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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
I'm going to leave this one for a while and come back to it. I started the abridged version and couldn't finish it. Was terrible. But I think I large part because it was abridged. I think this book need all its parts. I need the full version to make a true judgement call. Shall return....
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
This was a great read! It was definitely full of plot twists, action, and detail. It’s difficult not to love a book about a haunted house in the middle of nowhere. It had me intrigued from the very beginning!
So, this was my first Ted Dekker Book. I enjoyed this. I know from the reviews that a lot of people didn't like this but I did.
This is my kind of "Thriller" where you don't see guts on the page and you don't hear cussing on every page. I like the fact that he keeps it clean so I can enjoy the book.
Perhaps people didn't like it because they didn't read the rest of them they started with this one & decided they didn't want to go any further. However, I will be starting from the beginning.
I think Ted Dekker could be a new favorite of mine.
This is a house come alive.
This is my kind of "Thriller" where you don't see guts on the page and you don't hear cussing on every page. I like the fact that he keeps it clean so I can enjoy the book.
Perhaps people didn't like it because they didn't read the rest of them they started with this one & decided they didn't want to go any further. However, I will be starting from the beginning.
I think Ted Dekker could be a new favorite of mine.
This is a house come alive.
Okay, so, like, there's this house? And it's like hidden or something? Like in the boonies? And it's like possessed, okay, like by Satan? Or maybe God? Or like maybe it's some kind of cosmic partnership? Because like mostly it doesn't do anything?
But then sometimes out-of-towners come by? And then the house like traps them, okay, but like only if they're atheists, or agnostic or something? And then it employs supernatural forces to confront them with their "sins"? But like in life-threatening ways, and like only overnight? And then in the morning they can repent and accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour or else they can be brutally murdered?
And plus the rules are like vaguely Old Testament? Like Stephanie's "sin" is she's willing to eat dog food to pacify a serial killer/rapist? And Jack's "sin" is he's still mad at Stephanie like a week after their daughter drowns accidentally because Stephanie had her posing on thin ice for the 'Gram? And Leslie's "sin" is she didn't rally immediately after suffering years of childhood sexual abuse? And like we never find out what Randy supposedly did wrong, but he's kind of a fuckface, so maybe his "sin" is he's Randy?
And there's this mysterious, wise, otherworldly little girl named Susan who turns up? And she like knows the whole score? And so she like does all she can to help these jagoffs save themselves? And you like find out in the end that she's an incarnation of Jesus Christ? And so you're like what the fuck, Jesus(an), this house has been on its shit for hundreds of years and you couldn't be arsed to do anything about it till today? For Stephanie?
Lookit.
A few years back, I read a horror novel for the first time since I was a kid, and I really liked it, so I wanted to get back into it, and I Googled hell of "best of" lists, mining them for suggestions. This book appeared somewhere or other, and when I read the summary, I realized I'd already seen the movie adaption, and since I'd enjoyed it, I added it to my list.
When I finally got around to reading it, I had another look at it on GR, and noticed finally that one of its top classifications among readers is as Christian Horror.
I was flummoxed.
What in the fuck was that?
I had legit never heard of it, couldn't imagine what it might entail, you know, I've heard of Christian romance, Christian drama, Christian historical fiction, blah blah Communion wafers, but horror?
As aforementioned, sin is a major theme of this book, but it's not pervasive, okay, mostly it's a bog-standard story about a bunch of dickheads fighting for their lives. They spend far more time running through tunnels than they ever do considering the state of their immortal souls, or anything that might have led them into this predicament.
I concluded, therefore, that any horror can be called Christian horror if you mention some element of Christianity at least once.
Dead Alive has a priest who kicks ass for the Lord? Christian horror.
Parts of Alice, Sweet Alice take place in a church? Christian horror.
The killer in Discopathe escapes a crime scene disguised as a nun? Christian horror.
Etc.!
In the big climax of this book, Jesus(an) gives up on these people ever figuring their shit out and just spells it out for them, and they repent, and at that point, sure, it gets kind of Christian, but in the way it's presented, it could've just as easily been a Nigerian email scam, or Herbalife.
Mostly I was just pretty annoyed by a) the implicit suggestion that you can be saved no matter how monstrous you are if you let God into your heart, and you can be the most blameless person ever born and still burn burn burn in the fiery pits of Hell if you don't, and b) the notion that Jesus(an) condemns people for our basic humanity, as if spiritual perfection is easily attainable and a requirement for salvation.
Stephanie bought a one-way ticket to Hades for eating dog food. Fuck me.
And I love Stephanie, okay? I really do. From the git-go, she was written as an intergalactic dipshit who was convinced that her lousy, insipid, cornpone, shitkicker music was going to save the world. At an early point in the book, right when everything's starting to head south at its earliest, grossest convenience, her big solution is to grin through her tears and sing for the room.
She is unsuccessful.
The book is comically mean to her, just gorgeously, obliviously mean.
Example: "Randy went then, because he knew any red-blooded male into rotten dog food would have his complete attention on Stephanie."
Example: "The other portrait was of Stephanie, posing dumbly in a yellow dress."
All it took was one bad night for Stephanie to abandon her hard-won attitude of peace and love, which you might call ironic, but the book calls progress.
That's all I have to say about that.
But then sometimes out-of-towners come by? And then the house like traps them, okay, but like only if they're atheists, or agnostic or something? And then it employs supernatural forces to confront them with their "sins"? But like in life-threatening ways, and like only overnight? And then in the morning they can repent and accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour or else they can be brutally murdered?
And plus the rules are like vaguely Old Testament? Like Stephanie's "sin" is she's willing to eat dog food to pacify a serial killer/rapist? And Jack's "sin" is he's still mad at Stephanie like a week after their daughter drowns accidentally because Stephanie had her posing on thin ice for the 'Gram? And Leslie's "sin" is she didn't rally immediately after suffering years of childhood sexual abuse? And like we never find out what Randy supposedly did wrong, but he's kind of a fuckface, so maybe his "sin" is he's Randy?
And there's this mysterious, wise, otherworldly little girl named Susan who turns up? And she like knows the whole score? And so she like does all she can to help these jagoffs save themselves? And you like find out in the end that she's an incarnation of Jesus Christ? And so you're like what the fuck, Jesus(an), this house has been on its shit for hundreds of years and you couldn't be arsed to do anything about it till today? For Stephanie?
Lookit.
A few years back, I read a horror novel for the first time since I was a kid, and I really liked it, so I wanted to get back into it, and I Googled hell of "best of" lists, mining them for suggestions. This book appeared somewhere or other, and when I read the summary, I realized I'd already seen the movie adaption, and since I'd enjoyed it, I added it to my list.
When I finally got around to reading it, I had another look at it on GR, and noticed finally that one of its top classifications among readers is as Christian Horror.
I was flummoxed.
What in the fuck was that?
I had legit never heard of it, couldn't imagine what it might entail, you know, I've heard of Christian romance, Christian drama, Christian historical fiction, blah blah Communion wafers, but horror?
As aforementioned, sin is a major theme of this book, but it's not pervasive, okay, mostly it's a bog-standard story about a bunch of dickheads fighting for their lives. They spend far more time running through tunnels than they ever do considering the state of their immortal souls, or anything that might have led them into this predicament.
I concluded, therefore, that any horror can be called Christian horror if you mention some element of Christianity at least once.
Dead Alive has a priest who kicks ass for the Lord? Christian horror.
Parts of Alice, Sweet Alice take place in a church? Christian horror.
The killer in Discopathe escapes a crime scene disguised as a nun? Christian horror.
Etc.!
In the big climax of this book, Jesus(an) gives up on these people ever figuring their shit out and just spells it out for them, and they repent, and at that point, sure, it gets kind of Christian, but in the way it's presented, it could've just as easily been a Nigerian email scam, or Herbalife.
Mostly I was just pretty annoyed by a) the implicit suggestion that you can be saved no matter how monstrous you are if you let God into your heart, and you can be the most blameless person ever born and still burn burn burn in the fiery pits of Hell if you don't, and b) the notion that Jesus(an) condemns people for our basic humanity, as if spiritual perfection is easily attainable and a requirement for salvation.
Stephanie bought a one-way ticket to Hades for eating dog food. Fuck me.
And I love Stephanie, okay? I really do. From the git-go, she was written as an intergalactic dipshit who was convinced that her lousy, insipid, cornpone, shitkicker music was going to save the world. At an early point in the book, right when everything's starting to head south at its earliest, grossest convenience, her big solution is to grin through her tears and sing for the room.
She is unsuccessful.
The book is comically mean to her, just gorgeously, obliviously mean.
Example: "Randy went then, because he knew any red-blooded male into rotten dog food would have his complete attention on Stephanie."
Example: "The other portrait was of Stephanie, posing dumbly in a yellow dress."
All it took was one bad night for Stephanie to abandon her hard-won attitude of peace and love, which you might call ironic, but the book calls progress.
That's all I have to say about that.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very gripping book! Definitely a page turner for me!
Couldn't put this one down; it's a great thriller. The plot draws you in and takes you there.
This is a novel written by someone who usually writes horror and someone who usually writes spiritual books, as far as I can tell. Premise sort of like Saw type thing-4 people find themselves trapped in a house with “rules” that they can’t get out unless they start killing each other, etc. So, it’s a horror novel, but ends up being a bit more of the supernatural type.
It was interesting-but I wasn’t too impressed by the “normal” characters-the more supernatural ones I liked (especially the idea of the little girl that survived the last “game” and is back in the house again to avoid the killer/help the victims, etc.). It had some unique parts, but one of those sort of cop-out endings, I thought. Still, I liked it and look forward to watching the movie one of these days.
It was interesting-but I wasn’t too impressed by the “normal” characters-the more supernatural ones I liked (especially the idea of the little girl that survived the last “game” and is back in the house again to avoid the killer/help the victims, etc.). It had some unique parts, but one of those sort of cop-out endings, I thought. Still, I liked it and look forward to watching the movie one of these days.
Definitely some creepy moments but seems like they were almost accidental. I really didn't care about any of the characters and the ending was. . .
The first part of the book was exactly like a common horror movie plot, but then the second half turned metaphorical and religious. I understand what the author was trying to relay, but the book read as if it were two books smacked together. Not a fan.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes