Niki Valentine – The Haunted

Sue and Martin visit Scotland for a holiday for a holiday ten years after visiting the same area on their honeymoon. They decide to trek to a remote boothy to spend a night in the wilderness but get cut off and stranded there by bad weather. There seems to be some kind of presence at the boothy and the couple soon start bickering. The disagreements become more nasty as time wears on and they couple start to think that they may not make it out alive.

I was drawn into this book quite quickly, however, I did find it a little slow and repetitive at times. Martin and Sue would probably have been better off getting a divorce rather than a second honeymoon as their relationship seems a little rocky before they even set off into the wilderness. Neither character is particularly likeable but they were still readable despite that fact that I wasn’t too bothered if they made it out alive or not.

I did enjoy the story and read it quickly but ultimately it was pretty forgettable. There was nothing particularly scary or memorable about it. I may read some more Niki Valentine in future but she is not an author I will actively make an effort to read, although if I see a book by her and like the sound of it I will most likely give it a go.

Adam Nevill – The Ritual

Four old friends decide to go on a reunion holiday walking in the Swedish wilderness but they realise that they have little left in common and two of them are not as fit as they should be for a trip like this. They decide to take a shortcut through some woods but find a gutted animal hanging from a tree then they end up lost, wet and scared in a strange old building which has ancient religious artefacts in it.

Having read Adam Nevill’s short story “On All London Underground Lines” in the collection The End of the Line I was keen to read a full length novel and The Ritual sounded interesting so I picked myself up a copy.

We are plunged straight into the story and the pacing remains pretty quick throughout. The characters were interesting with Hutch and Luke being the most likeable. My favourite characters were Loki and Fenris though and I had to keep googleing the bands mentioned as I like metal (although mostly they were too shouty / screamy for my taste, I prefer the more melodic, softer stuff).

I really enjoyed the story and found Nevill to be good at building tension and creating atmosphere. I will definitely be reading more of his books in the future and will be getting a copy of Apartment 16 to add to my to read pile!

Tom Fletcher – The Leaping

Jack is fed up of his job in a Manchester call centre so when he meets Jennifer and has the opportunity to move away with her to Fell House in a remote part of the Lake District he jumps at the chance. He misses his friend though and feels that perhaps there is something not quite right about the house. When his friends arrange a huge birthday / housewarming party it seems like a great idea. However, as the night progresses and some uninvited guests turn up it seems that there may be something lurking in the fells that Jack and his friends really don’t want to meet.

After reading The Thing on the Shore earlier in the year I was keen to read Tom Fletcher’s first novel, The Leaping. The two books are apparently supposed to be a series but there are only minor links between the two so reading out of sequence didn’t matter.

Tom Fletcher has a very unique and distinctive writing style that I personally really like. I liked the characters and felt that the characterisation was one of the strongest elements of the book. I love the fact that they are just normal people like you or I that are put into a scary situation.

The story itself was good, slowly building throughout. The narration switches between Jack and Frances and it’s interesting to get the two different viewpoints. I should have read this book when I was on holiday in the Lake District in November, that would have been quite creepy.

I’m very much looking forward to the next book Ravenglass Eye. I’m not sure when it’s released but when it it it will be jumping up my to read pile!

Christopher Ransom – The People Next Door

When the seemingly perfect Render family move in next door to the Nash family strange things start to happen. Mick Nash quickly realises that all is not as it appears to be and starts to take steps to protect his family. But what is the Render’s secret?

I enjoyed Christopher Ransom’s previous two novels so I was looking forward to this one and it jumped up my reading pile. The premise was interesting and the story was fairly creepy. I liked the different viewpoints from the various characters. The pacing was good most of the time although there were a couple of places where it did feel a little slow.

Whilst the characterisation was pretty good I didn’t particularly like any of the characters which was a shame as it meant that I didn’t care too much what happened to them. This is probably what let the book down for me. I like to have some kind of emotional investment in the characters that I am reading about.

The cover and the book blurb mention a big twist to the book. I actually liked the twist and didn’t manage to guess it. My favourite part of the book was the ending, I thought it was well done and interesting and could make for a good sequel.

If you’re new to Christopher Ransom then I would advise against starting with this one (start with The Birthing House) as it is definitely not his best. I did enjoy it, just not as much as I enjoyed his previous work.

Various (short story collection) – The End of the Line

The End of the Line is a collection of horror short stories edited by Jonathan Oliver. The stories are all previously unpublished and are all linked to an underground railway system of some sort. Most are set in and around the London underground but there are several with different settings as well.

As I love horror and have a long running interest / fascination with the London underground this collection was perfect for me and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into it. Overall the standard of stories in the collection was very good, there was just one that I didn’t really like and several that I really loved.

The collection opens with Bullroarer by Paul Meloy. It’s not what I would have picked as the opener as I thought it was one of the weaker stories in the collection. I just found it a bit odd but it was alright. We move on to The Girl in the Glass by John Llewellyn Probert. This is a fairly traditional ghost story with a twist. Creepy, atmospheric and very enjoyable.

The next story, The Lure by Nicholas Royle was the one I didn’t really like! I found that there was far too much detail about journey routes and too much French which I just didn’t understand as I don’t speak French! It was also a little predictable, I knew exactly what was going to be on the other side of the door.

My three favourite stories in the collection were Fallen Boys by Mark Morris. A traditional ghost story set in an old Cornish tin mine. In The Colosseum by Stephen Volk, a voyeuristic story of sex, drugs, murder and CCTV and probably may favourite of them all Crazy Train by Natasha Rhodes about a musician who shoots himself and ends up taking a very interesting train journey.

Whilst it wasn’t among my favourite stories in the collection On All London Underground Lines by Adam L.G. Nevill has now made me tempted to pick up Apartment 16 as that has been on my radar for a while and I liked his writing style.

Overall a great collection that I really enjoyed. I hope there will be a volume two at some point!

Robert R. McCammon – They Thirst

Vampires have come to Los Angeles. Each night they walk the streets drinking the blood of the unsuspecting people that they find, increasing their numbers in a bid to take over the city. How can the people fight against an enemy that they don’t believe exists?

I like a good vampire novel and this is a very good vampire novel. It took me quite a long time to read it – 16 days – I normally read an average of a book a week. This book is longer than it first appears. It has 531 pages but it is printed in a quite small typeface and new chapters start on the same page rather than starting from a new page as they do in most books. I think if it was to be reprinted now the page count would probably increase fairly considerably. It is currently out of print but I was lucky enough to pick up a second hand copy at the Book Barn a while back. The only other Robert R. McCammon book that I have read is Swan Song and that is my second favourite book ever (after The Stand by Stephen King) so I thought it was about time that I read another of his books.

The book has a large cast of characters which I liked about it. The characters were all memorable and well written so it was easy to keep track of who was who. The vampires were old school evil vampires, only interested in feeding and increasing their numbers. They were quite creepy, which is good.

I enjoyed the story. I did feel that parts of it were a little farfetched but that didn’t really matter and it all served the overall plot. A couple of times I found myself wondering why the characters didn’t have mobile phones and I had to remind myself that the book was written in the 1980’s and people didn’t have mobiles back then! I think this shows that the book had a modern feel to it as it didn’t feel dated at all in any other way.

I think it’s a shame that this book is out of print. I have tried to find out why but the only information I could find was that the author deliberately keeps it out of print. I can’t find any reasons why (If anyone knows I would be interested to hear). I’m hoping that it will be put back into print at some point in the future as it’s a book that deserves to be read and enjoyed. (As an aside, when I first got Swan Song about 12 or more years ago it was out of print in the UK and I had to do a special order and pay quite a lot of money to get it. It wasn’t as simple to just get things over the internet like it is now. But Swan Song is now back in publication here so maybe there is hope that They Thirst will be re-published one day).

Wayne Simmons - Flu

An outbreak of deadly flu kills of most of the population. Those that die soon rise as zombies, hungry for the flesh of the living. The few remaining survivors face a terrifying struggle to stay alive.

Flu drew me straight in from the start, it's fast paced and full of action. There is a good range of characters who Wayne Simmons has no problem killing off! I like that in a book, it keeps you on your toes, not knowing if your favourite character is going to make it or not.

I also enjoyed the Northern Ireland setting. I don't think I've read a book set there before. I believe there is a sequel coming out at some point so I will look forward to reading that and I'll also pick up some more Wayne Simmons at some point as well.

Thomas Emson – Zombie Britannica

During an unprecedented heat wave a zombie outbreak occurs. With the dead rising the living have to fight to survive. The story follows three main characters – Carrie in London, Vincent in North Wales and Craig in Scotland.

There was a great mix of characters in this book. Some of whom were likeable and others that were horrible. The three main characters each had their own storyline and the narrative switched between them throughout. My favourite of the three storylines was probably that of Vincent, trapped in Beaumaris Castle (I’m planning a trip to North Wales later in the year so I will be able to picture the zombies whilst looking around the castle!). I also really enjoyed Carrie’s storyline and her companion Sawyer was my favourite character in the book. Craig’s storyline was the least interesting to me, I didn’t particularly like him or his companions and therefore wasn’t too bothered about what was happening to them.

The book was fast paced throughout which made me want to keep on reading to find out what happened. There was a lot of violence and gore so not recommended for those who are easily bothered by that kind of thing. I quite liked the style of the book although I think that in places it could have been better written, this did not detract from the story at all for me though.

One thing that I did notice that someone should have picked up before sending the book to print is that Britannica is spelt correctly on the cover but it is spelt incorrectly (Brittanica) on the inside title pages.

I enjoyed reading this book, it was quick ,easy and entertaining. I will probably read some more of Thomas Emson’s work in the future.

Alexandra Sokoloff – The Harrowing

Its Thanksgiving holiday and most of the students from Baird College have left to spend the long weekend with their families. In the old Mendenhall building just five students remain. They find an old ouija board and start using it one stormy night. Strange occurrences start and the students have to work out what is going on and how to stop it.

OK, so it’s not the most original story line but it was entertaining. I liked the characters and I enjoyed the storyline even though it was a little predictable. I really liked the way it was written as it was pretty much a film in book format if that makes sense. I could picture it all and I could easily see it as a low budget horror film.

I didn’t find it at all scary but then I’ve read and watched a lot of horror over the years and may be a little de-sensitised to it. I can’t even remember the last time a book scared me (or a film for that matter) so if you do scare easily then you may find this scary, I can’t really say as it’s all subjective.

If you like horror and fancy a quick entertaining read then you should enjoy this book. If you want deep and meaningful or new and different then this is not the book for you.

Richard Laymon – One Rainy Night

Ten years or so ago I used to read a lot of Laymon, in fact I think I managed to read most of his books. After his death in 2001 there were a couple of new releases but since its impossible to write from beyond the grave there hasn’t been anything since. I was browsing a second hand bookshop a few weeks ago when I found One Rainy Night, reading the blurb on the back it didn’t sound familiar so when I got home that evening I checked my bookshelves to make sure I didn’t have it. I didn’t, so the next day I went back and bought it.

The basic synopsis is that one evening a strange black rain starts falling over a small town. The rain sends anyone it falls on into a homicidal rage going after people to kill, especially the dry ones.

The book was fairly standard Laymon. Lots of sex and violence (in fact I’d forgotten just how violent his books can be, I think I’ve gotten more squeamish as I’ve got older). It was a quick read but enjoyable. Not among his best, but the characters were likeable and the fast paced action was engaging. I tend to prefer the more realistic storylines but for £2.50 it was good for keeping me occupied on a train journey to London and back (although I did feel a tad self conscious reading my horror novel when the people all around me were reading things like The Times and New Scientist)!

Having read this book I feel tempted to go back and re-read some of the Richard Laymon books I read years ago. I always feel guilty about re-reading though, as my to read pile is so big but as it’s been so long since I last read the books it will almost be like reading for the first time anyway. I have got some other re-reads planned as well so I’ll have to see.

If you want a fairly quick, easy, entertaining read and are not adverse to blood and gore then One Rainy Night should satisfy. If you want deep and meaningful you best look elsewhere.