Review: The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto

Title: The Haunting Season

Author: Michelle Muto

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: December 2012

Published by: Dreamscapes, Ink

Source: Won e-book in a giveaway

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Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis:

Be careful what you let in...

Siler House has stood silent beneath Savannah’s moss-draped oaks for decades. Notoriously haunted, it has remained empty until college-bound Jess Perry and three of her peers gather to take part in a month-long study on the paranormal. Jess, who talks to ghosts, quickly bonds with her fellow test subjects. One is a girl possessed. Another just wants to forget. The third is a guy who really knows how to turn up the August heat, not to mention Jess’s heart rate... when he’s not resurrecting the dead.

The study soon turns into something far more sinister when they discover that Siler House and the dark forces within are determined to keep them forever. In order to escape, Jess and the others will have to open themselves up to the true horror of Siler House and channel the very evil that has welcomed them all.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆

"We all know we've been brought here as part of a study on the paranormal. Jess communicates wit the dead. Allison has demons on speed dial. My buddy Bryan here sends stuff to the Twilight Zone without return postage. And I've got a knack for making my own zombie zoo theme park. Fun times." -Gage

Jess is super excited to be participating in this study at Siler House. The house is beautiful and she might finally be getting answers to her weird power. Except her excitement soon turns to terror when she starts to realize that something horrible might be going on in the house... something sinister. Jess and her new friends try to figure out what in the world is really going on in the house, only to discover that there may be something more to the study than they could imagine. They need to get out of the house, and fast, before whatever evil thing that is lurking there gets to them.

Let me tell you something, I love horror and I was SO looking forward to reading this book because it just sounded so amazing! I mean you got four college age kids with supernatural abilities (pretty cool ones, at that) going to an extremely haunted house for a study on the paranormal? Okay, how awesome is that? Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations *sigh*

It was nothing like this picture -_-

First of all, the the plot was kind of blah and really slow moving. And the horror itself? Yeah, not scary AT ALL! At least, it wasn't scary enough for me, which is what I was looking for in this book. And, okay, I'll admit, the whole "demon in my mirror" thing was a bit creepy, because, personally, mirrors freak me out!! Especially in a horror movie/book *shudders* But the thing is, the imagery in this book did nothing to scare me! Yeah, the characters were scared, but why? Now if it was anything like this picture, I'd totally get why...

Next, I could not connect with the two main characters, especially not Jess. I just found her really annoying for some reason. I didn't care what happened to them, which is sad, really. And the romance between her and Gage? Ugh! I came in looking for a good scare and instead I get two horny teenagers that, were they in a horror movie, would've died in the first half of the book! Um, excuse me Mr. Evil Demon Thing? Do you mind killing these two? Because I'm pretty sure this is where they die. 'Kay, thanks bye! I mean, those are the rules, so... is it bad the it made me kind of sad that they didn't die? Lol. Hey, horny teenagers, I'm pretty sure you're/your friends are in danger, but it's okay! You keep going at it! It's not like you need to get out of the house STAT or anything! Yeah! *highfive* Not! The romance just felt forced, which is why I think didn't enjoy it at all.

Oh and don't get me started on the Eurynome thing! But I'm gonna talk about it anyway! First of all, I know this book probably didn't mean to have any sort of Greek mythology involved, not directly, but when you use a name like Eurynome (it's Greek!), you know I'm going to pick at it! So get ready for a little course in Greek mythology (but some people might think it's spoilery, so...)

Towards the end of the book we find out that the "thing" haunting the house is actually a demon by the name Eurynome. This demon is all sorts of nasty, eating the flesh off of corpses and what not,


When I first saw the name Eurynome I thought, "Hey! I know that name! It's a Greek goddess of... something... *thinks* She might be a water nymph... Hmmm..." So I looked her up, and I was right! In Greek mythology, she is an Oceanid, meaning she is an ocean nymph, daughter of Oceanus, the personification of the all-encompassing ocean (or oceans, to be exact). Eurynome is also the goddess of a river and the goddess of pasturelands and water meadows. So yeah, the characters in this book were pretty much going to be killed by water meadows... oooh, scary! ;) Lol. Well, I guess it could be dangerous, Lol.

Anyway, the whole eating flesh of corpses thing was also familiar to me. I couldn't remember its name, but I knew this thing lived in the Greek Underworld and had blue skin. So when I went to look up 'Eurynome,' one entry below that I saw the name 'Eurynomus.' And bingo! We have a winner! Eurynomous was the Underworld daimon (not the same as "demon" in this book, though! It means spirit/minor god) of rotting corpses. He stripped the flesh off of the dead and was connected with creatures that ate dead flesh (like maggots and vultures). He was also said to have blue-black skin.

So, what does my whole mythology lecture have to do with this book? That the name 'Eurynomous' should have been used instead of 'Eurynome' to be accurate. And you all know how much it bugs me when things (like names) get mixed up.

Overall, believe it or not, I didn't absolutely hate it. I thought all the different abilities was really interesting, and I actually liked the other two characters, Bryan and Allison, better! This book was really not for me, but I did enjoy the "haunted house" feel to it (even though it wasn't terrifying whatsoever).

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)