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Horror in Pleasantville: Stories from the Archives
Each of these stories takes the familiar and twists it into something that will intrigue, unnerve, and haunt you.
A dead best friend . . . with a NOT-SO-DEAD body.
Old family videos that instead of a comforting past, play a SINISTER FUTURE.
A funhouse where the mirrors reflect a TERRIFYING OTHER VERSION OF YOU . . . that wants to take your place.
You'll never look at your neighbourhood the same way again.
A dead best friend . . . with a NOT-SO-DEAD body.
Old family videos that instead of a comforting past, play a SINISTER FUTURE.
A funhouse where the mirrors reflect a TERRIFYING OTHER VERSION OF YOU . . . that wants to take your place.
You'll never look at your neighbourhood the same way again.
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Published August 5, 2025
2 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 27, 2026
About 3.5 stars
Pretty good, creative concepts, and the whole thing being framed as an SCP-style or FNAF Logbook for a supernatural-case filing employee was really cool. The range of characters, though mostly kids and teenagers, were each different enough that you could enjoy and root yourself in them (Aussie slang NOT used there, ahem!).
Only complaint is that it being aimed for littler kids holds it back from really popping, at least in my opinion; the writing style is a bit too simple in that middle-schooler kids book way, kind of like R.L Stine in a way. It kind of only surface-scratches the type of gore and horror that would happen and entail in each of these crazy stories, and the narration gets repetitive with its cliches of “And then [pronoun] saw it –” and describing each body as lifeless. It’s like listening to LetsRead reading each story: there are only so many times you can describe an atmosphere as “off” or “wrong” before it gets so repetitive that the reality of the chill wears off and instead of being set on edge, you’re fighting the urge to roll your eyes.
Overall I enjoyed the book and the stories, and each concept of the stories as well as the overarching concept cradling them all. I know it’s not fair to judge a book worse because you don’t suit the group it was written for, but I’m just trying to be honest.
Pretty good, creative concepts, and the whole thing being framed as an SCP-style or FNAF Logbook for a supernatural-case filing employee was really cool. The range of characters, though mostly kids and teenagers, were each different enough that you could enjoy and root yourself in them (Aussie slang NOT used there, ahem!).
Only complaint is that it being aimed for littler kids holds it back from really popping, at least in my opinion; the writing style is a bit too simple in that middle-schooler kids book way, kind of like R.L Stine in a way. It kind of only surface-scratches the type of gore and horror that would happen and entail in each of these crazy stories, and the narration gets repetitive with its cliches of “And then [pronoun] saw it –” and describing each body as lifeless. It’s like listening to LetsRead reading each story: there are only so many times you can describe an atmosphere as “off” or “wrong” before it gets so repetitive that the reality of the chill wears off and instead of being set on edge, you’re fighting the urge to roll your eyes.
Overall I enjoyed the book and the stories, and each concept of the stories as well as the overarching concept cradling them all. I know it’s not fair to judge a book worse because you don’t suit the group it was written for, but I’m just trying to be honest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2026
I love Caleb Finns books, the first one i raved about for months and i can say i will about this one too, i love how well they are written and though they are written for preteens, you can still feel all the emotion in all the stories i know Coffe and Employee 203 almost ended me in tears, because of how much he puts into his books.
I will always recommend his books as an introduction to horror, and I love the SCP-like format, and even though SCP is its own big thing, all of his stories are unique.
I went in with high hopes for this book and finished it absolutely satisfied. I can't wait for more books, and I love all the Aussie snacks he puts into his books. They did make me chuckle a little.
If this book were made for mature audiences, I reckon the gore would be unimaginable and that the book would be just as good as it is now.
But for those who don't like gore, this book has gore, but not an abundance and has more of a psychological front. I mean, the whole point is they extracted the memories of these people and turned them into archives, and it's done really well.
Couldn't put the book down unless I got busy, but I'm excited for more books to come.
5/5 stars
I will always recommend his books as an introduction to horror, and I love the SCP-like format, and even though SCP is its own big thing, all of his stories are unique.
I went in with high hopes for this book and finished it absolutely satisfied. I can't wait for more books, and I love all the Aussie snacks he puts into his books. They did make me chuckle a little.
If this book were made for mature audiences, I reckon the gore would be unimaginable and that the book would be just as good as it is now.
But for those who don't like gore, this book has gore, but not an abundance and has more of a psychological front. I mean, the whole point is they extracted the memories of these people and turned them into archives, and it's done really well.
Couldn't put the book down unless I got busy, but I'm excited for more books to come.
5/5 stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews