Review: Psycho House (Psycho #3) by Robert Bloch

3 stars for Psycho House (Psycho book 3) by Robert Bloch.

I finish reading Psycho House late last night and promptly heave a sigh of relief. Considering my ongoing crochet project, it is by no means an easy feat to finish reading the Psycho trilogy in succession and post this review in time to wrap up my Halloween reads before October runs out. Seriously, it never crosses my mind that I have the capability nor capacity to add more than one horror story to my repertoire of literary criticism this month. One Thin Air is good enough. A bonus when The Sun Down Motel comes along. Then before I know it, I have completed Psycho I and Psycho II and aiming to finish a Psycho III.

More than thirty years have passed since the happenings in Psycho I. The Bates house and motel which were burned down years ago have now been rebuilt and restored. Unfortunately, with the replica of the house and motel, the psycho also attempts to stage a comeback.

This is one story which keeps me going and guessing all the time. Given the way the author weaves his plot and his courage to kill off characters since Psycho I and II, there is no way to know for sure who the Norman Bates in this book is. Suddenly, every character in Psycho House has the potential to pass off as the psychopath. Well, one never knows.

With the conclusion of Pyscho House, I have come to the end of the Psycho trilogy. I am glad I did not give up on this series given that I did not like Psycho II much, but at least now I can hold my head up high and say I have read all three books. Well, if you ask me, I will say Psycho book 1 will have done very well on its own, and in my opinion, it may have been better being a standalone.

Review: Psycho II (Psycho #2) by Robert Bloch

2 stars for Psycho II (Psycho book 2) by Robert Bloch.

I have been hesitant to continue with book 2 of the the Psycho series. Sad to say, I read it and regretted it. I told book buddy CL and she put it across plainly as the book 2 syndrome; book 2 always has a higher risk of falling below expectations. Well, I agree with her but when book 1 is so well written, it is hard to resist not giving the sequel a go.

In Psycho II, not much has changed, Norman Bates is still Norman Bates but he is no longer the leading character. While I am fine with Bates turning into a sidekick which changes the story to a whole new ballgame, I do not like it that much of the story centers on petty politicking and party power games on the filming industry and production crew.

Even though I do not like Psycho II much, the author is good with plot twist, I will give him that. I certainly never expect the ending to be the way it is.

Psycho is surely a series on the mentally disturbed, the insane, crazy, lunatic, madman, screwball, wacko, weirdo, freako, or those who have gone bananas, that much is clear. But honestly, if you like Psycho, I will tell you not to get your hopes up on this one. Read it at your own risk or, better yet, don't follow in my footsteps.

Review: Psycho (Psycho #1) by Robert Bloch

5 stars for Psycho (Psycho book 1) by Robert Bloch.

I choose to read this book right after The Sun Down Motel, not because I want to read yet another story that revolves around a motel, but rather because the Sun Down mentions Norman Bates more than once and it piques my interest. I certainly didn't know and have no idea that Psycho centers on the Bates Motel, that it is about a 40-year old Norman Bates running a motel and attending to his mother. Well, it seems to me now that given the appropriate setting, a motel can be easily turned into an excellent house of horrors.

Psycho is a deeply memorable story about a psycho (what else) who has serious mother-son issues. It may be categorised as horror, but it is not one involved with supernatural effects, instead, it has got more to do with the dark side of human mind. The scary part is that the horror is not in the motel but in the head.

The story is exceptionally well written with a well-thought-out plan. We know who the psycho is in this story. It is revealed early in the story but knowing who the psycho is does not dampen the suspense nor the anticipation of what is to come, instead it adds more thrill and makes me look even more forward to finding out more.

Though the development of the story and chain of events give me the shudders, I actually feel sorry for the psycho at the end of the story. It is not quite what I have expected but it is definitely one unusual story, and a sad one too.

Review: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

5 stars for The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James.

I don't usually go for books that are told from two points of view, and even more so, one that spans two time periods, in this case, before the millennium in 1982, and after, in 2017. But there are always exceptions to every self-made rule. For this book, the title alone is enough to make me do a double take, add in the all too cheerful-looking book cover of a motel sign complete with a sinister-looking motel with bare trees in the background, and I am all in for a good scare.

The Sun Down is spooky to say the least. The story, ominous and creepy, flows fluidly from the beginning to the end in such a remarkable way that I feel as if I am watching a horror flick from the front-row seat in a big empty movie theatre. I am rooted to my seat literally with the scenes changing and flashing by in my mind's eye.

The good thing about the Sun Down is that it is not just a petrifying story involving a haunted motel and its inhabitants, it is also a puzzle with mystery pieces scattered all over the place, waiting to be found and put back together once more.

On the flip side, it can get confusing as the line between the two perspectives blurred. I have a tendency to lose track of whose view I am on as the past and present seems to merge as one and I find myself wondering whose story (Viv's or Carly's) I have just read.

The Sun Down Motel looks empty, but it is not. If you are looking for a scary story with substance for this Halloween read, this book is the one for you.

Review: Thin Air by Michelle Paver

4 stars for Thin Air by Michelle Paver.

It is that time of the year to read scary stories again. I start my Halloween reads early this year, last month in fact, because I do not think I will read more than a handful of horror stories given that I see myself busy with teaching, reading, crocheting and whatnots. For all I know, this book may well be the only horror story for me this year before I transit to the year-end festive reads.

Thin Air is one chilling and preternaturally intense story. It is slow going, yes, but having read Dark Matter by the same author last October, I have come to expect the same pace and writing style, and thus, able to enjoy every part of this story - the mountain sightings, the snow, ice and rock, the altitude, heat and glare, the superstitions and odd beliefs, the irrational fear and omens and premonitions and whatever part and parcel of the journey before the horror actually starts to creep in.

Narrated from first person perspective of a 34-year old Dr Stephen Pearce, he tells of how his team attempts to conquest Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, by following the route of an earlier fateful expedition - the route up the south-west face - led by General Sir Edmund Lyell twenty-nine years ago.

In climbing the mountain by following in dead men's footsteps, it seems to Stephen that it is no longer just humans against mountain, but something more. Is the unseen for real? Or does the thin air alter perceptions and deceive the mind into betraying? Should the team concentrate on their own task instead of being distracted from the past, from events of the failed Lyell expedition? The remoteness of the place forces Stephen to confront his own insignificance as never before. And the mountain sickness is surely doing its work to affect the climbers, mentally, physically and emotionally. The question is, what will happen if whatever that haunts the mountain cannot be appeased and laid to rest?