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The Bad Box
Sarah Temple hopes to find a bit of peace and quiet when she leaves her abusive boyfriend, but instead she finds a world of horror. It’s bad enough that a sadistic serial killer and another maniac are both trying to murder her, but what’s worse is the mysterious Solitary One who controls both of them, a malevolent entity that the serial killer describes as a living darkness, a man and yet not a man, something that’s alive and yet not alive, something that wants to appall the world.
Trying to flee from the two killers, Sarah finds herself running deeper and deeper into a deadly supernatural trap, a place where people are buried alive, where ghastly apparitions mutter in the dark, where demented killers prowl, where a crumbling haunted house can drive its victims mad with terror, and where something buried for a very long time may walk again.
Trying to flee from the two killers, Sarah finds herself running deeper and deeper into a deadly supernatural trap, a place where people are buried alive, where ghastly apparitions mutter in the dark, where demented killers prowl, where a crumbling haunted house can drive its victims mad with terror, and where something buried for a very long time may walk again.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2013
About the author
Harvey Click
8 books49 followersHarvey Click earned an M.A. in English from Ohio State University, using his first novel as a master's thesis. He has written six other novels, four of them in the horror genre, and two collections of short horror stories. He has taught both English and creative writing for Ohio University, Ohio State University, the James Thurber House, and OSU's Creative Arts Program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
September 22, 2016
This is the best horror story I've read in a long while. Review to come....
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WOW! When I start a review with "wow," you can be sure that I thoroughly enjoyed the book! This one had it all--excellent writing, a unique and imaginative storyline, suspense, action, adventure, mystery, horror and gore.
I was immediately drawn into this incredible story as I met the mysterious young Angel, a little girl who emerges from some sort of underground dwelling. My curiosity was instantly piqued. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why is she alone? Who is her strange older male friend, the one she calls Baby Beddybye? I would have to wait a bit for the answers.
In the meantime, I found myself immersed in the life of Sarah Temple, who recently left her abusive boyfriend, college professor Peter Bellman. Sarah is now living in a dirty little apartment within a shady area amidst some peculiar neighbors. When Peter's attempt at reconciliation fails miserably, the inebriated man decides to be spiteful by hooking up with Sarah's attractive (but largely reclusive) neighbor. Sarah is greatly annoyed by his shameful behavior, but somewhat concerned after days pass without him leaving the woman's apartment. When he finally emerges, he is a strange new man.
With the help of a mutual friend, Sarah begins investigating the bizarre encounter. What she discovers will endanger her life, plunging her deep into a supernatural/occult nightmare.
I truly savored this amazing, original story. The characters are all well-developed and believable. The writing is brilliant, with such rich descriptive language and imagery. Here's a small sample:
"A stench of damp dirt and worms and fungus and rotting animals belched up from the dark bowels."
"Where Baby walked, a trail of hallucinations followed in his wake, as if he warped the texture of reality around him."
My review doesn't do this book justice. All I can add is this: If you're a fan of horror, do yourself a favor and read this awesome book. With Halloween just around the corner, you can't go wrong with this one!
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WOW! When I start a review with "wow," you can be sure that I thoroughly enjoyed the book! This one had it all--excellent writing, a unique and imaginative storyline, suspense, action, adventure, mystery, horror and gore.
I was immediately drawn into this incredible story as I met the mysterious young Angel, a little girl who emerges from some sort of underground dwelling. My curiosity was instantly piqued. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why is she alone? Who is her strange older male friend, the one she calls Baby Beddybye? I would have to wait a bit for the answers.
In the meantime, I found myself immersed in the life of Sarah Temple, who recently left her abusive boyfriend, college professor Peter Bellman. Sarah is now living in a dirty little apartment within a shady area amidst some peculiar neighbors. When Peter's attempt at reconciliation fails miserably, the inebriated man decides to be spiteful by hooking up with Sarah's attractive (but largely reclusive) neighbor. Sarah is greatly annoyed by his shameful behavior, but somewhat concerned after days pass without him leaving the woman's apartment. When he finally emerges, he is a strange new man.
With the help of a mutual friend, Sarah begins investigating the bizarre encounter. What she discovers will endanger her life, plunging her deep into a supernatural/occult nightmare.
I truly savored this amazing, original story. The characters are all well-developed and believable. The writing is brilliant, with such rich descriptive language and imagery. Here's a small sample:
"A stench of damp dirt and worms and fungus and rotting animals belched up from the dark bowels."
"Where Baby walked, a trail of hallucinations followed in his wake, as if he warped the texture of reality around him."
My review doesn't do this book justice. All I can add is this: If you're a fan of horror, do yourself a favor and read this awesome book. With Halloween just around the corner, you can't go wrong with this one!
June 12, 2014
Harvey Click might actually be evil. He probably gasses his car up 6.66 gallons at a time, that’s how evil he might be. If you were to say “Harvey Click” in the mirror 100 times at midnight, on Halloween, nothing would happen because that’s just silly…but it would sure creep you out.
On the advice of Lindy Moone, I eventually got around to reading “The Bad Box”. This novel, hands down, is one of the finest examples of the horror genre I’ve ever read. It certainly stands toe-to-toe with a book I thought unassailable: The Exorcist (yes, the book by William Peter Blatty — read it, it’s great).
How about a closer comparison? “The Bad Box” is more like a Dean Koontz story in that it pits good people against irredeemable villains. It also has some of the most loveable and human characters I have yet to read in any book, regardless of genre. Several times, I found myself misting up a teensy bit, which is a big deal for a hunky guy like me. It turned out to be something stuck in my eye though, so I’m still cool.
Let’s get back to the evil: the novel is dark. Very dark. But rather than relying on cheap thrills and/or legalized snuff (e.g., The Human Centipede), Harvey manages to expose the moral wasteland of what real evil actually is: ugly and sad and nothing more.
The book is not for kids, nor even kids at heart. It is dark literature with great depth, in a box, and it might just change you.
You’ve been warned.
On the advice of Lindy Moone, I eventually got around to reading “The Bad Box”. This novel, hands down, is one of the finest examples of the horror genre I’ve ever read. It certainly stands toe-to-toe with a book I thought unassailable: The Exorcist (yes, the book by William Peter Blatty — read it, it’s great).
How about a closer comparison? “The Bad Box” is more like a Dean Koontz story in that it pits good people against irredeemable villains. It also has some of the most loveable and human characters I have yet to read in any book, regardless of genre. Several times, I found myself misting up a teensy bit, which is a big deal for a hunky guy like me. It turned out to be something stuck in my eye though, so I’m still cool.
Let’s get back to the evil: the novel is dark. Very dark. But rather than relying on cheap thrills and/or legalized snuff (e.g., The Human Centipede), Harvey manages to expose the moral wasteland of what real evil actually is: ugly and sad and nothing more.
The book is not for kids, nor even kids at heart. It is dark literature with great depth, in a box, and it might just change you.
You’ve been warned.
December 25, 2014
I finished this book just before bed last night. At about three in the morning, I woke up and considered going to the bathroom. A scene from this book popped into my head, I considered the dark hallway between me and the toilet, and I decided to go back to sleep.
This book is not for the faint of heart. But if you don't mind a scary and VERY gruesome tale, the Bad Box is hard to beat. It reminded me of Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon. The story is unique and feels a little pulpy. The writing is excellent. And the villain/monster is a new creation that feels like a classic mythological creature that might have been the subject of campfire tales for hundreds of years.
This book is not for the faint of heart. But if you don't mind a scary and VERY gruesome tale, the Bad Box is hard to beat. It reminded me of Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon. The story is unique and feels a little pulpy. The writing is excellent. And the villain/monster is a new creation that feels like a classic mythological creature that might have been the subject of campfire tales for hundreds of years.
October 29, 2019
I don't even like the horror genre, but the same theme that led me to that horrible horror story "Demon Frenzy"-a sister who lost a brother-grabs me again here, even though the cover art of The Bad Box is more horrifying {{ buried alive - shudder! }}. Harvey Click, stop tempting me with these lurid, dark, disturbing tales. You hear me? STOP!
QUICK SYNOPSIS: Sarah Temple leaves her abusive boyfriend and moves into an apartment complex in the worst part of town, where her neighbors include a tough little one-hundred-year-old woman who packs a pistol, a quiet ghost of a man, and a mysterious woman of the evening who hasn't quite mastered high heels on stairs. Men come to visit the sexy blonde upstairs, but like the roaches in that pesticide commercial, they don't always check out. When Sarah finds out why, she has to move again. Not only her ex-boyfriend but now a sick, sick, sick serial killer are out to get her. Worse, a mysterious Solitary One controls both stalkers. He's "a living darkness, a man and yet not a man, something that's alive and yet not alive, something that wants to appall the world."
The One knows why children have been buried alive in a "bad box," and only The One can restore life (if you can call it living) to his favorite little victim of child abuse (found, oops, dead in the box). He fails to anticipate another child's psychological defense mechanism, dissociative identity (multiple personality) disorder, but I can't tell you more. It's plausible, it's sadly believable, and it's simply brilliant.
I surely would not have peeked under this cover but other readers dared me with comments like these:
"Several horror cliches present themselves, but are handled in unexpected fashion. One thing I like about Harvey Click's stories is he is able to write about characters far different from his own point of view. So many authors have characters that seem to have the same opinions and persona as their creator. Click's character's are always fascinating,and often not someone you'd care to be stuck in an elevator with." -Amazon reviewer
Ha. I don't even want to catch myself holding these characters metaphorically in a book in my hands, much less meet them in an elevator.
The list of great lines is too long to excerpt, but I'll start by noting that Sarah's little brother is described in pitch-perfect detail. When she meets Darnell, " ... his eyes reminded her of the cool waters of the creek where she and Johnny used to play." Beautiful. So is her recollection of Johnny: "I came into this world with an attitude, and I've been on the warpath ever since. But not Johnny. He was like the sun."
Sometimes Sarah perceives (imagines?) that his presence lives on. Darnell raises the psychological explanation of wish fulfillment, but Sarah can't buy that: "... a thousand times I wanted him to be there but couldn't conjure him up. He comes when he comes."
Darnell has also lost someone, but he confesses something sinister to Sarah: "The spirit that haunts you is made of sunshine. What if it were made of something not so friendly? Darkness . . . dreadful sounds . . . things that groan in the night?"
I wanted to see Johnny show up in the novel when he's most needed, but like the centenarian neighbor and her gun, the best of minor characters all too often make cameo appearances only.
One of the minors does get a fair amount of stage time, which pleases me greatly. Howard, the gay friend, has so many great lines. A fully realized character, he deserves his own novel, and more chances to come up with "clinical" terms like "assholelopithecus."
Even the villains get great lines: "Eyes are just peepholes. So are ears. The brain's a wonderful device, but mostly it just processes information from the peepholes. Materialists imagine that without our bodies, there'd be no sounds or sights or thoughts. But we ... " (sorry, you need to read the rest of it firsthand!)
The One notes, poignantly, that "one didn't age gradually, but rather in fits and starts. Suddenly one was aware of being much older than the last time one had noticed." Anyone over age fifty who happens across photos from college might suffer the same shock.
Some great lines about guns, especially from anti-gun lobbyists when forced to use one:
"This baby holds five rounds of .357 Magnum."
"Jeez," Sarah said. "Isn't that some kind of Dirty Harry small nuclear device?"
Soon, she feels the lure of being armed and dangerous: "In a few minutes she would be as powerful as any man" and "Tonight she would sleep with the gun beside her bed, knowing it would be more than a match for whatever might crawl through the window."
Or not.
You'll laugh, but not for long:
"I'm armed. I have a big gun, a .352 Magnum."
He had gotten the number wrong, he realized. What did they call those things?
"It's loaded," he said, his voice a kind of wail in the damnable hush.
Horror novels and thrillers rarely interest me, but once again, Harvey Click kept me spellbound. His characters are not boring, predictable, stupid and therefore disposable (a trope of the genre, in my experience). They're erudite. They're funny. After theorizing about the unthinkable events, someone says "a theory like that wouldn't get you published in Headshrinker Quarterly."
Then, the really poignant observations: "... mental illness is probably the ugliest damn trick God ever pulled on mankind," he said. "You're much better off with cancer."
The prose also gets poetic and metaphysical: "... shadows always remained the same. These were the same shadows that Solomon had gazed on; these were the shadows that had danced on the walls of caves while hunters huddled beside their fires. The truths in these shadows were the same ones that the ancients had glimpsed, truths that the earliest men had seen, their restless brains piercing the deep riddles with apelike eyes before glittering toys had blinded them."
I love this: "Her perceptions were turned up so high that any little thing could thrill her, maybe a clump of goldenrod or a cloud in front of the moon. But there's a downside to that-things most people would find a little irritating she found downright painful. There's no way to describe her, really. There's no one else like her."
Fans of magic and fantasy will also find something to love here. The villain sounds like Deepak Chopra, thinking "how closely linked the fabric of the universe was to the human brain that watched it. Science was plodding ever closer to the truths of magic, but only a handful of scientists had the imagination to recognize how close they were."
A minute later, the villain, annoyed by a woman's look of horror on seeing him in public, casually "planted a deep pain in her stomach that might soon turn to cancer."
Some scenes in this novel are even more lurid, graphic, horrible and impossible to unsee as the ones I complained about in Demon Frenzy. "Carnography" is the word for it, coined in 1972 by Jack Scow in his Time review of David Morrell's "First Blood." Let me tell you, anything you read or saw Rambo do is child's play compared to the carnography of Harvey Click.
I emailed Harvey. He replied: "People do some unbelievable things while under the influence of angel's dust and some other heavy drugs, so under the influence of a sorcerer's spell who knows what they could do? In the late 60s there was a group of drug-addled idiots who used power saws to cut large holes through their skulls to give their brains some `breathing space.' They lived, for better or worse."
Now you'll have to read the novel just to get to the part about a certain someone's naked, pulsating brain. Harvey emailed: "That's the part that even I can barely stand to read. I had to write it with my eyes closed." (Bwa ha ha! He sounds like me!)
I can't believe I'm praising a novel so dark, so lurid and depraved, but dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is thought to be an effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. You should read more about this. I feel as if everyone on the planet should read Harvey Click novels just to glimpse the depravity that human souls might sink to if they suffer child abuse.
I mean, NOBODY should read novels like this because novels like this should never be written, because things like this should never happen in real life.
Sadly, though, they do. And I read carnography because it's not just fiction. Sad, sad, sad. Okay! Time for a romance, a comedy, a happy ending!! (I'll settle for a cute cat video.)
QUICK SYNOPSIS: Sarah Temple leaves her abusive boyfriend and moves into an apartment complex in the worst part of town, where her neighbors include a tough little one-hundred-year-old woman who packs a pistol, a quiet ghost of a man, and a mysterious woman of the evening who hasn't quite mastered high heels on stairs. Men come to visit the sexy blonde upstairs, but like the roaches in that pesticide commercial, they don't always check out. When Sarah finds out why, she has to move again. Not only her ex-boyfriend but now a sick, sick, sick serial killer are out to get her. Worse, a mysterious Solitary One controls both stalkers. He's "a living darkness, a man and yet not a man, something that's alive and yet not alive, something that wants to appall the world."
The One knows why children have been buried alive in a "bad box," and only The One can restore life (if you can call it living) to his favorite little victim of child abuse (found, oops, dead in the box). He fails to anticipate another child's psychological defense mechanism, dissociative identity (multiple personality) disorder, but I can't tell you more. It's plausible, it's sadly believable, and it's simply brilliant.
I surely would not have peeked under this cover but other readers dared me with comments like these:
"Several horror cliches present themselves, but are handled in unexpected fashion. One thing I like about Harvey Click's stories is he is able to write about characters far different from his own point of view. So many authors have characters that seem to have the same opinions and persona as their creator. Click's character's are always fascinating,and often not someone you'd care to be stuck in an elevator with." -Amazon reviewer
Ha. I don't even want to catch myself holding these characters metaphorically in a book in my hands, much less meet them in an elevator.
The list of great lines is too long to excerpt, but I'll start by noting that Sarah's little brother is described in pitch-perfect detail. When she meets Darnell, " ... his eyes reminded her of the cool waters of the creek where she and Johnny used to play." Beautiful. So is her recollection of Johnny: "I came into this world with an attitude, and I've been on the warpath ever since. But not Johnny. He was like the sun."
Sometimes Sarah perceives (imagines?) that his presence lives on. Darnell raises the psychological explanation of wish fulfillment, but Sarah can't buy that: "... a thousand times I wanted him to be there but couldn't conjure him up. He comes when he comes."
Darnell has also lost someone, but he confesses something sinister to Sarah: "The spirit that haunts you is made of sunshine. What if it were made of something not so friendly? Darkness . . . dreadful sounds . . . things that groan in the night?"
I wanted to see Johnny show up in the novel when he's most needed, but like the centenarian neighbor and her gun, the best of minor characters all too often make cameo appearances only.
One of the minors does get a fair amount of stage time, which pleases me greatly. Howard, the gay friend, has so many great lines. A fully realized character, he deserves his own novel, and more chances to come up with "clinical" terms like "assholelopithecus."
Even the villains get great lines: "Eyes are just peepholes. So are ears. The brain's a wonderful device, but mostly it just processes information from the peepholes. Materialists imagine that without our bodies, there'd be no sounds or sights or thoughts. But we ... " (sorry, you need to read the rest of it firsthand!)
The One notes, poignantly, that "one didn't age gradually, but rather in fits and starts. Suddenly one was aware of being much older than the last time one had noticed." Anyone over age fifty who happens across photos from college might suffer the same shock.
Some great lines about guns, especially from anti-gun lobbyists when forced to use one:
"This baby holds five rounds of .357 Magnum."
"Jeez," Sarah said. "Isn't that some kind of Dirty Harry small nuclear device?"
Soon, she feels the lure of being armed and dangerous: "In a few minutes she would be as powerful as any man" and "Tonight she would sleep with the gun beside her bed, knowing it would be more than a match for whatever might crawl through the window."
Or not.
You'll laugh, but not for long:
"I'm armed. I have a big gun, a .352 Magnum."
He had gotten the number wrong, he realized. What did they call those things?
"It's loaded," he said, his voice a kind of wail in the damnable hush.
Horror novels and thrillers rarely interest me, but once again, Harvey Click kept me spellbound. His characters are not boring, predictable, stupid and therefore disposable (a trope of the genre, in my experience). They're erudite. They're funny. After theorizing about the unthinkable events, someone says "a theory like that wouldn't get you published in Headshrinker Quarterly."
Then, the really poignant observations: "... mental illness is probably the ugliest damn trick God ever pulled on mankind," he said. "You're much better off with cancer."
The prose also gets poetic and metaphysical: "... shadows always remained the same. These were the same shadows that Solomon had gazed on; these were the shadows that had danced on the walls of caves while hunters huddled beside their fires. The truths in these shadows were the same ones that the ancients had glimpsed, truths that the earliest men had seen, their restless brains piercing the deep riddles with apelike eyes before glittering toys had blinded them."
I love this: "Her perceptions were turned up so high that any little thing could thrill her, maybe a clump of goldenrod or a cloud in front of the moon. But there's a downside to that-things most people would find a little irritating she found downright painful. There's no way to describe her, really. There's no one else like her."
Fans of magic and fantasy will also find something to love here. The villain sounds like Deepak Chopra, thinking "how closely linked the fabric of the universe was to the human brain that watched it. Science was plodding ever closer to the truths of magic, but only a handful of scientists had the imagination to recognize how close they were."
A minute later, the villain, annoyed by a woman's look of horror on seeing him in public, casually "planted a deep pain in her stomach that might soon turn to cancer."
Some scenes in this novel are even more lurid, graphic, horrible and impossible to unsee as the ones I complained about in Demon Frenzy. "Carnography" is the word for it, coined in 1972 by Jack Scow in his Time review of David Morrell's "First Blood." Let me tell you, anything you read or saw Rambo do is child's play compared to the carnography of Harvey Click.
I emailed Harvey. He replied: "People do some unbelievable things while under the influence of angel's dust and some other heavy drugs, so under the influence of a sorcerer's spell who knows what they could do? In the late 60s there was a group of drug-addled idiots who used power saws to cut large holes through their skulls to give their brains some `breathing space.' They lived, for better or worse."
Now you'll have to read the novel just to get to the part about a certain someone's naked, pulsating brain. Harvey emailed: "That's the part that even I can barely stand to read. I had to write it with my eyes closed." (Bwa ha ha! He sounds like me!)
I can't believe I'm praising a novel so dark, so lurid and depraved, but dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is thought to be an effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. You should read more about this. I feel as if everyone on the planet should read Harvey Click novels just to glimpse the depravity that human souls might sink to if they suffer child abuse.
I mean, NOBODY should read novels like this because novels like this should never be written, because things like this should never happen in real life.
Sadly, though, they do. And I read carnography because it's not just fiction. Sad, sad, sad. Okay! Time for a romance, a comedy, a happy ending!! (I'll settle for a cute cat video.)
May 25, 2016
The Bad Box
By Harvey Click
****Disclaimer: This book gets DARK!! Just about every trigger you could think of gets touched on. You have been warned!****
Sarah Temple moves in the hopes of leaving her abusive ex boyfriend behind. A choice she soon regrets when all it does it put a sadistically evil serial killer on her trail. Finding out that both her stalkers are being controlled by The One- "a living darkness, a man and yet not a man, something that's alive and yet not alive" is the topping on the cake. I mean... how can you out run THAT?!?
Yes that is all you are getting from me. I promise it's all you want or need. You want to experience each shock for yourself.
A horror story to end all horror stories. I could not put this book down! This is one twisted look into the genre with developments you would never expect. While it can get quite graphic the reader who can handle the dark side of things has an chilling read in front if them. My only complaint is that like most horror there are times you have push through but this by no means diminished the story.
A five out of five stars! I was blown away by the deep understanding of the damaged human psyche found within the pages of this book. Something that is impossible for most authors seemed natural for Mr. Click. It's one of those that you might regret reading only because of how long it will stick with you.
By Harvey Click
****Disclaimer: This book gets DARK!! Just about every trigger you could think of gets touched on. You have been warned!****
Sarah Temple moves in the hopes of leaving her abusive ex boyfriend behind. A choice she soon regrets when all it does it put a sadistically evil serial killer on her trail. Finding out that both her stalkers are being controlled by The One- "a living darkness, a man and yet not a man, something that's alive and yet not alive" is the topping on the cake. I mean... how can you out run THAT?!?
Yes that is all you are getting from me. I promise it's all you want or need. You want to experience each shock for yourself.
A horror story to end all horror stories. I could not put this book down! This is one twisted look into the genre with developments you would never expect. While it can get quite graphic the reader who can handle the dark side of things has an chilling read in front if them. My only complaint is that like most horror there are times you have push through but this by no means diminished the story.
A five out of five stars! I was blown away by the deep understanding of the damaged human psyche found within the pages of this book. Something that is impossible for most authors seemed natural for Mr. Click. It's one of those that you might regret reading only because of how long it will stick with you.
August 24, 2014
When starting Bad Box, I was a little reticent. I appreciate horror and gore, but usually I don't find it scary. It comes across as gross, which is fine, but I'm more amazed at what the writer's mind can imagine. With Harvey Click, I am terrified of what he was able to dream up.
The first half of the story, before Baby makes a physical appearance, I could not stop turning the pages. The line between supernatural and real life was blurred to a point where you didn't know where it started. I found Peter terrifying, perhaps because he was so stereotypical. I also found Angel fascinating and scary in her transformation and lack of compassion.
The book got a little heavy in details towards the end, and part of me wanted to see what happened when people found Peter, just for vindication. Overall, the supernatural felt real, the fear palpable, and I hope to read more by Harvey Click.
www.dirtylittlebookers.com
The first half of the story, before Baby makes a physical appearance, I could not stop turning the pages. The line between supernatural and real life was blurred to a point where you didn't know where it started. I found Peter terrifying, perhaps because he was so stereotypical. I also found Angel fascinating and scary in her transformation and lack of compassion.
The book got a little heavy in details towards the end, and part of me wanted to see what happened when people found Peter, just for vindication. Overall, the supernatural felt real, the fear palpable, and I hope to read more by Harvey Click.
www.dirtylittlebookers.com
August 19, 2016
Oh wow, where to start with this one! Harvey is an excellent author that skillfully makes your skin crawl in his book " The Bad Box". He captivated me from the very first page and slowly unfolded this nightmare to me. The pace of the book is perfect and has a very unique plot. It is one of those books that are tough to put down! There are so many well developed twists in this story that keep you guessing until the very end.
Sarah is an adorable heroine, who gets stuck in this nightmare, but thankfully she has some support, some that she didn't even know she had. Howard, Ben and Ed are great characters that add to the story. My mind is still taking in all that I have read.
This is my first book that I read from this author but have a feeling I will read more of his in the future!
Sarah is an adorable heroine, who gets stuck in this nightmare, but thankfully she has some support, some that she didn't even know she had. Howard, Ben and Ed are great characters that add to the story. My mind is still taking in all that I have read.
This is my first book that I read from this author but have a feeling I will read more of his in the future!
January 7, 2015
Let me get two things out of the way before I start. First, I didn't come to the rating of three-stars easily. It's my gunpoint-score. Which is to say that if someone were to hold a pistol to my head and demand a rating, I would end up shouting "3!"
After a considerable amount of sweating.
Second, I'm approaching this review on my tiptoes, a little frightened of it, because I'm worried that my disappointment will lead me to come off too harsh. See, here's the thing. I don't get disappointed by books that I find "bad." I don't read them. So, if at any time this review starts to sound negative, remember: my disappointment only exists because the story--and writing--was good enough to grab me in the first place.
Harvey Click’s voice is vivid and self-assured, and the writing is immaculately polished. I found myself re-reading particular passages, some haunting, others simply beautiful, because of their cadence and color. There are very few things in a story that I love more than that line that sticks with you, that sings in you, and The Bad Box offers plenty of those.
As for the story itself, the book gets off to a great start, establishing dread and mystery within its opening pages, and the first few chapters alternate between characters with distinct—and often quite disturbing—personalities. Click does a tremendous job of building suspense while introducing and characterizing the main cast.
But then things start to happen quickly. “Events” begin to overshadow the human element of the story. A huge revelation about the identity of one/two of the characters is handled with such abruptness that I initially found myself thinking I had read something wrong or that Click had made a mistake. Shortly thereafter, in a long phone call that comes to feel more like a device than a natural progression of the plot, the explaining begins.
When it comes to horror, answers are often poison to fear. It’s the unknown—the question—that thrills and terrifies. Click has so thoroughly established the sense of dread by this point that it’s not completely diminished, but as the story continues, so do the explanations—more and more and more explanations. The villain’s emergence brings about a radical shift in the story, veering the atmosphere from Hellraiser to Wishmaster, and the time it takes to bring the reader up to speed on his back-story and abilities swallows just about everything else. His presence offers up a number of satisfyingly gruesome displays, but it comes at the price of true development for the main characters, whose human moments—falling in love, coping with grief—become an afterthought as the plot scrambles along to a final confrontation that is more fun than frightening, more silly than tense.
The tale told here is interesting—and the telling contains moments of brilliance—but a cluttered and expository second half ultimately leaves it all feeling rushed and somewhat thin. I can’t help but think that Click forced a big story into a small box, and wonder how it might have grown had it been given more breathing room.
That all being said, will I purchase and read another one of his books?
Absolutely.
After a considerable amount of sweating.
Second, I'm approaching this review on my tiptoes, a little frightened of it, because I'm worried that my disappointment will lead me to come off too harsh. See, here's the thing. I don't get disappointed by books that I find "bad." I don't read them. So, if at any time this review starts to sound negative, remember: my disappointment only exists because the story--and writing--was good enough to grab me in the first place.
Harvey Click’s voice is vivid and self-assured, and the writing is immaculately polished. I found myself re-reading particular passages, some haunting, others simply beautiful, because of their cadence and color. There are very few things in a story that I love more than that line that sticks with you, that sings in you, and The Bad Box offers plenty of those.
As for the story itself, the book gets off to a great start, establishing dread and mystery within its opening pages, and the first few chapters alternate between characters with distinct—and often quite disturbing—personalities. Click does a tremendous job of building suspense while introducing and characterizing the main cast.
But then things start to happen quickly. “Events” begin to overshadow the human element of the story. A huge revelation about the identity of one/two of the characters is handled with such abruptness that I initially found myself thinking I had read something wrong or that Click had made a mistake. Shortly thereafter, in a long phone call that comes to feel more like a device than a natural progression of the plot, the explaining begins.
When it comes to horror, answers are often poison to fear. It’s the unknown—the question—that thrills and terrifies. Click has so thoroughly established the sense of dread by this point that it’s not completely diminished, but as the story continues, so do the explanations—more and more and more explanations. The villain’s emergence brings about a radical shift in the story, veering the atmosphere from Hellraiser to Wishmaster, and the time it takes to bring the reader up to speed on his back-story and abilities swallows just about everything else. His presence offers up a number of satisfyingly gruesome displays, but it comes at the price of true development for the main characters, whose human moments—falling in love, coping with grief—become an afterthought as the plot scrambles along to a final confrontation that is more fun than frightening, more silly than tense.
The tale told here is interesting—and the telling contains moments of brilliance—but a cluttered and expository second half ultimately leaves it all feeling rushed and somewhat thin. I can’t help but think that Click forced a big story into a small box, and wonder how it might have grown had it been given more breathing room.
That all being said, will I purchase and read another one of his books?
Absolutely.
June 7, 2016
I hated this novel.
No, the five stars I gave it are not a mistake. Because I kept reading, right ‘til the end. Hated every plot twist, every disturbing scene. But no way in hell was I going to put the thing down. By the time I realized how badly I hated this novel, I realized I would hate not knowing how it ended even worse.
My hat is off to Harvey Click. I don’t read much horror, don’t care for the genre at all. I read this one on the recommendation of a friend who assured me the writing was transcendent. And guess what? It darn sure must be, if it kept me turning pages even when doing so made me feel like I needed to take a long, hot shower and then soak in bleach for a few days. Ugh.
But you know what? That’s exactly the kind of reaction horror fans crave. It’s the kind of reaction they’re so often deprived of in this cheapened, potluck world of POD publishing and worn-out tropes. Which horror books are really scary anymore? Which authors can write scenes that eat into your brain like the diamond edged cutting disks on Peter Bellman’s rotary tool? Thanks to that fine visual provided for us about 70% into the novel, the Dremels lurking so innocently on their shelves at Lowes will always make me feel a little squeamish now. Thank you, Harvey Click. Thank you very much for that.
I don’t know of another writer who can stay firmly in POV with a character whose head has just been sawed from his neck. I’ve never even thought about what that might feel like, but thanks to “The Bad Box,” now it seems I might have some idea. Remind me to not get decapitated by a lunatic any time in the near future. It really doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, that whole thing about staring down at your body while being suspended two or three feet above it. Gross, Harvey Click. Just gross. But your fans will love it.
Just as my friend said, “The Bad Box” is filled with great writing. Character development in this novel is beyond spectacular. Even the evil Longevitals have motivations we can almost be sympathetic with. And let’s not forget Angel’s innocence at the beginning of the novel—it’s hard to completely hate a monster who was a battered human child once. And Darnell…well, he just broke my heart. Things happen to him in this novel that will make every male reader with nerve endings cross his legs in reflex.
Let me assure you, horror fans—“The Bad Box” is out of the box. Off the chain. Beyond the realm of what many readers have ever experienced. Hard core, hard hitting, and hard to put down. Yes, I hated it. But I feel quite sure that means you will love it.
No, the five stars I gave it are not a mistake. Because I kept reading, right ‘til the end. Hated every plot twist, every disturbing scene. But no way in hell was I going to put the thing down. By the time I realized how badly I hated this novel, I realized I would hate not knowing how it ended even worse.
My hat is off to Harvey Click. I don’t read much horror, don’t care for the genre at all. I read this one on the recommendation of a friend who assured me the writing was transcendent. And guess what? It darn sure must be, if it kept me turning pages even when doing so made me feel like I needed to take a long, hot shower and then soak in bleach for a few days. Ugh.
But you know what? That’s exactly the kind of reaction horror fans crave. It’s the kind of reaction they’re so often deprived of in this cheapened, potluck world of POD publishing and worn-out tropes. Which horror books are really scary anymore? Which authors can write scenes that eat into your brain like the diamond edged cutting disks on Peter Bellman’s rotary tool? Thanks to that fine visual provided for us about 70% into the novel, the Dremels lurking so innocently on their shelves at Lowes will always make me feel a little squeamish now. Thank you, Harvey Click. Thank you very much for that.
I don’t know of another writer who can stay firmly in POV with a character whose head has just been sawed from his neck. I’ve never even thought about what that might feel like, but thanks to “The Bad Box,” now it seems I might have some idea. Remind me to not get decapitated by a lunatic any time in the near future. It really doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, that whole thing about staring down at your body while being suspended two or three feet above it. Gross, Harvey Click. Just gross. But your fans will love it.
Just as my friend said, “The Bad Box” is filled with great writing. Character development in this novel is beyond spectacular. Even the evil Longevitals have motivations we can almost be sympathetic with. And let’s not forget Angel’s innocence at the beginning of the novel—it’s hard to completely hate a monster who was a battered human child once. And Darnell…well, he just broke my heart. Things happen to him in this novel that will make every male reader with nerve endings cross his legs in reflex.
Let me assure you, horror fans—“The Bad Box” is out of the box. Off the chain. Beyond the realm of what many readers have ever experienced. Hard core, hard hitting, and hard to put down. Yes, I hated it. But I feel quite sure that means you will love it.
December 24, 2016
When Sarah Temple left her abusive boyfriend she was hoping to find peace. After moving to a seedy part of town, she finds herself in a building where she knows little about her neighbors, but she has some peace and quiet at last, until, Peter, an egotistical bully, tracks her down. Peter, in an effort to make her jealous, hooks up with her mysterious upstairs neighbor, Angel, and that’s when things start going off the rails. Angel is not just mysterious, she’s deadly, and Sarah gets caught up in her deadly game.
The Bad Box by Harvey Click is a chilling story of a maniacal serial killer and a sadistic abuser who falls under her sway. But, behind both is an even more malevolent force controlling their actions for reasons that border on the supernatural. This is not a story for the faint of heart. It’s bloody and dark, and not recommended reading late at night, unless you want the nightmares that it’s sure to elicit. The action happens at a measured pace, like the beating of a heart that has been torn from someone’s chest, or like the eerie sound of muffled footsteps on a dark stairwell in the middle of the night.
Filled with bodies and body parts, and a dark force that lurks in the shadows, it’ll suck you in and chew you up slowly.
The Bad Box by Harvey Click is a chilling story of a maniacal serial killer and a sadistic abuser who falls under her sway. But, behind both is an even more malevolent force controlling their actions for reasons that border on the supernatural. This is not a story for the faint of heart. It’s bloody and dark, and not recommended reading late at night, unless you want the nightmares that it’s sure to elicit. The action happens at a measured pace, like the beating of a heart that has been torn from someone’s chest, or like the eerie sound of muffled footsteps on a dark stairwell in the middle of the night.
Filled with bodies and body parts, and a dark force that lurks in the shadows, it’ll suck you in and chew you up slowly.
January 22, 2016
Horror isn't usually my cup of tea, but "The Bad Box" was recommended to me by a trusted source and it didn't disappoint. The story kept me guessing, the plot was very well executed, and the disturbing imagery was intense, creepy, and toe-curlingly fun!
Author Harvey Click is a noteworthy name among indie authors and he crafts his third person narrative with strong visuals that beg for a movie adaptation. You can see the story happening so clearly with every bloody, shocking, and monstrous description.
I only rate this four stars because, like I said, it's not a genre I typically enjoy and so there were times I was a little bored, wishing the story would move faster, but this is by no means the fault of the author rather just my personal taste in genre and content. This book has some pretty original and frightening stuff in it. If you dig supernatural horror with a touch of mystery you will love discovering just what horrors live within "The Bad Box."
Author Harvey Click is a noteworthy name among indie authors and he crafts his third person narrative with strong visuals that beg for a movie adaptation. You can see the story happening so clearly with every bloody, shocking, and monstrous description.
I only rate this four stars because, like I said, it's not a genre I typically enjoy and so there were times I was a little bored, wishing the story would move faster, but this is by no means the fault of the author rather just my personal taste in genre and content. This book has some pretty original and frightening stuff in it. If you dig supernatural horror with a touch of mystery you will love discovering just what horrors live within "The Bad Box."
October 10, 2016
Straight to my favorites shelf! This was a great horror story, highly recommend. Something I really liked about this book is the way it unfolded. I don't want to give anything away because the unveiling of the plot layers is one of the best things about this but I loved how each act evolved into an almost different story than what I thought I'd get by reading the previous act. A person trapped in a box, a woman murdering strangers, an ethereal spirit, dark magic, demons, etc., etc. it had a little of everything in it and it worked well! If you're in the Horror Aficionados group, you gotta put this on your list.
February 5, 2015
Remarkably gripping
Had me turning pages way past midnight. I love how good writing can captivate me so much. While i am not the usual avid reader of the horror genre, I make an exception on this one. Thank you Harvey Click!
Had me turning pages way past midnight. I love how good writing can captivate me so much. While i am not the usual avid reader of the horror genre, I make an exception on this one. Thank you Harvey Click!
August 26, 2014
I dug right into The Bad Box from the first page, not only because horror is my preferred genre, but because Harvey elicits from me exactly what I want when I read any genre, time and time again: wayward loyalty.
I don't know who to side with and when, and just when I'm sure that someone is all good, Harvey wades me through artfully crafted gore to the devil within each and every one.
This book is not for the weak, but don't think that that means his imagery is gratuitous; it carries the plot efficiently and without much unnecessary detour, crawling up your spine and planting itself into your nightmares for months to come.
I related very much to Sarah, as I believe would many women who have ever been cursed with loving the wrong man. She is strong yet vulnerable, adventurous but timid and knows how to get what she wants. It's this multifacetedness that's exhibited in all of Harvey's characters that draws me in and keeps me guessing, up until a satisfying, twisty end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, will recommend it to anyone who likes horror/mystery/thriller, and will absolutely be reading more from Harvey Click. Thank you for this opportunity, Harvey.
I don't know who to side with and when, and just when I'm sure that someone is all good, Harvey wades me through artfully crafted gore to the devil within each and every one.
This book is not for the weak, but don't think that that means his imagery is gratuitous; it carries the plot efficiently and without much unnecessary detour, crawling up your spine and planting itself into your nightmares for months to come.
I related very much to Sarah, as I believe would many women who have ever been cursed with loving the wrong man. She is strong yet vulnerable, adventurous but timid and knows how to get what she wants. It's this multifacetedness that's exhibited in all of Harvey's characters that draws me in and keeps me guessing, up until a satisfying, twisty end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, will recommend it to anyone who likes horror/mystery/thriller, and will absolutely be reading more from Harvey Click. Thank you for this opportunity, Harvey.
March 8, 2015
Gus Dietrick puts his two grandkids in a box when he punishes them. An evil presence in the box establishes a relationship with one of the children. He is a manipulative entity with vile intentions, just waiting for the child to grow up so that she could help him with his plan. The Bad Box is the story of how his evil plan gets tangled up in the innocent Sarah Temple’s life.
Sarah is also a victim of abuse. She leaves her abusive boyfriend and finds a cheap apartment in the worst part of town. The neighbors are a little odd, especially Darnell, the timid, ghostly guy upstairs, and Angel, the mysterious blonde lady who comes and goes through the fire escape. One night Sarah’s ex-boyfriend stops by. His drunken anger sets in motion a chain of events that pull Sarah into Angel’s secret, horrific world. Once that happens, the torture, the murders, and the haunting madness begin...
...read more at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com!
Sarah is also a victim of abuse. She leaves her abusive boyfriend and finds a cheap apartment in the worst part of town. The neighbors are a little odd, especially Darnell, the timid, ghostly guy upstairs, and Angel, the mysterious blonde lady who comes and goes through the fire escape. One night Sarah’s ex-boyfriend stops by. His drunken anger sets in motion a chain of events that pull Sarah into Angel’s secret, horrific world. Once that happens, the torture, the murders, and the haunting madness begin...
...read more at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com!
December 14, 2015
I would like to thank Harvey Click for preventing me from sleeping last night. This is horror at its finest. I will give nothing away as that spoils the joy of reading horror. You will root for the good guys as they are likable and fear the bad, they are terrifying. The ending was satisfying and fitting with the storyline. If you love a good scare then add this one to your bookshelf. Oh but read it with the lights on.
August 7, 2015
A good horror novel with intelligent characters and a nice twist in the end. It was just a little scattered, really important characters are forgotten in the middle of the book, and some secondary guys you hardly thought about ended up being really important. Still, it was a fun horror book that won't make you roll your eyes at how stupid the characters are.
November 16, 2016
Evil abounds from the bad box into the depths of a vindictive grave. Two foes are in the battle of their existence moving the pawns on the chess boards to do their bidding. Incredible journey for the deviant in many. Good suspence in this supernatural thrill ride. This book is not for the light reading reader.
October 31, 2015
This was a great scary book for Halloween!! I loved the book and this is a great author I think. I enjoyed the story and everything about this book. I would read form this author for sure. You should check this book out! * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
August 26, 2016
A great book. It starts out like a common horror story but then evolves into so much more. To me it has slight undertones of fantasy as well. It kept me turning pages into the night. My husband loved it also.
We both look forward to reading more of Mr. Click’s works.
We both look forward to reading more of Mr. Click’s works.
August 21, 2016
Great story
From the beginning,the story draws you further and further into a well written and complex plot.I have read another from this author and I must say,he hits the nail on the head for horror stories.Marvelous book.
From the beginning,the story draws you further and further into a well written and complex plot.I have read another from this author and I must say,he hits the nail on the head for horror stories.Marvelous book.
January 25, 2018
Starting out with the comment that this is not a spoiler, in The Bad Box by Harvey Click, the bad box is a coffin. It might be a coffin look-alike, such as an abandoned refrigerator. Any material could be used for construction. The only requirement is that there are air holes. The purpose is a sensory deprivation of its inhabitants although some box managers carried this to an extreme. Eva Dietrick had gone a bit far by leaving Angel, her granddaughter, in the bad box so long that she died and Angel was going to have to do something about that. At least the grandson, Darnell had not died.
This novel doesn’t quite start out this way but the reader can note that this will be a very strange novel. The story has fifty-five chapters. Up to the nineteenth chapter, this is just your average tale of weird sex, domination, and decapitation. In at least one instance the decapitation was to obtain a wig; it was much more natural. There is storage of body parts for a purpose I have yet to discover. Then the novel takes a darker turn involving postmortem reanimations and a feud that spans centuries with two principal opponents determined to finalize everything in our present time. This is not a family-friendly novel. Fans of The Walking Dead might find this extreme.
After chapter nineteen, the novel leans more to fantasy and horror as opposed to the simple horror described above. Despite the horrific content, this is a very interesting and captivating novel. There is a story of multiple personalities, some of which cross the border between death and life, some which may not. There are well-developed characters. Sarah, the main protagonist, has problems with relationships, they seem to lean towards abuse. Her character is well developed from beginning to end of the novel. Somewhere in the middle of the tale, she will meet Ben, a principal character she doesn’t initially like. She has reasons for this but her opinions will change as Ben’s character is fleshed out and Sarah takes a second look. Peter, an earlier love of Sarah’s life, is despicable. He was despicable from the beginning but as his character develops, he becomes worse.
This novel has surprise after surprise. They lie in character development and plot. I saw a sharp divide between the first twenty chapters and the rest of the novel but the shift made sense; it was a shift of focus to include more otherworldly experiences. Once carnage sets in and I can anticipate further carnage, I get bored but the shifting nature of this novel kept me turning pages to the end. Although there is a surprise ending and this is a self-contained novel, Harvey Click has left room for a sequel. Hyperlinks at the end of this novel do not lead me to any sequels for The Bad Box but I am sure I will go on to read Demon Frenzy and Demon Mania.
This novel doesn’t quite start out this way but the reader can note that this will be a very strange novel. The story has fifty-five chapters. Up to the nineteenth chapter, this is just your average tale of weird sex, domination, and decapitation. In at least one instance the decapitation was to obtain a wig; it was much more natural. There is storage of body parts for a purpose I have yet to discover. Then the novel takes a darker turn involving postmortem reanimations and a feud that spans centuries with two principal opponents determined to finalize everything in our present time. This is not a family-friendly novel. Fans of The Walking Dead might find this extreme.
After chapter nineteen, the novel leans more to fantasy and horror as opposed to the simple horror described above. Despite the horrific content, this is a very interesting and captivating novel. There is a story of multiple personalities, some of which cross the border between death and life, some which may not. There are well-developed characters. Sarah, the main protagonist, has problems with relationships, they seem to lean towards abuse. Her character is well developed from beginning to end of the novel. Somewhere in the middle of the tale, she will meet Ben, a principal character she doesn’t initially like. She has reasons for this but her opinions will change as Ben’s character is fleshed out and Sarah takes a second look. Peter, an earlier love of Sarah’s life, is despicable. He was despicable from the beginning but as his character develops, he becomes worse.
This novel has surprise after surprise. They lie in character development and plot. I saw a sharp divide between the first twenty chapters and the rest of the novel but the shift made sense; it was a shift of focus to include more otherworldly experiences. Once carnage sets in and I can anticipate further carnage, I get bored but the shifting nature of this novel kept me turning pages to the end. Although there is a surprise ending and this is a self-contained novel, Harvey Click has left room for a sequel. Hyperlinks at the end of this novel do not lead me to any sequels for The Bad Box but I am sure I will go on to read Demon Frenzy and Demon Mania.
September 11, 2017
Great read
Definitely , a little more complex horror , instead of the standard fare . Great book loved it .great writer.
Definitely , a little more complex horror , instead of the standard fare . Great book loved it .great writer.
May 1, 2020
I was surprised as how much I liked this one. It started out kind of weird, but as the plot unraveled, I couldn’t quit reading. And bonus points for it taking place in Ohio!
Read
January 6, 2022Like a mix between Peter Straubs' Floating Dragon and Clive Barkers' The Great and Secret Show with a manuscript written by Blake Leibel .
January 26, 2018
I liked how I couldn't see where book was going. It had unexpected twist and turns. Keep my interest though out.
September 8, 2016
First off, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I know for a fact that self-published work has a stigma to it, and my last couple independent reads have left me skeptical as to the overall quality you’re getting sans publisher. Click’s book is tightly written, and the plot is both well thought out and plays fair with the reader. By that I mean the means to the ending are definitely in play well before you get there.
I think the characters, too, were both the strongest part of the book, and the weakest at the same time. Most of the protagonists, Sarah, Ben and Howard, in particular are given real personality and we genuinely care about them. Angel, too - makes a welcome transformation from two to three dimensions as the book moves along - which was a nice surprise.
On the flip side of the coin, the antagonists are actually the biggest flaw in the overall book.
Before I get to that, a brief note on the opening. I almost didn’t keep reading the book as I turned the beginning pages. Within two chapters we are introduced to not one, but two of the most reprehensible human beings, and I actually started crossing my fingers during the second chapter that Peter was not meant to be the protagonist. The professor is such a broadly drawn narcissist who lives in a near constant state of misogyny, that he quickly became my least favourite parts of the book. I’m not sure what specifically could have been done to improve the beginning of the book, but I both wanted and needed a palate cleanser between these two assholes to make me want to keep reading.
The second, and primary antagonist starts asan amorphous dark shape that is mostly hinted at. As such, he’s pretty terrifying, and these passages were some of the most gripping.
Once Baby transforms, though, toward the middle of the book, he forgoes mystery for pure callous evil. However, Baby is also fond of monologue-ing, and thereby jettisons both pace and mystery for explicit explanation. Part of this, we find out, is that the story of the “Longevitals” is sure to continue in other books, but it feels like the author sacrificed a chunk of his climax to make sure we understand everything we need to know if we keep reading into the next book in the series. It’s as if, in the movie Psycho, we got to keep following Norman around right after the shower scene, watching him take the dress off and do other creepy shit. It would’ve been evil, and it would’ve been okay, but it also lets the audience off the hook for further suspense.
All in all, The Bad Box is worth a read. A little less time behind the curtain with the Big Bad might’ve taken this story from “good” to “really good,” but it’s clear that Harvey Click can tell a story, and he’s definitely given horror readers that illusive “something different” - which is positively brilliant.
(Note: slightly longer review and "scare score" available on my Tumblr: http://chrisallinotte.tumblr.com/post... )
I think the characters, too, were both the strongest part of the book, and the weakest at the same time. Most of the protagonists, Sarah, Ben and Howard, in particular are given real personality and we genuinely care about them. Angel, too - makes a welcome transformation from two to three dimensions as the book moves along - which was a nice surprise.
On the flip side of the coin, the antagonists are actually the biggest flaw in the overall book.
Before I get to that, a brief note on the opening. I almost didn’t keep reading the book as I turned the beginning pages. Within two chapters we are introduced to not one, but two of the most reprehensible human beings, and I actually started crossing my fingers during the second chapter that Peter was not meant to be the protagonist. The professor is such a broadly drawn narcissist who lives in a near constant state of misogyny, that he quickly became my least favourite parts of the book. I’m not sure what specifically could have been done to improve the beginning of the book, but I both wanted and needed a palate cleanser between these two assholes to make me want to keep reading.
The second, and primary antagonist starts asan amorphous dark shape that is mostly hinted at. As such, he’s pretty terrifying, and these passages were some of the most gripping.
Once Baby transforms, though, toward the middle of the book, he forgoes mystery for pure callous evil. However, Baby is also fond of monologue-ing, and thereby jettisons both pace and mystery for explicit explanation. Part of this, we find out, is that the story of the “Longevitals” is sure to continue in other books, but it feels like the author sacrificed a chunk of his climax to make sure we understand everything we need to know if we keep reading into the next book in the series. It’s as if, in the movie Psycho, we got to keep following Norman around right after the shower scene, watching him take the dress off and do other creepy shit. It would’ve been evil, and it would’ve been okay, but it also lets the audience off the hook for further suspense.
All in all, The Bad Box is worth a read. A little less time behind the curtain with the Big Bad might’ve taken this story from “good” to “really good,” but it’s clear that Harvey Click can tell a story, and he’s definitely given horror readers that illusive “something different” - which is positively brilliant.
(Note: slightly longer review and "scare score" available on my Tumblr: http://chrisallinotte.tumblr.com/post... )
March 15, 2015
at first it seemed a little slow mostly cause I didn't get it at first but as I kept going the puzzle came together and I couldn't put it down. before I knew it I was reading for two hours straight. there are a few editing errors I caught but they don't take away from the story. there is on typo that is confusing and that's towards the end where a character is introduced as an ill sister but the next page she is the assumed daughter. im not sure if that is a mistake or if it is the second character being confused ... this is still a five star read even with the editing bloopers.
there is so much action and so much information that one must read this story for themselves. every character has a means to the solitary ones' final plan. you start reading this thinking you've got a poor child who suffered tragedy and ended being a serial killer after the horrors they endured. but actually that was a setup all from the beginning from the solitary one who needs outside help to free him from the grave. there is much bloodshed to get what he needs most. there are twist and turns with angel who believes in love of the solitary one only to find he is using her and condemning her to a fate of the box.
thru all the turmoil sarah will find love with another lost soul, ben but first they will all be needed in anothers plan and is the solitary one's nemesis the one who put him in the grave and still hunts him. there is a magic battle between the two sorcerors but sarah and ben are the keys to get inside. the solitary one meets his doom at the end , the house burns but alas angel is now in a tomb alive and moving and when she breaks free all hell will break loose.
I got to the end with angel breaking thru her tomb that her husband and solitary one put her in to make himself powerful. with him gone the spell was broken but with her coming out of her tomb and wanting revenge.... hmmm could there be a bad box two in the makes?
this is the second book I have read by this author and I am definitely keeping him in my fave authors list. I like the way he writes I like the horror and grotesqueness of his writing the details and even the humor in his characters. you always gotta know what happens next and that is one of the things that keeps me going back to certain authors . the ones where you get to the end and you go awww that's the end? theres no more? and the ones where you can picture like a movie in your head as you are reading, those are the best stories told.
I look forward to more from Harvey click :)
there is so much action and so much information that one must read this story for themselves. every character has a means to the solitary ones' final plan. you start reading this thinking you've got a poor child who suffered tragedy and ended being a serial killer after the horrors they endured. but actually that was a setup all from the beginning from the solitary one who needs outside help to free him from the grave. there is much bloodshed to get what he needs most. there are twist and turns with angel who believes in love of the solitary one only to find he is using her and condemning her to a fate of the box.
thru all the turmoil sarah will find love with another lost soul, ben but first they will all be needed in anothers plan and is the solitary one's nemesis the one who put him in the grave and still hunts him. there is a magic battle between the two sorcerors but sarah and ben are the keys to get inside. the solitary one meets his doom at the end , the house burns but alas angel is now in a tomb alive and moving and when she breaks free all hell will break loose.
I got to the end with angel breaking thru her tomb that her husband and solitary one put her in to make himself powerful. with him gone the spell was broken but with her coming out of her tomb and wanting revenge.... hmmm could there be a bad box two in the makes?
this is the second book I have read by this author and I am definitely keeping him in my fave authors list. I like the way he writes I like the horror and grotesqueness of his writing the details and even the humor in his characters. you always gotta know what happens next and that is one of the things that keeps me going back to certain authors . the ones where you get to the end and you go awww that's the end? theres no more? and the ones where you can picture like a movie in your head as you are reading, those are the best stories told.
I look forward to more from Harvey click :)
September 19, 2016
A thrilling story
A very interesting storyline. A girl leaves her abusive boyfriend only to get drawn into something worst. I found this book very creepy, until the end. I was disappointed with the final battle
A very interesting storyline. A girl leaves her abusive boyfriend only to get drawn into something worst. I found this book very creepy, until the end. I was disappointed with the final battle
September 3, 2020
Must read!
OMG this is probably the most gruesome book I've read so far. Definitely not for the faint of heart. If you want gore this is it!
OMG this is probably the most gruesome book I've read so far. Definitely not for the faint of heart. If you want gore this is it!
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