A Bunch of Book Reviews

I haven't blogged much in the past few months and now I have a lot of books to review. So I'm going to review them in groups rather than a post per book because otherwise I won't get around to reviewing them all.

Slugs by Shaun Hutson

I thought this book about human-eating slugs would be more entertaining than it actually was. The main character - the health inspector, which he is referred to in the novel so much that I don't remember his name - was so dull. The characters were all one-dimensional, boring and I really didn't care if they were eaten alive by slugs or not.  And the explanation behind why slugs suddenly grew teeth and started taking bites out of people made no sense.

Okay, I guess maybe I expected too much from a book about killer slugs. I didn't completely hate it - there are a few good, gory scenes that I enjoyed. If you read it with low expectations then you might like it more than I did.

This was also made into a 1988 film of the same name. I haven't seen it but I think the story might work better as a movie.

Rating: 3/5

Mandibles by Jeff Strand

This is another book about killer insects, this time ants.

I enjoyed Mandibles much more than Slugs. It's funnier, has more interesting characters and the existence of the giant killer ants is explained better and actually makes sense (as much as the thought of insects eating humans can I suppose).

The Kindle edition is available for only $2.99.

Rating: 4/5

Stranglehold by Jack Ketchum

As I've already said before on this blog, Jack Ketchum is my favourite horror author. So when Crossroad Press started releasing some of Ketchum's novels as cheap e-books, I was thrilled and bought a bunch of them for my Kindle - including this one.

Stranglehold reminds me a bit of The Girl Next Door because they both deal with child abuse, only this book isn't quite as gruesome. It's still very disturbing and realistic though. I don't want to give too much away about this book so I'm simply going to say it's amazing and I think all horror fans should read it.

Rating: 5/5

The Nightrunners by Joe R. Lansdale

This book is a lot like the movie Straw Dogs, but with a supernatural twist.
After a woman, Becky, is raped, she goes on a vacation to a cabin with her husband, Montgomery, to help them forget about it. Montgomery feels bad about his inability to protect his wife and claims to be a pacifist to cover up the fact that he's a coward.

The man who raped her is sent to prison and hangs himself. But he was the leader of a gang that is involved with an evil entity called The God of the Razor. It wants death and destruction - and for them to finish what they started and kill Becky.

The Nightrunners is incredible - definitely one of the best horror novels I've ever read. It's suspenseful, has an interesting plot and likable characters. If you haven't already read it, do it now!

This is the first book by horror legend Joe R. Lansdale I've read, but after reading The Nightrunners, I'll definitely be reading more. I bought The Complete Drive-In because I heard it was good, but have yet to read it.

Rating: 5/5

Ghoul by Brian Keene

Like It by Stephen King, Ghoul is a coming-of-age tale where a group of kids battles a monster. The trio of boys in this book make a clubhouse in a cemetery where they come across a ghoul.

I loved everything about this book - I even liked it more than It (which I found to be waaay too long and boring in spots). I highly recommend it to all horror fans.

Ghoul was made into a movie for Chiller which aired April 13 starring Nolan Gould (Luke on Modern Family), but unfortunately I couldn't watch it because Chiller isn't available in Canada. Hopefully it comes out on DVD soon so I can watch it. Has anyone seen it? I'm curious if it was as good as the book.

Rating: 5/5

Suffer the Flesh by Monica J. O'Rourke

I actually hadn't read anything by Monica J. O'Rourke when I interviewed her last year for Women in Horror Recognition Month. In the interview she said "My co-author (Wrath James White) said he approached me to write Poisoning Eros with him after reading Suffer the Flesh because he was shocked a woman had written it. I get that a lot, how people are surprised a woman could write something so extreme. I’ve been told I 'write like a guy.'" That made me want to seek out her work even more. When Suffer the Flesh was released as an e-book for a mere $2.99, I bought and read it immediately.

I can definitely see how others could be surprised that a woman wrote it. Suffer the Flesh is extremely gory and features many rape scenes. It's about an overweight woman (Zoey) who is captured off the street in New York after browsing the self-help/diet section of a bookstore and is taken to a secret research centre where they "help" women lose weight by raping and torturing them. 

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was suspenseful - I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to find out how (or if) Zoey would get out of this situation. I also found Zoey to be a very sympathetic character. I could relate to her weight loss struggles and hoped she would get out of there alive. I recommend this book for people who can handle extreme gore - including sadistic rape.

Rating: 4/5 

Dismember by Daniel Pyle

This is a backwoods novel with a twist. When a young boy is "rescued" by a man who lives in the woods after surviving a car wreck he has no idea that worst is yet to come.

Then the narrative moves forward several years and the boy has become a man not unlike his captor. Now he's looking for a new family to replace his.

The only thing I enjoyed about this novel was the first chapter. The plot is boring and excruciating slow. It took me a whole month to read Dismember and I struggled to finish it. There's no action or suspense. Other than the car accident in the beginning, there are maybe two deaths in the whole book. With a title like Dismember and a cover with a bloody axe, I expected it to have much more gore.

If you're still interested, it's available for Kindle for $3.99, but I recommend skipping this one.

Rating: 2/5

Super Fetus by Adam Pepper

When a fetus realizes its mother's intentions of having an abortion it begins working out so it can stand a chance against the doctor. But when it defeats the doctor its mother takes matters into her own hands....

Super Fetus was the first bizarro book I've read and I enjoyed it a lot. Weird and disturbing yet highly entertaining. At times I would be laughing, then read the next few pages and stop reading in disgust. Well, there were only a few moments in the book that I found gross, but they were very gory/disturbing (just thinking about them now makes me shudder). Recommended for horror fans looking for something different and humorous.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: Joyride by Jack Ketchum

Jack Ketchum frequently uses true crime stories as inspiration for his novels. Off Season is based on the legend of the Sawney Bean family, The Girl Next Door tells the horrors that befell Sylvia Likens and this novel, Joyride, is derived from Howard Unruh's killing spree. In Ketchum's afterword, he reveals that he found his story (and the story of Sylvia Likens) in Bloodletters and Badmen by Jay Robert Nash.

 Usually Ketchum's combination of real-life terror and an interesting "what if" scenario hooks me, but Joyride never grabbed my interest and is a mediocre effort from a usually amazing writer.

Carole and Lee planned the perfect murder of Carole's abusive husband. But they didn't count on a man named Wayne watching them. He doesn't want to turn them in or blackmail the couple. He mistakes them for being as sadistic and depraved as himself. What Wayne wants is simple: friends who understand his dark side and can indulge in it together.

The plot is more like that of a crime thriller than a horror novel. The story is told from Lieutenant Rule's perspective on the chase of the spree killers, and then Carole, Lee and Wayne's viewpoint in alternating chapters. And there isn't much gore - at least for a Ketchum novel.

It takes several chapters before anything exciting happens and even then the pace doesn't really pick up. There are a few more dull chapters, one action-packed chapter, and then back to the same tediousness. This formula is repeated throughout the novel.

The reason for my boredom is probably due to the lack of depth in the characters. Carole and Lee are fairly bland and hard to emphasize with. While the reasons behind Wayne's madness are never touched upon, he is merely crazy, end of story. Lieutenant Rule is an interesting and well-drawn character, but isn't featured in the story as much as Wayne or Carole.

But I didn't hate Joyride, although it may sound like I did. It's still a Ketchum novel, so it's well-written and the climax is exciting, but it still doesn't make up for the rest of the lackluster novel.

Rating: 3/5

This novel also includes the bonus novella, Weed Species, previously released in 2006 as a hardcover, limited edition from Cemetery Dance.

Weed Species is also based on a true crime story, this time on that of Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo. This story still angers many of us Canadians especially since Homolka is now free and married with a baby although the videotapes found showed that she is just as depraved as Bernardo. And Ketchum's imagining of what happened after Komolka was released from prison is our worst fears brought to life.

 At a mere 86 pages, this novella still packs an enormous punch. Anyone who is familiar with the rapes and murders of Bernardo and Homolka will know the brutality and gore to expect. For those of you who aren't, I'll warn you that there is a lot of violence in this novella, including graphic rape scenes.

Although Weed Species is well-written, interesting and leaves you wanting more, it's so disturbing and graphic that it will have you questioning why you enjoy reading stuff like this. But it takes a great novel to give you that feeling, so I'll give it a 4. This bonus novella is far better than the main novel, so I would recommend buying Joyride just for Weed Species.

Rating: 4/5

Combing rating: 3.5/5

MOVIE NEWS: Offspring

Oh. My. God. I have never been so excited for a movie in my life. They have finally made Jack Ketchum's Offspring into a film. I don't know why they chose Offspring, which is a sequel, instead of the first book Off Season, but it was a good book as well. If I could pick one book to make into a movie it would be Off Season or Offspring by Jack Ketchum. And now it's actually happening! It will be released on DVD on October 6. I can't wait! Here's what it's about:

Survivors of a feral flesh-eating clan are chowing their way through the locals. Amy Halbard and Claire Carey strive to survive their abduction by the cannibals and save their children. A subplot involving Claire's despicable husband, Steven, gives an opportunity to cleverly compare predatory civilized folk to the appetite-driven primitives.

Here's the trailer:

Horror Books To Bring Camping

I'm more likely to read while camping than to sit in my trailer and watch a movie. And seeing as how Bloody Disgusting has already done a list of the top 10 movies to watch while camping, I thought I would do a list of the top books to read while camping.

Camping and scary stories just go together. I can remember telling scary stories around the campfire, or telling scary stories in my tent with a flashlight under my face. The following books all have a plot that revolves around camping. It's scarier to read something at the same time as you're experiencing it.

Dark Mountain by Richard Laymon

Two families go on a camping trip in the mountains. But they don't know that there's a witch living in the mountains. The standard fast-paced Laymon novel.

Also by Richard Laymon

No Sanctuary: There are two parts to this novel that almost feel like separate books. In one part, a couple goes camping in the woods and meet three guys who have plans to terrorize them. The other part is about a woman who likes to break into others' houses while they're gone and stay there until they get back. But she breaks into the wrong house.... Both of the stories are tied together in the end.

Off Season by Jack Ketchum

Three couples rent a cabin on the Maine coastline. But they don't know that there's a bunch of cannibals living in the caves. This is one of the goriest novels I've ever read. It reads like a B-movie, which makes for a really fun camping read. I don't understand how The Girl Next Door, The Lost and Red were all made into movies before this Ketchum novel.

Also by Jack Ketchum

Offspring: The sequel to Off Season.

Cover: A group goes camping in the woods and come across a crazed Vietnam vet.

The Mountain King by Rick Hautala

Two men are hiking in the mountains and one is taken by Bigfoot. The other man returns to the mountain to find his friend.

Deliverance by James Dickey

The book that the movie was based on. Four men go on a canoeing trip and encounter crazed backwoods hicks.



The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

A young girl gets lost while hiking in the woods with her family. This book is about how she survives alone in the woods. One of my teachers read this book to my grade 8 class. Not scary and not really horror, but it's still a compelling read.

BOOK REVIEW: Red by Jack Ketchum

Since I reviewed the film Red based on Jack Ketchum's novel yesterday, I thought I should review the book. I don't have much to add because the film was on par with the book, and almost identical, but I'll try.

Here's my plot summary from yesterday's review:

During an attempted robbery, three teens shoot a man's dog for kicks. But that dog was the best thing in Avery Ludlow's life and he's not going to let them get away with it. He wants justice for Red and he's going to get it no matter what it takes.

What I love about Jack Ketchum is that all of his novels are realistic. I could see any of his plots happening to myself, which makes them even scarier.

And Red is no exception. Loving and losing an animal is something everyone can relate to, making it easy to understand how Ludlow feels. It will really tug at your heartstrings when Red dies. I teared up and had to stop reading because I was in public.

The book moves slowly and there isn't much action, but it doesn't matter because Avery Ludlow and his attempts to get the boys to confess is interesting. And when there is action, it's definitely worth the wait.

The characters are well-developed. I was rooting for Ludlow and was livid with the boys and their parents, praying for their comeuppance.

Even though I really enjoyed the movie, I would say that the book is a tiny bit better than the film. Just because it gives the characters more depth and I liked the ending better.

Rating: 4.5/5

MOVIE REVIEW: Red

I also finally got around to seeing Red this past weekend. It's yet another film based on a book by Jack Ketchum. I enjoyed the book, so I was hoping I would enjoy the film as well. I did.

During an attempted robbery, three teens shoot a man's dog for kicks. But that dog was the best thing in Avery Ludlow's life and he's not going to let them get away with it. He wants justice for Red and he's going to get it no matter what it takes.

The film was very faithful to the book, only changing a few details. They changed the ending slightly and changed the characters a bit, but that was about it. Also, everything in the movie was exactly how I pictured it in the book. Even some of the actors were how I pictured them. I was addicted to Veronica Mars at the time, so I pictured the brothers as two brothers on the show, and one of them (Kyle Gallner) was in the movie.

It also stars Brian Cox, Tom Sizemore and Robert Englund. Brian Cox gives an amazing performance as Avery Ludlow, making you really feel for him. Lucky McKee (May) directed it and did a great job, just as he did with May. I hope he does more projects because I've loved all his films I've seen so far.

It is more of a drama/ suspense rather than a horror film. There isn't any gore. There isn't much action and it moves a little slow at times. But it still keeps you interested, wanting to know how Ludlow will get justice.

Red was a great film and was equally as good as the book. It is sad (a dog dies after all), but it has a happy ending. This movie will really get to you, especially if you're an animal lover.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: Old Flames by Jack Ketchum

"Who's the scariest guy in America? Probably Jack Ketchum." - Stephen King

Stephen King is right. Jack Ketchum is probably the scariest guy in America. He's definitely one of my favourite writers and when his newest book, Old Flames was released, I rushed out to get it. I was disappointed when I realized it wasn't a full-length novel, just a book comprised of two novellas. But, as usual, Ketchum delivers.

Both novellas feature strong female characters. One as an antagonist and one as a protagonist. Old Flames is about a recently dumped woman, Dora, who uses a service called Flame Finders to find her high school sweetheart. To her dismay, he is married and has children. But that won't stop Dora from staking her claim. It's Fatal Attraction for the 00's. With so many people now looking up old flames and friends via Facebook and MySpace readers can easily relate.

This novella moves quickly and had me frantically flipping the pages. I couldn't wait to see what crazy Dora would do next. The writing is superb, as it always is with Ketchum. I wish it was longer so the characters were more fleshed out. They're fleshed out enough for a 130 page novella, but I think it would've been interesting to have more back story on Dora, and why she is such a psycho. I also thought the ending was confusing. I had to re-read the last chapters a couple times until I understood what happened. But I still enjoyed it.

Old Flames is a pretty good novella, but I think it would have made an amazing novel.

Rating: 4/5

The second novella, Right to Life, has previously been released on its own (see left). I was more excited for this one than the title story because I had been wanting to read it for awhile. But people who have already read Right to Life may feel ripped off buying a book for a 130 page novella.

Right to Life is about a pregnant woman, Sara, who is kidnapped outside of an abortion clinic by a pro-life couple. The couple, who can't have children of their own, intend to keep Sara as their prisoner until the baby is born.

Ironically, this is the better novella of the two. Sara is a protagonist who I really cared about and the couple who kidnaps her are villains I loved to hate. The story moves quickly, I read it in one sitting. Unlike Old Flames, Right to Life is the perfect length. It is very intense and has some brutal violence, which would be too overwhelming for novel length. I found myself disgusted with some parts, but I think my strong reaction is just a testament to how amazing it is. Readers who don't feel that way toward stories with brutal violence, may want to steer clear of this novella. Ketchum is great at writing realistic horror novels involving situations that you can see happening in real life.

Rating: 5/5

So, I would give both of the novellas together a 4.5/5.