. I was frightened by the descriptions of the not quite dead creatures. The noises that were described may just haunt my dreams for years. The best justice I‘ve seen however the innocent bystanders being injured or killed was frustrating but helped add to the drama. It got very suspenseful towards the end and I quite enjoyed the insanity that was induced with the visions the killer had.
5 ⭐️‘s

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Marchpane
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Panpan

This started with some potential to be a spooky gothic chiller, but declined sharply at the halfway point, getting ever stupider by the page. By the end it was somehow both ridiculous AND boring.

Thin plot, one-dimensional characters (all brainless idiots) and flat prose that conveys zero atmosphere - glowing GR reviews led me astray on this one.

At least I can tick off 1980 on my #192019challenge 🤷🏼‍♀️

AlaMich I hate it when books start out so promising and then go downhill. 6y
AshleyHoss820 Curiosity: What is the 192019 challenge? 6y
HeatherBookNerd Very amusing review 6y
See All 17 Comments
Marchpane @AshleyHoss820 Here's my post that explains 192019: http://litsy.com/p/d2ZGWkZhU3ha 6y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk Pity it couldn‘t live up to that cool cover. 6y
Marchpane @AshleyHoss820 um, the link seems to cut off my description, sorry! Basically the aim is to read a book published in each year from 1920 to 2019, so 100 books total, in random order, and to be completed by 2019. Sort of a longer-term challenge 😊 6y
archaeolibrarianologist Figures. Girl on the cover looks like she was based off of Kristen Stewart. Probably wrote the character to match her terrible acting, so it made a terrible story. This is the long-term result of the Twilight fandom. 6y
Marchpane @TobeyTheScavengerMonk it's the poster from the movie adaptation, which I've heard is equally terrible! 6y
Marchpane @archaeolibrarianologist there's definitely a resemblance, you're right! The book predates Twilight though 😆 6y
AshleyHoss820 @Marchpane Wow! Thank you for explaining! I've seen a few friends use that hashtag and I was always curious! Sounds like a fun challenge! Also, shame about the book. Nothing worse than making it all the way through a book just to be let down. 😕 6y
BarbaraBB What kind of challenge is this? Seems nice. 6y
Marchpane @BarbaraBB I replied to another comment up thread☝🏼with a little explanation. It's just a challenge I made up and a group of us are doing in a very low key way 😊 6y
BarbaraBB O that‘s nice! Can I join? 6y
Marchpane @BarbaraBB Absolutely! The more the merrier 😊 We're all sort of going at our own pace and using the hashtag for any relevant posts. It's very casual. Love to have you join us! 6y
BarbaraBB Yay! I will! Nice challenge! 6y
Redheadrambles @Marchpane what‘s going on with that cover ! Did she fall off her bike into a river ? 6y
Marchpane @Redheadrambles well, she and the bike do end up in the river but it was something a bit more sinister than that (this happens at the start of the book) 6y
97 likes17 comments
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BiblioNyan
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Pickpick

Finished CMOB & it was an interesting mind-fuck of a book. It has a slow build in the beginning as things are being set-up. After that the plot unfolds a bit more fluidly. The overall sluggish feeling never really goes away. Very much a classical gothic horror type of book. 3.75/5.

Almost done with my 2nd novel as well! So far, the #readathon is a steady success. 😺 Also, Kheb's got no fucks to give. 😹😹😹

#coldmoonoverbabylon #horror #gothic

WOCreads Ahahaha parks all her stuff on Cat😂 Happy reading 😸 7y
BiblioNyan @WOCreads Hahaha that cat tolerates so much nonsense from me. 😹😹 It's true love. 7y
bitterbear Hell yass!!! 7y
20 likes3 comments
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BiblioNyan

OMG the suspense has me so completely restless!! I can usually figure out mysteries or horror crime stuff relatively easy, but I've got no fucking clue with this one. Which is awesome. But mildly frustrating... in a deliciously engrossing sorta way, haha. 😹

#amreading #coldmoonoverbabylon #michaelmcdowell #horror #gothic #supernatural

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BiblioNyan
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Finally started this today. Holy shit. Scrupulous details. Super eerie and dreary atmosphere. Slow and steady building of tension with sudden action bits popping up at exactly the perfect moment. This dude KNOWS how to do horror. All of this in the first 30 pages no less.

#amreading #horror #springhorror #coldmoonoverbabylon #michaelmcdowell #gothic

19 likes3 stack adds
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BiblioNyan
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Borrowing this #horror novel from Sir BF after he gave it a raving review! Written in 1980, the book takes place in a small town called Babylon. Years earlier a family underwent a terrible tragedy & once again they endure another when a 14 y/o is brutally killed. Meanwhile an eerie, supernatural presence in Babylon rises w/graves erupting & ghostly hands slithering from the kitchen drain. With the full moon a terrible vengeance shall arise.

TobeyTheScavengerMonk MIKE MIGNOLA COVER! That's all I need to know! Stacked! 7y
14 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
SquidsRegret
Mehso-so

The prologue was the best part of the book and set up a mystery that does eventually resolve but in an anti climatic way. The horror elements aren't fully explored or explained. Basically a vengeful ghost story with a lot of incidental casualties. If you want revenge horror read The Girl From The Well instead.