Tag Archive for: Horror

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Misery

MiseryTitle: Misery
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Format: Kindle
Pages: 352
Reason Read: Buddy Read
Rating:

My Thoughts

Before reading MISERY, I had seen the movie several times. This, however, is my first time reading an actual Stephen King novel. Wow! The book is so much more gruesome than the movie, and the movie is pretty gruesome. I was almost speechless several times while reading the story. I just couldn’t believe what happened.

I was so surprised. It’s amazing how suspenseful the book was even though I knew the story. King did an amazing job of setting the mood. Within ten pages, I could tell Annie Wilkes wasn’t right in the head and that she was hella creepy. So much happened in just a short amount of time, and I kept wondering what was going to happen next. It was so interesting, fun, and creepy.

I do like the last scene in the movie better than the ending in the book, though. I thought it was more horror-like. But, the ending in the book is still good. I’m curious about King’s other novels, especially the ones of the movies or mini-series I’ve seen.

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Shutter

ShutterTitle: Shutter
Author: Courtney Alameda
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Pages: 384
Reason Read: Received for Review
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’m really glad I had a chance to read SHUTTER around Halloween to help me get into the Halloween spirit. But, I would’ve enjoyed reading it at any time of the year because I loved every minute. It was intense from beginning to end. The characters hardly had any time to rest. The way Courtney writes made the characters and setting show up vividly in my mind. I could imagine everything she described in awesome detail.

One of my favorite things about this book played on the fact that Dracula was real and that Bram Stoker was the historian that wrote everything down instead of an author writing fiction. Many of the characters are descendants from the central characters in Stoker’s novel, which made it fun. I kinda wish I had read DRACULA before I read this. At the very least, I’ll try reading DRACULA at some point.

I really liked Micheline. She was strong yet vulnerable. I loved Ryder and his Aussie-isms. I wish all leading males could be as cool as him. I really liked Jude too. He was funny, witty, and added an interesting dynamic to the group. Oliver seemed a little more aloof to me, but maybe that’s because he was the observer. He’s smart, but he just didn’t seem very observant for being as smart as he is. He probably just paid attention to only the stuff he wanted to. The rest of the characters carried the story enough for me that he didn’t bother me at all.

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The Haunting Of Hill House

The Haunting Of Hill HouseTitle: The Haunting of Hill House
Author: Shirley Jackson
Genre: Classic, Horror
Format: Kindle
Pages: 288
Reason Read: Buddy Read
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’m so utterly disappointed with THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE that I could cry. It didn’t really seem like anything happened, other than Eleanor possibly going crazy or possibly being haunted by ghosts. I guess part of the allure of the story is not knowing if Eleanor is mentally unstable or influenced by paranormal phenomena. I went into the story expecting scary because of how I felt when I watched the 1999 movie. But, on only one occasion did I get creeped out.

I also thought the writing was weird. When the reader was in Eleanor’s head, it felt really disjointed because she thought about weird things. The whole first part of the book really had no importance to the story other than to get to know Eleanor. I also didn’t feel like the writing was very descriptive. It was also very plot-driven, and I prefer character-driven stories better.

Speaking of the characters, I hated them. The story mostly focused on Eleanor as she was the one most influenced by the house. In learning about her character, all I found was a self-centered, self-pitying, two-faced girl seeking attention. I actually thought all the characters were two-faced. I still don’t know who Luke and Theodora really are. The only person I felt I got to know even a little bit was Dr. Montague. He’s the only one who didn’t seem to put on airs. I despised Mrs. Montague. The only characters I really liked were Mr. and Mrs. Dudley. They at least were frank and honest.

I think the premise of the story was intriguing and could have made for a very scary story if only it had been executed better.

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The Diviners

The DivinersTitle: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Series: The Diviners #1
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Young Adult
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 785
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

My Thoughts

THE DIVINERS was creepy, fun, interesting, suspenseful, and even a little bit romantic. I loved being thrown into 1920s New York City and experiencing all the fun of that era. I almost want to become a flapper myself now.

There are a lot of characters in this book. My favorite characters were Evie, Jericho, Memphis, Theta, and Henry. The story is mostly told in a third-person limited perspective from Evie’s and Memphis’s POV. You do get to get in the head of several other characters. I loved experiencing the story from so many different POVs and trying to piece everything together.

I found the supernatural aspects of the story very intriguing, especially when the characters talked about the Occult and religion in general. It made for a very interesting read and mystery. I also thought it was fun to see a shout out of my religion in the book.

While THE DIVINERS does have its own story arc, including a resolution, it’s definitely a set up novel to help readers become familiar with the characters and the world. “The Diviners” were hinted at several times during the story, but at this point, we still don’t know much about them other than that they have different supernatural-type powers and that they’ll be needed and important to stop the end of the world. I’m very interested to see how they’ll be needed and what types of things will lead up to the apocalypse in this series.

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Girl Of Nightmares

Girl Of NightmaresTitle: Girl of Nightmares
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #2
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Pages: 332
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: Anna Dressed in Blood
My Thoughts

GIRL OF NIGHTMARES was just as unique as ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD was. Everything seemed feasible, like it could happen if ghosts really existed in the way Blake portrays them.

I wasn’t quite on the edge of my seat with this book as I was for the previous, but I think that’s because I was more familiar with the world this time around. Even though I wasn’t on the edge of my seat the entire time, I still wanted to keep reading and I wanted to know what was going to happen. And, just like Cas, I really wanted to know what was going on with Anna.

I loved finding out more Cas’ background–where the athame came from and why it was linked to his bloodline. I also loved finding more about Gideon, Cas mysterious friend from the first book.

The thing I liked most about this book was that it was non-denominational. Whenever Heaven and Hell are mentioned in a story, you expect the book to get religious and how the author is going to handle that. I think Blake handled it well. She used the characters and situations to explain Heaven / Hell in a way that seemed feasible for anyone, even if you don’t believe in either place. It was really quite interesting.

All in all, I think this was a great ending to Anna’s story. I loved that most things were wrapped up, but it was left open enough for future possibilities.