A review by bludgeoned_by_hail
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

A surreally terrifying and original story. Just thinking about the premise of a rotting witch popping up randomly in my house gives me the chills, and the exploration of the prosaic ways in which a small XXI century town would deal with an ancient mystical curse like this is very unique and interesting. The creepy atmosphere of Stephen King-esque small town gothic (King is a big influence in general) escalates and the tension rises, but unfortunately it all falls apart in lazy shock horror and hamfisted moralizing.

The amazing concept is also pretty heavily dragged down by the book's "dudebro-isms": the almost fetishistic amounts of gendered violence used for horror, the mean-spirited portrayal of small town folks as bloodthirsty Bible-thumping idiots, and the entire character of Robert Grim, the epitome of "Reddit cool". Sometimes even the language of the writing slips into these cringy tropes, which makes the big sweeping declarations about the evils of humanity and mass hysteria feel even more adolescent.

This all makes it sound like I didn't like the book, which is not true. It's an incredibly spooky and engaging read and I'd still definitely recommend it to horror fans everywhere. I'm just kinda pissed about the ending still ;-;

(Also the setting should've stayed Beek in the English version, WHERE IS THE DUTCH HORROR REP)
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