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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"The Dark" is good, but not great,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dark (Signet) (Paperback)
I stumbled across this book while browsing in the "Horror" section of a used-paperback store. At first it looked like schlock, but after glancing through it, I thought it would be worth the all of one or two bucks it would cost me.I had never heard of James Herbert before, so I did not know he was, in fact, a best-selling author, and one of the few in the genre to be succesful in both England and the US. After reading "The Dark", I found that I liked Herbert's style; I will definitely read some more of his work in the future. "The Dark" contains a rather unique premise, unless one considers that it is very similar to that of Herbert's eariler novel, "The Fog". A bizaare cult conjures up a kind of spiritual force that compels people to act on their darkest, most evil impulses, gradually turning the city of London into one giant riot. A small group of parapsychologists tries to stop the force, but it grows and grows, triggering a state of emergency. This novel is very intriguing, and contains some of the most frightening, most disturbing images I've read in any horror novel. Herbert is able to avoid the temptation to be hideously gory just for the sake of it; the story never seems gratuitous or overdone. The novel's cast of characters are also interesting and even believable. The thing I didn't like about the novel is that it seems unfinished; the ending is unsatisfying, as if either Herbert intended a sequel or just plain got tired of writing the novel and decided to wrap it up quickly. Above all, however, I would recommend "The Dark" to anyone looking for a good horror story. Just don't expect a classic.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Be afraid...,
By
This review is from: The Dark (Audio Cassette)
The premise of 'The Dark' is whether madness and extreme actions are triggered by external forces or whether they are emitted from the very soul. In this novel, Herbert has determined that the impulses are wholly voluntary and come from the characters who become one with 'The Dark'. Of the two sides of their personae, they have freely chosen to embrace the dark side and ignore 'The Light'. As with all good Herbert novels, the premise is expanded. In The Dark, London eventually becomes a killing ground for the cult of 'The Dark' and, when a small group of parapsychologists fails to stop the force, a state of emergency is declared. The Dark contains some of Herbert's most frightening and disturbing images. As usual he manages to avoid gratuitous blood and guts, but there's still no shortage in this novel.The ending seemed a little rushed, hence four stars. But still worth reading
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Grisly horror,
By Chris Ratcliff (Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dark (Audio Cassette)
Whoa, baby. You want horror, here, you got it. This is a book that attempts to do actual physical violence to you. I read _The Dark_ after Ramsey Campbell's _The Hungry Moon_, which has a similar idea, and was a little disappointed that Herbert wasn't able to extract much terror out of the simple idea of the *lights going out*, as Campbell does. Felt like an idea gone begging. But Herbert is a much more... visual writer, and this book gets you in many other ways. Recommended.
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