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readbyashleyd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
One of the best “creature feature” horror stories I’ve read in awhile! Not a huge fan of the ending but I still enjoyed it.
debtat2's review
4.0
Hunter Shea has done it again, another old school horror at its very best!
Dracula Drive, what a perfect name for a road that leads you into hell and for what later takes place down that dirt road in the belly of the forest!
I remember this era really well and I think that was a major fact of how quickly I got pulled into this book, plus it reads like an old school early Stephen King novel. I’m not sure why but it made me think about Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers. Misfits is definitely a must read for horror fans, this is probably my favourite book so far by Hunter Shea!
As well as being part in the blog tour for this book on Twitter I am also offering you the chance to win your own copy of this book. All you have to do is pop over to my Twitter which is @DebTat2 for more details.
Sorry this review is so short but I am sat in hospital having iv antibiotics for pleurisy and there is no wifi!
Misfits was published on 8 Sept. 2020 so you can grab yourself a copy now
Dracula Drive, what a perfect name for a road that leads you into hell and for what later takes place down that dirt road in the belly of the forest!
I remember this era really well and I think that was a major fact of how quickly I got pulled into this book, plus it reads like an old school early Stephen King novel. I’m not sure why but it made me think about Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers. Misfits is definitely a must read for horror fans, this is probably my favourite book so far by Hunter Shea!
As well as being part in the blog tour for this book on Twitter I am also offering you the chance to win your own copy of this book. All you have to do is pop over to my Twitter which is @DebTat2 for more details.
Sorry this review is so short but I am sat in hospital having iv antibiotics for pleurisy and there is no wifi!
Misfits was published on 8 Sept. 2020 so you can grab yourself a copy now
nickymaund's review
4.0
If brutal horror with the local misfits redeeming themselves is your thing, then check this out. After the horrific rape of one of the gang of local misfits, they seek revenge on the perpetrator. Only their plan for revenge includes leaving the rapist to the mercy of the local urban myth - a savage bunch of monsters that prey on anyone who ventures into their territory. Of course, it doesn’t go to plan….
There was a rawness to Shea’s writing and plotting - it’s pretty much as it comes, and his characters are not sympathetic or redeemable - they’re misfits and delinquents. But as you delve deeper into their stories, you see they’re victims of abuse and neglect, and society has shunned them, but they’ve got each other’s backs.
There was a rawness to Shea’s writing and plotting - it’s pretty much as it comes, and his characters are not sympathetic or redeemable - they’re misfits and delinquents. But as you delve deeper into their stories, you see they’re victims of abuse and neglect, and society has shunned them, but they’ve got each other’s backs.
seang81's review against another edition
4.0
I have been enjoying a lot of the books sent released by Flame Tree Press and had high hopes for this one - and those hopes were achieved! This is a novel I found hard to put down, so hard in fact I read it within 24-hours of being provided an ARC. A quick pace, some gruesome scenes and an fantastically weird ending make for a great novel. I have never read anything by Hunter Shea before but I will certainly be checking his other novels out. Recommended for fans of backwoods horror with a great throwback to the 90's as well - enjoyed the music references dotted throughout!
lukiut's review against another edition
3.0
(I recieved an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
I went into this book seeking the grunge-type misfit group of 90's kids that would eventually fight some malevolent force of some sort in order to save their town. And that's what I got. Almost. Somehow.
It was a good book overall, easy to read and flew by quite fast, but it didn't quite pack a punch for me in order to give it more than 3 stars. I didn't feel that the atmosphere was horror-like enough. It was indeed 90's grunge stuff, but not really thrilling, horrifying, at least not for me.
The beginning and the end were very surprising (the end much more so, for those who have read it, they know) but, as full of battles and murder as the middle was, I felt like I couldn't really enjoy it that much.
I don't really have much to say about the book other than the fact that I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll come back to it or anything of that sort. I also felt that the ending was quite thrown in there just for the shock factor (as at least for me it was quite shocking). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to give it a try, but maybe not to die-hard horror fans, because it may leave you very unsatisfied. I'd say it's a no-no for people under 18 tho. Also, keep in mind triggers for sexual assault, drinking, drugs, bad family relationships.
I went into this book seeking the grunge-type misfit group of 90's kids that would eventually fight some malevolent force of some sort in order to save their town. And that's what I got. Almost. Somehow.
It was a good book overall, easy to read and flew by quite fast, but it didn't quite pack a punch for me in order to give it more than 3 stars. I didn't feel that the atmosphere was horror-like enough. It was indeed 90's grunge stuff, but not really thrilling, horrifying, at least not for me.
The beginning and the end were very surprising (the end much more so, for those who have read it, they know) but, as full of battles and murder as the middle was, I felt like I couldn't really enjoy it that much.
I don't really have much to say about the book other than the fact that I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll come back to it or anything of that sort. I also felt that the ending was quite thrown in there just for the shock factor (as at least for me it was quite shocking). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to give it a try, but maybe not to die-hard horror fans, because it may leave you very unsatisfied. I'd say it's a no-no for people under 18 tho. Also, keep in mind triggers for sexual assault, drinking, drugs, bad family relationships.
alandd's review
4.0
Una historia rápida, entretenida y con personajes increíbles. Es una historia de horror tanto para adolescentes (valientes) y adultos, aunque algunas escenas son demasiado sangrientas si me preguntan. Lo que más me encanta es que no hay un villano claro, sino un choque de interés entre dos grupos. te hace replantearte si el miedo y el deseo de destruir no es más que simple ignorancia alimentada por venganza. El final me dejó sin palabras. Muy, muy bueno.
Reseña completa (7-Sept): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2020/09/resena-review-misfits.html
A fast, entertaining story with incredible characters. It's a horror story for (brave) teens and adults alike, although some scenes are too gory if you ask me. What I love the most is that there is no clear villain, but rather a clash of interest between two groups. It makes you rethink whether fear and the desire to destroy is nothing more than simple ignorance fueled by revenge. The ending left me speechless. Very, very good.
Full review (Sept-7): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2020/09/resena-review-misfits.html
Reseña completa (7-Sept): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2020/09/resena-review-misfits.html
A fast, entertaining story with incredible characters. It's a horror story for (brave) teens and adults alike, although some scenes are too gory if you ask me. What I love the most is that there is no clear villain, but rather a clash of interest between two groups. It makes you rethink whether fear and the desire to destroy is nothing more than simple ignorance fueled by revenge. The ending left me speechless. Very, very good.
Full review (Sept-7): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2020/09/resena-review-misfits.html
zarco_j's review
5.0
During the height of the 90s grunge era, five high school friends living on the fringe are driven to the breaking point. When one of their friends is brutally raped by a drunk townie, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Deep in the woods of Milbury, Connecticut, there lives the legend of the Melon Heads, a race of creatures that shun human interaction and prey on those who dare to wander down Dracula Drive. Maybe this night, one band of misfits can help the other. Or maybe some legends are meant to be feared for a reason.
Absolutely fantastic. Hunter Shea has done it again with another novel that kept me awake late into the night so I could finish it.
Flame Tree Press are currently my go to for horror books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.
Absolutely fantastic. Hunter Shea has done it again with another novel that kept me awake late into the night so I could finish it.
Flame Tree Press are currently my go to for horror books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.
dnemec's review
4.0
After a teenage girl is raped, her friends decide on their own justice for the middle-aged rapist. They drag him out to Dracula Drive where the Melon Heads live. The Melon Heads have long been an urban legend told to the kids of town - a band of mutants that feast on anything and anyone that crosses their path. But Mick and Marnie know the truth. They know there is a man who lives in a cabin in the woods who helps out the Melon Heads, and who can help the teens get swift justice. Unfortunately, the kids disobey the rules and accidentally kill one of the Melon Heads. Now the band of feral mutants are out to get them - and no one close to them is safe.
Count on Hunter Shea to make that seemingly deserted area of suburbia suddenly terrifying. I love a good urban legend, and this is one. The Melon Heads are society's cast offs - years ago, children born deformed were taken out to the woods and left. Only instead of them dying, they lived and multiplied. Staying to they part of the woods, only kids dared to venture close as part of a dare. But the legends are real and don't piss off the Melon Heads - they are stealthy and savage.
This has to be one of the more brutal Shea books I've read starting off with a vicious rape and following it up later with some nasty death scenes. Not quite one of his creature features - I mean the Melon Heads are human, kind of - but every bit as entertaining as them.
Count on Hunter Shea to make that seemingly deserted area of suburbia suddenly terrifying. I love a good urban legend, and this is one. The Melon Heads are society's cast offs - years ago, children born deformed were taken out to the woods and left. Only instead of them dying, they lived and multiplied. Staying to they part of the woods, only kids dared to venture close as part of a dare. But the legends are real and don't piss off the Melon Heads - they are stealthy and savage.
This has to be one of the more brutal Shea books I've read starting off with a vicious rape and following it up later with some nasty death scenes. Not quite one of his creature features - I mean the Melon Heads are human, kind of - but every bit as entertaining as them.
jayfr's review
5.0
During the height of the 90s grunge era, five high school friends living on the fringe are driven to the breaking point. When one of their friends is brutally raped by a drunk townie, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Deep in the woods of Milbury, Connecticut, there lives the legend of the Melon Heads, a race of creatures that shun human interaction and prey on those who dare to wander down Dracula Drive. Maybe this night, one band of misfits can help the other. Or maybe some legends are meant to be feared for a reason.
Absolutely fantastic. Hunter Shea has done it again with another novel that kept me awake late into the night so I could finish it.
Flame Tree Press are currently my go to for horror books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.
Absolutely fantastic. Hunter Shea has done it again with another novel that kept me awake late into the night so I could finish it.
Flame Tree Press are currently my go to for horror books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.