The Other by Thomas Tyron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm very impressed by this classic horror! I know I've been told it is one of those novels that spawned a bunch of lookalikes during the seventies, but rather than being a simple bestseller that everyone and their little fat dog emulated, I personally think that it has a ton of depth and staying power.

I think it's a toss up whether the best feature is the narrator's voice or whether it's in the plot twists. Both are superb and fascinating and lulling and it's extremely easy to fall into the idea that the author wanted us to believe.

Truly, despite a few disturbing images at the beginning of the telling, I was truly entertained by a relatively pastoral childhood that gradually became darker with all of those accidental mishaps. You can guess that things go downhill, of course, and with every new revelation, it becomes increasingly more interesting until it pretty much blew me away. I'm not saying that it wasn't predictable at a certain point, of course, but what really surprised me was how subtle and well that realization was handled. The resolution was completely top-notch.

You know the story about the evil twin? Yeah. This is the biggest granddaddy of them all and easily the best one of its kind. :) Totally recommended for all you fans of horror. :)

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