Tremblay has an incredible way of creating absolutely gut and heart wrenching stories. Cabin at the End of the World broke my heart and Disappearance at Devil's Rock did too.

Tremblay did an amazing job of creating dynamics that felt realistic with his characters, especially among the members of the family. They felt like real people and that made the turn of events all the more horrible and heartbreaking. It also made the story all the more realistic and felt like something that could plausibly happen.

The character of Rooney was a fascinating one. I actually read his voice in the last couple chapters as like how a recent podcast on the Manson family imitated Manson himself (Last Podcast on the Left, if you're wondering). That made him an altogether eery and frightening character. 

Overall, the eeriest and most frightening part of this work is that there were two possibilities that were both equally terrifying. Either something paranormal was going on or it was all human-made madness. Cabin played with similar possibilities and Tremblay pulls off both incredibly.

Final thought: 

Final rating: 5/5

I read the first book in this series a while ago.  Despite being #5 this is the second book in the series I have read.  

Norbert and his friends decide that Halloween is not so much for animals as it has vampires and witches.

It's like reading about the residents of Dibley that didn't make it onto the show.  It's fun, it's light, it's amusing.  The narrative voice is great.

If you remember, I love anything that's spooky and in the woods. This one seems to fit the bill wonderfully. 

The Devil Crept In is a slow starter but it all moves fast. Part one was my least favorite as it didn't feel like too much was actually going on. After part two I was terrified and that feeling followed me the whole way through. The ending left me feeling sick in the way a good spooky story can, though I also hated the ending because of how bleak it is. Sort of like The Mist movie adaptation. It works and it preys on some of my spookiest fears, but it's so bleak I can't call it satisfying. 

I really liked Stevie. He reminded me of some of the kids I worked with. 

Final rating: 4.5 out of 5. Great horror, definitely spine-tingling. Why did the cats have to get involved? 

Woohooo! Finished!

Overall, I really loved this book. 100% would read it again. The atmosphere was awesome and I really enjoyed the character developments in Gyre and Em, as well as their development in relation to each other. The pacing felt awesome as well. There were enough highs and lows where I didn't feel like the book was rushing along or dragging. It could be slow at times but never in a way that made me reluctant to pick it up again.

As far as things I would have liked, I feel like there were some missed opportunities in regards to the horror element of the book. I really would have enjoyed more in regards to the technical nature of caving. When I pictured it in my head, it felt more like walking through a mine/rock climbing than caving itself, which kind of lessened the effectiveness for me. Having worked with and been friends with cavers, I know about maneuvers and risks that literally happen as part of typical caving that would have amped the horror up in this book to a whole new level. Seriously, look up Jam Crack in the Glenwood Caverns and that alone demonstrates what I mean. 

Final rating 5/5: I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Final thought: It'd be cool to have this adapted as a video game. That's kind of how it played out in my head and I think it'd be a lot of fun to play a game as Gyre.