West Deptford Reader Reviews

In contrast to scary short stories, the 1138 pages of this book require a time commitment!  Stephen King develops characters that return to the world of childhood by physically going home again.  Fears of childhood are revisited by a group of friends as an evil mystery resurfaces in the town of Derry.  King has a wonderful way of weaving a story in which the reader actually participates in the adventure rather than observes the action.  The action is vivid while gore and terror hides in the shadows. 

Fear manifests itself in many ways throughout Stephen King’s, It.  Surprisingly the most terrifying manifestation is a clown.  It is the emotion of the residents fuels the fear in Derry.  Could it be that the author uses the character of a clown to embody fear because it is difficult to assess the emotions of a clown?

I highly recommend this book along with the made for TV movie also available at your local library on DVD.  You can also check out the plot at the Internet Movie Database. 

A word of caution …readers who experience Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, may want to consider passing on this spine-tingling offering. 

Edited by Randon Massey

Whispers in the Night is a collection of horror and suspense short fiction stories written by new and experienced writers.  The stories are short in length and long on terror.  Long gone are the tales of slow building suspense.  These tales are graphic and focus on mental manipulation and violent acts against mankind. 

Summer sticks with the readers not just because of the leeches in the tale but also due to the rich imagery of the southern swamplands.  I found the character use of a small child in this story unsettling.    Scab has a distinctively ethnic quality as the African-American experience is an integral part of the story.  Ghostwriter and The Love of a Zombie is Everlasting are slightly predictable but should be read on an empty stomach.  The short stories are perfect Halloween reads for today’s hectic pace.

Whispers in the Night was selected from the NextReads Horror newsletter.  NextReads is an email newsletter available from the West Deptford Free Public Library’s website.  Readers can select from many genres from Health and Wellness to Historical Fiction.  NextReads email newsletters provide a way to uncover new titles to expand personal selections from your own desktop.  Sign up today to fill your inbox with new reading suggestions!