Review: The Cabin At The End Of The World
Rating: 4.5 Stars
I am not a fan of horror movies or books, not because I don’t like them, but because I get really scared by them. I was addicted to Cristopher Pike and R.L. Stine when I was a teenager, and this addiction later led me to Stephen King. I still think that IT by Stephen King is the scariest book a kid could ever read. I hate clowns and red balloons from the depths of my heart. As I grew older, my heart became weaker and these books made me stay awake at night. So now I avoid them like the plague.
The Cabin at The End of The World managed to get under my radar because somehow I got the impression that it was a suspense thriller. When I picked it up to read, I realized that this book is not what I thought it was. By then, I was on board a plane with nothing else to read with me. I started reading it thinking that I couldn’t possibly finish it. I, was wrong, of course.
Paul Tremblay paints the picture of an idyllic vacation spot, far away from civilization, on the shore of a peaceful lake in New Hampshire, with no internet or mobile phones to disturb the peace. The family staying in the isolated cabin consists of a gay couple, Eric and Andrew, along with their adopted daughter, Wen. Wen is a bright and curious almost-8-year-old who was born in China before she was adopted and brought to the United States by Eric and Andrew.
On this particular day, as Wen is playing outside, she meets a stranger who befriends her, and even though she is aware of the dangers associated with talking to strangers, she cannot help but like this new friend of hers. But then this new friend is joined by three other people, and Wen begins to get scared. She runs back into the cabin, and that is when her new friend tells her that she and her dads will have to make a difficult choice to save all of mankind, and that these people were just here to make sure that they make the choice freely and on their own.
What follows is a horrifying tale full of blood and gore. It recounts what is possibly the end of the world, violent, destructive and out of control. Tremblay has used such vivid imagery that you cannot help but picture it all in your mind’s eye. I had to read some descriptions again and again just to make sure that I got all the details right when I visualized them.
If you like horror and can digest violence and gory details, then this is definitely the book for you. It made my heart beat faster (which is not that big a deal since I do suffer from Arrythmia!), and my anticipation run high. I was hooked till the last word on the last page, and wanted the book to go on and on. I don’t know why this book reminded me of The Walking Dead, because there are definitely no zombies or undead people here. I won’t be surprised if they make a movie out of this one soon. It will make an awesome movie for sure.