12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I made the mistake of reading it over dinner one night and... well... I had to cut my feast short, let's just say that., February 23, 2011
Just like the cover suggests, Urban Gothic is a haunted house story. It starts out with six suburban teens stuck in a bad city neighborhood when they get lost and their car breaks down. They have a misunderstanding with some of the locals, believing (understandably, from the way their interaction began) that they were gangbangers about to rob them. The protagonists, three boys and three girls, run for cover into an evil-looking abandoned house.
Not all of them make it to the end of the book.
Urban Gothic is filled with vile, deformed, cannibal mutants, some more humanoid than others, and Keene packs each chapter with brutal detail and gruesome deaths. There's a diverse group of characters; by the end of the book the six suburbanites, the local kids, their older neighbor and a scrap-metal thief all end up facing down the horrors within. The bad guys are some of the nastiest Keene's written (worse than the Siqqism from The Rising, Earl Harper from The Conqueror Worms and Sherm from Terminal combined) ; giants, dwarves, mutant babies that should have never survived the womb and even one particularly nasty creature that wears a woman's preserved skin as clothing. Just about everyone who dies goes crazy or close to it before meeting their end and even the people that survive will never be the same. The setting itself is impressive; the house, of course, is creepy as hell and described in great detail, but most of the action and horrible nastiness occurs deep underground, in the basement and caves inhabited by more loathsome creatures as the characters progress deeper within.
I had high expectations for Gothic just because it's a Brian Keene novel, but this surpassed them exponentially. I do believe it's his nastiest work yet. I made the mistake of reading it over dinner one night and... well... I had to cut my feast short, let's just say that. In addition, if you're a long-time reader you'll even catch a connection or two to some of Keene's other work. 10/10 and I want to see this book made into a movie NAO.
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21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do you like inbred-mutant-cannibals?, August 1, 2009
This review is from: Urban Gothic (Mass Market Paperback)
Some folks say there are no new stories. Some folks might compare Brian Keene's Urban Gothic to movies like The Hills Have eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the writings of Richard Laymon and Edward Lee. Yes, there are elements of these things in Urban Gothic, but, it's what Keene does with these elements that makes the book stand out. The action starts early and the tension rises with each blood soaked page. Instead of giving us complete character descriptions at the start, Keene lets the information trickle in; we learn more about each character from their reactions to the horrible situation they find themselves in, then we would if it was all layed out for us in the first chapter. While some may look at this as a simple slasher novel, it addresses issues of race,community pride and sacrifice, as well. BUT, it is a great slasher novel. Brian Keene's amazing talent takes horror tropes and raises them to a level that should not just be enjoyed, but should be praised. (Yeah, I know I didn't mention the inbred-mutant-cannibals. For that, you have to read the book.)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ok then!, August 2, 2010
This review is from: Urban Gothic (Mass Market Paperback)
I've read other books by Keene and have loved them but this isn't one of them. Often at times I felt he was rambling through the storyline, when in fact the whole book felt like something slapped together. The writing in places felt forced almost like words were being written to boost the word count.
If you like mutants which make no sense, this book is for you. If not, skip it! I wish I had.
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