The Residence

Rating:
Summary: Good prose and exciting content
Review: "The Residence" is an outstanding piece of horror fiction incorporating good prose, exciting content, and vivid visuals. We are proud to introduce the work into our library system.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad book for first time author
Review: ... to realise that someone thought this drivel was worth publishing or - to buy a book from Amazon on the strength of positive reviews and then realise that most of them must have been written by the author or his close friends/family - to be trapped on a bus with nothing to read but this book and a book on management you've got to read for an exam! To put it quite simply 'The Residence' is unreadable trash. The characters are pure cardboard, the plots are laughably bad and the writing style - well words fail me. Amateurish, bathetic, over-inflated cliche - "He was gripped by a sense of overwhelming terror" ...- that kind of thing. We are continually reminded that the atmosphere is 'terrifying' characters are 'gripped with fear' - or possibly 'palpable menace' - real authors gradually draw us into the characters' emotions they don't rely solely on adjectives! The overall impression is that of a 13 year old who's just discovered H.P. Lovecraft trying to imitate his style of writing. The author is obviously attempting to shock, but sadly he is no Clive Barker - some of the book is revolting, but none of it is remotely original (sample, eyes gouged out, rats gnawing intestines), and since all the characters - victims and villains alike are something less than one-dimensional the impact on the reader is zero. How I wish that this book had included a 'read an excerpt' option then I certainly wouldn't have wasted any money on it. One paragraph - or perhaps sentence - would have been enough ...

PS. I ended up reading the study book instead of 'The Residence' - it was more interesting ...

Rating:
Summary: Hooray For Crayons!!!!
Review: As a avid reader of King and True crime I was quite impressed with the first time Horror writings of Mark V. The art was very original,And not all writers can be as talented to be able to write a book,and illistrate at the same time.
The story lines from the Residence were quite refreshing because it wasn't something I have read or seen a millon times before.
To those who have such a narrow point of view of this book try going out in the world and get a real life, or let's see you try to articulate something worth reading...It's alot harder than it seems.
A note for the Author keep on writing with those Crayons if the writing biz doesn't work out you should try to get an endorsment from Crayola for making your first book possible...

Rating:
Summary: Is this a joke?
Review: I have never seen a book more poorly written, perhaps with the exception of a story written by a third grader. It is almost as if the book were never read before publishing. There are so many grammatical errors it is almost comical. To top it off, the stories are weak and the plot lines are ridiculous. I would honestly be ashamed to admit to having written this piece [...]

Rating:
Summary: Nice Book
Review: I recently bought this book and really liked it. Before posting this ad, I read all the reviews. As usual, some were good and some were not. You cannot please everyone, and that's a fact. I must say, that for a first novel, this is not to shabby. Yes, there are some type errors... but coming from someone who works in the printing industry, this is the norm. I have bought books by Steven King, Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy, etc... which all contained errors (either spelling, grammatical, or both). It's called human nature and we are not perfect. As for the reviews here... The BAD reveiws actually sell the book better than the good one... so for the readers that write saying the author or friends wrote ALL the good reviews, this tells me that they don't know much about marketing. Once again, I enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing more of Ventimiglia's work in print.

Rating:
Summary: So this guy's THAT weird???
Review: Isn't the world sad enough without all the negativity? I truly enjoy Mr V's work, but to see such hate and annimosity in reviews, that is just sad. So someone didn't like the book. OK. Ya can't please everyone, right. But I did notice that that Angela from UK is just a nasty person. She has given many people bad reviews, such as King, Koontz, etc, etc. Wow, why be such a meany and ne so negative? Anyway, I liked the book. The best part was the art, which was done by the author. The stories and poems are cool, but the art is fab!

See ya

Rating:
Summary: Maybe not King, Koontz, Barker, or Rice... But...
Review: Mark Ventimiglia may not be an author like King, Koontz, Barker, or Rice but his eccentric mind is certainly in league with Poe! (If he is alive past 40 I'll be surprised)! Why do I say this? Very simple. My name is Simon Birtch, and I live very near to Ventimiglia. As a matter of fact, I see him often: On my way to work, on my way to the store, on my way to the bank, etc. Am I saying that he is a pillar citizen of the community? No. On the contrary, he is one of the strangest, most bizarre, and eccentric people I have ever witnessed. Perhaps his celebrity preceeds him? I doubt it, for he is not a household name. Might never become one either. The man, and he is that, since he is, I am guessing, in his late 30's, walks the streets of the city... every day! I hear tales, over coffee in the morning at the local coffee shop, that he doesn't own a tv, vcr, radio, or even a pc! One rumor going around town is that he wrote the entire manuscript for the Residence in CRAYON! Is he a mastermind market stratigest or simply insane? I cannot believe anyone, a professional writer at that, would have the gall to submit an entire manuscript to a publisher in crayon. But, IF it is true, it certainly turned enough heads at the firm to secure him a deal! (I hear tell that a few other firms are fighting over his latest manuscript... 93,000 words, and again, all in crayon)! The enigmatic author does live in a small cottage. That much I do know for I have seen the house. It is a quaint little home, at least 100 years old, and situated on a huge lot with very large trees. I also hear tell that he WAS married, but his wife left him last year. Why, none seem to know. So, what is my opinion on his work? Well, he is a very colorful person and a gifted writer (market strategist); I personally don't like horror, but since I knew of this writer personally (since not many celebs live in this area) I thought I'd dump my opinion here. My favorite 2 stories in the book was Fingers and Collage. I hear all the tales were based on true happenings, but if this is true, well, this guy is even more weird than he lets on!

Rating:
Summary: Better than Stephen King and Dean Koonts COMBINED!
Review: The delemma of new authors is that they often get buried under all the hype of the old established writers. I think this is the case here. The Residence is the finest work of horror (and a few dark fantasy tales as well) that has been published in a long time. The way the Mark unfolds a story is simply enthralling! His characters are so full of life that you are crying, laughing, and screaming right along with them the entire story. And his descriptive narrations are second to none.

The main problem I see with this work is not the author, but the publishing company. They are just a small company, on the vergy of bankruptcy I here from insider sources, and haven't the financial means to correct advertise the book. My sources tell me this book will go out of print soon, so be sure and get your copy now while they last...

One important thing to note is this: My sources tell me that Mark is NO LONGER with Whitechapel; he was signed to Kensington Publishing Corporation earlier this year! This means that he has finally been picked up by a huge, internation publisher with ample funds for proper book marketing. I am sure that this will be a boon to the fiction industry, as in my opinion, there is NOT an author writing today that can rival Mark's work and intensity. He is truly a master storyteller!

Rating:
Summary: Really scary!
Review: This book by Mark is very scary! My mom bought it for me last October. She is a witch and loves scary stuff and she also bought me the Wiccan Prayerbook too, which was also a nice book. I cannot wait for Mark to write other books because his writing is unique!