Book review by Corey
Hex
HEX is set in Black Spring, a town cursed by the presence of Katherine van Wyler, a seventeenth-century witch whose eyes and mouth have been sewn shut. She wanders through homes and streets as if she belongs there, and the townspeople have built an entire system around hiding her existence from the outside world and keeping everyone under control.
What makes the book work is the mix of old-fashioned supernatural horror with modern technology and small-town paranoia. The witch is creepy, but the people around her become just as dangerous once fear, secrecy, and mob thinking take over. The story gets darker as it goes, and by the end it feels much more about what people are capable of than the curse itself.
The Goods
- Very creepy central idea
- Strong small-town atmosphere
- Good mix of supernatural and modern horror
- The tension keeps building
- People become as frightening as the witch
The Bads
- Some characters are hard to like
- The middle can feel slow
- A few decisions are frustrating
- The tone gets extremely bleak
- The ending may divide readers
My Recommendation
This is a great choice for readers who like supernatural horror, cursed towns, and stories where the real danger slowly shifts from the monster to the people around it. Katherine is a memorable horror figure, but the book becomes even more disturbing once fear and group behaviour start controlling the town. If you enjoy dark, unsettling horror with a strong atmosphere and a really nasty view of what people can become under pressure, HEX is definitely worth reading.
