The Shining by Stephen King is a chilling horror novel I would definitely recommend to other readers. Jack Torrance is a troubled alcoholic with a very short temper who progressively transitions into the antagonist of the novel. This story is guaranteed to give you the chills while reading through it. The hotel is clearly haunted given the fact that numerous people have either been murdered or died of unnatural causes within its walls.

Danny Torrance has extraordinary psychic abilities that allow him to visualize the worst entities lying within the Overlook. I believe that Danny’s abilities were an extremely important part of the book that made sure I was always on the edge of my seat while reading. I genuinely feel sorry for Danny since he has suffered through the most trauma because of the Overlook. His traumatic experiences enhanced the horror of the story because no one other than Halloran can understand what he is seeing.

I think that Stephen King did an exceptional job making use of his imagination and creativity to develop the horror aspects of the Overlook. Specifically, King’s description of the architecture of the hotel really helped me imagine what it truly looked like and have an image of every scene in my mind. Reading the book made me feel as though I was watching a movie since his use of imagery was so precise.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to others. The Shining is the first horror novel that truly made me feel fear. I would not suggest reading this book before going to sleep, one page alone could induce horrific nightmares.

Maledicus is a novel written by Charles French, which incorporates numerous gothic and horror elements. Maledicus is an evil spirit that haunts a family living in Pennsylvania and threatens the life of a young child. Three men come together to fight this bad spirit. The novel was very intriguing and always kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed the novel since I am a fan of Ancient Roman history, which was well incorporated in the book. I really enjoyed reading about all the terror Maledicus had caused in the past, the book was not solely about one person he terrorized. I was genuinely scared when reading the book and would not advise reading it before bed. Additionally, I really liked getting to know the characters of the book. The author delivered a lot of insight on their lives and connected all three of the investigators. Each one of them had suffered a great loss, which I think linked them together in the strongest way. Each character was extremely unique and it felt as though I knew them personally based off what I had read in the book. Maledicus was a very interesting and terrifying novel. It most definitely served its purpose as a horror novel.

After reading the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, for the second time, I have come to new realizations and different emotions I did not understand my first time reading the novel in High School. I genuinely feel sorry for the monster and I have come to realize this book is truly about discrimination and its outcomes. The monster was strongly discriminated by society due to his appearance, which only lead to him being lonely and developing stronger feelings about how much he hates society.

Additionally, I have realized how irresponsible Victor is. It has become so obvious to be that Victor is just a careless young man, still fresh out of college. He created a literal human being that walks and talks, not realizing that he would have to be responsible for it. He then leaves his creation to figure out society on his own, when the creature is technically a baby when he first begins to explore. Victor does not take any responsibility for his actions, which only leads to harm and destruction when the monster is rejected from society. The monster murders numerous people due to his feelings of rejection and loneliness. If Victor had just created a companion for the monster, none of this would have happened.

The story of Frankenstein only becomes more and more intriguing after each read. It is so interesting to discover new details in the novel that I did not notice during my first read. I really enjoy this book and would read it all over again.

My name is Dani Slepak. I am a student at Lehigh University and I will be posting for my English class. I am in English 011 also known as Research and Argument. For my blog, I will be posting my reactions to the novel Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a romantic novel written by Mary Shelley. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster who creates havoc for numerous families. I am excited to read and learn more about this novel.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton