The Girl Next Door/ Jack Ketchum/ 370 pages/ Horror

David lives in what seems to be a happy neighborhood to grow up in. Nice homes, lots of boys in the area his age to hang out with. However, happy home life is not the case for Meg and her sister Susan. Their family was in a car accident causing the death of both their parents and they must move in with their aunt Ruth and her sons. Shortly after arriving to their new home they are imprisoned in the basement where Ruth allows the neighborhood boys to torture Meg and if Meg doesn't behave Susan is punished.
This book was extremely disturbing and grusome. If you are sensitive to that I do not recommend you picking this book up.
I think this book was very well written and accomplished what it intended to do. Jack Ketchum wanted his readers to be uncomfortable reading this in order to make an impact. It was an excellent example for us to listen to those around us who come to us for help and for us to get help fast. If David went to get help from the beginning he could have stopped things before they escalated to the point they got. Because of the content, I didn't have an enjoyable time reading this but at the same time I could not stop reading and I felt like it is a good story that makes an impact and sticks with you. One that I won't be forgetting anytime soon with lessons I want to keep. If you're looking for something disturbing and horrific for Halloween-time you may want to try this.

Nine (9) Books Read / Eight (8) Readers / 3,157 Total Pages / 2 Bram Stoker 2012 Nominees

RAteam Reads for October 2013

The RAteam continued learning about the HORROR genre in October, with a book talks session held on Wednesday, October 30th. There were eight (8) participants for the Horror book talks (with one person reading two books!) and the titles read during October were:

  
 Joyland / Stephen King / 283 Pages





                                   Red Rain / R. L. Stine / 369 Pages




Let the Dead Sleep / Heather Graham 
/ 331 Pages




                                    Breed / Chase Novak / 310 Pages



   

The Haunting of Maddy Clare / 
 Simone St. James / 330 Pages

                      Wide Open / Deborah Coates / 304 Pages

                             [Bram Stoker 2012 Nominee]

 
 
Doctor Sleep / Stephen King / 531 Pages 

        Charlotte Markham and the House of 

                    Darkling / Michael Boccacino / 296 Pages    

                                  [Bram Stoker 2012 Nominee]      

          

 
 
The Wolf Gift / Anne Rice / 403 Pages






The annotations for these eight (8) titles will be posted on the Tales from the RAT Queen blog.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: A NOVEL OF FORBIDDEN LOVE by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - 252 Pages

I first read HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA when it was originally published in 1978 and reread in now because it was nominated by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for the "Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the Century Award" ; http://www.horror.org/blog/?p=2268. The winner will be announced at the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet during the 2012 World Horror Convention on March 31, 2012.

Yarbro's novel is not your typical vampire novel. Although the main character, Count Saint-Germain, is a vampire, he happens to be the good guy and I believe, in 1978, this was the first time a vampire had been portrayed as an actual force for good. Saint Germain only requires a small amount of blood each day to survive and prefers for his 'suppliers' to be willing donors, not coerced or hunted victims. He is a good friend, always willing to help someone who is in need or in trouble, especially the innocent. He also appears to an excellent employer, as all of his servants are extremely loyal. And from the amount of female interest St. Germain attracts, he is apparently a great lover with no lack of 'potential' willing partners.

The novel takes place in Paris, France in 1743 and Yarbro provides plenty of historical detail about the clothing and social position of the characters, most of whom are members of the French aristocracy. She develops and maintains the historical setting by introducing and ending each section with excerpts from letters between various individuals. The very formal writing style of these letters is reminiscent of the time period and not only sets the stage for the following chapter but also relates events which take place off-the-page. As I was reading, I found that these letters helped to introduce many of the characters, enhanced my understanding of the time period, and pulled me further into the story.

Anyone looking for a vampire horror story may be disappointed because, even though this is a vampire novel, it is really a romance as indicated by the subtitle, 'a novel of forbidden love.' Hotel Transylvania is the first published title (although not the first chronologically) in Yarbro's Count Saint-Germain series. The 25th book in the series, Commedia Della Morte: a Novel of the Count Saint-Germain, was published March 2012. See: http://bit.ly/HcgTeb