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rachelunabridged's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
[ Thanks so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC! ]
I had a really fun time with this book! This is my first Ramsey Campbell read, and it's gotten me excited to check out more of his work. He did a fantastic job building up the atmosphere and tension in this story + I appreciated that he was able to subvert some of my expectations too.
This story centers around a lost horror film starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, so it's no surprise that there were a lot of classic horror references sprinkled throughout the book. Additionally, the story takes place in 1980s England and gives some interesting history about the horror panic happening at the time. I'd never heard about this before so I found it really fascinating to read about. (Love learning about real things from my fiction reads, lol.)
There were some things that brought the rating down for me, however. While the opening + ending of the book were very satisfying to me, there was a definite saggy middle. I got tired real fast of pages and pages of the main character driving everywhere. Didn't really need to hear the details about every. single. trip. Additionally, I was only lukewarm about the characters. Sandy was the only character that I really cared anything about, but she wasn't very well developed. The minor characters all kind of blended together and were meh at best.
All told, I still enjoyed this book for what it was. If you're looking for some plot-driven horror that's just an atmospheric + scary good time, I think this is worth the read.
I had a really fun time with this book! This is my first Ramsey Campbell read, and it's gotten me excited to check out more of his work. He did a fantastic job building up the atmosphere and tension in this story + I appreciated that he was able to subvert some of my expectations too.
This story centers around a lost horror film starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, so it's no surprise that there were a lot of classic horror references sprinkled throughout the book. Additionally, the story takes place in 1980s England and gives some interesting history about the horror panic happening at the time. I'd never heard about this before so I found it really fascinating to read about. (Love learning about real things from my fiction reads, lol.)
There were some things that brought the rating down for me, however. While the opening + ending of the book were very satisfying to me, there was a definite saggy middle. I got tired real fast of pages and pages of the main character driving everywhere. Didn't really need to hear the details about every. single. trip. Additionally, I was only lukewarm about the characters. Sandy was the only character that I really cared anything about, but she wasn't very well developed. The minor characters all kind of blended together and were meh at best.
All told, I still enjoyed this book for what it was. If you're looking for some plot-driven horror that's just an atmospheric + scary good time, I think this is worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Car accident
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