[Review] - Terror Mannequin
By Douglas Hackle
*Minor Spoilers
Awwww, YEAH! (I feel that since I am submitting this for Dead Head Reviews, I need to tell you that I didn't just throw an "Awww, yeah" out there for nothing - it is from the book.)
Look, I loved this book, and if I am honest, it was kinda unexpected. I don't get a lot of laughs out of the stuff I read, but this book was absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious. I would have called it a combo horror/bizarro going in. I have heard it referred to as absurdist; but for me, while it is absurd as hell and chock full of horror, it was a comedy. I found myself smiling throughout and laughing often, and you can ask my friends - I don't smile a lot. Well, I don't have friends either, but how else am I supposed to read all these books? That's what I thought. No, but seriously, you see how I broke the fourth wall there? This book does that a lot and those moments are (OK, I am back from my search for a synonym of “hilarious,” and Google tells me...) boisterously merry.
This books starts off with an cannon shot of a prologue, giving us a Halloween themed experience taking place at Fallingwater (yeah, you read that right - the famous Frank Lloyd Wright house). There really isn't any comedy in the prologue. So, you come out of that intrigued as hell (due to the awesome setting) and quite a bit horrified. Then, we jump ahead thirty years, and the funny stuff kicks in and never really stops. Don't worry; you are not done with Fallingwater after the prologue.
So, yeah, you have a comedy filled, absurd horror story. You have Halloween, a work place called Fun-4-Life, black-magic-produced monsters, jealous exes, shitty bosses, a Freddy Kruger obsessed mother, reverse trick or treating, and a two year old who is actually eons old. Seriously though, if after all that you are still reading this review and not buying this book, then I am not sure what is wrong with you.
But finally, back to a more serious note; I have spoken before about books hitting me at the right time. I was a bit "horror-ed" out, felt a reading funk/slump coming on. This book was absolutely perfect for me at the time I read it. It was fresh and new, scary and funny - exactly what the doctor ordered (I didn't actually go to a doctor, his chillness gave me these stitches). Read the book and you will get all these jokes. Thank me later.
Grade: 5 Stars
Review by Well Read Beard
Twitter: @ WellReadBeard
Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvdGMAXU6ug&t=1s
I received a copy from Douglas Hackle for review consideration.