The Haunted, Niki Valentine – A Review.

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Good morning (or afternoon depending on where you are/what time you’re reading this) my fellow blogger pals! Today I am bringing to you a review that I really struggled to write, mostly because I had no idea how to write this other than to say “the book was trash”… So yes.

The Haunted by Niki Valentine.

Overall rating 1 out of 5 stars.

My review…

I had incredibly high hopes for this book, I deliberately kept it to read during my October horror/thriller reads and after reading the blurb I thought I’d made the right decision… I was mistaken.

As a book marketed as a horror, paranormal and spooky I expected this book to be something that made me want to sleep with the light on, what I actually got was something I can only describe as like walking through treacle.

The book itself was very slow to start and didn’t feature much in the way of plot, we were quickly introduced to our main characters, Martin and Susie, through their sniping and nit picking with each other – which was boring to read.

As I read deeper into the book I built an intense dislike for both of our main characters, nothing about them was likeable. For the entirety of the book we were simply treated to them sniping at each other as they both “felt the effects” of the supposed paranormal being that was with them in the bothy…

The blurb describes how we will be chilled to the bone, and sadly that didn’t happen for me. Our paranormal being was never present enough to have an impact, he was like a passing shadow and didn’t bring anything to the story.

As for the plot, it was completely non-existent and the ending did nothing to round off the novel, except leave us with more questions than answers and a burning desire to never pick up this book again.

I struggled with this book, to find anything positive about it. Which is a real shame as I had looked forward to reading this since I brought it a few months back.

Let me know if you’ve read The Haunted and what you thought.

Em xxx

Psychosis: Tales of Horror, Matt Dymerski – A Review.

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Hello fellow bookworms! Here I am again (a week or so late) but sharing another one of my horror reads! This was another short story collection so I’ve done a small review of each story and an overall review at the bottom.

Psychosis: Tales of Horror by Matt Dymerski.

Synopsis… “Explore the true anatomy of horror through these 13 tales of despair and terror written by the author of the original short story Psychosis.”

Overall rating 4 out of 5 stars.

My review…

Psychosis. This is the title story and the first one as we start this book and let me say it did not disappoint. I loved how this story played on the first person perspective, it really got under my skin and made me think and question a lot of things… The ending got me as well, I wasn’t expecting anything about this story it was full of twists.

The Bone Walker. Again, this was another good one. It was completely different to the previous story but it still grabbed my attention in the exact same way. The story was cleverly done and as it was written from the first person it allowed us to feel a deeper connection with our main character, perfect for the story…

The Fire of the Soul. Wow, this was just amazing. Admittedly, at points I did get a little confused but everything came together and I just I’m speechless. The writing was excellent, the story was excellent, bravo.

Come Closer. This one was very short and sweet compared to the others but that doesn’t mean it didn’t get under my skin like the rest of them… This one definitely scared me a little bit!

Scribblings. I found this one to be more intriguing than scary, which disappointed me a little bit. It definitely grabbed my attention from the start and I just HAD to keep reading to find out what was going on. The writing in this story was excellent and really lent itself to the content of the story.

The Lodge. Another short and sweet one that I loved and one that genuinely terrified me. It had a real creepypasta vibe to it, which I think is what scared me the most!

Correspondence. I found this one really hard to read and I couldn’t get through it very easily with the way the story was laid out. I’m still not clear on the plot either…

Strangers In a Graveyard. Ahhh I loved this one, my only criticism is that it wasn’t any longer! It featured one of my biggest fears (graveyards) and that definitely made it feel super creepy for me.

The Lonely Grave. Once I realised this was a follow on from the previous story I had chills. I was so scared by this one, just everything about it got under my skin, the atmosphere was excellent.

The Basement. I loved this one, the story was very cleverly written to make you feel the fear of our main character, it is as if you are in their shoes… I won’t say too much so I don’t give it away!

Erosion. DNFR.

Strange Things. I feel like this story had quite a few underdeveloped parts that made it lack the fear factor for me, which was disappointing as it could have been such a good story.

The Seven Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I didn’t really get this one and how it fit into the book? It was weird and the ending didn’t really make much sense at all. A real disappointing end for the book.

On the whole, the stories in this book did something that is quite difficult and that was to scare me and get under my skin so for that I applaud them! However, the last few stories were not on the same level as the earlier ones, which is such a shame.

Let me know if you’ve read this book or any of the short stories within it as I’d love to know what you thought!

Em xxx

What Goes On In The Walls At Night, Andrew Schrader – A Review.

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Hello fellow book lovers! I’m back with another October reads review which I’m excited to bring to you guys!

What Goes In The Walls At Night by Andrew Schrader.

Synopsis… “You may find yourself stuck between worlds both strange and disturbing, disgusting and delightful—a world that Andrew Schrader discovered and now presents to you. Let him quietly introduce you to thirteen unforgettable scenes in this shocking collection of short stories.”

Overall rating 3 out of 5 stars.

My review…

Reading this book was like being on a rollercoaster, and not in a good way…

I enjoyed the prologue, I thought that was really good and introduced the book perfectly. I did find it a bit convenient (and overdone) that this guy bumped into his all time favourite author from when he was a child though.

The book itself was split into several stories that were tales this author had heard in the walls, and some of them were far better than others.

When the stories were good they were absolutely brilliant, they got under my skin, made me feel sick, they built up the intrigue and interest perfectly and hooked you in!

But when they weren’t the best you could really see the difference in quality. Some of them just didn’t seem to be developed as well as others, one story went for the shock factor but you could see it coming a mile off and the final story I ended up DNFR because it was too much for me.

Towards the later couple of stories it felt as though the author forgot he was meant to be writing stories that were heard through a wall and they just got a bit crazy and away from the premise.

Let me know if you’ve read any of these stories within the book and what you thought!

Em xxx

The Ghost in the Closet, M K Theodoratus – A Review.

Hey fellow book bloggers and book lovers! I have another fairly short review coming your way from another October read so here we go!

The Ghost in the Closet by M K Theodoratus.

Synopsis… “Dumdie Swartz’s ability to see ghosts has gotten her into scrapes all her life, ever since she was little. In her senior years, it takes its toll when she gets fired from her job and loses her apartment as a result of her gift. Now homeless, Dumdie is forced to sleep in her car in a shopping mall car park. When she gets the chance of a room in an old house that has been transformed into a shelter she jumps at the opportunity to sleep in a comfy bed once more, but she cannot escape from the dead. Just when it looks like her life is beginning to turn around, the ghost of the former occupant of her room reaches out for her assistance to find her will and save the shelter.

Dumdie is forced into a choice. Should she risk upsetting the rest of the occupants by helping the spirit to find peace?. Or, should she ignore the ghost and walk away, allowing the shelter to close?”

Overall rating 1 out of 5 stars.

My review…

I really don’t want to sound too scathing with this review, so I’m trying super hard to find some positives but I really can’t… I found The Ghost in the Closet very hard to read, there were large blocks of text without breaks or paragraphs and I could feel my eyes moving down the page because there was just so. Much. Text.

Because I found it hard to read I couldn’t actually gather what the story was about, it only became clear towards the last 5% of the book which for me is just too late in the story to explain everything…

There were far too many characters introduced for a story of this length and I found it hard to both keep up with them and form a connection to any of them, which disappointed me as Dumdie seemed like a brilliant character.

I really struggled to read this book, if it wasn’t for the fact it was a short story I would have given up with it because there appeared to be no clear plot, the characters were all over the place and the main question asked throughout the story wasn’t actually cleared up or answered at the end… It was a disappointing read on the whole.

Let me know if you’ve read this book and what you thought!

Em xxx

Be Careful What You Wish For, A C Hutchinson – A Review.

Hello fellow book lovers! It’s a very short review from me today as this was a short story that I read as part of my horror October reads.

Be Careful What You Wish For by A C Hutchinson.

Synopsis… “When David Patzpowski takes his breakfast at a motorway diner, he discovers the clientele to be a little on the strange side.“

Overall rating 3 out of 5 stars.

My review…

Let me start by saying, I didn’t hate this book, it wasn’t terrible it just didn’t have enough substance for me to rate it any higher than 3 stars.

A C Hutchinson built up a very clever story that grabbed my attention straight away and held that interest the entire time I was reading and the ending took me very much by surprise.

However, I do think the story could have easily been just a few more pages longer, with the addition of a few more “wishes” David made.

I also, despite this book being tagged as horror on Goodreads, didn’t think it was that scary at all, it definitely had a shock factor at the end but there was no fear factor for me, which really disappointed me.

If you’ve read this book let me know what you thought of it!

Em xxx

The Woman in Black, Susan Hill – A Review. [SPOILERS].

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! If I really thought about this review I could have saved the book until October and done like a spooky reading of it by candlelight but as it happens I’m impatient and wanted to read it straight away…

So, here is my review of The Woman in Black! Read in January 2020.

Overall rating – 3 stars out of 5.

Where to start… With the positives! The writing was excellent, with a book that is “horror” or “supernatural” the setting is a big part of what makes it a frightening read, and I think Susan Hill really captured that. I felt like we were inside the house and hearing Spider scratching at the door, or with the wind whipping outside while the mist rolled in upon us. It was really descriptive which set the supernatural theme.

I was properly shocked by the ending too, I did not expect that to happen and once it clicked in my head how it was going to end I had goosebumps all over. 

That being said, I really wanted to be scared by this book, everyone had told me how chilling it was and how I shouldn’t read it alone or at night, but I just feel a bit let down on the horror front. Whilst the setting was creepy and eerie, the actual supernatural and horror element didn’t really shine through the writing.

I was most disappointed with the lack of expansion in terms of The Woman in Black who the book is written about.

It had promise, and the descriptive writing was excellent, however, it just wasn’t scary enough for me 😦

Em xxx