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| Read from July 2 to July 3, 2014 |
Publication Date: July 22, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Number of Pages: 368
Genre/s: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery/Thriller
Source: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
What’s your worst nightmare?
For Ivy Jensen, it’s the eyes of a killer that haunt her nights. For Parker Bradley, it’s bloodthirsty sea serpents that slither in his dreams.
And for seven essay contestants, it’s their worst nightmares that win them an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at director Justin Blake’s latest, confidential project. Ivy doesn’t even like scary movies, but she’s ready to face her real-world fears. Parker’s sympathetic words and perfect smile help keep her spirits up. . . at least for now.
Not everyone is so charming, though. Horror-film fanatic Garth Vader wants to stir up trouble. It’s bad enough he has to stay in the middle of nowhere with this group—the girl who locks herself in her room; the know-it-all roommate; “Mister Sensitive”; and the one who’s too cheery for her own good. Someone has to make things interesting.
Except, things are already a little weird. The hostess is a serial-killer look-alike, the dream-stealing Nightmare Elf is lurking about, and the seventh member of the group is missing.
By the time Ivy and Parker realize what’s really at stake, it’s too late to wake up and run. - (source)
For Ivy Jensen, it’s the eyes of a killer that haunt her nights. For Parker Bradley, it’s bloodthirsty sea serpents that slither in his dreams.
And for seven essay contestants, it’s their worst nightmares that win them an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at director Justin Blake’s latest, confidential project. Ivy doesn’t even like scary movies, but she’s ready to face her real-world fears. Parker’s sympathetic words and perfect smile help keep her spirits up. . . at least for now.
Not everyone is so charming, though. Horror-film fanatic Garth Vader wants to stir up trouble. It’s bad enough he has to stay in the middle of nowhere with this group—the girl who locks herself in her room; the know-it-all roommate; “Mister Sensitive”; and the one who’s too cheery for her own good. Someone has to make things interesting.
Except, things are already a little weird. The hostess is a serial-killer look-alike, the dream-stealing Nightmare Elf is lurking about, and the seventh member of the group is missing.
By the time Ivy and Parker realize what’s really at stake, it’s too late to wake up and run. - (source)
The moment I started reading Welcome to the Dark House, I just knew I was going to like it. I could say that this novel has the strongest beginning chapter among all the books I've read this year. The only question in my mind was: Can Welcome to the Dark House sustain this promising start?
The answer is it did, for the most part. We have multiple POVs that might seem seriously daunting if not properly handled, but it worked surprisingly well and it kept things interesting. I admire that Stolarz was able to create several characters with distinct personalities and voices. The only thing I find challenging at the start was remembering the characters' names.
Personally, what I loved most about Welcome to the Dark House were the characters' backstories. All of them are coping from their horrifying pasts, and for some of them, entering and winning the contest is an opportunity of a lifetime and a way to move forward with their lives. Although sometimes it feels that there's not enough time to get into a character's head or that it seems quite a short novel for such a diverse cast, I feel that these backstories were substantial enough so the readers could connect to them in some way.
Even though I enjoyed reading Welcome to the Dark House, this novel is not without flaws. At times, I was slightly annoyed because the narrative give the impression that we're supposed to take things at face value. For instance, I find it hard to believe that a contest this big could be kept under wraps and that they wouldn't bother to at least confirm if it's legit or not, before entering. Plot-wise, I think Stolarz could have raised the stakes higher to make the situation more unsettling and frightening. Also, not much horror happens until the latter part of the book. But I mostly didn't mind this, considering that I'm horrified as it is with the characters' backgrounds.
I believe there's a good chance that there'd be a sequel for this novel, and I'm excited to find out what will happen next. I'd definitely recommend Welcome to the Dark House for fans of light horror and R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series.
Cupid's Verdict:
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| 3.5 Cupids |
A copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley
in exchange for an honest review.
