Boris BacicBesprekingen

Interesting premise, meh execution.

I thought that the official documents interspersed throughout were fun. The characters were undeveloped and as a result difficult to tell apart. I think it would have been better as a short story/novella, as there was a lot of unnecessary filler. The POV was weird. Some characters seemed to know exactly what others were thinking/feeling. I also think that less POVs would have improved the story and made it tighter.

If it scares you, Boris Bacic has more than likely written a story about it. It reminded me of the offerings, like Pet Sematary that we get from Stephen King. Retown is a twisted tale filled with strange occurrences and despair. I had no idea where the story was going, and I was wrong so many times. In the age of so many predictable stories, I admire Boris Bacic's ability to completely throw the reader off without damaging the storyline. There were times throughout that Jason's despair was palpable. I found myself mentally willing him to overcome the forces of Riverton...but had figured out that that was probably not going to happen. I had previously read another book by this author, The Gathering, and thoroughly enjoyed it and this one was not an exception. His characters are often not the nicest people you will have ever met but yet you still want to root for them.

It was a really excellent, creepy, icky bug story with a likeable main character and a cast of delicious victims. The plot nightmarishly well done and helped to keep the story interesting and the story and victims digesting. I had read a book by this author several weeks ago and really was looking forward to this one. I did really, really enjoy it...since I seem to have this obsession with being scared out of wits, even though I'd as soon not have the image of giant bugs crawling through my brain:) Thank all the "Books Gods" that the author didn't choose spiders as the villains, or the book would have ended very quickly for me:) Other reviews have said the story made them feel claustrophobic....so that might be something that some readers may want to watch out for. What a fantastic creepy read! I would say that to produce the reactions that this book is capable of, is the mark of an author that is more than capable of writing a really good scary story. I think if he has any more "buggie" characters staring in any of his stories that I'll invest in a giant can of Raid.½

Oh my...does it ever!!! This could make you take a second and a third look at a group of trees, before you dare to ever enter them. Just the title did it for me! It wasn't a ghost story but it sure could raise goosebumps before I even opened the book. It's a very original monster story with a really excellent "creature". I thought I knew what the monster was but believe it or not...I was SOOO wrong. This is the first time I've read anything from this author...but I already have a second book on my list by him. If you are not a fan of blood and gore, be aware that there is lots of it as well as terror involved, but it is SO worth it if you are a fan. Thank you, Mr. Bacic for a really good, really, really scary book.

Skittering Shivers!

Backstory:

Brad and Julia move into a new recently renovated apartment building. They are happy that they found a nice roomy apartment to call home as with Julia pregnant they needed the extra room. They are not there long though when small things start happening like Brad's keys moving from where he left them and the keys ending up somewhere totally unexpected, but it doesn't take him long to lay blame in Julia's direction thinking she is moving things.

When she denies it totally Brad is still skeptical but he starts wondering what is really going on as they start to hear music throughout the apartment. Which at first they think it is coming from the neighbors, but they realize that no one is playing the music and yet it comes at odd hours of the day and night.

With the help of the neighbors they try to piece together what is going on within their apartment and come to the realization that it could be "haunted". They do not believe it at first, but when they both see ghost children in their apartment is when they finally realize that what they are seeing is real and not their imagination, but it is when they reach out to a medium that things go from bad to worse as when the ghosts are stirred up they become angry and the haunting is just beginning!

Who or what is haunting the apartment? Why is the apartment haunted? Does Brad and Julia find relief from the ghosts? No spoilers here as you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and I was impressed at how quick I was pulled into the story. One of my favorite horror sub-genres is hauntings/ghosts so I am usually on the lookout for those type of stories.

Though it was a little slow in the beginning of the story to set up world building and introducing characters, but after about the 25% mark the story took off as ghost action started happening.

The pace kept kicking up with everything that was happening to the characters, but the last half of the book is where the story went into overdrive and I was turning the pages quick to see what would happen next. Looking forward to stepping into more of this author's work! Giving this book four "Spooky Boo" stars!

For gifs/images of this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/2022/04/apartment-401-by-boris-bacic.html

"It was something unnatural. Something that logic couldn't explain. it was all wrong, and he had to get out of here as soon as possible."

This is my third read in this author's Horror in Small Towns series, and I have loved each one! This one makes me a little scared of the tower at the end of my road. Is the tower to blame for all those times I walk in to a room and can't remember why? For all the times I'm looking for my glasses when they're on top of my head? Or, for the times I'm watching TV and all of the sudden realize I don't recall the last few minutes of the show? Yikes!!

So, in this book we meet Chris. He's fallen behind at work but put in the extra hours to finally get caught up, when his boss reassigns him to a project in Woodberry. He really doesn't want to go but he is not given a choice. Once there, he finds the neighbors are overly welcoming, almost to a fault, but they seem nice enough, so he shrugs off the uneasiness he's feeling. But, no one will talk about the radio tower, or about the woman that lived in his house before him that disappeared. That's not even the strangest thing about the townsfolk. Not. Even. Close.

The tag line reads: "No one ever leaves Woodberry". Well, there's a reason for that, and it's not because they love it so much.

If you love creepy, small-town horror, this series is for you. The books in the series are all stand-alone stories so you can read them in any order. It won't matter which one you pick to start with, you'll be hooked! Definitely check it out!