Title: Nightmare in Greasepaint
Author: L.L. Soares and G. Daniel Gunn
Genre: Horror, Novella
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Some family legacies are best left buried.
Will Pallasso has brought his wife and young son, Billy, back to his childhood home to settle his late mother’s affairs…and remove all traces of his haunted past. But now hideous memories are coming back to Will, and Billy has started suffering from night terrors. Returning to this house was a big mistake. Some memories should not be disturbed, and some nightmares will not stay buried forever.
Especially nightmares that wear greasepaint spattered with blood.
In honor of Terror Thursday, a new feature on my blog, in which I review a scary book or movie on Thursday (the name is pretty self-explenatory), I present to you the first horror book that’ll be reviewed as part of this new feature: Nightmare in Greasepaint.
Nightmare in Greasepaint is a classic horror story that transports the reader back to their childhood, and matching childhood feares. Will’s mother, Lucy, passes away and he, his wife and teir young son, Billy, travel to his mother’s estate to sort out her affairs and possibly sell the house. For Will, the moment he sets foot inside the house, he’s transported back to his past, and the more time he spends in there, the more he starts to remember things he would’ve preferred to forget. Especially the basement seems to call for him, and hosts a buried secret from his childhood that could destroy him, and his family.
The book starts out well, and takes some time to build suspense and tension, and to set the mood. The story isn’t half bad either, not the most original horror book I’ve read, but it certainly has some original, refreshing elements. However, the book has two major flaws: the ending is flat and unbelievable (well, I don’t mind if it’s over the top in a horror book, and I certainly don’t expect a story that falls within the realm of normal possibilities, but this just wasn’t consistent with everything that happened beforehand) and way too rushed, and the characters are hard to connect to. They’re not real people, especially Will, who is supposed to be our main character. There’s some head-hopping, and I’m not sure if that’s the cause for that, but it certainly didn’t help either.
An okay horror book, not really scary but it does have a fun story and it’s a quick read.
This looks super creepy. I’m not scared of clowns, but this book could change that. Though I guess it’s not quite as scary as it looks, maybe? It does sound fun, at least.
I thought the clown looked terrifying too. Usually not afraid of them, but the one on this cover looks ready to kill… But the book isn’t as scary as it looks, no. It was a fun read, but I’d hoped for a higher scare factor.