Rating: Summary: Not His Best, but... Review: ...still, it is original and entertaining.
Bentley Little is one of those authors you either love or hate. NO, this is not "literature", when I pick up a Bentley Little novel or short story, I expect a whacky premise, gore, social satire, and an exaggerated view of life. Obviously, "The Mailman" is no exception. A mail-carrier who is actually some demonic creature begins messing with a small town, this mail carrier actually performs some weird ritual which incorporates the "mailman anthem," (not rain nor sleet...), it is just plain fun horror fiction, and go ahead and look down your nose at me, but I'll take a Little novel over an Ann Rice novel any day.
I highly reccomend, "The Association," and "The Collection" as well.
Rating: Summary: Quite possibly the silliest horror story I've ever read. Review: A small Arizona town is torn apart by the arrival of a new mailman. Sound ridiculous? Something must have made me pick this book up - the rave reviews, the fact that I have really liked Little's short fiction - but now I can't help but wonder what I was thinking. This book reads like one of King's weaker, goofier short stories (think "The Lawnmower Man" or "The Mangler"), except it's long...*too* long. People receive threatening letters, incriminating photos, but do they do anything about it? No, they just moan about that darn mailman for 250 pages (the half of the population that is actually smart enough to realize what's going on, that is.) There isn't even any logic or motive to the things the mailman does, and Little fails to, ah, deliver a satisfying conclusion. This book isn't scary; it's laughable.
Rating: Summary: Finally--something original! Review: After reading THE STORE and THE WALKING, I found a copy of Little's older title THE MAILMAN and found it to be the best of the three I've read. Creepy, and most of all, original in how they fight the title character. Worth looking for in used bookstores. Little will write a classic before he dies.....I can feel it!
Rating: Summary: There's a new mailman in town... Review: And he's not friendly! Well, on the surface he appears to be. He waves, he smiles, he doesn't deliver junk mail or bills. But as Doug Albin comments when he first sees the mailman at a funeral, "there is a certain smugness and arrogance to that smile that I find disturbing". It doesn't take long for Doug and his family to realize that something is seriously off with the new mailman. Why would he show up at a funeral wearing his blue postal outfit among all the black-clad grievers? When the widow suddenly bursts in tears, why is he grinning as though he's enjoying the site? Why is he delivering the mail at 3 in the morning? This is a book that starts slow, builds up tension and when you least expect it goes straight for the throat and kicks out all the stops. Before reading this novel, it never occured to me just how much we depend on the mail and the chaos that would ensue if someone were to screw around with the mail system. There's no doubt that this is in the top tier of Bentley Little books. It holds a place in the holy trinity of Bentley Little social satires, along with "The Store" and "The Ignored". Read and enjoy.
Rating: Summary: Awesome! Review: As a huge Bentley Little fan I definately had to check out The Mailman and boy am I glad I did. It was great! I was to the point where I couldn't wait to see what kinds of things were arriving in the mail each day! The story was gripping and had me on the edge of my seat. If you like strange things, wierd tales and interesting characters...definately read a Bentley Little book!
Rating: Summary: Little is HUGE! Review: Bentley Little has been for some time my favorite author in the horror genre. He is right up there next to Stephen King in suspense and gore. This novel, "The Mailman", is no exception. Willis is a small Arizona town. When its mailman, Bob Ronda, commits suicide, it throws the town into shock and dispare. Until the new mailman arrives. His is tall, thin, long-faced, and has a head of red hair. He is pale, and overly polite, and seems to know everybody's name. Doug Albin knows right away that he will not like this man. His suspicions grow when all of the bills suddenly disappear, are instead replaced by letters from long-lost friends and dead realitives. The town is estatic. No more bills! With the good, however, one must take the bad, and Willis is about to find this out the hard way. Neighbors are suddenly pitted against each other as the mail turns bad, and as pets end up poisoned or decapitated. Power compannies recieve letters to turn the electricity off. Letters describing horrible acts against family members appear. Pictures of children murdered. Body parts sent in poorly wrapped packages. More suicides. Doug Albin knows that the mailman is behind it all, and so does a handleful of other residents. However, with an enemy that can fight through the mail, how can you expect to win the battle? Bentley Little brings you a novel of horror, suspense, and the United States Postal Service. The villian is original, and you will be cheering for the hero and his family throughout. Pick up a copy of "The Mailman" today and be ready to never put it down. "Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail . . ."
Rating: Summary: THE MAILMAN IS AMAZING! Review: Bentley Little's horror fiction has always been head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries. Despite the fact that he's not as well known, his work ranks right up there with King, Koontz and McCammon. THE MAILMAN, his recently re-released second novel, is one of his best, a terrifying look at an almost plausible scenario. An entire town is almost destroyed by the machinations of an evil and possibly inhuman mailman, and, as usual, Little uses this story to address pressing moral concerns. A great novel by one of horror's brightest literary lights.
Rating: Summary: Horrible! Review: How can people read the works of Bentley Little?? I heard all the great reviews and thought I would check the Mailman out. Boy am I sorry I spent that [money]. Little's work reads like something out of Reader's Digest. Hackneyed, dull, and flavorless, Little's writing would not be out of place in an old folks home. And what was the point of this book? Ridiculous. And this is called horror? What is frightening about a Mailman? A lot of trees have sacrificed their lives in an effort to expand the human consciousness. Sadly, the ones who sacrificed themselves for this book died in vain.
Rating: Summary: Horrible! Review: How can people read the works of Bentley Little?? I heard all the great reviews and thought I would check the Mailman out. Boy am I sorry I spent that [money]. Little's work reads like something out of Reader's Digest. Hackneyed, dull, and flavorless, Little's writing would not be out of place in an old folks home. And what was the point of this book? Ridiculous. And this is called horror? What is frightening about a Mailman? A lot of trees have sacrificed their lives in an effort to expand the human consciousness. Sadly, the ones who sacrificed themselves for this book died in vain.
Rating: Summary: Weird, but entertaining Review: I enjoy Little's work, although his endings usually fall short. This book was rather entertaining, although in the second half, the residents of the town seemed too gullible for the story. Still, it's worth reading for the cost of a used paperback.
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