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splatter_fauwxx's reviews
229 reviews
Father of Lies: The Complete Series by Sonora Taylor, Steve Stred
5.0
Steve Stred has quickly become one of my favorite authors. His writing never fails to hook me, and quite frankly, scare the shit out of me. I particularly love this book because he actually joined a cult on the dark web in order to research the ideas behind this story. Cults are one of my professional curiosities, and I think it's really admirable (and bat shit crazy) that he put himself in that situation to better understand the content he wanted to write about. Because of the knowledge he gained from that research, this book is so effective in portraying how scary cults/cult mentality can be. I will add a content warning here though, you will run into sexual abuse/sexual violence in this book as well as some rather gory and gruesome scenes. If you're an experienced horror reader you should be fine - but if you're new to the genre I would read with caution. That said, this is a definite must read recommend from me to all my horror buffs!
Playground by Aron Beauregard
5.0
In the realm of Extreme Horror/Splatterpunk novels, you'd be remis not to read Playground. It's talked about often, and after having quite a few of my Bookstagram friends ask me to review this book, I snagged a copy from Amazon so I could do just that.
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I must admit that I was kind of dreading reading this due to all the really horrible things I heard about it (horrible as in extremely gross and gory). Honestly, this book was a very enjoyable read for me! I loved it! I thought the plot was really unique, and Aron Beauregard is an absolute phenomenal writer.
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I absolutely love reading extreme horror, but personally I don't enjoy reading novels that are just gore for the sake of gore. The editing and storyline in Playground are fantastic! The book is gross, don't get me wrong - but it's gross and uncomfortable in a smart way. The underlining brilliance of this book is that these children are in a position that children should never be in, and in that wheelhouse of horror (abuse and trauma) Aron Beauregard excels at creating an instantaneous bond between you and them. You root for them because they're children and they should never, ever be thrown into a sadistic playground having to make sense out of weird riddles just to survive and get to the next nightmare.
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I highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy extreme horror! Hands down one of my favorite reads of this year!
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I must admit that I was kind of dreading reading this due to all the really horrible things I heard about it (horrible as in extremely gross and gory). Honestly, this book was a very enjoyable read for me! I loved it! I thought the plot was really unique, and Aron Beauregard is an absolute phenomenal writer.
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I absolutely love reading extreme horror, but personally I don't enjoy reading novels that are just gore for the sake of gore. The editing and storyline in Playground are fantastic! The book is gross, don't get me wrong - but it's gross and uncomfortable in a smart way. The underlining brilliance of this book is that these children are in a position that children should never be in, and in that wheelhouse of horror (abuse and trauma) Aron Beauregard excels at creating an instantaneous bond between you and them. You root for them because they're children and they should never, ever be thrown into a sadistic playground having to make sense out of weird riddles just to survive and get to the next nightmare.
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I highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy extreme horror! Hands down one of my favorite reads of this year!
Night's Edge by Liz Kerin
4.0
Coming of age vampire thriller, revolving around a mother and daughter relationship that is hampered by a mother guilting her child into hiding her dark secret.
Author Liz Kerin gives the story of vampires a reboot, including when and how it all started and how it's transmitted. I immediately connected to the daughter Mia because she's a sweet (but naïve) 23 year old just trying to do what she needs to do to protect her only family, her mother. Mia is also a late bloomer due to her predicament. When she meets Jade (a beautiful travelling singer) she quickly becomes enamored with her.
I enjoyed reading this book, but I felt that it left something to be desired in the way the vampires were portrayed. I'm also not a big fan of the Then/Now chapter style, but that's merely personal preference. I will definitely be reading the second book - as I did think Liz Kerin is a great writer and I'm excited to see what her next book brings!
Author Liz Kerin gives the story of vampires a reboot, including when and how it all started and how it's transmitted. I immediately connected to the daughter Mia because she's a sweet (but naïve) 23 year old just trying to do what she needs to do to protect her only family, her mother. Mia is also a late bloomer due to her predicament. When she meets Jade (a beautiful travelling singer) she quickly becomes enamored with her.
I enjoyed reading this book, but I felt that it left something to be desired in the way the vampires were portrayed. I'm also not a big fan of the Then/Now chapter style, but that's merely personal preference. I will definitely be reading the second book - as I did think Liz Kerin is a great writer and I'm excited to see what her next book brings!
The Games We Play: The most controversial thriller of 2024! by Alistair B. Hayward, Alistair B. Hayward
2.0
First of all, thank you so much to author Alistair B. Hayward for sending me a copy of his debut novel, 'The Games We Play'. The quick synopsis is David (serial killer) and his friend from college Pete get involved in a dangerous game of murder tag. David somehow convinces Pete to 'play a game' with him and dares Pete to kill a person. Pete accepts, shenanigans ensue.
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The Prologue of this novel really grabbed my attention, and I was really interested for the first 1/4 of the book. The author is clearly a very talented writer, his prose are very well written and very descriptive.
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Although the first 1/4 of the book really had me intrigued, it started to feel like an episode of Dexter. Specifically when Dexter and The Trinity Killer start playing games with each other. I really loved Dexter (even though he was a psychopath), but I think there wasn't enough character building in this novel to get me really invested in David, Pete or their significant others. I also felt like there wasn't enough juxtaposition between David and Pete. They both felt like they had the same personalities (cheating, killing, psychopaths).
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The whole middle of the book really made me want to DNF it. It was filled with things that I didn't think were necessary to the story - but I think the author put them there to try and show the reader that even though David is a psychopath - he's starting to feel things. I don't want to spoil things - but they just didn't make sense to me.
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The last quarter of the novel does read like an extreme horror novel/splatterpunk novel. The gore and murders are vile and the final twist was very good! I didn't expect it at all. As for the murder scenes in the earlier parts of the book, I didn't find them to be that disturbing.
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Once again I feel like the odd man out on this book as a lot of reviewers are giving this book 5 stars. Sadly, I have to give this book 2 stars. It took so much of my willpower to not DNF this. I think if a lot of the unnecessary chapters/information was edited out and the characters were better developed- I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more. But as always, just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean you won't!
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The Prologue of this novel really grabbed my attention, and I was really interested for the first 1/4 of the book. The author is clearly a very talented writer, his prose are very well written and very descriptive.
.
Although the first 1/4 of the book really had me intrigued, it started to feel like an episode of Dexter. Specifically when Dexter and The Trinity Killer start playing games with each other. I really loved Dexter (even though he was a psychopath), but I think there wasn't enough character building in this novel to get me really invested in David, Pete or their significant others. I also felt like there wasn't enough juxtaposition between David and Pete. They both felt like they had the same personalities (cheating, killing, psychopaths).
.
The whole middle of the book really made me want to DNF it. It was filled with things that I didn't think were necessary to the story - but I think the author put them there to try and show the reader that even though David is a psychopath - he's starting to feel things. I don't want to spoil things - but they just didn't make sense to me.
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The last quarter of the novel does read like an extreme horror novel/splatterpunk novel. The gore and murders are vile and the final twist was very good! I didn't expect it at all. As for the murder scenes in the earlier parts of the book, I didn't find them to be that disturbing.
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Once again I feel like the odd man out on this book as a lot of reviewers are giving this book 5 stars. Sadly, I have to give this book 2 stars. It took so much of my willpower to not DNF this. I think if a lot of the unnecessary chapters/information was edited out and the characters were better developed- I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more. But as always, just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean you won't!
Headless by Scott Cole
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is one of my favorite Indie splatterpunk/horror novels. I don't want to spoil too much of the book because I feel that it's best to experience it blind- but I will tell you that it has a pandemic/survival feel to it. It's definitely going to give you Cosmic Horror vibes as well.
This is a splatterpunk novel, so please be aware that you're going to be facing explicit and graphic blood, gore and weird hail.
This is definitely a book that I recommend over and over because I thought it was so creative. A must read for any splatterpunk fan.
This is a splatterpunk novel, so please be aware that you're going to be facing explicit and graphic blood, gore and weird hail.
This is definitely a book that I recommend over and over because I thought it was so creative. A must read for any splatterpunk fan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Final Girls by Riley Sager
5.0
I could not put this book down - I devoured it in 24 hours. The writing kept me invested (and guessing) the whole time I was reading this story. Every time I thought I had figured out who the killer was, I was wrong! When the killer was finally revealed, my mind was blown. Never in a million years would I have guessed who it was.
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I highly recommend reading this book if you love a good horror/thriller. I've added this to my must read horror list because I loved this book so much!
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I highly recommend reading this book if you love a good horror/thriller. I've added this to my must read horror list because I loved this book so much!