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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Creepy. Quirky. Awesome. I read this in two hours because I just couldn't put it down.
Running Out of Air: 3/5
Split Decision: 3/5
Apparent Motives: 2/5
Feelings: 5/5
Every Drop: 3/5
Patterns of Fear: 4/5
Free Seas: 1/5
Blood Magic: 4/5
A Cart Full of Junk: 3/5
Morph: 3/5
Whoodoo: 2/5
The Ex Box: 5/5
Evil Twin: 5/5
Rounded to 3.3/5.
Split Decision: 3/5
Apparent Motives: 2/5
Feelings: 5/5
Every Drop: 3/5
Patterns of Fear: 4/5
Free Seas: 1/5
Blood Magic: 4/5
A Cart Full of Junk: 3/5
Morph: 3/5
Whoodoo: 2/5
The Ex Box: 5/5
Evil Twin: 5/5
Rounded to 3.3/5.
I’m a person who avoids horror. Not because horror scares me, but because it bores me, and if it doesn’t bore me, it frustrates me to the point where I scream at the television or the book in my hands. As a child, however, many things frightened me—scary things. Back in the glorious 1990s, Nickelodeon aired Are You Afraid of the Dark? (which I most certainly was). Kids gathered around campfire, spooking each other with ghost tales, and I will never forget the story of the haunted pool. The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float episode didn’t frighten me of ghosts or even pools; it made me fear water. Shower time? Not before it the water-monster strangles me. Take a swim? I’ll pass. Glass of water? He’s going to suffocate me from the inside!
So what does a ridiculous ‘90s show have to do with Extremities? Just like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, who will get the most enjoyment or thrills from Extremities depends on the reader. Looking back, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is as cheesy as cheesy gets. But the fact is that it still scared me and gave me an irrational fear of water. Now that I’m much older, what scares me has changed. People-eating giants makes me shiver, zombies are creepily fascinating, eerie dystopian settings horrify, and the psychological aspects to all these both terrify and excite me. Reality itself, even, can zap me dead in a second. These concepts put me in a panic—zero of which I find in Extremities—but none of this stopped me from reading Lubar's book.
If there is one thing Lubar wants to note, it’s that “this is not a book for children.” Indeed it’s not, but I think who Extremities is most appropriate for varies. “At rare and random times, without any plan on my part,” says Lubar, “a story will emerge that is too dark, too heartless, or, dare I say it, too evil, for my young readers.” But that’s exactly it, that’s my problem. I didn’t find any of the stories within Extremities too dark, heartless, or evil. What I did find was a lack of suspense, predictable twists, and writing that wants to be smart but falls short.
When I first spied David Lubar’s Extremities, I felt a pull that I couldn’t resist. My lack of acquaintanceship with horror drew me to Lubar’s collection, as if we were a cute match but doomed to a petty break-up. While I thought I would like Extremities, the book serves as a reminder why I scarcely wander into this genre. David Lubar’s collection dances familiar paths of similar stories that have come before it. Although this doesn’t deem the book ‘poor quality,’ why didn’t the author take new turns? Hold my hand and lead me to a place I haven’t been before. Be daring and dangerous. Take risks. Whatever you do, dream beyond what’s already been done.
For each story, events flip-flop for the hero or heroine—either the character comes out the victor or victim, depending on how the story opens. Lubar’s tales take expected turns and end in likely fashion, which strips away the element of shock. Once the story reveals itself, usually paired with the title, the end becomes clear before the reader gets there. Prior to starting Extremities, I expected stories that weren’t horrifying or dark, but original ideas that held interest and surprise. These stories should have captivated me by their warped characters and by the irony of events, or at least that is what I wished for.
Well, Raya, maybe the fright doesn’t come from the conclusions. Maybe David Lubar’s point has nothing to do with unprecedented twists. I get that. Extremities is not intended to make the reader scream or spend a restless night waking from nightmares. It is intended to make the reader shudder, perhaps, at the thought of what these character do, witness, and experience. At the same time, I can’t deny that ingenuity would’ve helped improve the collection as whole. As one reader out of many, I didn’t shudder. I snickered at the irony and turn of events, and only because I saw them coming. If I wasn’t eyeballing the text with an ‘I told you so,’ I felt nearly bored. And yet… Extremities mildly entertained me.
For all that I’ve said, not everyone is doomed to have the same reaction. What Extremities needs most is the right audience—and that does not include me. There is something to be said for entertainment value, and for these reasons alone, David Lubar’s collection is one I still recommend. If haunting stories of any kind suite your fancy, then by all means, let this book find a home at your bedside and prepare to unleash some horrors from its pages.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing a free copy of Extremities in exchange for my honest review. This review and more can be found at midnight coffee monster.
So what does a ridiculous ‘90s show have to do with Extremities? Just like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, who will get the most enjoyment or thrills from Extremities depends on the reader. Looking back, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is as cheesy as cheesy gets. But the fact is that it still scared me and gave me an irrational fear of water. Now that I’m much older, what scares me has changed. People-eating giants makes me shiver, zombies are creepily fascinating, eerie dystopian settings horrify, and the psychological aspects to all these both terrify and excite me. Reality itself, even, can zap me dead in a second. These concepts put me in a panic—zero of which I find in Extremities—but none of this stopped me from reading Lubar's book.
If there is one thing Lubar wants to note, it’s that “this is not a book for children.” Indeed it’s not, but I think who Extremities is most appropriate for varies. “At rare and random times, without any plan on my part,” says Lubar, “a story will emerge that is too dark, too heartless, or, dare I say it, too evil, for my young readers.” But that’s exactly it, that’s my problem. I didn’t find any of the stories within Extremities too dark, heartless, or evil. What I did find was a lack of suspense, predictable twists, and writing that wants to be smart but falls short.
When I first spied David Lubar’s Extremities, I felt a pull that I couldn’t resist. My lack of acquaintanceship with horror drew me to Lubar’s collection, as if we were a cute match but doomed to a petty break-up. While I thought I would like Extremities, the book serves as a reminder why I scarcely wander into this genre. David Lubar’s collection dances familiar paths of similar stories that have come before it. Although this doesn’t deem the book ‘poor quality,’ why didn’t the author take new turns? Hold my hand and lead me to a place I haven’t been before. Be daring and dangerous. Take risks. Whatever you do, dream beyond what’s already been done.
For each story, events flip-flop for the hero or heroine—either the character comes out the victor or victim, depending on how the story opens. Lubar’s tales take expected turns and end in likely fashion, which strips away the element of shock. Once the story reveals itself, usually paired with the title, the end becomes clear before the reader gets there. Prior to starting Extremities, I expected stories that weren’t horrifying or dark, but original ideas that held interest and surprise. These stories should have captivated me by their warped characters and by the irony of events, or at least that is what I wished for.
Well, Raya, maybe the fright doesn’t come from the conclusions. Maybe David Lubar’s point has nothing to do with unprecedented twists. I get that. Extremities is not intended to make the reader scream or spend a restless night waking from nightmares. It is intended to make the reader shudder, perhaps, at the thought of what these character do, witness, and experience. At the same time, I can’t deny that ingenuity would’ve helped improve the collection as whole. As one reader out of many, I didn’t shudder. I snickered at the irony and turn of events, and only because I saw them coming. If I wasn’t eyeballing the text with an ‘I told you so,’ I felt nearly bored. And yet… Extremities mildly entertained me.
For all that I’ve said, not everyone is doomed to have the same reaction. What Extremities needs most is the right audience—and that does not include me. There is something to be said for entertainment value, and for these reasons alone, David Lubar’s collection is one I still recommend. If haunting stories of any kind suite your fancy, then by all means, let this book find a home at your bedside and prepare to unleash some horrors from its pages.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing a free copy of Extremities in exchange for my honest review. This review and more can be found at midnight coffee monster.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I am a lover of short stories. I love how much suspense a skilled author can pack into so few pages. I myself have written several short stories, and I have a lot of fun doing it. So to me, there's something extremely attractive about a book of horror short stories. And sure enough, I had started this book the minute that I received it in the mail.
Here's the thing about these stories: About half of them are completely action-packed, while the other half is... well, not. But this is in no way a bad thing; the stories that aren't action-ish are the ones that are incredibly smart, and really get you thinking. And I think I prefer those over the monster-hunting-people-down stories. The stories that subtly send a chill up your spine, leaving more of the horror to speculation rather than spelling it out murder by gruesome murder. The stories that keep me awake at night the most are the ones that aren't straight forward, but the ones that hint at something awful, leaving my imagination to do the rest of the work. So if you're looking for a book with monsters-hunting-people-down stories, this is a great book for you to read. But if you're like me and you prefer the thought-provoking stories that just beg you to think about think about them late at night, this is a fantastic book for you to read. I'm going to be recommending this book to any of my friends who enjoy a bit of horror. It was a quick, but great read.
-Austin
ReadingTeen.net
Here's the thing about these stories: About half of them are completely action-packed, while the other half is... well, not. But this is in no way a bad thing; the stories that aren't action-ish are the ones that are incredibly smart, and really get you thinking. And I think I prefer those over the monster-hunting-people-down stories. The stories that subtly send a chill up your spine, leaving more of the horror to speculation rather than spelling it out murder by gruesome murder. The stories that keep me awake at night the most are the ones that aren't straight forward, but the ones that hint at something awful, leaving my imagination to do the rest of the work. So if you're looking for a book with monsters-hunting-people-down stories, this is a great book for you to read. But if you're like me and you prefer the thought-provoking stories that just beg you to think about think about them late at night, this is a fantastic book for you to read. I'm going to be recommending this book to any of my friends who enjoy a bit of horror. It was a quick, but great read.
-Austin
ReadingTeen.net
It took me a while to get through this book. I read the first few stories and let months pass before I read the rest. I got this in a surprise book subscription box so it's not something I would have picked up. Some stories are good but there is a little bit of everything.
It was an okay book. I don't see why the author made such a big deal about the fact the "this is not a book for children" on the back of the book. It had cute stories that were dark for sure but they do not need a parental advisory on them that's for sure. All in all it was an okay book.
In one of the most gripping of the 13 tales in David Lubar’s collection of horror stories, the main character, Don, remarks that the works of Poe come into his mind “at the oddest of moments.” Like Don, Lubar himself channels the granddaddy of the horror genre in each of the pieces in this chilling collection. After struggling to publish the collection elsewhere, Lubar eventually managed to convince Tor Teen, publisher of his best-selling “Weenies” stories, to take a chance with Extremities. Poe, one of the early champions of the American short story, is surely cheering from beyond the grave.
Lubar makes clear that Extremities is not intended for his usual “Weenies” audience. “This is not a book for children,” he emphatically states in his author’s note (a caution reiterated on the back dust jacket). Revenge on a sadistic gym teacher, a hot girl who turns out to be a succubus, voodoo spells ending in patricide -- the dark nature of the tales definitely makes them inappropriate for middle school readers. But for more mature teens, these macabre stories might draw in even reluctant readers. This collection might even serve as a gateway text to more sophisticated masters of the genre such as Stephen King, and indeed Poe himself. Cheers to both Lubar and his publisher for offering today’s teen readers with a more approachable, but no less terrifying, collection of horror to enjoy.
Lubar makes clear that Extremities is not intended for his usual “Weenies” audience. “This is not a book for children,” he emphatically states in his author’s note (a caution reiterated on the back dust jacket). Revenge on a sadistic gym teacher, a hot girl who turns out to be a succubus, voodoo spells ending in patricide -- the dark nature of the tales definitely makes them inappropriate for middle school readers. But for more mature teens, these macabre stories might draw in even reluctant readers. This collection might even serve as a gateway text to more sophisticated masters of the genre such as Stephen King, and indeed Poe himself. Cheers to both Lubar and his publisher for offering today’s teen readers with a more approachable, but no less terrifying, collection of horror to enjoy.
Stories of murder, death, and revenge. That’s the subtitle of Lubar’s Extremities, and this book is exactly what it says on the tin. At a reading level poised somewhere between mid-grade and YA, Extremities is filled with the macabre, the creepy, the violent and bloody parts of death, much resembling souped-up versions of campfire tales, the kind that people will tell on dark nights in the attempt to creep each other out.
In some cases, these stories work wonderfully for that. In other cases, it seemed very much like Lubar was trying to outdo himself and instead it just fell flat, with an emphasis on blood and gore as the creep factor instead of more psychologically disturbing elements.
While a majority in this incredibly short collection of short stories contain supernatural elements, my favourites, and the ones that gave me the most pause, were the ones that were about people being people, regular teenagers pushed over the edge by their circumstances. Girls who take brutal revenge on their abusive gym teacher. A kid planning the murder of an abusive father, only to find their mother getting caught in the crossfire. Those were the stories that really stayed with me, that were oddly the most extreme of all the extremities, because they showed that you don’t need monsters or ghosts or supernaturally-strong serial killer to create terror. You just need people, plain and simple, in the right (or wrong) situation.
As for the supernatural stories, some were very good, and the rest were merely okay. A creature feeding on a person’s strongest emotion until they die. A team spending the night in a haunted house, a classic ghost story with an interesting twist (it isn’t the house that’s haunted). Those are the two stories that stuck well in my mind, not so much for their creativity but their interesting execution.
While the stories contained within were rather hit-or-miss, I think many pre-teens and young teens could really get a kick out of this book. It’s what kids who’ve just outgrown Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark can move on to (admittedly, might be showing my age there with those examples…) when they want to get that same shivery thrill of reading about the dark, the macabre, the things that can and will always go bump in the night. It wasn’t a great book. It wasn’t a book to linger over and ponder deeply. It was a quick fun ride, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
In some cases, these stories work wonderfully for that. In other cases, it seemed very much like Lubar was trying to outdo himself and instead it just fell flat, with an emphasis on blood and gore as the creep factor instead of more psychologically disturbing elements.
While a majority in this incredibly short collection of short stories contain supernatural elements, my favourites, and the ones that gave me the most pause, were the ones that were about people being people, regular teenagers pushed over the edge by their circumstances. Girls who take brutal revenge on their abusive gym teacher. A kid planning the murder of an abusive father, only to find their mother getting caught in the crossfire. Those were the stories that really stayed with me, that were oddly the most extreme of all the extremities, because they showed that you don’t need monsters or ghosts or supernaturally-strong serial killer to create terror. You just need people, plain and simple, in the right (or wrong) situation.
As for the supernatural stories, some were very good, and the rest were merely okay. A creature feeding on a person’s strongest emotion until they die. A team spending the night in a haunted house, a classic ghost story with an interesting twist (it isn’t the house that’s haunted). Those are the two stories that stuck well in my mind, not so much for their creativity but their interesting execution.
While the stories contained within were rather hit-or-miss, I think many pre-teens and young teens could really get a kick out of this book. It’s what kids who’ve just outgrown Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark can move on to (admittedly, might be showing my age there with those examples…) when they want to get that same shivery thrill of reading about the dark, the macabre, the things that can and will always go bump in the night. It wasn’t a great book. It wasn’t a book to linger over and ponder deeply. It was a quick fun ride, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)