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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well written haunted house tale, January 8, 2008
This review is from: Age of Consent (Paperback)
You know the story. A nice family from the city decided to buy that long abandoned house in the country. They move in and Strange Things start to happen. Okay, so Age of Consent isn't bursting with originality. Still, horror stories are like the blues. It isn't always about what new stuff you bring to it, but rather how well you can play in the framework. So how well does first time novelist Howard Mittelmark play? Age of Consent starts off with a creepy little prologue introducing the haunted Oneida House in upstate New York. A contractor and his crew are in the process of restoring the place for the new owner. Strange things happen and nobody is willing to work on the house after dark. It's a great bit that establishes atmosphere very well without going over the top. From there we are introduced to the Coulter family. Phil and his kids Peter and Virginia are dragging in the last of their belongings. Julia (Phil's wife) has to stay behind in the city to finish up some work. This family is where Mr. Mittelmark shines. The characters in this book are terrifically written, three dimensional people that you will care about. Peter, Ginny, their family dynamic and their friends are all very well drawn. Their lives in the new town are realistic. The Coulters and the secondary characters in this book are not the typical two-dimensional characters put in place to move along the plot. So what about the plot? It is interesting. The teens undergo drastic changes after moving. Mr. Mittelmark cleverly doesn't say how much is the influence of the ghosts and how much is just normal teenage life. I also appreciated that the author didn't waste my time with the 'are there ghosts, or is it all in their imagination?' ploy. That is rarely ever done well in my opinion. There is a strong sexual undercurrent to the book which was fitting considering the main characters are all teenagers. Things jump back and forth from 'now' to 1971, showing what became of the people living in Oneida House (their story is teased out bit by bit over the course of the book). There are even some interesting bits about the history of the Gnostics, the Mormons and the Oneida community. The pacing of the book is possibly the weak point. For a while the plot just sort of wanders aimlessly, lacking suspense. In the end a direction is given, but then just sort of fizzles out. The ending is good, in that you don't feel short changed, but I was looking for maybe a stronger finish. Still, this is a short novel, so the pacing isn't a major issue. I think these issues are mainly due to it being a first novel. Age of Consent is well worth a read for those who enjoy a good character driven scary story. Over all, Howard Mittelmark is an excellent new writer. Once he hits his stride in future books, he could rank with my favorites in this field.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smarter than your average haunted house story, February 6, 2007
This review is from: Age of Consent (Paperback)
This is a great read - compelling, twisted, creepy with a large dose of humor and surprising philosophical and historical insight. It moves along at a fast clip, and is actually beautifully written with sentences which just leap off the page and crisp vivid descriptions. Many lines are laugh out loud funny. The teenage characters who suddenly find themselves in a confusing, dangerous world are perfectly drawn. The drug filled flashbacks to the sixties radicals and the interweaving story of the utopian cults of the 1800's will intrigue anyone interested in history or philosophy of religion. Although it is superficially a haunted house story, much of the plot is so daringly original and bizarre that it moves well beyond the tried and true notes of the genre. While there are a few steamy, gorgeously rendered sex scenes, most notably a very sensual and emotionally laden lesbian encounter between two acid tripping college girls, much of the rest of the sex is rather sinister and dark. While this might offend a meek reader, it's not gratuitous, but rather serves to illustrate the sometimes nightmarish perils of adolescence with a lot of heart and compassion.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nerve-shredding, well-written scare!, March 2, 2007
This review is from: Age of Consent (Paperback)
I've read all the modern-day "masters" of horror, and I have to say, newcomer Howard Mittelmark puts them all to shame. Age of Consent is the scariest book I've read in about twenty years--and it moves at light speed, yet still manages to be loaded with solid writing, chilling imagery, and real characters. Mittelmark is wonderful at subtle foreshadowing. His motifs are unsettling, the use of mirrors and windows in particular a double reference to the way we see ourselves and what we believe happens to us after we die. You'll be going to bed with the shades drawn or the curtains pulled tightly closed. His imagery--not too much, not too little--is sharp and photographic. Poe's concept of perversity has been at the root of every horror tale, and many writers today are too obvious with it. Mittelmark is the first modern writer I've read that's been able to take that concept and integrate it so well that the fourth wall is dismantled, brick by brick. Expertly, Mittelmark has shed the genre's traditional way-out characters and their extreme dysfunctions, addictions, and habits with whom the reader can't connect. The people in Age of Consent are just the people we know every day: workaholics, normal teens (who all come from relatively "normal" homes) experimenting with drugs for the first time, idealistic young adults who have natural desires to change the world, people who have sexual attractions they shouldn't. This is going to be a very tough act to follow. If you're smart, and you want to be up for a few nights scared out of your mind, BUY THIS BOOK. I promise you won't be sorry, but I think other horror novels are going to fall flat for awhile.
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