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The Tower

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Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

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433 people want to read

About the author

Simon Clark

212 books299 followers
Born, 20th April, 1958, Simon Clark is the author of such highly regarded horror novels as Nailed By The Heart, Blood Crazy, Darker, Vampyrrhic and The Fall, while his short stories have been collected in Blood & Grit and Salt Snake & Other Bloody Cuts. He has also written prose material for the internationally famous rock band U2.

Raised in a family of storytellers – family legend told of a stolen human skull buried beneath the Clark garage – he sold his first ghost story to a radio station in his teens. Before becoming a full-time writer he held a variety of day jobs, that have involved strawberry picking, supermarket shelf stacking, office work, and scripting video promos.

He lives with his wife and two children in mystical territory that lies on the border of Robin Hood country in England.

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5 stars
71 (14%)
4 stars
135 (27%)
3 stars
189 (39%)
2 stars
61 (12%)
1 star
28 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
Profile Image for Peter.
4,074 reviews802 followers
August 1, 2021
A group of young musicians take quarters in a remote mansion in Yorkshire named The Tower. There is something strange with the old building. Eerie bells from a hidden clock are always heard. What about the mysterious groundskeeper? When the first people go missing the story becomes absolutely uncanny and captivating. What an eerie monster house story with references to the past and telling of an older house within the newer structure. This has everything a haunted house story needs. You'll even find a dog within (Jak). Will any of the young people survive the house? Couldn't put the book down until finished. Highly recommended page turning stuff!
Profile Image for Tim.
491 reviews837 followers
April 17, 2021
I did not finish this book. I typically don't review DNF books because frankly I feel that I can't give a fully accurate assessment if I leave it unfinished. This will be an exception. I made it 1/3 of the way, for most of that time I was really enjoying it and then the book literally killed all enjoyment in two chapters. TWO.

Major spoilers ahead. You don't want to see them, just take my advice and skip the book.



This is like the book's just holding up its metaphoric middle finger at me and yelling "got you" in the most annoying voice it can while it giggles at its own intelligence. So yeah… I'll not be wasting more time with this one. 1/5 stars and a middle finger pointed back in its direction.
Profile Image for mark monday.
1,880 reviews6,305 followers
July 25, 2016
synopsis: ambitious band goes to a remote Yorkshire mansion to put together their first demo. scary shenanigans ensue.

not much to say about this one except that I quite liked it. it is basically a classic haunted house tale given some intriguing flourishes (a house that can physically bring people back against their will, people dreaming about their eventual deaths) and some modern trappings (favorite bit: at one point the band uses THE POWER OF ROCK 'N' ROLL to fight the mansion's evil - and it's not even corny when it happens). Simon Clark can be hit or miss and in this one he hits. when he's on, he's on, and The Tower has excellent pacing, a wonderfully creepy and atmospheric setting, and a snappy but not superficial tone. characters are quickly and sharply etched, and some are given a surprising amount of depth - in particular the first victim's fascinating backstory and amusing perspective on the situation at hand. best of all is the fantastic character of the dog, who SPOILER of course saves the day and best of all, lives!

favorite Clark novel so far: Blood Crazy. if you like horror, you should really do yourself a solid and check it out.

to beef up this so-called review, here are some seasonal images that I found quite heartwarming:

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Profile Image for Bandit.
4,949 reviews579 followers
January 30, 2014
During the the Leisure horror years Clark was at the top of his game. His books ranged from awesome to really good and Tower falls under the latter category. Plot's simple enough...band of 20somethings in search of place to practice and record go to a remote old house with, that's right, a tower, where they proceed to have terrifying premonitory dreams of their imminent and horrific deaths. Clark infuses it with his style of very dynamic writing/pacing making for a fun exciting fairly quick (4.5 hours or so) read. Kudos to the author for yet again writing young characters in a noninfuriating manner. Recommended.
Profile Image for Kelly.
447 reviews250 followers
October 1, 2008
I have a headache the size of Texas and it has Simon Clark’s name written all over it. I’m not sure how many of you know this, but I am a forgiving woman. It’s true. I give each and every author four attempts to win me over. That’s right, four tries to grab me, keep my attention, and scare the living hell out of me. If, after four shots, they still haven’t managed to persuade me to enter their world, it’s over between us. For both my sanity and the author’s sales, I end the relationship. Mr. Clark, Simon, I’m sorry but it seems that time has come for us. In other words, Simon, we are soooo over!!!

The plot is a recycled storyline. It's been written better, in much better books, by far better authors. A cavity personified, the story revolves around a newly revamped band that decides to house-sit in order to practice their music in sweet, solitary confinement. Of course, said house turns deadly in a hurry, for a few theoretical reasons, but nothing truly concrete. How does the house turn deadly? Well, to give it away would be wrong and well, I just refuse to exert more energy than is necessary on a book that I loathed. Let’s just say, clock chimes and bad dreams are involved and leave it at that.

Vapid and irritating, the characters are as dead as disco. The five personalities don't have any, nor do they have or develop any type of background or history. They are simply five people who wander around playing out their patterned parts without feeling or realistic motivation. The only things they do have in abundance are their descriptions; which brings us to Clark’s style of writing. Described ad nausea, Clark repeats the same worded descriptions over and over. The character Fabian, with the pretty, long blond hair is lordly. You hear that people? The man is lordly. Every time his mannerisms and dialect are described – it’s simply lordly. Do you need another example? Take Fisher, another character. Every time he speaks sarcastically in his head, it’s flippant. At 105, I stopped trying to count the word ‘flippant’.

Clark’s descriptions make King and Rice look skimpy. The author describes the characters at least twenty times, the surrounding area forty times, and the house more than I care to remember. Also, the descriptions are clumped together rather than spread out. The minute he starts describing, it goes on for pages; which, of course, drags on the pace. The speed of the events take forever because in order to get to the action you have to trudge through the descriptions. I kid you not; watching platypuses mate is more exciting than this book. As for the atmosphere, there is none. Thanks to the blinking signs and the million-and-one typos that ran rampant throughout the book, atmosphere never even got off the ground. And as much as I would like to pound the pain and agony that I had to go through into this review, I think a few examples are in order…

“Fisher couldn’t stop grinning now the dog appeared to be recovering”. – pg. 28
“Could there someone be walking upstairs? – pg. 36
“There’d no been discussion or democratic vote in the band” – pg. 42
“Fabian shrugged. ‘I liked those demos that Fabian played me…’”. – pg. 241

These weren’t the only typos, but they give an idea of what lies in wait. Character names are apparently interchangeable, and their ‘shticks” can be used by one and all, though Clark works hard to set them in stone in the introductions. Also, there are comma splices, repetitive words, misuse of: the definite article, pronouns, and prepositions. Missing words, words out of order, and two completely different thoughts running into each other is just the icing on the cake.

Now, I know you guys are asking yourselves, “Wasn’t there something that was good about this book?” The cover was decent, but that’s it. In fact, the only thing that kept this book from the negative star rating was its resilience. This book was the victim of quite a few unfortunate events. First, it was accidentally left out in a torrential rainstorm, and then it was bled on by the book that accompanied it in said rainstorm. And after blow-drying it back to life, it, of course, fell apart. Then, after I glued it back together, it was accidentally tossed in the ocean. After two days of drying, it accidentally fell in the pool. And finally, it was thrown off of my deck. That last incident was not, I repeat, not an accident. Still, this book lives. Wrinkled and mangled, but it lives. Amazing.

My rating? I give it a 1, BURN IT!! People, please, do not believe the hype!! After having spent the better part of my vacation with this book and counting up all the hours it stole from me, a little piece of me died inside. Save yourselves, treat this book like the thief it is and lock those wallets!!


-As reviewed for Horror-Web.com
Profile Image for Jade Heslin.
128 reviews8 followers
June 20, 2013
The author of the book, Simon Clark, was supposed to be coming to see us discuss this book at book club. I am relieved (for his sake)that he has pulled out.

The fact that he is likened to Stephen King on the book’s cover is insulting. This is absolute drivel. I have never felt compelled to write a novel myself (mainly because I lack imagination), but I sincerely reckon that I could’ve done a better job of it than Clark. He seems to know only a handful of words. Sounds always “ghost” through the air, things are constantly said “flippantly” and ENGLISH PEOPLE start their sentences with “Hell”. As in “Hell, even I can write a better horror story than this jerk!”. They’re from bloody Yorkshire, for Christ’s sake! Next they’ll be going to get “gas” and changing “diapers”. GRRRRRRR!

It wasn’t just the lexicon that “got me pissed”. It was the characters. A band go and stay in a haunted house to practise their songs as loudly as they want. A band. They’re all cunts. Enough said.

My favourite character was a dog they found at the side of the road (very surprised that the word ‘sidewalk’ wasn’t used). This dog was probably the most dynamic of the bunch. The band members were all caricatures: The sex-god lead singer, the one with the ego, the smooth saxophonist, the shy & retiring one, the feisty female… You know the score.

I couldn’t wait for them all to die.

I honestly have nothing else to say about this book. Certain moments of it were quite gruesome, and his descriptions of terror were quite believable. It was all just a little too repetitive for my liking.
I award this book a very mediocre 3 stars. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read and I breezed through it in a couple of days. I’m kind of disappointed because one of his other titles, “Ghost Monster” looks amazing. I don’t know whether to be put off… C’mon – it’s a GHOST MONSTER!
Profile Image for Cassandra.
89 reviews
June 17, 2014
When I first began to read this book it got to me. I don't dabble in Horror that often but usually when I do I'm pretty disapointed. And at first throughout the first 200 pages or so of this book, it had me on edge. And then it ended. Seriously? That was a the worst ending ever. It didnt explain anything, didnt explain why the tower was the way that it was, what the backround of it was. the backround of Cantley. And how a couple of them died. That was just plain ridiculous. One was pushed down into mud? Really? I understand that the house has supernatural abilities, but c'mon. These are some pretty ridiculous things. House on haunted hill was better than this and thats a crappy horror movie, and horror movies suck compared to most novels.

I like the way that it was written, it was brilliantly written really. And I loved how he was so descriptive, that was the reason why I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the book. But I have to admit, that the ending left me disapointed. There could have just been a more thought out ending than that, it seemed very rushed. \

Other than my issues with the deaths/murders and the supernatural ridiculousness of it. I give the book a 3 out of 5. It had me glued to its pages till the very end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Wayne.
938 reviews21 followers
November 15, 2022
Sort of an odd story by one of my favorite authors. The premise is a good one. It's just the way it was presented that was off. It also covered the same events in different chapters. For example, The Tower gave the guests bad dreams. We are told in detail of the dreams. Then, some in the very next chapter, the dreams become reality. So, we get to read the same pieces twice. Also, the ending was a bit too much for me.

A musical group is house sitting at an out of the way dwelling. The Tower has been many things over the years, but never lasts long. This time around, it is going to be fancy apartments. So, the music group agrees to stay a month. They get to practice their songs as loud as they want that they plan to record soon. The evil presence of The Tower takes over along with a nutter who lives in a shed on the property. A bit odd.


Profile Image for Nicole.
306 reviews24 followers
December 27, 2015
Okay...not BAD. It took me the second time around to finish this book. It really wasn't terrible but it certainly was read on a day when it was too cold to bus to the library and so I made do with what was already in my bookshelf that I hadn't already read twice. You'll have to ignore some typos and I even caught a scene when the wrong character's name was used, but aside from that, it was interesting and I am a sucker for haunted house stories that are half-way decent.

The dreams the house gave each character and their repeated appearance was a bit redundant and the house plucking each tenant off on by one thanks to the help of it's on-resident creepy-lacky was creepily formulaic. But again, go into it with low expectations and you'll enjoy yourself. Think of it like a horror movie starring Paris Hilton. As long as you aren't thinking too deeply while you watch it, it won't be too bad.
Profile Image for Joshua Hair.
Author 1 book106 followers
July 15, 2025
Overall this is a surprisingly good horror novel. Not groundbreaking or anything, but much better than I expected. The ending, however, was pretty weak. 3.5 stars.
Profile Image for Allie.
357 reviews8 followers
June 10, 2015
Even though I've rated this three stars, I don't think it's of the same calibre as other 3 star books.

A few things. This was in dire need of a good editor; there was repetition in the narrative of significant details, mispelled names, mixing Fabian and Fisher up a lot.
Profile Image for Nick.
45 reviews1 follower
August 26, 2012
I figured I'd give this book a try because of the Bentley Little blurb on the cover, but what's that saying about covers and books and not judging?

This is not to say I disliked the story, but it just didn't do it for me. The Tower of the title is indeed a spooky old house and I think that Clark created an interesting history and environment for the characters to exist in, but I had a hard time investing with said characters.

I don't know why, I mean I love music, but I generally dislike stories and novels about musicians. That is my fault, not the author's. Just something I gotta deal with somehow, but that definitely hurt the story for me. Another thing is, how many times can you use the word "ghost" as a verb before it becomes grating? As in the sound "ghosted" through the air. Again, maybe it's just me.

That being said, I will probably give Clark another day in court. He did build an interesting world in The Tower, and that makes him worthy of a second chance, I think. And he looks like such a friendly guy, I'd feel bad if I didn't try to like his stuff.
Profile Image for H3yd00.
159 reviews1 follower
January 14, 2008
I really enjoyed Blood Crazy, but all of his books after that are hit or miss with me. This was a fun read, but not his best. Parts of it were a bit farfetched, even for a "supernatural" horror.
Profile Image for June Guymon.
315 reviews22 followers
June 28, 2012
An effortlessly readable dose of eerie thrills, but noy the best in this genre that i've ever read.
Profile Image for Will Farrar.
Author 3 books6 followers
January 25, 2019
There were way too many grammar errors and typos. I can usually ignore a few, but this was ridiculous. Clark needs a descent editor.
Profile Image for Janet.
3,341 reviews24 followers
October 5, 2020
I liked the creepy vibe feel and the house. It just wasn't my favorite out of all the books I've read by this author.
Profile Image for Ron Kerrigan.
720 reviews3 followers
June 15, 2022
I enjoyed the author's "The Judas Tree," but couldn't finish this one. First hint I was in trouble was one character's experience in a room that seemed to close in on him. Knew it was a dream or delusion, neither of which make a good haunted house episode. When the mysterious "man in the bunker," impales a live rat on a spike, I quit. (Maybe that's a spoiler, but I'd be doing you a favor if it prevented your wasting time on this.)
Profile Image for Leighah.
324 reviews4 followers
October 25, 2024
I love reading older horror book and this one didn't disappoint. The way the author captured the feeling of menace in the house was really well done. The characters were likeable but I cant lie Jaks was my favourite. I also liked how the ending was left open to make you wonder if they eventually go back. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
Profile Image for Gloria Zared.
17 reviews
March 25, 2019
Interesting

The novel starts at a good pace, the beginning in intriguing and let you wanting to know more the then the pace slows and it’s a little hard to keep the interest but the end is good even do some details are missing
Profile Image for Kristen.
1,264 reviews16 followers
November 1, 2017
I liked it for the most part, but it ended sort of abruptly. It has an unfinished feel to it, plus the story overall could use a bit of fleshing out. Another 50 pages or so would have helped.
Profile Image for Marnie Z.
1,039 reviews9 followers
May 19, 2020
I enjoyed this, I am a sucker for creepy house books
90 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2017
Typical horror movie plot. A couple of twists and gasps, but nothing really very interesting.
Profile Image for William M..
605 reviews66 followers
June 28, 2011
The Tower proves once again that Simon Clark is one of the top 10 horror writers working today. I've read a ton of haunted house type books, and thought I've seen it all. However, Clark's originality has added even more layers to the genre. There were two specific ideas in this book that I had never read before in horror that really impressed me (a horror twist involving an echo and reflections in a window). The story was so fast paced I finished this book in 3 days. Clark's writing is superb and his characters are interesting and relatable.

My only complaint is with Leisure Books, the publisher. I've been a devoted fan of the company for years and it's time I put my foot down. This book has a TON of spelling errors that are inexcusable for a professional publishing house. They seriously need to FIRE the copy editor for letting these errors get to the printer. If that's not bad enough, on page 241, there is a character talking about someone else with the same name! Guys! Wake up! This is not high school. This is embarrassing. Please contact me and I'll do a better copy editing job for free. Seriously. Anyway, Simon Clark is not at fault for this problem, but it definitely takes you out of the story when things are spelled incorrectly.
482 reviews18 followers
May 14, 2011
The Tower is my favorite Simon Clark novel by far. Well, that’s not really the best way to put it. It is the only Simon Clark novel I even like but I like it quite a lot. Maybe I’m a bit biased because the main characters are members in a rock group and I can relate to them, but it has a different feel than the other Clark books I’ve read. It is, quite simply, yet another house story. All right, haunted tower story. The band become its house-sitters, and plan on using it to get some new material written and practice, but the Tower apparently doesn’t enjoy their music because…well you’ll have to read it for yourselves. Maybe I’m the crazy one because, as of May 2011, the Tower has an average rating of 2.9. I don’t get that when a novel as mediocre as Blood Crazy earned itself a 4.11. Oh well, I recommend the Tower for horror fans.
Profile Image for Jan.
867 reviews44 followers
April 12, 2010
A newly formed band agrees to housesit a remote Yorkshire house while getting their music together for a recording session. It does not take long before the musicians start having nightmares in which they die. The dreams are so real that they awake surprised to still be alive. Slowly, they realize that it is only a matter of time before the dreams become real. Now the task is to escape a house that really, really wants them to stay.

I liked this book. It was scary but not too graphic. I think the characters were well done and not just cookie cutter horror story characters. I would have liked more backstory on the house and there were some loose ends that I would have liked tied up.
Profile Image for Lacey.
19 reviews1 follower
May 30, 2013
The story keeps you on your toes, however there were a few things that kept me from rating this 5 stars. It is a "creepy" haunted house kind of story that reminded me of the film "The Haunting" with Liam Neeson. There is strong language and sex, and I'm not a fan of reading stories that have that kind of content. There were also phrases and words that were repeated too often, so much so that I wanted to find a Thesaurus. I felt that the ending was lacking, and there were many questions that had not been answered.
Profile Image for Tammy.
7 reviews4 followers
May 29, 2012
Good story, kept moving forward, fast! That's what I like in a book, when the story starts to bog down with too much fill in that doesn't move the story forward it looses me.

Fisher was a great lead character, strong, but not bullying.

Fabian was a pain in the butt!!! But then, someone has to be that character...right!?! lol!! But he turned out alright in the end.

I have never read a Simon Clark story before, and will now be reading more of his work.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews

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