Official Review: The Thriller Theater by Tim and Kathy Hunt

Mune · Post by **Mune** » 31 Jan 2016, 11:21

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Thriller Theater" by Tim and Kathy Hunt.]

2 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

The idea behind this story is intriguing. It has a ghost story base line that is altered by the inclusion of ancient Aztec mythology in, of all places, Kansas. The premise is a man returning to his home town to inherit a theater his father, until his death, and uncle, until his recent demise, owned and operated. The theater is themed off of old black and white horror movies. There is a stone statue or carving, depending on which term is used, behind said theater that the mythology and line of mysterious deaths are connected to. A decent base story line is laid out but, unfortunately, the delivery is a bit lacking.

My biggest issues were the continuity of the story itself and the sudden, and very childish, mood of the story. A few examples, without spoiling too much: After an extremely gruesome death scene with vulgar undertones, the characters are back to giggling and laughing and making jokes in a matter of moments. People working around the area dismiss the incident very quickly to move on as if nothing is amiss. Another example, very early in the book, our main character falls into a middle school-like crush within less than a day of meeting a woman and they are all giggles and stolen kisses for two pages. The character personalities seem to degrade from this point.

There are the usual grammatical and punctuation errors along with random word capitalization. This, though, would not bother me if the characters were not so flawed. I also have difficulty in the idea that the uncle had done so much research into the place and was so very superstitious of it, but didn't notice the wall pieces or the fact that he built his house on segments that jut out of the ground.

With a more observant analysis of details and a redesign of the character dialogues and reactions, I think the story in itself could be salvaged and turned into a decent read. More attention needs to be paid to the flow of the story. Look at continuity and the pacing of the story in its entirety. Understanding the psychological processes of people in the situation, in a small town, strangers versus people they have known forever, reactionary context, and progress of personality builds would benefit the story a great deal. The rush to force a relationship, jumping over normal reactions in a devastating situation, and having a good build up is necessary to get a more organic feel to the story.

In all, I was intrigued at first, then a bit annoyed by the dialogues and finished with great disappoint. I feel like there is something here, but the writing is very much lacking. With a re-evaluation of the story and some changes in flow and dialogue, I do believe something very good could be made out of this. As of my reading, I would give the story 2 out of 4 stars and feel this may be a bit generous. Some people may still enjoy the story line, but many will get hung up on one or more of the issues I had pretty early in the book.

******
The Thriller Theater
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like Mune's review? Post a comment saying so!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 08 Feb 2016, 08:58

That was a very honest review. Aztec mythology actually sounds interesting. However, the weaknesses of the story you pointed out particularly the part 'After an extremely gruesome death scene with vulgar undertones, the characters are back to giggling and laughing and making jokes in a matter of moments' justified the rate you gave. Nice job on the review!

Mune · Post by **Mune** » 13 Feb 2016, 23:07

Thank you. It was difficult, I really didn't want to be so harsh but the degradation in the story was astounding, as well as the continuity. It started off reading like something I would expect an adult horror to sound like and in a matter of pages turned into more of something I would read from a middle school age group. I think there is a lot of potential there, though. Maybe the author had to make some cuts or add more words to complete an amount, possibly time restraints, but I think with some fine grooming, he could make something with this.

quadbrookie · Post by **quadbrookie** » 14 Feb 2016, 17:08

Great job! You gave fantastic constructive criticism and many different areas where they could improve their work.

-- 14 Feb 2016, 17:16 --

Great job! You gave fantastic constructive criticism and many different areas where they could improve their work.