classics

Stephen King Reread #4 of 2019: The Dark Half, Review

~ megs14malloy

The Dark HalfThe Dark Half by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


George Stark. Not a very nice guy.

Stephen King Reread #4 for the year and it was just as brilliant as I remembered. Equal parts warped, dark and brutal, this story is a must read for any King fan.

I won’t get into the connections between this and King’s own life and experience with Richard Bachman. Let’s hope this twisted tale of a pseudonym gone rogue is 100% a work of fiction.

I mean, a man gets beaten to death with his own prosthetic arm! That’s rough and that doesn’t even begin to brush the surface of this super violent narrative.

The story begins when our protagonist, Thad Beaumont, is just a kid suffering from debilitating headaches and auditory hallucinations. During surgical exploration of his brain, it is discovered that Thad absorbed a twin in utero and parts of that twin suddenly began growing again causing the symptoms he was experiencing!

With that strange occurrence out of the way, Thad goes on to live a normal life. He becomes a college professor and writer, gets married, has twins, creates a pseudonym, George Stark, to write under that he subsequently kills off after being outed…

You know, the usual.

There’s one problem with this life plan, however, George Stark doesn’t want to be dead. He wants to continue his successful pulp fiction writing and he needs Thad on board in order to do so.

When people involved with Thad’s career begin being brutally murdered, Thad is the prime suspect. Even though he has a solid alibi, there is physical evidence linking him to the crimes, like fingerprints!

Thad is innocent and sets out to prove it, as well as stop the person responsible. Along with everyone’s favorite Sheriff, Alan Pangborn, the pieces of the puzzle start to come together with startling results.

The sparrows are flying again…

If you are looking for a viscious, creepy read to pick up this Autumn, look no further. This King Classic has some of the best body horror ever written and will leave you with a sense of dreadful anticipation the entire way through!!!

Highly recommend!

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FAVORITES: Dracula Appreciation Post!!!

~ megs14malloy

DraculaDracula by Bram Stoker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A true masterpiece.

Believe it or not, I am still considering how to best write a ‘review’ for this, one of my favorite novels of all time.

I annotated this most recent time reading, in the hopes that it would help when it came to composing my final thoughts.

What I am really struggling with is the idea of little ole’ me ‘reviewing’ a masterpiece.

I guess my goal is more to compel people to read this amazing piece of world literature as opposed to providing a critique of Stoker’s work. Let me think on this a while longer. In the meantime, have a gander at this The Lost Boys gif — a movie greatly inspired by Dracula:

Review or not, I am so happy to have reread this for the 3rd time. Dracula is a book I will continue to reread periodically for the rest of my life.

If you haven’t read this yet, please give it a go, it may surprise you. You may think you know this story…

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Classic Horror: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Review

~ megs14malloy

The Haunting of Hill HouseThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Back when I was in college, a little film called The Haunting was released. Starring Lily Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson, this supernatural horror flick was essentially a modern-day re-imagining of Shirley Jackson’s, The Haunting of Hill House.

It was released in the summer and my Mom and I went to the theater to see it, where I promptly fell in love. Soon after I was able to buy it on VHS ((I know, right!?!) and commence watching it 2,638,400 times.

At this point, I had never read the original source material. As a matter of fact, this is the first time that I have read this 1959 classic. I finally decided to pick it up spurred on by the celebration of ‘Women in Horror Fiction’ month.

I listened to this on audiobook and was able to get through it very quickly. It is a short book, at just under 200-pages, and the narrator was absolutely fabulous. I was so invested in this story, her voice was mesmerizing and seemed to transport me into that damn house!

I think my early love of the film version, The Haunting really helped me to imagine the whole narrative. They did a great job in casting that film. Seriously. Lily Taylor WAS Nell. I loved Jackson’s creation of her character. The mousy, sheltered girl who finally gains her freedom after what had to be a traumatic experience of years caring for her ailing mother.

I know, I know. Meg, this is supposed to be a book review, but I couldn’t write this review without mentioning that movie, as I know it has impacted my reading experience.

I truly enjoyed this book. The build-up, the atmosphere, the suspense. I thought the supernatural, or alleged supernatural elements, were so well done. I had many spine-chilling, look over your shoulder moments with this and it was great.

The characters interactions with one another were also well fleshed out. I believed their relationships and their connections to one another. Each feeling compelled to participate for their own, very different, reasons. I especially enjoyed the complex relationship between Nell and Theo.

Then we get to the ending.

Things were rolling along, great guns, and then, POOF, we are finished.

A friend of mine explained it as such, it’s like she as writing this great book and then she just got tired of writing it. I agree with that.

Done with this project, drops mic, exits.

Even with this in mind though, I did really enjoy my time with this story. I may even revisit it again someday. This should be appreciated for the great piece of classic horror fiction that it is. It has influenced so many other stories and for that, I doff my cap to Shirley Jackson. A true pioneer in the genre.

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