Review-Welcome to the Dark House

The moment I heard about this book I knew I had to read it because there's nothing I love more than a good teen slasher story.  What I found within the cover was pretty much what I expected, although there were some elements of it that seemed slightly mystical, so it falls more along the lines of A Nightmare on Elm Street than it does Friday the 13th.  Very few books manage to work with more than two POVs but I found that this one, which had six, actually worked remarkably well.  Usually I get slightly confused by characters and find myself having to look back in the book for which character is who but all of the ones in this novel were different enough that I didn't have to do that.  Sure there were characters that I liked more than others, I don't think there were really any that I didn't like.  The book started a little slow, there were bits and pieces I wasn't sure were absolutely necessary to further the story, and because I am my usual gore-loving self I would have liked if the blood started a little sooner that it did, but I understand why the author paced the story the way she did.  One of the things I found most fascinating was how Stolarz constructed not just her mystery, but also the films that brought all of the characters together and played such a huge role in the plot itself.  There were several times when I wanted to go online and look these movies up so I could watch them before I remembered that they weren't actual movies that were made.  When I got to the end of the book I had mixed emotions because there were so many things that while wrapped up in some sense were not fully tied together, so I was very happy to learn that there will in fact be a sequel.  Personally I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel and I would highly suggest this book to lovers of the horror/suspense/thriller genre, especially when it comes to film. I have no idea if this movie has film rights and, if it does, if they have been bought, but I for one would love to see this book (and probably the series) up on the big screen (or the small one) because I think it would be a sure hit.  If you're not a huge fan of scary things I would suggest you come into this book with caution and perhaps read it with the lights on, but for my first book by this author I'm intrigued and will be reading more of her work in the future when I can find the time.

Out July 22, 2014

4.5/5 dust spirits 

*Thanks to Disney Hyperion for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an hones review