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A review by truebookaddict
Little Girls by Ronald Malfi
5.0
Review from July 2015:
As I've grown older, I've come to really appreciate the beauty of a horror novel that is creepy yet not so "in your face" with the scary. Little Girls delivers in that respect. Right off the bat, we are treated to a gothic premise, complete with the Lurch-esque man waiting on the porch when Laurie Genarro arrives at her childhood home. Her estranged father recently committed suicide there and Laurie is confronted with dealing with his estate and the memories of a childhood without a father (for the most part).
As I said, the creep factor starts off almost immediately when Laurie is alone in the house and hears footsteps when she knows she is the only one there. Later, we learn that something bad happened in the past in the old greenhouse on the property (I saw something nasty in the greenhouse. lol). And there's a creepy little girl running around and befriending her daughter who largely resembles a girl who died tragically when Laurie was a girl. Yes, creepy.
This is my first read of a Ronald Malfi book and I can clearly see why he has been previously nominated for a Bram Stoker award. He clearly has a talent for the subtle scary that I appreciate in a horror novel. Not to mention a true talent for prose. There is no cheesiness in his writing whatsoever. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good Gothic horror ghost story.
As I've grown older, I've come to really appreciate the beauty of a horror novel that is creepy yet not so "in your face" with the scary. Little Girls delivers in that respect. Right off the bat, we are treated to a gothic premise, complete with the Lurch-esque man waiting on the porch when Laurie Genarro arrives at her childhood home. Her estranged father recently committed suicide there and Laurie is confronted with dealing with his estate and the memories of a childhood without a father (for the most part).
As I said, the creep factor starts off almost immediately when Laurie is alone in the house and hears footsteps when she knows she is the only one there. Later, we learn that something bad happened in the past in the old greenhouse on the property (I saw something nasty in the greenhouse. lol). And there's a creepy little girl running around and befriending her daughter who largely resembles a girl who died tragically when Laurie was a girl. Yes, creepy.
This is my first read of a Ronald Malfi book and I can clearly see why he has been previously nominated for a Bram Stoker award. He clearly has a talent for the subtle scary that I appreciate in a horror novel. Not to mention a true talent for prose. There is no cheesiness in his writing whatsoever. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good Gothic horror ghost story.