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