Review: Hex (Dutch Edition)

Author: Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Started reading: February 24th 2017

Finished the book: March 3rd 2017

Pages: 340

Genres: Horror

Published: April 26th 2016

Source: Borrowed from library

Goodreads score: 3.80

My score: 

Synopsis:

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened. 

My thoughts

This book has a lot of different editions. I've read the "new" Dutch edition, that Thomas Olde Heuvelt has re-written because of the English translation. I really like scary movies and scary books.. I can tell you, this is a scary one!

Pros

• From subtile creepy to a great apocalypse: This book starts as "creepy" with a subtile scary vibe where the witch is playing a great part to scare you. When you get to the ending of the book, you really get the feeling that this is not your fairy-tale with a happy ending.
• The ending...: The final part is just.... Yeah.. The LAST sentence in this book is great. Amazing.. Yes.. Made me smirk..
• This witch is too scary: I was AFRAID IN THE DARK. I slept with the lights on one night. I could picture this witch so vividly, it really scared me. This creepy dead woman who just stands there with her eyes and mouth sewn shut. At some parts I really had goosebumps.
• This felt "close to home": This Dutch book takes place 8 kilometres from my boyfriends house. It felt real and close to home because of the Dutch towns, Dutch television shows and the Dutch names. I would LOVE to visit the town that this book takes place in. Just to walk the town and the woods.

Cons

• Had hoped for a more gory ending: I read a lot of reviews that said that the ending was gory and gross. I didn't feel like this at all. I'm a big fan of the gory and gross books and movies! I wasn't that shocked, since I have seen/read grosser things.
• Some descriptions were vague: Maybe the ending wasn't that spectacular for me, because some things were described as a vision and some were not. It wasn't always that clear what was real and what was a vision.

Overall

Really creepy at some parts. Great originality, unique story with a Medieval taste in a modern town. The story felt close to home, it was great to read something that's written in Dutch by a Dutch person in a Dutch town. I felt scared at some parts and this is a great book for the real horror lovers.

Me at night:

Other opinions about this book:

"Hex is totally, brilliantly orignial."

- Stephen King

"HEX is creepy and gripping and original, sure to be one of the top horror novels of 2016."

- George R.R. Martin

"Hidden tensions and human weakness trigger a witch-hunt that boils over into persecution, scapegoating and a shocking denouement. A powerfully spooky piece of writing."

- Financial Times

Memorable quotes from this book:

"Magic exists in the minds of those who believe in it, not in its actual influence on reality."

"In Black Spring they knew that desperate needs led to desperate deeds."

What's the most scary book or movie you've ever watched/read?

Mine is the movie Silent Hill. I LOVE it.

  

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