Horror Books

Here this book goes deep in the realm of psychology and Science fiction. Very short. But not for the short attention span. You mustn't get lost in the extremely intense personification and imagery for this will make the book monotonous.

I am a new but HUGE fan or R.L. Stevenson but this is not his best work of his stories I would suggest getting a complete tales of R.L. Stevenson collection because this would include his best work in my opinion the suicide club and rajah's diamond.

Enjoy but I suggest getting a different print of this story one that includes his greatest short stories.

Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde was a very good book filled of suspence. For example when the laywer goes to talk to Dr.Jekyll the Doctor gives him an a letter he got from Mr.Hyde but was not thinking and burned the envolope but did say there was no return adress. After the lawyer left the room and asked the door man if there has been any letters droped off and he said no. Then he asked if anyone personly droped off a letter and the door man said no.

This is one of the hardest and boring books in life! It deals with strict men of Science, for instance, Dr. Hastie Lanyon. This book, like the Invisible Man, is a novel that has WAY too many details and should be strictly enforced not to be read. Who wants to read a book about science-fiction and not to mention the cuss words on every page? Who likes minor details around every corner. But, I must admit, there are fabulous descriptions of the characters and them themselves are quite interesting! But, this book is not good.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
By: Robert Louis Stevenson
Reviewed by: E. ...
Period:6

This book is about a man that has somehow brought out an evil side of him. He is a scientist and he makes a concoction that has brought out the evil part. At first the man is able to be somewhat aware of what the other person does, but it gets worse and he looses control. He has few conscious moments and often wakes up not knowing what has happened. His friend learns about the evil side, but has no idea that both of the men are the same. As the friend learns more, he becomes closer and closer to the horrible truth. Then the evil side kills a man and he hides by becoming the good man and hiding in his house. The friend thinks the evil man has killed the good one, but he soon finds out something is very strange about the whole situation. Then the friend receives a letter from the man and he gets the supplies asked in the letter. A man meets the friend and makes a concoction. Then he drinks it and all of a sudden the man turns into his friend that seems to have been revived from the evil side. The whole story is a mystery as the friend finds more clues.

The thing I liked was how the story was set up and how the whole thing was a mystery so that it kept you interested in finding out the answer. It got confusing at times and I had to re-read parts to find out the clues and truly understand it. "pale and shaken, and half fainting, and groping before him with his hands, like a man restored from death-there stood Henry Jekyll! " The good man had only a little power left and he needed the concoction to make himself regular again. The person that his friend saw was a mixture of evil and good with the good barely holding out. After that, the friend was told everything and he listened in shock. This part didn't come until near the end so that it was a twist in the story that is unexpected.

The book may have been good for its story line, but parts of the story got to be repetitive and it got to the point where it was boring and it was hard to keep going. The end really disappointed me, because the story was pretty decent and then the end came and it was bad. The end was supposed to be a letter written from the last words of the good man that was losing his power to stay in control. The letter was at least twenty pages and was filled with confusing sentences and the same information being repeated over and over. It got tiring and boring very quickly, so that I struggled to keep reading. I finally made it through and the end of the letter said that the good man was saying he was going to end his miserable life. "Here, then, as I lay down the pen, and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end. That ending would have been good if it wasn't after the most boring part in the book.

My favorite part of the book was when the friend and the butler of the good man break into the study to get the materials wanted by the man. It was my favorite part because lots of clues start to come out and it's the point right before finding out the truth of the evil and good man. My least favorite part is the end when the same information is repeated and the words are so confusing that it is very boring. Overall the book has a good way of keeping the reader suspenseful, but it also does the opposite with the repeated parts and the story may seem a little over stretched.

Since I am a contributor to this volume, I will not offer a "review" in a conventional sense, but I will offer a list of contents, which this website otherwise does not offer. As there are a number of competing paperback editions of Stevenson's novella and the text of the story is essentially the same (allowing for minor editorial variants), readers should consider the issue of what else besides the main text they will be getting for their money, and this edition is unusually rich in supplementary features, so that the original story makes up only 55 of its 222 pages.

In addition to the text of Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," with explanatory notes by the editor, this volume also contains:

A preface by the editor, a "textual appendix" about textual variants in the manuscripts, a map of 19th century London marking places mentioned in the story, a timeline of the major events in the life of author Robert Louis Stevenson, and a bibliography. Plus...

An excerpt from a biography about Stevenson by Graham Balfour about the circumstances of the story's authorship...

A brief excerpt from Stevenson's "A Chapter on Dreams," which discusses the influence of his dreams on the story...

12 letters by Stevenson that discuss aspects of the "Dr. Jekyll" story...

10 contemporary reviews and comments about "Dr. Jekyll" that show how the story was originally received...

Another horror-oriented short story by Stevenson entitled "Markheim"...

A brief non-fiction piece by Stevenson, "How I Came to be such a student of our Penny Press," together with some examples of 19th century book advertising...

Three essays about the literary context of "Dr. Jekyll": Karl Miller, "The Modern Double": Jenni Calder, "Stevenson's Scottish Devil Tales"; and Judith Halberstam, "An Introduction to Gothic Monstrosity"...

Four essays about the scientific context of Stevenson's story: Stephen Jay Gould, "Post-Darwinist Theories of the Ape Within"; Frederic W. H. Myers, "Multiple Personality"; Norman Kerr, "Abject Slaves to the Narcotic"; John Addington Symonds, "This Aberrant Inclination in Myself"...

Two essays about the socio-historical context of Stevenson's story: Judith R. Walkowitz, "London in the 1880s"; and Walter Houghton, "Hypocrisy"...

Three essays and a filmography about theatrical and film adaptations of "Dr. Jekyll": C. Alex Pinkston, Jr., "The Stage Premiere of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"; Charles King, "Themes and Variations" (about film); Scott Allen Nollen, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Paramount, 1931)"; and Katherine Linehan, "A Checklist of Major Performance Adaptations"...

And five additional critical essays: G. K. Chesterton, "The Real Stab of the Story"; Vladimir Nabokov, "The Phenomenon of Style"; Peter K. Garrett, "Instabilities of Meaning, Morality, and Narration"; Patrick Brantlinger, "An Unconscious Allegory about the Masses and Mass Literacy"; and Katherine Linehan, "Sex, Secrecy and Self-Alienation in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".

For sheer range of commentary, I do not think that you could point to a comparable volume.

My sister loves anything by Lilith. So, for Christmas and her birthdays I help add to her collection.

The sexual tension between Mari the water witch and Hanson the Watcher of "Storm Watcher" dominates the second novel in "The Watcher Series". Over a year has passed for the two of them yet every other page has Mari and Hanson thinking of touching each other, being near each other, smelling each other, and more, splitting the plots effectiveness. Extra words and some misspellings also detract from the flow.

As with the previous book, there is little substance behind the history of Circle Lightfall, a Lightbringer's enemies, or the characters. Mari encounters vicious monsters but outside of its name and the immediate threat, nothing further is clarified whether how such creatures are conjured or what specific Dark powers are available. The fights receive a fleeting account by cutting to the next chapter as the battle begins.

The series is pro-pagan; therefore those of a highly inflexible religious background or intolerant attitude towards religion might want to avoid the selection.

Thank you.

Good story line, however the book could be hotter in the love department. I huuried to finish the book not because it provided excellent reading, but because I wanted the experience to be over quickly.

Not a bad read if that's all you have on your bookshelf!!!

I really enjoyed Dark Watcher, which is why I bought Storm Watcher. This second book in the series delves a little deeper into the characters. Unfortunately, I had started reading this one about a month ago and had to put it aside for a time. I picked it up recently and haven't finished reading it, but it was easy getting back into the story. I'm looking forward to finishing this one and moving on the next in the series.

Water witch Mariamne Niege cannot believe how much her world and that of her two best friends Theo Morgan and Elise Nicholson have changed since the Circle of Light sent Watchers Hansen and Dante crashing into their lives (see DARK WATCHER). However, she knows there is no going back for any of the trio although she dreams of her idyllic mousy academic days; but they have become Guardians in a war with the evil Dark.

Her visions are becoming ever stronger and increasingly frightening. The worst is her seeing her Watcher Hansen killing Guardian Theo. Mari's roommates fear and loath Hansen who has taken over the couch to insure his charge, who he knows by touching her is his soulmate, remains safe. When Rossini the gargoyle sends her research writings by her former mentor Suzanne, forces of the Dark break into her home killing her roommates. Hansen knows the Dark craves taking his beloved, but he does not understand how far they will go to achieve their goal; the earthquakes are their first assault, but Mari thinks Hansen is involved.

The second WATCHER romantic fantasy is a terrific tale starring two fascinating lead characters. Elise may love Hansen, but she fears and distrusts him too; Hansen may love Elise, but his pre Watcher days make him feel he is unworthy of her. Readers will appreciate the irony as they need each other not just as soulmates, but to survive; if they fail to overcome the negatives the Dark will triumph. Lilith Saintcrow provides an exciting tale that sub-genre fans will relish.

Harriet Klausner

This is one of my favorites by Duncan. I am amazed how she drags up good ol' Souther hoodoo in all its fluffy/horrific goodness to put in with another very understandable teenager to make a great story. Ah, this is but the magic of Lois Duncan! Here she has an incredible, descriptive Southern setting, and the fun, marvelous characters well love. Honestly, I could not guess what was about to happen in this story, and I was delighted when I realized where she was taking everything. The plot is intricate and fascinating, and Duncan knows how to keep up the pace and the character development to keep this a great roller coaster.

This book has you wondering one the very first chapter.. the ending was a little dissapointing though.

This was an awesome story. In it, a girl named Nore is the main character and she has trouble adjusting to life on Shadow Grove, which is the place she is to move. Her father has just gotten remarried to a remarkably beautiful woman named Lisette (not leslie, people!) and she also has two kids of her own, a girl - of 13, and a boy - of 17. The boy, Gabe turns out to be quite an attractive young man in the eyes of also 17, Nore. Josie (13 years) is an awkward child, probably because of her certain age - 13. She is dealing with several problems, and has an "empty hopelessness" about her age. Nore and Gabe soon become very close, an example is..."Lets just forget about this "stepbrother" thing. If you have a hometown boyfriend, I do not want to know." As they get closer, Nore likes him even more. This all changes when she finds out, he is not all nice.

He asks her to run away with him (for protection) but then when she declines to the offer, he drowns her, saying "I am terribly sorry." Of course she does think about it, "after they graduate" but this does not work out. This is very unfortunate because I was hoping they would kiss, and their love would bloom, but nay, it is not possible. Nore soon realizes the reasons for Gabe and Josie"s strange behavior and action. Lisette has a terrible secret, that of course, lands Nore and her "love-crazy" father into a whirlwind of trouble. This book also has a lot of beautiful detail, and it is really worth reading. There is also a minor character named Dave, who I think is too perfect to be real, and does not really fit in with the story.

I hate Dave. There, I said it. I love Gabe. Seriously! I just wanted to let you guys know that Gabe does REALLY CARE ABOUT NORE. He was not just pretending, and there is a lot of evidence to this statement. It is not clear that he loves her so much that he would do anything, but it is clear that he did love her. I do not know how, but love branches out in many directions. I hate Dave...

What I hated about the ending was that when Nore confronts Gabe, you could still sense love, but she was completely denying it. If I could alter the end, then I would put the last line of the book as this,

"I loved him Dave, I did. I will never forget Gabe, but that does not mean I will not love again...We have to move on with life."

Children could also like it. I know I would, but nay, I am not the writer, just a humble amateur brainstormer. *SIGH*

I hate Dave...

Locked in Time by Lois Duncan is mix of mystery, suspense and fantasy. I would only recommend to a very patient reader. The book starts out a little boring and puzzling, but once you get into it, you're hooked with suspense.

The main character is a girl named Nore, whose mother dies in the very beginning of the book. After her mother's death, Nore's father sends her off to boarding school and while she was there, her father meets Lissenett and they decide to get married. In all the excitement, they "forgot" to tell Nore (which is what Lissenett wanted). After about three weeks, her father remembers Nore and sends for her to come and live with him and Lissenett. Nore doesn't know what's going to happen. She gets a strange feeling whenever she sees her new family. They're nice, but when she sees them DEATH flashes through her mind.

The story is told in first person by Nore, which makes you feel like you are really there. As the book reaches the end, you feel Nore's tension and uneasiness until the final conclusion, which is ... (you'll have to read it to find out!).

Nore immediately thinks there is something creepy going on when she returns to a new home from boarding school and meets her recently widowed father's new wife. This woman, Lisette, is beautiful and young and has two perfect teenage children of her own. They are living with Nore's father in a beautiful old mansion in New Orleans, and he seems happy. But Nore still thinks something is wrong.

Lisette is very protective of her children. She sees her son, Gabriel, falling for Nore and immediately tries to keep them apart. She often hushes her daughter, Josie, stopping her from speaking. Nore keeps feeling like she should be noticing something strange, but at first she doesn't catch on. Then she listens carefully to the things her stepfamily is saying. Josie refers to being present at a disaster that took place forty years ago. She and Gabe both talk about time passing them by, and being stuck where they are. Soon Nore begins to suspect that her stepfamily is not aging at all, that they may have found some way to remain youthful forever. Now that she knows, Nore fears that her own life may be in danger. But how will she convince her lovestruck father that something terrifying is going on with his new family?

The characters in this story are really vivid and nicely described. I liked the ending and felt like it fit well with the rest of the story. I found it rather unbelievable, though, that if such a method for staying young existed, more people wouldn't have figured it out and used it.

At this point, I have read a lot of Paranormal Romance Novels. I had never read Susan Sizemore but I had head such great things that I was really looking forward to reading her books. In fact, I ordered the whole series right off the bat.
I was shocked to see that the main character was already way involved with his love interest from the very beginning and was in the process of being very very nasty to her. It was confusing to figure out the nature of their relationship and its not till very late (almost the end) in the book that it is really explained.
I speant the whole time disliking him and wanting her, who I actually liked, to break it off with him.
I love Vampires as teh main characters of books. I get that they have to be "bad" good guys to live up to standard but I really thought he was just too extreme. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone and I think I'm going to skip (despite the money wasted) reading the rest of the series.

This is a bit on the dull side. The main character is a vampire enforcer, trying to make sure all the fanged ones follow the rules. They get to go and drink blood every so often under strict rules, and he is the man they send after rulebreakers.

Not a whole lot of action, and a whole lot of talking, and a bit of a subplot with the use of a kid in an incantation as a sacrifice to gain power.

Pretty ordinary.

The Hunt is the first novel in Susan Sizemore's notably unusual Laws of the Blood series, and she melds romance alongside horror to create what some might be called a work of sensuous dark fantasy. Sizemore has published novels in a wide range of genres, and I have to admit I had some doubts about this series going on; it's not often you encounter a romance writer treading the darker paths of literature. Sizemore obviously knows what she is doing, though, and the end result in this case is a refreshingly different take on the subject of vampires.

Vampires do have rules to live by, embodied in the Laws of the Blood. The laws are for the vampires' protection as much as the teeming millions of humans who unknowingly occupy the vampires' world. If word of the vampires' real-life existence got out, mankind would not rest until these "monsters" of the night were destroyed. Of course, vampires roiling in the overpowering desire of bloodlust can't really be depended upon to play it cool in all situations, and that is why there are Enforcers in each area. The word of the Enforcer vampire is law and must be obeyed. This is especially important during periods of the Hunt. Vampires are not permitted to kill humans according to their whims, but they must hunt and sate their bloodthirst periodically. It is up to the Enforcer to name the number of victims, identify them, and set everything up for the Hunt. In the Los Angeles area, the Enforcer is named Selim. His job is not an easy one. A couple of the local vampires resent his power over them and seek a means to overturn the ancient Laws and feed when and where they choose. He also has a five-year-old dhampir, the first dhampir born in many, many years, to worry about and protect - vampires do not like dhampirs as a rule, generally viewing them as huge threats to their kind. Then there is Siri, Selim's Companion. Virtually all vampires have one or more companions, human beings who love and serve their undead masters until such time as they become vampires themselves. Cut a Companion loose too early or keep them close for too long out of your own love and need, and you risk creating a strigoi, a loner vampire who usually turns out pretty messed up in the head.

Selim has all of these problems weighing on him, distracting him. His complex relationship with Siri is gravely threatened by Siri's disapproval of Selim's recent behavior and orders as an Enforcer - she finds the killing of innocents horrifying. In a larger sense, though, it is a lack of communication and sharing that threatens to irreparably harm this relationship Despite all of these concerns and worries, though, Selim is not even aware of his biggest problem of all. Somewhere out there, an ancient vampire is scripting a movie called If Truth Be Told, a film which will tell the true story of vampires - in fact, it will tell Selim's own story, for the unknown vampire is secretly riding Selim's dreams during the day and basing her script on his very life.

The Hunt is quite an impressive novel, one which turns several vampire myths on their heads and brings to life a new and fascinating type kind of vampire, one never really seen before in the literature. As always seems to happen, the struggles of the vampire, particularly an Enforcer such as Selim who must control as well as defend the nests living and operating under his jurisdiction, speaks to very human qualities that all readers can relate to: doing what is right; putting the interests of the many over the personal interests of the one; staying within the limits of the law at all times, when passion, justice, or a thirst for revenge impels you to act rashly and aggressively; figuring out how to love the person you are with and to overcome all manner of romantic obstacles in the process, etc. The vampire has always served as a mirror of the human soul, and it seems clear to me that Susan Sizemore understands that fact very well.

but I had a hard time getting in to this book. Seemed like too many characters right off the bat so it was hard to get a grasp as to what was going on and the time frame and the characters ... so, i've put it down and am hoping to revisit. Hate to miss out on a good vampire story so i'll shelf for now and try again.

I had high hopes for this book. Knowing that it's first in a series of unusual vampire novels I was looking for this book to set up the characters, place and theme of the story for the entire series. But the writer just jumps into the story, while using terms like strig, enforcer, hunter, slave. Not explaining who or what any of these characters are. Almost all unfollowable dialogue with no background.

Confusing and poorly written
1 star.

I found this was pretty well written, and I'm looking forward to seeing his subsequent novels.

While I'm certainly not a puritan, I did feel swear words were a little over used. In addition, the editing left much to be desired: while a spell checker was used to insure all words were correctly spelled, there were a number of instances where the wrong word was used.

"Moonlight" is a work of fictional horror with the underlying premise of good versus evil.

In his debut novel, the author expertly avoids the pitfalls of weak character development and flimsy plot line that many first-time authors are guilty of. His characters are easily distinguished and have personality traits that you can identify with. The vivid descriptions of sight, sound, and smell place you smack-dab in the middle of all the action.

Though it certainly would not prevent me from recommending this book, I feel that many elements of Mr. Knapp's book are unoriginal and possess a cookie-cutter quality. For example, the "ink black eyes" are oddly reminiscent of a Stephen King novel, which may not be a bad thing since I love the work of Mr. King.

There are some rather distracting editing issues, but this too can be overlooked as you immerse yourself in the tale that Mr. Knapp has successfully spun.

I really enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind graphic content.

Moonlight had me from the first sentence. Keith Knapp has written an interesting tale of horror and suspense.
It begins when a small town experiences a black out, not any ordinary black out, cars, batteries, anything electric has stopped working and in the darkness, evil has come to prey.
If Moonlight falls into some of the first time writer/self published pitfalls, it redeems itself with characters that are interesting and believable dialogue.

First we have a power outage...and I was interested. Then there was a Man in a Dark Coat...and I was intrigued. Add some dead bodies, lots of blood, some gore and some scary situations...and I'm totally hooked. I could not put this book down.

I thought the author did a great job. He introduced the characters and kept them at the front of the story in such a way that the reader became a part of the group rather than an observer. His situations were realistic and the characters were believable. I was impressed the way the author maintained a level of mystery from the first page until the final chapter. The story flowed and every action had a purpose, whether it was done by a living character or a dead one.

The conclusion of this book left me feeling satisfied and every loose end was neatly tied up. When I closed the book, I wished the remaining characters well in their future endeavors, and deep down, I knew they would continue to survive.

Though this book is almost 500 pages, don't let that prevent you from reading it. There is a lot of space and the font is large. If this had been printed by most of the mass market crew this book would probably be in the 330-350 page range. Beyond that... the almost 500 pages of this book are very good and the author manages to entertain from beginning to end.

Short Summary: The power goes out, and along with it everything else stops working from cars to watches to everything else. As if that isn't enough suddenly people aren't acting right... in fact they have become downright homicidal, and for some reason when you knock them down, they just keep getting back up, alive or not. We follow a band of survivors as they try to figure out what is going on and how they are going to live through the madness.

With echoes of "The Stand" and "The Rising" this novel takes off quickly. This is a very easy read, it flows well and although at first it appears that this might end up being something we've read before, it turns down a different path. The author does a good job of keeping the tension up and not spoon feeding us all of the truth of what is going on too quickly. I also really appreciated that no-one in the book immediately had the answer. There were guesses all over the ball park, which is far more realistic than many other horror novels where someone always seems to know exactly what the problem is right from the get go. Knapp also does a wonderful job with his characters. Though I won't say they were all multidimensional, the ones we needed to care about, he was able to evoke enough emotion for. The reader will be concerned for many of them, and not all of them will make it. Though for the most part it is pretty clear who is going to live and die, there were a few stray deaths in there that I wasn't expecting (which is always good). As far as the ending... I could a used a little more umph but other than that, I closed the book and felt satisfied with what I had read.

My only real issue with the book was the title which really didn't have anything at all to do with the story. In fact many readers may be confused at the lack of werewolves in the story. Oh and a warning for those of you who don't seem to have the concept of horror (see other reviewer) there is a good bit of gore in this book and there IS profanity, though I didn't find it excessive or out of place.

I would suggest this book to the standard horror fans (King, Koontz, Matheson), I don't know that the extreme horror crew will find enough of the truly disgusting moments to keep them satisfied. Also this book is PG rated when it comes to the nudity and sex aspect (which I was completely happy with) but if that's what you are looking for, head for some Laymon or Lee rather than this novel. I really enjoyed this read and will pick up others by this author when they come out. Highly recommended.

I loved this book more than the first one. I love Due's writing style. The Living Blood had been on the edge of my seat the entire time. I love the fact that David and Jessica have to work together to save their little Fana. The ending was great. If I didn't know that there was a third book, this one would have summed it up for me but left me wanting a third one.

I have one word for this book, wordy! It could have been 300 pages, instead of the 700 it was. Due goes into all kinds of lengthy explanations of feelings and emotions that are just so much blah, blah, blah. The story kept promising to get interesting but never really did, and the ending was down right hokey. I read reveiw after reveiw that said this book was really scary......NOT! It was scary diappointing.

"The Living Blood" by Tananarive Due is a riveting and supernatural suspense novel that will hold your interest from chapter to chapter. She introduces her characters through their minds as well as their actions. While parents Jessica, a mortal turned immortal, and David/Dawit, an immortal, are the main characters, for me, four-year old Fana steals the story. The parents are bewildered trying to understand and raise their gifted child, who has inherited her father's living blood. The Creator of the Life Colony says he has allowed Fana to be born, has given her "the power to stand between mortal and immortal, the two races of man. The child is both salvation and destruction."

As in Tananarive Due's other book, "My Soul To Keep," the theme--the blood of Christ--continues in "The Living Blood," proving in her stories that it is more precious than gold.

What happens when the ability to heal the ills of the world with one drop of the living blood? Human beings are honored, hated, misunderstood and frightened out of your wits. This well constructed novel highlights the admirable, reprehensible and greed in mortals. Immortals, who received the blood through the Life Brothers, declare a life or death battle to keep it within the colony, pitting powerful forces against powerful forces.

I could go on but I'll stop here. I could not put this excellently written book down. I am in awe of Tananarive Due. Onward to "Blood Colony." I'm a committed fan.

I found this book less engaging but more fullfilling than My Soul To Keep.
The Living Blood gave a few characters a chance to redeem themselves in what was a dire situation from the first book.

Minimum Maturity Level - Adult
Strong Language. Violence. Adult Situations.

Previous Reading Required - Minor
This is a sequel to "My Soul to Keep". After reading this, I find that you don't really need to read the first one because many events that happened in the first book are summarized in this book. But, it does give a false pretense on a few facts if you have skipped the first book. So, I would recommend reading the first book before proceeding with this one.

Reading Level - Average
Easy to follow. Very good detail in descriptions.

Rate of Development - Moderate to Slow
The book is 515 pages and the events feel like they been stretched out a bit too long. But that is just the author's way of getting you more involved with the characters. As an event takes place, you will sometimes get a description of why this character feels the way he/she does. This in turn creates more pages than necessary but again, it draws you into the character a bit more.

The Story - Thriller
Jessica Jacobs-Wolde survives the ordeal from the first book "My Soul to Keep" with her daughter and has developed a healing clinic in South Africa. Her daughter, Fana, has been given the gift of her fathers healing blood and some unusual effects come along with that. Her daughter has developed great mental powers and abilities in such a short time that she has become dangerous to herself and to others. Meanwhile, Dr. Lucas Shepard is in search of Jessica's healing skills to save his son's life. But he runs into a group of fortune hunters in search of the clinic for the healing "drug" for their own gains. At this time, Fana's powers are unleashed and the fate of humanity is at stake as the Bee Lady attempts to possess Fana for her own purpose.

My Suggestion - Recommended
This book was kinda slow at first but the ending was quite good. The places you are taken to are quite wonderous and intriging to read about. The characters are quite believable which makes the book all that more great.

The Werewolf of Fever Swamp is my daughter's (as well as my) first time reading any of the books in the Goosebumps series. She just turned 6, last month, and the only chapter type books we have read, thus far, are the Magic Tree House books. During our last trip to Barnes and Noble, I told her that she could pick out a few books to kick off some great summer reading. This was one that she picked out - much to my excitement, lol.
Grady and his family have recently moved to Fever Swamp. His parents are both Scientists and his Dad has decided to do some research on South American swamp deer, thus the reason for moving to Florida - and the swamp.
It's not long before hair-raising howling, echoes through the area, bringing not only chills, but questions of a possible....werewolf?! Does the dog that suddenly shows up at Grady's house have anything to do with the horrible things happening? Or perhaps it is the swamp hermit, who has a way of showing up at odd times, when the kids are walking through the swamp area. Whatever the cause, the one thing that is without a doubt - when the moon is full, the only safe place to be is behind locked doors.
With a hint of scariness and mystery, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp is a great first exposure to the suspense horror genre for children. The author has a wonderful way of ending each chapter with suspense, leaving the reader wanting to continue until the very last page. My daughter and I read this in a very short time and each time we had to stop, she would give a groan of protest. At the end of this book, there was a teaser (first chapter) of another Goosebumps book titled It Came From Beneath the Sink. We read this and needless to say, will be making it a purchase in the very near future!

Another perfectly good kid ruined...
Turned into a Gothic monster who roams the woods at night.
Some people are scared of their own shadows
and stories like this get to them.
Knowing people,
you find that they are monsters enough
without any need of imagination.
I wasn't trilled by this swamp tale.

Do you like Goosebumps books and werewolves? If you do I think you will like this book!
This book is called The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. I thought this book was exiting and thrilling.
This book is about a boy named Grady, who's family moved outside of a swamp in Florida. Grady and his sister, Emily, explore the swamp, they see many interesting things.
When they try to find their way back they find themselves face to face with a swamp Hermit . While running away, Grady, trips and the swamp hermit finds him.
Run to your library and pick up this book to find out what happens to Grady!

Goosebumps
Werewolf of Fever Swamp

Do you like getting scared? If you do you, then read this book. It's about a boy, Grady who discovers a swamp and meets a boy named Ben who acted really strange. AHH! A big giant wolf like dog jumped on Grady BANG! He fell to the ground. Now, the dog like wolf is quite friendly. Read the book to find out if the creature is a wolf or a dog. And what happens to Ben. BEWARE!


I recommend this book for children who love scares. Do not read to children who are extremely scared of monsters. May cause nightmares.


My opinion is that from 8+ could read this book.

I give this book a five stars rank because every chapter you read makes you want to read more and more, to find out what is next surprise. Another reason is it has a good mixture of creepy and thrilling.

I watched a movie based on this book and I believe that you should read the book instead of watching the movie. The book has more details and more scary and fun things. I recommend people who like thrilling stories to read this book. I can't wait to read other books by the same author, R.L. Stine.

Having read and enjoyed most of Lovecraft's other works, I picked up this book for a diversion - curious to see how the collaborations worked out. I was unprepared for the fantastic quality of some of the stories, which in my opinion rank with his best work. My two personal favorites include "The Last Test" and "The Mound." Those two stories are worth the price alone. Not all of the stories, of course, are equally successful, and Lovecraft's level of involvement varied. One thing that remained clear, however, was that Lovecraft was ahead of his time, and no modern horror/weird fantasy writer has yet to catch up.

HP Lovecraft was a terrific writer of horror and was editor of Weird Tales 1920-30s and his stories are still popular today. Along with Robert E. Howard (My favorite), and Clark Ashton Smith, these three writers comprised the bulk of innovative talent of Weird Tales. This book has stories that HP Lovecraft had a hand in writing,editing and some his own. The creepiest story is Winged Death by Hazel Heald. It's about a man who is pestered by a weird looking fly with blue color wings. This story is scary as Robert E. Howard's Pigeons From Hell! Another creepy story in this book is The Man of Stone also by Hazel Heald. This lady had a terrific weird, creepy, and horrific imagination. I'm going to do some research on her and get some of her books. Highly recommend Robert E. Howard stories such as: Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, Lord of Samarcand (Oriental), Bran Mak Morn, Best of REH I & II, Blood & Thunder, The Life & Art of REH by Mark Finn, The Last of the Trunk by Paul Herman, One Who Walked Alone by Novalyne Price who was REH's girlfriend, The Dark Barbarian & The Barbaric Triumph by Don Herron, Two-Gun Bob, and all of the Weird Tales by Paul Herman, etc. If you've never read one of these stories you're in for a real treat - My favorites are The Black River, Red Nails, and Rogues in the House of REH. If you haven't read any of REH's stories you're in for a treat! My favorites: Beyond The Black River, Red Nails, and Rogues in the House.

Though this book does not go into any specific detail as to what revisions were made where, it remains an important collection for fans of Lovecraft. Here we see not only his influence, but his very hand in the stories presented. It's fascinating to read these mostly quasi-Lovecraftian tales, knowing that the master himself picked them apart at some point. On top of that, they're pretty entertaining too. Just don't go in expecting full-on Lovecraft.

I thought that I had a complete collection of Lovecraft's stories. However, references to "K'n-yan", "red-litten Yoth", and "Yig, Father of Snakes" would crop up and I didn't know to what it referred. By using my handy-dandy Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (whose primary function is to look in what story a particular nameless entity crops up) I discovered that I should be reading "The Horror in the Museum" and "The Mound." Wonderful, but where should I look for these tales? Enter THE HORROR IN THE MUSEUM AND OTHER REVISIONS.

This book contains 10 stories to which Lovecraft added his stamp (some of which he practically ghost-wrote). As in "The Challenge From Beyond", it is often not difficult to see the transition to Lovecraft's ... particular ... style of narration.

For the purposes of completeness of Lovecraft's corpus, I would recommend reading "The Horror in the Museum" and "The Mound". As far as I know, these stories are unavailable elsewhere. "Winged Death" and "The Curse of Yig" are in addition effective at evincing chills. The rest are so-so, and may strike your fancy, and for others will fall quite flat.

One of the means by which Lovecraft supported himself was in revising stories written by younger, would-be writers. These revisions are problematic because it is virtually impossible to say how much of Lovecraft himself is to be found in them. I believe that, with a few exceptions, the master of the macabre did not lend much of his influence in the retelling of these inferior tales, but a certain few of them do possess sufficient traces of Lovecraft to make them of interest to those followers in his footsteps. Oddly enough, the two stories that actually list Lovecraft as co-author, The Crawling Chaos and The Green Meadow, are the worst of the bunch. Both of these Elizabeth Berkeley stories are flights of fancy which forego any real plot in favor of lofty, dream-enshrouded flights of fancy which cannot even begin to compare to the Dunsanian, dream-cycle myths that Lovecraft perfected on his own. William Lumley's The Diary of Alonzo Typer is a rather formulaic tale of ancient evil and the discovery of a stranger's ancestral lineage upon his return to the home of a dead forebear. It gives lip service to such Lovecraftian gods as Shub-Niggurath but falls short of dramatically gripping the reader. Wilfred Blanch Talman's Two Black Bottles is another unoriginal attempt to horrify the reader by invoking a soul-reclaiming restless spirit from the confines of a dark, defiled church's cemetery; this story succeeds rather well but possesses no real pizzazz. Adolphe de Castro contributes The Electric Executioner, a rather enjoyable story that cannot but ultimately disappoint in regards to its highly improbably ending.

The revised work of two authors, Hazel Heald and Zealia Bishop, do merit a closer look. Not only are their tales enjoyable and reasonably well-crafted, they do bear certain imprints of the master revisionist's singular hand. Heald's Winged Death has nothing at all to do with the Cthulhu Mythos, instead offering the chronicles of a scientist's mad, wretched, and ultimately self-destructive plot to ingeniously kill a colleague whom he accuses of discrediting his work. Heald's other tale, The Horror in the Museum, does attain a nice level of creepiness and a touch of cosmic horror. The museum in question is a wax museum, and the strange owner suggests that his distinctly horrible wax figures are more than mere wax. The protagonist, whose friendly interest in the singular artist turns to concern and fear at his increasingly mad utterings, agrees to spend a night alone in the dark museum, surrounded by horrible waxen figures and only two doors away from a creature the artist makes incredible claims about, eventually stating that it is a beast he has called down from Yuggoth itself, a beast through which the return of the Old Ones to Earth can be secured. There is plenty of Cthulhian chanting and references to be found in this story, although it does not follow the letter of the original Mythos. Zealia Bishop's tales also convey Mythos elements, yet her stories take the reader to Mexico and underneath the plains of Oklahoma, transplanting the abodes of ancient otherworldly creatures beneath the ground and reinterpreting the Mythos references in a Mexican-Spanish tradition. The Curse of Yig invokes a snake-devil of Indian legendry who exacts a most bitter revenge on those who would harm his children among the snake population, one much more malign and vengeful than death itself. The Oklahoma setting of The Curse of Yig is greatly expounded upon in the most significant tale of this collection, Bishop's The Mound. An ancient mound is guarded by Indian spirits, and all white settlers who have dared explore the area have either returned no more or returned as raving madmen. A scientist of the twentieth century cannot be expected to put stock in such tales, though, so our protagonist vows to explore the mound and finally uncover its secrets. In a major discovery, he comes across a centuries-old account of a sixteenth century Spanish explorer who claims to have journeyed into an alien world underneath the mound, one where some well-known Lovecraftian otherworldy gods are spoken of, remembered, and worshipped. It is rather fascinating to see a sort of conflated Mythos cosmology transplanted deep beneath the earth and to read of references to ancient gods such as Tulu that correlate with the Great Cthulhu. Among the revisions in this collection, The Mound most clearly bears the influence of Lovecraft himself, and while one should by no means place it in the canon of his horrific literature, it does hold a power sure to hypnotize the seekers of Lovecraftian knowledge with its implications and parallel take on the Mythos itself.

My 8 year old started reading this book and finished it in 2 days. Just enough suspense to keep her interested but not too scary.Overall it was a fun read. We look forward to more adventures with Mrs. Jeepers and her class.

Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots is about four friends who get a new teacher. But this is no ordinary teacher; she is from Transylvania and that is where Count Dracula lives. The four friends, Howie, Eddie, Liza, and Melody thought she was a vampire because she looked and acted like it. Eddie wants to get rid of her so he acts as bad as he can. She finally takes him in the hall to have a talk with him. You will have to read the book to find out what happens.
I like Eddie because he is brave and gets into trouble. I want to know what the teacher said to Eddie in the hall because it never tells you. I like it when Eddie trips Ben because Ben is being mean to him. I didn't like Liza very much because she was always scared of everything. I think everyone should read this book because it is very entertaining.

A Great Book!.
The third grade at Bailey Elementary was very hard to handle. Most teachers would quit and move far way after trying to teach them. But Mrs. Jeepers was different. No one ever dared her to make her mad because of the green brooch and sometimes weird things and the strangest things happen to them!

Vampires Don't Wear Polka-Dots

Well I am reading Vampires Don't Wear Polka-Dot. In the beginning Eddie (class clown) puts shaving cream on his teacher's desk she went crazy and quit her job as a teacher. The next day they got a new teacher, Mrs. Jeepers. She is weird and everyone thinks she is a vampire. Eddie and Melody sneaks into the basement to find out if the box the moving people where moving had a coffin in it. They went in and couldn't get the box open. Now Eddie is going to be extra mean, he puts garlic on the floor {because vampires are supposed to be allergic to it}. If she really is a vampire then she will be allergic to it! She sneezes and she keeps blowing her nose, when she does this she can't hear anything. The janitor comes and cleans it up when the kids are at lunch. Eddie spits a spitball at Mrs. Jeepers and one hits her the in face she takes him out into the hall and he comes back as white as a ghost. Nobody messed with Mrs. Jeepers anymore. At the end it never said she wasn't a vampire!
My opinion for the book is that it is a good book, it teaches kids a lesson and not to mess with a teacher.

This book is about 5 kids who think their new teacher is a vampire. It is a little scary but very good and whenever their teachers brooch glows it means she is very mad. I read this book in two hours it was so good.

even though my son is eleven, he decided to read this book with me and to add his own review:

"personally, it was a very good book. I would have liked it even better when I was younger. I liked the funny "Sir" names, the pictures were very well done, and the story was cute and not scary."

I agree with Colin's review-it was a cute story and a welcome addition to the younger sets Halloween as well as "fantasy creatures" books available. recommended-4 stars.

I received this book and read it to my 3 years old little boy on the very first Knight (sorry, I couldn't resist). He absolutely loved it and was more interested in counting the knights on each page than he was in the actual story. He loved the illustrations on each and every page.

Keep in mind that this review is written in Sept. and although Halloween is far off it seems to be the only thing he has on his mind as of late. This book definately fed his desire for the "spooky" even if from the perspective of the 3 years old.

I've always been fascinated with the subject of "What's lurking in the dark?" myself so it comes as no suprise that my offspring would follow in my footsteps. This book is great for children under 5 years of age. I wouldn't recommend going any older than that. You as parents know your children better than I do developmentally so the choice lies with you.

Boogie Knights is a delightful book of rhymes and clever wordplay. It is a counting book that follows the escapades of seven knights in armor as they unbend enough to join a madcap party.

The pictures of done in sepia, brown and black with figures capering delightfully across the page. It is just the thing for Halloween season reading as the story is filled with witches, ghosts, goblins and banshees.

My five year old really like the rhymes and the silly pictures. I especially like the clever word play. Each knight has a descriptive name such as Sir Veillance (he over hears the party going on) and Sir Loin (he cries out "our honor is at stake!").

Fun book which I recommend for younger kids.

This is a beautiful hardcover book with wonderful illustrations and a fun story. I enjoyed reading it and I will share this with my nieces now that I know it's 'ok'.

This book is like many of the stories that my nieces have. It's fun, interesting, and it has great pictures. It's a story about knights coming out to dance at the yearly Madcap Monster Ball. Slightly spooky, it's perfect for a cozy evening read in the cool weather with my nieces and some hot chocolate.

This is a cute picture book with nice rhyming & rythm. I enjoyed the illustrations (as did my son). I suppose it could be creepy to some young children,( lots of ghosties & monsters), however my 5 yr old loves it & I have read it to him so many times ,I almost have it memorized.( it IS fun to read out loud)