Junkyard

by Barry Porter

Something was alive in the old junkyard, its long, sharp teeth crying out for fresh, warm blood. The boys sensed the difference the junkyard, no longer feeling secure in their secret clubhouse. For they all felt something waiting for them, something more horrible than anything they could imagine.

Genres: Horror

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1989

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you took the "Yard" part out of the title, you would get what the first half of this book is, JUNK. The whole thing revolves around four male friends. One is trying to get laid. One is jealous because he likes the girl. The other two just want to watch the action in their secret clubhouse in the "Junkyard."

The second part of this saves it from being a complete waste. The monsters and a killer who hunts runaways that are only hinted at in the first half, take over in its second. The four friends, plus a girl and a few others have to find a way to kill the beasts and get out alive.

Pretty low-end volume in the Zebra horror library. It does have its moments. Just takes too long to get there. If you can tough it out, you will see some action. Whether the boy gets any action or not, just keep reading and find out.

[DJMikeG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the infamous Junkyard, which could mysteriously only be found for upwards of 80 bucks online is back down in the ten buck range, so I bought a copy and read it. It took me a long time to read. Probably two months. The middle section of this book is more than occasionally maddeningly slow moving. The least interesting subplot of the book, the placement of a peephole in a clubhouse so that two pervy dudes can watch their buddy score, is given what seems like 100 pages of detail. I would pick the book up, read two pages, and literally pass out from fatigue. I trudged on, I had been looking forward to reading this book for too long. Around page 200 something amazing happened. This book became really, really good! The subplot concerning a serial killer is easily the best part of the book, and at around the 200 page mark, this storyline boils over in a way that kept me glued to the pages. While still flawed here and there, the final 80 or so pages hits a stride I didn't see coming. I expected for the whole thing to just slog along until I was bleeding boredom tears of blood, like a Stephen Gresham book. Barry Porter is no Stephen Gresham, he might not be Richard Laymon either, but the final 80 or so pages could be described as Laymonesque. There is a really, really good 150 page short novel buried in this book's somehow bloated 284 pages. Barry, if you're out there, Author's Preferred Edition, please.

[Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for any story about a group of young kids fighting a monster (or monsters) on their own terms. So this book is right up my alley. Great group dynamics amongst the friends and their secret base in the junkyard. The pacing gets slow at times, but if you don't read close enough you might miss some of the great plot twists.

[Nicholas Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read! Story about a group of kids that have a clubhouse called ‘The Pit’. It was hard to get a grasp on what the pit actually looked like, but overall I did enjoy this story!

A fun, coming of age horror story that gives you an insight what it was like being a kid back in those days. The rats were a great plot device and Kevin Gavel was an excellent villain.

I think Nick was a great character and so was Mark and Larry (they were hilarious) but the hero of this show was Ray! What a fun character!

Overall, I give this one four stars, knocked one star off one star though due to the first 100 pages being kind of a slog. Otherwise, great coming of age story!

[Luna_Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

God this book just wouldn't end! legit the only thing I cared about at one point was the cops plot line, I could care less about the main characters, but at some point I stopped caring about any of them lmao! sadly this was a recommendation from a friend so I felt obligated to finish it, but if it wasn't for that I would of dnf'it around page 30 not going lie.

[TheCultureVulture]

Took me a while to warm up to this one. It isn't your typical oversized creature attacks tale and it is laser focused on the climax at the end of the book which made the first half a bit of a slog. Once you get to the day of the reckoning though it's a hell of a ride.

[Mikepottz · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is something lurking in the junkyard and animals and children are disappearing. There will be one night a group of friends will never forget. Not too scary.