Customer Reviews

More Horowitz Horror

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

 

 

Read the title. DOWNRIGHT SCARY. It's just like that. I bought the book because at first I didn't think it was that bad, but after a few stories I didn't read it anymore. I actually got the Complete Horowitz Horror book, and it has all the stories contained in this one. This is kind of for an older group of people, and kids not used to horror stories would be better off fndng something else to read.

"Horowitz Horror", and the sequel book "More Horowitz Horror", are simply written and all of the stories have simplistic plots. The reader can guess the outcome of any story in the first few pages. Both of these books are aimed at a pre-teen or early teen audience. The main characters range from 12 to 16 years of age. The plots resemble fables where the bad guys get their "just due" at the end. They are predictable and the characters are childlike in their simplicity.

I would recommend these books for pre-teens but adults will find them uninspiring and uninteresting. The authors writing ability is passable but his plots and characters are uninteresting. Unfortunately he does little research on his subject matter and there are factual errors in the books. One glaring error, in a story about a doomed airliner, suggests that the plane is destined to crash because the water from the plumbing system has leaked and frozen in the belly of the plane. The author then has the character say that "of course everyone knows that ice is heavier than water". Obviously the author flunked basic physics, chemistry and biology, because, in fact, ice is NOT heavier than water. Therefore the basic premise of the story is flawed. Poetic license aside, such technical errors reveal poor research, a lack of even a basic understanding of science and sloppy writing. Considering the fact that he is engaging a pre-teen audience, this must be considered a serious flaw.