Garden of Evil

After reading the Plante book Seed of Evil a couple years ago, I discovered that the author had penned a couple of other horror novels. Garden of Evil is one of those other books. This book contains several "classic" horror elements that fans of the genre will immediately recognize--a large old house, witchcraft, secrets, and yes, even the good old creepy cellar. With these elements under its arm, this book takes off in an interesting direction. culminating with the growth of cursed seeds planted by the main family's daughter. What comes of that growth is certainly terrifying, and as you visit each of the little girl's gardens planted north, south, east, and west of the house, the suspense grows page by page. And while "killer plants" have been done with much "cheese" and ridiculousness in other horror books and movies, Plante manages to pull it off with a minimum of "oh geez" groans and rolled eyes from the reader. A quick, solid read for horror fans.

This was my first book read by this author. I'm not easily satisfied when it comes to books, but this one wasn't that bad. It did have its moments when you were very interested, and others that left you wondering. It's about a man, his wife and her daughter who return to his family home due to his mothers illness. They stay longer than intended, even with his deep fears of the house and cellar. The daughter finds seeds in the cellar and plants them. From that, the carnage unfolds yet in more of a subtle manner than what you would anticipate. Doesn't turn out the way you expect. But a good leisurely read.