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casparquarius's reviews
64 reviews
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
4.0
it's hard to know what to say about this book. I spent the first third or so uncertain of where it was going, but intrigued to find out and honestly it didn't disappoint. the last house on needless street is such a compelling ride; I don't always love stories that twist and turn a lot towards the end but this one managed to do it very well, and not only avoid ableist tropes that are such a staple of the horror genre but approach them thoughtfully and compassionately. the ending was maybe a touch twee and tidy for my personal taste, but I think it was well done. the writing itself was extremely interesting, with the different POV characters having their own distinctive voices, and that was one of my favorite things about it
From Below by Darcy Coates
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
I liked it fine. the pacing felt rough - it would swap between two time periods and the switch almost always felt like it killed any tension the narrative had managed to build, rather than helping to create it. honestly felt like it would be better served by being a movie? I loved the visuals, and there were some good characters, and I really liked the bits from before the ship sank, but the writing and construction of the story needed work to be super effective.
Content Warnings
drowning, and the risk of drowning, is a major feature in the book
Red X by David Demchuk
5.0
I think this book is going to haunt me for a long time to be honest, and I love that. the different events across various time periods, the interstitial memoir-esque sections, the characters, the boy. everything about this deeply appealed to me and has not left my brain since I finished it. watching the story unfold, slowly and methodically, was both incredibly fun and deeply unsettling. being gay, and gay for men specifically, and trans, made me feel so much more susceptible to the horrors in the pages in a way that I rarely have before. I really loved it
The Graveyard Apartment: A Novel by Mariko Koike
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Infidelity and Injury/Injury detail
Hell House by Richard Matheson
3.0
closer to 3.5, or maybe even 4. I did like this, and I thought it did a truly admirable job of setting up The Most Hauntedest House and then having it live up to its reputation within the narrative. my primary problems were that his writing style just didn't work for me in terms of building atmosphere and tension and perhaps more importantly, the exploration of sexual horror themes were extremely flat and underdeveloped compared to other themes.