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lorie336's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
a_chickletz's review against another edition
2.0
Another Night Worms book that I got in 2020.
Welp. This was an odd book.
My interest dwindled in the final two chapters so I spent some time flickering through the pages to get the outcome / understanding of the book.
I think the concept was interesting. Think of some strange sci-fi ark in space that chooses people to 'save' their worlds by taking on roles of various horror figures and killing people in other parallel universes of their own.
You don't know who chose them, you don't understand why they have to do this to save their wold. They ask no questions and do their job. Some have been doing it for years. It messes with the psyche.
... Then it spirals into another dimension. Merlin (yes, the wizard) is involved, and a strange malfunctioning that causes the killed people to start returning and killing those who must kill.
As the chapters went on, the point of the story was missed on me and when Merlin (still lol'ing about that one) came into the story, I put the book down and laughed for a bit asking myself what the hell am I reading.
I'll give it two stars of being 'bold' and 'different'. I mean, as the author asked someone, when was the last time you saw a killer from a horror movie become a savior/hero in it's own story? Never. So congrats, this is the first book to do it and the last I'll read.
Welp. This was an odd book.
My interest dwindled in the final two chapters so I spent some time flickering through the pages to get the outcome / understanding of the book.
I think the concept was interesting. Think of some strange sci-fi ark in space that chooses people to 'save' their worlds by taking on roles of various horror figures and killing people in other parallel universes of their own.
You don't know who chose them, you don't understand why they have to do this to save their wold. They ask no questions and do their job. Some have been doing it for years. It messes with the psyche.
... Then it spirals into another dimension. Merlin (yes, the wizard) is involved, and a strange malfunctioning that causes the killed people to start returning and killing those who must kill.
As the chapters went on, the point of the story was missed on me and when Merlin (still lol'ing about that one) came into the story, I put the book down and laughed for a bit asking myself what the hell am I reading.
I'll give it two stars of being 'bold' and 'different'. I mean, as the author asked someone, when was the last time you saw a killer from a horror movie become a savior/hero in it's own story? Never. So congrats, this is the first book to do it and the last I'll read.
monty_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lanternsjourney's review against another edition
4.0
I really love the premise of Standalone: a sci-fi slasher where the monsters need to kill to keep the multiverse balanced and now the tables are being turned against them. The story held up to the premise: It was fast-paced, awesome imagery, and great concepts- its definitely a movie I would want to see! The only thing I wanted more of was descriptions of the monsters from the victims point of view in order to add just a touch more detail of the monsters, but I dont want to say much else because I dont want to spoil it.
.
This is a perfect, quick read for Halloween if your ideal flicks of choice for the season are slashers!
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This is a perfect, quick read for Halloween if your ideal flicks of choice for the season are slashers!
batsinthecastle's review against another edition
3.0
How odd. This was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. It took the '70s-80s slasher genre and smashed it up against science fiction and time travel. It was definitely interesting and did a good job at keeping tension, even if it felt a little long by the end (crazy for a novella!)
melowdee's review against another edition
4.0
Another great book from #Nightworms @nightworms
This is every Slasher film into one and I enjoyed it greatly. It was something weird and interesting take on the whole slasher genre.
This is every Slasher film into one and I enjoyed it greatly. It was something weird and interesting take on the whole slasher genre.
nicktionary19's review against another edition
4.0
Seems like 160 pages is the perfect length for my current life.
Standalone is a tasty little paperback mashup of Cabin in the Woods and I wanna say ... the Wynn/Dodd portion of Cube Zero? Yeah, let’s go with that.
Standalone explores the idea that your favorite slashers are propping reality up across a multitude of universes. The story centers on a handful of guys conscripted to murder in the guise of mythic bogeymen. After a day of murdergigs that go poorly - and the collapse of one of the men’s home universe, something begins to hunt the hunters.
I really enjoyed Standalone and will pursue other stories by Paul Michael Anderson. The character’s rumination on their tasks - as well as their reasons for doing them make a fun philosophical sidebar. A couple things that kept this from being five stars:
1- while the book was an ideal length for my crowded life, I think it was 20~ish pages short for itself. A couple elements throughout would benefit from some fleshing out. The climactic battle is mostly glossed over, with just the beginning and end detailed. The magnitude of the encroaching horde feels so much larger than the battle.
2- typos. Seems like every book has one. This one had several. It needed one more set of eyes. Wrong words, missing words, homonymical misuse. I really try to give a pass on these things but it was enough to pull me out of the story several times.
***there is a stellar short story at the end of the book***
The One Thing I Wished For You is like one of those scenes at the end of the credits. But not the bullshit Marvel has everyone expecting now. Setting up sequels ... Whiz! Bang! Punchline! Fuck that noise.
This is a story with a shared mythology and one possibly shared character. A story about fatherhood, fear, and love. You might even see what’s coming right from the first page. That’ll only serve to unsettle you more, I suspect.
Standalone is a tasty little paperback mashup of Cabin in the Woods and I wanna say ... the Wynn/Dodd portion of Cube Zero? Yeah, let’s go with that.
Standalone explores the idea that your favorite slashers are propping reality up across a multitude of universes. The story centers on a handful of guys conscripted to murder in the guise of mythic bogeymen. After a day of murdergigs that go poorly - and the collapse of one of the men’s home universe, something begins to hunt the hunters.
I really enjoyed Standalone and will pursue other stories by Paul Michael Anderson. The character’s rumination on their tasks - as well as their reasons for doing them make a fun philosophical sidebar. A couple things that kept this from being five stars:
1- while the book was an ideal length for my crowded life, I think it was 20~ish pages short for itself. A couple elements throughout would benefit from some fleshing out. The climactic battle is mostly glossed over, with just the beginning and end detailed. The magnitude of the encroaching horde feels so much larger than the battle.
2- typos. Seems like every book has one. This one had several. It needed one more set of eyes. Wrong words, missing words, homonymical misuse. I really try to give a pass on these things but it was enough to pull me out of the story several times.
***there is a stellar short story at the end of the book***
The One Thing I Wished For You is like one of those scenes at the end of the credits. But not the bullshit Marvel has everyone expecting now. Setting up sequels ... Whiz! Bang! Punchline! Fuck that noise.
This is a story with a shared mythology and one possibly shared character. A story about fatherhood, fear, and love. You might even see what’s coming right from the first page. That’ll only serve to unsettle you more, I suspect.