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esdeecarlson's review against another edition
3.0
**This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.**
3 stars
This is a beautifully interwoven short story cycle, or composite novel. It’s delightful as a reader to see touches from other stories make an appearance, or finally reveal their true natures, in whatever story you’re currently reading.
On that note, the town of Goblin, in which all the stories are set and which by its very looming presence ties all of the stories together, is the real shining star of the book. All of the details and oddities that make Goblin such a unique town are utterly bizarre in the best possible way. I was charmed by this town, with its elaborate topiary statues and oddly-named streets and ghoulish police officers and haunted woods, and I would love to spend more time there.
Where the stories fall short for me has to do with the writing style. Most of the stories are primarily told in long flashbacks, and the characters spend most of their time either reflecting on their pasts or finding as many ways to articulate their singular driving force as possible. I would have highly preferred the stories if the fat was trimmed. The subtitle for this book reads “A Novel in Six Novellas,” and I think therein the problem lies: it should have been a novel in six short stories. Each of them felt just a little too long, to the point where I wanted to say “We get it!” two-thirds of the way through each narrative. It’s obvious Malerman loves a good build-up to a reveal, but the reveals are so obvious, each character’s foil so evident, that the atmospheric build-up falls flat, deflated.
What the book really lacks is a sense of humor. There are moments when characters are reflecting about the oddities of Goblin, particularly when they’re glowing with pride about their strange and spooky little town, that the narrative really comes into itself. However, far too often Malerman veers into taking it all far too seriously, indulging in an atmosphere of stale mystery. It feels as though he’s pushing to emulate Stephen King’s Derry or Castle Rock, when Goblin is crying out for a tone more along the lines of what you’d find in R.L. Stine.
There’s a lot here to enjoy, and I certainly had a fun time with this book. Any horror fan will certainly feel they got their money’s worth. It just needed a few tweaks, and a tonal shift, to be really spectacular.
3 stars
This is a beautifully interwoven short story cycle, or composite novel. It’s delightful as a reader to see touches from other stories make an appearance, or finally reveal their true natures, in whatever story you’re currently reading.
On that note, the town of Goblin, in which all the stories are set and which by its very looming presence ties all of the stories together, is the real shining star of the book. All of the details and oddities that make Goblin such a unique town are utterly bizarre in the best possible way. I was charmed by this town, with its elaborate topiary statues and oddly-named streets and ghoulish police officers and haunted woods, and I would love to spend more time there.
Where the stories fall short for me has to do with the writing style. Most of the stories are primarily told in long flashbacks, and the characters spend most of their time either reflecting on their pasts or finding as many ways to articulate their singular driving force as possible. I would have highly preferred the stories if the fat was trimmed. The subtitle for this book reads “A Novel in Six Novellas,” and I think therein the problem lies: it should have been a novel in six short stories. Each of them felt just a little too long, to the point where I wanted to say “We get it!” two-thirds of the way through each narrative. It’s obvious Malerman loves a good build-up to a reveal, but the reveals are so obvious, each character’s foil so evident, that the atmospheric build-up falls flat, deflated.
What the book really lacks is a sense of humor. There are moments when characters are reflecting about the oddities of Goblin, particularly when they’re glowing with pride about their strange and spooky little town, that the narrative really comes into itself. However, far too often Malerman veers into taking it all far too seriously, indulging in an atmosphere of stale mystery. It feels as though he’s pushing to emulate Stephen King’s Derry or Castle Rock, when Goblin is crying out for a tone more along the lines of what you’d find in R.L. Stine.
There’s a lot here to enjoy, and I certainly had a fun time with this book. Any horror fan will certainly feel they got their money’s worth. It just needed a few tweaks, and a tonal shift, to be really spectacular.
dad_bro_39's review against another edition
dark
slow-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
hannahsnoww's review against another edition
2.0
This book was not for me! I liked the idea of it, 6 different short stories about a town named Goblin, but I felt myself skimming a lot. I felt like I was forcing myself to finish this book. Literally towards the end I was just flipping the pages.
The only parts I liked of this book was the prologue, the story of the maze, and the history of the town. I wanted to know more about the North Woods and the witch! But I was given little. None of the stories were really creepy and most of the characters were annoying. I’ve had this on my shelf for a while and it’s great I’ve finally read it.
The only parts I liked of this book was the prologue, the story of the maze, and the history of the town. I wanted to know more about the North Woods and the witch! But I was given little. None of the stories were really creepy and most of the characters were annoying. I’ve had this on my shelf for a while and it’s great I’ve finally read it.
the_enobee's review
4.0
Super spooky, creepy, mysterious, hallucinogenic, all the good stuff can be said about Goblin. I know some blurbs were mentioning Derry and Castle Rock, but I don't see it. This is much more like 'Salem's Lot. But what I really felt after the first couple of stories was entering Charles Grant territory with the shorter novellas developing an overall sense of dread and wondering just what the hell was going on with this town. Loved it. Only reason this wasn't 5 stars - the Malerman propensity for a character's internal monologue to become repetitive, and that ending to Presto. I was so into Presto and felt that ending was to much a rug being pulled out from under the reader. All the rest of the stories had pretty straight-forward endings. However, overall it works and I didn't ever want to put this one down. So glad this was re-released, and thanks to Nightworms for including this in another amazing package. (I jumped ahead with the ebook; the hardcover and bookplate will take a place of prominence on my bookshelf). Did I mention the glorious cover!?
tinynavajo's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 overall.
Good set of horror novellas. I liked this idea of everything taking place in the same night in this town of Goblin. A town where everything is a little strange, where you're told to stay away from the Goblin police; to stay out of the North Woods less a witch come and burst your heart; where it rains and rains and rains.
If you enjoy horror, then I recommend you give this a try and maybe try and read it in as few sittings as possible.
Good set of horror novellas. I liked this idea of everything taking place in the same night in this town of Goblin. A town where everything is a little strange, where you're told to stay away from the Goblin police; to stay out of the North Woods less a witch come and burst your heart; where it rains and rains and rains.
If you enjoy horror, then I recommend you give this a try and maybe try and read it in as few sittings as possible.
rroberta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
buddyr84's review against another edition
2.0
The book consists of 6 short stories, bookended by another short story in two parts as a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue is intriguing and really makes you want to know what is happening. The first story has a decent payoff but the rest fall kind of flat for me.
I believe it's due to Malerman does a good job of building up some kind of interesting "thing" for each story and you know something is going to happen but then it doesn't really finish out in an interesting way. The last story in the set, The Hedges, is the best in the book as others have pointed out. The problem is that you can't get the full effect of that story without reading the prior stories, as they introduce important history and locations that are pertinent to The Hedges story. So you can't just skip and read that story. I also wasn't very enthused with the ending of The Hedges, despite it being the best of the bunch.
The same goes for the epilogue. I was excited to read that as I really wanted to know what was going on and it was also just so-so for me. Even that ending didn't really pan out to much of anything and wasn't clear how it was affecting all the prior stories, even though it implied that it was.
I believe it's due to Malerman does a good job of building up some kind of interesting "thing" for each story and you know something is going to happen but then it doesn't really finish out in an interesting way. The last story in the set, The Hedges, is the best in the book as others have pointed out. The problem is that you can't get the full effect of that story without reading the prior stories, as they introduce important history and locations that are pertinent to The Hedges story. So you can't just skip and read that story. I also wasn't very enthused with the ending of The Hedges, despite it being the best of the bunch.
The same goes for the epilogue. I was excited to read that as I really wanted to know what was going on and it was also just so-so for me. Even that ending didn't really pan out to much of anything and wasn't clear how it was affecting all the prior stories, even though it implied that it was.
beastreader's review against another edition
2.0
I was really excited to read this collection of short stories. I have been wanting to read more horror stories. I have to say that sadly this collection was a disappointment to me. I liked the set up and the spooky vibes when I first started reading but it did not last.
I can not remember most of the stories that I read. They were not really scary at all. Also, they did feel kind of unfinished. The start of the book did pick up and finish after all of the other stories had ended. The last story "Hedges" was one I did like. I could picture everything happening as I was reading the story and would have freaked out if I was the little girl. Overall, I just was left sad by this collection of stories.
I can not remember most of the stories that I read. They were not really scary at all. Also, they did feel kind of unfinished. The start of the book did pick up and finish after all of the other stories had ended. The last story "Hedges" was one I did like. I could picture everything happening as I was reading the story and would have freaked out if I was the little girl. Overall, I just was left sad by this collection of stories.
jellygh0st's review
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.0