harrietj's review against another edition
3.0
I read this for the 'extreme horror' category of a reading challenge I was doing and I was surprised at how tame it was. Certainly it was nothing more than you'd find in any of Richard Laymon's books, or Shaun Hutson's. The most shocking thing in it was the cavalier attitude to littering. At one point a character is thinking about how much she loves the country, and how maybe she'll move here, and then she balls up her rubbish and throws it in the river! What? How times have changed.
It was predictably rapey and gory but, again, no more so than a Laymon. Perhaps in fact less creepy because at least the characters in this story are meant to be monstrous.
Overall this was a quick, enjoyable enough Wrong Turn-esque novel, with all the misogyny and environmental insensitivity you'd expect from a book published in 1980. And I agree with Ketchum in his afterword -.
It was predictably rapey and gory but, again, no more so than a Laymon. Perhaps in fact less creepy because at least the characters in this story are meant to be monstrous.
Overall this was a quick, enjoyable enough Wrong Turn-esque novel, with all the misogyny and environmental insensitivity you'd expect from a book published in 1980. And I agree with Ketchum in his afterword -
Spoiler
Nick had to diebrosephasaurus's review against another edition
4.0
Overall a great read if you're a fan of blood soaked action and visuals that will make your stomach turn. My only real complaint is that it started off a bit slow, but once it gets going it doesn't relent until the very end.
lych's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
“At 32, She looked nearly as good as she had at twenty. The ass had a bit more sag to it, yes, but then again her skin was a whole lot better. Another trade off. She turned to the side. her small breasts quivered. Nice lines, she thought.
The shower did what it was supposed to do. It soothed her and refreshed her. It also made her a little horny”
HER SMALL BREASTS QUIVERED?????? 🤢
Men writing women never gets more cringe and gross lmao
THEY WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF TRYING TO FLEE AND THIS CHICK IS CHECKING OUT THIS OTHER WOMAN’S “FIRM, FULL BREASTS” AND COMPARING THEIR BODY TYPES??????
The gore and horror was good but every time I started to get into the book and was like, oh yeah, this is gross and scary, he starts with some dumb shit like that. Christ.
kriavidar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
nofluxgiven's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
The lack of depth for all the female characters and the thinly veiled misogyny in the writing was more horrifying than the gore.
paws4books3's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
5.0
First Jack Ketchum ever!! I NEED more!
patrickcline279's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Eh the best thing I can say about it is that it was fast and over quickly. Despite the brutality it was kinda boring. The issue is the characters, I just didn't care about them. I read this because I've read Girl Next Door and that was totally devastating. Read that if you want to be horrified and care.
fezamadoodle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
phil629's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
In reading this in 2023, it's unsurprising that the overall shock factor was diminished, given my exposure to various narratives since the '80s. While not the author's fault, this influenced my experience. Additionally, I struggled to connect emotionally with the main characters due to their unlikeable nature. The book, in essence, felt akin to observing a peculiar carnival sideshow before strolling on to get popcorn and forgetting all about it.
lakecake's review against another edition
2.0
Blech, this book was terrible. It wasn't even scary, just gross, and not even in an "omigod can you believe this is happening" kind of way, but in the "oh wow, he had this guy eat someone's intestines. I don't think he even cooked them. There's poop in there" kind of way. SO BAD. I was really looking forward to this, since Stephen King ranked it so highly. Waste of time.