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biblio_lore's review
3.0
I chose to read this book because I had been intrigued by the film but never saw it because I could never rightly figure out what it was really about. Now that I do know, I don't know that I would see it but I did enjoy the book for the most part. I want to start off with the good stuff because I feel like the story is worth a read and I have to give it credit for being a good horror book. Make no mistake: this is one that is purely horror. Horror is meant to be disturbing and this is a disturbing read. There is a decent amount of gore and the murders in it are brutal and they some of the worst are right at the beginning. If you're a gore hound, you will love it. That said, there's something to be said about the people in the story too.
From the start, Zombie and Evensome set up a kind of difficult scenario to work with. You have the witches who are not good people and actively work to maim and kill. On the other hand, you have the witch hunters who are brutal and horrible people too. Then you have the sorry jerks that are going to be the biggest victims of the story and its events. This is something that I have noticed about Zombie's film work and if this bothers you too, you might want to skip this one because you get a definite "who do I want to even live through this and why" kind of problem going. I feel like this isn't as severe as some of his film work but I do kind of sense that there could be more to these characters or at least a motivation for wanting them to try to survive. The three that you get to know are decent but by the middle of the book, I felt like the narrative got too disjointed and you ended the book wondering what happened and how you felt about it. I won't say that it's bad enough that you shouldn't read it but I will say that it is something that horror fans are likely to appreciate more than the casual fan and even then, if you love Zombie's films, you will love it. If, like me, you find him hit or miss, you might want to keep that in mind before you pick it up.
From the start, Zombie and Evensome set up a kind of difficult scenario to work with. You have the witches who are not good people and actively work to maim and kill. On the other hand, you have the witch hunters who are brutal and horrible people too. Then you have the sorry jerks that are going to be the biggest victims of the story and its events. This is something that I have noticed about Zombie's film work and if this bothers you too, you might want to skip this one because you get a definite "who do I want to even live through this and why" kind of problem going. I feel like this isn't as severe as some of his film work but I do kind of sense that there could be more to these characters or at least a motivation for wanting them to try to survive. The three that you get to know are decent but by the middle of the book, I felt like the narrative got too disjointed and you ended the book wondering what happened and how you felt about it. I won't say that it's bad enough that you shouldn't read it but I will say that it is something that horror fans are likely to appreciate more than the casual fan and even then, if you love Zombie's films, you will love it. If, like me, you find him hit or miss, you might want to keep that in mind before you pick it up.
theheathermoon's review against another edition
2.0
It was gory like I expected a Zombie piece to be but it wasn't exactly what I hoped for. Why did Williams and Mathers allow themselves to get arrested? I thought they would have been more a part of the story then that. The ending was also a little anti-climactic too. I guess I didn't expect it to end happily ever after, either. I do like the description of all the murders though.
meganmreads's review
3.0
Review published at Love Literature Art and Reason book review blog.
Lords of Salem was a horror novel about the early Salem witches and the present day descendant of one of the people who hunted the last witches, Heidi Hawthorne. She was a radio DJ and recovering addict, but strange things began to happen to her after a group called The Lords interviewed at her radio station.
In typical Rob Zombie fashion, the story was really weird and creepy. I vaguely remember that I did actually see the movie and thought the same thing. I enjoyed the story, but I felt like it wasn’t meant to be a book. It missed a lot of the character development that I don’t think movies/screenplays capture the same way.
For a creepy fall book that is easy to read and twisted in the way that most Rob Zombie films are creepy and twisted, it’s a great book. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite horror read and it was lacking in the details and descriptions.
Lords of Salem was a horror novel about the early Salem witches and the present day descendant of one of the people who hunted the last witches, Heidi Hawthorne. She was a radio DJ and recovering addict, but strange things began to happen to her after a group called The Lords interviewed at her radio station.
In typical Rob Zombie fashion, the story was really weird and creepy. I vaguely remember that I did actually see the movie and thought the same thing. I enjoyed the story, but I felt like it wasn’t meant to be a book. It missed a lot of the character development that I don’t think movies/screenplays capture the same way.
For a creepy fall book that is easy to read and twisted in the way that most Rob Zombie films are creepy and twisted, it’s a great book. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite horror read and it was lacking in the details and descriptions.
itcamefromthepage's review
4.0
The kind of book that will leaving you starring at a wall in disbelief after it's done.
night_starry's review
4.0
This book is different than the movie. It gives more backstory to the history of the witches and some of the characters.
What can I say...it comes from the fucked up mind of Rob Zombie...
Not for the faint of heart or deeply religious but a very visceral and bloody horror story.
Bonus points for this quote:
"What's with the Groovy Ghoulies in the lobby?"
Spoiler Alert! Good guys don't win in this book. I was rooting for Heidi and Hermans. Maybe Mean Motherfucker Herman will get his own afterlife spin-off?
What can I say...it comes from the fucked up mind of Rob Zombie...
Not for the faint of heart or deeply religious but a very visceral and bloody horror story.
Bonus points for this quote:
"What's with the Groovy Ghoulies in the lobby?"
Spoiler Alert! Good guys don't win in this book. I was rooting for Heidi and Hermans. Maybe Mean Motherfucker Herman will get his own afterlife spin-off?
onikaj's review
2.0
I feel that this book lacked a lot of substance. To me, it felt like the same things just kept happening over and over again with no real explanation or resolution until the very last chapter. Every character but Heidi felt superfluous and unnecessary other than for Heidi to have someone to talk to. Francis Matthias only seemed to exist to give clumsy exposition. You can tell that this was supposed to be a movie only and not a novel because its all visuals. I won't say that I'm disappointed because I'm not sure what I expected in reading this novelization.
truebookaddict's review
4.0
I'm a Rob Zombie fan. First his music, then his films (however, the Halloween remakes are not my favorites). I found his film, The Lords of Salem very interesting, creepy and weird. The book is even more so. More detail, more gore. Purely unsettling, in a good way.
crumb's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
magpie_666's review
4.0
I'm giving this a 3.5 stars, as it's not quite a 4.
The reason for this is because it's not very well written. But, I think that's the point. Rob Zombie mentioned in an interview that he loved to read movie tie in novels when he was younger, and that's exactly how this one reads.
I really enjoyed the story, seeing the film fleshed out and the story explained more.
I was especially happy as Steve (the dog) survived. Yay!
I would recommend this to fans of the film and to Zombie fans. As I mentioned it's not the best work of fiction but it is really enjoyable anyway.
Not for the faint-hearted though, it is quite gruesome in parts.
The reason for this is because it's not very well written. But, I think that's the point. Rob Zombie mentioned in an interview that he loved to read movie tie in novels when he was younger, and that's exactly how this one reads.
I really enjoyed the story, seeing the film fleshed out and the story explained more.
I was especially happy as Steve (the dog) survived. Yay!
I would recommend this to fans of the film and to Zombie fans. As I mentioned it's not the best work of fiction but it is really enjoyable anyway.
Not for the faint-hearted though, it is quite gruesome in parts.