Sour Candy A Novella
Reviews
The plot of this book is my NIGHTMARE
Started off good then took a weird turn
This is like It Follows meets Cabin in the Woods but what’s wild is you can read this novella in less time than you could watch either movie. I’m not usually a huge fan of short stories/novellas but this was so great. The imagery from the first page continues throughout and made for a very cinematic reading experience for me (does cinematic reading make sense hmm?). Maybe because I love horror movies but I could picture every scene in my head and it was awesome. There’s really no harm in reading this since it’s so short. Get on it and stay spooky this October!
I don't like the way women are portraid in this novella and while the plot was fresh and interesting, the conclusion failed to keep that going, being very predictable.
truly insane. creepy kids are the scariest thing to me fr
Well written, novella
read in one sitting. it is deeply disturbing and convoluted and i'm afraid now so thanks
disturbing horror novella that gave me the creeps and reminded me never to take candy from strangers in a Walmart.
Whoever wrote the blurb deserves a prize; I picked it up right away. A five-star novella with all the best features of horror fiction. Especially the first few chapters with suspense still in the air. The grasp of atmospheric effects and pace is impeccable, and the surprise at the end ties it all up. I wanted that mystery to endure, after how well it was constructed and maintained (if Hitchcock did a supernatural horror film it would surely feel like this) that when answers came it felt all too soon.
Four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton's teeth fell out. A striking, tightly composed horror novella. Very unsettling, if not for its obvious horror elements, then for the way the very fabric of the main character's reality is drastically, mysteriously altered within the span of an hour, with no one but himself to know there was a before. For me, the first half of the story has the most punch: already the scene at the supermarket is disconcerting, immediately setting off warning signals in my head, and tension and eeriness are built up well within the first few chapters as we gradually realise what is happening. Well written and impactful for its short length, although I did find it weird how often the narration, when Phil is thinking about his girlfriend Lori, kept bringing up how she was dressed in just underwear last time he saw her. Very cool, interesting and relevant! Would say this is a 3.5, rounded up for the first third/half of the story.
What??
Whoever wrote the blurb deserves a prize; I picked it up right away. A five-star novella with all the best features of horror fiction. Especially the first few chapters with suspense still in the air. The grasp of atmospheric effects and pace is impeccable, and the surprise at the end ties it all up. I wanted that mystery to endure, after how well it was constructed and maintained (if Hitchcock did a supernatural horror film it would surely feel like this) that when answers came it felt all too soon.
3.5⭐️
Creepy little novella. Worth a read.
Well damn! This was pretty good! I wish it were longer and more fleshed out, but it definitely does work as a novella. I'm def going to buy some sour candy later today. Probably the exact opposite effect that this story should have, but oh well!
Honestly, this is the first time where I think a horror novella should have been a full novel. Simply so Burke could explore and develop the mythology that he introduces. The short length really hindered my enjoyment and although it was bizarre and creepy, there just wasn't enough *substance* for me. Plus, I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. There was too much "telling" rather than "showing" and the writing style, in general, didn't appeal to me. Catch you in another vague review ✨
Honestly, this is the first time where I think a horror novella should have been a full novel. Simply so Burke could explore and develop the mythology that he introduces. The short length really hindered my enjoyment and although it was bizarre and creepy, there just wasn't enough *substance* for me. Plus, I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. There was too much "telling" rather than "showing" and the writing style, in general, didn't appeal to me. Catch you in another vague review ✨
4.5⭐ This was creepy and f*cked up and I loved it !!!
3,75 Probably one of the weirdest things I have ever read in my life but I enjoyed it?? Definitely wanna check out more from this author!
Phil Pendleton goes to the store for some food. He ends up going home to a child he never knew existed. Where did Adam come from? Who is Adam? And what does he want from Phil? I made a mistake and started reading this book in the dark on my kindle. I had to get up and sit in the bright lights after chapter 4 because I freaked myself out so much. This 80 page book scared me to my very core.
:D
I would suggest not reading a synospis of this story because it's very short and knowing anything but the main charachter's name before reading it would be a spoiler, in my opinion. Nevertheless, Sour Candy was creepy and disturbing, a perfect read for the fall season! I'll definitely check other Kealan Patrick Burke's works.
i dont know what i was expecting but a lovecraftian horror was not it
Four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton's teeth fell out. Here's the deal, I'm 100% positive that I will absolutely love anything that Kealan Patrick Burke puts out. His writing is so.. beautiful? Pleasing? Amazing? His sentences are crafted with such precision, and I just? I love it? I have learned that I am picky when it comes to reading horror. I tend to not like what most people like (& let me tell ya, I kick myself for it everytime I finish a popular book from a popular author -- because WHY CAN'T I BE NORMAL?!@). But, KPB hits all the right spots when it comes to being creepy, while telling a proper story. Am I rambling now? I'm rambling.. Anyway, Sour Candy is every synonym of the word 'amazing'. To begin with, we find ourselves in Walmart & we all know how horrific of a time that is, right?! I mean, c'mon, we just finished up the holiday season & during that time, Walmart was it's own horror story. So, we meet this kid, right? Again, horror story. & he's just having a damn fit & what appears to be his mother is a hot mess & Phil Pendleton is just not enjoyin' it. The kid then offers him a piece of sour candy & HE ACCEPTS IT? WHAT THE HELL, PHIL?! Then the real trouble starts.. & Bex is done with the rehashing, because hashtag spoilers. Something else we should all know is that kids in a horror story are f*@$#$#@ terrifying. It's like, the main rule of a horror movie. If there's a kid in the film, that kid is probably up to something creepy. Sour Candy really came through with the creepy kid thing & this book probably makes for proper birth control. USE CONDOMS (or abstinence, I guess), KIDS, BECAUSE WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF SATAN SPAWN IS COMING OUT OF YOU. I'm kidding, please don't exile me. What am I even talking about? Sour Candy is PHENOMENAL. I felt way too many things reading this novella -- fear, depression, empathy -- if it's a negative emotion, I felt it (& yes, I did just randomly call empathy a negative emotion) & I mean that in the best way possible. Also, can I talk about how envious I am at KPB's skill? In the matter of 74 pages, he crafted characters & development, an interesting plot that has a fair-share of twists, and in general, a story that's going to stick with me for a really long time. KPB is fantastic. Please don't let me catch you sleepin' on him, because honestly, his work deserves to be read & loved.
Highlights
In contrast to her son’s rosy complexion, the woman was pallid and drawn, cheekbones pushing against her waxy skin like hangers beneath a sheet.
Because the child he had feared, the child he had killed had not been a monster at all but a guardian, assigned to watch over Phil and the life he was carrying inside him. And in killing the boy, he had not escaped at all, but completed the last step of their ritual.
“Eat of her, become her,” the voices chanted, and he saw himself accepting the first piece of candy—or what he had assumed was candy back then—from the boy in the grocery store. It was not candy at all, of course, he knew that now, but a seed, a seed which had taken root inside him and would soon give birth to new life, a life that would, once old enough, find another nest, another life to poison, and the process would carry on again until the time came for the attendant child to give itself up in blood sacrifice. And the ritual would begin again. They make us bear their children.
People tend to distance themselves from the insane, as if to inquire is to request an invitation to the same dance.
“Mora’s coming...” the child said. “Who is Mora?” “You are.”
How much more reasonable did it seem that something had snapped deep within him and he’d been living a nightmare of his own creation? But of course, to realize such a thing at any point before now would have forced him to accept his own madness, and that itself, as he knew now, was its own particular form of Hell.
In a situation in which every rational person is telling you a fact and you’re the one who denies it, doesn’t that make you the one most likely wrong?
“I want to wait,” the child whispered. “Don’t talk.” “I want to wait for Mora.”
“You ate the candy,” the boy said. “You ate of her, and so her you will become.”
“But there is a reason,” the boy told him. “And what’s that?” “Mora.”
“You don’t fuck with people’s lives for no reason. We’re not your playthings.”
Only his house was in darkness. The streetlights were still working out there and in their cool blue light he saw six of the robed, skeletal faced figures standing on his lawn, their eyes lost in inky shadow, but he knew they were looking at him.
Phil looked at him. “What does that mean? What’s tomorrow?” The boy smiled. “Tomorrow’s the day you try to kill me.”
As he drew abreast of it, that deer skeleton face turned in his direction and an involuntary scream escaped Phil’s throat.
The image of her standing in the bedroom doorway in her underwear, the co- quettish smile, her laughter on the phone, all the nights they’d lain in bed together talking about the future...all gone, all stolen from him. Sour candy trumps chocolate.
Because that scream was a lot more than just an annoyance. No, the more Phil heard it, the more he started to think of it as something infinitely worse. He became convinced it was a beacon. The child was signaling the others.
Until Adam screamed, as he did at least once every day, because this too was routine.
All he did find was that “gjøk” was the Norwegian word for “cuckoo”. He sat back with a bitter grin and poured himself another scotch. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the candy had been named after a brood parasite known for laying its eggs in the nests of other birds.
And then he’ll draw his focus in closer, to the figures, what he will think of as Eldre or Elders without ever knowing how he knows that’s what they are. The word is just there, as are they, standing around the granite table watching him, their faces the elon- gated skulls of ancient deer, their horns impossibly long and tangled, twisting upward into apparent oblivion. These are not masks. The holes where their eyes should be will reveal nothing, but he senses the age and the eldritch threat, as all six of them open their bony mouths at once and deafen him with the same scream he heard from the child, only louder.
At first, there was nothing. At second, there was everything. And too late he realized that what he had put into his mouth was not candy at all, but a key.
Only when the child mimicked his laugh with eerie synchronicity did he stop, the mad joviality evaporating as quickly as it had come.
I asked you to stop calling me. We’re done, Phil. Get that through your head. We’ve been done for a long time now. A long time. By his count, it had been less than four hours. I tried, I really did, but I told you I wasn’t ready to be a mother and as hard as that is, taking care of a kid that’s not your own is even harder. I just need to live my life until I’m ready to settle down, and that day isn’t anywhere in the near future. Words he himself had once used with his ex-wife.
How could anyone look at those pic-tures and not notice the queerest things apparent in them? The digital dates in the bottom right hand corner showed that they had been taken over the course of three years, but not only had the child not aged in that time, he was wearing the exact same clothes in each one, the same clothes he was wearing today. And how often did one see digital timestamps on pictures these days?
“I’m asking you all of this, Mr. Pendleton, because when the officers went to your house, the child you just described seeing with Mrs. Bennings is the one who opened the door.”