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katie_mo 's review for:
The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
I had two reactions to this book: terror and laughter.
I spent the majority of this book completely freaked out. Del Toro and Hogan know how to build suspense, and keep it climbing, despite the fact that readers know that person is going to be attacked by a vampire, or that there's a vampire in that room (don't open the door! Eeee!). Horrifying. I was somewhat scared to be alone in my apartment (then again, I have an extremely overactive imagination and a low scary tolerance level).
What is most frightening about this novel is the way that it's constructed. Del Toro and Hogan have made vampirism an actual parasitic disease that really does feed on its host. The spread of the "virus" is documented much like one would expect a real virus in the United States to spread: quickly, and almost silently, at first. Del Toro and Hogan have written a novel that you can almost believe might happen: think "Outbreak" or "28 Days Later".
Despite the scary factor of the book, after learning what the vampires really are, I just kept thinking "this is silly." While I can understand that the authors didn't want to use the romantic image of the vampire that we are accustomed to and wanted to make the victims of the disease seem more zombie-like, the long stinger was just too much for me. Every time the stinger came out of a vampire's mouth, I lost the moment, thinking about aliens, or bugs, or how unrealistic the entire scenario was. These stinging infants didn't have superhuman strength or speed, or the ability to use mind control or even a glamor. And if they can't move fast, I'm not truly terrified of the vampire.
In conclusion, worth the read for the scares, just be prepared for some goofy vampires.
I spent the majority of this book completely freaked out. Del Toro and Hogan know how to build suspense, and keep it climbing, despite the fact that readers know that person is going to be attacked by a vampire, or that there's a vampire in that room (don't open the door! Eeee!). Horrifying. I was somewhat scared to be alone in my apartment (then again, I have an extremely overactive imagination and a low scary tolerance level).
What is most frightening about this novel is the way that it's constructed. Del Toro and Hogan have made vampirism an actual parasitic disease that really does feed on its host. The spread of the "virus" is documented much like one would expect a real virus in the United States to spread: quickly, and almost silently, at first. Del Toro and Hogan have written a novel that you can almost believe might happen: think "Outbreak" or "28 Days Later".
Despite the scary factor of the book, after learning what the vampires really are, I just kept thinking "this is silly." While I can understand that the authors didn't want to use the romantic image of the vampire that we are accustomed to and wanted to make the victims of the disease seem more zombie-like, the long stinger was just too much for me. Every time the stinger came out of a vampire's mouth, I lost the moment, thinking about aliens, or bugs, or how unrealistic the entire scenario was. These stinging infants didn't have superhuman strength or speed, or the ability to use mind control or even a glamor. And if they can't move fast, I'm not truly terrified of the vampire.
In conclusion, worth the read for the scares, just be prepared for some goofy vampires.