Cover Image: Gothic

Gothic

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Member Reviews

Philip Fracassi is quickly becoming one of my favorite new writers, and this book cements his place as THE up-and-coming novelist in the horror genre.

This book has the potential to be Fracassi's breakout and to hook a new generation of horror fans, just as Stephen King did with "Cujo", "Firestarter", or "The Dead Zone". Yes -- it's that good. It's that gory. It's that compelling, un-putdownable, and enjoyable in a can't look away, yet peering through hands covering your face type of way. If you are a horror fan, this book is great fun.

I won't re-hash the plot here (other reviews have certainly done a better job there than I could do), but the atmospherics and pacing were perfect, in my opinion. And I loved the Easter eggs (or tips of the hat) to so many horror landmarks scattered throughout the book.

Keep up the outstanding work, Philip, and congratulations on a superb modern classic horror novel!
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I'm rating this one 3 1/2 stars. While I loved the story and character building, it started out a bit slow and the ending felt unfinished.
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This book reminded me of why I initially fell in love with the horror genre. It'd been a long time since I read a book that took me back to my early days of reading anything and everything horror related that I could get my hands on. The excitement of discovering a new author who could make me both care about the characters and feel I was living the horror alongside them has become a rare occurrence. This book did that and more.

The story simmered at a slow burn for the first third of the book. The pace allowed me to learn the characters, grow to like them, and begin to feel a slowly building sense of dread and impending doom. I wanted to both look away, because If I didn't read the words then all would remain okay, and keep reading out of dark curiosity to see how the story would unfold. When the action moved into high gear around the halfway point, anxiety was my constant companion and there was no setting aside the book until the story was finished.

A writer who fears his best days are behind him, an evil relic that promises a 2nd chance but with string attached, family and friends who love him and yet are powerless to intervene as madness sets in. I've read a few similar plots over the years, but Fracassi brought something fresh and compelling to this story. He crafted a bleak tale of obsession and loss that's wholly his own. I'll be buying a physical copy for my shelf and reading more from this author.
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OH MY GOSH. The narrative style of Philip Fracassi's "Gothic" gripped me from the first page. Between the stream-of-consciousness descent into madness and the elusive mystery based in myth and history and the gory details provided throughout this novel, this has immediately become one of my favorite reads of the year, and by far my favorite horror release. I've never read anything by Fracassi before, but I will now be poring over all his previous and upcoming releases.

What truly gripped me are the believable characters. I found myself on edge with worry and tension, always hoping for the best outcome for each because I became so fully invested in each one.
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I tend not to take a position on trigger warnings in horror. I understand why they’re useful, and I also understand that horror is often built to trigger. That being said, I tried to get over a very triggering scene about halfway in and I could not. I’m not easily shaken but this scene got to me and I can not finish this particular story. That being said, I will keep an eye on Fracassi as the writing is of remarkable quality and, evidently, quite vivid.
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Gothic is my introduction to Fracassi’s work, and it did not disappoint! It took me a couple chapters to get into this book, once I was in it I couldn’t stop reading. The constant sense of doom and gloom, and the author was able to creat isn’t easy and it’s done well in this book. 

I do want to thank NetGalley & Cemetery Dance Publications
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The writing style is a bit hard to get used too, but storywise good job! Unique enough to stand out and still familiar to horror fans
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Fracassi takes the horror writer encounters real-life horrors trope to new and exciting places with Gothic. This is a book that needs length to lay out as Fracassi drags us along on a slow descent into madness. The characters, especially Tyson and Sarah, are given room to breathe and bare their souls to the reader, making this story all the more terrifying when things go wrong. It could be argued that a 2023 release that spans 400 pages needs to earn that runtime more than ever before, and Gothic more than lives up to that challenge. While psychological terror abounds, Fracassi is not afraid to get graphic with a later scene in the book being one of the most intense and gripping in recent memory. My only detraction, and it's on personal preference is when the book cuts away for a long stretch of time to take care of backstory. The flashback is intriguing and crucial, but invested as I was, I found myself wanting to return to the main characters. All in all, expect Gothic to be on a fair few best of 2023 lists. One of the most frightening stories of the year.
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Though well written, I found that I didn't fall into the story as I had hoped. This definitely felt very much like a kind of 80s or 90s horror novel, straightforward in plot, character, and haunting. A struggling writer is gifted a cursed desk which makes him a success again, but at great cost and with evil designs of its own. However, beyond a kind of generic gothic backstory, we never quite understand the demon desk's goals or the true stakes. For me, none of the characters felt that compelling and the novel lacked the kind of hero those old school horror novels usually put at the center. The novel also seems to have a few plot build-ups that play themselves out too quickly and anticlimactically in ways that don't really fully make sense (especially the plot line with the iris-less rightful owner of the alter-cum-desk. The end isn't ambiguous as much as it's left open for a sequel or series, which I found disappointing b/c the world wasn't compelling enough for me to want to enter back into it. 

It's a well written, old school cursed object/writer tale that I just wish would have taken more time and space to sprawl out to completion.
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"As he sits there, smiling and sipping cabernet sauvignon, watching the women work, he's surprised to find himself wondering what it would be like to see their insides."

Fantastic outing from Fracassi here. I expected nothing less after reading his story collection Behold The Void a couple years ago.

Gothic is a bleak throwback to the pulp horror that heavily inspired it. It's dark as hell with a fantastically written protagonist in Tyson Parks. It's nice reading from the point of view of another writer struggling with imposter syndrome and writers block.

I can't wait to see what Fracassi does next.
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In most books, authors lay down no more or less than the story, often skillfully and enjoyably. But the horror greats, the Kings and Barkers and Jacksons, imbue their stories with a part of themselves. This book has that in spades - real personality, and a genuinely endearing storytelling voice. 

I didn't expect a story about a desk to pull off in so many fun directions, including a very cool old school horror vibe, a pulpy adventure sideline, and a gothic fantasy replete with warlocks and portals, all anchored by the more familiar territory of a loving modern family. It was unexpected and downright scary - one particular passage gave me literal goosebumps.

A "writer going insane" story will always draw comparisons to King stories like The Shining and The Dark Half, but Gothic has its own peculiar vibe that sets it apart. 

Because we get to know our imperfect but loveable protagonist and horror writer, Tyson Parks, so well in the first half of the book, the mounting dread, madness, confusion, violence, and awful glee he cycles through in the back half feel all the more real, and terrible. 

Gothic finds something fresh and horrifying in that classic old horror staple: be careful what you wish for.
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Equal parts visceral horror and visceral humor, this book had me laughing even as I cringed. When a past-his-prime horror writer is gifted a desk that was once used as a sacrificial altar, he finds himself very...inspired. Haunted even. Possessed, maybe. In trouble, definitely!
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I couldn’t stop scrolling to the next page. I was absolutely captivated and eager to find out what’s next. I love the characters and the story line and that it’s not the same typical happy ending where everything is alright, it is a true mess with the supernatural prepare for the consequences & those consequences can be deadly. 10/10.
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Another amazing story from the new voice in horror.   Great plot, great characters and overall creepy as hell story.   Loved every word of it.   Philip fracassi is becoming the one in horror.   Finally finding out what real horror is.    Loved ut
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I was liking the story but the format (it was a pdf) was very hard to read on kindle. I’ll pick this one up on release for sure though
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On his 59th birthday, Tyson Parks—a famous, but struggling, horror writer—receives an antique desk from his partner, Sarah, in the hopes it will rekindle his creative juices. Perhaps inspire him to write another best-selling novel and prove his best years aren’t behind him.

A continent away, a mysterious woman makes inquiries with her sources around the world, seeking the whereabouts of a certain artifact her family has been hunting for centuries. With the help of a New York City private detective, she finally finds what she’s been looking for.

It’s in the home of Tyson Parks.

Meanwhile, as Tyson begins to use his new desk, he begins acting... strange. Violent. His writing more disturbing than anything he’s done before. But publishers are paying top dollar, convinced his new work will be a hit, and Tyson will do whatever it takes to protect his newfound success.

Even if it means the destruction of the ones he loves.

Even if it means his own sanity.

This book had a great writing style and shock factor at points but I felt the book was missing something. I don’t really know how to explain it without spoilers. I found myself irritated with Tyson and his self-pity. He puts himself into situations where you know the outcome will not be good, and he gets upset when they don’t work out. Getting past that and the slow burn, it’s an okay book. It wasn’t boring by any means, but I do prefer a fast passed book with more detail on things that seem important.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free e-arc for me to review.

All opinions are my own.
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The cover and the premise of this book were enough to grab my attention. 
So I had expectations going into it. It didn’t disappoint. 
The author has created an eerie atmosphere, well thought out characters and a really well written story. I stormed through this one, I loved it! 
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.
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“Gothic” has been my first introduction to Philip Fracassi but he will now be an auto-buy based on this novel!! My God, to say that I was unprepared to like this as much as I did, is an understatement. This is like a Stephen King and Clive Barker mash up in all the best ways. 
 
We get several points of view throughout the novel. We are first introduced to Diana Montresor. The last link in a family stoked in tragedy. Will she be able to recover the artifact that haunts her family? Can she do so before her Grandfather passes? She has hunted relentlessly and discovered the artifact has been repurposed to a desk and has been shipped to America. 
Our main character, Tyson Parks, is desperate for a break. Once a bestselling author he has now spent his advance on a book he cannot deliver on. All of this changes on his 59th birthday when he receives an antique desk from his wife. He becomes quite literally possessed to write. He begins losing time and his mind, but he is suddenly writing better than he has before. 
The true evil nature of the desk plays out through the novel and it is definitely a battle to the last page.



 #oldschoolhorror #NetGalley #cemeterydance
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I hate doing this, because I as a reader have great respect for anyone who writes and puts it out there for the public, but in all honesty, I did not finish this book. I got more than halfway through and I just had to stop. The writing was slow and overindulent in areas it didn't need to be and the back story was out of place. The whole book (to this point) felt very disjointed. I was hoping for the best, but it doesn't quite do anything for me. I apologize to the author for this review.
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When I first started reading “Gothic” by Philip Fracassie I thought to myself, what an interesting way to start this book off. I will admit I did have a hard time putting this down because I liked the goosebumps I got from reading this. The altar is a desk in disguise and this was an amazing turn because I did not expect that, it was fascinating that the desk made a lot of bad things happen right before it was delivered to Tyson’s home. The writing was absolutely perfect in my opinion and I just want to say that lately, I have been on the hunt for a book that would make me just a little scared. “Gothic” delivered just that for me. I am beyond impressed by this book because I became interested immediately from the cover as well as the title but when I read the blurb, I knew this would be an interesting read. After I finished this, I can happily say that I'm excited to see what this brilliant author will write next and I will be looking into his other books.

Thank you #NetGalley for providing me with a copy for my honest review which I am more than happy to give about this spine-tingling book.
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