Let the Right Book In

Louis Creed and his family have recently moved to the town of Ludlow, Maine. Behind their house there is a path that leads to a 'Pet Sematary', where the children of surrounding areas have buried their beloved pets in years gone by. Deeper in the woods there lies an ancient Indian burial ground, that Louis discovers has some sinister properties when their family cat dies... "Cause what you buy, is what you own. And what you own... always comes home to you." It's no secret that Pet Sematary is my favourite King book, but this is the case for a number of different reasons. When I first started reading horror I couldn't imagine words on a page actually scaring me, I always felt like I needed something visual to keep me up at night. Then I found Pet Sematary... I'd never had an experience before where I actually felt scared to turn the page - this was  of course in the climax at the end of the novel. My heart was racing, my palms felt sweaty, ...

In a quest to satiate his darkest pleasures, Frank Cotton obtains and opens Lemarchand's box, summoning the cenobites who instead of granting him pleasure and entry into this promised new world, torture him and trap him within the box. However, his brother's wife, Julia, who had a previous dalliance with Frank, has found a way to bring him back - and it involves blood. "No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering." Well, I had to use that quote, didn't I? Even though there was literally a plethora of amazing quotes I could have used. Having seen Hellraiser before having read this book, I would not have predicted that Clive Barker was a beautiful writer. When you experience all the guts and gore and disgusting sights and fucked-up ideas in Hellraiser,  you just don't expect the creator to have such a wonderful way with words - although I guess the same can be said for Stephen King.  I straight up LOVED this book. It's a relatively sm...

First of all, Happy 1 Year to Vince and Jessi at Nocturnal Reader's Box! I think I've gotten all the boxes apart from the first 2. And they've all been amazing - in fact, they just keep getting better. They said they were gonna go all out for their 1 year anniversary box and they most certainly have delivered. So let's take a look at this month's box... So we got three books this month - THREE - that's two new releases and one previous release. One of the new releases is What the Hell Did I Just Read by David Wong, the third book in the John Dies at the End trilogy. We were lucky enough to get the second book in a previous box, but apparently they can all be read as standalone novels. The synopsis for this one is as follows: "It's the story "they" don't want you to read. Though, to be fair, "They" are probably right about this one. To quote the bible, "Learning the truth can be like loosening a necktie, only to r...

Compendium 2 is made up of issues 49-96, i.e. volumes 9-16. Following the loss of the prison and the devastation that followed, Rick and the group must move on. They very quickly come upon a community protected by walls, but the solace does not last long... "After everything we've been through, all the people we've lost... I suddenly find myself overcome with something I thought we'd lost... hope." It's difficult to review these comics as they're so fast moving and so much happens!! That's one of the major positives of The Walking Dead - it doesn't really get stagnant. Even when the survivors settle down in one location for a while, there's always new dangers and new characters constantly being introduced. The general outline and journey of the survivors is similar to that of the show, but there's still huge differences with regards to individual character storylines, so even as a fan of the show, I'm kept on my toes. ...

The second volume in The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers focuses on the disintegration of the Fellowship, as Frodo and Sam go off on their separate journey towards Mordor whilst Merry and Pippin are taken captive by some Orcs. Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli decide that they will attempt to pursue and rescue Merry and Pippin. "It's like in the great stories, Mr Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end... because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing... this shadow. Even darkness must pass." As a child, The Two Towers was always my favourite movie, and I think I used to say it was my favourite book too, but as I've gotten older my favourite movie is now The Return of the King. I'm still unsure as to whether my favourite book will change as well, we...

Jessie and Gerald Burlingame head to their holiday home by the lake in Maine for an afternoon of... certain activities. However, things quickly take a turn when Gerald drops dead from a heart attack, leaving Jessie handcuffed to the bed. Jessie is left to face all of her worst fears, as the voices in her head take over... "Some nightmares never completely ended." As someone who has a relatively short attention span, the premise of one character trapped in one location for almost the entirety of the novel didn't necessarily excite me, I really thought I'd struggle. However, I have to commend King for writing such a tense, nail-biting, exhausting, unputdownable story. This book played on my mind, it gave me nightmares; for the first time since Pet Sematary, my blood actually ran cold whilst reading a book. I really loved this book, as I finished it I even thought "This is now one of my top Kings"... but in hindsight, it might just edge into the top...

A strange epidemic spreads across the world wherein once all the women fall asleep they become cocooned in an unusual waxy material. Disruption or tearing upon of this cocoon will cause the female inside to act in a homicidal manner. Sleeping Beauties focuses on the events occurring in a small town, Dooling, West Virginia, and in particular Clint and Lila Norcross, Clint being the psychiatrist in the local female prison, and Lila being the town's sheriff. One woman, however, seems to be the key to unravelling exactly what is going on... "Sometimes you get what you want, but mostly you get what you get." I'm going to keep my review as spoiler-free as possible, as I know so many people are still reading it. So I'll just present some overall thoughts and opinions. Okay, so, I enjoyed this book, but it's not without its faults. Part 1 was brilliant, this idea presented by the Kings is so unique and interesting and to see how it all unfolds and the effe...

326 days later... I have finished reading this collection of HP Lovecraft's complete fiction. The master of weird fiction and cosmic horror delivers a range of different short stories and novellas, from chilling tales to the downright terrifying.  "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." This complete fiction is chronological, so it's interesting to see Lovecraft progress over the years. Admittedly, it was tough to get through some of the stories at the beginning, but once you get accustomed to the way Lovecraft writes, it becomes a lot easier. Not only that, but Lovecraft himself gets better at writing and the quality of his stories vastly improve. Therefore, quite predictably, my favourite stories are actually towards the end of the collection, when Lovecraft has really mastered his craft. Lovecraft is not the master of creating memorable characters, but he is the master of building an atmosphere and writ...