Books Read in 2012

This post follows on from Books Read in 2011, which I posted at the end of November 2022.

And for 2012 I read one hundred and fifty books, thirty up from the total in 2011, though again with some duplications (I read Mike O’Driscoll’s Eyepennies three times), while a lot of them were very short. And, as ever at that time in my life, most of these books were read for review in the pages of Black Static.

Only the one book regarding which I’m unsure about authorship, the suggestively titled Fantasy Sex (judging from the company it kept, this was another one of those times in my life when writing erotica was under consideration – nothing ever came of this, which is probably just as well). According to my records the book was a substantial 465 pages, and I have very clear memories of it being pocket size with not much print to a page, the text consisting of a compendium of various fantasies and some fascinating background stuff on what works best for each gender and why. In fact, I’m not sure there was any author attribution, but if anyone recognises the book and knows different, please shout out in the comments section below.

On this day in 2012 I had my nose stuck in Christopher Fowler’s collection Red Gloves, while on the occasion of my 58th birthday I was reading Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Doctor Moreau by Guy Adams. 2012 was the year when I discovered S. P. Miskowski and the world of Skillute. Plenty of other writers I encountered for the first time in 2012, but running my eye down the list now, some ten years later, S. P. is the one who stands out and whose work still engenders the same excitement.

Here’s the list:-

Teeth – Edited by Ellen Datlow

A Cold Season – Alison Littlewood

Blood and other cravings – Edited by Ellen Datlow

Dead Island – Mark Morris

A Rope of Thorns – Gemma Files

The Silver Wind – Nina Allan

Chilling Tales – Edited by Michael Kelly

Gaslight Arcanum – Edited by J. R. Campbell & Charles Prepolec

13 Tales of Dark Fiction – Edited by Adam Bradley

Hell Train – Christopher Fowler

Rusting Chickens – Gene O’Neill

Blindspot – Michael McBride

Rough Music – Simon Kurt Unsworth

Dead Red Heart – Edited by Russell B. Farr

Witchfinder General – Ian Cooper

Let the Right One In – Anne Billson

Red Gloves – Christopher Fowler

Sherlock Holmes: Revenant – William Meikle

Off the Rails – Christopher Fowler

The Thames Horror and other adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Barbara Roden

Bryant & May and The Memory of Blood – Christopher Fowler

Into the Penny Arcade – Claire Massey

Marionettes – Claire Massey

Blood & Grit 21 – Simon Clark

The Engines of Sacrifice – James Chambers

Five Degrees of Latitude – Michael Reynier

Reign of Blood – Sandy DeLuca

Lords of Twilight – Greg F. Gifune

Murmurations – Edited by Nicholas Royle

Nitrospective – Andrew Hook

The Respectable Face of Tyranny – Gary Fry

Down Here in the Dark – Lee Thompson

Thirty Miles South of Dry County – Kealan Patrick Burke

Regicide – Nicholas Royle

The Lair of the White Worm – Bram Stoker

Curfew and Other Eerie Tales – Lucy M. Boston

Devils’ Drums – Vivian Meik

Rumours of the Marvellous – Peter Atkins

The Female of the Species and Other Terror Tales – Richard Davis

The Satyr’s Head – Edited by David A. Sutton

Eyepennies – Mike O’Driscoll

Bring on the Bad Guys – Stan Lee

Bone Marrow Stew – Tim Curran

Bad Blood – Chuck Wendig

The Eyes of Water – Alison Littlewood

Hunter’s Moon – Charlotte Bond

Joe & Me – David Moody

Eyepennies – Mike O’Driscoll

Where Are We Going?- Edited by Allen Ashley

Feather – David Rix

A Glimpse of the Numinous – Jeff Gardiner

Strange Epiphanies – Peter Bell

Busy Blood – D. F. Lewis & Stuart Hughes

The Architect – Brendan Connell

A Book of Horrors – Edited by Stephen Jones

Bread and Circuses – Felicity Dowker

Bluegrass Symphony – Lisa Hannett

Shadow Plays – Reggie Oliver

Dadaoism – Edited by Justin Isis & Quentin S. Crisp

House of Fear – Edited by Jonathan Oliver

Terror Tales of the Lake District – Edited by Paul Finch

The Brothel Creeper – Rhys Hughes

The Orphan Palace – Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.

Carnacki: Heaven and Hell – William Meikle

Soul Screams – Sara-Jayne Townsend

Gathered Dust and Others – Wilum H. Pugmire

Flame & other enigmatic tales – Maynard Sims

Gutshot – Edited by Conrad Williams

Black Horse and Other Strange Stories – Jason A. Wyckoff

Nightingale Songs – Simon Strantzas

I Am a Magical Teenage Princess – Luke Geddes

Tales of the Weak & The Wounded – Gary McMahon

Bullets and Fire – Joe R. Lansdale

Incident On and Off a Mountain Road – Joe R. Lansdale

Haiku for the Single Girl – Beth Griffenhagen & Cynthia Vehslage Meyers (graphics)

Gorel and The Pot-Bellied God – Lavie Tidhar

Crustaceans – William Meikle

Thin Men with Yellow Faces – Gary McMahon & Simon Bestwick

The Dark Side of Heaven – Gord Rollo

Dark Room – Steve Mosby

Motherless Child – Glen Hirshberg

Twenty-Eight Teeth of Rage – Ennis Drake

The Wrath of Angels – John Connolly

Sexy Dreams – Anonymous (art by various illustrators)

Fantasy Sex

Justine and The Story of O – Guido Crepax (illustrated)

The Bluffer’s Guide to Sex – Sarah Brewer & Tim Webb

The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography – Edited by Maxim Jakubowski & Marilyn Jaye Lewis

Sacrifice – Wrath James White

Down – Nate Southard

Puck – David Rose

Terribilis – Carol Weekes

Small Animals – Alison Moore

What Gets Left Behind – Mark West

The Chosen Seed – Sarah Pinborough

Saw – Benjamin Poole

Crandolin – Anna Tambour

Hulk – Tony Lee

Ugly Behavior – Steve Rasnic Tem

Magic – Edited by Jonathan Oliver

Deadfall Hotel – Steve Rasnic Tem

Peel Back the Sky – Stephen Bacon

From Hell to Eternity – Thana Niveau

Enemies at the Door – Paul Finch

Onion Songs – Steve Rasnic Tem

Terror Tales of East Anglia – Edited by Paul Finch

The Faceless – Simon Bestwick

Silent Voices – Gary McMahon

Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr Moreau – Guy Adams

Dark Shadows: The Visual Companion – Mark Salisbury

Resident Evil Volume 1: The Umbrella Conspiracy – S. D. Perry

Lo Life Volume 1: Romeo Spikes – Joanne Reay

The 13 Ghosts of Christmas – Edited by Simon Marshall-Jones

Soul Screams – Sara-Jayne Townsend

The Way of the Leaves – David Tallerman

The Day and the Hour – Ennis Drake

28 Teeth of Rage – Ennis Drake

The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine – John Llewellyn Probert

Ward 19 – John Llewellyn Probert

Four for Fear – Edited by Peter Crowther

Busy Blood – D. F. Lewis & Stuart Hughes

The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book – Brian James Freeman, Hans-Åke Lilja & Kevin Quigley

The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book – Brian James Freeman & Bev Vincent

Selected Stories: Mark Valentine

Visions Fading Fast – Edited by Gary McMahon

The Hoard – Alan Ryker

When We Join Jesus in Hell – Lee Thompson

No Turning Back – Andy Deane

Temporary Monsters – Ian Rogers

An Antique Land – John Shire

Clockwork Dolls – William Meikle

Eyepennies – Mike O’Driscoll

A Haunting of Ghosts – Maynard Sims

Puck – David Rose

The Fleshless Man – Norman Prentiss

Voices From the Dark – Gary William Crawford

Flying Fish – Randall Silvis

Knock Knock – S. P. Miskowski

Zombies at Tiffany’s – Sam Stone

Adamtine – Hannah Berry

Interview With the Vampire: Claudia’s Story – Anne Rice & Ashley Marie Witter (graphics)

Delphine Dodd – S. P. Miskowski

Forests of Eden – Elizabeth Counihan

A Woman of Mars – Helen Patrice

The Mourning House – Ronald Malfi

Snowblind – Michael McBride

Ghoul Warning and Other Omens – Brian Lumley

The Lonely Hunter – John Grant

The Flight of The Ravens – Chris Butler

Habit – Stephen McGeagh

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