Having loved Richard Chizman's Chasing the Boogeyman series, I was expecting good things. The first half of Memorials was gripping but I was less impressed with the second half. I think the book could have been condensed. It was a good read, but didn't quite grip me like his others

Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of Memorials.

First things first. I LOVED Chasing the Boogeyman. Everything about it. So I was very excited to be approved for Chizmar’s new book, Memorials.

I am not sure how I feel about this, other than it was nowhere near as good as the Boogeyman. I enjoyed the storyline, though it did get very unbelievable towards the end. It also seemed to take me an age to get to the end, but I didn’t feel at any point that it would be a DNF.

2.5 stars rounded down as it just seemed to go on forever!

Ah this book was completely brilliant, I practically lived it, which considering the story meant I had quite a few vividly unnerving dreams.

Darkly disturbing, creepy in many parts, but with an absolutely engaging and realistic group of characters that you invested in from page one. Which gave it a strong energy and emotional edge, the sort that makes a genuinely excellent psychological horror novel.

Striking writing and an ending that had me on the edge of my seat, then experience some emotional trauma.

Does what all the best books do, gets absorbed into your subconscious heart.

Highly Recommended

I was really looking forward to a creepy read to keep me company when the nights draw in. Memorials certainly delivered on that.

The book is drawn out with many descriptions and scene-setting - think Stephen King epics. This helps to build the rapport with our characters and their journey and then, later, to expand on the eerie happenings that we encounter. With the tension that escalates, a slow burn is perfect for setting the right tone.

The ending was terrifying - perhaps not one to read at bedtime if you are of a nervous disposition!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I loved the Stranger Things meets Blair Witch-esque premise of Richard Chizmar's Memorials; it's set in rural Pennsylvania, and follows three college students on a road trip in the 80s making a documentary about roadside memorials. But as they explore the circumstances of these deaths, the accidents begin to seem more and more unnatural... and other creepy things are going on. Sadly, it's SO long and SO slow, to the extent that nothing much supernatural happens until about a third of the way through and a sense of threat only properly kicks in at the 75% mark. I admit it, I skimmed. The central trio are decent enough characters but nowhere near complex enough to merit so much time on what is just a fun road trip, and I got a bit tired of our protagonist's naive white male perspective, especially when it came to his ex-girlfriend (who is so obviously just a story prop that Chizmar doesn't bother to give her a personality beyond pretty, bubbly and female). There are a few nicely atmospheric set-pieces, such as a spooky bit in the dark corridors of a small-town public library, but no narrative drive. I can see why other reviewers have had problems with the ending, which is first rushed and then dragged out, but I was just glad something was happening. This was a good one to read alongside Tananarive Due's The Reformatory and Erin E. Adams's Jackal as a reminder of what traditional small-town horror looks like, especially when it's heavily influenced by Stephen King. And although all three of these novels are 400+ pages, Memorials was the one that really convinced me that, of all genres, horror is the one that most needs to be written as tautly as possible.