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Morbid Curiosity
It seemed like the answer to Haley's prayers. The most popular girl in her high school promises Haley that her life would change forever if only she performed certain dark rituals. And if Haley can convince her twin sister to participate, their power will double. Together they will be able to summon mystical entities they never dared dream of. But these are powerful, uncontrollable forces, forces that can kill - forces that demand to be fed.
351 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2007
3 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Leblanc
38 books746 followersDeborah LeBlanc is an award-winning, best-selling author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a licensed death scene investigator, a licensed private investigator and has been a paranormal investigator for over twenty years. Deborah is currently the house ‘clairsendium’ for the upcoming paranormal investigation television show, Through the Veil.
She served four years as president of the Horror Writers Association, eight years as president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, and two years as president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter. In 2007, Deborah founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens.
For more information, visit www.deborahleblanc.com and www.literacyinc.com
To support Deborah please visit https://www.patreon.com/deborahleblanc
She served four years as president of the Horror Writers Association, eight years as president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, and two years as president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter. In 2007, Deborah founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens.
For more information, visit www.deborahleblanc.com and www.literacyinc.com
To support Deborah please visit https://www.patreon.com/deborahleblanc
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 26, 2022
Mysteriously Creepy!
Small Backstory:
Twin sisters want to control things in their life so they get mixed up in magic and voodoo. Consequences are drastic and everything goes awry.
Thoughts:
Read the last 1/2 of the book till early hours of the morning as it started to escalate and I couldn't put it down! I also have found a new horror author to add to my list! Giving this book four Voodoo Hoodoo stars!
Small Backstory:
Twin sisters want to control things in their life so they get mixed up in magic and voodoo. Consequences are drastic and everything goes awry.
Thoughts:
Read the last 1/2 of the book till early hours of the morning as it started to escalate and I couldn't put it down! I also have found a new horror author to add to my list! Giving this book four Voodoo Hoodoo stars!
June 19, 2010
Teenage twin sisters, Haley and Heather are emotionally drained. After the death of their father and losing their mother to mental disease they have no other place to go but their grandparent's home in a small Southern town. That means moving into a new place, going to a new school and being as unpopular and unnoticed as it gets. Things take a wild turn as the most popular girl in school offers to share her secrets to the twins, secrets of a ritual that will grant them any wish, but with a price of course. The braver and more outgoing Haley, decides that she wants to experience the magic called Chaos with her sister, especially since its possible that the spell would be stronger with two identical people bound by blood. For some reason they don't realize that anything called chaos cannot possibly bring stability and positive lasting happiness and soon things start to go bad. The sisters are putting everything on line for a wish that they don't even seem that keen of coming true, if anything everything starts to go so wrong that things get out of control. When spirits and dark things start slithering in the dark and people who want something form them for selfish reasons start appearing on the horizon, Heather know that their wish is more trouble that it was worth and no one but her is aware of how serious things are getting. The tale includes some concerned family members and a close neighbor as the search for truth begins, but facts seem less real than fiction when the dark forces that bring the magic to life are very demanding, and very hungry.
I read this in two days and it was a fast paced story but overall it felt a little juvenile. It was more of a young adult horror novel than something heavy duty that I'm used to and the ending as interesting as it was, seemed a little laughable, little too young adult sci-fi than an ending that would make the story more serious. Few of the characters that I wanted to learn more about seemed to vanish form the plot line without much explanation after the whole build up, so that was a little disappointing. I like Leblanc, she writes smoothly and with ease and I can't wait to read more of her books, and this was fun and easy on the system but a little fairy tale-ish.
I read this in two days and it was a fast paced story but overall it felt a little juvenile. It was more of a young adult horror novel than something heavy duty that I'm used to and the ending as interesting as it was, seemed a little laughable, little too young adult sci-fi than an ending that would make the story more serious. Few of the characters that I wanted to learn more about seemed to vanish form the plot line without much explanation after the whole build up, so that was a little disappointing. I like Leblanc, she writes smoothly and with ease and I can't wait to read more of her books, and this was fun and easy on the system but a little fairy tale-ish.
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February 9, 2025I had to DNF this book about 30% of the way through. Leblanc writes well, there’s just nothing going on. It read like a YA thriller with no thrills. Two main characters in search of a plot. Someone once said, and I paraphrase, ‘Life’s too short to read a book you don’t enjoy.’ Exactly.
September 1, 2019
It's funny. I'm a gal who's loved horror ever since I was young, watching them on TV late at night, or some forbidden horror VHSs at various sleepovers. Heck, I watched Crawl at the movies a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. But this love of horror has rarely transferred to books, unless it's 80s and 90s YA horror. This tale, published in 2007, bored the absolute crap out of me.
The plot has teen twins Haley and Heather Thurston get involved in chaos magic through their friend Karla, the most popular girl in school despite being poor white trash (it's suggested magic has made her popular.) Haley is into it, Heather isn't. Haley falls under the thrall of some long-haired loser called Caster who's into chaos magic and thinks she's the big deal, or something. There's talk about sigils, snakes and strange creatures, but none of it really makes a lick of sense.
At first, I thought this might be a horror story featuring teens, but that wasn't the case. If the focus isn't on teen leads Haley and Heather, it's on their grandfather Buck and a teacher neighbour, Mark. For a book about dark magic, this was astonishingly dull. Nothing happens! It's the type of book where events will be told through one point of view, and then the same events repeated through another point of view. Dull!
It also had a big pet hate: Haley is chained up in a barn by the long-haired loser, and we spend infinite chapters following Mark and Buck around as they try to find her. Memo to writers: following characters bumbling about trying to discover something THE READER ALREADY KNOWS is really freaking dull! I see it a lot.
I basically skimmed the second half. I couldn't quite follow what was going on, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to finish this zzzz-inducing crap so I could move on to something else.
The plot has teen twins Haley and Heather Thurston get involved in chaos magic through their friend Karla, the most popular girl in school despite being poor white trash (it's suggested magic has made her popular.) Haley is into it, Heather isn't. Haley falls under the thrall of some long-haired loser called Caster who's into chaos magic and thinks she's the big deal, or something. There's talk about sigils, snakes and strange creatures, but none of it really makes a lick of sense.
At first, I thought this might be a horror story featuring teens, but that wasn't the case. If the focus isn't on teen leads Haley and Heather, it's on their grandfather Buck and a teacher neighbour, Mark. For a book about dark magic, this was astonishingly dull. Nothing happens! It's the type of book where events will be told through one point of view, and then the same events repeated through another point of view. Dull!
It also had a big pet hate: Haley is chained up in a barn by the long-haired loser, and we spend infinite chapters following Mark and Buck around as they try to find her. Memo to writers: following characters bumbling about trying to discover something THE READER ALREADY KNOWS is really freaking dull! I see it a lot.
I basically skimmed the second half. I couldn't quite follow what was going on, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to finish this zzzz-inducing crap so I could move on to something else.
July 2, 2011
Deborah LeBlanc is a very capable writer, but her books, to me, lack a sort of a "wow, can't put it down, can't stop thinking about this book" factor. This book in particular. It's a decent story, the pacing is pretty good, the characters were a bit too cardboard, I thought, one in particular had such potential, but was reduced to a cartoonish creep. The frequent rehashing of the plot from different POV was unnecessary and the heavy handed moral at the end was almost sitcom like. On the positive, there were some great descriptions and very vivid disturbing imagery. Overall, quick read, decent way to pass the time, but that's about it.
September 7, 2018
This book didn't grab me. I enjoyed some moments, but I found a lot of this book to be slow, a bit rough to get through in places. I also didn't like the characters very much. I couldn't really identify with any of them, especially not the protagonist. There are some good moments, but all in all I can't recommend it.
January 12, 2018
I felt like the characters didn't have that much depth to them, and the climax of the book came too quickly.
February 25, 2018
The internet keeps erasing what I write about this book. It was a bunch of cliches strung together and I moved between being offended (in a weary way, not in a challenging way) and just bored by what I read. I tried to give it a more lengthy and detailed critique twice now but it got erased.
I think if there wasn't an assumption out there that horror has to be sexualised this would have been a much better book...but there were many flaws in the way the characterisation and plotting were put together in any case.
I don't recommend it at all, but see from other reviews that some people liked it more than I did.
I think if there wasn't an assumption out there that horror has to be sexualised this would have been a much better book...but there were many flaws in the way the characterisation and plotting were put together in any case.
I don't recommend it at all, but see from other reviews that some people liked it more than I did.
December 7, 2019
I have always had dreams and feelings of something else there.This book is not what feel but interesting
I have always wondered about the other side.Growing up Cajun in Cajun country you always hear things.so you still wonder even in your golden years because of always having had such a curiosity of can that really be and find out some of it is.
I have always wondered about the other side.Growing up Cajun in Cajun country you always hear things.so you still wonder even in your golden years because of always having had such a curiosity of can that really be and find out some of it is.
February 20, 2018
***1/2
Despite some third act issues, I thoroughly enjoyed Deborah Leblanc’s “Morbid Curiosity”. I’ll have to seek out some more of her stuff; Leblanc’s writing style is fast, slightly polished, and engaging.
“Morbid Curiosity” kicks off right in the middle of the actionl, with twin teens Haley and Heather off to visit an odd popular girl from school. Odd, because she’s got pimples, no particular skills, and just-average looks. So what’s the key to her popularity? Chaos Magic, she explains to the twins.
She helps them draw sigils on their bodies, and the girls feel the benefits of rites nearly immediately. Haley takes to it with much enthusiasm, while Heather, the more cautious of the two, doesn’t know what to do. Haley changes quickly, once the evil Chaos Magic has her in its clutches, and her family reels from snack attacks and visits from ghostly children. Meanwhile, the evil little popular girl is getting more and more dangerously involved with her older boyfriend, a carny who taught her all the magical tricks she’s passed on to the twins.
One of the main characters is removed from the action for much of the ending, and that’s unfortunate. The way events come to a close is satisfying enough, but doesn’t quite live up to what’s preceeded the climax. Still, “Morbid Curiosity” is a fun, even thrilling, story about evil black magic and the dangers of teenage certainty.
Despite some third act issues, I thoroughly enjoyed Deborah Leblanc’s “Morbid Curiosity”. I’ll have to seek out some more of her stuff; Leblanc’s writing style is fast, slightly polished, and engaging.
“Morbid Curiosity” kicks off right in the middle of the actionl, with twin teens Haley and Heather off to visit an odd popular girl from school. Odd, because she’s got pimples, no particular skills, and just-average looks. So what’s the key to her popularity? Chaos Magic, she explains to the twins.
She helps them draw sigils on their bodies, and the girls feel the benefits of rites nearly immediately. Haley takes to it with much enthusiasm, while Heather, the more cautious of the two, doesn’t know what to do. Haley changes quickly, once the evil Chaos Magic has her in its clutches, and her family reels from snack attacks and visits from ghostly children. Meanwhile, the evil little popular girl is getting more and more dangerously involved with her older boyfriend, a carny who taught her all the magical tricks she’s passed on to the twins.
One of the main characters is removed from the action for much of the ending, and that’s unfortunate. The way events come to a close is satisfying enough, but doesn’t quite live up to what’s preceeded the climax. Still, “Morbid Curiosity” is a fun, even thrilling, story about evil black magic and the dangers of teenage certainty.
October 14, 2008
Leblanc has a knack for writing horror that is accessible to both the young and old. In Morbid Curiosity she once again creates real characters who the reader can really hold on to. The ride is a fun one, and as always her use of the language is interestingly simplistic yet beautiful.
Short Summary: A set of twins, Haley and Heather, have had a bad year… their father passed away and their mother mentally shut down after his death. They have been sent to live with their grandparents and now have to not only adjust to the death of their father and mother’s new insanity, but also a new school, new friends, and an entirely new lifestyle with their Grandparents. When the popular girl in school asks them to hang out with her they gladly accept… when she starts talking about Chaos Magic and what it can do to change your life, they are interested. But soon Heather is afraid that they may be in over their head and Haley is not behaving the way she normally would.
If you (like me) hate snakes, be forewarned… they are in this book by the hundreds… creepy crawly things that send shivers up my spine. The simplistic writing style that Leblanc uses makes this an easy book to fly right through. The characters are fairly well defined, though I would have liked to have felt more from the twins on the recent loss of their parents, that aspect felt rather brushed over. Mark, their art teacher, who is the first to consider that something may be going on… reacts rather strangely to the whole affair. It was rather odd to me that he immediately believed in the power of Chaos magic, rather than just worrying that the girls were into some cultish behavior that might lead them down the wrong path. And I was a little surprised that he never “called home” to discuss his fear that the girls were “in a cult.”
I also would have liked a little more info on our bad guy… his transition from the opening scene to the final scene would have been and interesting trek to follow. Unfortunately I can’t place together how the one became the other. I have some guesses but nothing in the book supports them as either right or wrong.
Who is this book for? I would say for the 12 and up crew (maybe older depending on reading level) there is a bit of lust, but it isn’t overt or overly graphic. There is no sex, and I don’t recall any over the top profanity. As far as violence, there is some (it’s a horror novel after all) but I didn’t find it gory. Probable movie rating would be PG-13. Also this novel follows along with LeBlanc’s “the good guys and bad guys all get what they deserve in the end” leading to slightly Hollywood-esque endings. Still this is a fun and light read, if you are looking for something that won’t strain your mind, and will entertain without grossing you out, give this book a try.
Short Summary: A set of twins, Haley and Heather, have had a bad year… their father passed away and their mother mentally shut down after his death. They have been sent to live with their grandparents and now have to not only adjust to the death of their father and mother’s new insanity, but also a new school, new friends, and an entirely new lifestyle with their Grandparents. When the popular girl in school asks them to hang out with her they gladly accept… when she starts talking about Chaos Magic and what it can do to change your life, they are interested. But soon Heather is afraid that they may be in over their head and Haley is not behaving the way she normally would.
If you (like me) hate snakes, be forewarned… they are in this book by the hundreds… creepy crawly things that send shivers up my spine. The simplistic writing style that Leblanc uses makes this an easy book to fly right through. The characters are fairly well defined, though I would have liked to have felt more from the twins on the recent loss of their parents, that aspect felt rather brushed over. Mark, their art teacher, who is the first to consider that something may be going on… reacts rather strangely to the whole affair. It was rather odd to me that he immediately believed in the power of Chaos magic, rather than just worrying that the girls were into some cultish behavior that might lead them down the wrong path. And I was a little surprised that he never “called home” to discuss his fear that the girls were “in a cult.”
I also would have liked a little more info on our bad guy… his transition from the opening scene to the final scene would have been and interesting trek to follow. Unfortunately I can’t place together how the one became the other. I have some guesses but nothing in the book supports them as either right or wrong.
Who is this book for? I would say for the 12 and up crew (maybe older depending on reading level) there is a bit of lust, but it isn’t overt or overly graphic. There is no sex, and I don’t recall any over the top profanity. As far as violence, there is some (it’s a horror novel after all) but I didn’t find it gory. Probable movie rating would be PG-13. Also this novel follows along with LeBlanc’s “the good guys and bad guys all get what they deserve in the end” leading to slightly Hollywood-esque endings. Still this is a fun and light read, if you are looking for something that won’t strain your mind, and will entertain without grossing you out, give this book a try.
December 5, 2008
this book was intresting in the beginning but it got weird towards the end.
if you like voodoo then this is a good book for you.
i didnt really like this book because the bad guy in the story is explained in the beginning and its hard to undertand but then as the story continues the two good main characters are introduced. There are two main characters because the girls are twins. they both want to become popular and dont know how to go about it. they soon realize one of their classmates, another girl, has everything they want. amazingly she opens up to them and they realize she isnt what they ezxpected. throughout the whole book castor the bad guy hurts and tricks and manipulates many of the characters just get out of his life cycle. i learned that many people fall or believe things easily and many times the truth is disguised. also that many times things can be real but other times their just a figment of our imagination.
if you like voodoo then this is a good book for you.
i didnt really like this book because the bad guy in the story is explained in the beginning and its hard to undertand but then as the story continues the two good main characters are introduced. There are two main characters because the girls are twins. they both want to become popular and dont know how to go about it. they soon realize one of their classmates, another girl, has everything they want. amazingly she opens up to them and they realize she isnt what they ezxpected. throughout the whole book castor the bad guy hurts and tricks and manipulates many of the characters just get out of his life cycle. i learned that many people fall or believe things easily and many times the truth is disguised. also that many times things can be real but other times their just a figment of our imagination.
September 23, 2011
As a mother......this one scared me. The scenes were scary enough by themselves, but the idea of someone's children being so secretive and getting themselves so deeply in trouble was terrifying. those girls got into some deep stuff and were very lucky to have survived at all. I could not stop reading.....but cannot say it was pleasurable. But then, we don't always read for pleasure....so that is ok.
Deborah did a good job of making me see things....the snakes....Yikes!....who doesn't hate the idea of snakes?
Great job, Deborah...they don't call you the Queen of Horror for nothing......
Write more please......
Deborah did a good job of making me see things....the snakes....Yikes!....who doesn't hate the idea of snakes?
Great job, Deborah...they don't call you the Queen of Horror for nothing......
Write more please......
October 25, 2012
This is the first book I've read by LeBlanc. It's full of suspense, and that's what I love, but to me it seemed like it was repeating itself and it was dragging; making me think to myself, "I can't wait to finish this book so I can read something better.". I'm not saying it's NOT a good read but it's ok.
August 31, 2011
This was darker than her other books that I've read. Definitely gory and nasty and more mean-spirited than I expected (that's not a bad thing though; horror is supposed to horrify). I didn't know you had it in you, Deborah Leblanc! I've liked all of her books but this one is my favorite so far.
October 23, 2016
Started out promising. A good mix of characters, an interesting premise. But the ending was a real letdown-it really made no sense. And it was WAY too sappy. The first 4/5 of the book were like four stars, but the ending totally ruined it for me.
October 4, 2008
This book was a little too gross at the beginning, but as it made its way to the end thats when it got good.
October 28, 2008
Please see my review of Water Witch.
July 28, 2009
another one, her style is engaging, but she hovers arounhd the underworld, magic, witches etc,,, kind of gave me the creeps, but I guess that is what they are trying to do
August 15, 2010
Good suspense supernatural story.
December 21, 2014
Pretty good! In the same vein of Richard Laymon, but not quite all the way.
October 6, 2015
I liked it and understand that twins do have a remarkable sense of each other. To me, the ending just felt odd. Not sure how to explain that anymore without giving away the story or ending.
June 28, 2012
very dark book...
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July 26, 2012this book was pretty messed up. All those snakes. *shudders*
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews