The Monsters Within

Title: The Monsters Within
Author: Corvus Winchester
First Published: November 25, 2013
Publisher: MidKnight Publishing
Pages: 167
Genre: Christian, Horror
Format: Ebook
Source: Review Request
Rating:


Synopsis:

The Holloway family recently moved from their Los Angeles home to a decaying Victorian mansion. As they begin to settle into the strange manor, their beliefs become challenged by unearthly events. Strange whispers echo throughout the house. Unseen forces hold them in place and decrepit hands reach for them from the dark corners of the chilling house. As the Holloway family is haunted by the dark inhabitants that reside in the estate, they begin to discover the house has a mysterious connection to their past. A dark secret that lurks just beneath the surface. A secret that may uncover the mysterious history of the nightmare they are now residents of.

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Review

The Monsters Within follows the Holloway family, who have recently moved into a new house. The family is troubled and is carrying emotional baggage along with them. The reader is plunged directly into the conflict, with one member of the family ready to move on while the rest seem to be hanging onto their own personal struggles.

While the causes of each person’s grief varied, it becomes clear that each is being consumed by painful memories. The darkness in each person’s heart manifests into the mysterious house that appears to be haunted. The dark inhabitants of the house are indeed ghastly, one, in particular, made my toes curl every time he made an appearance. I loved the idea of the light beam from a flashlight being used to combat the darkness, a theme that wasn’t subtle in its meaning but still cool for a horror story.

There were a few instances where I felt word choice could have been better. There was one particular descriptive phrase that was repeated often enough for me to take notice (swallowing a hard lump). These sorts of things in the future can easily be remedied by a second look while editing and adding a little variety to descriptive word choices. All minor things that can easily be shrugged off. The writing otherwise was spot on.

The pacing of this novel was good and overall this is a decent debut for a young author. The events build up to an exciting ending with a very clear message about a person’s inner self that brings the whole story together.

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