Demon's Fright

by Penelope Banka Kreps

Living permanently now in Trapper's Cay, Florida, after her parents' divorce, Patti falls in with Dirk Emerson, a weird boy with supernatural powers and whose meddling with an old book of magic spells could bring demons to their town. Original.

Genres: Horror

251 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a blast from the past. How can some youth get rid of a demon they conjured up? When an old Inca God named Pariarca appears everything changes. Will the inhabitants get rid of the ancient deity? What about Pattie and Jerry? Will Pattie follow Pariarca as his Queen or Goddess? Well, many references to mythology here and fast paced action and horror scenes almost every page. Is it cheesy? Definitely not if you're a fan of 80s horror and paperbacks from hell. You always feel for the old God and his conflict with a rival. Entertaining horror set in Florida with not too much blood and sex from the 80s. I honestly liked this one. Classic structure and story telling and not to be taken too serious at parts. Great cover too. Really recommended old school teaser!

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Patti and her mother move to Florida following her parents’ divorce. She forms a friendship with a local boy and they find out that his older brother and his friends are into some occult practices which result in a demon being summoned.

Sadly I don’t think this one quite lives up to the amazing cover. At times it read as very silly but felt like it was being serious rather than leaning into the humour. It was honestly hard to tell what the intended tone was. I still tried to have fun with it and it had its moments but ultimately it was somewhat forgettable.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have conflicting feelings towards this book. The bad seem to win out though. First the good. This was another in the long line of Zebra horror books. Campy cover. A nice enough plot. A late night B-Movie feel to it. Unfortunately, that's about where it ends.

Now the bad. While I read this, I kept thinking that in most horror books with a killing creature, you want more of it. In this, it was just the opposite. The creature that is summoned up by a group of kids playing with black magic is rather lackluster and dull. It's a Inca God who was bannished eons ago and lives off the coast of Florida. Every time he makes an appearance, I just wanted something more. Much more. Also the end was pretty dumb.

All in all, if the God-Thing would of gone on a killing spree instead of doing some shopping and walking along the beach, then having a bite at the local diner, things might of gotten better. As it stands, low body count. Not much mayhem. No sex. A poor Zebra horror novel for sure.

[Jennifer Hubble · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok, not all that scary though. Read it in one day.