Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Hell Spring by Isaac Thorne

4 reviews

soobooksalot's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

What a wild way to start the new year of reading!
 Thank you to author Isaac Thorne for my ebook for review.
 It's March 21, 1955. The town of Lost Hollows, Tennessee has come under seige of a violent storm and flash flood. 
 Eight residents of the small town have taken shelter in Beard's General Store. A creature in the form of Marilyn Monroe is found in the storm, and integrates to feed off the sin, guilt and shame of the town's residents.
 Despite the first chapter nearly sending me for the hills lol (some interesting imagery, a bit reminiscent of David Lynch!), I quickly fell into the town's characters and enjoyed the read. It's told from multiple points of view, and later chapters in the year of a future flood.
 Amidst the fictional horrors there are some real world dark themes such as homophobia, racism, domestic abuse, and traumatic pasts.
 I could easily imagine Hell Spring as a mini-series.
 Horror fans looking for something unique and different - recommended!
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aedoran08's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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donnyeatsbooks's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

β€œπ‘»π’‰π’† π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’”π’‰π’‚π’Žπ’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‚π’π’™π’Šπ’†π’•π’š π’Šπ’” 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’•π’‰π’†π’š'𝒓𝒆 π’„π’šπ’„π’π’Šπ’„π’‚π’. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’„π’π’Šπ’Žπ’ƒ π’•π’‰π’†π’Šπ’“ π’Žπ’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’, π’‡π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’•π’‰π’†π’š 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒑 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 π’šπ’π’–. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π’šπ’π’–'𝒗𝒆 π’π’—π’†π’“π’„π’π’Žπ’† π’•π’‰π’†π’Ž π’ƒπ’š π’“π’†π’‚π’„π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’”π’–π’Žπ’Žπ’Šπ’•, π’šπ’π’– π’…π’Šπ’”π’„π’π’—π’†π’“ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’šπ’π’– π’˜π’†π’“π’†π’'𝒕 π’„π’π’Šπ’Žπ’ƒπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’ 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’˜π’†π’“π’† 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‚π’π’π’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’“π’Šπ’Ž 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 π’˜π’‰π’†π’†π’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’π’π’† π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†.”

When Isaac Thorne offered to send me a copy of his novel, π‡πžπ₯π₯ 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐒𝐧𝐠, to review, I accepted with admittedly low expectations. The premise was certainly interesting (a group of people holed up in a general store are preyed upon by a demon taking the form of Marilyn Monroe), but it was so far-fetched that I wasn’t sure how it could possibly be executed. (To good effect, anyway.) But lo and behold, I finished the book with fresh, hot tears streaming down my face.

From giant phalluses spewing acidic cum, to hellhounds shape-shifting into Old Hollywood starlets, π‡πžπ₯π₯ 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐒𝐧𝐠 is a deluge of bizarre horrors. But it’s also a shockingly moving exploration of redemption, self-atonement, and religious trauma that particularly resonated with me, as a gay man from the south.

If you’re looking for your next horror fix, I implore you to check out this little doozy! It’s breezily paced and remarkably well-written, with a cast of sympathetic and morally complex characters, and a healthy amount of scares that are sure to satisfy fans of Stephen King, such as myself.

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violetturtledove's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have to say I went into this book with some expectations and got something completely different. The first chapter is just out-right bizarre, and but the following chapters are fairly standard character introductions, there's some very gruesome violence to set the tone and all the main 'food groups' of guilt are represented.
I thought I knew what to expect from a 'people trapped in a store' type story, and I thought at first this was hitting the beats a bit too fast. But as the story went on I realised it was because there was do much more to the story than I expected.
I don't want to spoil anything but there's a good dose of weirdness, some really creepy moments, a good pace that keeps you reading and a surprisingly sweet ending.
I've only given three stars because I didn't quite connect to the characters, and I found some of the dialogue a bit too focused on exposition, but I'm aware this is a personal preference I'd still recommend that any horror fans give this a try
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