Arron Clegg
Arron Clegg or Cleggy as he his affectionately known, is a guest reviewer who makes irregular contributions to the site. He specialises in the horror genre, which is quite apt as he is a bit scary to look at, the word goblin springs to mind.
He started off like the other reviewers on here with the fantasy genre, reading LOTR and the Fighting Fantasy series before discovering the dark delights of horror in the form of King, Hutson and Herbert.
He was hooked and never looked back, mind you, would you? Not knowing what walked in the shadows behind you?
Books reviewed by Arron (42)
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![The SilenceTim Lebbon]()
FantasyWhat a great idea for a novel. A new little twist on the already satiated apocalypse genre. An underground cavern is unearthed opening the way for thousands of fast breeding “vesps” which hunt by sound and kill everything living they hear on their journey across Europe to our very own British border...
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![Allhallows EveRichard Laymon]()
HorrorIt’s been awhile since I picked up one of Mr Laymon’s books and I was quite looking forward to reading this book. With this in mind I picked it up and started ahead. Now for those of you who aren’t aware Laymon was a very prolific writer right up to his death. His books ranged from short sharp shock...
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![SawbonesStuart Macbride]()
HorrorWhat a neat little idea in a neat little book. Book is probably a touch generous coming in at just over a hundred pages but don’t let that spoil your fun, what you have here is actually a twisted tale, gruesome in the telling and packs a punch other books only hope to imitate. Sawbones tells the ta...
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![No One Gets Out AliveAdam Nevill]()
HorrorOk it’s fair to say I struggled with this book a lot more than I expected to. Promise of an English Stephen King, was lapped up by yours truly, a self-confessed King fan, add on to that the fact I’m English myself and I had a book on my hands I just had to read. The promise was far more than the act...
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![Wamphyri!Brian Lumley]()
HorrorSecond book in the original five book series and it follows directly on from where the first book, The Necroscope finishes. The story revisits old characters, further improving on and immersing us in this world of Espers and monsters. Harry Keogh, the original Necroscope has lost his body but his mi...
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![Jennifer GovernmentMax Barry]()
Science FictionSimply put this is a witty outlook on modern life and the consumerists of today. It does bare great similarities with the classic Orwell novel but where that can be quite dark and bleak this novel, although fatalistic somewhat is rather funny. The characters in the novel all having surnames from the...
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![The FungusHarry Adam Knight]()
HorrorWhen I was given this book I must admit I had my doubts. The front cover didn’t appeal, the title seemed rather dated and the type of book I was expecting seemed very much planted in the 80’s. Reading through the first few pages and I wasn’t disappointed. It was exactly as I feared. Cheesy. Cliché r...
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![ITStephen King]()
HorrorProbably one of the best King books ever written. No that isn’t the review although if it was that would still sum the book up pretty easily. So great I’ve now read it four times, although admittedly never as fast as that first hungry initial reading. With every read, certain elements jump out at yo...
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![The VoicesFR Tallis]()
HorrorOn first glance at the cover I was a bit suspicious of the quality this book was going to have but at the same time I had a bit of nervous excitement about discovering and reading a book by an author previously unknown to me. The title, like a lot of other books in this genre wasn’t particularly ins...
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![Doctor SleepStephen King]()
HorrorOkay I must admit that when I heard about this book coming into existence I must say I was rather excited, hell, it was more than that it was like sliced bread. Doctor Sleep for those who aren’t aware, is the sequel, of sorts, to The Shining, one of the best books Mr King has written in my humble op...
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![SlugsShaun Hutson]()
HorrorOk so we all know who Shaun Hutson is, and asked to name some of his works then Slugs is more than likely to be in the answer bank, most people probably know that it was even his first novel. What they may not know however, unless they have read up on the guy is that he is a die-hard Iron Maiden fan...
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![LairJames Herbert]()
HorrorThe first of the sequels to The Rats is a vast improvement to the original in terms of suspense and action. What the book lacks in originality now, due to it being a sequel, it definitely makes up for in horror and gore. The author’s writing has really come a long way in the intervening years and by...
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![The Long MidnightEd Gorman]()
HorrorI remember seeing Ed’s books in shops when I was younger, mysterious front covers that looked interesting but back covers that sounded just a bit, well, naff. You then look closer and read things like "Master of Dark Suspense", Koontz stating that, "Gorman’s writing is strong, fast and sleek as a bu...
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![Coldheart CanyonClive Barker]()
HorrorNow I am a self-professed fan of horror books and have been since I was a teenager, reading hundreds of horror books along the way. Most have been good, a few not so good. I have collected loads of authors along my journey, possessing all the King novels, Herbert novels and quite a few Barker novels...
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![The Face of FearDean Koontz]()
HorrorQuite a small book on the whole, just coming in at over 200 hundred pages but I must admit not one of those pages was wasted, each one moving the story along in a fast paced manner. The book is more suspense than horror or thriller but I do find it sits nicely on the bookshelf amongst his other work...
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![TurnerKarl Drinkwater]()
HorrorOk, where shall I start? It was an ok book. A little above average. Hints of promise, but then his next piece of work would have to be something special or he will find himself reduced to the bargain bookshops and supermarket shelves. It started off with great promise too to be fair. The tension and...
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![Pig IslandMo Hayder]()
HorrorTraditionally Mo is a thriller writer; she certainly does love a good mystery yarn. However I was sold this novel on the pretext that this novel contains enough horror overtones to be able to put this book firmly in the horror section. They weren’t wrong. I’d go so far as to say that it is a horror...
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![NecroscopeBrian Lumley]()
HorrorBy the time Lumley got around to writing this book he had already written thirteen others. His early works expanded heavily the Cthulu mythos with some subtle differences. He introduces us to a guy named Titus Crow. But that was then and this is now and we have a new hero to thank. Harry Keogh. Harr...
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![Zom-BDarren Shan]()
FantasyOk this was my first time reading one of Mr. Shan’s novels and I must admit I wasn’t wholly impressed. However, reflecting back maybe I am being a bit too harsh. My experience as an adult is to read books aimed at my audience and not one of a younger audience. In that respect, yes, I got it and it w...
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![HauntedJames Herbert]()
HorrorProbably one of my favourites of the late Mr Herbert’s novels. The haunted was written at the end of a very successful decade of writing. Everything about the Haunted book is quintessentially Herbert and quintessentially English. Herbert gets everything right with this book, there is no padding, no...
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![FiendPeter Stenson]()
HorrorIt’s a book about drugs. No it’s a book about zombies. Wrong again, it’s a book about love, hope and the desire we have to be better people. It is all of these and so much more. Peter’s creations of zombies being referred to as Chucks due to the fact that they are always chuckling and giggling bring...
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![The SummoningEE Richardson]()
HorrorWhen I first picked this book up I thought, this seems a bit amateurish. Further reading and I understood why. It is a novel aimed for young adults. With this in mind I began to look at the novel in a new light. I cast off my misgivings and settled down to enjoy the story for what it was. Not entire...
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![AssassinShaun Hutson]()
HorrorShaun was very prolific in the Eighties, and with this novel you often wonder why he could have been so successful. The trick with Hutson is not to take him seriously both in his style and content and more often than not as an author also. There are all the usual clichés with Hutson’s work in this n...
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![N0S4R2Joe Hill]()
HorrorThis isn't the first of Joe’s books that I have tried to read. I tried Horns many months ago but had to give up as it wasn't quite sitting with me. NOS4R2 however is on a completely new level. It had me hooked from the start, the idea and plot behind it all was fresh and interesting and I couldn't s...
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![Darkly Dreaming DexterJeff Lindsay]()
HorrorI must admit I watched the entire series of Dexter before I even picked up one of Lindsay’s novels. Did I do the right thing? Yes and no. I absolutely loved the show, one of my faves. The book? Awesome too. I will definitely be adding them to my collection in the near future. Are they the same? No....
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![JoylandStephen King]()
FantasyWhat can be said about this author that hasn’t been said before? Prolific. Scary. Master of terror. King is all of these and more. King has really grown as not just a writer of horror throughout his career but as a true wordsmith, a master of his art and none more so than with this latest offering....
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![SpankyChristopher Fowler]()
HorrorThis is the first book I have read by this author, not somebody I had ever heard of. To my surprise I discovered a large catalogue of books he has written, most of which are very popular in their own right and it is at times like these I question what I have been reading these last thirty odd years....
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![Death DreamGraham Masterton]()
HorrorAlthough Graham never seems to have reached the dizzy heights of other horror writers he has been a very prolific writer over the years, and has seen a few of his works hit the silver screen. However, forever in the shadow of the likes of Herbert, another British horror novelist, these movie adaptio...
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![TicktockDean Koontz]()
HorrorBy the time Dean Koontz wrote this novel he was already a household name. He had infiltrated the mystery / thriller / horror genres like no other. With a novel a year hitting the bookshelves he was as prolific a writer as Stephen King. However on closer inspection one can find that a lot of the book...
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![Demon SeedDean Koontz]()
HorrorA book so good he had to write it twice? Actually that’s a fair statement to make. Demon Seed was originally written in the 70’s and then thirty years later was completely re-written. The story and plot remains the same but what Koontz has done is move the novel into the 21st century with modern day...
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![AfraidJack Kilborn]()
HorrorThis is the first book I’ve read by this author. I kind of stumbled across it by accident and I’m so glad I did. Jack Kilborn is a pen name for the author J.A Konrath, and this was his first novel writing under that name. It is a simple tale, wrote simply and in no way completely original and yet th...
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![VelocityDean Koontz]()
HorrorWhen I picked this book up, read the front and back covers, I thought wow! It sounded like an amazing story to tell, one that would keep the heart pumping with every page turned, keep you hooked until despairingly you came upon the last page and wanted to go back for more. This wasn’t the book I was...
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![The Birthing HouseChristopher Ransom]()
HorrorA debut novel from an aspiring novelist. The book reached number 6 on the London Times fiction best seller list. A traditional tale of a haunted house. And already reading this. You feel like you are. Reading the novel. I’m sorry Christopher but I’m honestly not sure how you managed to create the ra...
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![VictimsShaun Hutson]()
HorrorBack in his heyday Shaun Hutson was a prolific writer of horror novels. When people ask what defines a horror novel, depending on who you ask, you will get a plethora of answers. The horror genre has changed so much over the years as also the number and type of things people are frightened of has ch...
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![The Woods are DarkRichard Laymon]()
HorrorNow it has been many a year since I have picked up a book by this author, and although he was considered a great horror writer by many fans, I can't remember why. Now I don’t want to give the author a complete disservice, after all this book was one of his earliest and there are elements to the book...
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![11.22.63Stephen King]()
Science FictionWhen asked to review this book I can honestly say I did so with some trepidation. Although few would doubt King is as his name suggests, his later period of novels, Dark Tower aside, would, I’m sorry to say argue the case against him. But this is King you say, and I know many Constant Readers out th...
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![The RatsJames Herbert]()
HorrorThis was James Herbert’s first novel and while it isn’t a masterpiece by anyone’s standard you could quite clearly see he was a writer with some promise. His style was easy on the eye and although fairly basic in places you could see that he knew how to use pace and atmosphere to his advantage. With...
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![Darkness ComesDean Koontz]()
HorrorReview by Arron Clegg. (*Darkness Comes is also known as Darkfall). In his early days Dean spent a lot of time trying different genres out and attempting different writing styles. Nowadays he is more famous for writing about events and stories which are very feasible in the modern world. Sometimes t...
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![The Long WalkRichard Bachman]()
HorrorReview by Arron Clegg. Wow, what a novel. Not my first time for reading it, but I just seemed to enjoy it even more this time around. Now, most of you out there are already aware that Richard Bachman was a pen name for Stephen King. He chose to do this purely because in his early days, even as today...
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![Unmarked GravesShaun Hutson]()
HorrorReview by Arron Clegg. Shaun Hutson. For fans of horror he is the master of all that is gory in the world of horror novels and has been for some time now. His roots however give more than a passing nod to a compatriot of his Mr. Herbert. Unmarked Graves shows exactly what Shaun does well. He takes y...
