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The Slender Man
In Murphy, North Carolina, a tragic accident occurs claiming the lives of several elementary school children. Alyssa’s brother Adam is the only child spared, and what seems like a tragic ending is merely invitation to an ancient horror as the town’s remaining children begin disappearing. Alyssa realizes that she and her brother are among those suffering from a mysterious ailment and haunted by sinister apparitions. Alyssa sees a sometimes amorphous, sometimes man-like shadow. Her peers see their deceased loved ones, and then disappear. As each day passes, more children are taken, and Alyssa knows that the ominous figure is responsible. Now if Alyssa wants to save herself and her brother from becoming the next victims, she has to figure out what it is and how to fight it, before it’s too late.
298 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2012
60 people are currently reading
806 people want to read
About the author
Dexter Morgenstern
8 books149 followersBorn in North Carolina and raised as a homeschooled army brat, Dexter’s early life spanned continents, from South Korea to Colorado. Along the way, he learned to channel his neurodivergence into discipline and creativity, finding focus through writing, music, and martial arts.
He published his first novel at seventeen, and by the time he graduated with a dual degree in Marketing and Business Administration, he had several more under his belt. His stories are often dark, morally complex, and mythically charged—reflect a lifelong fascination with myth, faith, and the gray space between good and evil.
Outside of writing, Dexter is an accomplished Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer, and national titleholder, as well as a coach. He’s performed across the Pacific Northwest both onstage and in the ring, and he’s just as comfortable behind a bass guitar as he is throwing elbows under pressure.
When he's not writing, he's slapping bass. When he's not doing that, he's in the ring slapping face.
His ultimate goal? Crippling civilization beneath the boots of sentient robots—one creative project at a time.
He published his first novel at seventeen, and by the time he graduated with a dual degree in Marketing and Business Administration, he had several more under his belt. His stories are often dark, morally complex, and mythically charged—reflect a lifelong fascination with myth, faith, and the gray space between good and evil.
Outside of writing, Dexter is an accomplished Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer, and national titleholder, as well as a coach. He’s performed across the Pacific Northwest both onstage and in the ring, and he’s just as comfortable behind a bass guitar as he is throwing elbows under pressure.
When he's not writing, he's slapping bass. When he's not doing that, he's in the ring slapping face.
His ultimate goal? Crippling civilization beneath the boots of sentient robots—one creative project at a time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
May 3, 2022
My first horror book and it was a total disaster. Not only I bought the wrong book - I was looking for a different story of Slanderman -, but it didn't even bother me.
Assuming that we are talking about this hypothetical chilling figure, this terrifying monster, the story seems written by a six-year-old child: the protagonist is irritating; the other characters are trivial - even the grandmother is a cliché, with the usual story of the Holocaust ready to tell; the narration is ugly, too long-winded and full of details that nobody cares about - furthermore, I understand very little about the combat/rescue part because it's too confusing.
The only thing that can be saved is the ending: I was really surprised and I little sad because, first of all, I didn't expect it to involve anyone other than the protagonist and, second of all, I expected a happy ending.
Even horror movies have happy endings!
I remain of the opinion that to scare someone you need eye contact with images or at least a very big imagination. Or maybe just a decently-written book.
↠ 1.5 star
Assuming that we are talking about this hypothetical chilling figure, this terrifying monster, the story seems written by a six-year-old child: the protagonist is irritating; the other characters are trivial - even the grandmother is a cliché, with the usual story of the Holocaust ready to tell; the narration is ugly, too long-winded and full of details that nobody cares about - furthermore, I understand very little about the combat/rescue part because it's too confusing.
The only thing that can be saved is the ending: I was really surprised and I little sad because, first of all, I didn't expect it to involve anyone other than the protagonist and, second of all, I expected a happy ending.
Even horror movies have happy endings!
I remain of the opinion that to scare someone you need eye contact with images or at least a very big imagination. Or maybe just a decently-written book.
↠ 1.5 star
April 2, 2021
Lettura terrificante, in tutti i sensi tranne che in quello che l'autore si era prefissato.
Lo stile è concorde con l'età della protagonista, una quindicenne immatura e che necessiterebbe di qualche corso di recupero in letteratura e grammatica.
Nella versione italiana c'è il peggiorativo dato dalla traduzione, dove i soggetti cambiano sesso ad ogni frase (i le/gli sembrano essere intercambiabili) e un buon editing avrebbe sollevato il lettore di frasi dal senso approssimativo e dalla consecuzio traballante.
Ho letto in inglese la preview offerta da Amazon e in originale le cose non sembrano essere migliori ma, se su un testo pessimo si aggiunge una traduzione pessima, quello che si ottiene non si può descrivere.
La storia, basata sulla leggenda metropolitana dello Slender Man, ha qualche spunto buono, ma la narrazione in prima persona, condita da descrizioni e pensieri della protagonista spesso superlui, i personaggi appena abbozzati e una catena di eventi paradossale rende il tutto faticoso da portare avanti.
Il tutto sempra essere la trascrizione fatta da un quindicenne senza talento di un qualsiasi film horror, inframezzato da deliri adolescenziali superflui per l'economia della storia.
Gli adulti sembrano non esistere, hanno comportamenti assurdi. I compagni della protagonista sono solo ombre. La protagonista vittima degli attacchi del mostro, incapace di agire in maniera credibile.
Messo in mano ad un buon editor, o riscritto dopo qualche anno di esercizi, potrebbe diventare un buon prodotto... per adesso statene alla larga.
Lo stile è concorde con l'età della protagonista, una quindicenne immatura e che necessiterebbe di qualche corso di recupero in letteratura e grammatica.
Nella versione italiana c'è il peggiorativo dato dalla traduzione, dove i soggetti cambiano sesso ad ogni frase (i le/gli sembrano essere intercambiabili) e un buon editing avrebbe sollevato il lettore di frasi dal senso approssimativo e dalla consecuzio traballante.
Ho letto in inglese la preview offerta da Amazon e in originale le cose non sembrano essere migliori ma, se su un testo pessimo si aggiunge una traduzione pessima, quello che si ottiene non si può descrivere.
La storia, basata sulla leggenda metropolitana dello Slender Man, ha qualche spunto buono, ma la narrazione in prima persona, condita da descrizioni e pensieri della protagonista spesso superlui, i personaggi appena abbozzati e una catena di eventi paradossale rende il tutto faticoso da portare avanti.
Il tutto sempra essere la trascrizione fatta da un quindicenne senza talento di un qualsiasi film horror, inframezzato da deliri adolescenziali superflui per l'economia della storia.
Gli adulti sembrano non esistere, hanno comportamenti assurdi. I compagni della protagonista sono solo ombre. La protagonista vittima degli attacchi del mostro, incapace di agire in maniera credibile.
Messo in mano ad un buon editor, o riscritto dopo qualche anno di esercizi, potrebbe diventare un buon prodotto... per adesso statene alla larga.
August 12, 2018
Forse uno dei peggiori libri mai letti.
Inutile.
Inutile.
January 10, 2024
Il fenomeno dello Slender Man (l’Uomo Esile) nasce su internet nel 2009 quando Eric Knudsen partecipa ad un concorso fotografico indetto in un forum del sito www.somethingawful.com, ove bisogna ritoccare foto per creare immagini con elementi paranormali: ispirandosi a figure del folklore come il Boogeyman (il corrispettivo americano del nostro Uomo Nero) ed alle creature incontrate nei romanzi di Howard P. Lovecraft e Stephen King, realizza due elaborazioni che mostrano un gruppo di ragazzi e uno di bambini in un parco giochi; alle loro spalle si staglia una inquietante figura, esile, senza volto, dotata di quelli che sembrano tentacoli. In una delle didascalie che accompagnano le foto l’essere è chiamato Slender Man. La figura entra nell’immaginario di molti: iniziano a moltiplicarsi sul web racconti horror (in gergo “creepypasta”) che la vedono protagonista; nel 2014 travalica i confini della rete e diviene oggetto di cronaca: due ragazzine dodicenni nel Wisconsin attirano una loro coetanea nel bosco e le infliggono 19 coltellate, lasciandola in fin di vita. La ragazza riuscirà miracolosamente a salvarsi, e le sue assalitrici dichiareranno di aver obbedito agli ordini dello Slender Man. Nel novembre 2012 il diciassettenne Dexter Morgenstern utilizza la piattaforma di self-publishing “CreateSpace”, collegata ad Amazon, per dare alla luce un romanzo ispirato alla creatura immaginaria…
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February 27, 2020
[English review down below]
🇮🇹 Ho ricevuto questo libro dall'editore in cambio di una recensione onesta.
Prima di leggere questo libro ho cercato di informarmi il più possibile riguardo il fatto di cronaca a cui è legato, per capire se il libro fosse fedele o meno, e successivamente ho guardato il film (tratto dal libro); la cosa “ironica” è che tutte e tre le storie sono completamente differenti e hanno pochissimo in comune.
Trovo che questo libro sia sottotono rispetto alla pubblicità che gli è stata fatta, a libro finito non ho ancora capito benissimo alcuni meccanismi del romanzo, esatto, perché alcune parti vengono spiegate quasi in modo minuzioso, mentre altre vengono completamente tralasciate, il problema è che le parti omesse, se fossero state invece inserite, argomentate o meglio strutturate, avrebbero dato un aspetto completamente diverso al romanzo.
Una cosa assolutamente positiva è la scorrevolezza del libro, anche se in alcuni punti prende una piega quasi infantile e molto semplice, accompagnata dalla prima metà del libro che alla fine è passabile.
La storia raccontata ha di sicuro del potenziale ma l’ho trovata davvero mal sviluppata; un vero peccato.
_________________
🇬🇧 I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
Before reading this book, I tried to find out as much as possible about the crime which it is collegate, to understand if the book was faithful or not, and then I watched the film (taken from the book); the "ironic" part is that all three stories are completely different and have very little in common.
I find that this book had to much hype compared to the quality of the story inside, when the finished the book I didn't understand some mechanisms of the novel, exactly, because some parts are explained, while others are completely omitted, the problem is that the omitted parts, if instead they had been inserted, argued or better structured, would have given a completely different aspect to the novel.
An absolutely positive thing is the fluency of the book, even if in some places it takes a very simple writing style, accompanied by the first half of the book that is a kind of "normal".
The story certainly has enormous potential but I found it really badly developed; such a pity.
🇮🇹 Ho ricevuto questo libro dall'editore in cambio di una recensione onesta.
Prima di leggere questo libro ho cercato di informarmi il più possibile riguardo il fatto di cronaca a cui è legato, per capire se il libro fosse fedele o meno, e successivamente ho guardato il film (tratto dal libro); la cosa “ironica” è che tutte e tre le storie sono completamente differenti e hanno pochissimo in comune.
Trovo che questo libro sia sottotono rispetto alla pubblicità che gli è stata fatta, a libro finito non ho ancora capito benissimo alcuni meccanismi del romanzo, esatto, perché alcune parti vengono spiegate quasi in modo minuzioso, mentre altre vengono completamente tralasciate, il problema è che le parti omesse, se fossero state invece inserite, argomentate o meglio strutturate, avrebbero dato un aspetto completamente diverso al romanzo.
Una cosa assolutamente positiva è la scorrevolezza del libro, anche se in alcuni punti prende una piega quasi infantile e molto semplice, accompagnata dalla prima metà del libro che alla fine è passabile.
La storia raccontata ha di sicuro del potenziale ma l’ho trovata davvero mal sviluppata; un vero peccato.
_________________
🇬🇧 I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
Before reading this book, I tried to find out as much as possible about the crime which it is collegate, to understand if the book was faithful or not, and then I watched the film (taken from the book); the "ironic" part is that all three stories are completely different and have very little in common.
I find that this book had to much hype compared to the quality of the story inside, when the finished the book I didn't understand some mechanisms of the novel, exactly, because some parts are explained, while others are completely omitted, the problem is that the omitted parts, if instead they had been inserted, argued or better structured, would have given a completely different aspect to the novel.
An absolutely positive thing is the fluency of the book, even if in some places it takes a very simple writing style, accompanied by the first half of the book that is a kind of "normal".
The story certainly has enormous potential but I found it really badly developed; such a pity.
November 24, 2012
I was a beta reader for this novel. First, it is worth buying for the artwork inside, even if you never get to read it. That said, I LOVED IT! I have always been fascinated by the original Slender Man mythos...if you research online you will find stories of people from all around the world, from all different cultures, who have had encounters with "shadow people"...Slender Man is one of the most commonly seen shadow people, not that cheesy image from the video game.
The book is written in first-person present tense, from the view of 15-year-old Alyssa. Some people are really put off by first-person narration, as you are pretty much inside Alyssa's head for the entire book, seeing things from her eyes and hearing her thoughts, but give this book a chance.
Set in a small town in the NC mountains, the story centers around increasingly strange and disturbing events in the town following a tragic accident which claims the lives of several elementary school children. The book does a good job of conveying Alyssa's growing sense of fear and hopelessness and frustration with the things that are happening to her. I like the fact that the main character is Jewish, because there really aren't that many main characters in novels who just happen to be teenage and Jewish (Simon in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series being the only other one I can think of off the top of my head). Her religion is not the central focus of the plot, however it does change how she frames her experiences and approaches Slender Man as opposed to if she had been a Christian. For instance, if she had been the average American character dealing with the frightening appearances of Slender Man, she may have assumed he was demonic in nature and brandished crosses to deal with him.
The progression of the story is pretty fast-paced, but not difficult to follow. I don't want to give too much of the book away, but the author's presentation of Slender Man and how he interacts with our world is both and original true to the original mythos. The ending is not what you'd expect either.
The only major objections I can see someone having with this story is that the character is Jewish (which some people won't like) and that it is written in first-person present tense. However, some of the best horror novelists frequently wrote in such a style, which added to the reader's experience of the story. Dexter Morgenstern is young and just getting started with story telling. If he continues in this vein, he could become one of the great storytellers of our time.
The book is written in first-person present tense, from the view of 15-year-old Alyssa. Some people are really put off by first-person narration, as you are pretty much inside Alyssa's head for the entire book, seeing things from her eyes and hearing her thoughts, but give this book a chance.
Set in a small town in the NC mountains, the story centers around increasingly strange and disturbing events in the town following a tragic accident which claims the lives of several elementary school children. The book does a good job of conveying Alyssa's growing sense of fear and hopelessness and frustration with the things that are happening to her. I like the fact that the main character is Jewish, because there really aren't that many main characters in novels who just happen to be teenage and Jewish (Simon in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series being the only other one I can think of off the top of my head). Her religion is not the central focus of the plot, however it does change how she frames her experiences and approaches Slender Man as opposed to if she had been a Christian. For instance, if she had been the average American character dealing with the frightening appearances of Slender Man, she may have assumed he was demonic in nature and brandished crosses to deal with him.
The progression of the story is pretty fast-paced, but not difficult to follow. I don't want to give too much of the book away, but the author's presentation of Slender Man and how he interacts with our world is both and original true to the original mythos. The ending is not what you'd expect either.
The only major objections I can see someone having with this story is that the character is Jewish (which some people won't like) and that it is written in first-person present tense. However, some of the best horror novelists frequently wrote in such a style, which added to the reader's experience of the story. Dexter Morgenstern is young and just getting started with story telling. If he continues in this vein, he could become one of the great storytellers of our time.
May 24, 2013
Full disclosure: I was offered a review copy of this book in exchange for a full and honest review. All opinions below are entirely my own. This has been taken from my Amazon review.
I'll be honest, when I was promised a new spin on Slender Man, I was a little suspicious. My age and identity lands me squarely in the crowd that invented him, so I doubted it'd be anything I hadn't seen before.
If you know Slender Man, you know what you're getting into: Creepy humanoid, blurry photos, scary static, missing kids. And Morgenstern has all of that, in spades, as well as few other slightly more elusive nods to more obscure Slender stories, which are appreciated. However, he contributes enough new material to the mythos to make this a worthy read for any "Slender Fan" - and may yet make one out of those that have never heard the story before.
Overall, the writing was of fair quality - Morgenstern clearly knows how to set an eerie scene, but he has the unfortunate downfall of doing it in a similar manner every time, to the extent that the "creepiness" wears off after a fashion. His decision to utilize a first person perspective is a risky one - it carries great benefits, especially in the horror genre, but runs the risk of limiting the characterization of those outside of the perspective, and as a result most of the side cast seem rather two-dimensional, and so their plights fall a bit flat. Finally, the work would have benefited greatly from another round of editing - aside from the occasional typo, my main issue was with the lack of paragraph breaks, not only where they were mechanically required, but also where they would have been a much stronger stylistic choice.
Still, do not let the occasional flaw daunt you from taking a look. For fans of the Slender Man, this book is a must - for non-fans, it is yet a recommendation.
With questions or comments, please feel free to contact me in the comment box below or at SeanOnAmazon@gmail.com.
I'll be honest, when I was promised a new spin on Slender Man, I was a little suspicious. My age and identity lands me squarely in the crowd that invented him, so I doubted it'd be anything I hadn't seen before.
If you know Slender Man, you know what you're getting into: Creepy humanoid, blurry photos, scary static, missing kids. And Morgenstern has all of that, in spades, as well as few other slightly more elusive nods to more obscure Slender stories, which are appreciated. However, he contributes enough new material to the mythos to make this a worthy read for any "Slender Fan" - and may yet make one out of those that have never heard the story before.
Overall, the writing was of fair quality - Morgenstern clearly knows how to set an eerie scene, but he has the unfortunate downfall of doing it in a similar manner every time, to the extent that the "creepiness" wears off after a fashion. His decision to utilize a first person perspective is a risky one - it carries great benefits, especially in the horror genre, but runs the risk of limiting the characterization of those outside of the perspective, and as a result most of the side cast seem rather two-dimensional, and so their plights fall a bit flat. Finally, the work would have benefited greatly from another round of editing - aside from the occasional typo, my main issue was with the lack of paragraph breaks, not only where they were mechanically required, but also where they would have been a much stronger stylistic choice.
Still, do not let the occasional flaw daunt you from taking a look. For fans of the Slender Man, this book is a must - for non-fans, it is yet a recommendation.
With questions or comments, please feel free to contact me in the comment box below or at SeanOnAmazon@gmail.com.
November 22, 2012
Disclosure: This book was given to me as part of the 1000 members YA book club giveaway. This is my honest opinion of the book and no one is paying me for this review.
First, I have to say this was a very addicting book. The story is very interesting and, as I knew about the game before knowing there was a book about it, I was very eager to read it and discover all the details behing the Slender Man. I was definitely not disappointed by the plot, but there are quite a few things that bugged me about this book. Here goes.
First, there seems to be a major editing problem with this book. Some words gets repeated, as if it was a typing mistake. I normally don't mind, but it seemed to occur a LOT in this book, enough for me to notice, and I am not a native English speaker. The punctuation also seems very off, the sentences don't flow naturally if I read them the way it has been punctuated. The book definitely would have needed a re-reading.
The tone of the book is also a bit too childish for the story it covers. It feels like it's written very simply, as if targetting a very young audience (well, much younger than me anyways, and I am 26), yet the story might scare those younger people and give them pretty intense nightmares. Maybe it's because it was written into Alyssa's perspective, but I still feel that the writing could have used a bit more... flowers? If I may say so? It just felt like sentences were used to tell the story without any thoughts about if it would be pleasant to read or not. I don't really know how to explain... It just felt a bit plain I guess.
I also had to push myself past the first chapter as it felt I was shoved Alyssa's universe down my throat. It felt like too many unneeded details, too fast, with no explaining. I almost felt like I wanted to take a pen and note all that information just in case it could be helpful down the road, as it was too much for my brain to remember everything in a single chapter. It does get better on chapter 3 though, and I definitely recommend getting to chapter 3 before deciding if you want to finish reading this book or not.
Overall still an okay read, it went by very fast for me and I would recommend reading it if you can put your hands on it at the library, but this book could have used a lot more editing.
First, I have to say this was a very addicting book. The story is very interesting and, as I knew about the game before knowing there was a book about it, I was very eager to read it and discover all the details behing the Slender Man. I was definitely not disappointed by the plot, but there are quite a few things that bugged me about this book. Here goes.
First, there seems to be a major editing problem with this book. Some words gets repeated, as if it was a typing mistake. I normally don't mind, but it seemed to occur a LOT in this book, enough for me to notice, and I am not a native English speaker. The punctuation also seems very off, the sentences don't flow naturally if I read them the way it has been punctuated. The book definitely would have needed a re-reading.
The tone of the book is also a bit too childish for the story it covers. It feels like it's written very simply, as if targetting a very young audience (well, much younger than me anyways, and I am 26), yet the story might scare those younger people and give them pretty intense nightmares. Maybe it's because it was written into Alyssa's perspective, but I still feel that the writing could have used a bit more... flowers? If I may say so? It just felt like sentences were used to tell the story without any thoughts about if it would be pleasant to read or not. I don't really know how to explain... It just felt a bit plain I guess.
I also had to push myself past the first chapter as it felt I was shoved Alyssa's universe down my throat. It felt like too many unneeded details, too fast, with no explaining. I almost felt like I wanted to take a pen and note all that information just in case it could be helpful down the road, as it was too much for my brain to remember everything in a single chapter. It does get better on chapter 3 though, and I definitely recommend getting to chapter 3 before deciding if you want to finish reading this book or not.
Overall still an okay read, it went by very fast for me and I would recommend reading it if you can put your hands on it at the library, but this book could have used a lot more editing.
December 14, 2012
First off, I don't usually read books like The Slender Man, but I am definitely glad that I had the opportunity to read this one!
After a tragic accident, resulting in the deaths of several of the town's children, strange things begin to happen. The story follows Alyssa Redwood as she tries to understand and figure out what is going on. Children keep disappearing, others come down with a strange sickness, and some start hallucinating. Alyssa has been able to see the strange shadowy/static figure that seems to be haunting everyone since the day of the accident. But what he means and why he's there is something she can't figure out. But when her best friend, Shana, falls ill and starts hallucinating and eventually disappears, things start to affect Alyssa a little bit more. She will stop at nothing to find out the truth, save her friend, and make sure that her brother and herself don't fall prey to the Slender Man.
The story is extremely interesting and well told. The plot is solid and keeps you reading. There are several twists throughout that just keep you guessing as to what's going to happen and how the story will end.
I suppose the beginning could be considered a little slow, but for me that just helped build up more information and background for the story and characters -something a lot of books seem to lack.
The main character, Alyssa, is someone that becomes really relatable throughout the story and someone that you can sympathize with.
The story definitely leaves a lasting impression and you might just find yourself checking dark rooms or have trouble sleeping in fear of the slender man.
I definitely would recommend the book to anyone that likes supernatural thrillers.
After a tragic accident, resulting in the deaths of several of the town's children, strange things begin to happen. The story follows Alyssa Redwood as she tries to understand and figure out what is going on. Children keep disappearing, others come down with a strange sickness, and some start hallucinating. Alyssa has been able to see the strange shadowy/static figure that seems to be haunting everyone since the day of the accident. But what he means and why he's there is something she can't figure out. But when her best friend, Shana, falls ill and starts hallucinating and eventually disappears, things start to affect Alyssa a little bit more. She will stop at nothing to find out the truth, save her friend, and make sure that her brother and herself don't fall prey to the Slender Man.
The story is extremely interesting and well told. The plot is solid and keeps you reading. There are several twists throughout that just keep you guessing as to what's going to happen and how the story will end.
I suppose the beginning could be considered a little slow, but for me that just helped build up more information and background for the story and characters -something a lot of books seem to lack.
The main character, Alyssa, is someone that becomes really relatable throughout the story and someone that you can sympathize with.
The story definitely leaves a lasting impression and you might just find yourself checking dark rooms or have trouble sleeping in fear of the slender man.
I definitely would recommend the book to anyone that likes supernatural thrillers.
December 4, 2012
This book was given to me in the YA group giveaway.
First of all I want to say I think this writer has real potential. The plot is solid and he managed to set it up in a way that created mystery and tension which is not easy to do. However, some of the other issues in the book kept me from rating it higher.
The book needs a good editor. Both for grammar/style mistakes(example: there should be paragraph breaks for dialogue)and especially for content. There is too much superfluous information in the novel that loses the reader. For example, the author might want to think about completely dropping the first two chapters. We learn about the main characters flossing habits and how everyone's hair is cut but are not pulled into the story. He could lose readers here because there are too many banal things happening and too many characters introduced but little tension. Luckily, things pick up a bit in Chapter 3.
The voice of the main character comes off as too young for sixteen -- she has the feel of a girl. However, that probably would not have bothered me so much had we gotten right into the thick of the story and stayed there throughout.
From what I can tell, the author of this novel is young and therefore can learn from the editing errors in this book what not to do for the next one. Were this book tighter and more streamlined, it could be a nail biter!
First of all I want to say I think this writer has real potential. The plot is solid and he managed to set it up in a way that created mystery and tension which is not easy to do. However, some of the other issues in the book kept me from rating it higher.
The book needs a good editor. Both for grammar/style mistakes(example: there should be paragraph breaks for dialogue)and especially for content. There is too much superfluous information in the novel that loses the reader. For example, the author might want to think about completely dropping the first two chapters. We learn about the main characters flossing habits and how everyone's hair is cut but are not pulled into the story. He could lose readers here because there are too many banal things happening and too many characters introduced but little tension. Luckily, things pick up a bit in Chapter 3.
The voice of the main character comes off as too young for sixteen -- she has the feel of a girl. However, that probably would not have bothered me so much had we gotten right into the thick of the story and stayed there throughout.
From what I can tell, the author of this novel is young and therefore can learn from the editing errors in this book what not to do for the next one. Were this book tighter and more streamlined, it could be a nail biter!
December 31, 2012
I’m glad that I got the chance to read “The Slender Man”. A big thank you to the YA Book Club!
First, in my opinion this book is really good. I like the fact that I, as a foreign English speaker, understood almost every word or phrase of the book. On the other hand, this could be a disadvantage, because lots of the readers are able to speak English better than me and maybe they think the sentences are too boring. However I think the story is gripping and something new for me, because I don’t usually read such books.
There’s one thing which, in my view, doesn’t fit into the plot. It seems to me that Alyssa has no friends except Shana, but it doesn’t strike me that Alyssa is a loner.
To sum up the book really deserves four stars. I hope it gets published and translated into German, so I can read it in my mother tongue as well.
I can recommend this book to everyone who likes thrillers.
First, in my opinion this book is really good. I like the fact that I, as a foreign English speaker, understood almost every word or phrase of the book. On the other hand, this could be a disadvantage, because lots of the readers are able to speak English better than me and maybe they think the sentences are too boring. However I think the story is gripping and something new for me, because I don’t usually read such books.
There’s one thing which, in my view, doesn’t fit into the plot. It seems to me that Alyssa has no friends except Shana, but it doesn’t strike me that Alyssa is a loner.
To sum up the book really deserves four stars. I hope it gets published and translated into German, so I can read it in my mother tongue as well.
I can recommend this book to everyone who likes thrillers.
November 14, 2014
I have two teenagers, and for awhile there Slender Man was the big hit. When I then saw this book, I knew I'd have to read it.
I could tell that the story was written by a younger person. The vocabulary was not very seasoned, and it could have done better by some more thorough editing and perhaps a thesaurus. I could not get myself to identify or like the main character. She only seemed to have negative thoughts to think about anyone other than her brother or her best friend. There was a lot of stereotyping and judgments.
That said, I was still engrossed enough in the story to follow it through to the end. The overall plot and idea was interesting.
I could tell that the story was written by a younger person. The vocabulary was not very seasoned, and it could have done better by some more thorough editing and perhaps a thesaurus. I could not get myself to identify or like the main character. She only seemed to have negative thoughts to think about anyone other than her brother or her best friend. There was a lot of stereotyping and judgments.
That said, I was still engrossed enough in the story to follow it through to the end. The overall plot and idea was interesting.
June 12, 2015
The Slender Man, probably the most literally titled book featuring a version of the internet meme legend, the Slender Man, is a YA horror novel that I’ve been meaning to read for a while now and finally bit the bullet and plunged in.
Turning a Slender Man story into a full length novel isn’t easy. There’s no blurry video clips for fans to pour over or disjointed blog posts to follow every day. It has to have a story that is long enough to fill a book but still keep the suspense up using a monster that, honestly, is creepier the less you use him.
So to get to the heart of things, is this a good Slender Man story? Yeah, it is. It’s a very archetypal story in the mythos. It follows Alyssa as her town is struck by a tragedy and soon kids are disappearing. She struggles to figure out what is happening and who will be next. There’s a spreading sickness, nosebleeds, and vivid nightmares of a tall shadow-man that haunts the family of the survivors of the tragedy. About what you’d expect, really the main thing that diverges from a “standard Slender Man” story is the main man himself.
There’s lots of different versions of Slender Man and this book goes with the ‘shadow people’ version, sans trademark suit. Yes, no suit for the Slender Man. For me, part of the creepiness is the ‘almost human’ quality that the suit gives but it’s certainly not a deal breaker. The burning eyes Alyssa gets when trying to look at him, the looming shadow she sees in the middle of a party that everyone else misses, those are all creepy and can make up for losing the suit. But I think the part that lost me a bit was the display of emotion. Anger, evil joy, frustration, Slender Man displays them all and made me feel more like he was just an evil spirit or demon.
Luckily, while the synopsis makes it sound like she can fight him or try to, it’s more that she’s trying to figure out how to escape him. Yes, if you read it, there’s some hair splitting going on here but I don’t think she ever thinks she’d kill him or really ultimately defeat him, just get away with her and her loved ones.
Alyssa is Jewish in the book and one of my favorite parts was the integration of those cultural elements into the story. Now, a lot like Tribe 12, Slender Man has been around a while and Alyssa’s bubbe has witnessed him taking children in the past during WW2. Bubbe has seen some shit. And she knows what’s been attracted to the town by the deaths of so many children and helps Alyssa deal with it. Bubbe also knows that Alyssa has to be the one to do the dangerous stuff, adults can’t sense the Slender Man. Bubbe was just great and probably my favorite character.
On the not so great side, there was a lot of “telling” when “showing” would have been more effective. The book was written in First Person Present with an abundance of unneeded dialog tags. I know the First Person Present style seems to be the rage in YA these days but it felt like it was fighting the natural narration style the author has. Changing the book to First Person Past would also make sense for a number of other reasons and it is almost written that way to begin with. Strange tangents also litter the story with unneeded details but luckily those only tend to go on for a few paragraphs. There is also quite a lot of sense filtering going on. In short, the book just needed an editor to go through a lot of that stuff and help clean it up.
As I was reading, I had this sense that it was a YA book but I didn’t look it up until after I was done. It certainly is. This would explain why no one uses curse words even though if you think you are being drained of life by an evil entity and he just stole your brother, not a single ‘fuck’ is uttered. It might also explain the ‘almost horror’ of some scenes that could have gotten a lot darker. Unending nose bleeds can be terrifying but if they are just glossed over without descriptions of the coppery taste and chunks of clot that come out (or some description of how it affects her) it almost makes them seem like not a big deal. Alyssa should have been in the hospital multiple times from her injuries especially when they suspect a concussion. I think that avoiding some of the darker stuff gave the story a little bit of a shallow quality to it. Alyssa hardly seems phased at times by losing her best friend or her brother, when she thinks he is gone. Worse, though, her parents don’t seem to see the terrible trauma their daughter is going through and even when helping, they delay the help until it is too late. This turns into “plot-induced stupidity” because the last part of the book wouldn’t even happen if they had all just hopped in the car and left instead of waiting for a plane.
In the end, it’s a flawed book but it is still far better than most Slender Man mythos stories. It has enough interesting points that it’s a good light read. Given the subject matter though, don’t expect soul-crushing despair or pants-crapping terror.
Turning a Slender Man story into a full length novel isn’t easy. There’s no blurry video clips for fans to pour over or disjointed blog posts to follow every day. It has to have a story that is long enough to fill a book but still keep the suspense up using a monster that, honestly, is creepier the less you use him.
So to get to the heart of things, is this a good Slender Man story? Yeah, it is. It’s a very archetypal story in the mythos. It follows Alyssa as her town is struck by a tragedy and soon kids are disappearing. She struggles to figure out what is happening and who will be next. There’s a spreading sickness, nosebleeds, and vivid nightmares of a tall shadow-man that haunts the family of the survivors of the tragedy. About what you’d expect, really the main thing that diverges from a “standard Slender Man” story is the main man himself.
There’s lots of different versions of Slender Man and this book goes with the ‘shadow people’ version, sans trademark suit. Yes, no suit for the Slender Man. For me, part of the creepiness is the ‘almost human’ quality that the suit gives but it’s certainly not a deal breaker. The burning eyes Alyssa gets when trying to look at him, the looming shadow she sees in the middle of a party that everyone else misses, those are all creepy and can make up for losing the suit. But I think the part that lost me a bit was the display of emotion. Anger, evil joy, frustration, Slender Man displays them all and made me feel more like he was just an evil spirit or demon.
Luckily, while the synopsis makes it sound like she can fight him or try to, it’s more that she’s trying to figure out how to escape him. Yes, if you read it, there’s some hair splitting going on here but I don’t think she ever thinks she’d kill him or really ultimately defeat him, just get away with her and her loved ones.
Alyssa is Jewish in the book and one of my favorite parts was the integration of those cultural elements into the story. Now, a lot like Tribe 12, Slender Man has been around a while and Alyssa’s bubbe has witnessed him taking children in the past during WW2. Bubbe has seen some shit. And she knows what’s been attracted to the town by the deaths of so many children and helps Alyssa deal with it. Bubbe also knows that Alyssa has to be the one to do the dangerous stuff, adults can’t sense the Slender Man. Bubbe was just great and probably my favorite character.
On the not so great side, there was a lot of “telling” when “showing” would have been more effective. The book was written in First Person Present with an abundance of unneeded dialog tags. I know the First Person Present style seems to be the rage in YA these days but it felt like it was fighting the natural narration style the author has. Changing the book to First Person Past would also make sense for a number of other reasons and it is almost written that way to begin with. Strange tangents also litter the story with unneeded details but luckily those only tend to go on for a few paragraphs. There is also quite a lot of sense filtering going on. In short, the book just needed an editor to go through a lot of that stuff and help clean it up.
As I was reading, I had this sense that it was a YA book but I didn’t look it up until after I was done. It certainly is. This would explain why no one uses curse words even though if you think you are being drained of life by an evil entity and he just stole your brother, not a single ‘fuck’ is uttered. It might also explain the ‘almost horror’ of some scenes that could have gotten a lot darker. Unending nose bleeds can be terrifying but if they are just glossed over without descriptions of the coppery taste and chunks of clot that come out (or some description of how it affects her) it almost makes them seem like not a big deal. Alyssa should have been in the hospital multiple times from her injuries especially when they suspect a concussion. I think that avoiding some of the darker stuff gave the story a little bit of a shallow quality to it. Alyssa hardly seems phased at times by losing her best friend or her brother, when she thinks he is gone. Worse, though, her parents don’t seem to see the terrible trauma their daughter is going through and even when helping, they delay the help until it is too late. This turns into “plot-induced stupidity” because the last part of the book wouldn’t even happen if they had all just hopped in the car and left instead of waiting for a plane.
In the end, it’s a flawed book but it is still far better than most Slender Man mythos stories. It has enough interesting points that it’s a good light read. Given the subject matter though, don’t expect soul-crushing despair or pants-crapping terror.
June 23, 2022
This book was a pretty decent ride, but very YA so if you prefer adult horror only you will probably get a little bored. The ending is just how you would expect a Slender Man story to end, and there are a few grammatical issues here and there but nothing too distracting. I enjoyed it!
March 27, 2025
3,5 ⭐️
All’inizio un po’ lento… poi pian piano si riprende. La parte migliore è in assoluto il finale, ma io adoro le storie che finiscono male. Comunque, rispetto all’altro romanzo omonimo, questo mi è piaciuto un po’ di più.
All’inizio un po’ lento… poi pian piano si riprende. La parte migliore è in assoluto il finale, ma io adoro le storie che finiscono male. Comunque, rispetto all’altro romanzo omonimo, questo mi è piaciuto un po’ di più.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2017
In Murphy, North Carolina, 15 year old Alyssa Redwood, a perky Jewish girl, almost loses her seven year old brother, Adam Redwood. He was part of a tragic accident that claims the lives of several elementary school children including her best friend Shana Hawthorn’s seven year old sister, Denise Hawthorn.
After the accident, Alyssa starts seeing a sometimes amorphous, sometimes manlike shadow that she dubs as “Slender Man” or “Slender.” According to Alyssa’s classmates, they see their deceased loved ones and then disappear three or four days after seeing their loved ones. Some of the people that went missing were Jason Larch, Leanne Sourwood, and Alyssa’s best friend Shana Hawthorn. Many other townspeople were taken including the bus driver Mr. Mario. Alyssa suspects that Slender Man is responsible for the disappearances.
Alyssa is invited to a birthday party that ends in a tragedy. At the party the birthday boy, little five year old Lionel Willow, disappears under the noses of multiple adults. After Lionel disappears, Alyssa is sure that Slender Man is responsible for the disappearances because she saw Slender right before Lionel disappeared. The whole town is frantic and Alyssa’s parents decide to send her and Adam to their aunt and uncle who live in Michigan. A day after her parents make that decision, Alyssa runs into the woods out of grief, taking an axe with her. In the woods, she attacks a strange tree, also known as “Slender Tree,” hacking off one of the limbs. Suddenly, Shana appears and the two girls attempt to escape. Sadly, Shana Hawthorn dies as soon as the two girls run out of the woods.
Alyssa is devastated about her friend's death and her parents take her to a shrink or psychiatrist. The shrink does not help Alyssa feel better but her grandmother, Hannah Redwood, comforts her and tells her about Slender Man. After that happens, her brother disappears and Alyssa goes after him with only her guitar. She plays her brothers favorite song, called “Adon Olam,” and ends up being taken by Slender Man. She meets the other children and in their current state she dubs them as “Slender Children.” They drain Alyssa of her life force but she is determined to save her brother. She comes face-to-face with Slender Man and demands her brother back. She HAS to save her brother from this fate. But to save him there is a price to pay, a price that spells doom for Alyssa Redwood.
After the accident, Alyssa starts seeing a sometimes amorphous, sometimes manlike shadow that she dubs as “Slender Man” or “Slender.” According to Alyssa’s classmates, they see their deceased loved ones and then disappear three or four days after seeing their loved ones. Some of the people that went missing were Jason Larch, Leanne Sourwood, and Alyssa’s best friend Shana Hawthorn. Many other townspeople were taken including the bus driver Mr. Mario. Alyssa suspects that Slender Man is responsible for the disappearances.
Alyssa is invited to a birthday party that ends in a tragedy. At the party the birthday boy, little five year old Lionel Willow, disappears under the noses of multiple adults. After Lionel disappears, Alyssa is sure that Slender Man is responsible for the disappearances because she saw Slender right before Lionel disappeared. The whole town is frantic and Alyssa’s parents decide to send her and Adam to their aunt and uncle who live in Michigan. A day after her parents make that decision, Alyssa runs into the woods out of grief, taking an axe with her. In the woods, she attacks a strange tree, also known as “Slender Tree,” hacking off one of the limbs. Suddenly, Shana appears and the two girls attempt to escape. Sadly, Shana Hawthorn dies as soon as the two girls run out of the woods.
Alyssa is devastated about her friend's death and her parents take her to a shrink or psychiatrist. The shrink does not help Alyssa feel better but her grandmother, Hannah Redwood, comforts her and tells her about Slender Man. After that happens, her brother disappears and Alyssa goes after him with only her guitar. She plays her brothers favorite song, called “Adon Olam,” and ends up being taken by Slender Man. She meets the other children and in their current state she dubs them as “Slender Children.” They drain Alyssa of her life force but she is determined to save her brother. She comes face-to-face with Slender Man and demands her brother back. She HAS to save her brother from this fate. But to save him there is a price to pay, a price that spells doom for Alyssa Redwood.
February 10, 2014
"The Slender Man" is a fantastic book! I highly recommend it to all the sci-fi fans! It organised the plot great. At first, it introduce the characters using a story way. It also lead you to the scariest part quietly...
The most scary part is when the main character, Alyssa found out his young brother got in a car accident in a forest. Although lots of kids dead, Adam, Alyssa's brother was alive. Then, Alyssa sees a sometimes amorphous, sometimes man-like shadow. Few weeks later, Alyssa went back school and found out that some of her friend (who have brothers or sisters in the accident) and herself got some weird dreams, they are dreaming of a dark tree in a forest which became their friends. Those people in the dreams ask the dreamer to go in the forest to help them. The day after, one of Alyssa's friend disappear, someone saw him walk in to the forest at midnight...
After all, it is a brilliant book. It also very scary! I again recommend it to every one, especially sci-fi fans. And if you want a scary book for halloween, this book is for you!
The most scary part is when the main character, Alyssa found out his young brother got in a car accident in a forest. Although lots of kids dead, Adam, Alyssa's brother was alive. Then, Alyssa sees a sometimes amorphous, sometimes man-like shadow. Few weeks later, Alyssa went back school and found out that some of her friend (who have brothers or sisters in the accident) and herself got some weird dreams, they are dreaming of a dark tree in a forest which became their friends. Those people in the dreams ask the dreamer to go in the forest to help them. The day after, one of Alyssa's friend disappear, someone saw him walk in to the forest at midnight...
After all, it is a brilliant book. It also very scary! I again recommend it to every one, especially sci-fi fans. And if you want a scary book for halloween, this book is for you!
January 22, 2014
This isn't really a regular book to me it's more as a good documentary about a creature/monster but he is no where to be seen by anybody.The only place he can be seen is the forest. But hopefully there will be live witnesses coming back with more information on the creature.
I really enjoyed this book because it was very thrilling and spooky. I also liked this book because they put it in documentary form.If you like scary mystery books i recommended you check our this book because I give it a 5 star rating.
I really enjoyed this book because it was very thrilling and spooky. I also liked this book because they put it in documentary form.If you like scary mystery books i recommended you check our this book because I give it a 5 star rating.
September 12, 2017
I really, really liked this book. It was creepy, scary and terrifying. I read the book as much as possible to see if Alyssa would be able to save her brother. I really found Slenderman to be a truly scary individual that only preys on the bad of people or children. If there really is a slenderman, I do not want to meet him-and I love scary stuff. This book was wonderful and if you like Scary and Creepy this is for you!
November 20, 2015
Loved this book. The cover-art is amazing and the story really pulls you in. Author really did a great job of suspense in this adaptation of The Slender Man story. The main character was very likable as well! Also, it had a "creepy factor," that I would want to read about in any Slender Tale. Even if Slender doesn't scare you, it will creep you out.
November 23, 2013
I liked this book, and would have liked it more if it weren't written for the young adult demographic. However, it wasn't bad, and went into a tale that I had never heard of before.
September 10, 2018
Il libro è orrendo e la traduzione italiana raccapricciante
January 21, 2020
"Lui ottiene il controllo ferendo e coltivando il dolore. Si nutre della sofferenza delle vittime. Si nutre della miseria e del dolore". La tranquillità di una piccola comunità del North Carolina è turbata da uno spaventoso incidente stradale. Un pulmino scolastico pieno di bambini partiti per una gita finisce fuori strada. Tutti muoiono, tranne il piccolo Adam Redwood che però sembra non ricordare nulla. Da quel momento, una serie di misteriose ed inspiegabili sparizioni sembra colpire la comunità. A sparire sono bambini ed adolescenti, portati via da una entità misteriosa che sembra nutrirsi del loro dolore e della loro disperazione. Solo Alyssa, la sorella di Adam, sembra capire che queste sparizioni sono opera di questa figura mostruosa e senza contorni ce si aggira nel bosco. Quando la sparizione colpirà Shana, la migliore amica di Alyssa e poi il suo stesso fratellino, Alyssa non esiterà a sacrificare se stessa pur di salvare chi ama.
"Slender man" di Dexter Morgenstern, Fanucci editore, è un racconto dell'orrore. Una storia di mistero e sparizioni che si nutre delle paure più recondite e profonde di ognuno di noi. Lo Slender Man è l'"uomo nero" della nostra infanzia; la summa di tutte le nostre paure, dei nostri timori, delle nostre insicurezze. E si nutre proprio del dolore e della disperazione ma è anche il racconto dell'amore fraterno e del sacrificio per proteggere coloro che amiamo. Una lettura ce non mi ha entusiasmata né turbata, forse perché più adatta ai lettori young adults.
"Slender man" di Dexter Morgenstern, Fanucci editore, è un racconto dell'orrore. Una storia di mistero e sparizioni che si nutre delle paure più recondite e profonde di ognuno di noi. Lo Slender Man è l'"uomo nero" della nostra infanzia; la summa di tutte le nostre paure, dei nostri timori, delle nostre insicurezze. E si nutre proprio del dolore e della disperazione ma è anche il racconto dell'amore fraterno e del sacrificio per proteggere coloro che amiamo. Una lettura ce non mi ha entusiasmata né turbata, forse perché più adatta ai lettori young adults.
October 19, 2025
Ci ho messo una vita per leggere 189 pagine. Le 189 pagine più noiose della mia vita. Nonostante tutto, sono voluta arrivare infondo perché mi rifiutavo di non riuscire a finire un libro così corto. Avevo visto il film anni fa e ne ho un ricordo vaghissimo, non ricordo se mi era piaciuto o meno ma, se non lo ricordo, probabilmente la risposta è no. Comunque ho voluto dare una possibilità a questa storia che di per sé sarebbe anche interessante: un’ombra malefica che rapisce bambini. Cosa ci può essere di più inquietante? E invece non solo non si sente l’inquietudine, ma non si sente nemmeno l’azione, l’adrenalina o il panico. Non si sente niente. Il che cozza con un libro horror o comunque con un mostro che si manifesta tramite stridore alle orecchie. A pensarci, la noia e la lentezza che traspare dal leggerlo può rappresentare bene l’inizio del racconto in cui l’ombra rapisce in silenzio, senza farsi vedere. È un peccato perché, appunto, la storia avrebbe del potenziale. Mi è anche piaciuto come le rapisce, indebolendo le vittime e attirandole a sé sfruttando la tristezza e il dolore di questi bambini. E più li rapisce, più lui diventa forte e più i bambini si ritrovano sommersi dal dolore per la perdita di qualcuno. Questo metodo è furbo. Purtroppo però la narrazione non coinvolge. Non trasmette niente di niente. In più in questa edizione ci sono tanti errori di battitura e traduzione che mi hanno innervosito. Mi è piaciuto almeno che il finale sia stato come l’avrei voluto, e che la mia Avril Lavigne sia stata nominata ben tre volte.
August 3, 2025
This review is in Italian, as I read the Italian edition of the book.
L’idea di partenza è interessante e la premessa iniziale funziona: mi aspettavo una narrazione che affrontasse il mito di Slender Man in chiave più analitica o psicologica, smascherandolo come creepypasta e riflettendo su come queste leggende online influenzino l’immaginario dei più giovani. Invece, il romanzo sceglie un’altra strada, costruendo una storia horror a tinte thriller ispirata alla leggenda, senza un vero intento critico o meta-narrativo.
La narrazione scorre e tiene alta l’attenzione, specialmente per un pubblico giovane, ma si rivela piuttosto adolescenziale nei temi e nello sviluppo. È un libro che ti spinge a voler sapere come va a finire, questo sì, ma non riesce davvero a colpire a fondo né per profondità né per scrittura.
E proprio sulla scrittura si concentra la mia critica principale: se nei primi capitoli lo stile risulta abbastanza curato, man mano che si avanza (dal 40% in poi) la qualità sembra calare drasticamente. Refusi, errori grammaticali e scelte sintattiche poco fluide diventano sempre più frequenti, dando l’impressione di un testo revisionato solo in parte.
Nel complesso, è una lettura veloce e coinvolgente, ma non matura quanto avrei sperato.
Una buona occasione mancata, che comunque può intrattenere chi cerca una storia dal ritmo serrato, con un tocco di inquietudine digitale.
3 stelle giuste, ma nulla di più.
L’idea di partenza è interessante e la premessa iniziale funziona: mi aspettavo una narrazione che affrontasse il mito di Slender Man in chiave più analitica o psicologica, smascherandolo come creepypasta e riflettendo su come queste leggende online influenzino l’immaginario dei più giovani. Invece, il romanzo sceglie un’altra strada, costruendo una storia horror a tinte thriller ispirata alla leggenda, senza un vero intento critico o meta-narrativo.
La narrazione scorre e tiene alta l’attenzione, specialmente per un pubblico giovane, ma si rivela piuttosto adolescenziale nei temi e nello sviluppo. È un libro che ti spinge a voler sapere come va a finire, questo sì, ma non riesce davvero a colpire a fondo né per profondità né per scrittura.
E proprio sulla scrittura si concentra la mia critica principale: se nei primi capitoli lo stile risulta abbastanza curato, man mano che si avanza (dal 40% in poi) la qualità sembra calare drasticamente. Refusi, errori grammaticali e scelte sintattiche poco fluide diventano sempre più frequenti, dando l’impressione di un testo revisionato solo in parte.
Nel complesso, è una lettura veloce e coinvolgente, ma non matura quanto avrei sperato.
Una buona occasione mancata, che comunque può intrattenere chi cerca una storia dal ritmo serrato, con un tocco di inquietudine digitale.
3 stelle giuste, ma nulla di più.
October 29, 2019
All'inizio, riuscivo ancora a passare sopra alla stupidità della protagonista, ma poi ha iniziato a dimostrarsi pure insensibile, quando la tragedia colpisce la comunità, insensibile al dolore altrui e alle usanze religiose.
Ma non solo la protagonista è stupida, lo è l'intera cittadina: dopo l'incidente e la morte dei bambini, gli adolescenti iniziano a stare parecchio male (soprattutto sangue dal naso quasi continue) e a sparire. Nessun medico, nessun genitore e men che meno nessun poliziotto se ne preoccupa. Nessuno li fa visitare, nessuno mette dei coprifuoco, anzi, la madre della protagonista, dopo che anche a lei inizia a sanguinare il naso spesso, le consiglia di farsi una corsa nel bosco così si rimetterà in sesto. Sul serio??
Perchè pompando sangue in circolo nel corpo smetterà di stare male? Ma stiamo scherzando?
Dopo questa boiata ho smesso di leggere e non me ne pento affatto.
Ma non solo la protagonista è stupida, lo è l'intera cittadina: dopo l'incidente e la morte dei bambini, gli adolescenti iniziano a stare parecchio male (soprattutto sangue dal naso quasi continue) e a sparire. Nessun medico, nessun genitore e men che meno nessun poliziotto se ne preoccupa. Nessuno li fa visitare, nessuno mette dei coprifuoco, anzi, la madre della protagonista, dopo che anche a lei inizia a sanguinare il naso spesso, le consiglia di farsi una corsa nel bosco così si rimetterà in sesto. Sul serio??
Perchè pompando sangue in circolo nel corpo smetterà di stare male? Ma stiamo scherzando?
Dopo questa boiata ho smesso di leggere e non me ne pento affatto.
October 30, 2019
Dopo un tragico incidente che ha coinvolto lo scuolabus della cittadina di Murphy e solo un bambino è riuscito a sopravvivere (il piccolo Adam, fratello di Alyssa la protagonista), strane sparizioni di adolescenti sconvolgono una volta di più la cittadina americana. Tutti gli scomparsi, però, avevano visto i loro congiunti defunti nell'incidente che chiedevano aiuto e di "andare nel bosco" presso uno strano albero comparso improvvisamente. Alyssa al capezzale del fratello ricoverato in ospedale, però, vede o meglio intravede una figura umanoide senza volto fatta di ombra. Per lei sta per cominciare un incubo da cui non sembra che vi possa essere via di usicta. Racconto teen-horror (Alyssa ha quindici anni) che si basa su un fenomeno della rete (creato nel 2009) diffusosi poi nel mondo del cinema, dei videogiochi e dei libri. Buon thriller (meglio sicuramente la prima parte misteriosa e inquietante, più "attiva e agitata" la seconda). Da leggere per scoprire come è interpretato un fenomeno dei giorni moderni.
October 8, 2018
This is the perfect book to read to get you in the Halloween spirit. This was the book that I wanted to start October off with. It was so good! I am a fan of all things creepy so I'm glad I can add this book to that list. I am truly fascinated by the slender man story.
Alyssa was the perfect lead character for this book. She was very strong and incredibly brave. Honestly, I would have left to go to visit my aunt. There is no way in hell I would have taken on the slender man not once but twice. You can say I'm a terrible person if you want to but self-preservation would not let me. That's why Alyssa was a great character because she faced him to try to save her friend and then again for her brother. What a brave girl.
Alyssa was the perfect lead character for this book. She was very strong and incredibly brave. Honestly, I would have left to go to visit my aunt. There is no way in hell I would have taken on the slender man not once but twice. You can say I'm a terrible person if you want to but self-preservation would not let me. That's why Alyssa was a great character because she faced him to try to save her friend and then again for her brother. What a brave girl.
December 1, 2020
This book really needed some editing. I read it because my 12 year old wanted to read it but honestly it was just so poorly written I doubt even he'd enjoy it. Everyone being named after trees was supposed to be clever I suspect but it was really just distracting. My husband who is half Polish got a kick out of that part because he said it's the first time he's ever heard of a Polish family by the name of Redwood. I felt like too much time was spent focusing on the unimportant -what color the main character painted her nails or what she was wearing and it could have been less "cluttered" had that been edited out. The ending felt cobbled together. I think this would have been better as a short story.
November 27, 2024
I don’t usually read these sorts of stories but I was curious. I probably picked a bad book to start with. It’s written from the perspective of one person which makes it hard work to get through and I felt disappointed that I didn’t get to know any other characters in any depth. I feel the book could have had a lot more potential if other characters were given a voice and some smaller story lines were woven into it. There were moments when I wanted to keep reading to know what happened but they were short lived and mostly, I just wanted to finish the book so I could move onto something better. I’ve used the Spoilers button because I want to say that nothing good happens. There is no happy ending and no relief from the horror. It’s really depressing!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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