Amity by Micol Ostow

I wanted to love Amity by Micol Ostow so much, that I will actually give a proper review (well, proper in my view).  I like Amity, the urban legend and the history behind it; it was a story that captured and captivated many audiences and especially those that live in New England towns like that in Concord.  Ostow’s take on Amity was a bit the same and a bit different.  Like other stories based on this house, he focused on a past event but juxtaposed it to a present tense story.  You have Connor and his family, that moved into Amity 10 years before Gwen and her family moved in.  Connor is the past and Gwen is the present. 

What Worked:

Obviously I like the blending of the past and present story.  Are they only connected because they lived there, or because there was something innately wrong with them? 

It’s pretty gruesome.  You can’t have an Amity horror without some bloodshed, witch craft, Native American folklore, or demon eyes.  All of the above was present.

Connor’s crazy versus Gwen’s crazy.  They are both a little different than your average person; however, Connor made me feel as if snakes slithered under my skin, while Gwen just drove me nuts with compassion.

Annie.  Annie really worked. 

The house was an entity all on itself.  Yes the back stories were there, but it all came down to the stones, the foundation.  Amity was the villain in the story, not just an object that evil was projected onto. 

What Didn’t Work:

The connection between Connor and Gwen were not very solid.  Besides living in the same house and dealing with psychological issues respectively, they were not the same person or even remotely alike in personality.  While Gwen felt hunted, Connor felt comforted by Amity.

Um… really Connor?  I did not like his story, but then again do we really like Ronald DeFeo Jr., the original murderer in the Amityville horror story? 

Why do people insist on staying in places as creepy as this one?  Gwen was afflicted with hysteria, and you are going to take her out into the middle of Nowhere, USA and not expect some crazy things to go down?  Why are the adults always so… dumb?

WHY would you end it that way?  I had so much more of Gwen to experience, I had so many more questions, and I sure as heck don’t want to go through that house again just to find out how Gwen’s doing.

 

This was definitely worth the read.  I know this is a mixed review, but I found it scary and I found it interesting.  I don’t regret the couple of hours it took from me because in the end it accomplished what a horror movie tries to accomplish.  It gets you thinking, involved the action, and ultimately fighting along with the main character until the bitter end.

 

Thank You Edelweiss.  3 stars out of 5.