Chapter by Chapter

This book scared the crap out of me! In all honesty, I had a hard time falling asleep after reading just a few chapters a night. And that’s what I absolutely loved about this book! I’m a huge fan of those Japanese horror movies such as The Ring and The Grudge, so The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco was exactly the horror read that I would enjoy, right to the end. As per Wikipedia, “The story of Okiku and the Nine Plates is one of the most famous in Japanese folklore, and continues to resonate with audiences today.”

The Girl from the Well is a story about a ghost, Okiku, who hunts and kills child killers. Why does she exact this type of revenge? Let’s just say that it has something to do with her past, over three hundred years ago, where she too, was a victim of such a heinous event.

For hundreds of years, she would terrorize those who deserved the worse kind of punishment for their crimes against children. It was business as usual, until one day, a new family moves into the neighbourhood. A new family that brings with it an interesting boy covered in tattoos. A boy that has no idea what else he has brought with him.

From the very first page, to the very last sentence, I was totally drawn to The Girl from the Well. I’m all for vengeful spirit stories and movies. As I’m sure you can all attest to, reading a scary book can be even more terrifying than watching a scary movie. Your mind can take you to places and see things that directors/producers/special effects/actors cannot do. And because of that, the actions that Okiku does against these sick individuals was magnified a hundred fold in my mind.

Even the little descriptions like the way in which the spirit would stutter walk/crawl, or whatever, was even scarier than anything that I’ve seen in the movies. My mind is a scary, scary place.

As I said in the beginning, I had a really hard time falling asleep once I got into this book. The visuals in my head were terrifying. There is not one, but two of these chilling spirits in the book, both scary in their own right.

I really enjoyed watching the connection and friendship between Okiku and Tark grow. It seemed like a new thing for the both of them. For Okiku because she has been a spirit with no mercy for so long, and not befriending anyone due to her line of work, and for Tark because he has always been bullied, pushed around, and considered down-right weird that no one would befriend him, which totally saddened me. Especially after you find out his past and what he has had to go through at such a young age.

I would recommend The Girl from the Well by Rin Cupeco to fans of Japanese horror films as listed at the beginning. If you’re looking for a read that will keep you up at night due to the storyline and the sheer scariness of the book, this one is definitely the one for you.