Member Reviews
DNF at 30%
I absolutely loved Richard Chizmar's Chasing the Boogeyman series so I was excited to pick up Memorials but unfortunately this one wasn't for me.
I've struggled to want to pick it up so I'm having to DNF, it's a slow burn but too slow for me and I hadn't experienced any of the dread I thought the book would induce.
I liked the idea of the book and the 80's setting but I wish it had the same flare as his Boogeyman series.
Thank you to Netgalley for approving an arc.
Memorials hooked me right from the start and didn’t let up once throughout. It is the perfect mix of horror, mystery, friendship and folklore evocatively set in the 1980s. There is a genuinely creepy atmosphere and an unsettling feeling of discord that permeates the pages. However there is also a great deal of warmth and emotion present, in large part due to the expertly crafted characters, particularly the three leads Billy, Melody and Troy. I loved them and their friendship which gave the whole story more impact because I really wanted things to work out for them. I won’t give anything away about whether things do, in fact, end up ok for the group but let’s just say there’s a whole load of jeopardy, sinister twists and turns, and intensely spooky folklore at play. Memorials is quite a long book but really doesn’t feel it, I couldn’t put it down and found the entire concept infinitely compelling, whilst the 80’s setting was pitch perfect. It was a definite five star read for me - atmospheric, moving and beautifully crafted. I highly recommend it.
This is another stonking good read from Richard Chizmar. Creepy and atmospheric with a fantastic plot and unforgettable characters. Highly recommended reading
I was eager to read Memorials after devouring Richard Chizmar's previous books. I love reading books set in the '80s. It feels so nostalgic, even though I was pretty young during the decade (born in '79).
The book is fabulous, well-written, captivating, and thrilling. Billy, Melody, and Troy are great characters, and I love their banter and strong bond. I finished the last chapters the previous night, and I feel a bit bereft now.
Richard Chizmar delivers another story entertaining and frightening at the same time. A slow burning plot that will grow slowly on you and keep you in thrall till the end.
It starts as a sort nostalgic memory and it slowly becomes something else.
Excellent storytelling, tightly knitted plot
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
A good read, if a little young-adulty in it's tone. It's always fun to read something set in this particular location since the myths are notorious. Would recommend.
My first attempt at Chizmar has left me underwhelmed. I enjoyed the writing style, a great balance of action, description and emotion that was easy to follow and had me invested in the three main characters.
Written in first from perspective of mc Billy with occasional video transcripts, Chizmar explores the lasting impact of trauma upon three young students as they travel Appalachia. The blossoming friendships are a heart warming distraction from the sombre topic of their project and perhaps my favourite part of the novel.
There are tense, creepy moments along the way but not as many as I'd like in a horror novel, until the final chapters the threat mostly appeared to be disgruntled locals- more uncomfortable than scary.
The end was messy, both literally and figuratively. In the authors note Chizmar mentions he had to drag the story 'kicking and screaming' to a conclusion, and that shows. There was a final reveal which made such little sense the author wrote an epilogue to explain it. I feel if you need to lay out your reasoning at the end of a novel then it hasn't been a cohesive story.
I enjoyed the journey but the ending of Memorials fell flat and left me underwhelmed. Having said that, this would be great as a movie.
Memorials ups the dread with every turn of the page. It’s Mr Chizmar’s best by far and is genuinely creepy in parts right up to the stunning climax.
I really enjoyed this book and the supernatural elements made it very fascinating to me.
It is very long and extremely detailed, and I did find myself skipping ahead, especially through the parts that were descriptions of the video footage that they took for their documentary.
I loved the way the author researched roadside memorials, and wove those facts into the story.
I enjoyed the character development and the way the three main characters interacted with each other throughout the story.
I did find myself staying up way too late and flipping pages, especially towards the end because I was finding it quite suspenseful.
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I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange of an honest review. Thank you!
Not only the author, but also the topic itself piqued my interest. Roadside memorials are part of our everyday life, and we often just drive past them. We don't think about the significance it can have for those who have lost a relative in an accident.
The story begins when Melody, Billy and Troy start a joint project about the memorials. Fate brings them together in one of the courses at the university.
The 80s roadtrip feeling is what adds a lot to the story. It's as if we were sitting with them in the Volkswagen camping van, telling horror stories around the campfire in the evening and stuffing ourselves with lots of S'mores. The research starts to get exciting when our heroes notice various strange things that suggest a connection between several accidents.
I really liked Chizmar's first novel and this one too. I wasn't bothered at all by the slowly unfolding plot and the 'strange' ideas :) In fact, I think it was appropriate for this era, and we can get our hands on a very fun and exciting story! I recommend it to everyone who loves horror or/and thriller novels!
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.