A review by ipanzica
The Terror by Arthur Machen

4.0

Compelling, suspenseful, and constantly keeping you guessing. I was always on the edge of my seat and it was hard to put down. While reading it we were getting clues that made me think that the supernatural was involved and was excited to see what the mystery killer was. *SPOILER ALERT (I am literally saying the end of the book)* Unfortunately, the ending was a bit of a disappointment, since the killer was dun.....dun.....dun......... nature. Since the animals and bugs were attacking because they could feel the terror the villagers had about the world war 2. Though don't worry the whole thing resolved itself since the war ended, so the people were no longer scared and the animals/bugs no longer felt compelled to kill. Does this also sound anti-climatic and kinda dumb to you too? Since I feel like I was robbed of a great ending that the book was reading up too. This feeling is amplified by the fact that Arthur Machan was an expert in supernatural lore and wrote other stores about the occult/ supernatural, so a better ending was something he could have done. If for some reason you are reading my spoiler-ridden review before reading the book I recommend reading right up the reveal and then make up your own ending. That way you will not have to read such a disappointing ending but still get to read the amazing parts before the ending.