In an attempt to make sense of his own mysterious and unsettling childhood memories, a man begins to reconstruct his past. As the games and adventures of his youth become engulfed by a larger story, he finds that it forms a tapestry of unbelievable horror that he never could have expected.Each chapter completes a different piece of the puzzle for both you and the narrator, and by the end of it … end of it all, you will wish that you could forget what he never knew.
more
well written, eerie
Eerie, chilling, and disturbing…in the best way possible! Some reviewers didn’t like the fact that it was not in chronological order, but I’d have to disagree because I think it was clever and necessary once you complete the story. It was a fresh twist on this type of horror tale. Being a father myself engrossed me further and made this story even more frightening. Turning page after page, wondering what’s going to happen next…that’s how it got me hooked! Any horror/thriller fans need to have this book because it’s phenomenal and will leave you satisfied at the end. Auerbach knows how to play on childhood and parental fears and he does it with a style that will keep you up late into the night, and questioning those moments when you thought or felt that someone was watching you.
I cannot think of a book that left me so afraid and disturbed in a very long time. Frightening, original, and downright haunting.
Very unique slow-burn horror story. Very well written and subtle. It’s not a gory, slasher story. First time I read it I was horrified, and the second time i picked up on much more nuance that made this a truly great, disturbing story. Highly recommended.
it was super verbose at times and would have benefited from a look by an editor, but it was incredibly creepy and gave me chills numerous times.
I love books that keep you guessing throughout the story. When I heard about Penpal by Dathan Auerbach through a Facebook group I’m in, it sounded right up my alley. However, I was left with so many questions after finishing the book.
The premise for the plot of Penpal is an interesting one. I liked how Auerbach uses the narrator’s memories to lead us up to big reveal of what the horrible thing is. However, the execution of this is where it falls short. The memories are out of chronological order which makes things confusing. There were times where I had to really think about what I was reading and try to place it before or after another memory I had read about. Putting the memories in chronological order would have really benefitted this book much better. I will say the pacing was great for Penpal though. I did find myself wanting to know what would happen. The suspense throughout was fantastic! However, I felt the ending was a bit anti-climatic considering all that had happened. By the ending, I was left feeling so confused! I can’t really say too much, but there were some things that just didn’t make sense. Some of my questions were answered by scouring the internet for answers, but many of my questions about the book went unanswered. I also noticed many had the same questions I had. On the plus side, there were no cliff hangers.
While the narrator and his best friend felt fairly fleshed out, I felt that the author missed their voice when they were children. I just felt that that when they were kids, they would not be talking or acting the way they did. I also felt that the parents needed to keep an eye on their children better! The narrator is never named which I think helps with the suspense of this book. I did like the characters and empathized with the narrator, but as I’ve stated previously, the author really needed to work on the voice of his characters as children to give them a more realistic feel.
Trigger warnings for Penpal include death, attempted murder, some profanity, implied pedophilia, violence, and kidnapping.
Overall, Penpal is a confusing book, but I did enjoy the writing style. With some rewriting, this book could be really good and even have the potential to be a great idea for a film. I’d recommend Penpal by Dathan Auerbach to those 16+ who like to figure things out on their own, but be prepared to be left with many questions after you’ve finished reading it.
This starts out as a man remembering his childhood, at first with fondness, then with confusion, and finally ending in horror. During the course of trying to piece together some of his childhood’s missing moments, he finds what he’s looking for…wishing he would have left well enough alone.
Ok so this is a TOTAL Booksta-made-me buy because a friend I follow gave such a great review. I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what this was about going in, as I so often do with books All I saw on that review was that they were sufficiently creeped out and I said SOLD!
So OK it is creepy, not in a zombie, flesh-eating, ghoul haunting, night terror sort of way. This is an if your a parent and your worst nightmare comes true type of creepy…and being a parent and Nana…ya this hurt and anxieties were high.
Very early on, I saw where this was going. It is pretty easy to figure it out. However, the execution of said event was done well enough that you stay invested and want to read to the end. There are some parts that are overdone (IMHO) such as the tedious mapmaking BUT I understand the point as it solidifies the friendship and gives meaning. Push through it …
The ENDING! Oh my heart. While I knew what was coming I was still not prepared for it.
Overall, I did enjoy this one and would recommend for those who enjoy a good creep factor of a different sort. I also had NO idea this book became a reality from Reddit comments and posts…hmmmm
Not what I was expecting. Read like a YA book.
Creepy…full of dread. Abduction theme…the scariest (most realistic) type of horror.
I picked up this book because I’d heard several of the stories on CreepsMcPasta, and they stood out from the other creepypasta I’d listened to. The stories were disturbing and didn’t rely on gore to generate fear. They relied on the listener’s imagination.
In this collection, the author has expanded on his original narratives and added some more material to bring the overall story arc to a conclusion. Expanding the previous stories wasn’t a good idea; it consisted of adding meaningless text that turned a group of slightly rambling childhood tales into ones that wandered too far afield. Execution can be learned with practice, though; I still wanted to see where the author took things.
The emotional impact this book has stems from reading the child’s view of the incidents that happen to him, his friends, and his pet, but filtering them through an adult perspective. The childhood the unnamed character has the sort of details you would see in any child’s life, at least one of an earlier generation. Today’s parents wouldn’t let their children wander as far afield as our young hero, but I remember having those freedoms myself… perhaps that’s why this story worked for me. The kid could have easily been a child of the 1970s or 80s, which the use of Polaroids seemed to imply. The type of phones he and his friends used as teenagers, though, would be a little ahead of their time in that case.
So, we have a collection of stalkerish memories, presented in nonchronological order, with important details left out. Very much like memories in real life. Even with the big reveal at the end, there are still questions the reader, and the character, have. But it works; the reader is left with disturbing emotions. Perhaps it works because the details are missing, and, once again, it is up to the reader’s imagination to fill them in.
4.5 Stars
This book was crazy good! Definitely scared me and left me looking over my shoulder. Penpal is about a young man who wants to remember a particular memory from his childhood and as he goes back through his memories he begins to uncover something sinister. Maybe some memories are better off in the past. I have so many unanswered questions however the ending felt right to me since the narrator did get the answers he was looking for.
I highly recommend this book.
This book is so twisted it stays with you long after it’s done. It is Real life evil. It leaves you with a strange unsettled feeling after reading & you’re not sure what to do with yourself.
Excellent read, Hard to describe!