Robert Marasco

This is a reprint of a classic horror novel, Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco with a new introduction and artwork.

Burnt Offerings

Burnt Offerings was not a very exciting book. Not much happened and the events that did transpire weren't frightening in the least. Maybe it's because there's not much that can be done with the haunted house concept if you're avoiding ghosts outright. 

Ashlyn

shellybn

** spoiler alert **
           The best character was the first one killed off.

Closer to 3.5 stars.

This had a really interesting premise and I thought the beginning of it, while a bit slow to actually get in the house, had a nice unnerving build-up. The very idea of being in their situation creeps me out! However, once the pattern of events is established, the book becomes very predictable. The only thing about the ending that surprised me was that there wasn't more explanation or a twist! It was just very straight-forward and was vaguely what I expected to happen, so I wasn't very entertained. I also didn't find the characters likable. It's clear that (view spoiler)[the house magnifies their worst qualities (hide spoiler)] but I didn't feel attached to anyone even with that in mind.

The writing was pretty good, and it was a fairly enjoyable ride, I just didn't find it a very compulsive read because of how predictable it was.

Ben and Marian Rolfe are desperate to escape a stifling summer in their tiny Brooklyn apartment, so when they get the chance to rent a mansion in upstate New York for the entire season for only $900, it's an offer that's too good to refuse. There's only one catch: behind a strange and intricately carved door in a distant wing of the house lives elderly Mrs. Allardyce, and the Rolfes will be responsible for preparing her meals. But Mrs. Allardyce never seems to emerge from her room, and it soon becomes clear that something weird and terrifying is happening in the house. As the suspense builds towards a revelation of what really lies behind that locked door, the Rolfes will discover that their cheap vacation rental comes at a terrible cost . . . The basis for a classic 1976 film adaptation and an acknowledged influence on Stephen King's The Shining, Burnt Offerings is one of the most original and scariest haunted house novels ever written. This edition, the first in decades, features a new introduction by award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones. "[N]ear brilliance . . . a disturbing tale . . . highly recommended." - Stephen King "Burnt Offerings has no peer. Better than Rosemary's Baby, The Other, and The Exorcist." - Hartford Courant "Insidiously frightening . . . It snares you early and draws you inexorably to one of the most nerve-shattering finales in years." - Publishers Weekly "Terrifies even by daylight." - New York Times

Burnt Offerings

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