Hardboiled Horror

Maberry, J., Collins, M., Clemens, M., Kontis, A., Anderson, K., & Malerman, J. et al. (2017). Hardboiled horror. JournalStone.

From the writers of ‘Infected’, ‘Phantom Evil’, ‘Dead in the Water’ and the critically acclaimed ‘Bird Box’ along with many others, comes a series of tales like no other. With fifteen original stories of noir mystery filled with horror and supernatural elements, each written by a different author in their own unique style, there’s little doubt you won’t find something that piques your interest. From occult detectives to paranormal investigators, seedy P.I.s to amateur sleuths – as well as some ghost hunters - there really is a story for everyone here, in Hardboiled Horror.

The book opens up with a deeply confusing yet equally gripping description and holds you from that point on. The character of interest – a teenage boy – continues to ask himself the same repeated question as he talks to himself over his next victim, who is tied to a lamppost with their mouth duct-taped shut. The eerie writing style and use of confusing yet eventually revealing storytelling enhances the experience. Then, the moment you hear the teenage boy start reciting the words of a talking tree, you just know this is going to be one hell of a ride.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark Solstice

Image
Martin, N. (2021). Dark Solstice. Hey there, name’s Fergie Thompson, I’m just like any other man living in Northern Ireland…that is until my dead dad-in-law’s ghost shows up and says I need to kill a witch to save my ex-wife from being sacrificed to summon some great evil. Just like that, with nothing but a bottle of Buckfast wine and the ability to swing a Hurly stick, I’m pulled into a world of witchcraft, murderous ghosts, and cosmic horrors in a desperate struggle to save our wee tow, maybe even the whole world. Not too sure what to do about saving the ex-wife though…she probably can take care of herself. Saying I was merely sceptical with the idea of humour mixing with supernatural horror in writing is an understatement, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out how wrong I was. The bland/dry humour that one would expect to find in Northern Ireland truly came to light in the writing. Thanks to the story being in first-person with the main character being Irish, there is so. M...
Read more

Ghost in the Headlights

Image
Duga, L. (2021).  Ghost in the Headlights . Scholastic Inc. Brianna Jenson has just moved in with her uncle Shale in rural Pennsylvania. Every afternoon, when she walks home from school, as the sun begins to set, she can hear footsteps behind her. Yet when she turns to look, there’s no one there. Then a car races along the narrow country road, headlights blinding as it almost runs her over, but there’s no one driving. As she digs into the past of Shadowrun Road, she discovers a tragedy that was never resolved. Can Brianna unravel this ghostly mystery before it’s too late? A disappointing and cliché start right off the bat, with the main character – Brianna – being startled awake, forgetting where she is and then going into a long explanation on why she’s there; this is just a cheap scare in movie format. And the long explanation? The first rule of writing – always show, don’t tell, otherwise, it’s just a boring information dump that could’ve been spread throughout the story. I don’...
Read more