Ranked #341

Goth: A Novel of Horror (Novel)

I've read hundreds of mystery/crime and horror books over the years (most of them aren't manga), and what makes horror stories good? Suspense and realism, unfortunately Goth lacks either.

Characters-
The stories mainly focus on two high school students, who are considered sociopaths. Suspense can be created when fear or interest is expressed in characters, when your characters are emotionless and careless you can't get excited over the events that are happening to them. This is a massive problem within the book, but really if the story was good enough it could have been made up for and even worked to the writers advantage.

Story-
Each chapter is mostly it's own individual story that revolves around the characters, usually coming across some kind of psychopath or murder. Realism creates suspense because you can relate to the events taking place. But of course, realism is no where in site which makes so many situations seem boring when they should be scary or at least creepy. If someone knew that you slaughtered people, would you just walk away with out a second thought trusting that the witness was screwed up enough not to tell? Yeah, didn't think so.
It's like there's no consequences to the characters actions within the story.
Another thing that contributes to this issue is how slow paced some parts can get.

Enjoyment-
I didn't enjoy much of the book, some parts are good but it's mostly just meh throughout. Sadly I do actually regret buying this because even though some of the chapters are written quite well, I just don't think the majority of the book is up to par. It's not a bad book but if you've been a fan of the horror genre for some time then you'll be disappointed to some extent.

Sorry I know I didn't say much good about Goth but the chapters that are good (the last three I believe) are basically the opposite of the problems mentioned above. read more