One House Left by Vincent Ralph (2024)
Loads of mixed feelings about this one, a YA horror in the bloody, scary teen-angst tradition of R.L. Stine.
To begin with, you need to swallow the involved mythology of Cherry Tree Lane (a.k.a. "Murder Road.) A grisly mass killing in one of the houses resulted in a curse put on the entire street......leading to similar, unexplainable atrocities up and down the block. So this little chunk of the neighborhood becomes worse than the Bates Motel - residents check in but they don't check out, except in the parade of body bags that the police haul out of the homes on a regular basis. And that also applies to rubbernecking gawkers who make the mistake of stopping in for a visit. Presumably that block's realtor must be on anti-depressants.
16 year old Nate and the rest of his family lived close enough to Murder Road to flee for their lives. But no matter how many new towns they move in and out of, they're inevitably followed and bedeviled by the supernatural "HIding Boy" who first put the curse in action. Knowing each new home is temporary, Nate avoids making any friends at his new high school, but that pretty quirky girl Max sends him into an instant crush. Even worse for him - Max and her two friends Seb and Tyler invite him into their little group of Urban Legend chasers, daring to provoke monsters and ghouls into coming out and play.
In the immortal words of Scooby Doo.......Ruh-roh.
I'm making this sound like good creepy fun, but uh.....not really. There's certainly no shortage of oncoming dread, frightful moments and an extended third act finale filled with nightmarish sights and a truly nihilistic twist. But the main characters are sketched with little or no attempt at reader empathy, which I thought undercut effectiveness of the horror. While I realize that the final paragraph is meant to pack a punch, it only served to increase the sour feeling it left me with. (Plus, if I moved into a town where the big yearly event is called 'Bloodbath', I'd already rent a U-Haul to move right out again.....)
The generous 3 stars )***) are for horror completists who don't want to miss a thing........all the stuff you like is here, but I'm not sure how much of it will entertain you as you think it will. (And don't expect to experience a wave of sympathy for some of these characters......just sayin'.....)
To begin with, you need to swallow the involved mythology of Cherry Tree Lane (a.k.a. "Murder Road.) A grisly mass killing in one of the houses resulted in a curse put on the entire street......leading to similar, unexplainable atrocities up and down the block. So this little chunk of the neighborhood becomes worse than the Bates Motel - residents check in but they don't check out, except in the parade of body bags that the police haul out of the homes on a regular basis. And that also applies to rubbernecking gawkers who make the mistake of stopping in for a visit. Presumably that block's realtor must be on anti-depressants.
16 year old Nate and the rest of his family lived close enough to Murder Road to flee for their lives. But no matter how many new towns they move in and out of, they're inevitably followed and bedeviled by the supernatural "HIding Boy" who first put the curse in action. Knowing each new home is temporary, Nate avoids making any friends at his new high school, but that pretty quirky girl Max sends him into an instant crush. Even worse for him - Max and her two friends Seb and Tyler invite him into their little group of Urban Legend chasers, daring to provoke monsters and ghouls into coming out and play.
In the immortal words of Scooby Doo.......Ruh-roh.
I'm making this sound like good creepy fun, but uh.....not really. There's certainly no shortage of oncoming dread, frightful moments and an extended third act finale filled with nightmarish sights and a truly nihilistic twist. But the main characters are sketched with little or no attempt at reader empathy, which I thought undercut effectiveness of the horror. While I realize that the final paragraph is meant to pack a punch, it only served to increase the sour feeling it left me with. (Plus, if I moved into a town where the big yearly event is called 'Bloodbath', I'd already rent a U-Haul to move right out again.....)
The generous 3 stars )***) are for horror completists who don't want to miss a thing........all the stuff you like is here, but I'm not sure how much of it will entertain you as you think it will. (And don't expect to experience a wave of sympathy for some of these characters......just sayin'.....)
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