Christopher Bloodworth has a very captivating writing style. I first found his stories on Reddit: NoSleep, and I can't say I wasn't excited to find some of his books outside of it on site's like Amazon. I've always had a penchant for Horror as a genre, and NoSleep is usually my escape for that, because of the intense originality of the stories. Christopher Bloodworth is one of my more favoured authors there.
Darkness Blooms is a very dark horror story about a girl who goes back to her childhood home in order to get her father's journal. Her father has gone missing. She goes into his greenhouse where he used to grow his orchids, and what she finds there is terrifying to behold.
This book really takes you into the minds of the characters in a dark and gritty way. You learn the deep fissures that have been cut into the family ties, and you also find out some very dark destructive history behind the disappearance of her father. The character is Sylvia, who is not only fierce, but she is strong in character and wits. It is truly her quick thinking that gets her through everything she comes across. However, there is always someone, or some thing, that is quicker or smarter, and this is something Sylvia has to face too.
I'm still unclear on some of the history of the story, but it reads wonderfully, and the depictions of the plants are grand.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I liked it at first but I hated the ending where after everything she whent through to die at the end I didn't like it but the beginning was good and the middle too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Holy crap! This is a truly disturbing story. The memories that we relive with Sylvia show just how terrible her home life was, but the terrors that she faces after returning to the empty house is one that will leave you disturbed (it did me anyway). Creating terrifying enemies, Christopher Bloodworth has crafted a truly disturbing story.
There book made no sense. There was no plot, no explanation of what happened and why. It was just a bunch of weird stuff or together with no story don't recommend
Disturbing, creepy and intriguing from the first page.
“Her neck had three purplish bumps on it, each had a twisted black root sticking out from the bump. The tip of the root was red.”
“Darkness Blooms” by Christopher Bloodworth 3.5 out of 5 stars!
There’s just something intriguing about weird, unknown and creepy plants / nature that people just can’t stay away from. Humans are drawn to use their senses to comprehend and in many ways, that’s not the smartest idea. Anyone remember Stephen King’s “Meteor Shit” Creepshow skit or Bryan Smith’s “The Ruins”? Aside from the comedy, this reminded me of both.
“Darkness Blooms” plays the ecological and mind bending horror as the characters are curious, yet later understand the deadly plants. This is a quick, gripping novella as we follow Sylvia in her memories of her grandfather, Papere, as she goes home to collect his belongings after he went “missing.” Readers learn that Sylvia had a hard childhood at the home and understand why she didn’t return after she left for college. Her grandparents raised her but she did not have a strong relationship with her step-grandmother, Mamere. Her Papere had a journal and a green thumb for orchids. She found the old journal and decided to take an orchid but learned of the horrors that took over his greenhouse. The bizarre plants have a agenda and they work to trap Sylvia there in the dilapidated house as we learn about her grandfather. With sharp barbs, roots and teeth, the plants move and utilize their strengths to attack Sylvia but through desperation she finds their weakness.
The plot was hearty and as a always, I wanted more than this short novella offered. I felt there were minor holes in the story. The scene descriptions and thoughts were vivid and disturbing. As a reader, I wanted to know the days or actions that lead to Papere’s “disappearance” as well as how the journal tied the Croatoan history into the plants, especially if he never truly touched it after his last entries. I wanted more about her grandparents history and home considering Mamere’s demeanor.
Overall, this novella was disturbing, creepy and intriguing from the first page. It was my first experience by Christopher Bloodworth and I look forward to more of his work.
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars for Goodreads and Amazon. Please visit my website or GoodReads profile for more reviews! Thank you!
Un libro muy corto, el cual te lees en un rato debido al contenido. Te adentras en la piel de Sylvia, una chava que ha estado renuente de su familia debido a sucesos del pasado. Un día recibe la llamada de su abuela para informarle que se irá de casa porque su abuelo desapareció, que si desea algo de la casa que venga el día siguiente, sino todo lo donara y venderá la casa. Rápidamente Sylvia se sube a su carro y se va a casa de su abuelo... Lo que no esperaba es que se encontraría con algo muy aterrador. Un libro que te mantiene en suspenso todo el rato, que no sabes que harías en su situación. Algo malvado se esconde y tiene hambre, te da ansiedad por situaciones que dices "no te pases!! Osea es tu familia, cómo puedes liberar eso!!" No puedo decir más, solo léanlo!!! Tiene un final que te saca de mucha onda y que te deja con la boca abierta, hay historias cortas que no necesitan muchas palabras, para dejarte helado y sin habla... lo malo solo está en inglés.
So I discovered Christopher Bloodworth by searching for Creepypasta stories, which then led me to his books on Amazon.
I was able to pick this one up for free as a kindle download on Amazon. It's a short, quick read however I did enjoy it. Someone said that there's no plot nor an answer to what happens in the story but I'm one of those people who enjoys books like that. Take it for the creativity that it is and open your own mind to the possibilities of the 'cause'.
A good story, even if it did make me itch in parts. Probably wouldn't recommend to someone who.suffers from trypophobia.
It was a fun and quick read. The ending was intriguing and left on a cliff hanger that could leave room for a sequel.
Usually I don't like open endings with not a lot of questions answered, but I enjoyed this one. Although I would have liked a couple of things fleshed out more, but I think it did well for a novella.
Both creepy and awesome, this short was pretty good. I did feel like there was a lot missing, things that should have been explained and fleshed out further.
What did I just read??? I hate to give books bad reviews, but I've got to be honest, this book was like a modern twist of Little Shop Of Horrors (without any music---which cost an extra star), but a major fail.
The author never explained anything! He never explained why mamere needed Sylvia as a sacrifice or how the plants got to the house or how the plants came into existance or why papere was killed and who helped pin him up or what the spider plant thing was. The book just ends mentioning a map in a book with keys and symbols, but never explains what they mean or the significance of the book itself. This book had so many unanswered questions I thought I was watching PLL. I hate that the reader is left hanging in the end. I like for my reads to make sense and this story was nonsense. It just didnt come together overall. I'm sorry, but this book tried so hard to be something that it just never became. It wanted to be scary, but was rather cheesy. It wanted to be good, but was a fail. The best part of the book was the page that said, "The End". To each his own. Maybe if it were longer or had a really good part 2 that explained everything (anything, but aliens...) then I would be willing to give it a try. One thing I did like was the identity of the scarecrow (the one big reveal). 1 🌟.
A young girl returns to her childhood home to retrieve her grandfather's journal after his death. Her visits triggers some dark memories from her childhood. She also finds that the greenhouse contains more than the orchids she remembers. These plants are much more dangerous.
This is a creepy short tale (just under 80 pages). It keeps you wanting to turn the page to find out what happens next. The only downside is that the ending leaves the reader hanging a little bit as it suddenly switches the question of what is happening to why it's happening. Still well worth a read.
Quick, easy, and very entertaining. Finished this book in two sittings. Love the premise of the story. Sylvia comes across as a lively character with a history and some attitude that carries her through the strange ordeal in which she finds herself. Although the middle of the story does feel like it dragged on in the middle. Its well worth pushing past for the climactic ending and the awesome epilogue that closes out the tale leaving room for more stories within this universe.
honestly not my jam, but I still found that I was entertained. So my expectations was high in regards to the author, but the premise not so much. Glad that Bloodworth pulled it off. I got this for free on Amazon, and you can't really argue with that price, I might have been more critical had I paid money for it.
I was 20% into this book and ready to give up, but I'm glad I didn't cause that's when things started to get good. Slow start, but once things started happening, it had my attention for sure.
Intriguing enough for me to want to read more of his work... Not my genre and not polished, but still deliciously and irresistibly creepy and compelling.