REVIEW: BEWARE THE NIGHT BY A. KALE

BEWARE THE NIGHT

A. KALE

GENRE: YA/HORROR

SYNOPSIS:

A New Kid In Town. A Demented Gang of Bullies. An Ancient Evil. The City of Crofton Is About To Face Its Worst Nightmare...

Adam and his father, the enigmatic Dr. Alfred Novello, arrive at the small city of Crofton, looking for a fresh start after the death of Adam's mother. But soon, Adam meets a troubled kid named Macs (pronounced Max), who drags Adam into a terrible nightmare of ancient evil.

To make matters worse, Adam and his new friend attract the attention of a vicious gang of bullies who call themselves "The Ghosts", and who want Adam dead!

With his father wallowing in his own grief, Adam and Macs have no one to turn to for help against the evil they are about to face, an evil that has been waiting for centuries to tear Crofton apart...

MY RATING: 3 STARS

Beware the Night is a YA-driven, horror novella perfect for tweens looking to read something a bit on the scary side. The story is mysterious and interesting and will keep the younger audience reading and enjoying. The “monsters” in this story are unique, which is a plus. I also felt the pacing of this story was on-point.

On the technical side, there were a few problems, which is why I had to give Beware the Night 3 stars instead of 4. There seemed to be some occasional missing periods and misspellings (“fate” instead of “fat”). I believe the dialog was a bit off-putting and could have been a bit more realistic if more contractions would have been used, especially within the dialog for Adam and Macs.

Overall, I did find Beware the Night to be an interesting story that I enjoyed reading. I could very well see tweens loving this story.

*This e-book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

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REVIEW: GHOUL BY BRIAN KEENE

GHOUL

BRIAN KEENE

GENRE: HORROR

SYNOPSIS: June 1984. Timmy Graco is looking forward to summer vacation, taking it easy and hanging out with his buddies. Instead his summer will be filled with terror and a life-and-death battle against a nightmarish creature that few will believe even exists. Timmy learns that the person who's been unearthing fresh graves in the cemetery isn't a person at all. It's a thing. And it's after Timmy and his friends. If Timmy hopes to live to see September, he'll have to escape the...GHOUL.

MY RATING: 4.5 STARS

This is my second Keene book. I read Dead Sea several months back and really liked Keene's storytelling. I found Ghoul very entertaining although at some points my stomach felt a little queasy.

Timmy and his buddies, Barry and Doug, are on summer vacation from school. Their favorite place to play is their secret club house in the cemetery near their homes. I really liked these three boys. Timmy seems to have a pretty good home life, and his parents are the typical American mom and dad. Things at home aren't so well for his buddies though. The home life of Doug and Barry are disturbing and I truly felt horrible for those two kids.

The boys begin to notice things are not quite right at the cemetery. Timmy puts a plan in place and takes matters into his own hands with the help of his friend Barry.

This isn't just another creature story, but also a coming of age story for Timmy and his friends. I think the ending really topped-off the story in a very appropriate way.

Overall, I felt this was a very good story and would highly recommend it for fellow horror fans.

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REVIEW: MONSTROSITY BY EDWARD LEE

MONSTROSITY

EDWARD LEE

GENRE: HORROR

SYNOPSIS

Blue skies, palm trees, and flawless white sand beaches. Clare Prentiss thinks her new home is paradise, and her brand-new job as security chief at the clinic almost seems too good to be true.
It is.
Lurid dreams, erotic obsessions, and twisted sexual fantasies aren't the only things that abruptly invade Clare's life. Is someone really peeping into her windows at night?
Yes.
Are those screams she hears just her imagination?
No.
Is Clare being stalked?
Yes. But not by a man. By a monstrosity.
Will the last scream Clare hears be her own?

MY TAKE

3 STARS

Well, I just finished Monstrosity...it was good, but not great. The beginning of the book started off strong, but about halfway through it faltered a bit for me. I felt like the author kind of stumbled his way through the story to reach the (*eyeroll*) predictable ending. There were a few editing mistakes, but they weren't major.

One thing that bummed me out more than anything else was I think the cover and the synopsis is a bit misleading. The cover shows these four hideous looking monsters emerging from the woods. Where were these four monsters in the story? I only found one. The stalking of Clare in the synopsis doesn't ring quite true either.

Although I didn't love this novel, I will be reading more of Lee in the future. If you decide you want to give this book a go, I would suggest getting it from the library instead of buying it.

BUY THIS BOOK

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REVIEW: THE CELLAR BY RICHARD LAYMON

THE CELLAR

RICHARD LAYMON

GENRE: HORROR

SYNOPSIS

Visitors flock to see the Beast House with its blood-soaked corridors and creaky doors. Armed with video camcorders, these poor souls enter the forbidden house, never to return. The deeper they go into the house, the darker their nightmares become. Don't even think about going into the cellar.

THE BEAST HOUSE:

Your first look:

an obvious tourist trap

Your guide:

a bizarre old woman who claims her husband and children were butchered there years ago, and further darkly hunts that others have since disappeared

Your fate:

If you are--

Man: a swift and savage death

Woman: a sexual enslavement beyond your wildest fantasies or nightmares

MY TAKE

Oh boy! I was so not prepared for what this book contained. So please be forewarned BEFORE you decide to pick up a copy of The Cellar. This book had it's good and bad points.

I like the overall idea Laymon had with the Beast that lives in the house. I think the “tourist trap” angle was pretty good as well. I liked the characters in the story and was a quick read—I finished it in one day. The Cellar was interesting and kept my attention. Some parts of the book were predictable and maybe even a bit clique. What I really, I must stress REALLY, didn't like was the character Roy's obsession for little girls. Those parts made me nauseous and very uncomfortable. I was definitely cheering when Roy got what was coming to him. What really surprised me about this book was as I was nearing the end, in my mind I thought I knew how it would end, but I was completely wrong. All in all, this was an interesting read.

BUY THIS BOOK

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