Authors: Joe R. Lansdale & Kasey Lansdale
Genre: Horror
Page Length: 248 pages
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
Date Started: July 19, 2018
Date Finished: July 25, 2018
Rating: 3/5 stars
*I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*
I have to say, I did enjoy this anthology. This is really more of a collection of different short stores and 'cases' more than it is a full novel, which no doubt made it harder for me to read (but more on that after I talk about all the things I did like).
I liked a few different things about this collection, the first being the main character Dana. In my mind I picture her as an Ellen from Supernatural-esque woman. A badass, but also beautiful and funny. She obviously is extremely brave and I liked that she had skepticism. It was refreshing to me that a character in a horror/paranormal/supernatural story was skeptical about the identity of what they were seeing.
These different 'cases' weren't told like a normal book would have been. The main character, Dana, was often giving a first-hand account of what happened to a club full of people. That meant that she was more focused on telling what happened than describing anything. While I can understand why there wasn't much detail on the setting and surroundings, I couldn't help but wonder if the stories would have benefited from more. I'm trying to decide if I would have liked it better if we were actually there the first time these events happened rather than hearing a recounting.
One thing that bothered me was that this was supposedly a casebook of horrors, but I wasn't really scared at all. At most, I was interested in whatever something was. I feel that it didn't really scare me because the stories were told in a clinical way that didn't showcase how each event made the main character feel. That could be because I was obviously not sitting in the room hearing Dana tell these stories and listening to her changes in tone and facial expressions. Still, I wasn't scared at all, which is what knocked a star down for me.
I think the main thing for me is that anthologies don't really do it for me. I like complete stories, not a bunch of little stories, which makes it hard for me because my brain has to completely switch gears instantaneously to keep up with the changing stories. I feel like if someone were to want to read this book, I'd recommend reading a story or two every few days, or even weeks.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but didn't love it. I feel like it could have benefited from the addition of more sensory or setting details as well as a bit more of the scare-factor. Still, I did like it but I don't think I'll be revisiting this story anytime soon.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren
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