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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Outsider in Books

Jul 13, 2018  
The Outsider
The Outsider
Stephen King | 2018 | Thriller
9
8.7 (31 Ratings)
Book Rating
King does it again
My main worry about this book was that it didn't sound enough like King - on paper it almost sounded like a bog standard crime thriller. Fortunately though that wasn't the case!

This is yet another brilliantly written King novel, filled with intrigue, suspense and a lot of fairly gruesome horror. The characters are, as always, well written and the story centres mainly around the lovable detective Ralph Anderson (although chapters centred around other characters offer some nice variety). The central supernatural plot is one that I've seen/read before in other works of fiction, but it definitely doesn't get boring seeing it from King's point of view. There are some unexpected links to some other of King's stories - one obvious and direct, but another link for me was more of a similarity to a previous character - neither of which is a bad thing.

My only criticisms of this book are fairly minor. The first is that the ending seems fairly rushed in comparison with the slow build of the rest of the book. And the second is that although it is a very good and enthralling read, it doesn't quite have the impact of some of his older epic novels (The Dark Tower series, The Stand, Needful Things etc).
  
Truth or Dare (2018)
Truth or Dare (2018)
2018 | Horror, Thriller
Average, not really scary at all
A bunch of spring breakers visit an old abandoned mission building in Mexico one night and play a game of truth or dare. Unfortunately though, the game follows them back home and they must continue to play or face the consequences. The supernatural game follows the same order of play from the night they first played, and when it's your turn you either see the words 'truth or dare' written wherever you go, or people around you take on a weird grinning face and say the words until you answer. If you refuse to play or fail your dare, you die a gruesome death.

The trouble with this movie is that it's not remotely scary. The face that everyone pulls when possessed by the spirit running the game is like some weird Snapchat filter, more funny than spooky. The acting is ok, but everyone plays their roles deadly serious. It's a ridiculous concept and it should have played on that more as pure entertainment rather than as a horror, which this most definitely isn't.

It was watchable enough though, and I was happy to see it through to the end. Unfortunately though, that ending builds up to a big, ridiculous cop out leaving you very disappointed.
  
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Dean (6927 KP) Nov 27, 2018

Yes the ending was terrible and didn't fit the earlier actions in the film.

Hellraiser (1987)
Hellraiser (1987)
1987 | Horror
Portal to hell
Hellraiser- when i first saw it i thought what in the hell did i just watch. But overtime i still think what the hell did i just watch.

What clive barker does he brings you into his mind, what dark mind he has. He brings you into his world, his creepy world.

The plot: Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank's body apart. When Frank's brother (Andrew Robinson) and his wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), move into Frank's old house, they accidentally bring what is left of Frank back to life. Frank then convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct himself.

Hellraiser introduces you to the cenobites, and their are creepy.

Its a very dark twisted movie. That is very underrated, but over time more people have seen it.

I would reccordmend hellraiser if you are a clive barker fan, want to know the cenobites and watch the other hellraiser movies. Yes this is the start of the hellraiser franchise.
  
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ClareR (5996 KP) rated Close to Home in Books

Jan 7, 2020  
Close to Home
Close to Home
Cara Hunter | 2017 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
9
7.6 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
I didn’t want to put this down!
Eighteen months ago, I wouldn’t have picked up this book. I thought I didn’t like police procedural, crime or thriller novels. However, The Pigeonhole has opened up a whole new genre to me, and I’m so glad - I wouldn’t have read this book for a start!

I think Adam Fawley is going to be a detective that I will enjoy reading about. This isn’t a pleasant subject: an eight year old child, Daisy Mason, goes missing, and rather than doing everything they can to help find her, her parents are positively obstructive. Her younger brother is withdrawn - in fact it really doesn’t look good for the parents.

The police team are all great characters to read about, and DI Fawley is very human. We learn about his tragic background, and the reason why he works so hard to find Daisy.

I just really liked everything about this - the storyline isn’t needlessly gruesome, the characters are really well described and the ending was so good (oh, it had me rubbing my hands together!). To be honest, I’ve already bought the next two books in the series!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and Cara Hunter for reading along.