Comfortable in Hell: The Beginning

Comfortable in Hell: The Beginning by Karen Ann Carpenter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

                                   Description
It's happened to all of us, or has it? We see a photo of someone and become instantly obsessed. We can't eat, can't sleep-- we can barely function. We realize that the only thing that can even come close to calming our desires is to track down the object of our dreams and make him fall madly in love with us. But just how far would we go towards turning our fanatical dreams into reality? Meet Patsy Reilly. The feisty redhead from Brooklyn. She will stop at absolutely nothing to be with the man of her dreams. She may think she's about to track down that man, but she just might be about to uncover something evil instead.

                                                          Book Review
The story opens with a bit of suspense as young Patsy comes to find her friend, Petra's, boyfriend, Hans. As this is a horror story that is described as sensual, scary and bizarre, we expect her to still enter the home even though the door opened, no one answers her questions and she can't see inside or see anyone although they are urging her to enter. Upon entry is when the bizarre ensues. She discovers Krampus, the half-man/half-goat evil counterpart to Santa Claus. I have to say most of the story was confusing and left me with a few questions that I'm assuming will be answered in the stories that follow in the series. I found nothing sensual about Patsy's interactions with "Grandpa" or Hans. Gross? yes. Disgusting. yes? Odd? Definitely. "You have been unreel" was stated on multiple occasions. Was this a typo or was "unreal" misspelled on purpose? Why was Patsy so drawn to Hans?

Ouf of the words used to describe this novella, bizarre is the one that fits best. The horror nor the sensuality were displayed in this edition and this reader was left feeling largely confused.

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