Horror Books > M Horror Books

Misery - Stephen King

Advantages: Psychological thriller, a roller coaster of emotions
Disadvantages: A bit slow in places

...favourite novels, the creator of Misery Chastain, she couldn't believe her luck and decided to keep him all to herself. After all she was his number one fan.... But Annie was angry, very angry that Paul had killed Misery and decided that he must write a new 'Misery' novel just for her. Stephen King lets the story unfolds through the eyes of 'hostage' Paul. There is good character developement as this psychological novel progresses, Paul's pain ...
...cruelly dashes, and a roller coaster of despair, acceptance and fear. Annie's character swings unpredictably from sickly sweet to derranged and brutal, with her past unfolding through the pages of her journal. This is not a jolly novel, the 'Misery' of the title mirrors Paul's predicament, but I read with a constant hope that things would turn out OK in the end. The newly typed pages of the captors enforced writting are tedious at times, as is some ...

Pam55 05.03.2008 · Read Full Review
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Review of Misery - Stephen King

Mayfair Witch meets "the Brat Prince"

Advantages: Another excellent addition to the chronicles, Merrick is as real and flawed as all of Anne Rice' characters
Disadvantages: None really

...an individual, human or immortal. Merrick comes across as a warm, charismatic, soulful young woman who has been damaged by her past and although she still struggles to come to terms with her own demons often hiding from them in a bottle of Bourbon, she has generally managed to turn these negatives into a deep concern and empathy for the suffering of others especially, in this case Louis who is still tortured by the death of Claudia. From her complicated ...
...which Lestat views her, Merrick stands very much at the centre of this story and we feel genuinely that Louis' survival is very much in the collective hands of his great friend and adversary, Lestat, wise David and the the hypnotic and compelling Merrick. The ending is almost inevitable but nonetheless satisfying. Merrick is a character that I very much hope we continue to meet in future chronicles. ...

wendy5177 31.05.2006 · Read Full Review
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Review of Merrick - Anne Rice

Original Frightener

Advantages: A blending of traditionalist horror and new mythology.
Disadvantages: it would have been a fine full length novel - I almost wish it was...

L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims are familiar names to those who know. Not only have they set up and run the superlative Enigma Press, currently running at four imprints, but they have a very fine reputation for supernatural tale-telling of their own. 'Moths', the launch title of Enigmatic Novellas, is a very fine example of this duo's gift. Unpredictable, creepy and disturbing, the tale deals with the strangeness of David Alywin's old friend Simon ...
...Visiting the Desborough estates deep in Wiltshire, David notices a strange tension in his friend. Something disturbs him also about bride in preparation Anna Otani, and her oriental family. When he discovers, to his horror, that the Otani's are now owners of the Desborough assets, he digs deep to find out just what is going on. What he finds underlying events, the monstrous Tashkai, are beyond all imagining. Slow building, the novella paints clearly ...

RichardW 11.07.2000 · Read Full Review
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Review of Moths - M. P. N. Sims, L. H. Maynard

James Herbert's The Moon

Advantages: Full of tension and intrigue
Disadvantages: couldn't find any

As a great fan of James Herbert It took me just 1 weekend to read this book. Basically it is the story of a man who has very bad dreams. That's not too bad I hear you say it's just that his dreams start to become reality in an extremely hideous way. The whole thing is set on an island where our hero works teaching Information Technology at a private girls school. Of course there is the love interest and he also has an ex-wife who lives on the mainland ...
...has you on the edge of your seat, and the feeling of terror continues to grow throughout. Full of hideous murders, strange characters and psychic phenomenon it is very well written and well worth a read. Just when you think you know who did it the tale twists and you have to start thinking all over again. Several times I found that I was wrong and, when it was finally revealed who did do it , you will find yourself thinking wow I didn't see that ...

tinac59 24.09.2004 · Read Full Review
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Review of Moon - James Herbert

Flesh smackingly good

Advantages: A wonderful example of Laymon at it's best.
Disadvantages: This could too shocking for some. Don't let your grandmother near this.

There have rumours surrounding Richard Laymon for a number of years now - people think that Laymon is a pseudonym for an established author, perhaps, Stephen King himself. “Midnight’s Lair” is one of the books that fuel this debate. It was originally published under the name Richard Kelly and it is also one of the more extreme Laymon books. Take note, Laymon’s books tend to be twice (or even thrice) as gory and risky than your average horror book ...
...the rest. The story really is typically Laymon. It deals with the bestial side to humans and human nature. It is almost tempting to sound something of a H. P. Lovecraft comparison here. Lovecraft has written a number of short stories in which humans, trapped over a long period of time (or who have voluntarily retreated from the world) have ended up in a “de-evolved” state. Of course, H. P. Lovecraft was known to cut the pictures of scantily clad ...

Manx 03.12.2000 · Read Full Review
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Review of Midnight's Lair - Richard Laymon