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mcerrin's review
3.0
This followed the trajectory of other books I've read. Didn't feel terribly original but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
ajsterkel's review
3.0
I was given this book as a gift, and it doesn't have great reviews, so was fully prepared for it to suck. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I didn't hate it. Is it the best horror novel ever? Definitely not, but I flew through it because it's fast-paced and entertaining.
It's about a man and his pregnant wife who are searching for a cheap place to live. Since they don't have much money, they have to buy a creepy old murder house (of course). The husband discovers a giant chrysalis on the basement wall. He becomes obsessed with petting, feeding, and licking (yes, licking) it. As you'd expect, bad stuff happens. Here's the moral of the story: If you find a slime-covered chrysalis in the basement of a creepy old murder house, keep your mouth to yourself! Nothing good will come from tasting it.
This book is a bit shallow and cliche. It doesn't have great writing or great character development. I could not stop reading it, though! I always wanted to know what would happen next. Would the couple survive? What was in the chrysalis? I had to know!
(Maybe this book is a chrysalis? Maybe I accidentally licked it and got addicted to bad horror?)
Anyway, if you want something fun and uncomplicated to read, this book is for you.
It's about a man and his pregnant wife who are searching for a cheap place to live. Since they don't have much money, they have to buy a creepy old murder house (of course). The husband discovers a giant chrysalis on the basement wall. He becomes obsessed with petting, feeding, and licking (yes, licking) it. As you'd expect, bad stuff happens. Here's the moral of the story: If you find a slime-covered chrysalis in the basement of a creepy old murder house, keep your mouth to yourself! Nothing good will come from tasting it.
This book is a bit shallow and cliche. It doesn't have great writing or great character development. I could not stop reading it, though! I always wanted to know what would happen next. Would the couple survive? What was in the chrysalis? I had to know!
(Maybe this book is a chrysalis? Maybe I accidentally licked it and got addicted to bad horror?)
Anyway, if you want something fun and uncomplicated to read, this book is for you.
scientificbookworm's review
2.0
I didn't want to finish this one. It didn't really hold my interest and make me want to keep reading. Just not for me.
praetor's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
nickfrantisek's review
4.0
This one kept me listening like a mad woman trying to figure out how it ends. It was campy, creepy, and just a bit Gothic and it worked SO well.
themadmaiden's review
3.0
A bit of an average haunting/creepy thing in the house story. Nothing really stood out. Sometimes the characters were dumb so the plot could continue, sometimes it was magical mind control.
I'm not sure, I just didn't really feel all that much about the story. It was okay, average. Not horrible but not really doing anything incredibly interesting.
I'm not sure, I just didn't really feel all that much about the story. It was okay, average. Not horrible but not really doing anything incredibly interesting.
theartolater's review
4.0
This book was like a weird old horror movie in all the best ways. Family buys an old house, and the old house has… something in the basement that is causing a lot of issues. It slowly drives a man mad, and the book chronicles the decline of his family and himself as the thing in the basement gains power. There’s not much more to it than that – it is a b-movie of a book in every conceivable way, and while it’s not going to win any awards, it was an absolutely fun ride that I could really get behind.
idk_indigo's review
after the 3rd time of tom inserting his penis into jenny’s vagina 0.5 seconds after they started kissing, with absolutely no foreplay to speak of, i got sick of it
gay's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
rsosolen's review against another edition
3.0
This book is not that scary, but you can see in the influence of Cronenberg’s body horror. It is more comparable to a Twilight Zone episode than a horror.
The main characters are not likeable, which is okay. You are not supposed to like the all the characters, and I did enjoy Tom's decent. I also found I disliked the characters more as they were being more influenced by the thing in the basement, but we don't get enough about this thing at all.
The writing is good overall, though weaker at the beginning. The first chapter is painful to read as it goes into annoying detail about how cool and hip Tom and Jenny are and how PAINFUL it is they have to move to Jersey and get real jobs and stop drinking. THE HORROR!!! The real horror here is painting millennials as self absorbed alcoholics with peter pan complexes. IT ALSO REALLY BOTHERED ME THAT JENNY DRANK ALCOHOL THROUGHOUT HER PREGNANCY. That is just never okay, and never healthy....
I did find that I could not put it down, because I wanted to know what happened. I just wish it gave us more of the thing in the basement, and Tom's development in direct relationship to it. At one point there is a mention in retrospect of Tom feeding it. It would have been fun to build this more into the plot. Did he have to steal neighbours cats? Was there an increase in missing pets? That would add some creep to this novel.
We also don't get enough about the thing in the basement, and its developing relationship with Tom. We also don't get why it is also changing Jenny. The writing skips through time, which is fine, but it focuses more on boring aspects like dinner with the in-laws and then just says Tom went into the basement....then he comes out and blah blah. There is also a weird part in the end where they give a very detailed background of a minor character, which makes me want to call the editor and tell them they missed a spot. The only other annoyance was describing eyebrows as beetling. It is not clever, especially when you do it often.
The main characters are not likeable, which is okay. You are not supposed to like the all the characters, and I did enjoy Tom's decent. I also found I disliked the characters more as they were being more influenced by the thing in the basement, but we don't get enough about this thing at all.
The writing is good overall, though weaker at the beginning. The first chapter is painful to read as it goes into annoying detail about how cool and hip Tom and Jenny are and how PAINFUL it is they have to move to Jersey and get real jobs and stop drinking. THE HORROR!!! The real horror here is painting millennials as self absorbed alcoholics with peter pan complexes. IT ALSO REALLY BOTHERED ME THAT JENNY DRANK ALCOHOL THROUGHOUT HER PREGNANCY. That is just never okay, and never healthy....
I did find that I could not put it down, because I wanted to know what happened. I just wish it gave us more of the thing in the basement, and Tom's development in direct relationship to it. At one point there is a mention in retrospect of Tom feeding it. It would have been fun to build this more into the plot. Did he have to steal neighbours cats? Was there an increase in missing pets? That would add some creep to this novel.
We also don't get enough about the thing in the basement, and its developing relationship with Tom. We also don't get why it is also changing Jenny. The writing skips through time, which is fine, but it focuses more on boring aspects like dinner with the in-laws and then just says Tom went into the basement....then he comes out and blah blah. There is also a weird part in the end where they give a very detailed background of a minor character, which makes me want to call the editor and tell them they missed a spot. The only other annoyance was describing eyebrows as beetling. It is not clever, especially when you do it often.