Horror or bore?

Here's my only negative review ever-

Recently, I finished The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. This true story tells the terrifying tale of the most infamous haunting of all time: Amityville, New York in 1975. This novel follows the all too true tale about a young family who moves into a new house that's seemingly perfect and fits all their needs. But that's until the discover that mysterious, horrible murders had taken place there before they moved in. The family then discovers that their once perfect house is now infested by ghosts. They remain in denial that it's just their imaginations; that's until the supernatural phenomenons worsen.

I, frankly, was a bit disappointed by Amityville. The true story itself is incredibly fascinating, but the way Anson describes it almost takes away from the story. I dove into Amityville expecting to be scared sockless, but I ended the book with a sense of "Really? That's it?". A major problem with the book is one word- Fluff. Anson drowns the story in irrelevant fluff and boring content that takes away from the story. Anson constantly stuffed unneeded content between the margins that just only stretched the story longer and added no emphasis. I was also disappointed by the important parts, like the major happenings in the haunting. I'm a chicken. I hate horror movies and ghosts. But Amityville didn't scare me. Anson could've exaggerated those parts a little more. This may sound cruel, but I honestly think Anson used the exclamation point to it's death. That's the only emphasis he ever used. Wrong kind of emphasis, if you ask me!

In conclusion, Amityville neither horrified nor haunted me, unlike the unfortunate family's home in the story. Even the recent film adaptation starring dreamy Ryan Reynolds butchered the story line (I believe the director only threw in shirtless scene just to liven up the plot. Who said I was complaining?), which doesn't make my saltiness for the story lessen.  I honestly believe that Anson could have defined the ever-so intriguing story more. I might say that the story didn't scare me, but I didn't mention that a few parts shudder their way through my mind in the middle of the night, like the horrifying fact that this wasn't made up. Needless to say, the overall idea of the Amityville haunting still leaves me questioning whether my home was built on a ancient Indian site for torture and if my house is infested with pig-faced demons. Well, looks like I'll be sleeping fabulously tonight!

Yours,
Rylie