Saturday 5 October 2013

Mishel Reviews: Suburban Legends - Sam Stall

 Mishel Reviews


Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Release Date: October 2013 (First published August 2006) 
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pages: 240 (ebook)
My Rating: 2.5/5 
Source: Received for review from publisher
Cover: Thumbs down, although the ebook cover is far better than the original paperback cover. 

Its a Terrible Day in the Neighborhood

They told you the suburbs were a great place to live. They said nothing bad could ever happen here.

But they were wrong.

This collection of terrifying true stories exposes the dark side of life in the ’burbs—from corpses buried in backyards and ghosts lurking in fast food restaurants to UFOs, vanishing persons, bizarre apparitions, and worse. Consider:

     •  The Soccer Mom’s Secret. Meet Melinda Raisch of Columbus, Ohio. She’s the wife of a dentist. A mother of three. A PTA member. And she has enough murderous secrets to fill a minivan.
     •  Noise Pollution. More than 100 residents of Kokomo, Indiana, claim their small town is under attack by a low-pitched humming sound that erodes health and sanity. Too bad they’re the only ones who can hear it.
     •  Death Takes a Holiday inn. There’s nothing more reassuring than a big chain hotel in a quaint small town—unless it’s the Holiday Inn of Grand Island, New York, where you’ll spend the night with the spirit of a mischievous little girl.  

So lock your doors, dim the lights, and prepare to stay up all night with this creepy collection of true tales. We promise you’ll never look at white picket fences the same way again!

Review:
I can’t really recall what I was expecting out of Suburban Legends when I agreed to review it. I don’t remember it sinking in to my brain that the stories within were true tales of the “dark side” of suburban life. (Depsite that being said right in the beginning of the synopsis… DUH! *smacks head*) I must have been thinking this was going to be a cool, fictional anthology filled with strange but equally as entertaining tales of the oddities that can occur in Suburbia. Uhhh, no…

Granted some of these stories were entertaining, creepy, and weird but I really lost interest a time or two while reading it. The stories include ghost sightings/hauntings, UFO encounters, monsters, random mysterious happening, and even murder. I admit I was more interested in the murder stories than anything else. I didn’t like how there was really no atmosphere to the book. I know it was a hodge-podge of true facts but I could have seen the exact same thing on a television show or browsing the internet. The only difference in doing that was all these stories were already put together for me…but there was no real storytelling; just a “wham-bam-thank-you-mam” kind of spread. *shrugs* Am I too picky here?

The book is quick, light, and an easy read. The re-release in ebook format is great for the upcoming Halloween season. There is a definite audience for Suburban Legends…it’s the same audience who can watch haunted ghost or urban legend TV shows all the time. I had fun but not enough to really want to go through it again.....

17 comments:

  1. I never read this type of book in one sitting, I find if I read one before bedtime I enjoy them more.

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    1. Ah that's a pretty smart thing to do =)

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  2. I really need a light and easy read due to classes melting brain.

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    1. Aww, well this is very light and easy Carole! Hope you're able to take a break soon.

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  3. Wow really not a book for me, and very happy to be living in the heart of the city now ;)

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    1. Haha yeah, weird stuff happens everywhere though.

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  4. I have a problem with the cover... I'm sorry it wasn't that good...

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  5. Hmmmm...the premise with the "the dark side of life in the ’burbs" sounds good. But it does sound like a miss.

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    1. A miss for me anyway, it was entertaining but not enough to do it again lol.

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  6. A cool, fictional anthology is what I would have expected too, but like you, I would have ended up disappointed.
    Thanks for the review.

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    1. I don't know why I was thinking it was something else. *shrugs* It is pretty okay for the type of book it is.

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  7. Sounds interesting, but I think I prefer stories that are fictional.

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    1. I like some non-fiction but I think I just like more "meat" in the story, not just facts.

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  8. My husband grew up in a "haunted" house. Not sure if any of it is true but the place creeps me out when I have to stay there lol

    I think I would prefer fictional stories as well.

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  9. I think this sounds cool in theory, but it might underwhelm me. I do like that cover though, very weird and cool!

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