Review: Richard Laymon-like Ghost Story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2014
I love Matt Shaw books but to be completely honest, this is probably the weakest I have read from him. It’s strange since a lot of his fans love this book. Maybe it’s because I’m not much of a paranormal fan.I thought the book could have started off with some sort of hook to get my interest. Craig is an author trying to have a weekend to himself to write and he has to deal with his whiny family. While they seemed realistic enough and believable, I didn’t find an emotional connection to any of them.The story picked up when we learned about some of the creepy back story to the cabin and the nearby asylum. I liked the actual description of the cabin and surrounding area. I thought the storyline with what happened to Craig’s dad was interesting. To me, the story peaked when he was dealing with the non-paranormal stuff in the town with its people. It was violent, exciting, and was very reminiscent of a Richard Laymon (my favorite author) book. It’s too bad what happened was almost completely dropped and was just considered sort of an explanation for what was going on near the end. It was a catalyst for the ending but I was left with unanswered questions.The paranormal stuff, while very creepy when seen, was just repetitive. It reminded me of stories you tell around the campfire and make spooky noises while you tell them. It dragged a bit but that could just be me. If you enjoy that sort of thing, you might like it.I thought the ending was okay. It was shocking and a little bit unbelievable. I figured on some stuff happening but was not expecting all that did. I’d say more but I don’t want to blow the ending because a lot of people really liked it.In the end, I’m still a fan of Matt Shaw and I’m going to keep buying his books. There’s a sequel to this story. I’m sure I’ll buy it eventually to learn some of the back story to what was going on.