Rating:
(370 reviews)
Author: Visit Amazon's Dathan Auerbach Page
ISBN : 098554550X
New from $9.99
Format: PDF, EPUB
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From the Back Cover
In an attempt to make sense of his own mysterious and unsettling childhood memories, a man begins to reconstruct his past. As the games and adventures of his youth become engulfed by a larger story, he finds that it forms a tapestry of unbelievable horror that he never could have expected.
Each chapter completes a different piece of the puzzle for both you and the narrator, and by the end of it all, you will wish that you could forget what he never knew.
Direct download links available for Epub Penpal Paperback
- Paperback: 252 pages
- Publisher: 1000Vultures (July 11, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 098554550X
- ISBN-13: 978-0985545505
- Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 5.2 x 7.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Epub Penpal
I read this story originally on reddit's section for "creepypasta", or scary stories written (usually anonymously) by internet users and posted publicly to read. It had first been published in parts corresponding to the chapters laid out in this book. When the author announced that he would be selling a hard copy of the story with additional material, I was ecstatic. In its original form, Penpal was one of the most unique and exciting horror stories I had read to date, accounting for both "amateur" and "professional" work. I was really impressed honestly and was thrilled to have a chance to keep the story in my permanent collection.
However, Auerbach's expanded edition may succeed in building upon the original work in word count, but his often rambling and incidental additions to the text actually diminishes the story overall. I found myself dragging through the work during sections that had originally captivated my attention online, and while I appreciated the honesty of the narrator's voice, Auerbach's writing skills are simply not strong enough to hold up under the pressure of sustaining the reader's attention during prolonged periods of relative inactivity for the main character.
The underlying plot is incredibly strong, the tension building and suspense is strong (but, I hate to say it again, much stronger in the original text) but the writing is actually fairly average. I actually found that the additions to the text showcased Auerbach's iffy writing ability and drew the reader's attention away from his strong points -- the aforementioned plotting ability and ability to shock and sustain the reader's interest. A sparser writing style really helped him and made him seem like a much stronger writer than he may actually be.
REVIEW SUMMARY: A thoroughly creep debut novel that is sure to stick with you long after finishing.
MY RATING: 4 Stars
PROS: Uneasy, disturbing, psychological, traumatic, and paranoid-inducing.
CONS: Chronologically confusing, abrupt ending.
BOTTOM LINE: Auerbach took something with childish innocence and twisted into a haunting tale of obsession. I look forward watching Auerbach improve with future works that are bound to give me nightmares.
I love the horror film genre but I don't have a high opinion of it. My generation's horror films tend to be knock-offs of popular Asian movies or torture porn. I've never found slashers particularly scary, and as such I don't view the previous generation's iconic villains (Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, or Freddy Krueger) with much respect. I find the best horror to be the low-key, the mundane, and the psychological. For this reason I'm a big fan of The Blair Witch Project and I only wish I could have seen it in theaters when it was believed to be a true story. What brilliant marketing that was. The point of all this is that despite my infatuation with the genre I tend to avoid novels fitting under this category. It's one thing to spend an hour and a half laughing as college kids get hacked to pieces due to their own stupidity on the big screen. It's another thing to dedicate several hours to reading about it.
Penpal was recommended to me by Amazon. Given the short nature of the story (252 pages) and the multitudes of praise (123 reviews at the moment and a five-star rating) I decided it was a risk I was willing to take. Apparently Penpal was written on Reddit as a series of short stories and then compiled into novel format after a super successful Kickstarter campaign.
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