I don't know why, but it was fun.
920857
Edward Lee, City Infernal (Leisure, 2003)
Edward Lee has been around, it seems, just about forever as far as horror authors go. During the eighties, he was considered one of the rising stars, going so far as to get some of his stories in the then-groundbreaking Night Visions anthology (and "Doing Colfax" will never be erased from my memory). Then the horror market died. Lee, unlike many of his brethren, continued to publish in small specialty presses. Those books are now worth a small fortune. And he still continues to publish; his newest novel, as of this writing, is City Infernal. And a typical Edward Lee gut-churner it is.
Cassie and Lissa are identical twins who are enamored of the early nineties goth scene in DC. Lissa catches her boyfriend kissing Cassie, at which point she kills both him and herself. Their mother is long gone, so Cassie and her father are left on their own. A couple of years later, the two of them move out to the country. The house they move to just happens to be a gateway to hell, inhabited by three of hell's outcasts, Xeke, Via, and Hush. Through them, Cassie may finally get a chance to do what she's wanted to since the incident: apologize to her sister.
Okay, so extreme horror is no longer the shock that it was when Lee published "Doing Colfax," the characters have only a shade more depth than cardboard cutouts, and the whole thing is really kind of predictable (though he does throw in a few twists, some explicit and some implied, at the end that will catch the reader off-guard). So why, then, is Ed Lee's stuff such a fun read?
Good question, and one to which I really don't have an answer. City Infernal is more Ghouls than it is The Bighead; you're not going to find anything groundbreaking, and in the harsh light of day this will likely end up being considered one of Lee's minor novels rather than a piece of the classic Lee canon. But still, it's a ball. He creates the Mehistopolis, the major city in hell, as lovingly as China Mieville creates Perdido Street Station's New Crobuzon, and has just as much fun describing it. The Mephistopolis is what Dickens could have done with his place descriptions in A Tale of Two Cities if he hadn't been so stultifyingly verbose.
I will warn you, a good number of horror fans will probably be bored off their butts with this book. But as Adam Parfrey said of the music of NON, "to the chosen few, it is pure balm for the soul." ***
4529002
I had a lot of fun watching this with my kids.
840999
It was interesting. I like the switching of character.
341955
What a pleasant surprise. A wasn't expecting this to be as much fun as it was.
2988012
I bought this as a gift for my friend because I had so much fun with mine.
1446795
I played with some friends and we all had a blast. I have known most of them for a decade, so I think that might have something to do with it. I don't know if it would be as fun if I played with friends that I haven't known as long.
3972613
I wasn't sure what  to expect but the film ended up being fun to watch. Some quite humorous situations which kept it from being boring (it's a LONG one!).
4367736
I wasn't sure about this when it arrived but the youngster who received it has been having fun.
1805877
It was fun!  It was meant for the kids, but all of us had a blast.
2821811
A fun ride for sure.  Not really my genre, but I really enjoyed this -- -- -- -- -- --
3755953
I enjoyed it, for whatever reason the main character didn't draw me in,  but there were enough twists for me to enjoy it.
2126532
I really enjoyed this movie. I am not a big fan of this type but it was a lighthearted fun time.
4081007
I was surprised that this game has nothing to do with my favorite board game, but found that it was a lot of fun to play.
3444785
I was pleasantly surprised by how fun this game was.  I wasn't sure if it would be great or a flop.  But we played it three times last night and it was exciting and fun.
2663619
I little difficult to figure out how to play but once we got started we had fun.
2528506
I don't usually laugh when I read. This was short and fun.
109750
This was fun.  The 3D version was not overdone or campy, it was just enough effect to get those "wow" moments.