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andyshute 's review for:
The Amityville Horror 1
by Jay Anson
I picked this up long ago and never got round to reading it but needing something light and quick, this fit the bill.
Given it's clearly all a big hoax it's frankly impressive the lasting legacy this story has had. I was aware of the story and original film back as a kid, and even quite liked the remake. The book however, is pretty badly written. The style is semi-investigational, ham fisted and overwrought, switching tenses and perspective with nary a thought for the reader.
The concept is great though, even if it is just a haunted house story and the details are compelling but with hindsight it's strange to think that everyone bought into it to such an extent. I will admit feeling a little freaked out for the first third, read alone at night in the house but by the midpoint it becomes a little too ridiculous to be effective. There's no way anyone would have stayed through all of that if it 'actually' happened. There's a great bit over half way in where after another freaky event the parents sit down and say 'something weird is going on'. It took that long to figure it out?!
So yeah, I still quite liked it despite the writing and if you're a fan of the genre it's worth a few hours reading.
Given it's clearly all a big hoax it's frankly impressive the lasting legacy this story has had. I was aware of the story and original film back as a kid, and even quite liked the remake. The book however, is pretty badly written. The style is semi-investigational, ham fisted and overwrought, switching tenses and perspective with nary a thought for the reader.
The concept is great though, even if it is just a haunted house story and the details are compelling but with hindsight it's strange to think that everyone bought into it to such an extent. I will admit feeling a little freaked out for the first third, read alone at night in the house but by the midpoint it becomes a little too ridiculous to be effective. There's no way anyone would have stayed through all of that if it 'actually' happened. There's a great bit over half way in where after another freaky event the parents sit down and say 'something weird is going on'. It took that long to figure it out?!
So yeah, I still quite liked it despite the writing and if you're a fan of the genre it's worth a few hours reading.