Dec 29, 2013

Book Review: The Pumpkin Man by John Everson


The Pumpkin Man
by John Everson


The first time I read The Pumpkin Man's blurb I though it sounded a lot like all those "Cabin in the Woods" kind of movies I love to watch. A group of friends visit an old house/cabin/camp etc. and they awake the spirits of the house and something sinister comes after them. That's basically the storyline of hundreds of horror movies, and even though it's a common idea, I love it.

Anyways, this book started like those movies, Jenn inherits her aunt's house after her father is murdered. A few days later, she and her best friend and colleague get fired and decide to move in the old house in River's End. But right after they arrive Jenn begins to learn a lot of disturbing things about her aunt's past and habits, 'cause Aunt Meredith used to be a witch and her husband was the man behind the town's creepy legend of the Pumpkin Man. But they are both long gone and so is the terror of the Pumpkin Man, or so everyone thinks. When town people start dropping dead once more, with a pumpkin instead of a head, there are only two theories: either there is a copycat of the Pumpkin Man or the original killer's spirit is back for revenge. Either way, Jenn knows that everything is somehow connected to her and she is the only one who can find a way to stop the killer.

I loved the beginning of this story. It was creepy and the setting was perfect. Creepy, but perfect. I loved that some chapters were the last moments of the Pumpkin Man's victims, it gave the book a scary factor. I loved learning about Meredith and her husband's earlier years, what happened and how the legend of the Pumpkin Man was created.

Unfortunately, after the middle of the book things got a bit confusing. Jenn and the rest of the characters started reading chapters from books in her aunts house and, even though the stories were interesting, it was just an information overload, especially since some of the stories weren't even important for the story. And then a lot of magic stuff got involved with the events, and I believe that it sort of took something away from the whole Pumpkin Man menace. I also didn't really like the main character, which is always a big problem for me. Jenn wasn't that interesting as a person and she felt kind of boring.

All in all, this was a really creepy and scary read. Something to creep you out in the middle of the night but nothing extremely special.

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