The Cellar

The Cellar

by A. J. Whitten

It's only been a few months since Meredith and Heather lost their father in a horrible car accident when Heather was driving.  Things haven't gotten better for them.  Heather still blames herself.  Meredith still doesn't know how to talk to her.  Their mother spends every free moment using "retail therapy" to try and make the pain go away.  And an aunt has moved in with her twin sons to try and keep the family running.

Now the decrepit eyesore of a house next door has been rented out by an extremely reclusive boy and his mother.  The mother is never seen in public.  The windows and doors are always closed tight even in the hottest weather.  The boy is always wearing sunglasses.  There are bugs, vultures, and piranhas at the house.  People who enter don't leave... alive.

Heather is completely in love at first sight.

Meredith sees right through him even though every female around thinks he is amazing.

Mom doesn't care as long as she can spend money.

Things are wrong and no one but Meredith seems to see it.

And something is going on in the cellar that's too horrendous to consider.

Final thoughts:  UGH!  This was a horrible attempt to mix Romeo and Juliet with zombies and it is one of the most horrendous things ever written.  It's only slightly better than R. L. Stine books (though that's not hard, since those are complete trash).  Are zombies mindless undead dragging limbs around to eat humans or are they intelligent creatures who can manipulate minds?  Even that can't be answered since there seem to be more than one type of zombie, though it's never explained why.  The authors (a mother/daughter team) can't make up their minds about if Adrien is evil and manipulative or completely lovesick.  There is a LOT of detailed descriptions of torture, eating of humans, tearing of flesh, etc...  Don't read if you have a weak stomach or recently ate.  Boys who love horror books will probably love this, but it's poorly written.  This could be a step between Stine and almost any other author of horror who is a better writer, but it really should just be avoided.

Rating: 1/5