Scan barcode
A review by motherhorror
Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts' Casebook of Horrors by Kasey Lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale
2.0
Thank you to Lauren Roberts at Smith Publicity for sending the #nightworms an advanced copy of Terror is Our Business in exchange for honest reviews.
Having spent a majority of my reading time in the horror genre exclusively since September of last year, I feel like the genre has seeped into my bones and wrapped my brain in a fine residue by which everything I read is filtered through and judged by.
That being said, the standard at this point is high.
At first, this book was not doing it for me. Our protagonist, Dana, is a "debunker"/investigator of the supernormal and an invited guest at a skeptical men's social club. The story telling is so dry here, the technique of sharing Dana's experiences with unexplained events so basic, that nothing was scary or creepy--it read almost as a clinical/sterile story sharing--I found myself wanting to skim over the words.
I was told by my Night Worms crew that I should hang in there and wait until Kasey, Joe Lansdale's daughter, contributed.
Halfway through, Dana introduces her partner Jana (Kasey's character) and things do liven up with Jana's POV. However, I really wanted this to fix the whole reading experience but it just didn't quite get me there.
I'm not sure who I would recommend this collection to--perhaps Lansdale fans who want all of Lansdale's works?
But I don't think so because I've read some of his stories and there is a raw, edgy, pull-no-punches style to his writing that is totally lacking here.
Horror fans? No...this one fell a little flat. I wasn't scared or creeped out-nothing surprised me.
Maybe YA horror fans! Yes. So, if you have a preteen or YA reader in the house that wants a gateway drug into some stronger stuff, this would be a *great* book to start with.
Haunted Lighthouses, spooky houses, an X-Files style flavor with some interesting, female protagonists-perfect introductory subject material and plot tropes from the genre to whet the appetite. This book comes out on May 29th, 2018
Having spent a majority of my reading time in the horror genre exclusively since September of last year, I feel like the genre has seeped into my bones and wrapped my brain in a fine residue by which everything I read is filtered through and judged by.
That being said, the standard at this point is high.
At first, this book was not doing it for me. Our protagonist, Dana, is a "debunker"/investigator of the supernormal and an invited guest at a skeptical men's social club. The story telling is so dry here, the technique of sharing Dana's experiences with unexplained events so basic, that nothing was scary or creepy--it read almost as a clinical/sterile story sharing--I found myself wanting to skim over the words.
I was told by my Night Worms crew that I should hang in there and wait until Kasey, Joe Lansdale's daughter, contributed.
Halfway through, Dana introduces her partner Jana (Kasey's character) and things do liven up with Jana's POV. However, I really wanted this to fix the whole reading experience but it just didn't quite get me there.
I'm not sure who I would recommend this collection to--perhaps Lansdale fans who want all of Lansdale's works?
But I don't think so because I've read some of his stories and there is a raw, edgy, pull-no-punches style to his writing that is totally lacking here.
Horror fans? No...this one fell a little flat. I wasn't scared or creeped out-nothing surprised me.
Maybe YA horror fans! Yes. So, if you have a preteen or YA reader in the house that wants a gateway drug into some stronger stuff, this would be a *great* book to start with.
Haunted Lighthouses, spooky houses, an X-Files style flavor with some interesting, female protagonists-perfect introductory subject material and plot tropes from the genre to whet the appetite. This book comes out on May 29th, 2018