A review by twitchyredpen
The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein by Thomas Ligotti
1.0
Fan fiction about classic horror, written by someone far too convinced of his writing's artistic merit. The preface goes on longer than any of the stories to tell you just how clever and twisting and painful these stories are. Painful is right.
Plots are basically "What if this story was EVEN WORSE OOOOOO" [holding flashlight under chin]; writing is the present tense tone of someone telling you about their day with about as much narrative skill as you'd expect from someone who insists on telling about their day in the present tense.
What if Victor Frankenstein's brain got put into another monster OOOOOOO what if the wolfman didn't know what would happen to his body OOOOO What if Christine felt something for the phantom of the opera OOOOOOO What if someone drank/smoked themselves to death because they were worried about a vampire OOOOOO What if a ghost could never scream at someone because it waited too long OOOOOO....
Nickelodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark" series of scary campfire tales for preteens was more twisty, painful, and clever than this.
Positives about this book:
Is very short
Not so awful that it can't be finished (helped by being short)
Nothing that made my editing senses tingle though I disagree with some of the commas
Plots are basically "What if this story was EVEN WORSE OOOOOO" [holding flashlight under chin]; writing is the present tense tone of someone telling you about their day with about as much narrative skill as you'd expect from someone who insists on telling about their day in the present tense.
What if Victor Frankenstein's brain got put into another monster OOOOOOO what if the wolfman didn't know what would happen to his body OOOOO What if Christine felt something for the phantom of the opera OOOOOOO What if someone drank/smoked themselves to death because they were worried about a vampire OOOOOO What if a ghost could never scream at someone because it waited too long OOOOOO....
Nickelodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark" series of scary campfire tales for preteens was more twisty, painful, and clever than this.
Positives about this book:
Is very short
Not so awful that it can't be finished (helped by being short)
Nothing that made my editing senses tingle though I disagree with some of the commas