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A review by michverilion
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley
4.0
Now I have to confess that I’m a bit of a wussy, when it comes to scary book, so it took a lot of courage to just get past the front cover. And once you’ve read the book the cover is just that little bit scarier because you know!
Despite all this terror, the beginning of the book is actually quite funny.
“Good Lord,” said my father. “Stories eh? I heard a story once.”
In a few lines, Priestley has painted an image of the parents, so that the reader can fully understand Edgar’s life view. Edgar then innocently goes off to his Uncle’s house and I felt my spine go a little cold, that could have been a draft as I was reading it on the metro or it could have been the creepy wood and house he’s just described. Once Priestley has set the tone the stories begin. Edgar finds an object in the drawing-room and Uncle Montague tells a story. Throughout the afternoon Uncle Montague does a good job of convincing Edgar the stories are true and Edgar tries to convince himself they aren’t. I loved the way I found myself so engrossed in the book that I swung back and forth with Edgar. Priestley does a fantastic job of putting the heebie jeebies up you by tapping into things that children really are terrified of. Edgar’s trip to the toilet is priceless. There’s also this kind of old world feel to the book. It could be 1950′s it could be earlier, I was never quite sure of when the book was set, but this just added to the feeling of terror.
The final chapter is the climax of creepiness and I won’t tell you too much about it because I hate giving away endings, but really it was so satisfying.
Basically, I’ve come to the conclusion that kids love scaring the bejesus out of themselves and this book can definitely do the trick. And what I really liked about it, is that there’s no blood and gore, it’s just plain, good old, terrifying. Priestley builds up suspense, let’s us off the hook for a bit and then WHAM! And he does it well.
So for those of you who have been singing Priestley’s praises, it was well-merited. Thank you for introducing me to a great author and I look forward to reading more.
Despite all this terror, the beginning of the book is actually quite funny.
“Good Lord,” said my father. “Stories eh? I heard a story once.”
In a few lines, Priestley has painted an image of the parents, so that the reader can fully understand Edgar’s life view. Edgar then innocently goes off to his Uncle’s house and I felt my spine go a little cold, that could have been a draft as I was reading it on the metro or it could have been the creepy wood and house he’s just described. Once Priestley has set the tone the stories begin. Edgar finds an object in the drawing-room and Uncle Montague tells a story. Throughout the afternoon Uncle Montague does a good job of convincing Edgar the stories are true and Edgar tries to convince himself they aren’t. I loved the way I found myself so engrossed in the book that I swung back and forth with Edgar. Priestley does a fantastic job of putting the heebie jeebies up you by tapping into things that children really are terrified of. Edgar’s trip to the toilet is priceless. There’s also this kind of old world feel to the book. It could be 1950′s it could be earlier, I was never quite sure of when the book was set, but this just added to the feeling of terror.
The final chapter is the climax of creepiness and I won’t tell you too much about it because I hate giving away endings, but really it was so satisfying.
Basically, I’ve come to the conclusion that kids love scaring the bejesus out of themselves and this book can definitely do the trick. And what I really liked about it, is that there’s no blood and gore, it’s just plain, good old, terrifying. Priestley builds up suspense, let’s us off the hook for a bit and then WHAM! And he does it well.
So for those of you who have been singing Priestley’s praises, it was well-merited. Thank you for introducing me to a great author and I look forward to reading more.