Horror Books > K Horror Books > Peter Straub

Advantages: Interesting characters, great second half.
Disadvantages: Detached narrative style, characters dont get time to develop, not much Straub.

Children are being abducted and murdered in a brutal fashion in French Landing. Dale, the town's helpless Police Chief fears for his town and his own son's safety. These murders are becoming more frequent and gruesome and the tauntings of the infamous killer nicknamed "The Fisherman" are driving the towns inhabitants insane. Dale turns to the prematurely retired LA Detective Jack Sawyer. He has come to this quiet little town as a means of escape. ...
...gift that he hides away from but when it turns out that this is more than just your average psycho surely he has to stop running? "Black House" is the second collaboration between two masters of horror in Stephen King and Peter Straub. The massively successful "The Talisman" was an epic quest of a twelve-year-old boy, Jack Sawyer and his quest through a magical land to find a cure for his mother. "Black House" is a loose sequel to this and picks ... Read review

Advantages: The perfect book
Disadvantages: None

...book of pure beauty. The Talisman is, like John Connolly's Book of Lost Things, an adult fairy tale that's to die for. Another book that you should give to any adult reading Harry Potter. The Talisman has everything that the classic fairy tale has. A princess, a sacred artefact, magic, monsters and a young boy who has to face things no boy should on a quest to save someone he loves. Add to that a razor edge of graphic violence and some genuine ...
...The characters are going to stay with you for a long, long time and the imagery that the writing invokes will make you feel, when thinking back, like you have seen this as a movie. It is simply that powerfully descriptive. The story centers around a young boy whose mother is very ill. He learns that there is a scared object, the Talisman, that can save her and he must travel across America to retrieve it. However, a stranger comes into his life ... Read review

Advantages: An excellent & imaginative story
Disadvantages: Waiting for the next book

As a children's story this is some seriously dark writing and may not be suitable of younger readers, but for adults it's an exceptionally good read. The heroine of the story, Candy, finds herself pulled into a parallel world by a strange sea, a world that consists of 25 islands. 24 islands represent a particular hour of the day with the 25th a dark place of murder and madness. This initial volume sees Candy's travels around a selection of these ...
...trying to stay out of arms reach of the dark servants of the Lord of the 25th hour. This is a place where friend and foe are never what they seem and many are out for the capture of Candy. The illustrations included in this book give it an extra and enjoyably warped depth. Clive Barkers visual take on his fantasy world is one where even the good-guys can be seen as ugly monstrosities. You'll definitely want to read the next instalment. ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read, hard to put down, gripping, thrilling
Disadvantages: None

...he must face the demon Lord Loss. I am probably being vague here, but I do not want to give much more away as that will spoil it for readers. At 200 or so pages this is just right. I feel there is far too much padding in adult books at the moment. And reading Lord Loss has made me feel surprised just at how good kids' fiction is. I have read the Harry Potter books, like most adults, but it did not cross my mind to read other works written for children. ...
...is quite graphic. There are no holds barred here and the author gets away with a lot of stuff. Death, blood, gore… But it is written with tongue in cheek - and with plenty of sick humour that did surprise me. The style is straight to the point. And very well written at that! Darren Shan is English born, real surname O'Shaughnessy. His first book, 'Ayuamarca,' was published in 1999, but did not sell well. This was an adult work, and it is his subsequent ... Read review

Advantages: Good cliffhanger ending for the next and last book. Very thrilling!
Disadvantages: A little too short, wanted more action!

...written by Anthony Horowitz, is the fourth installment of the "Power of Five", 5 book series about 5 children who have the power to save the world from evil creatures called "The Old Ones". The book starts before "Nightrise" ends, but from the point of view of Scarlett Adams, the protaganist and the fifth gatekeeper. There is a brief review of all 4 previous books incase the reader cannot remember or has missed a book out in the series, which I ...
...It starts off straight into the action as a 13 year old Scarlett almost gets hit by a van whilst not looking when crossing a road. She is saved by a mysterious chinese man who disappears before she can thank him for his actions. The book then moves 2 years into the future and Scarlett is on a school trip when she passes through a door and travels to a monastary in the Ukraine, where she is imprisoned. Scarlett then meets Father Gregory, a terrifyingly ... Read review