My introduction to Everson's work, and I will definitely be reading more. Not a light read, but I enjoyed it immensely. Quite bloody and gory, but unlike many horror novels that I've read, it actually has a plot behind all that killing.

In a sleepy town, the old haunted hotel has started functioning again as an asylum for battered and insane pregnant women. But a few residents from the town are not so sure that the women are mad or that the place is actually an asylum. Filled with characters that you either love or hate, but are along with the whole time, and an excellent plot twist at the end. A well done novel, and a great read! ( )

This was a spooky and bloody romp all the way to the end of the book! The cover of the book shows blood and that is definitely what is within these pages!



Castle House has been abandoned for a long time as it use to be a mental asylum and now it is opened once again. Doctor Rockford is the only doctor on duty along with a nurse to help him out. But there is more than meets the eye with the good ole' doctor as the patients that are within the asylum are far from being crazy.

Women are disappearing within the town and no one can figure out what is happening to them. One of the women on the police force decides to do an investigation of sorts without the knowledge of the Chief of Police. What she finds within Castle House is way beyond anything she could ever imagine! With the help of a local man, David, who becomes involved with the investigation after a girl he had been partying with disappears, turns the whole town upside down when they find out what is really going on in the basement of Castle House Asylum.

This was definitely an intriguing twisted read and the last half of the book was a bloody, gory mess!

I could hardly put it down as I kept wanting to see what was going to happen next! Giving this a five "bloody" star read! ( )

A house with a wicked history in what appears to be an idyllic town. David is spending college summer break with his Aunt. Girls are being kidnapped in surrounding area and David manages to get entangled in a web that includes devil worship and a ancient rite. Nice amount of gore, but not a scary novel. ( )

Whether it was intentional or not, John Everson's "The 13th" is very "Laymon-like". Most horror fans, I think, would consider that a good thing because of Richard Laymon's reputation for creating memorable characters and plot lines. And, as with most Laymon books, Everson has provided the reader with plenty of gore, gratuitous nudity and sex, copious amounts of violence (especially against the fairer sex in this book - too much IMHO), scenes of dark horror, and a churning plot line.

The book is a quick read that revolves around the resurrection of sorts of an old hotel that's turned into an asylum for pregnant women. When women in the area begin to disappear on a regular basis, a local deputy and teenage boy decide to find out if these disappearance are connected in any way to the asylum. What they find is that the asylum is not what it portrays to be, but can they convince the sheriff and town fathers that all is not well? Everson puts the two protagonists in some unbelievable situations that doesn't provide any consistency to the plot. For this reader, that is the one big negative that I had with the book.

Recommended for those who like their horror dark and Laymonesque. ( )

The 13th by John Everson is a heart pounding, gut wrenching, roller coaster ride of in your face horror filled action from cover to cover.

This book is destined to become the next great horror film of our time. ( )