Czerwony Hotel

Sissy Sawyer #3

by Graham Masterton, Piotr Kuś (Translator)

Sissy Sawyer potrafi przewidzieć przyszłość z kart i posiada zdolności parapsychiczne. Pewnego dnia odwiedza Sissy jej przyrodni bratanek Billy wraz ze swoją dziewczyną, T-Yon, którą nawiedzają potworne koszmary związane z jej bratem, Everestem. W tym samym czasie, w należącym do Everetta Czerwonym Hotelu w Luizjanie, dzieję się bardzo dziwne rzeczy. Znika pokojówka, zostawiając po sobie jedynie kałużę krwi. Słychać dziwne, niepokojące dzwięki, których źródła nie da się zlokalizować, w wannie znajdują się poćwiartowane zwłoki policjanta. Powoli staje się jasne, że to miejsce jest nawiedzone przez duchy poprzednich właścicieli, które chcą dokonać zemsty. Nie wiadomo jednak, za co chcą się mścić ani – co gorsza – jak je powstrzymać…

Genres: Horror, Fiction

265 pages, ebook

First published June 12, 2012

About the author

Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.

At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.

Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.

Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.

He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.

Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.

He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.

Reviews

[Jon Recluse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reading to learn the reasons for a nasty recurring nightmare leads Sissy Sawyer, a self described "old hippie" with a gift for deciphering the secrets revealed by a rare set of Tarot cards to Baton Rouge.....to the recently restored Red Hotel. A place where the past and present share floor space.....and the living answer the call of the vengeful dead.
A solid, creepy Masterton effort, a slightly different spin on his MANITOU series and it's loveable phony Harry Erskine, with plenty of his signature nastiness to please longtime fans.

[Siobhan Leahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Well written

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I just feel in the mood for a ghost story. This one fit the bill nicely: a haunted Baton Rouge hotel, a card reader, ghosts, evil spirits, vodoo and some real spooky happenings, some grossness, and of course finding out the story behind the haunting. What else could one ask for.

[Hilario Peña · Rating 3 out of 5]

Llegué a esta novela en un intento por expandir mis horizontes en lo que a literatura de terror se refiere. Quería leer algo más allá de Robert McCammon, Bentley Little, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson, King, Lovecraft et al. La novela la pepené en una librería de viejo y de inmediato noté que este mentado Graham Masterton no es un improvisado. Que le sabe al género, lo cual no es algo muy común. La mayoría de las veces me encuentro con autores que creen que porque vieron una película que les asustó ya por eso pueden escribir terror. Este no es el caso de Masterton. El hombre tiene un montón de tablas y logra evocar imágenes escalofriantes.

Le doy tres estrellitas de cinco porque la trama es predecible pero aventurada: una vidente jipi se alía con una anciana practicante de vudú para luchar contra un espectro residente en un elegante hotel de Baton Rouge, Luisiana. (Considero que "tres estrellitas" es una calificación positiva.)

La ejecución no es mala, la prueba es que mantuvo mi interés de principio a fin, pero resultó evidente que no es un título muy relevante en la bibliografía del autor, sino una aventura más de uno de sus personajes recurrentes, la vidente/detective Sissy Sawyer.

Definitivamente buscaré más títulos de Masterton, cuya novela más importante al parecer es la lovecraftiana The Manitou (1975).

[denudatio_pulpae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do Sissy przyjeżdża w odwiedziny jej bratanek Billy razem ze swoją partnerką, T-Yon, która koniecznie chciała poznać Sissy. Billy opowiedział jej o zdolnościach parapsychicznych ciotki, a dziewczyna ma problem, który może rozwiązać tylko ktoś, kto wierzy w nadprzyrodzone zjawiska. T-Yon ma bowiem straszliwe sny, które wydają się być tak realne, jakby koszmar dział się na jawie. Mają one związek z jej bratem Everettem oraz jego nowym hotelem w Luizjanie. Karty przepowiedziały Sissy, że w hotelu wydarzą się straszne rzeczy, a zarówno T-Yon jak i Everett będą głównymi ich uczestnikami. Czy wróżka będzie w stanie rozwiązać zagadkę Czerwonego Hotelu?

Polubiłam Sissy Sawyer i żałuję, że to już ostatnia część jej perypetii z duchami i innymi koszmarami. Tym razem będzie momentami bardzo obrzydliwe, ale historia hotelu i jego poprzednich właścicieli była całkiem wciągająca. Przyzwoity horror z odpowiednią dozą makabry, przynajmniej jak dla mnie, ale ja nie jestem przesadnie wrażliwa :)
7/10

[Dorota Winch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit, after reading the first book in the series I was quite disappointed, as it didn’t feel like it was written by GM at all, and I wasn’t planning to read the rest of them. But then I found the second one included in my audible subscription, so I decided to have another go, and I liked it much more than the first one that I thought the third one may be even better, and I wasn’t wrong! I think this was the best one in the Sissy Sawyer series, and I absolutely loved it. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on it.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the character of the old hippy lady Sissy. Someone I’d like to know. This is a ghost story with a dash or some of gore. It was a fun story with a unexpected twist. I loved the setting too. Enjoyable romp through old Baton Rouge gothica.

[Jocelyne March-Clapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this book. What a shocker ending though!!

[Ola Kaczmarczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tę książkę przeczytałam już może z 10 razy i co jakiś czas do niej wracam. Cudowna jest! Polecam ją każdemu. 🔥

[Amk256 King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable horror I guess!!!

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

14. Way too scary for me but enticing enough that I got a way through it.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. that was a trippy read. loved the vibe and characters. read this book!

[Keith Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, as this is not really my sort of thing

[N.D. Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Masterton's style of writing. He writes with brevity, no-nonesense simple, straight to the point prose. His words make for seamless, fluid reading and that was still the case here. But my issue with Red Hotel is that not an awful lot happens. The opening few pages are filled with intrigue, but once the lead character of Sissy Sawyer arrives at the eponymous hotel, very little happens until the closing chapters. If it wasn't for strong narrative style and a relatively short book, I may have given up on it out of boredom. Whilst the story did improve towards the end, it was nothing spectuacular and somewhat ptedictable. And it was anything but scary.

[Fred Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the Sissy Sawyer series is what you'd expect if you read the first two, although that is not necessary. The series about the clairvoyant/old hippie with her special cards is good fun. There's some spooky stuff that may remind Masterton readers of HOUSE OF BONES, WALKERS, and THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. An old New Orleans hotel has been renovated and unexplained phenomena are occurring. Pools of blood, people disappearing. Sissy comes down from Connecticut at the request of the hotel owner's sister, who is having disturbing dreams. There is, of course, gore (is there a Masterton novel in which intestines are not mentioned?). It's not Masterton at his best, but still a good read.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sissy Sawyer "mysteries" are a weird lot. While having enough horror to keep me entertained, they are definitely an up-and-down affair. After the first book(Touchy and Feely), I was hesitant to read the second but I like the author. The second book(Death Mask) was MUCH better. So I gave the third a shot. I liked it better than the first, but it still felt a little phoned in.



Read this while in the waiting room yesterday, waiting for my niece to be born. That makes two books in this series that I have read while in a waiting room in the exact same hospital.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. It wasn't an astonishing work of literature, but it wasn't awful either. It was pretty creepy in places, and very gory in others, but I figured out what why Vanessa Slider wanted T-Yon and Everett early enough that there wasn't any suspense there. I also didn't really care enough about the characters to be rooting for them to survive.

[Lisa-marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Graham Masterton's work, and this book didnt let me down!

I couldnt put this book down and read it in a day, was gripped to the pages.....

Its quite a slow story to begin with but once you get into the first few chapters its gripping.

worth a read even if you havent read any of his work, would be an ideal book for a weekend away or something for them cold winter nights.

[Rhiannon]

Great book! Had a hard time putting it down! All of the elements of a book I love-New Orleans, voodoo, an old hotel, and a twisted murderer. Plenty of creeps and chills to keep you reading into the wee hours.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well but kind of fizzled halfway through. Struggled to finish.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic another brilliant Graham Masterton horror book :)

[Sheri White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story - review to come at Shock Totem in the next couple days.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously creepy. Will definitely keep you reading late into the night to find out what the hell is really going on and why. I thoroughly enjoyed this "ghost" story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

pretty standard ghost story fare

[Madcatlady · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ewwwwwwww only read it cos I had to for book group so a quick flick thro was quite enough!!