Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

50 reviews

lexie99's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this book made me feel like i was watching a blumhouse horror film!! so eloquently yet eerily written and a must-read for fans of the horror genre. the only reason i won’t rate it 5 stars is bc of the bleak albeit fitting ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Sexual violence

theaceofpages's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don't know how I feel about tis book. I loved the premise but it just kind of fell flat. Apparently the original version was slightly different so I wonder how much was lost in translation and translocation.

A witch that came with the Dutch settlers has been haunting a small town that the residents can't leave. They track her every move with cameras and an app. She has, however, been relatively harmless since her eyes and mouth were sewn shut, although her whispers cause suicidality. That is until a group of teenage boys decide to taunt her and unleash her full power.

The writing is okay. But there's a lot of nothing too. Most of the story happens in the last 100 pages or so. The author also seems to have a strange obsession with nipples for some reason? Male and female, adult and child. A lot of the descriptions are rather disgusting and upsetting. But it's a horror so I guess it's to be expected. I was kind of rooting for the witch with how the boys were treating her. I'm not sure why they had to be so cruel (although, to be fair, some were worse than others). Other than the witch this seems like a nice place to live.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Colonisation

marina_michelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Racism, Sexism, and Car accident

dimeryrene's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a horror novel, but also a novel about generational trauma and the different ways generations cope with the same issue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

connorjdaley's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My fiancé suggesting I listen to this because we are both from The Hudson River Valley, which is this novel’s setting. I was a bit surprised by this choice, as this novel is the author’s English language debut, and the setting is pretty damn accurate. I wonder if he lives there now? 

I listened to this on my way home to see my parents. Highland Mills, Central Valley, and Harriman we’re mentioned by name more than once, and all three are directly connected to my home town of 22 years, Monroe. West Point Military Academy, as well as 9W through Cornwall, Bear Mountain, and the novel’s featured hospital, St. Luke’s in Newburgh, are all places I’ve frequented as well. It was super cool and kind of eerie to read a novel like this about where I’m from. 

The town of Black Spring has a problem, what kind of old town doesn’t? This town’s problem just happens to be a 17th century immortal witch named Katherine. Since they were able to sew her eyes and mouth shut she hasn’t been too much of a problem, just creepy. And luckily she never breaks from her current schedule… 

So because I always listen to an audio and read a physical book at the same time, I had this really unique experience of reading these two very similar scenes in two drastically different novels within like an hour of each other. Both this novel and C.V. Hunt’s ‘Halloween Fiend’ feature a fall festival that isn’t really dedicated to their town’s (I’ll say) affliction, but at the same time kind of is. It was cool to see how each framed how their town responded to what they had been forced to accept as normal over time. 

The climax of this novel does some really interesting things in its depiction of the degradation of humanity. Is it the witch causing it, or the town itself? Either way, they so easily are lead to depravity. Brothers, sisters, mothers, husbands…no one is safe and everyone is guilty. 

Personally a 4/5*. Spooky, atmospheric, dark. It looks like there’s a sequel to this but it’s only available in Dutch? I’m confused. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

entityj's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Vomit, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

winters's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

enderbug's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Gore, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Islamophobia

graceflvnt's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

3.25

Author sure does love to talk about nipples. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Gore and Sexual assault

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

marleens's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

On reread in 2025: this was my first Olde Heuvelt, but having read several more of his books, this one still remains the favorite. Great atmosphere, and so creepy from the get-go. And the second half just gets more and more horrible. Walking around my own house at night was suddenly very scary, I hardly dared enter my bedroom.
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I read this book mostly in broad daylight and I’m glad I did. So creepy! I loved the growing sense of dread throughout the book, the feeling that inevitable horrible things were coming. I also loved the writing. I read it in its original Dutch, and while I rarely read in Dutch, this book is making me want to pick up more Dutch authors as well as more horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Death of parent