Monday, December 18, 2017

Widow's Point - A Review - Richard and Billy Chizmar

Widow's Point is a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat ghost story. Billy Chizmar and Richard Chizmar take you through one man's psychological torment as he locks himself inside a lighthouse with a tragic, horrific, evil past. Accidents while building the lighthouse were mysterious. Murders happened on the grounds. A family has been slaughtered within the walls. Ships have broken upon its shores and children have gone missing. Some have even gone mad. Satanic rituals and strange carvings have been reported. Legends, as legends are apt to do in a small town, of a curse on the land.

The origin of the curse is debated, but the town pretty much believes this lighthouse is an evil place, and they have walled it up behind razor-wire and huge fences.

Enter the well-written character of Thomas Livingston, the best-selling author of many non-fiction volumes of the supernatural. He plans to stay a few nights, explore the lighthouse, and hopefully come away with a story worth selling. What lengths would a man go to for a best-seller? Would they stay, even in the face of danger or worse? Or would they cheat, make up some stories about moving chairs or floating ghosts? Would they fake photographs or cry wolf to sell a few extra copies?

And what would that person do if the stories turn out to be more than just a campfire tale or a town's over-active imagination?

The writing in this novel is top-notch. Some of the choices concerning limitations of how Thomas was reporting made the story move very fast, almost like reading a movie script. I read through this novel in a night, and I usually read slowly. The fast pace was a nice, refreshing style, which leaves me wanting to read more stories written in this format. The atmosphere of the story made for a chilling read.

The novel is written as a collaboration between Billy Chizmar and his father, Richard Chizmar. I haven't read Billy's work, but Richard's work has been excellent, and this is no different. You couldn't tell where any one person wrote, and writing with two heads gave the story some unique twists and developments.

The writing was easy to follow. The novel was about 160 pages, but I am not sure how long that will be in the final edition.

I would recommend this book for people who like horror, casual fan or not. It wasn't too gory. Look for it next year.

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