Red Dragon

By Thomas Harris

Reviewed by Ms. Andersen, BCCHS English teacher

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris is the scariest book I have ever read.  I read this book in high school when everyone was saying that Silence of the Lambs was the scariest book ever.  It is not.  This one is.  They share one character, Hannibal Lector, but he is not prominent in this book, as he is in Silence of the Lambs.  Red Dragon has another antagonist, the Tooth Fairy.  Sure, a character named the Tooth Fairy doesn’t sound scary, but this one is.

The Tooth Fairy is named that because when the killer in Red Dragon kills his victims, he leaves teeth marks on them.  But not normal teeth marks, teeth that have been filed to a point.  The killer wants to be called Red Dragon, but the FBI get on to the Tooth moniker and can’t leave it alone.

This book becomes scary when the FBI get close to catching the Tooth Fairy, but he outsmarts them by faking his own death.  Once I realized it was a fake, I was terrified.  I used to read this book late at night in front of a window.  Not a smart choice.  So I started reading it at the beach in full sunlight.  Still scary.  Once the killer faked his death I started reading it at night again.  This was a mistake.  So scary.

If you like Stephen King books, you will like this one.  Red Dragon is scarier than most Stephen King books that I have read, even his scariest (in my opinion), Salem’s Lot.  Thomas Harris does a brilliant job at terrifying his readers.  So if you want to be scared, read this book.  At night.  While your family is sleeping.

IT

By Stephen King

Reviewed by Alan Nguyen

Derry is a small town in which many strange and bizarre events take place, where an evil orb of light becomes every child’s worst nightmare. Seven kids of the town each have an encounter with the evil with no name. Twenty-seven years later, none of them can withstand the force that brings them back to Derry, and they each remember the monster that takes the form of a clown.

“George’s eyes rolled in the picture…[His] artificial say-cheese smile turned into a horrid leer… Bill threw the book across the room…The book struck the wall and fell to the floor, open. The pages turned…to that awful picture again…Blood began to flow from the picture.”

IT is one of Stephen King’s best. The book is excellent, addicting, a book to read if you enjoy horror.

Carrie

Book by Stephen King

Review by Alan N., BCCHS student

“It was time to teach them a lesson. Time to show them a thing or two. She giggled hysterically.”

A high school student who is harassed constantly, so that every moment the anger becomes worse and worse—Carrie White is not your ordinary 16-year-old girl. She is seen as a freak, somebody who does not belong in Chamberlain, Maine. Her mother sees her own daughter as a sinner, a witch, and Carrie soon realizes the gift she has, the power to move anything with her mind. As things get worse, she knows what she must do, punish those who did her wrong, the ones who underestimated her; she will make them suffer, let them know that Carrie White is one person not to bother, and she waits for her prom night, a night she will always cherish. In the book, she is described as a girl who has self-doubt, who is someone who will never find true love, or ever have a relationship.

The book, in my opinion, was able to demonstrate high school life and what certain people go through. What I really enjoy about the author is that Stephen King is able to blend a little of reality and fiction together, and come up with a story that is very interesting. Carrie is one of my favorite Stephen King books. It is well written, the suspense is unrelenting, and it is a fast-paced novel. Another good thing about it is that when a significant event occurs, the novel changes to another setting in which the characters describe the situation of the prom night, the night that no one will ever forget. The novel is a great book, and I hope the students that read it can enjoy it as much as I did. What I also liked from the book was that it is full of detail, and describes every little thing that is needed to understand the story.

I know this long review can be boring or stupid, the reason is because I’m doing an extra credit assignment for my English class, and I NEED THE POINTS! I hope the person that is reading this review can take their time to read the book, and I hope they will like it—Who wouldn’t like it, IT’S CARRIE EVERYONE, the story about the girl who has hate for everyone, including her own mother; but I don’t blame her, because her mom is crazy. Carrie is a short novel, 245 pages long, but once you read the very beginning, you won’t want to put the book down. I thank you for taking your time to read this very long review, and I hope you will read the book.

Pet Sematary

By Stephen King

Reviewed by Alan Nguyen

“A hideous mewling sound now arose, and for a moment all of Judson’s bones turned to white ice. It was not Louis’s son returned from the grave but some hideous monster.”

The Creeds are an ideal family—physician father, caring mother, adorable daughter, and infant son—who move to rural Maine to seek a better life. They soon find the new house they are going to be living in, including the path that leads to the pet cemetery. It seems too good to be true, but then Louis Creed, the father, soon discovers the blood-chilling truth of the burial ground behind their new home, an evil enchantment of magic that is hidden within the burial grounds, something powerful, more terrifying than death itself. Death is only the beginning.

Excellent, Stephen King is at his best, spine-tingling and very chilling. This book addresses the mystery of death, and the secrets of burial.

The Shining

By Stephen King

Reviewed by Alan Nguyen, BCCHS student

"El sueño de la razón produce monstruos."
"The sleep of reason breeds monsters."
– Francisco Goya, painter

A small family of three is staying at the Overlook hotel: Jack Torrance, a former alcoholic who lost his teaching job after beating up a student, Wendy Torrance, a mother who wants to give her family a better life, and Danny, an independent 5-year-old son who has a gift that reflects the evil of the hotel.

Jack is a writer, and decides to become the caretaker of the hotel. Wendy and Danny join along, not knowing the history of the hotel. As time passes, strange things start happening: Jack starts becoming a cold-hearted figure who represents the hotel’s darkness, and Danny soon discovers the family’s future, a bloody nightmare of death, the ghosts of the past wreak havoc on the hotel.

The Shining is one of the best, creepiest books, and it will leave you wanting more. It is the one book that kept me up at night.

'Salem’s Lot

By Stephen King

Reviewed by Alan Nguyen, BCCHS student

"…in the awful heavy silence of the house, as he sat impotently on his bed with his face in his hands, he heard the high, sweet, evil laugh of a child—and then the horrible sucking sounds."

This book, written by Stephen King, is about a novelist named Ben Mears, who goes to his hometown in southern Maine, after being away for 25 years. Ben had the idea of writing one of his books on the Marsten house, a house that sits on top of the hill staring down at 'Salem's lot. The experience he had at that house has kept him from coming back to the town. Everything seems normal at first, but the town's fate is more dreadful than death. The population decreases over time, a man's best friend is found dead, and monsters of the night take over…
It was a great book, it was the first Stephen king book that I have read, and for any student who is looking for a book that is sure to give you chills it would be 'Salem's lot. 


Image courtesy of Joseph Valks / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Cirque du Freak

By Darren Shan

Reviewed by Matthew E.

Cirque du Freak is a page-turning thriller that is sure to leave readers bloodthirsty for more. There are many plot twists that are sure to chill the spine of even the most brave-hearted. 

Cirque du Freak is the story of your average teenager Darren Shan, who is more than unenthusiastic about how things are going in his life. He simply hates the conformity and wants adventure. So one night when his mischievous friend Steven asks him if he wants to see a freak show, Darren jumps for the chance for excitement. Little does he know that choosing to go to this show will change his life forever.

Throughout this book, Darren is dragged into a centuries long war that no one outside of the vampire society knows about. Will Darren turn the tide of this war against Vampires and Vampaneze? Will Darren ever get a chance to have his first kiss? Or will he turn to an inhumane society and become a full vampire whose only purpose is to be a bloodsucking demon? You can only find out when you read Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's assistant.