If There Be Thorns
by V.C. Andrews
Genre: Horror
Published: 1990
Paperback: 384 pages
Rating: 2
Inspiration: Part 3 of the Dollanganger series. I'm in for more wacky horror. Also, I'm working on my VCA Challenge
Description from amazon.com:
Chris and Cathy made such a loving home for fourteen-year-old Jory -- so handsome, so gentle. And for Bart,who had such a dazzling imagination for a nine year old. Then the lights came on in the house next door. Soon the Old Lady in Black was there, watching them, guarded by her strange old butler. Soon she had Bart over for cookies and ice cream and asked him to call her "Grandmother".
And soon Bart's transformation began...
Fed by the hint of terrible things about his mother and father...leading him into shocking acts of violence.
Now while this little boy trembles on the edge of madness, his anguished parents await the climax to a horror that flowered in an attic long ago, a horror whose thorns are still wet with blood, still tipped with fire.
My thoughts:
In-a-word(s): Good golly, no more.
I was struggling through this reading which is my second read-through. When I read this way back when I really enjoyed it. Maybe I'm just not in the mood. Anyhoo, I got annoyed with how Cathy was acting. Also, Bart's brainwashing sessions with the butler was hard to read. I don't think I'll continue with this series. However, note that I did read the next two books when they came out so I'm not missing out. I vaguely remember them as being alright.