The Night House by Jo Nesbø

 

(hb; 2023: YA novel. Translated from the Norwegian by Neil Smith.)

 

From the inside flap

“In the wake of his parents’ tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. His sleuthing leads him to an abandoned house in the Mirror Forest, where he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear. . .

“She’s going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There’s nothing you can do about it.

“When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence—and preserve his sanity—as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursing his destruction.

“Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story.”

 

Review

House starts with a horrific, reader-hooking and icky-slurp bang and, with its tightly written and horror-effective set pieces, maintains that character-building (and sometimes twisty) pace throughout the book. The key twist at the end, noted in the book’s cover-flap description, likely won’t surprise seasoned genre readers, but it works and Nesbø makes fresh use of it in House. Set around 1990—filmmaker/FX artist Tom Savini’s remake of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) has recently been released— Nesbø’s House is a great, truly horrific-at-times coming-of-age read, one worth owning for those who appreciate turned-on-their-head terror tropes. Fans of Stephen King's early work, Franz Kafka’s 1915 novella The Metamorphosis and Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (novel, 1962) might especially enjoy House.

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

 

(pb; 2020: YA novel. First book in Frendo/Clown in a Cornfield trilogy. Followed by Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives!)

 

From the back cover

“Quinn Maybrook just wants to make it to graduation, but she might not make it to morning. When Quinn and her father moved to a tiny town with a weird clown for a mascot, they were looking for a fresh start. But ever since the town’s only factory closed down, Kettle Springs has been cracked in half.

“Most of the town believes that the kids are to blame. After all, the juniors and seniors at Kettle Springs high are the ones who set the abandoned factory on fire and who spend all their time posting pranks on YouTube. They have no respect and no idea what it means to work hard.

“For the kids, it’s the other way around. And now Kettle Springs is caught in a constant battle between the old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight looks like it will destroy the town. Until one homicidal clown with a porkpie hat and a red nose decides to end it for good. Because if your opponents all die, you win the debate by default.”

 

Review

Clown is a great, if sometimes overwritten (and sometimes plot-convenient-character-dumb, even for a slasher story) novel.

Criticism first.

I get that many of the characters are emotionally tumultuous adolescents and adults, but some of their melodramatic behavior (not adapting to oh-so-necessary survival mode when they have seconds to live) jarred me out of the otherwise beguiling read. I further understand that this is a YA novel where emotions are writ large in Crayola colors like obvious graffiti on an alley wall, but certain characters seem to be kind of dumb, having to learn the same fatal-for-others lessons over and over.

I also had difficulty buying into one of its central conceits, considering how many single-minded characters feel about others, and the violence resulting from those angry feelings. The sheer number of these aggressors, Frendo-friendly or otherwise, didn’t strike me as realistic, even with what’s going on now in the real world.

And some of the action/kill scenes run way too long, with certain characters getting way too much time to emote. Friday the 13^th (1980) kill-scene concise Clown is not.

It should be noted that for a Young Adult [YA] book, Clown has a lot of profanity, particularly f-bombs—this is not a complaint, merely a caveat for readers not anticipating Cesare’s constant, character-realistic use of profanity.

 

Praise.

For the most part, though, Cesare’s writing flows well, not a full-on horror book until six or so chapters in. It’s often pop-culture/our-current zeitgeist stellar, bordering on addictive, with cinema-worthy scenes—not surprisingly, the resulting film, directed and co-penned by Eli Craig, is scheduled for a stateside 5/9/25 release.

Elvira: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf by Elvira with John Paragon

 

(pb; 1998: YA novel. Third novel in the Elvira trilogy.)

From the back cover

“I thought I had bad hair days!

“I’ve dealt with wolves before, but never like this. The kind I’m used to are all bark, no bite. They howl, they drool, and who do you think gets stuck with the check? I mean fangs a lot, fellas!

“Now my young friend Whitney keeps trying to convince me he’s a werewolf. As if, I mean, I like a good practical choke as much as the next ghoul. But if this kid doesn’t give it up soon, he’s off to his tomb with no supper.

“There he is now. Look at him. What’s with all the fur? And those fangs—hasn’t he heard about caps? Still. . . the blood looks pretty real. That arm in his mouth, too. You don’t think. . .

“Jeepers creepers! I better give Whitney a yelping hand before the neighbors scare up some silver bullets. I tell ya, a ghoul’s work is never done!”

Review

Caveat: (possible) reference spoilers in review. 

The third and final Elvira novel, not linked to the 1973 or 2010 films, is my favorite book in this bunch. In Boy, a rest stop trailer gypsy curses one of Elvira’s adolescent, easily influenced friends (Whitney Benedict) with lycanthropy just as a string of bloody (briefly but not gratuitously described), full-moon murders terrorize Elvira’s chosen town, Beaver Hills. Is Whitney the furry killer, or is it the craven Dmitri Ouspensky (son of the gypsy) or Officer Paul Tanner (the wolfishly aggressive and charming cop who’s won Elvira’s heart)? As the body count mounts, Elvira, with help from Kimberly Henning (Whitney’s girlfriend), investigates, risking their lives and the lives of those around them.

Like the first two standalone books, double-entendres and horror film references/set-ups are seamlessly, often hilariously baked into the deftly paced storyline, a work suited for older teens who are familiar with the horror host’s work. Appropriately, references are made to The Wolf Man (1941), I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), and The Howling (1981) as well as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Stephen King (specifically his 1983 novel Christine, which resulted in a same-year John Carpenter-helmed film). What elevates the Elvira novels above other “light”/young adult books is that it balances horror and humor in equal measure, an excellent terror-flick introduction work worth owning (if you can find it for a reasonable price, it’s an out-of-print book).

Elvira: Camp Vamp by Elvira with John Paragon

 

(pb; 1997: YA novel. Second book in the Elvira trilogy.)

From the back cover

“Me? Elvira? Camping? Take a hike!

“Sleeping outdoors in nature is not my idea of a good time—it sounds so unnatural. But how could I refuse the Happy Campers? The girls were desperate enough to ask me to be their chaperone. And why not? I’m as campy as they come!

“First, I followed the Happy Camper Motto (Be Over-Prepared) and packed the three basic beauty groups: clothes, make-up, and plenty of hairspray. The essentials. Then, we headed for the hills at the crack of dawn (my bedtime).

“Someone tried to warn us about the legendary killer beast. But did we listen? Not. Even the human skulls along the trail didn’t scare us. But when our tents got shredded by giant claws, I knew this was no secret admirer. This freak needed a manicure!

“Now it’s up to me to soothe the savage beast—or the Happy Campers could be turned into an unhappy meal.”

 

Review

The second Elvira novel is a fun, fast-moving, wordplay- and double-entendre flirty YA (think mid-to older teens readers) work, more low-key than Elvira: Transylvania 90210 until its last-few-pages and briefly PG-violent and bloody Reveal/climax which fans of The Hills Have Eyes (1977), My Bloody Valentine (1981) and Wrong Turn (2003) may appreciate. Some of these elements might run a big dark for non-horror fans, but the elements, along with Elvira/Cassandra Peterson and Paragon’s effective use of iconic horror imagery, are mostly tell don’t show, so it’s generally adolescent friendly.

Camp Vamp, like Transylvania, works as a standalone, 169-page book, one that’s worth checking out, whether you’re an Elvira fan or a general PG-rated horror fan—bear in mind Transylvania, Camp Vamp and its follow-up, Elvira: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, are out of print and often pricy.

Elvira: Transylvania 90210 by Elvira with John Paragon

 

(pb; 1996: YA novel. First book in the Elvira trilogy.)

 

From the back cover

“I’m Elvira. Mistress of the Dark. Welcome to my nightmare.

“Think it’s easy being a glamour ghoul? Think again.

“My love life is so dead I have to dig up dates with a shovel. My bad hair days would make a werewolf eat a silver bullet. And my neighbors, well. . . my neighbors suck blood!

“You see, these weirdos just moved in next door, and their taste in furniture is early Mausoleum—I’m talking caskets here. Their servant is a total Igor. They only come out at night. And they seem to prefer a liquid diet, if you know what I mean. There goes the neighborhood!

“I like vampires as much as the next ghoul. But when they start chomping on my friends, look out. The new creeps on the block are about to receive a little visit—from Elvira’s unwelcome wagon.”

 

Review

Narrated by Cassandra Peterson’s sarcastic, smart Goth ghoulish alter ego, Transylvania is a consistently entertaining, funny-quip-filled young adult novel with PG-rated double entendre adult overtones (I’d recommend this for older teens). While reading it, I could hear Peterson/Elvira’s voice, Transylvania's silliness, horror and tone Elvira-true, and its quick-moving plot playfully dispensing with cliches, even as Elvira and her teenage friends figure out what to do when the vampiric Sevil Alucard and his bug-eating servant (Skreech) come to town. This 169-page book, out of print and pricy, is a thoroughly enjoyable romp, as fun as watching either of her movies or her any of her movie-host shows. Worth seeking, this.  Followed by Elvira: Camp Vamp.

The Watcher in the Woods by Florence Engel Randall

(pb; 1980: YA novel)

From the back cover

“Jan had felt it the very first day, walking up to the door of the old house. She ahd known the watcher was there as they knocked and waited for old Mrs. Carstairs to come. And the little old woman, glancing at the woods, had known it was there, too.

“No one wanted to discuss it, certainly not mom or dad. Then mirrors were mysteriously broken, the TV began to transmit strange programs, and ten-year-old Ellie began hearing strange songs and receiving even stranger messages. Jan couldn’t explain it, but she was afraid.

“It hadn’t been easy for Jan, moving to this new town and starting a new school when she was almost sixteen. Meeting Mark seemed to make it better, but would he believe her if she told him about the watcher in the woods?”

Review

Watcher is a fun, sometimes rambling read, with its dread-lite atmosphere of constant paranoia and lackadaisical characters. Its use of supernatural/science fiction and mystery makes it worthwhile, but not great, stuck-at-the-DMV distraction.

#

The resulting film was released stateside on October 9, 1981. John Hough and an uncredited Vincent McEveety directed it.

Bette Davis played Mrs. Aylwood. Lynn-Holly Johnson played Jan Curtis. Kyle Richards played Ellie Curtis. Carroll Baker played Helen Curtis. David McCallum played Paul Curtis. Benedict Taylor played Mike Fleming. Ian Bannen played John Keller. Georgina Hale played “Young Mrs. Aylwood.”

Stranger with My Face, by Lois Duncan

(pb; 1981)


From the back cover:

"How can she be in two places at one time?

"Laurie was at home, but her boyfriend swears he saw her on the beach with another guy.  Her family insists they see her coming and going when she's been out of the house for hours.  Who - or what - is taking over Laurie's life?"


Review:

Stranger is a good, plot- and writing-tight young adult novel.  There aren't a lot of twists in this engaging thriller, but it's a solid read by an author who's consistently worthwhile.

#

The television movie version aired stateside on August 29, 2009.

Alexz Jones played Laurie Stratton/Lia Abbott.  Andrew Francis played Jeff Rankin.  Emile Hirst played Alexis Stratton.    Bruce Dawson played James Stratton.  Grace Sherman played Helen Tuttle.  Beau Mirchoff played Gordon Lambert.  Nhi Do played Darlene.

Catherine Hicks played Shelley Stratton.  Bill Marchant played Bill Abbot.  Joanne Wilson played Ellie Abbot.

Jeff Renfroe directed the film from a teleplay by Jamie Pachino and Eric Tuchman.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

(hb; 1999: YA novel)


From the back cover:

"Standing on  the fringes of life offers a unique perspective.  But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

"The Perks of Being  A Wallflower is a story about what it's like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school, the world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends,  of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up."


Review:

Relatable, pure-in-its-sweetness and voice-true novel of youth that made me laugh and get teary-eyed in a few key parts.

For those not put off by Rocky and PG-13 mentions of sex and drugs, check it out.  This is one of the best YA novels I've read in a long while.

#

The resulting film was released stateside on October 12, 2012.

Logan Lerman played Charlie.  Emma Watson played Sam.  Ezra Miller played Patrick.  Mae Whitman played Elizabeth Mary.

Dylan McDermott played "Father".   Kate Walsh played "Mother"  Melanie Lynskey played Aunt Helen..  Tom Savini played Mr. Callahan.  Paul Rudd played Mr. Anderson.    Joan Cusack played Dr. Burton.

Stephen Chbosky, author of the book, scripted and directed the film.

Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan

(pb; 1978)


From the back cover:

"They only planned to scare their English teacher.

"They didn't mean to kill him.

"But sometimes even the best laid plans go wrong."


Review:

Good, tightly plotted, for-older-teens* crime novel that pulls no punches, is willing to take a few chances within its genre, and has an ending with that shows real-life consequences for the kids' actions.

Check this out.

[*for-older-teens = a few instances/mentions of profanity and drug use - e.g., marijuana]

#

The resulting television film aired stateside on April 7, 1997.

Amy Jo Johnson played Susan McConnell. Scott Bairstow played Mark Kinney. Mario López played Dave Ruggles. Chris Young played Jeff.

Jay Thomas played John Griffin. Cordelia Richards played Kathy Griffin. Michelle Williams played Maya. Rhonda Dotson played Dolly Luna.

Jack Bender directed the telepic, from a teleplay by Michael Angeli and Kathleen Rowell.