Category Archives: Horror

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The Stand

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13492880

The Stand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

I listened to this book this time around after having read it 3 times over the years. It is a story that you find something new in each time you read it. The characters are well written and fleshed so that you get to know them on a deep level. The story is not really scary but has elements that can make you feel uncomfortable or want to look over your shoulder for the bad. Even though it is only a story you can imagine it happening in your world. This seems to be a character study of sorts because you have so many personalities.

A deadly virus is let out into the world because our government cannot seem to keep their word about not creating things that could kill large numbers of people. Around the country people are dying from a superflu and while some are immune they start to dream of two people who they cannot be sure are real. One is an old black woman named Mother Abigail to tells them to come see her in Nebraska, the other is a dark man who scares most but is calling people to him in the west. The good and the evil are bringing together their forces to battle, or so it seems.

For me this is one of his best but I have read most of his work and love it. Try this if you have not read anything else by him.

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Mayor of the Damned

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20879961

Mayor of the Damned (Sven the Zombie Slayer, Book 3)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I read the first book in this series I did not expect that I would get to the third one and feel a bit underwhelmed. I am assuming that this is the last book, though it may not be another in the works somewhere. These stories grabbed me with the first book I picked up but they have gotten a little less interesting as they have gone along. I had a very hard time getting into this book even though I liked the characters. This was not what I would have expected from the characters and it made it a very hard read. The plot was a little convoluted and could not hold my interest because I really didn’t care about them like I did before. There was no real action, though more than the last book which took place in the three locations our mains were in.

Sven makes his way out of City Hall only to be faced with more of the infected and no easy way to get home to Jane and Lori. While he is trying to make his way across the city he runs into someone he had thought dead or at least one of the infected. Milt is infected but has evolved in a different way from the others, he has decided that the world needs to be evolved and that Sven and his friends should join him.

The creator of the virus which has caused all the chaos is on the move and wants to observe how his Desi is causing trouble. He also wants to see how it has mutated and what it might do as it travels around the country.

Milt plays a little like a cartoon villain, its the way he talks and acts. He is not a likable character at all. I would have liked to have seen more of the vegan, he is a character who got a serious short look in every book but was an interesting kind of guy. Maybe in the next book if it happens. You have to read this if you have read the first two.

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Walkers (Walking Dead Universe)

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17985592  18664022  18664024

My rating: 3.3 of 5 stars

W1: The characters introduced are not fully fleshed out but do make you want to find out how things turn out for them . And there are zombies, who can say no to zombies! Not a great tome but definitely interesting to a zombie enthusiast.

W2: While there is not any real character development they still have very distinct personalities which are starting to emerge. This group has grown with addition of two teenagers and a kid who has his soldier father in his head. The action is good and does not drag. The dialogue fits nicely with the characters and their situation. While there are issues with grammar , they are minor and do not detract much from the narrative. Enjoyable!

W3:  I enjoyed this a bit more than the last episode because there was more action. The characters were still not as clear as I would have liked but I still liked them enough to care if they lived or died. I expected more here though because it was the last. I was very disappointed with the ending however, there were so many other ways to go than a cliffhanger.

Zombie lovers will like it.

 

“We’ve got actual corpses walking around literally trying to turn us into Happy Meals, and you’re afraid of an itty bitty spider? Seriously, man?” “I can deal with dead bodies every day, so I can deal with any rotting corpses, even ones walking around trying to make me their lunch. But spiders, man, they are EVIL! I mean, they have eight hairy legs. What kind of shit is that?” Charlene grabbed Luther by the collar. “Come on, Braveheart. I think the kitchen’s through this door.”
― G.B. Banks, Walkers

 

 

 

 

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The Haunting of Hill House

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12820643

The Haunting of Hill House

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have seen both versions of this story in movie form and actually prefer the 1960’s version for its lack of overt special effects. Saying that this is the first time I have ever read the book, though I have wanted to for years. This is a character study more than a haunted house story, but the house does play a central role. There is not an emphasis on scares but a setting of mood and atmosphere that really draws you in, very much like the original movie. The characters are not flat but come to life as well-rounded and with personalities that make them very approachable.

Hill House has stood for 80 years and is considered to be haunted or at least tainted in some way. A researcher decides to try to prove that the supernatural exists by bringing in a team to stay at the house and document their experiences. The question that needs to be answered is whether there is a haunting or is it only the imagination and psychosis of those in the house that brings it to life. Eleanor and her companions find that Hill House has its own agenda and they are a part of it.

All of the characters are very different from their cinematic counterparts in subtle ways and some very big ways. Eleanor is even more of a neurotic in the book, Theo is actually a bit nicer than depicted, and Luke is not a lush. The other characters, one not even depicted in the movie are vastly different and not necessarily for the better. If you enjoyed either movie, you should read this to get a better understanding of what happened and how things progressed. And you can see that Shirley Jackson was very good for her time.

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Zombie 2.0

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21460430

Zombie 2.0 (Zombie Botnet #2)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This did not pull me in like the first novel in this series. While the characters were still interesting and the introduction of the new character was handled well, the story did not really flow from the beginning. It did pick up however  after the first three chapters. The narrative is good but it sometimes seemed to do that third wall thing where the narrator speaks directly to their audience. I don’t particularly like that in movies so in a book it irks even more.

The story takes up where we left off, Baby Tomas had been affected by the botnet. When we ee them again Ven has become catatonic because of the perceived loss of her child. Cassie is with her at the barn they had taken refuge at and found to be lacking. Mike and Kyle have gone to town to a library in order to find a place they can be safe. There are other survivors and they have the good and bad luck to run into them. Things go from bad to worse for our group and there are changes in the dynamic they could not have seen coming.

The zombies are getting more interesting, the story line is expanding, and the characters are starting to gain more depth. Though I have to say that Ven works my nerves a lot, I kind of feel for her anyway. I will be reading more and would suggest them to other zombie lovers.

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It

by

13506334

It

by Stephen King (Goodreads Author), Steven Weber (Narrator)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have read this book 4 times and enjoyed it every one of those times. This reading was different because I got to hear it in a different way. Steven Weber did a great job of conveying the feelings of the children and the menace that was projected by It in all Its guises. The book is epic in how it handles the fright of the kids, the disintegration of their safe world, and how they handle something that would drive an adult crazy. There are also some low-key references that a true fan of Stephen King novels will pick up on more readily when listened to it.

In the summer of 1958 seven children were drawn together by an evil that had festered in their town long before they were born. Each of them had experienced a frightening apparition that they could not explain and did not want to believe was real. People, kids are dying or disappearing and nobody knows what is happening.

Fast forward 27 years and those seven kids are now adults and being called back to finish what they started. But can they really best a creature that has only been truly seen by children or are they going to their deaths.

What more can be said other than I love this and while it is not super scary, it is creepy, and disturbing on a lot of levels.

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Cades Cove

by

8783169

Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae (Cades Cove #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the first book that I have read from this author and I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading many more. I was totally sucked into the story from the very beginning. The characters were interesting and made me feel for them and their plight, I was even drawn to the ghost who I felt sorry for even while she was doing things that were so evil to innocent people. The action flowed effortlessly and had me so wanting to know what was going to happen that I stayed up reading when I should have been sleeping so I could get to work.

David and Miriam Hobbs take a weekend trip for their anniversary to Gaitlinberg, Tennessee. While there they go to Cades Cove, a place recommended by his boss as being very picturesque and romantic. When they are about to leave they find a small bag containing the keepsakes of someone named Allie Mae. Miriam tells David to return it but he cannot bring himself to turn it over to the rangers and so takes it back home with them, without telling his wife.

When strange things start to happen around the house and it begins to affect his children he wonders if maybe he brought home more than some simple souvenirs. When things turn deadly he knows that he has to do whatever it takes to end the terror.

This was an excellent ghost story with suspense, scares, terror, family, and love. I would say that there is a scene of rape that is very unpleasant and may offend some. Other than that I would recommend this to horror fans and anyone who just likes a good ghost story.

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The Zombie Axiom

by

18883640

The Zombie Axiom (In the Time of the Dead)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked the idea of this story from the first time I read the blurb. It sounded somewhat different from the stories I had read in the past. With that being said it was very hard for me to become engaged with the story for a large portion of it. I never really did feel much for any of the characters, they never fully came to life for me. I was never really able to connect to any of the characters except for small instances near the end. The characters were not completely real to me, they seemed to almost be nothing more than stereotypes. The story did progress well and moved from point to point fairly nicely. The language was easy to follow and seemed to work for those characters as they were drawn. I will also say that I did not particularly like the way it was laid out, two chapters for a book of 311 pages made it hard to pace it.

After a meteor shower some of the people of Connisburgh start to act in murderous ways attacking their family and neighbors for no apparent reasons. Things start so slowly that at first no one notices what is happening. Three people get a front row seat to the apocalypse as it begins even though they are not sure what is happening right away. Virgil is a vet who would rather avoid people at all costs than get close to anyone, Sasha is a nurse who has an abusive home life but is a true survivor, then there is Derek, a Sensei in Akido who has a calm that nothing seems able to rattle.

These people and others will find that things may seem bad at first but that they can get even worse. There is an unknown variable that is pushing to help destroy humanity and our little band has no idea.

While it was not something that grabbed me and held my attention until the end, it did still entertain once I finally got into it. The confrontation could have come earlier since I had been promised that there would be one but it did materialize, if a bit late. I did find that the ending has at least sparked an interest in the next book. I do hope the alien aspect gets a little more play in the next installment.

Zombies good so if you like them I say give it a try.

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Thirteen Roses

by

23480236

Thirteen Roses Book One: Before: An Apocalyptic Zombie Fable

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I do love a good zombie story! The one thing that did kind of annoy me about this one is that it seemed like it took so long to get to the zombies. Don’t get me wrong, I was enjoying the lead up completely, it’s just I was looking all over for the zombies. I like the way the characters were introduced one at a time in order to give you a feel for who they are. It gave me a chance to decide if I liked them or not, meaning whether I was going to be rooting for or against them. I liked the use of interludes to give more background on the state of things as they unfolded. This was definitely a different type of zombie story with what seem to be spiritual/religious undertones.

A flower seller who appears to be nothing special but who speaks like a very well-educated man, and is much more than anyone would believe. Flowers are given to seven carefully chosen people for reasons that can mean life or death for them. One of those people has the ability to cause the release of a plague that will devastate the world and it seems to have been made possible by someone associated with our flower seller.

You have to read this in order to truly appreciate it. Angels, demons, the almighty, and an interesting cross of humanity. I want book two to be just as interesting as this one because I am highly motivated to read it as soon as it comes out. Great characters, good action, nice premise, and kind of fun. I would call it a must read.

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If you have not yet read book 1 do so immediately!

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One Blood

by

13134666

One Blood

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a book that had me confused as to what it was really about. I went in expecting a simple horror novel but got a lot more than that. This is a twisted story of revenge, hate, blind ambition, manipulation,murder, voodoo,and a cursed family. The characters are all very dark and not always likeable but they can be sympathetic from time to time. I really found myself not liking most of them for most of the book because they were so single-minded and seemed like the worst type of opportunists. The two characters that I did feel a little something for were not really fleshed out enough for me to really decide anything about how I wanted things to go for them.

Can I just say that there is only one thing that can drive me up a wall while reading is when I have to keep track of what year I am in from chapter to chapter or even section to section within a chapter. This started in 1963 and moved in a nice linear line for a few chapters then it was on and we jumped around for almost the entirety of the rest of the story. I understand the need for it here but it made things drag a bit for me. If possible I thought there was too much background that could have been condensed and left more for those characters I wanted to get to know better. Just a thought.

This is the story of Randy LaFitte a man who was marginalized by his father when he was young and took steps to make his life better, or so he thought. Randy decided that the only way to get rid of a man he hated was to resurrect a curse which had been dormant for years. His actions set off a chain of events which will affect not only his family but the lives and families of all those within reach of his influence. Randy had big ambition and went about getting what he wanted in the most ruthless manner possible, not a nice man by any stretch of the imagination.

When his sins come back to claim him they take a form no one would believe possible.

This is a good story that I wanted to be even better. I liked where it was going but just wanted it to get there faster. I stopped and started reading when it seemed I knew what was happening but this still left not sure if I even understood it all. Don’t read this for horror but more for the mystery that surrounds everything and everyone.