vanmeers's reviews
490 reviews

chopping mall (1986) is honestly such an iconic 80s horror film with such an absurd premise that it’s an impossible to forget film. so you’d think a novelisation would be able to capture what made the film amazing — maybe even give new depths to an otherwise depthless film. 

no such luck though. this felt more as if someone was asked to write a too long recap of the film without bothering to flesh out any characters beyond ‘blonde hair and huge boobs’ (granted, that’s very on point for the film) but having read other film novelisations this was subpar. stilted writing and nothing exciting makes it less fun than the film.

there’s limits to what an author can do with a film novelisation, obviously, and since i’ve not read anything else by the author i think it’s only fair to try out his original stuff in the future. but for now, this just didn’t do it for me, unfortunately — except maybe it’ll make me rewatch chopping mall in the near future. 

// ARC courtesy of BookSirens. 

this short story collection of horror and weird fiction is honestly great throughout it all — there’s satanic queer biker gangs, roach infested intestines, a team up between an ancient god and a lesbian, and soooo much more. i genuinely had a fun time reading these stories of loners and outsiders getting up to weird shit. 

this is great for freaks, gays, and anyone looking to get rid of their landlord 👏  

// ARC received through BookSirens. 

i finished this a few days ago and have just been sitting with my feelings taking it all in ever since — rachel harrison really is THE moment and every release is a delight to read (which makes it more necessary for me to finally go read all her older releases!). 

such sharp teeth, black sheep and so thirsty all stand out so strongly to me in different ways and i really loved how so thirsty took you on an unexpected journey that is so unalike other vampire stories out there. 

it’s not your regular ol’ vampire story, though it does have sexy vampires and some steamy scenes, but it’s much more about sloane’s journey towards self acceptance and love despite growing older — and despite suddenly finding herself down a new, eternal path in life that she now has to navigate. 

so thirsty felt like such a melancholic read in a lot of ways and while i didn’t fully relate to sloane in every way (though the growing older and seeing it in your mirror hit hard lmao) i really loved her as a character! it’s definitely a perfect autumn read and i’ll have to get a physical copy so i can reread it when it’s colder outside! 

/// thank you to titan books and netgalley for the ARC. 

a deeply emotional read that’s tough not to react strongly to — no matter how many personal accounts you read from the holocaust, they always hit just as hard. 

there’s also something about historical / biographical novels being written as graphic novels. emotionally it might convey things more but mostly it also just feels more accessible to a lot of people. which feels important with a story like this.

this absolutely delivers on what it promises by showing the horrors of eating disorders and the extremes of chasing societal beauty standards. it’s not horror in the classic sense, but it’s definitely horrific to read and there’s some ‘is it real or supernatural’ elements thrown into it creating a sort of weird horror’esque suspense. 

the forward of this talks of the body positivity movement and the lack of support of skinny women (or women with eating disorders, it’s unclear) and others have said how necessary a book like this is — and that’s true, for the most part, but i don’t really think chandler morrison is the voice for that. especially since it focuses more on glorifying EDs than anything else. 

despite that it’s not badly written, although it’s sometimes terribly slow paced and it didn’t feel as if the author really connected with his characters. maybe because men in horror tend to not be amazing at writing female characters? but otherwise it’s exactly what you can expect from the synopsis. so if that’s your thing, go for it and if you disliked dead inside because it was cringe, then this is less so (but it’s also less extreme too) and it might be worth a read.

with all that said, i do have an issue with the lack of accountability on writing a book like this without also adding resources at the end. i think if you’re writing about eating disorders this vividly and in a in-character positive light — you also have the responsibility to add resources in the book. especially when it’s essentially a how to guide to starving yourself tbh

anyway, as always with (extreme) horror check up on content warnings and know this one might be triggering if you’re recovering from an eating disorder.