Michael Bray, $1.59, ISBN 978-1540172433
Horror, 2016

Now, I’ve been lectured and heckled at repeatedly by people that insist that horror stories are meant to be powered by the stupidity of the characters in these stories.

I never can understand that logic, because that’s like me saying that romance heroines need to be dumb and useless in order for the romance to happen. Sure, many authors do that, but that doesn’t mean that what they are doing is the way to go. 

It’s like those stupid trends on TikTok. Just because everyone decides to shove a gas pump hose up their rear end for a gasoline enema, that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing, right?

This brings me to Michael Bray’s Scarecrows. Yes, as the title would suggest, this one has a farm full of sinister scarecrows that may be more than meets the eye. 

The thing is, the three kids that find themselves in this farm don’t behave in any way like halfway sensible people. Their actions are dictated by plot, and they do not display any believable emotion given the situation they are in. Oh, one of them died? Let’s… have breakfast with the creepy old man that owns the farm! 

There’s atmosphere, and some good scenes here, but on the whole, my reaction is more of a pair of raised eyebrows and a grimace at how the these characters feel more mere puppets pulled around by the author. 

I’m giving this one there oogies because in some ways it works are a horror story, but I’m not moved to feel anything because the characters never come to life and hence, it’s hard to care about what happens to them.