A New Blogfest, A Little Complaining, and a Book Review

Awesome blogger and writer Mina Lobo is having a hell of a good time at her blog, Some Dark Romantic, celebrating its first anniversary. Of course, a blogfest is in order and the theme of this one is: Resurrection. But don't fret, this celebration does not wander into the realms of the philosophical, instead it focuses on the road we as bloggers have travelled to get where we are. Remember that amazingly clever post you wrote back when nobody stopped by your blog? Well, Mina is inviting all of us who would like to resurrect a post like that. November 7th is the day for your old post to come back to life. There will be amazon gift cards for the winners, and it will be a lot of fun. If you are interested, check out the rules and details here. I'd love to read an old jewel of yours and can't wait to share mine with you.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled review. This time it is the turn of Carole Gill's The House on Blackstone Moor.


The House on Blackstone Moor is a beautifully written gothic novel full of suspense and plot twists. It is narrated by the main character, Rose Baines, the sole survivor of her family's massacre carried out by her own father. In fact, she's the one who discovers the bodies caked with blood and horribly twisted. When police arrives, they find the young woman in such a state of shock that it's decided she needs to be committed. So begins the difficult path this character has to travel in order to find her place in a world of darkness she can't escape.

You always hear how important it is to have a strong first page to draw in your readers; Carole Gill does that amazingly, showing off her gift to describe horrid scenes with simple, elegant words that serve so well to the gothic style. The story grabs you immediately, the characters are believable and very soon we root for this poor girl who has gone through such a terrible experience. The rest of the characters keep the action going and I never felt bored, though it is until three quarters of the book have passed that the first vampire is revealed as such. For a book described by its author as a story of vampirism, it is rather late in the game that vampiric lore is introduced. It is at this point that the darkest side of the story is unveiled, finally embracing its paranormal secrets.

The book is edited to perfection, letting the prose shine in all its romantic glory without grammatical mistakes or typos to distract us. Carole Gill is a gifted author I've been following for some time now, and even though I don't think The House on Blackstone Moor is her best piece, it succeeds in showing her great talent as a wordsmith and inventor of dark worlds. I can't wait for whatever else this author has in store.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars






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Last night I finished reading I Am Legend and have to say: WHAT AN ENDING!! It is an incredibly original story because of the point of view from which Matheson chooses to narrate, to then turn the tables in the ending, leaving you every bit as astounded with the revelation as the main character is.

When the movie came out a few years ago, I liked it; it was scary and I thought Will Smith had done an amazing job at supporting the movie by himself. Now, after reading the book, I will never look at it the same way. It totally misses what makes the book so incredibly original and it makes so many changes to the story that renders it almost unrecognizable. In sum, the film story doesn't hold a candle to the one of the pages.

I have to say, though, the section where the main character is going through medical knowledge to explain himself the basis of the 'infection' gave me a stomachache. If you follow me and my work, you know I'm an MD. I don't know if the medical knowledge was that much far back in 1954, or if Matheson just picked and chose whatever he needed and made it fit the story, but I tell you: It was physically painful. Chances are, you aren't as versed in Physiology and won't notice a thing, so by all means, don't let this detail keep you from reading such a wonderful story.

I enjoyed the whole experience very much and was unable to put the book down from the moment I turned the first page. In my opinion, the story is a lot better thought out than Matheson's Hell House though the aforementioned has a richer vocabulary. I recommend it thoroughly and is now, among my favourite books ever.