Home » Posts tagged "horror book reviews" (Page 42)

Book Review: The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan

 

The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan

ECW Press, 2023

ISBN: 9781770416642

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition 

( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

 

 

The Marigold is a book readers will probably either love or hate: there won’t be a lot of in-between.  It has a wildly inventive plotline revolving around city decay and revival, but its more literary style of prose may split readers: some will see it as genius, others as overly pretentious writing.  

 

As noted, the plot is a true original, a nice horror-spiked take on urban blight.  The book asks: what if there is a physical cause?  That’s where the antagonist of the book, a fungus (or is it?) called the Wet, slides in, invading certain buildings in Toronto.  Where the book really shines is playing with the possibilities throughout the book, never giving away too much.  Is the Wet just an annoying mold? Can it infect people?  Could there be intelligence directing it, or is it a sentient being in its own right?  Scary possibilities!  The author does a fantastic job leaving the avenues open, and it all becomes clear at the right time.  He also avoids the usual big reveal at the end, and the story is much better for it.  Tied in to this plot thread is another, the idea of actual sacrifices needing to be made to keep buildings standing upright.  The two threads together make for a very creative knot in terms of story.  Regardless of whether you like the book, one has to admire how well laid out the scenario is.

 

The book itself moves at somewhat of a “slow burn” pace, gradually picking up some speed, but it’s not a fast page-turner: it works best read in chunks.  The characters push the story where it needs to go. They include a mix of health investigators, unscrupulous land developers, some nosy ordinary citizens, and a conspiracy theorist or two.  All the pieces fit where they should in terms of character development, and there’s enough backstory for the characters to appear believable and generate emotion.

 

It’s the writing that is a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it.  This isn’t straight-ahead Stephen King style writing, it’s more in the vein of T.E. Grau.  The problem is, it doesn’t always work.  The author is capable of reeling off beautifully written passages that would do a literature professor proud, and does it often. However, there are plenty of times where it winds up bogging down the story, instead of driving it.  The main examples are the chapters dealing with how the Wet invades different apartments in the building called the Marigold, and what happens to the tenants.  These chapters could have been trimmed down or slashed altogether. They muddle the pacing, and don’t add to the story.  I started skimming those chapters, since I already knew how the chapters were going to end.  Some of the character dialogue scenes suffered the same problem. They needed less fluff and more stuff.   When it’s good, it’s very good, but the book lacks consistency.  

 

Bottom line time: The Marigold has a lot of good qualities, but also some glaring deficiencies to overcome.  

 

Recommended for readers who like what they read above.  It’s not for all, but definitely for some.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on May 6, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Black Planet, Vols. 1-4 by Nikki Noir

Black Planet Books 1-4 by Nikki Noir

Black Planet, Books 1-4, by Nikki Noir

Blood Bound Books, 2020

ISBN: 9798675368907

Available: paperback, Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

 

With her short stories, author Nikki Noir has carved out a place for herself in the world of spleaze (that’s ‘splat and sleaze’) writing.  Black Planet was previously released electronically as four separate sections, now all combined into one paperback book.  It’s a decent effort, with the first two ‘setup’ sections being the best parts.  The third section, which carries the bulk of the story’s motion, is a bit of a letdown, with too many of the essential plot details held back.  Still, the first two sections help make up for the third.  The fourth section is basically just a lead-in to whatever comes next, as according to the author, there will be more.

 

The first section sets up the story beautifully, replete with the author’s usual trashy intensity.  Two teens eking out a living by doing sleazy online fetish films have the good fortune of a relative dying, thus giving them a dead body to use in their videos.  They hook up with a girl who is into the occult and crazier than they are. That concludes the excellent first section, and no question, it’s the best one.  Section 2 is a different thread but still setting the story up, and it’s almost as good as the first section.  This time it involves teen girl Haley, her younger brother, and weird mechanical owls in the woods.  There’s also a shade of what’s to come, with the introduction of the shadowy organization Stillwater.  

 

Where the first two parts ran at high speed, you’d expect the overdrive gear to kick in for the third section, where the plot threads start to tie together.  But, this section feels more like it’s stuck in neutral.  The author’s trademark freaky sex and messy murders are there, the writing is fine… it just doesn’t have the same sense of urgency as the first two sections.  Part of the problem is almost none of the “why” part is given in this section, and it would have been the perfect time to do it.  The organization called Stillwater keeps lurking in the background, but its presence is given very little time, or explanation.  To keep readers interested, an author have to give them something in the book for a bit of the ‘why’ things are happening.  Otherwise, it seems more like a linear sequence of events that happen for no real purpose, and it’s frustrating.  It’s playing the plot cards too close to the vest for a bit too long, you gotta throw a few cards on the table to keep the game going.  The storyline is good, it just needs to be less of a mystery.   

 

There’s some definite fun to be had with reading Black Planet, it just could have used a few tweaks to help keep reader interest higher.  Hopefully, the next sections will reveal more to the readers in terms of the overall plot.   

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson.

Posted on April 25, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Welcome to the Splatter Club, Vol. 1, edited by K. Trap Jones

Welcome to the Splatter Club, Vol. 1, by various authors, edited by K. Trap Jones

Blood Bound Publishing, 2020

ISBN: 9781940250434

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition  ( Amazon.com )

 

The main thing Welcome to the Splatter Club has in common with its sequel (Welcome to the Splatter Club, Vol. 2, previously reviewed here) is the high level of originality.  The thirteen stories are quite loopy, and are all over the place for plotlines.  However, it is an uneven collection: as good as the ideas are, a number of the stories don’t have enough bang and pop to keep the reader interested and the pages flipping at a quick speed.  The first half of the book is clearly the better half. The best stories include:

 

“23 to 46”: the most original, the most entertaining, and also the funniest.  The sperm housed in Matt’s balls suddenly start talking to him, and make his life impossible for the rest of the story.  They are mad he isn’t reproducing, and Matt has no interest in kids.  This is a hilarious romp that gives new meaning to the term ‘body politics.’

 

“The Woman in the Ditch”: A rural area legend, the blond woman only appears swimming in the ditch alongside country roads when there is enough rain, and of course it only happens in certain years.  What does she want?  Go to her and find out…but it may not be what you desire.  This could almost be a dark version of a Disney fairy tale.  

 

“Code Black”: Tired of juveniles committing heinous crimes and getting away with them due to an overly liberal justice system?  So are the people of Trapper Valley, especially when a kid unleashes a monster from the Abyss.  However, this town has Code Black…which will do what the justice system won’t.  

 

“Dickey Dykstra”: Ever wanted to beat the tar out of your boss, just because he’s a total jackass?  So does a certain employee, but his boss, the aforementioned Dickey, has problems WAY bigger than being a dick at work.  Let’s just say they involve hobbyhorses, and prepare yourself for the unexpected.  When Dickey’s secret comes to light, he makes Leatherface seem like a normal, well-adjusted human being.

 

“The Big Bad Boy”: We all know that Twinkies, Snowballs, and Ho-Hos are never going to be found in the FDA’s food pyramid for a balanced diet, but what happens when they really will kill you?  One poor convenience store clerk is going to find out.

 

There are a few other good ones, but there’s also a chunk of stories that just don’t quite do it.  When it’s good, it’s quite good, but the lackluster ones are frustrating.  If you’re on the fence about buying this, just go for Vol. 2 in the series instead, which is a “can’t miss” collection of stories.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

 

Posted on March 21, 2023 by , Reply
First « 4041424344 » Last