Customer Reviews

Beneath Still Waters

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fifty years ago something terrible happened in the city of Goulden's Falls-and now something is waking up. So starts this very decent and entirely creepy novel by Matthew J. Costello. When a submerged horror slowly comes back to life an atmosphere of dread and dawning horror starts to overwhelm the the citizens who live and work around the Kennicut Dam. Is there something alive in the Kennicut Reservoir? Matthew Costello combines all of the elements of the old B horror movies that we loved so well and brings them to life in this chilling tale of horror. Good taut writing and interesting characters place this tale a cut above the standard horror fare. If you are looking through the horror section of you local used bookstore and happpen to want a good, quick, chilling read than this would be a very good choice-recommended. P.S.-Matthew Costello if you happen to read this please notice where the first two reviewers of your book happen to live -maybe a good idea for a book signing?

The town of Goulden's Falls, long sunken beneath the surface of a man-made lake, harbors a terrible secret. As the fiftieth anniversary of the dam approaches, the forgotten horror awakens, drawing two independent journalists into its orbit.

This is one of those cheap paperback originals with garish covers that there seemed to be so many of in the 80s. Largely forgotten, they now gather dust on the shelves of used book stores if they still exist at all. This novel actually succeeds as an efficient, effective little thriller for much of its length. By the end, however, it becomes clear that author Matthew J. Costello has no way to end it other than by falling back on the hoariest of B-movie cliches. Until that point, though, it evokes some pretty good shudders, particularly in scenes wherein divers explore the submerged town.

Very surprised no reviewer picked up on this yet,IT'S A TRUE STORY! just the names have been changed! OKAY, I'm joking BUT, the entire location and plot excluding the zombies is true. Find Golden's Bridge (Westchester County NY) on your map then the reservoir (Kensico-after the town that is no more) and dam just south west. All the other names will fall into place as you look at the surrounding towns. Yes a town really was left to die under the water when the dam was built,you can still see the remains from the air. This book fell into my hands years ago, I think the story is original and creepy. Only a must read if you grew up around there and swam in the reservoir as a kid, or like me know someone who did (swim that is). I only drove past the dam a hundred times. Still a good read, maybe I would give it 4 stars if I liked horror stories more or maybe 2 if I loved horror stories....

The movie stinks, but had a few decent scenes. I stumbled on the book in a used store and took a gamble. If you like horror Beneath Still Waters is a good read.

A small town is flooded in the 1930s to make way for a reservoir. The flooding buries a dark secret about the town and its people. 50 years later the flooded evil presence threatens to rise out of the waters.

The book is such a contrast to the movie. The book is a well written page-turner. The movie is borderline torture if you try to watch it on SciFi with all the commercials.

Read the book. Don't let that turkey of a movie steer you away from a good story.

A friend of mine gave me this book and I gave it a try. I was pleasantly surprised because this was really a pretty good read. It was short at 300 pages even. The story moved right along and the build up to something of a disapointing climax was pretty good. There was not a lot of character development and not a great deal of time was spent working on the relationships between characters. This is just a quick fun read with some suspense and some supernatural evil. One character I would like to mention is Sheriff Rogers. I thought he was going to be a cliche, but he ended up being pretty competent and not a cardboard cutout character. I say, if you want a quick fun read, BENEATH STILL WATERS might not be a bad choice.