For me the difference between books that are classified as horror and books that actually terrify is an emphasis on plot versus atmosphere. Forsaken, like other good but not great horror novels, seems to try and pack the book full of "events" and actions that are sometimes gory and sometimes weird and sometimes feel like they're trying too hard, but all of that too often comes at the expense of actually building a chilling, surreal, and frightening atmosphere. Too many plot points come off as silly, while those that could really inspire some terror seem underdeveloped. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book, but it didn't reach the levels I hoped it would, and by the novel's end Van Wey has a tendency to try and pinpoint what everything means and out how things happened, and of course the first rule of horror is that the more you explain the less horrifying it becomes.

I guess I just want an atmosphere that creeps me out-- a la The Little Stranger or The Haunting of Hill House--more than I want overly-explained action.

But that's just me. I still think the book deserves a wider audience than it has right now.