4.5 stars rounded up to 5!This story was a trip. It starts out a little vague and as it continues more and more of the puzzle becomes clear. Sort of. :)A family returns from vacation to the new home they purchased just before they went away. Except for when they get there, another family is living there and won't let them in.That's all I will say about the plot, other than that I can't remember ever reading a story quite like this. It starts out a bit surreal and weird,then it gets even weirder,...

4.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up for a horrifically original novella.This story takes us through the unimaginable nightmare facing an innocent family, who are just trying to put back the pieces of their lives after a brutal attack on the wife, Sarah. When they return from a vacation, eager to start a new life for their family, they are forced into the most horrific predicament. Their home--that they had bought just recently--is now being inhabited by a family of ruthless, despicable people who mak...

Review of Nightsiders by Gary McMahonDarkFuse Publishing5 Stars This was truly a “reading out of the box” story for me, because normally I would have been too afeard of the topic to read it. However, author Gary McMahon so excellently explores the territory, the subject, the characters, and then goes far beyond that, higher and deeper, to explore the nature of reality: how do we know what we know? Do we know what “is” or are we simply players in some vast stage play or film, puppets orchestrated...

Nightsiders was my first read by Gary McMahon and to find it was set in the Lake District where I’ve holidayed many times certainly grabbed my attention immediately. The Mitchell family bought a house in the Lakes and then went on holiday with the intention of fully moving in on their return, it’s a new start for the family and an escape from the city and a heart breaking tragedy.They arrive at their new house only to find another family and an intimidating one at that, is already living there.

4.5*Received and read as part of Darkfuse book club books of the month.Robert and his family are escaping the city, after a horrific incident, to settle in the country and try to rebuild their lives. On arrival at their new home, they find that another family is already in residence with supposed proof that the house belongs to them.What starts out as a normal run of the mill house invasion story soon descends into something far more horrifying. Robert's character is really well drawn and you fe...

Read my full review @ http://bit.ly/X2TcOZMy opinion: CAN YOU SAY "CREEPY"? I love when a book has me saying "WTH?" within the first couple of pages. Nightsiders did just that. This book is a novella that packs a big book punch. Written with a methodical release of creepiness, this book kept me guessing as to what the "moral" of the story was and where it was going to end up. It is because of this type of book that I absolutely love Darkfuse publishing. This is, for the most part, their standard...

I'm wavering between 4 and 5 stars. Gotta think on it a minute~4 1/2 stars - It had a flaw near the end, but I got it. No one is perfect, right? Hat of to Mr. McMahon. The author pulled me in and made me feel. I was tense. I was pissed for the characters and with them. Robert made me so angry, but I could relate to his passive attitude. I see people in real live do the same thing. They lie to themselves and hold things in until they are ready to burst or drink themselves under the table. Have yo...

i don't think this is the most successful piece of writing i have ever read, but i think it is worth checking out because 1) it is very short, so it won't take up too much of your life, and 2) it puts an interesting spin on the horror genre, specifically the revenge-porn genre where you find things like i spit on your grave, straw dogs, and last house on the left.in the afterword, mcmahon claims that it is more like funny games, and in a way, that's true, but only in its violence and in that one...

Probably the best thing I've read this year. McMahon has so much going on here that my only criticism is he dangles too many new ideas out there: family, tribes, reality, home, and so many more, that they are just teasers, they don't have enough room to get fully developed. The story would need to be much longer to fit it all in. There are about three of the themes that have room to really develop fully.The scary thing is, with all this going on in a novella like this, I suspect Mr. McMahon has

A dark and twisted tale. A family trying to start over. When their lives get hijacked instead, things go from bad to worse rather quickly. As the terror increases the family is forced to try and figure out what is going on in their new town and why these things are happening. Do they have the guts to gather together and fight back? A gritty, tense read that was written extremely well and moves at a breakneck pace. Welcome to the Nightsiders - Let the games begin.I look forward to reading more fr...

Originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/book-rev...I don’t get this book. There, I said it. I don’t get it. It’s not scary – it’s disgusting. It’s not frightening – it’s weird. And not in a good way. It’s like a writing exercise gone wrong, and it feels unpolished and unsophisticated, like something thrown together in a day.The book starts out promising enough with Robert Mitchell, our main character, and his family coming home from a short trip. The family tried to escape the bi...

You know that squirming feeling in your stomach that you get when you are watching a movie and something bad is about to happen to a character you really care about? Well this book pretty much puts you through that for the whole way. This is one of the few books that I can say made me physically uncomfortable while at the same time not able to stop reading. I found the plot line nightmarish and compelling, realistic yet hinting early of deeper connections, and I followed the slowly escalating ma...

I really was hoping this book would pull for me, but it didn't. Ending was a disappointment and a little confusing. At least the author was aware of this. And I'm glad he went in a different direction. It just wasn't for me.

Say whuuuuut? It wasn't awful, but my attention was fading fast. Good thing it was a novella because it probably would've ended up on the DNF list.

this one starts out great, it has a real dark feel to it that really sucks you in. I would say ominous but it is more than just a feeling of something bad coming, it is the sense of something good slipping away. it is a whole new kind of life spinning out of control. as the story progresses there are more and more breaks with reality and for awhile it feels kind of like a lucid dream, the main character knows that nothing around him is real but can't do anything about it. this continues to the

Civilized society can be a precarious proposition sometimes, and it's highlighted really effectively in Gary McMahon's new novella.In the span of a week, Nightsiders depicts the disintegration of a family. The trick is that it may well have been crumbling well before the story even began. Robert Mitchell, along with his wife, daughter, and son, arrive at their new home in the little English town of Battle only to find it occupied by Nate and Monica, two unsavory interlopers who claim the house i...

(Consider this my first draft review. You'll see why)Nightsiders was a great read for me. Really great. As a suburban dad who has to hide his dark, primal side at times raising two daughters, and acting more like Phil Dumphey from Modern Family than my former crazy self, I could relate. Nightsiders potrays a family under seige by violence, how they then try to restore their civilized self, but are unable to, and instead must fight to protect themselves. This book passed the first test for me: I

A fantastic horror!This book starts out as traditional horror and reminded me of the horror film Eden Lake. It is a very British book with the characters and setting very familiar. One family bringing terror to another. It plays on the fear of a nasty, uncouth working class British stereotype that tabloids like to report about.Then the book takes a different, strange, bizarre direction and reality itself is questioned. What is going on? Is all this real?I loved this change and the new elements b...

My skin was crawling almost from the start! This tale is the ultimate in frustration, topped with unbelievable fear and being trapped in a nightmare you can't wake from all rolled into one!The Mitchell family bought a house in a quiet setting after Sarah Mitchell was brutally attacked in London. Prior to moving in, they went on vacation only to come home to find that someone is living in their new home, has proof of ownership, has trashed the place and have an officer of the law on their side. D...

Gary McMahon to me is a difficult author to like and I can't quite figure out why. He can write, there is no question of that. But there is something amiss in his books, the general unpleasantness is never quite offset. Of course, he writes horror and general unpleasantness is to be expected, but there is something about his particular blend...In Concrete Groves I didn't care for, but I wanted to give him another try and with novellas there is really only an hour or two lost either way. Nightsid...