Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1)by Karina Halle
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I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting it was to read this book. Back in the day, my best friends and I would gather around the basement big screen television and watch every scary movie known to man. Hell, we watched so many that I was literally jaded when an actual good scary movie came out-I was never scared. Jump to present day, about 7-8 years later, and I can’t even watch a scary movie commercial. Yeah, things went south quickly.
SO. I have sworn off scary movies (for the most part, I’m a lot like Perry in this sense) or anything remotely scary that might freak me out and give me more nightmares than those that already plague me. I am so happy my friend asked me to read this with her, because if she hadn’t, I most likely would have never gotten the lady balls to read this or to finish it if I had attempted to even start it.
The story most definitely starts out with a bang, I must say. Perry is having a recurring nightmare (or is she?) that haunts her frequently. Now, this made a fan out of me right off the bat, because as I stated above, I have recurring nightmares as well. Scarily enough? She has the SAME. EXACT. DREAM. that I do. She has it in the same fashion, is laying in the same position on the bed, and has the same end result as I do: Screaming her freakin’ head off. The only difference is the mouth on the nightmarish figure-that doesn’t appear in mine. Needless to say, I knew that while this might be a “starting point” in the series and not so scary for some people, it would most likely be a trigger for me. I am happy to say I did finish the book with minimal freak outs and only had to stop reading once due to the scare factor. Yay me.
Perry is such a fun character, and as I told my friend I read this with, she is the mirror image of me and my personality. It’s always fun when you can identify with the main character, and Perry didn’t disappoint. She was quirky, funny, witty, and brave to boot (now that I edit this, I see that it’s implied I think I am all these things-not what I was going for here-I was only saying she has the same inner dialogue/thoughts as I do and a lot of the same mannerisms…just a note). The biggest character trait that separates fictional Perry and I? If I had seen that freakin’ creeptastic lighthouse, I would have RAN AS FAR AWAY AS I COULD HAVE and never looked back. Oh wait, I would NEVER HAVE LEFT THE GROUP IN THE FIRST PLACE! So, suffice to say, she was a very brave character who faced her fears head on, while I, as Perry stated in numerous instances, am a chickenshit.
“Now, despite my interest in the paranormal, I never watched those ghost hunting shows on TV. Ironically, I am too chickenshit and my imagination is far too powerful.”
^See? That’s me-right there in a nutshell.^
And then we have Dex. Declan-whatever you want to call him. His name(s) says it all. He is a mysterious, brave, fun, and infuriating man. He lives on the edge of his seat, as far as I can tell, and doesn’t seem to be afraid of much. He is brave in the face of terror, for both himself and Perry, but urgent and quick-to-react when necessary. He is the most fascinating and intriguing when he is protecting Perry. I love seeing the change in demeanor for both high-adrenaline situations and run-ins with bitchy college “friends” from the past. I don’t think he ever has a consistant personality in any certain situation, but one thing never changes: he does his best to protect Perry, both physically and mentally. I really loved seeing his character development throughout the story, because he became a really sweet (mostly), charming guy. I can’t wait to see what happens between the two.
The writing was very good as well. I couldn’t believe that this book, that was FREE on Nook, had such good writing. It was funny, sharp, and witty. I was drawn in from the first page, and even more so after a couple chapters. This author had such a fun way of writing the story that the reader finds themself pulled into each chapter without even realizing it. If I didn’t have so many books to read at this time, I would most defintely be starting the next in the series-BUT, since I do, I will just keep this little gem called Red Fox hidden away until I get a chance to read it. I seriously can’t wait.
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