The Haunting of Lit House aims to provide entertaining and informative reviews that can help you decide if you want to read a book. I do my best to avoid spoilers, but if I must include them, I will note them and tell you when to stop scrolling if you’d like to avoid the spoiler.
This blog focuses on horror, and I know that what’s scary to one person isn’t scary to another. As a result, I will never penalize a book for not being scary. And though this post uses first person like it’s going out of style, my book reviews don’t. I hate book reviews where the reviewer says, “I didn’t like the main character” without explaining why. Show; don’t tell.
I rate books on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best. Rather than using boring stars, I vary the unit based on the book, e.g., Dracula may be rated on a scale of 1-5 vampires. I will occasionally use decimals in ratings. Here’s a breakdown of what each number means:
- 5: Very few (basically no) books will receive a 5. The Shining is a 5. To earn a 5, a book needs to be beautifully written, scare the crap out of me, and pull at the heartstrings. If a book earns a 5, the review will contain a paragraph explaining what made it so outstanding that it earned a 5.
- 4: Amazing books will earn a 4. To earn a 4, books must be well written and (of course) scary. Books that fall into this category are well worth checking out.
- 3: Most books will earn a 3. Think of this as a job evaluation. If you’re good at your job and do everything well, you earn the middle “meeting expectations” rating. You have to truly go above and beyond and revolutionize something to earn more than that. A book that earns a 3 is a great book. It’s compelling and worth reading, but does not exceed my expectations.
- 2: A book with some flaws will earn a 2. These flaws may include the writing style, plot holes, or pacing issues. I will do my best to point out specific parts of the book that I found problematic.
- 1: To earn a 1, a book has to be offensive or (in my mind) have no intended audience. I have yet to read a horror novel that I would rate a 1.
It’s important for me to mention that there are some books that I read with the intention of writing a review but couldn’t. This is because they weren’t particularly memorable or I just don’t have much to say about them. Most of them are 3s. If you would like to see a list of those books with a rating (but no detailed review) let me know.
A note to authors: If I gave your book a poor rating, please don’t take it to heart! You are a great writer, and a lot of people would love your writing. I’m just one idiot with a laptop and an opinion. I don’t even like Oreos, so that should tell you something about my character. If I gave your book a good rating, take it to heart! You’re amazing and I want to read more from you.
The Haunting of Lit House 