by Grady Hendrix

A Horror, 2023 by Berkley, 419 Pages 

What I Didn’t Like:

• I wanted more horror/thriller in the beginning. Instead, this starts as a contemporary family story and all I could think was these siblings are AWFUL. I wouldn’t want to deal with either of them. 
• The mood feels odd. It should be scarier but it almost feels like a satire of a horror novel. I’m not sure why. 
• A few twists were predictable in the way of screaming at characters in cheesy horror movies who run upstairs when they’re being chased. 

What I Did Like:

• The juxtaposition of Louise’s home life with the creepy is interestingly balanced. Sometimes you feel like you’re in a modern contemporary story about family and grief while other times you feel like you’re in a horror novel or ghost story. It’s interesting. 
• Puppets are creepy, so the parts of this story that related to puppets were suitably terrifying. 
• The ending is much scarier and more well done than the beginning. In fact, I enjoyed the way this one ended much more than the beginning. 

Who Should Read This One:

• Horror fans (or people in the mood for cheesy horror) who specifically like things similar to Child’s Play. 

My Rating: 3 Stars

• It was more satirical than I was expecting which may make it more niche.