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mehitabels's review against another edition
3.0
"...as if living on a spinning rock hurtling through the void dodging asteroids and comets weren't challenge enough, not to mention tornadoes, death and disease as well as Vlad the Impaler and earthquakes and war, but you laid him anyway?"
tiredcat's review against another edition
2.0
I love books with a good horror story that will scare me but this one was depressing and confusing. I put it down and passed it long on PBS!
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
Elsewhere is the name of a creepy old mansion built in the 1930s on an island in the Hudson River north of Manhatten. Given the listing, with the promise of a commission in seven figures if it is sold gives realtor, Joan Freeboard, an idea. She gathers a small group including herself, a psychic, a parapsychologist, and a well-known author and plans to spend five days living in the house so that it can be officially declared ghost-free. You know what happens--the group arrives on the island during a storm, they are cut off from contact with anyone, and strange things begin to occur (including bumps in the night). William Peter Blatty, the author of The Exorcist, has written a good old-fashioned ghost story that will hold your attention for the entire two hours that it takes to read it. The novel is just over 200 pages and when I opened it, I checked to see if I had the large print edition (I didn't). A short, but very enjoyable, read.
backinbooks's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It started out great, like a mysterious gathering of interesting characters at a haunted house. The end fizzled out and left me a little disappointed but I did enjoy it overall.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing
nora_nevermore's review against another edition
1.0
Bit of a painful book to read. The dialogue is so, so terrible. It was hard to keep track of who was talking at times which seemed to also be a problem for the author as he would have one character say something that was more in line with a completely different character, causing things to not make sense. I know that dialogue is hard but this book is all dialogue so it would have been nice for the author to have figured that part out.
I feel like the basic idea of the plot was good but the story overall was poorly executed.
I feel like the basic idea of the plot was good but the story overall was poorly executed.
sonyasbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
A very quick read. I enjoyed the characters thoroughly, and thought they were well written for the short read. Nothing was too in depth but right for the amount of time spent with them.
The story itself was intriguing. The ending was for the most part predictable but I don't feel like that ruined the read. Blatty could have definitely gone deeper into the story and turned it into much more than it was. However I think this was a perfect length and dug just enough to make you ponder the meaning the author was trying to convey.
It is excellent for when you just a quick suspenseful and at times scary book.
Bottom line: Great read for a nice rainy evening when you want a good scare but don't want to dedicate too much time to a book.
Would I buy it? yes; at a used book store to add to my collection.
The story itself was intriguing. The ending was for the most part predictable but I don't feel like that ruined the read. Blatty could have definitely gone deeper into the story and turned it into much more than it was. However I think this was a perfect length and dug just enough to make you ponder the meaning the author was trying to convey.
It is excellent for when you just a quick suspenseful and at times scary book.
Bottom line: Great read for a nice rainy evening when you want a good scare but don't want to dedicate too much time to a book.
Would I buy it? yes; at a used book store to add to my collection.
jayrothermel's review against another edition
2.0
Elsewhere is filled with fine frights carefully compressed. About the ending I will only say that Blatty nearly pulls it off, but the dramatic diffusion into a sub-Thorne Smith la-la land was an error.
Still, it's a wonderfully ambitious haunted house tale, and not to be missed.
Still, it's a wonderfully ambitious haunted house tale, and not to be missed.
flosmith's review against another edition
3.0
This is certainly not a deep read, or even one that I was thrilled about. I would consider it mediocre at best. It was an easy read, finished it in a couple of days. But not filled with anything original, or great dialogue. There was, however, a twist at the end that altho not original i wasn't expecting it.
A realtor, an author, and a psychic walk into a haunted house..... sounds like the begining of a bad joke, but really just a mediocre ghost story.
A realtor, an author, and a psychic walk into a haunted house..... sounds like the begining of a bad joke, but really just a mediocre ghost story.
kesterbird's review
1.0
I'm honestly not sure whether this was a mediocre satire or an ernest embarrassment.