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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Taking in Books
Apr 7, 2024
67 of 220
Book
The Taking
By Dean Koontz
⭐️⭐️
On the morning that will mark the end of the world they have known, Molly and Niel Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain. It has haunted their dreams through the night, and now they find an eerily luminous and golden downpour that drenches their small Californian mountain town. As hours pass they hear news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. An obscuring fog turns once familiar streets into a ghostly labyrinth. By evening, the town has lost all communication with the outside world. First TV and radio go dead, then the Internet and phone lines. The young couple gathers together with some neighbours, sensing a threat they cannot identify or even imagine. The night brings strange noises, and mysterious lights drift among the trees. The rain diminishes with the dawn but a moody grey-purple twilight prevails. Within the misty gloom the small band will encounter something that reveals in a terrifying instant what is happening to the world -- something that is hunting them with ruthless efficiency.
I really liked how this started and it was doing ok then I got bored by the end I was glad it was ending. Someone told me this was one of his best books it kinda puts me off reading anymore if that’s the case.
Book
The Taking
By Dean Koontz
⭐️⭐️
On the morning that will mark the end of the world they have known, Molly and Niel Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain. It has haunted their dreams through the night, and now they find an eerily luminous and golden downpour that drenches their small Californian mountain town. As hours pass they hear news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. An obscuring fog turns once familiar streets into a ghostly labyrinth. By evening, the town has lost all communication with the outside world. First TV and radio go dead, then the Internet and phone lines. The young couple gathers together with some neighbours, sensing a threat they cannot identify or even imagine. The night brings strange noises, and mysterious lights drift among the trees. The rain diminishes with the dawn but a moody grey-purple twilight prevails. Within the misty gloom the small band will encounter something that reveals in a terrifying instant what is happening to the world -- something that is hunting them with ruthless efficiency.
I really liked how this started and it was doing ok then I got bored by the end I was glad it was ending. Someone told me this was one of his best books it kinda puts me off reading anymore if that’s the case.
French Quarter Fright Night
9.0
Rate It
Book
The third in the fabulous cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and...
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The House by the Cemetery in Books
Jan 31, 2019 (Updated Feb 2, 2019)
I have a love-hate relationship with The House by the Cemetery by John Everson, and it’s really tearing me apart. I absolutely enjoyed the story itself, but there’s a few issues, one of which is a huge red flag, that I simply can’t allow to go unspoken–and if other reviews are any clue, I’m not the only one that’s immensely bothered by it.
The story involves a witch that died in 1963, a haunted house, a haunted house attraction, and a lot of characters (too many to keep track of without a notebook, actually). Hired to repair the haunted house so that guests can safely walk through it, Mike Kostner spends much of his time drinking beer and talking with the girls, Katie and Emery. At the same time, Jeanie’s been hired on as a makeup artist for the upcoming attraction and drags her boyfriend, Bong, into it. Then there’s Jillie and Ted, paranormal investigators. And then there are three other groups of people to form more members of the cast, which I found to be extremely overwhelming.
At this point in my review, I usually talk about characters and their development, what I like about them, what I don’t, etc. In this case, I can’t really do that. The only character I managed to forge any sort of emotional connection with was Jeanie, and it’s mainly sympathetic. As for the rest of the roles played, I’m largely disappointed. Why? Because there’s a severe lack of sensitivity in this novel–which has been mentioned in several other reviews. There are four characters whose sole defining characteristic is either their race or their weight. There’s no depth given beyond that to them as an individual. The remarks dealing with weight are largely shaming and those dealing with race are stereotypical. And here’s where I’m going to take a moment to discuss the character Bong, which I feel is the most blatant insult to another race’s customs that I’ve seen in a long time.
Bong’s full name is Bong-soon Mon. Phonetically, that sounds a lot like “bong soon man.” It’s not overly obvious if you’re not familiar with Korean names, and Bong-soon is an actual name used in the drama Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. However, in this case, Everson shortens Bong-soon, which is actually the character’s name (whether it’s his first or last, I’m not sure), to Bong. Thus he makes it more of a laughing matter (really, it’s not funny), whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Usually I’m not sensitive to these types of material, but in this book the way it comes across is really bothersome and, like several other readers, I agree with the idea that this book desperately needs an edit for sensitivity. Please bear in mind that I read an arc of this book and so I’m not sure if any of these issues were addressed in the final publication.
EDIT: After speaking with the author, he explained to me that the reason he shortened the name as he did comes from personal experience with someone that had the same name, and what they went by. Everson also assured me it was not his intent to fat shame those characters. I really appreciate that he reached out to me, and feel it's important that my misconception be corrected, but not hidden.
Plotwise, I adored this book. I can’t go too much into detail without sharing spoilers, but I can say this: the Everson does have a talent for creating beautifully grisly, albeit somewhat repetitive, scenes. The bloodbath that takes place near the end of the book is a glorious gore-fest that I felt the rest of the story worked up to quite well, even if it crawled earlier on while Mike was working on the house. As for the setting, it’s well written. I liked the idea of a house next to a cemetery, and its easy to infer its age without being told: it’s too close to a turnpike to have been put there before the turnpike was built. I was, however, confused by the juxtaposition of a heavily wooded house and cemetery in close proximity to a city or town, as in my experience turnpikes usually don’t have exits between major locales. At least, not very many present-day ones do, as most of them have been converted to, or created as, a controlled-access highway, where intersecting roads tend to cross over or under so that they do not impede traffic. That said, it strikes me as weird that a single house and cemetery would have an exit from a turnpike.
So I decided to google cemeteries and turnpikes, and what did I find? Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is an actual haunted locale found in the suburbs of Chicago. And yes, it actually is that close to a turnpike! If you like to watch Ghost Adventures, the cemetery was featured in a 2012 episode. Also, the cemetery is extremely old. Even better? Many of the ghost stories referenced in the book are actual tales surrounding the cemetery. It’s actually pretty fascinating and I wouldn’t even have known about it were it not for Everson’s book.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. I loved the homage to horror movies of all types, including lesser known genres. I absolutely adored the way in which some of the characters were manipulated, too. Hence why I stated early in this review that I have a love-hate relationship with it. Because of the lack of sensitivity though, and the way I was made to feel as a reader because of it (I’m overweight, after all), I can’t give it more than three skulls.
I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book for review.
The story involves a witch that died in 1963, a haunted house, a haunted house attraction, and a lot of characters (too many to keep track of without a notebook, actually). Hired to repair the haunted house so that guests can safely walk through it, Mike Kostner spends much of his time drinking beer and talking with the girls, Katie and Emery. At the same time, Jeanie’s been hired on as a makeup artist for the upcoming attraction and drags her boyfriend, Bong, into it. Then there’s Jillie and Ted, paranormal investigators. And then there are three other groups of people to form more members of the cast, which I found to be extremely overwhelming.
At this point in my review, I usually talk about characters and their development, what I like about them, what I don’t, etc. In this case, I can’t really do that. The only character I managed to forge any sort of emotional connection with was Jeanie, and it’s mainly sympathetic. As for the rest of the roles played, I’m largely disappointed. Why? Because there’s a severe lack of sensitivity in this novel–which has been mentioned in several other reviews. There are four characters whose sole defining characteristic is either their race or their weight. There’s no depth given beyond that to them as an individual. The remarks dealing with weight are largely shaming and those dealing with race are stereotypical. And here’s where I’m going to take a moment to discuss the character Bong, which I feel is the most blatant insult to another race’s customs that I’ve seen in a long time.
Bong’s full name is Bong-soon Mon. Phonetically, that sounds a lot like “bong soon man.” It’s not overly obvious if you’re not familiar with Korean names, and Bong-soon is an actual name used in the drama Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. However, in this case, Everson shortens Bong-soon, which is actually the character’s name (whether it’s his first or last, I’m not sure), to Bong. Thus he makes it more of a laughing matter (really, it’s not funny), whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Usually I’m not sensitive to these types of material, but in this book the way it comes across is really bothersome and, like several other readers, I agree with the idea that this book desperately needs an edit for sensitivity. Please bear in mind that I read an arc of this book and so I’m not sure if any of these issues were addressed in the final publication.
EDIT: After speaking with the author, he explained to me that the reason he shortened the name as he did comes from personal experience with someone that had the same name, and what they went by. Everson also assured me it was not his intent to fat shame those characters. I really appreciate that he reached out to me, and feel it's important that my misconception be corrected, but not hidden.
Plotwise, I adored this book. I can’t go too much into detail without sharing spoilers, but I can say this: the Everson does have a talent for creating beautifully grisly, albeit somewhat repetitive, scenes. The bloodbath that takes place near the end of the book is a glorious gore-fest that I felt the rest of the story worked up to quite well, even if it crawled earlier on while Mike was working on the house. As for the setting, it’s well written. I liked the idea of a house next to a cemetery, and its easy to infer its age without being told: it’s too close to a turnpike to have been put there before the turnpike was built. I was, however, confused by the juxtaposition of a heavily wooded house and cemetery in close proximity to a city or town, as in my experience turnpikes usually don’t have exits between major locales. At least, not very many present-day ones do, as most of them have been converted to, or created as, a controlled-access highway, where intersecting roads tend to cross over or under so that they do not impede traffic. That said, it strikes me as weird that a single house and cemetery would have an exit from a turnpike.
So I decided to google cemeteries and turnpikes, and what did I find? Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is an actual haunted locale found in the suburbs of Chicago. And yes, it actually is that close to a turnpike! If you like to watch Ghost Adventures, the cemetery was featured in a 2012 episode. Also, the cemetery is extremely old. Even better? Many of the ghost stories referenced in the book are actual tales surrounding the cemetery. It’s actually pretty fascinating and I wouldn’t even have known about it were it not for Everson’s book.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. I loved the homage to horror movies of all types, including lesser known genres. I absolutely adored the way in which some of the characters were manipulated, too. Hence why I stated early in this review that I have a love-hate relationship with it. Because of the lack of sensitivity though, and the way I was made to feel as a reader because of it (I’m overweight, after all), I can’t give it more than three skulls.
I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book for review.
Weak characters (1 more)
Mediocre ending
A haunted house thriller that could've been more
At Spring House, it’s not just a lone ghost that haunts the property—something has awoken. Almost as if the house were alive. That’s the impression I got going into The Vines, and I thought it was a unique twist to the classic haunted house story.
The book has several narrators starting with Caitlin, an heiress whom everyone loves to hate and who is taken advantage of and cheated on by her husband. Second is Nova, an educated young black woman employed at Spring that has a real chip on her shoulder. Lastly there is Blake, a homosexual male nurse that suffers from depression after witnessing the death of his lover. All of these character’s stories come together to form the mystery around Spring House.
I had a hard time really deciding how I wanted to rate this book overall. At certain points it was thrilling, I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding Spring House and the action scenes are written in wonderful detail. On the other hand I also found myself pretty disappointed with how one dimensional many of the characters were, particularly Caitlin and Nova. I just couldn’t find myself caring much about either one of them, which made it a little bit hard to remain interested in their respective roles in the plot.
With Caitlin she didn’t seem to be such a bad person, but the hatred and scorn from the people around her have reduced her to being a shadow of a person, not much ever comes from her character. The development of her character is seemingly dropped, she’s just there, all blind anger and rage and while it’s understandable, she has little impact on, well, anything. Which was unexpected considering the book’s synopsis was about her. What is worse is that Nova isn’t too far off from Caitlin. While there is a part of me that likes how strong willed Nova is, it is kind of annoying how she is just as blinded by her own rage and prejudice. Even she is barely relevant to the plot, if I’m to be perfectly frank. It becomes obvious that the real story is about Blake and how he faces up to the past that has been haunting him for years. This is well and good and I enjoyed his story, but then all of the other characters just become filler and this was kind of a downer.
The book just took way too long to get to that point. The focus keeps shifting before the story really starts to pick up speed and it feels like it drags a bit. I also found the ending to be a little bit cheesy, it just didn’t do it for me. Overall the book was decent, Rice has a gift for description and it was entertaining for a while. I just didn’t find this one to be particularly memorable.
The book has several narrators starting with Caitlin, an heiress whom everyone loves to hate and who is taken advantage of and cheated on by her husband. Second is Nova, an educated young black woman employed at Spring that has a real chip on her shoulder. Lastly there is Blake, a homosexual male nurse that suffers from depression after witnessing the death of his lover. All of these character’s stories come together to form the mystery around Spring House.
I had a hard time really deciding how I wanted to rate this book overall. At certain points it was thrilling, I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding Spring House and the action scenes are written in wonderful detail. On the other hand I also found myself pretty disappointed with how one dimensional many of the characters were, particularly Caitlin and Nova. I just couldn’t find myself caring much about either one of them, which made it a little bit hard to remain interested in their respective roles in the plot.
With Caitlin she didn’t seem to be such a bad person, but the hatred and scorn from the people around her have reduced her to being a shadow of a person, not much ever comes from her character. The development of her character is seemingly dropped, she’s just there, all blind anger and rage and while it’s understandable, she has little impact on, well, anything. Which was unexpected considering the book’s synopsis was about her. What is worse is that Nova isn’t too far off from Caitlin. While there is a part of me that likes how strong willed Nova is, it is kind of annoying how she is just as blinded by her own rage and prejudice. Even she is barely relevant to the plot, if I’m to be perfectly frank. It becomes obvious that the real story is about Blake and how he faces up to the past that has been haunting him for years. This is well and good and I enjoyed his story, but then all of the other characters just become filler and this was kind of a downer.
The book just took way too long to get to that point. The focus keeps shifting before the story really starts to pick up speed and it feels like it drags a bit. I also found the ending to be a little bit cheesy, it just didn’t do it for me. Overall the book was decent, Rice has a gift for description and it was entertaining for a while. I just didn’t find this one to be particularly memorable.
Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated The Conjuring (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
It’s quite easy to think you have a ghost haunting your home. The creeks and cracks of settling foundation, leaky pipes, drafty windows or appliances can sound aerie. Why is it that our imaginations jump to that conclusion and not simply the truth. In some cases this causes people to essentially “cry wolf”, making it hard for us to believe in the true hauntings that have plagued families for generations. The Perron family was one of the many that had been terrorized by a malevolent spirit in their recently purchased farmhouse.
The story follows Ed and Lorraine Warren who’s lives have spent dealing with hundreds of cases of hauntings all around the US. From small hauntings to haunted items and more importantly exorcisms. The film begins with one of their possession cases that involves two young woman who were under the impression that they were being haunted by a little girl who took a likening to their Annabelle doll. They invited the girl to live inside of the doll not knowing that the entity was a daemon. (I do want to interject that the real Annabelle doll was a raggedy Anne doll but for the films sake they made the doll look like it was related to Chucky).
Annabelle is just an introduction to the audience of what Ed and Lorraine Warren do. One of their bigger cases is that of the Perron family. Roger (Ron Livingston), his wife Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and their five daughters move to an old farmhouse in a remote area not knowing the past of the land or the home itself. Ed and Lorraine agree to help the family exorcise their home, not realizing that the case was more dangerous than they had originally thought.
This film is by far the best true ghost story film that I have seen to date. Granted it has somewhat of a slow beginning, once the scares start happening it gets better and better. The acting was not the best nor the dialogue, however if you pay close attention to the story, those weaknesses of the film are easily forgotten. It is extremely refreshing to not see any CGI in a film like this and knowing that it can be as equally scary if not more with simple camera angles and excellent concepts. I also like the absence of blood and gore that has seen to be quite overdone with most horror films lately. The way that practical makeup was used to create such scary characters is only a small part of how much thought was put into this.
This film is scary and when I say that I really mean it. When I screened this, I was sitting in the middle of two big burley men who also jumped at every surprise. If you have been waiting for a film to scare you, this my friends will do it. It is definitely not for the faint of heart.
The story follows Ed and Lorraine Warren who’s lives have spent dealing with hundreds of cases of hauntings all around the US. From small hauntings to haunted items and more importantly exorcisms. The film begins with one of their possession cases that involves two young woman who were under the impression that they were being haunted by a little girl who took a likening to their Annabelle doll. They invited the girl to live inside of the doll not knowing that the entity was a daemon. (I do want to interject that the real Annabelle doll was a raggedy Anne doll but for the films sake they made the doll look like it was related to Chucky).
Annabelle is just an introduction to the audience of what Ed and Lorraine Warren do. One of their bigger cases is that of the Perron family. Roger (Ron Livingston), his wife Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and their five daughters move to an old farmhouse in a remote area not knowing the past of the land or the home itself. Ed and Lorraine agree to help the family exorcise their home, not realizing that the case was more dangerous than they had originally thought.
This film is by far the best true ghost story film that I have seen to date. Granted it has somewhat of a slow beginning, once the scares start happening it gets better and better. The acting was not the best nor the dialogue, however if you pay close attention to the story, those weaknesses of the film are easily forgotten. It is extremely refreshing to not see any CGI in a film like this and knowing that it can be as equally scary if not more with simple camera angles and excellent concepts. I also like the absence of blood and gore that has seen to be quite overdone with most horror films lately. The way that practical makeup was used to create such scary characters is only a small part of how much thought was put into this.
This film is scary and when I say that I really mean it. When I screened this, I was sitting in the middle of two big burley men who also jumped at every surprise. If you have been waiting for a film to scare you, this my friends will do it. It is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Picture the Dead in Books
Apr 27, 2018
When Jennie's fiancé dies in war and only his brother, Quinn, comes home, Jennie is heartbroken. She soon learns there is more to Will's death than she thought. She is haunted by his ghost, and by the mysteries left unanswered. Piece by piece she begins to uncover his secrets… and at the same time starts to fall in love with Quinn. But there is always more to a story when there are ghosts involved.
Picture the Dead had a lot of thought put into it. The mysteries presented and the way they were unearthed were fabulous—there were questions and surprises and answers that I didn't expect all the way up to the last page.
I liked Jennie, though I didn't like Quinn at all, even after she grew to love him. I had never met Will, since he was dead in the beginning of the story, but by the end of the book I felt I knew why Jennie had loved him.
I will say that the ending didn't have nearly enough closure for me, and I am left feeling slightly confused, though satisfied by how all the events played out.
The illustrations were very good, although I had a very hard time reading what was written on them. Hopefully in the finished copy of the book the words will be easier to read.
Content/recommendation: clean, mild language. Ages 13+
Picture the Dead had a lot of thought put into it. The mysteries presented and the way they were unearthed were fabulous—there were questions and surprises and answers that I didn't expect all the way up to the last page.
I liked Jennie, though I didn't like Quinn at all, even after she grew to love him. I had never met Will, since he was dead in the beginning of the story, but by the end of the book I felt I knew why Jennie had loved him.
I will say that the ending didn't have nearly enough closure for me, and I am left feeling slightly confused, though satisfied by how all the events played out.
The illustrations were very good, although I had a very hard time reading what was written on them. Hopefully in the finished copy of the book the words will be easier to read.
Content/recommendation: clean, mild language. Ages 13+
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Last Time I Lied in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Fifteen years ago, Emma Davis attended Camp Nightingale for the first time. She shared a cabin with three older girls, Vivian, Allison and Natalie and one night they snuck out of the cabin and never came back. This is something that has haunted Emma all this time. So much so that she has included these girls in all of her paintings since that time, hidden in the woods they disappeared into. Now, Emma has been invited back to camp which is reopening after fifteen years. She is determined to find out what happened to the girls so that she can move on with life. But will she be able to do that? Will the people who are responsible for the girls disappearance and maybe death, try to stop her?
I loved this book! I read The Final Girls earlier this year and loved that one as well. I couldn't wait to read this one. I will say at the beginning I felt the story started off a little slowly, taking us back and forth from present day to Camp Nightingale fifteen years ago. We learn more about Emma's youth and about the girls who disappeared, especially Vivian who Emma seemed most obsessed with.
Riley Sager will is another author I am now adding to my list of author's whose books I will read regardless of the description. I hope everything he writes turns out to be as big a hit as the previous two.
I loved this book! I read The Final Girls earlier this year and loved that one as well. I couldn't wait to read this one. I will say at the beginning I felt the story started off a little slowly, taking us back and forth from present day to Camp Nightingale fifteen years ago. We learn more about Emma's youth and about the girls who disappeared, especially Vivian who Emma seemed most obsessed with.
Riley Sager will is another author I am now adding to my list of author's whose books I will read regardless of the description. I hope everything he writes turns out to be as big a hit as the previous two.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated The Family in Books
May 22, 2019
Becky Morgan's family were the victims of the 'crimes of the decade'. The lone survivor of a ritualistic killing, Becky's been forever haunted by the memories of that night.
Twenty years later, with the killer never found, Becky is ready to hunt them down and exact revenge. But the path to find the murderer is a slippery slope and she finds herself opening up some old wounds that should have been left sealed.
Will Becky avenge her family or join them?
Wow!!! What a read this one was!
This was just so gripping from the very start. I was hooked straight away.
This book ticked all my boxes. Intense, chilling, scary and absolutely gripping. I could not put this book down.
I have never read anything from this author before but I am definitely going to be looking for more.
I don't want to say too much about things as don't want to ruin it.
Becky is the main character of our story and she survived a horrific and ritualistic killing of her entire family. She was injured and rescued by a man in the woods.
Now adult Becky is looking for the killer and revenge.
Intense and dark; will not let you go.
The ending was just MEGA WOW and didn't see that coming!!
Highly Recommend!
I would like to thank the author, Aria and Netgalley for the ARC and this is my honest voluntary review.
Twenty years later, with the killer never found, Becky is ready to hunt them down and exact revenge. But the path to find the murderer is a slippery slope and she finds herself opening up some old wounds that should have been left sealed.
Will Becky avenge her family or join them?
Wow!!! What a read this one was!
This was just so gripping from the very start. I was hooked straight away.
This book ticked all my boxes. Intense, chilling, scary and absolutely gripping. I could not put this book down.
I have never read anything from this author before but I am definitely going to be looking for more.
I don't want to say too much about things as don't want to ruin it.
Becky is the main character of our story and she survived a horrific and ritualistic killing of her entire family. She was injured and rescued by a man in the woods.
Now adult Becky is looking for the killer and revenge.
Intense and dark; will not let you go.
The ending was just MEGA WOW and didn't see that coming!!
Highly Recommend!
I would like to thank the author, Aria and Netgalley for the ARC and this is my honest voluntary review.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated You Die Next (Starke & Bell, #2) in Books
May 22, 2019
When a group of urban explorers stumble across a murderer's kill room in a derelict film studio, terror strikes. And when one of the group is found dead, the team realise - they're being hunted.
DI Dominic Bell is investigating the murder, but as the body count rises, time is running out. The only person who can help him is a figure from his past, Clementine Starke - but Clementine is haunted by her own demons. Can the two of them pair up to catch the killer? Or is it already too late?
This is the second book of Clementine Starke, DI Dominic Bell stories.
You don't have to have read the first one to read this one as there is enough back story provided to fill you in.
This story revolves around a group of Urban Explorers that see something they shouldn't have.
Along side this we have Starke and Bell who have their own demons they are dealing with.
This was a great story and I loved the plot and it was definitely a new premise to have the plot around.
Great characters and love seeing a bit more insight into our main ones.
We had lots of twists and turns and an ending I didn't see coming.
Looking forward to the next in series.
Recommend reading!
My thanks to Orion Publishing Group, the Author for an eARC via NetGalley; this is my honest opinion.
DI Dominic Bell is investigating the murder, but as the body count rises, time is running out. The only person who can help him is a figure from his past, Clementine Starke - but Clementine is haunted by her own demons. Can the two of them pair up to catch the killer? Or is it already too late?
This is the second book of Clementine Starke, DI Dominic Bell stories.
You don't have to have read the first one to read this one as there is enough back story provided to fill you in.
This story revolves around a group of Urban Explorers that see something they shouldn't have.
Along side this we have Starke and Bell who have their own demons they are dealing with.
This was a great story and I loved the plot and it was definitely a new premise to have the plot around.
Great characters and love seeing a bit more insight into our main ones.
We had lots of twists and turns and an ending I didn't see coming.
Looking forward to the next in series.
Recommend reading!
My thanks to Orion Publishing Group, the Author for an eARC via NetGalley; this is my honest opinion.
Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Pyewacket (2017) in Movies
Sep 26, 2018
This film doesn't know WITCH film it wants to be...
Pyewacket is a witchy teen angst film, that feels a bit like it wanted to be Ginger Snaps for witches, following the life of a teen girl whose father has recently died, and whose mother is not dealing well with the new reality.
Against her protestations, her mother moves them to a house in the woods, and away from her school and friends and after a heated exchange, the daughter decides to perform a dark ritual in the woods.
The crux of the film is that she later regrets the decision and is haunted by ghostly presences in the house that she suspects are the result of her ritual.
The whole film feels out of time, as if it were a late 90's early 2000's teen horror, with the majority of time spent exploring teen angst and cringey cliched subculture banter, rather than really tyring to ramp up any tension or scare the viewer.
At no point is a bad film, but it is trying to walk the line between genuine horror and that sort of 'The Craft' style teen culture movie, and it just doesnt seem to really nail either.
Its not bad, its not great, its just ok.
Against her protestations, her mother moves them to a house in the woods, and away from her school and friends and after a heated exchange, the daughter decides to perform a dark ritual in the woods.
The crux of the film is that she later regrets the decision and is haunted by ghostly presences in the house that she suspects are the result of her ritual.
The whole film feels out of time, as if it were a late 90's early 2000's teen horror, with the majority of time spent exploring teen angst and cringey cliched subculture banter, rather than really tyring to ramp up any tension or scare the viewer.
At no point is a bad film, but it is trying to walk the line between genuine horror and that sort of 'The Craft' style teen culture movie, and it just doesnt seem to really nail either.
Its not bad, its not great, its just ok.