Review: Chilling Yet Ultimately Anticlimactic
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2013
This is a short story that could have been great but fell short towards the end. The author did a great job of creating a believable atmosphere that the reader can identify with. Most of us have experienced a time in our childhood when we have done something we were scared to do in order to impress our friends or get the class bully to leave us alone. The author takes advantage of this childhood commonality in order to create a strong emotional connection between the reader and the main character, and does so skillfully. As a result, I was immediately drawn into the story and could identify on some level with the situation as it began to reveal itself.As the story progresses, the horror of the situation begins to present itself, and while there are spine-tingling and terrifying moments, it is at this point that the story begins to slowly unravel. As the book summary states, the main character has to enter an alleged 'haunted' house that belonged to a ruthless serial-killer. As events begin to unfold within the house, the story begins to lose some of it's momentum. As another reviewer stated, the closer the reader gets to the anticipated climax, the suspense begins to drop off and the 'climax' is over in a blink of an eye, leaving the reader feeling slightly cheated out of what could have been a strong and more terrifying ending.Personally, I feel that the main character and the supporting characters should have encountered a bit more while inside the house. The climax feels rushed and could certainly be fleshed out to include much more detail about the former occupants of the house and what horrors transpired both past AND present. As it stands, the reader can only guess at the terrifying secrets that lie within the walls and for the most part, we are left to our own imaginations to fill in the gaps. With some short stories, this works; however, for this short story, a little too much was left open to interpretation.Despite the short-lived climax, I did enjoy this story and I do recommend reading it. It certainly has its frightening moments and it does entertain. The writing is solid and well-edited, the atmosphere crackles with suspenseful energy, and character development is very well done. The author certainly has talent, and lovers of the horror-genre will most likely enjoy adding this short-story to their collection.