Cemetery Club

Jan 14, 2013 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: the fan of serious horror

Recommended to Katy by: Christopher Payne

Shelves: ebook, librarything-win

Please note: I originally read this in December 2011. I'm just adding formatting and the disclosure that I won my copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Book Info: Genre: Horror
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of hard-core horror

My Synopsis: Rocky Point, NY has quite a history – first a local preacher burned down a house of ill repute – with all the ladies and customers still inside. One of his descen...more

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May 08, 2012 Natalie Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, early-reviewers, owned, journalstone-publishing

Cemetery Club by J.G. Faherty is a book about a group of teenagers from a small town called Rocky Point. The teenagers did some terrible things in their past. As adults they have to come back to Rocky Point and put things right again.

I was thoroughly engrossed in this book. This was an extremely frightening read. The story kept me guessing the whole time. "The Cemetery Club" is a book about how a towns deathly secrets combined with the supernatural come back to haunt them. There some truly frigh...more

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Jul 07, 2012 David Watson rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Cemetery Club by JG Faherty. The story is about four 16 year old kids who hang out in the Cemetery and call themselves The Cemetery Club. One day they accidentally unleash an ancient evil in the form of small monsters that look like aliens on the small town of Rocky Point. These creatures are vicious and spread their evil by climbing inside people’s mouths and turning them into zombies. The four kids defeat the evil but one member of the club spends 20 years in an insane asylum while another...more The Cemetery Club by JG Faherty. The story is about four 16 year old kids who hang out in the Cemetery and call themselves The Cemetery Club. One day they accidentally unleash an ancient evil in the form of small monsters that look like aliens on the small town of Rocky Point. These creatures are vicious and spread their evil by climbing inside people’s mouths and turning them into zombies. The four kids defeat the evil but one member of the club spends 20 years in an insane asylum while another becomes an alcoholic. Now 20 years later, the evil has returned and only The Cemetery Club can stop it.

While I really did enjoy this story I do have to say that most of what is written in The Cemetery Club has been done and redone in several other novels. One book it reminded me of was Stephen King’s It. Even though the story will seem familiar to you this book is still well worth your time. All of the action scenes are well done. I also loved how the cemetery is described and how the creatures are described. The atmosphere in this book is spooky and stories about evil in a small town just never gets old.

My favorite part of the story is how JG Faherty presents the relationship between the four members of The Cemetery Club. You get to know them as teenagers and then you get to see them become very different people as 36 year olds. Despite there different paths in life and the fact that they haven’t talked to each other in years when there is trouble you see them come together and show that they never stopped being friends despite the passage of time.

The character with the most interesting story in this book was Todd. The idea of him coming home after 20 years in the mental hospital and trying to lead a normal life appealed to me and I felt a lot of sympathy for him. I think JG Faherty was using Todd to make a point about how horribly people with mental health issues get treated. The author describes quite a bit of illegal testing on the mental hospital’s patients and makes a point about how horribly humans treat other humans. This sets The Cemetery Club apart from other novels with similar stories and makes it a great book.(less)

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Jun 10, 2012 Allizabeth Collins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review:

What happens when a few friends hang out at a cemetery and decide to mess with things they don't understand? A great gore-filled supernatural thriller with the potential for film rights, Cemetery Club will give readers a good dose of scare for such a small book. It has a vaguely Stephen King-esque feel, a few well-developed characters, and a horde of grotesque aliens/zombies. I found the characters and dialogue realistic and entertaining, as was the story-line - although cliche at times....more

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May 15, 2012 Hal Bodner rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been reading a lot of JournalStone's authors recently and, by and large, I've been impressed. So far, I've really liked every title I've read and J.G. Faherty's CEMETERY CLUB is no exception.

I'm not going to go to great lengths to type out a plot synopsis. Read the back-of-cover sell copy to get a better idea of what the book's about. I'll just briefly mention this novel follows in the footsteps of Stephen King's IT, Brian Keene's GHOUL, Gord Rollo's CRIMSON, Mary San Giovanni's THE HOLLOWE...more I've been reading a lot of JournalStone's authors recently and, by and large, I've been impressed. So far, I've really liked every title I've read and J.G. Faherty's CEMETERY CLUB is no exception.

I'm not going to go to great lengths to type out a plot synopsis. Read the back-of-cover sell copy to get a better idea of what the book's about. I'll just briefly mention this novel follows in the footsteps of Stephen King's IT, Brian Keene's GHOUL, Gord Rollo's CRIMSON, Mary San Giovanni's THE HOLLOWER and similar books where a group of young people inadvertently wake a sleeping menace and must confront it, sometimes years later, to defeat it and save their hometown from a murderous rampage. As such, it holds few surprises except for Faherty's particular (and fairly unique)"take" on what kind of monster has been roused.

I've read dozens of novels with this same basic plot and, frankly, many of them blur together. Plot-wise, CEMETERY CLUB is no exception, although it's in good company. However, where Faherty excels, and where his novel stands out above many of the others, is in his characters. Too often a lesser author (certainly not the ones I mentioned above!) would rely on stock characters and trust in what they consider an "innovative" monster to carry the thrust of the book. Faherty doesn't do that.

His characters are not only real but also have a rare quality; they're interesting. In fact, there were times when I wanted MORE detail and more exposition about these people so I could know them better. Even when it comes to the two characters who have suffered from unrequited attraction to each other for most of their lives until they finally culminate it, the author manages to make this often hackneyed and overdone plot mechanism seem somehow different and, above all, interesting.

Moreover, this author doesn't make the mistake--as so many writers in this sub-genre have done-- of trying to make the book an "epic". The monster is a local one and not, fortunately, one which globally threatens the fiber of the universe. (A recent book of this type which I read did just that -- and it came off as completely ridiculous.) This is an effective story of the main characters' individual triumphs and failings which I find much more compelling than those books with "save the world" protagonists.

CEMETERY CLUB is not an earth-shattering, life changing book that will stay with you and have resonating emotional impact on you across the years. It's just a damned fine read and well worth picking up. While never brilliant, it's universally very well done across the board. The only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is that there are two deus ex machina's plot-wise which struck me as rather glaring, especially since I think Faherty's a good enough author that he could have easily fixed them had they been drawn to his attention.

In the end, I think CEMETERY CLUB is limited by the fact that it's a young-people-wake-the-monsters book. While that's certainly a valid trope to work with, it's obvious that Faherty is far more talented that the limitations of this particular novel allow to show. However, CEMETERY CLUB made me want to read more of Faherty's work--which is a good thing!--and I look forward to getting my hands on one of his novels with a more unique plot.

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May 11, 2012 Jeanbooknerd rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

Cemetery Club by JG Faherty is an entertaining but primitive supernatural zombie novel. Of course with zombies in the mix, it entails a lot of blood, guts, and gore. The story follows four friends who once awakened a dormant malevolence whose sole mission is to demolish everything in its path. That very same evil has awakened again and the same four friends are the only ones who can bring its destruction to a halt.

The book offered everything a great horror novel must possess. The obvious zombies...more

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May 10, 2012 Sara Thompson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: librarything

Cemetery Club started off rather slow. I did not like the beginning. The first few segments were snapshots of the history of Rocky Pointe but I wasn't connecting to the town. The modern day story started with Todd. Todd had just been released from Wood Hill Sanitarium after serving 20 years for killing several people in his teens. Todd is looking forward to spending his time reconnecting with his mother and continuing his research on what really happened to those people. He suspects he raised a...more Cemetery Club started off rather slow. I did not like the beginning. The first few segments were snapshots of the history of Rocky Pointe but I wasn't connecting to the town. The modern day story started with Todd. Todd had just been released from Wood Hill Sanitarium after serving 20 years for killing several people in his teens. Todd is looking forward to spending his time reconnecting with his mother and continuing his research on what really happened to those people. He suspects he raised a demon. Meanwhile, whatever it was has risen again. John Boyd witnesses the aliens take over a cemetery maintenance man who kills another man before dragging his body into a neighboring crypt. Todd is beaten by police before they even explain why they are arresting him. It's at this point that I am convinced I can no longer read this book. I was so angry. So far the book had failed to grasp my attention and here, in this modern day, this man was completely violated by the men who are sworn to protect. I nearly quit. I nearly wrote a terrible review because I had had it. But I wanted to give the book a chance and I'm glad I did. Once Cody Miles, Todd's lawyer, entered the scene the story took on a completely different feel for me. I was sucked in and I couldn't stop. The fun thing about this book was the debate about what exactly had invaded the community - was it demons or was it aliens? There were good arguments for both and I wasn't disappointed when I learned what the truth was. The beings turn their victims into zombies and that was fun. I hadn't read a zombie book yet so it was great. I loved the characters. I loved how they were real and how they were really struggling with what was the right thing to do. There was even a human villain who I thought could have been used a little better but I could totally picture him in the movie. I didn't like the ending but then I liked the characters a lot and the ending hurt. I won't spoil it for you but I was disappointed. I wanted them to be my heroes and I wanted a happily ever after. The fact that the ending made me feel made it a great ending. I could completely see this movie. It's a small book so it may never happen but I would love to see that movie. There were some editing issues with the book - I won't lie. One character's name changed from Hank to Frank for a few pages and then back to Hank. It was a little off putting but I didn't care. I chalked it up to the quaintness of the publishing. It wasn't well formatted for a nook so there was some fun font issues but I ignored them and stuck with the story. If you like horror, especially Stephen King, I recommend this book. It reminded me a bit of IT but with zombies instead of clowns.
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Nov 25, 2011 Christopher Payne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: journalstone

20 years ago four friends awoke an ancient evil, and only the Cemetery Club can stop it before the whole town ends up dead. Or worse.

Rocky Point is a small town with a violent history - mass graves, illegal medical experiments and brutal murders dating back centuries. Of course, when Cory, Marisol, John and Todd form the Cemetery Club, they know none of this. They’ve found the coolest place to party after school - an old crypt. But then things start to go bad. People get killed and the Cemetery...more

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Mar 08, 2012 TJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was impressed with JG Faherty's "Cemetery Club". Not having read any of his books before, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with his work. His character development was as good as King or Koontz' and his ability to make the reader connect with those characters was outstanding. I was hooked from page one to a plot that was suspenseful, thrilling, and well-conceived. The novel reunites four high school friends 20 years after a hideous evil was unleashed on the town of Rocky Pointe, N...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Sharon Stevenson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: month1-rar

I received a copy of this book for honest review. 'Cemetery Club' is the story of a town with a blood-soaked history and four recently reunited friends who must find a way to stop the terrifying creatures they first awoke years before.

This is a fairly simple horror story with all of the usual expected components present - gore, suspense, sex, etc. It's all very well done with a satisfying ending and as a result this was a page turner I finished in just a few hours.

There's quite a lot of people...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Nick Cato rated it 3 of 5 stars

20 years ago (here we go!), 4 high school friends unknowingly woke evil spirits by playing with a ouija board in a cemetery while smoking pot. Violent deaths broke out, but one of the teens took the rap for the murders and went to a Sanitarium.

Todd is now released and back in his small hometown of Rocky Point. Coincidentally, similar murders as those that happened all those years ago have started again, and the town eyes Todd as the main suspect. But Todd and his 3 old friends (who had named the...more

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Apr 05, 2013 L.L. Watkin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: rar-commitment

This is a good example of American monster horror. It's set in small town US, starts with hackneyed pilgrim fathers, is set off by high school kids with a Ouija board, and completed by their thirtysomething selves. It's not original in any sense of the word, but it is bloody, creepy and solidly written.

The club themselves are, though not likeable, plausible characters whose research into an finally confrontation of the monster manages the tricky feat of keeping interest and being character led.

I...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Heather (HeadshotHeather) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: doubleshot-reviews

Technically 4.5 but worthy of rounding up

Cemetery Club by J.G. Faherty is what some might consider a "buddy book" A group of high school friends who do almost everything together, especially hanging out drinking and smoking in their clubhouse, which just happens to be a crypt in a cemetery...hence, Cemetery Club. As per usual, they get themselves involved in something that they shouldn't have, but unfortunately this something isn't just your typical HS hijinks. What happens next leads one boy...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books

This is a horror novel and it put me in mind of something reminscent of Stephen King. The premise is a small town with a hive of shadowy creatures called Shades that rise up every so often throughout the history of the town. The Shades can inhabit people and the people then become zombie-like, attacking and eating humans. They also thrive on fear and negative energy. There seems to be no predictions as to which humans will be posessed and which merely get eaten.

20 years ago, four teens who hung...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Christy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: won-own

I won this book through a goodreads giveaway. Though I would not normally pick a zombie book the history and build up in the beginning hooked me. It was a very well written action packed book. Great ending.

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May 13, 2012 Tanja Seppä rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, kindle

This book was a drag and I never really got into it. It's not that it's badly written, there weren't any of the usual pitfalls - direct falsehoods presented as truth, poor grammar and spelling - and the plot was okay. It's a short book, yet I struggled to finish.

Twenty years ago four highschool friends - Todd, Cory, Marisol and John - awakened something in a graveyard. They also managed to push it back, Todd taking the heat andspending the next 20 years in a mental institution. Now that darkness...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Rudy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal

If the Cemetery Club was a movie, it would open with a series of quick scene cuts of people being killed over a period of near two and a half centuries, with the unifying commonality that all the murders occurred in Rocky Point.

In the present day, four friends calling themselves the Cemetery Club for hanging out at an old crypt after school, unleash an evil that start the spate of killings again. While the town authorities struggle to contain the increasing numbers of missing and dead people, th...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Cyneva rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 08, 2012 Cassie McCown rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cemetery Club
By: JG Faherty
ISBN: 9781936564231
Expected Publication: March 16, 2012
Available Format: Paperback, Hardback, ebook

My Rating: ★★★★★

Four rebellious (completely normal) teens find themselves bonding over booze and joints in an old cemetery mausoleum in the little town of Rocky Point. They eventually become known as the Cemetery Club. One night, Todd shows up with a box of pilfered snacks and none other than a Quija board game. That fateful night the four mistakenly awake an evil that wi...more Cemetery Club
By: JG Faherty
ISBN: 9781936564231
Expected Publication: March 16, 2012
Available Format: Paperback, Hardback, ebook

My Rating: ★★★★★

Four rebellious (completely normal) teens find themselves bonding over booze and joints in an old cemetery mausoleum in the little town of Rocky Point. They eventually become known as the Cemetery Club. One night, Todd shows up with a box of pilfered snacks and none other than a Quija board game. That fateful night the four mistakenly awake an evil that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Twenty years later, after they were sure it had been destroyed, the evil has returned and is torturing their town once again. They must quickly learn exactly what it is they awoke in order to stop it, this time for good.

It’s no secret I’m a Faherty fan, and he did not disappoint this time around either. When I was told it was a “zombie” book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was thinking moaning, emotionless undead rising and multiplying and taking over the town. Well, in a way, that is what happens, but there’s so much more to it than that. Rather than a lot of looting for supplies and blowing out zombie brains, there really is a substantial story underneath it all. And, are these things even zombies at all anyway?

One thing I love about this book is that Faherty gives us little clues, little pieces of the puzzle that slowly and seamlessly come together in the end with a definite impact. We get to know each of the characters, their past, thoughts and feelings; then we get to see them all come back together, rebuild relationships, and bond again over something that is frighteningly all too familiar to each of them.

There’s a perfect amount of creepiness mixed with emotion, even a tiny bit of romance, and yes, some pretty gruesome death scenes. All the different elements fit together perfectly, and the reader remains fully entertained right through the very end. Another favorite horror novel in my growing list…

So what exactly is taking over the town? Is it ghosts, zombies, demons, aliens? You’ll just have to read and find out for yourself!
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Jun 16, 2012 Jeffrey Wilson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Faherty's novel THE CEMETERY CLUB is reminiscent of King's IT, but in no way an imitation. Mr. Faherty takes the "kids back home to confront a childhood evil in their hometown" theme and puts his own unique twist on it in a story that moves along at an exciting pace. Very well written and with believable and well developed characters, I found myself unable to put this one down and read it straight through on a Saturday. The story builds to a climax worth the wait.

I highly recommend this one, but...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Debbie Heaton rated it 4 of 5 stars

I received a preview copy of this novel through the Library Thing. J.G. Faherty took the whole small town concept and gave it a Stephen King flare that was scary. I was able to identify with all the main characters, both past and present. There were plenty of twists and turns and probably as much fun in any cemetery as legally possible. It is filled with zombies, demonic creatures, and ancient legends. I had never read one of Faherty's novels before, but this one held me in its grips and left me...more

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Feb 09, 2013 David Church rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 23, 2012 Brett Talley rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the advantages of writing a book is that other people send you their novels for free. And since you want to send your books to other authors too, it behooves you to pay it forward. The only problem is, when you read the book you are expected to write a review. And let me tell you, nothing is worse than telling somebody their book’s not very good. Writing is a very personal thing, and a book is, in many ways, a part of the author. Telling somebody their book isn’t any good is like telling...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Elaine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recomened

what a great book thanks to christopher payne for recommending it.

4 friends form the cemetery club in school and todd the preachers son brings a oujia board and they wake an evil that turns people into zombies and todd ends up in wood hill sanitaurium for 20 years. jump ahead 20 yaers todd comes home and it starts all over again and the 4 friends again have to stop the evil.

i loved this book apert from the cut to people been killed not that i minded that but they all got killed the same way so i...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Sarra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, review-copy, kindle

Library thing review copy.

"It's happening again"

Those fateful words are what bring Mark Randolph and his three high school friends back together again after twenty years. The last time they met as a group they brought to life an ancient evil that nearly destroyed the town, and nearly destroyed Mark. He has spent the last twenty years locked away in an asylum. It's too bad that his release is marred when he is arrested and accused of several brutal murders.

"It's happening again" and it's up to...more

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Feb 16, 2012 jazz-ee2 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to jazz-ee2 by: LibraryThing

Shelves: librarything-giveaway, crime-thriller, horror, ebook

I was lucky enough to be awarded this ebook as a giveaway through librarything.com.

Not my usual subject matter, I was a little cynical about reading a book about Zombies. Always up for something new, I gave it a whirl - and absolutely loved it!

Marking time through the ages, the cemetery site is the scene of many acts of atrocity, each of which leaves it's mark on the earth and the town. Our four intrepid hunters, still scarred from their run in with the greys 20 years earlier, face a new and mor...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned, 2012-challenge

The town of Rocky Point has a very tainted past. Heinous acts of murder have plagued this community for centuries leading to an evil energy spawning beneath the soil. Twenty years ago, a group of four teenage outcasts believed that they had put an end to the evil below, but now in the present, this evil returns and spreads its seed throughout the townsfolk creating an army of zombies. The Cemetery Club must come together once again to wage war against the zombies and try to close the circle of e...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-owned, books-won

I received this book through the First Reads giveaway program on Goodreads.

Having thought they destroyed an evil force 20 years earlier, four friends reunite to save the town in which they grew up from the unimaginable evil that has been once again released. Leaving no man, woman or even child untouched by this evil. The four friends soon find themselves to be the only people who truly understand the evil they are about to confront and how to stop it. In the process they learn how each has chan...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Ashley M. rated it 5 of 5 stars

It took me a while to write this because I was so busy. Boy I wish I had gotten into this way before I did! It is an amazing creepy and eerie story. I won't rehash the story line, as other already have, but if you are a fan of Stephen King's It, this is a similar coming of age story with elements of fighting evil and monsters that have haunted you since childhood..

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Jan 08, 2012 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had the pleasure of receiving a early reviewer's ebook of this book through LibraryThing. This is a great, gory romp that provides detailed visual imagery for you to feel like you are right there with the zombies. A horror story that reminds you of a horror flick and has the ending of a 1980's slasher.

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