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thequeeraunt 's review for:
Dead Eleven
by Jimmy Juliano
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are many things to like about Dead Eleven, and only a few elements that I found disappointing. I don't believe in the compliment sandwich approach to books, so let's have all the good parts first.
I love Midwestern horror. There's something particularly visceral to me about the setting. There's a loneliness, an isolation when you get outside of major cities, that lends itself well to the kind of horror that Dead Eleven utilizes. Do I love it because I am a lifelong Midwesterner? Maybe. But the setting of a horror/thriller is also a crucial part of building tension and dread, and I wonder if this particular tale would have been as effective if set anywhere else.
I find the documentary-style framing of the story also adds to the tension-building, although the "author's note" from Harper sands off a few of the sharper edges by giving more away than I think is prudent. It's a little bit "Blair Witch" in its format. The third-person chapters may have been more effective if constrained to Harper's POV, but this is a small quibble and not one that I expect to be shared by many other readers.
Which brings me to the part that I found disappointing. In my experience, the true power of horror is in the void. The gaps in the story. The parts too terrifying for words - because a reader's imagination, given enough space, will fill in the gaps with the Scariest Thing Possible. Over-explaining can be the death of a horror novel (or film). To that point, I actually think Juliano handled the supernatural elements of the story well. My complaint is that the ending to the story feels anticlimactic. Harper's fears about his sister are confirmed, he's put in physical danger by being trapped in Seminary House, and Lily's encounter at the schoolhouse seems likely to result in SOMETHING. But Harper escapes with only vague threats about what will happen if he talks about what happened on Clifford Island, and Lily is allowed to leave for college. The fact that there is a literal monster left me feeling like the actions taken by the islanders, violent and cult-like though they seemed, were validated. Are the lives of a few islanders worth the lives of everyone else on the island? The mainland? It makes the cult more sympathetic, but I don't think that's necessarily doing anything for the reader. The end feels muddled - a bit like when you're a 10-year-old kid at Old Country Buffet filling up your cup with every kind of soda at once. Dead Eleven is trying too hard to be both a cult thriller and a paranormal horror novel at the same time. It would have been better served by being one of those two things.
I love Midwestern horror. There's something particularly visceral to me about the setting. There's a loneliness, an isolation when you get outside of major cities, that lends itself well to the kind of horror that Dead Eleven utilizes. Do I love it because I am a lifelong Midwesterner? Maybe. But the setting of a horror/thriller is also a crucial part of building tension and dread, and I wonder if this particular tale would have been as effective if set anywhere else.
I find the documentary-style framing of the story also adds to the tension-building, although the "author's note" from Harper sands off a few of the sharper edges by giving more away than I think is prudent. It's a little bit "Blair Witch" in its format. The third-person chapters may have been more effective if constrained to Harper's POV, but this is a small quibble and not one that I expect to be shared by many other readers.
Which brings me to the part that I found disappointing. In my experience, the true power of horror is in the void. The gaps in the story. The parts too terrifying for words - because a reader's imagination, given enough space, will fill in the gaps with the Scariest Thing Possible. Over-explaining can be the death of a horror novel (or film). To that point, I actually think Juliano handled the supernatural elements of the story well. My complaint is that the ending to the story feels anticlimactic. Harper's fears about his sister are confirmed, he's put in physical danger by being trapped in Seminary House, and Lily's encounter at the schoolhouse seems likely to result in SOMETHING. But Harper escapes with only vague threats about what will happen if he talks about what happened on Clifford Island, and Lily is allowed to leave for college. The fact that there is a literal monster left me feeling like the actions taken by the islanders, violent and cult-like though they seemed, were validated. Are the lives of a few islanders worth the lives of everyone else on the island? The mainland? It makes the cult more sympathetic, but I don't think that's necessarily doing anything for the reader. The end feels muddled - a bit like when you're a 10-year-old kid at Old Country Buffet filling up your cup with every kind of soda at once. Dead Eleven is trying too hard to be both a cult thriller and a paranormal horror novel at the same time. It would have been better served by being one of those two things.