The Pumpkin Man [NOOK Book]

Pumpkin Man Pumpkin Man

John Everson's greatest book. Everson is truly a master at writing the scariest books.

Michael Roybal a loyal fan of John Everson

Not bad, but not really scary either.

I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

When I saw this book listed, at Halloween no less, I just had to request it! I haven't read a good horror book in a while and this sounded like it would fit the bill. Alas, it didn't. It started out good, with nice spooky clues and weird things happening with no explanation, but it seemed to peak about halfway through and then kind of got lost along the way.

From Goodreads: "After her father's gruesome murder, Jenn needed a place to get away from it all with some friends, to take her mind off her grief. The empty seaside cottage she inherited seemed perfect. Jenn didn't know that the cottage held arcane secrets, mysteries long hidden and best left alone. She didn't realize until it was too late that the old books and Ouija board she finds there really do hold great power. And it was only after her friend's headless body was discovered that she knew the legend of the local bogeyman was no mere legend at all."

I liked the relationship that Jenn had with her friend Kirsten, but when Kirsten disappeared it seemed like Jenn grieved for a couple pages and then moved right on. The same thing happened with the boys they meet - one disappeared and the other just moved on. It didn't feel real at all. There were too many of these types of things for me to really feel engaged completely.

At first The Pumpkin Man, who had terrorized a small town 20 years ago by killing kids at Halloween and then came back now to kill off their parents, was scary, but he quickly turned into a caricature of what a horror character should be. It turned into a gore-fest instead of a scare-fest. This is definitely not a book that you want teens to read. Some of the "rituals" that were described were not fit for younger ears (or eyes, I guess, in this case!).

It's kind of hard to review this book because in giving you examples of what I didn't like, I would be giving away the story, and I don't want to do that. I just felt that the book turn a wrong turn and could have been a lot better. The premise was good, the story just didn't back it up. I cut my teeth on Stephen King and Dean Koontz, so that may be the problem!

In summary, this is not a bad book by any means, it's just not what I was hoping it would be. If you like the gory slasher movies that are out, you may like this book :D

This is a must read ! ! !

I have read almost all of John's books in the past, and The Pumpkin Man is by far the best he has written. It got my attention on page one and just didn't let go. I didn't want to put it down and didn't want it to end. The story has a bit of mystery, the occult, romance, and is a bit scary and creepy at the same time. Actually, a lot creepy ! ! ! The characters are realistic and very interesting. Well worth the time.

Great Halloween Thriller

Let me begin with how Barnes and Nobel describes the book:

After her father's gruesome murder, Jenn needed a place to get away from it all with some friends, to take her mind off her grief. The empty seaside cottage she inherited seemed perfect. Jenn didn't know that the cottage held arcane secrets, mysteries long hidden and best left alone. She didn't realize until it was too late that the old books and Ouija board she found there really do hold great power. And it was only after her friend's headless body was discovered that she knew the legend of the local bogeyman was no mere legend at all. An evil has been unleashed, a terrifying figure previously only spoken of in whispers. But now the whispers will become screams. Beware.THE PUMPKIN MAN

This book is a perfect book to satisfy a person's need for a Halloween thriller. Long ago the Pumpkin Man killed children in the small town Jenn moves to. Now, thirty years later the Pumpkin Man is back killing the parents of the slaughtered children along with Jenn's father. The story has several twists as it winds it's way through the plot to the not-so-original ending.

The good: the book had several tense scenes that made me want to look over my shoulder. At one point I paused to consider if it would give me nightmares. I liked Everson's descriptions and the sense of forboding that he wove in the story. Also, I picked the wrong person to be the killer though looking back, I can see where my mistake was made.

The bad: the ending left a few questions unanswered which some might think that is to have a lead in to a sequel but I don't think so in this case. I did not care for the gory scenes - I can read that someone's head is lopped off without having to go into the bloody details. I love scary books but gore, to me, only cheapens the story. There were some chapters in the book that seemed to get bogged down with unnecessary information that didn't benefit the storyline.

Overall I would give the book a B.

No text was provided for this review.