pulp_fiction_books's reviews
493 reviews

Skull Island by Lesley Sims

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A

4.0

This was a really well written, fun adventure tale. It's entirely set on a tropical island which is a setting I really enjoy, especially in horror. It's told across two different timelines (one with our protagonists in the present and one a few hundred years in the past via diary entries) each getting around equal billing in the story. It's something I enjoyed quite a lot and not something I can remember coming across before at middle grade level. The one drawback I have is there's never any scares despite it feeling like we were building towards a ghost/spirits type climax we never do and actually do a complete 180 and it becomes more about conservation and man destroying nature.

Joyland by Stephen King

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

The first thing that struck me here and that I really enjoyed was there were no chapters, it was just one continuous narration by our main character as we followed him on his journey and that coupled with some fantastic writing really immerses you into this Indian summer of 1973. We spend the book following Devin as he navigates heartbreak, life and loss while spending the summer working at Joyland amusement park and you could argue that nothing really happens in here and you'd have a case but this was just a really nice slice of life, coming of age tale all the while there's this sinister subplot ticking along (of which there was plenty of foreshadowing leading to the reveal).
I am an absolute sucker for carnival/circus/amusement park horror and this one has jumped right in amongst my favourites

Heart of the Mummy by Tommy Donbavand

adventurous fast-paced

3.5

This felt quite unique and different to all the other middle grade horror series I've ever read. For one thing It has a unique set up. We get a cast of characters and a map of the town in the beginning which is always a fun addition and but the big thing here is we are following "monster kids" as our protagonists which is something I've rarely seen done, if ever. Also it doesn't go for any scares, it's just telling a story in this creature filled world. One thing I was thrown by what age group this is aimed at as some parts of the book feel very juvenile and there's silly jokes and then other parts are filled with advanced information and terms and references to things such as alcohol.

Curbside Curses : The Yardsale Anthology by Nadine Stewart

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

This was a very cohesive and well curated collection and while there will always be stronger and weaker stories in any collection it didn't feel like there were any duds in here, everyone seemed to understand the assignment. I don't think there's anything I'd rate lower than three stars. The only reservation I had going in was how repetitive would 22 "cursed objects" stories get? Fortunately each story felt very unique and there was a great variety of horror, from possession, to hauntings, creatures, body horror and even a slasher. Instead of trying to rate 22 stories though I thought I'd just shout-out my favourite three.

Las Pulgas Vestidas by Alana K Drex (A story about true love, fleas and a cleaver).

Homo Follicular by David-Jack Fletcher (A story about a hair brush, lasagne and a demon).

Huber by Lance Loot (a story about a vacuum cleaner and that's all I'm telling you).

It's Behind You by Kathryn Foxfield

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

2.5

This book is fine and has moments where it sells its claustrophobic setting very well. Unfortunately there was a lot I didn't enjoy. The main character is written as this edgy person we're supposed to like and root for but I found them thoroughly unlikeable and annoying. The story also happens to be quite boring, we plod along without anything particularly happening despite the fact we spend almost the entirety of the book in these supposedly haunted caves that are also an ex-amusement attraction. This setting should lend itself to all sorts of possibilities. An example of how tame this is, is even the deaths we get in here all happen "off screen" as it were. Also towards the climax of the book we get some reveals and this is where it dropped off completely for me, two of them were far too obvious and very anticlimactic and the other was utterly ridiculous.

Secret Agent A. C. E. by Stephen Thraves

adventurous fast-paced

3.5

Not the strongest one I've read in the series, it's a bit repetitive but still fun.

Shark Night by R.L. Stine

adventurous fast-paced

3.75

This one went in a completely different direction from where I thought it was going but I'm fine with that as I thought for sure we were going to spend the entire book building up to one event which is shown to us in the beginning but fortunately we got to that point quite quickly. From there going forward this went to some random, fun places and definitely veered into being an adventure based horror story. Also how awesome is the cover?

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was an entertaining read with a great setting and a solid mystery. It gave me strong Hitchcockian vibes and also felt very in the ilk of King's early work, all the way down to the fact it's set in Maine (which if you're aware of his work, you'll understand the significance). This book however goes bonkers in its third act. I've never seen so many twists and reveals in such quick succession, so much so that in the furore of it all the author trips over himself and misattributes a fact not once but twice onto the wrong character. As much as I enjoyed this Sager in the end threw too much at the wall and some of the reveals felt like he was swerving us just for the sake of a swerve.

The Tale of the Gravemother (Are You Afraid of the Dark #1) by Rin Chupeco

slow-paced

3.5

This is your generic ghost/haunted house story with a subplot dealing with capitalism and corporate greed which is something I can say I've never read in children's horror before. The titular Gravemother is suitably creepy and there is good description around her physical appearance and actions. My main problem here was this comes in at twice the length of a goosebumps book and it really didn't need to be. It's a slow burn bogged down with a ton of filler.

I Scream, You Scream! by James Preller

fast-paced

3.0

This was a quick, enjoyable little read set in an amusement park (sort of). I liked what it tried to do but I think it lacked any real cohesion, it's just one random set piece after another. For the goosebumps fans out there, this one has a very similar setting and plot arc as A Shocker on Shock Street.