Rating: Summary: Chilling tale of horror Review: This is a chilling, well-written novel. The outstanding use of cliffhangers keep you frightened and on the edge of your seat. The intense descriptions and details make you feel like you are part of the novel, and that you are seeing what goes on. This novel had a fearful plot that portrays some of Stephen King's works. My recommendation is a strong one, but for readers of an older age, because this is an original tale of horror that may frighten younger readers.
Rating: Summary: A classic of Psychological Terror Review: This is a small, quite famous short novel by the controversial Ron Hubbard. I must say that I found an exaggeration the high number of comments about the chills that this novel conveys. Nevertheless I think that the plot is fast paced and ingenious specially when it is contrasted with the shock ending, which contains the classical "Twilight Zone" twist. Although written with a lack of brilliance, it can be considered one of the early effective efforts in the psychological thriller genre.
Rating: Summary: A Good, Short Read Review: This is actually the first horror book I have ever read (well, adult horror anyway). I read it because it was a Hubbard. So, I don't know how it compares to other works in the genre, but I did enjoy it on it's own merit. It is a rather short book, and it is good to read if you have a couple of hours to kill. I read it in one day, nearly in one setting. And it IS hard to put down, very suspenseful. I would not say it is actually scary, but I suppose to some people it might be. At the very least it is a masterwork of suspense, a real page turner. And the ending is great! Totally killer (no pun intended). I will try to read some more horror books.
Rating: Summary: Great Horror By A Master of Sci-Fi Review: This is the only Hubbard word I have ever read, and most likely the only one I'll ever read; but this is not because this book fell short of excellent! This is a wonderful forray out of his standard genre, sci-fi, and into horror. I read this after reading numerous recommendations of it as a classic by the likes of Stephen King and Robert Weinberg, and was not dissapointed I did. This is a classic that I found disturbing and un-put-downable for the first few chapters, and highlly satisfying by the end. Quite a premise: a man loses 3 hours of his life. There are hints that suggest he did something unthinkable during this time frame, so he must now search for what happened during this timeframe. His search takes him on a very memorable journey and what he finds is truly horrifying. This is not a particularly long book--it is said he wrote it on a train-ride from California to New York--but it is very much worth reading.
Rating: Summary: Fear - an insightful experience, not just a story Review: This novel did an excellent job of taking the reader along with the main character down into a cavern of madness. Flights of fantasy/strange encounters and riddles are interspersed with the daily activities of the main character making the character's experiences frightenly realistic and plausible. The ending really surprised me and added to the effect of this book because the ending was not predictable. Character development is good and the writing style flows well. There are no unanswered questions at the books conclusion and so there is a satisfaction when you finish. Hubbard doesn't leave you hanging in the end.
Rating: Summary: This one's a classic! Review: This story kept me on edge. I never knew what would happen next. Jim Lowry, a logical man, does not believe in spirits and demons. At least he didn't at the beginning of the story...I recommend it. It's a good read and no gore.
Rating: Summary: Trippy, but scary? Review: This supposed horror book isn't a horror book. It's more like a description of an acid trip than anything else. A university professor, recovering from malaria, is fired for a controversial paper deriding idols and artifacts of certain gods. Apparently, this angers some spirits, and after seemingly losing a few hours of his life and his hat, he descends (literally) into a world of weird characters and doors and life forces involving his wife and best friend. It's hard not to give away the plot, because the plot is only revealed in the end. It's basically a few huge extremely strange events in one book. Even though the imagery is very good for this short, Hubbard's language is a little terse and antiquated to make it a quick read. Though overall pretty interesting, I would not recommend this, as I wouldn't know what to classify it as.
Rating: Summary: Trippy, but scary? Review: This supposed horror book isn't a horror book. It's more like a description of an acid trip than anything else. A university professor, recovering from malaria, is fired for a controversial paper deriding idols and artifacts of certain gods. Apparently, this angers some spirits, and after seemingly losing a few hours of his life and his hat, he descends (literally) into a world of weird characters and doors and life forces involving his wife and best friend. It's hard not to give away the plot, because the plot is only revealed in the end. It's basically a few huge extremely strange events in one book. Even though the imagery is very good for this short, Hubbard's language is a little terse and antiquated to make it a quick read. Though overall pretty interesting, I would not recommend this, as I wouldn't know what to classify it as.
Rating: Summary: A TIMELESS CLASSIC THAT WILL LIVE IN YOUR NIGHTMARES FOREVER Review: While L. Ron Hubbard was, for the most part, a science-fiction writer by trade, over 50 years ago he brought us perhaps one of the best examples of contemporary--and now classic--horror fiction available in literature. Behind the entire plot a simple premise. . .and what it depicts could happen to anyone. When Jim Lowry, a die-hard skeptic in all things unnatural, and prominent professor at Atworthy discovers he has lost a hat, and four hours of his life, his life quickly becomes gripped by dark forces he can no longer deny. He must find his hat. He must find his four hours. . . But that voice keeps whispering to him : If you find your hat you will find your four hours. If you find your four hours you will die. The book ends on an earth-shattering note, and we see just how deep Jim Lowry has become plunged into the Abyss. This one is sure to hang 'round in the rafters for a while.
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