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Twilight: Where Darkness Begins #16
Drawing the Dead
After Cynthia returns to Chapel Valley, she finds herself drawing her newfound friends in the throes of agony and death.
- GenresHorrorYoung AdultFiction
156 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 29, 2024
Don't listen to the bad reviews on this one. I found this to be one of the better written Twilight books in the series, with lyrical and visceral analogies and engaging writing. It flows really well and doesn't come off as old and stuffy like some of the others in the series I've read 🤣
So girlfriend's mom just passed away and her dad remarried right away to some lame lady she can't stand 😩 She gets a letter from her mom's old friend from her old hometown to come stay with her over the Summer. Jumping at the chance to escape her sad home life, she goes right away...only to have weird shit start happening as soon as she's on the train over.
Witchcraft, SATANISM, past lives, it's all here. A lot of fun (and evil) awaits you!! 😈
So girlfriend's mom just passed away and her dad remarried right away to some lame lady she can't stand 😩 She gets a letter from her mom's old friend from her old hometown to come stay with her over the Summer. Jumping at the chance to escape her sad home life, she goes right away...only to have weird shit start happening as soon as she's on the train over.
Witchcraft, SATANISM, past lives, it's all here. A lot of fun (and evil) awaits you!! 😈
July 25, 2012
Way back in 1987, when I was in Mrs. Atwood's seventh grade Literature class, I discovered the Twilight series, not to be confused with the Twilight series about vampires. Every class began with SQUIRT or Super Quiet Uninterrupted Reading Time. You would either bring a book of your own to read, or take one from the class book rack. Mrs. A stocked several of the Twilight books, and I read every one that she had. Since that time, I spent several of my adult years buying all 26 books in the series and reading them all the way through. Well, it's true what they say, you can't go home again.
I loved these books as a kid and couldn't wait to get my hands on the next one. Now, as an adult reading through them, I remember bits and pieces that really stood out for me then. I don't think I ever read "Drawing the Dead" by Neil R. Selden, but I have a feeling my pubescent self wouldn't have been very thrilled with it.
The story begins with Cynthia on a train after her mother dies, going to stay with her mother's best friend, Margaret. I feel like I've read this premise over and over again--young girl goes back to her mother's childhood home after the mother dies to somehow connect with people she doesn't know. Most recently I read and reviewed "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen, which starts out with the same premise. I wonder if SAA read this book at some point and it influenced her novel.
Anyway, Cythia is a talented artist, and like Simon of the Land of Chalk Drawings, the things she draws seem to come true. Cynthia makes friends with a girl named Susan and is being stalked by a guy her age named Richard, whom she later falls in love with after they meet. The story seems to be going in two different directions. At one point, Cynthia's supernatural drawings are the focus, as if that wasn't bad enough. But the book starts to veer into reincarnation territory when Cynthia figures out that she, Susan, and Richard may have been in a love triangle in their past lives. At times, I wondered if the author had two stories in mind and decided to combine them, but why didn't the editor reel things in a bit more by having the author pick a path and stick with it?
I won't break the Reading Rainbow law by revealing the ending, but I will say that I was satisfied that the book didn't end with everything wrapped up nice and neatly. In fact, out of all the books in the series, and this is book number 16, "Drawing the Dead" can probably be classified as true horror in that respect.
The Twilight series was probably never intended to be great literature, but it is entertaining and was very popular among my classmates during the '80s. Any series that keeps kids reading is great in my book. Pun intended. But I don't know if my 14-year-old niece could get into this series the way I once did. For one thing, it never strikes me as odd that the kids don't have iPhones, iPods, or laptops. Kids nowadays, although they will slog through a 500-page book, might not have the patience to read 156 pages that are so dated. I could be wrong.
Some of the books in the series have been good reads for me as an adult. This one, however, was not. :-(
So, 2 stars for the review. The third star for extra credit.
I loved these books as a kid and couldn't wait to get my hands on the next one. Now, as an adult reading through them, I remember bits and pieces that really stood out for me then. I don't think I ever read "Drawing the Dead" by Neil R. Selden, but I have a feeling my pubescent self wouldn't have been very thrilled with it.
The story begins with Cynthia on a train after her mother dies, going to stay with her mother's best friend, Margaret. I feel like I've read this premise over and over again--young girl goes back to her mother's childhood home after the mother dies to somehow connect with people she doesn't know. Most recently I read and reviewed "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen, which starts out with the same premise. I wonder if SAA read this book at some point and it influenced her novel.
Anyway, Cythia is a talented artist, and like Simon of the Land of Chalk Drawings, the things she draws seem to come true. Cynthia makes friends with a girl named Susan and is being stalked by a guy her age named Richard, whom she later falls in love with after they meet. The story seems to be going in two different directions. At one point, Cynthia's supernatural drawings are the focus, as if that wasn't bad enough. But the book starts to veer into reincarnation territory when Cynthia figures out that she, Susan, and Richard may have been in a love triangle in their past lives. At times, I wondered if the author had two stories in mind and decided to combine them, but why didn't the editor reel things in a bit more by having the author pick a path and stick with it?
I won't break the Reading Rainbow law by revealing the ending, but I will say that I was satisfied that the book didn't end with everything wrapped up nice and neatly. In fact, out of all the books in the series, and this is book number 16, "Drawing the Dead" can probably be classified as true horror in that respect.
The Twilight series was probably never intended to be great literature, but it is entertaining and was very popular among my classmates during the '80s. Any series that keeps kids reading is great in my book. Pun intended. But I don't know if my 14-year-old niece could get into this series the way I once did. For one thing, it never strikes me as odd that the kids don't have iPhones, iPods, or laptops. Kids nowadays, although they will slog through a 500-page book, might not have the patience to read 156 pages that are so dated. I could be wrong.
Some of the books in the series have been good reads for me as an adult. This one, however, was not. :-(
So, 2 stars for the review. The third star for extra credit.
January 9, 2024
This wasn't a great book to begin with (reincarnation stories always feel a little too New Agey for me, and the characterization here was really flat), but the last chapter was this long, drawn-out excuse for treacly melodrama. It reminded me a lot of those inspirational memes you see on Facebook.
March 18, 2025
This sounded like it had potential, but alas...
The story revolves around an uptight, extremely moody and unlikable girl named Cynthia. I'm guessing this was to convey a sensitive, tortured artist type? Well, out of the blue she is invited to stay at the home of a friend of her deceased mother- a woman who seemingly has no life, other than drawing chipmunks. (not kidding) She hasn't seen her since she was a child, but blindly offers her run of her house and even a car to use. Then the women recounts the days of when Cynthia would visit her with her mother all those years ago when she was a wee child. And what an odd child Cynthia was. She tells her she would stare into an old mirror until it broke and play with sticks and stones, along with burying dead animals by the lakeside. She then nonchalantly tells Cynthia that she saved the broken mirror and her sticks/stones collection in her attic, if she wanted to look at it. ...Uh, OK. I guess it's good she didn't hoard the dead animals up there too...
Sound preposterous? Wait... There's a creepy guy stalking her. He doesn't own a car. He bikes around and he's living in a tent. It's not mentioned where or IF he's showering, only that he has DREAMY violet eyes. Of course you know where this is going... It involves romance, reincarnation (which I hate) and incredibly dopey dialogue. Ex: Cynthia and Richard dip their feet in the lake. "She giggled, our feet look so white!" Like four weird fish. "Toefish. I bet they're tasty boiled with butter." Te he he. (Are you sick yet?)
With a title like "Drawing the Dead" you'd think that the people she drew would die as it implies, but no one does. It's not until the last few chapters that it picks up when Cynthia has an explosive mental episode of which she should of been institutionalized, but of course her loving, forgiving friends wouldn't dream of committing Cynthia. (I don't know how on earth she has any friends.) I forced my way to the end of the book in the hopes that she would set herself on fire, then at least there might be a pay off for my time. Disappointment ensued and it was never explained at all WHY she buried dead animals, but who cares... I think I'm going to forget about reading other Twilight books for now, as this one scared me and not in the way it should have. Read at your own risk.
The story revolves around an uptight, extremely moody and unlikable girl named Cynthia. I'm guessing this was to convey a sensitive, tortured artist type? Well, out of the blue she is invited to stay at the home of a friend of her deceased mother- a woman who seemingly has no life, other than drawing chipmunks. (not kidding) She hasn't seen her since she was a child, but blindly offers her run of her house and even a car to use. Then the women recounts the days of when Cynthia would visit her with her mother all those years ago when she was a wee child. And what an odd child Cynthia was. She tells her she would stare into an old mirror until it broke and play with sticks and stones, along with burying dead animals by the lakeside. She then nonchalantly tells Cynthia that she saved the broken mirror and her sticks/stones collection in her attic, if she wanted to look at it. ...Uh, OK. I guess it's good she didn't hoard the dead animals up there too...
Sound preposterous? Wait... There's a creepy guy stalking her. He doesn't own a car. He bikes around and he's living in a tent. It's not mentioned where or IF he's showering, only that he has DREAMY violet eyes. Of course you know where this is going... It involves romance, reincarnation (which I hate) and incredibly dopey dialogue. Ex: Cynthia and Richard dip their feet in the lake. "She giggled, our feet look so white!" Like four weird fish. "Toefish. I bet they're tasty boiled with butter." Te he he. (Are you sick yet?)
With a title like "Drawing the Dead" you'd think that the people she drew would die as it implies, but no one does. It's not until the last few chapters that it picks up when Cynthia has an explosive mental episode of which she should of been institutionalized, but of course her loving, forgiving friends wouldn't dream of committing Cynthia. (I don't know how on earth she has any friends.) I forced my way to the end of the book in the hopes that she would set herself on fire, then at least there might be a pay off for my time. Disappointment ensued and it was never explained at all WHY she buried dead animals, but who cares... I think I'm going to forget about reading other Twilight books for now, as this one scared me and not in the way it should have. Read at your own risk.
November 21, 2017
I'm not sure if it's just my copy but I'm missing that last 20 or pages. It's not that they were ripped out either. They look as if the book was binded with the missing pages. My last page is 124 on Chapter 11.
:/ Not sure how the story ends but it was pretty good otherwise.
:/ Not sure how the story ends but it was pretty good otherwise.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews