Horror week in my readers' advisory class was an interesting one. I’m not one to be particularly attracted to horror generally speaking, however, once in a while it strikes me – maybe only when the moon is full? This week I found myself thinking a lot about the horror genre as it pertains to films. Many a horror book finds its way to the big screen, and generally it involves some sort of supernatural element, particularly hauntings and possessions as of late. Horror movies nowadays seem to be moving away from the psycho serial killer thing that makes up most of the classics like Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween. Interestingly, the non-supernatural element that makes up canonical horror films like those listed above does not pertain to horror books, where by definition there is almost always a supernatural occurrence.
This week the assigned class horror title was World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, and frankly, I did not enjoy it. It was a cool concept for a book, but not for me. I listened to WWZ on audiobook, and since the book follows a whole range of global characters, the narrator changed with each person in the book, which was really neat. However, I found the book difficult to enjoy because none of the different characters or subplots really related to each other, other than the fact that they all took place after the zombie outbreak. As far as recommending this book to someone, they would definitely have to be interested in zombies to like it. A person looking for a general horror book without much interest in zombies or post-apocalyptic material would probably not enjoy this one very much.
The horror title I chose to read for this week was Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I personally found this one more of a supernatural thriller than a horror book, and enjoyed it quite a lot as seen in the review below.
This week the assigned class horror title was World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, and frankly, I did not enjoy it. It was a cool concept for a book, but not for me. I listened to WWZ on audiobook, and since the book follows a whole range of global characters, the narrator changed with each person in the book, which was really neat. However, I found the book difficult to enjoy because none of the different characters or subplots really related to each other, other than the fact that they all took place after the zombie outbreak. As far as recommending this book to someone, they would definitely have to be interested in zombies to like it. A person looking for a general horror book without much interest in zombies or post-apocalyptic material would probably not enjoy this one very much.
The horror title I chose to read for this week was Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I personally found this one more of a supernatural thriller than a horror book, and enjoyed it quite a lot as seen in the review below.
| The first installment of the Odd Thomas series introduces the 20-year-old clairvoyant fry cook of the same name as he navigates life in Pico Mundo, California. Odd is, as his name suggests, a little different than most people – most significantly he sees dead people (including Elvis)! When he’s not frying up breakfast at the Pico Mundo Grill or spending time with his soulmate of a girlfriend, Stormy Llewellyn, Odd can be found wandering the fictional desert town helping the ghosts he meets resolve their unfinished business and pass on from this world. One day when Odd sees a strange man enter the restaurant followed by a horde of mysterious bodachs – a clear indicator of imminent evil – he gets a psychic feeling that he’s about to start seeing a lot more ghosts in town. Aside from the types of real life terrors mentioned in this book, it’s pretty tame as far as horror goes. Filled with a few mutilated body parts here and a few good chuckles there, this title is a paranormal thriller that probably won't keep you awake at night. With the last and final Odd Thomas book released last year, this book will make you want to pick up the other six titles in the series – and fast! |  I give this book: |
For a read-alike option, Stoker Award winning author Douglas Clegg offers another paranormal thriller with minimal blood and gore in his 2004 book Afterlife. Following the mysterious murder of her husband Jeff, Julie starts having nightmares about her late husband’s involvement in Project Daylight, a now-defunct, privately-funded school that conducted experiments on kids with ESP. With the help of her family and a popular TV psychic, Julie unearths unnerving secrets that she never would have imagined.
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