Tag: review

Four Stars for Paul Tremblay’s ‘Another’

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Trigger Warning: Mushrooms 🍄 (Seriously, Why?)
Okay, first things first—why did no one warn me about the mushrooms? I mean, yuck. How do people eat those things without questioning their life choices? But once I got past the fungal horror, I dove into what turned out to be a stellar middle-grade horror novel. Sure, I’m a few decades past the target age group, but how could I resist a story from the twisted genius behind A Head Full of Ghosts?

Summed Up (No Spoilers, Promise):
Casey’s going through a hard time after a humiliating online classroom incident leaves him isolated and friendless. Things take a bizarre turn when a mysterious stranger shows up at his doorstep with an unexpected houseguest: a waxy, practically faceless boy named Morel. He doesn’t eat. He doesn’t sleep. He’s definitely not normal. Who—or what—is Morel? You’ll have to read to find out.

What Worked:
This book is unsettling in the best way—even for the young at heart!! Paul Tremblay doesn’t know how to write not creepy, and I’m grateful for that. The story kept me guessing, which is rare in middle-grade horror, a genre that often leans on predictable tropes. What are the dark forces swirling around Morel? Why is his appearance shifting so rapidly? And what’s going on with Casey’s parents, who seem to be drifting into some kind of dazed oblivion? I tore through this in one afternoon because I had to know.

Thoughts on Character Development:
Tremblay doesn’t just deliver scares—he builds characters you care about. Casey’s loneliness, his awkwardness, his desperate need for best friend – it all brings back so many memories from my mispent youth. He’s also navigating life with a visible disability, which Tremblay handles with authenticity. Seriously, so many YA authors need to take notes because it seems like they’re just ticking off some boxes to stay on top of the trends.

Final Verdict:
This debut middle-grade horror novel is eerie, emotionally resonant, and totally absorbing. Young readers will find themselves in Casey’s struggles—and older readers will appreciate the creepy foreshadowing and twist ending!

Disappointing Horror Reads: ‘The House that Horror Built’ Review

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October is here, and I’m excited to embark on my lofty 31 Books of Halloween reading extravaganza! First up is my most recent read, “The House that Horror Built.” The premise and the cover drew me in, so why not give this author one more chance? I DNFed “The Horseman” because it was the silliest version of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” that I’ve ever encountered, but perhaps it could’ve been a fluke, right? Not so much. This one was a supreme dud as well. Let’s get into it:

The Gist: A downtrodden single mom, Harry, takes a job as house cleaner for a famous horror movie director. Imagine a disgraced Wes Craven who stopped making slashers due to a scandal involving a missing wife and son. Ooooh—intrigue! His house if full of movie props that torment Harry while she’s dusting and mopping.

What I liked: I really wanted to like this book because the setup is just so creepy cool for us horror movie fans who would love to have a peek inside a legendary director’s creepy mansion. So, the one and only aspect of this book that won me over was the spooky haunted mansion atmosphere.

What irked me: This book is a slow burn, and not in a good way. The burn was more of a spark that fizzled out almost immediately. Most of it had to do with Harry’s backstory, which seemed like a lot of filler that had little to do with her situation in the haunted mansion. Then, when the plot starts cooking toward the tail end of the book, I was hit with such a silly ending that was, quite frankly, unimaginative. I was hoping for some sort of resolution for Harry and her precocious 14-year-old son, Gabe (seriously, no kid talks like this), but it all came to a screeching halt. Rude!

What confused me: Okay, I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty good at adding single digits. When Harry and Gabe moved into the director’s sprawling mansion, they had to put a twin bed in the library for the kid. Umm…how is this a mansion? Another thing that perplexed me was Harry’s financial predicament. She spotted the well-to-do biological father in town, so she can easily find him and sue him for child support. Why was this not a thought, especially when they were teetering on the verge of homelessness?

Overall thoughts: This book was a complete waste of time. If you want an atmospheric haunted house book, check out “Naomi’s Room” by Jonathan Aycliffe or “Woman in Black” by Susan Hill. Plus, you can never go wrong with the classics by Shirley Jackson and E.F. Benson.