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seagullsaga's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
4.0
shalini_gunnasan's review
4.0
Really enjoyed
Creature from the Black Lagoon
-- Very interesting protagonist, sad ending but somehow fitting
Under Cover of the Night
-- Wonderfully suspenseful, element of unknowable horror, left wanting for more.
Rawhead Rex -primally terrifying! Excellent.
Hollow Man - Dread and hopelessness, unknowable terror. Sad for the first hollow man, but the second probably deserved it, that dampened the horror.
Not From Around Here - genuinely terrifying, overtly erotic but that is cleverly used as a horror element. Triumphant and bittersweet ending.
Really disliked
Among Their Bright Eyes
-- pointless, sexual element unnecessary and contributes nothing, do not care for the protagonists
The rest are just so-so, either not so memorable or not at all terrifying. At least even the story I disliked made an impression, the rest just went off-radar. That's worse than being disliked, I think.
Rated 4 because the good stuff is really good.
Creature from the Black Lagoon
-- Very interesting protagonist, sad ending but somehow fitting
Under Cover of the Night
-- Wonderfully suspenseful, element of unknowable horror, left wanting for more.
Rawhead Rex -primally terrifying! Excellent.
Hollow Man - Dread and hopelessness, unknowable terror. Sad for the first hollow man, but the second probably deserved it, that dampened the horror.
Not From Around Here - genuinely terrifying, overtly erotic but that is cleverly used as a horror element. Triumphant and bittersweet ending.
Really disliked
Among Their Bright Eyes
-- pointless, sexual element unnecessary and contributes nothing, do not care for the protagonists
The rest are just so-so, either not so memorable or not at all terrifying. At least even the story I disliked made an impression, the rest just went off-radar. That's worse than being disliked, I think.
Rated 4 because the good stuff is really good.
madkatrob's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
seawarrior's review
Quit reading because of lack of motivation. Did not get far enough in the book to determine if I liked it or not.
faithful_jewel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ecebozturk's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
crookedspider's review
3.0
Full review: http://crookedtalks.tumblr.com/post/143679159501/bookish-thoughts-creatures-thirty-years-of
I started Creatures last year as my halloween read of the year though I only managed to finish in this year ^^; This is the first short story collection that I’ve read through completely as far as I can remember (I’ve probably read short story collections before, but none remembered in any degree of clarity). I’ve also consciously picked up this book precisely because it was a short story collection by different authors, to try and get a taste of a variety of short horror stories in different writing styles. Obviously, with short story collections or anthologies, there will be stories that resonate with you, and there will be stories that you don’t enjoy. There were a lot of stories in this collection, however, that I essentially did not have any reaction to; they didn’t pique my interest, I didn’t like nor hate the stories, and the stories weren’t bad; I just didn’t care much for them (kinda like a “meh” feeling) and only got through them because I wanted to finish the book. I would sustain a mild interest while reading those stories and promptly forget its plot as I move on to the next story in the collection.
Which is why I would say that this short story collection is probably not the best book to start with if you are new to the genre; I haven’t read many short story collections so I can’t judge if this collection is “good” or “bad”, only what I felt when I was reading it. The theme of this collection sounded exciting and right up my alley, so honestly I think I am a little disappointed with this collection. There were some great stories that I enjoyed a lot in this collection that helped to soften the blow a little though.
Overall, I would give this 3.5 stars, but since goodreads doesn’t have a .5 star rating, and my 3.5 stars is closer to a 3 stars than a 4, on my goodreads it is voted as a 3 stars.
I started Creatures last year as my halloween read of the year though I only managed to finish in this year ^^; This is the first short story collection that I’ve read through completely as far as I can remember (I’ve probably read short story collections before, but none remembered in any degree of clarity). I’ve also consciously picked up this book precisely because it was a short story collection by different authors, to try and get a taste of a variety of short horror stories in different writing styles. Obviously, with short story collections or anthologies, there will be stories that resonate with you, and there will be stories that you don’t enjoy. There were a lot of stories in this collection, however, that I essentially did not have any reaction to; they didn’t pique my interest, I didn’t like nor hate the stories, and the stories weren’t bad; I just didn’t care much for them (kinda like a “meh” feeling) and only got through them because I wanted to finish the book. I would sustain a mild interest while reading those stories and promptly forget its plot as I move on to the next story in the collection.
Which is why I would say that this short story collection is probably not the best book to start with if you are new to the genre; I haven’t read many short story collections so I can’t judge if this collection is “good” or “bad”, only what I felt when I was reading it. The theme of this collection sounded exciting and right up my alley, so honestly I think I am a little disappointed with this collection. There were some great stories that I enjoyed a lot in this collection that helped to soften the blow a little though.
Overall, I would give this 3.5 stars, but since goodreads doesn’t have a .5 star rating, and my 3.5 stars is closer to a 3 stars than a 4, on my goodreads it is voted as a 3 stars.
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