Book Review: A Bad Day for Voodoo by Jeff Strand

A Bad Day for Voodoo
Author: Jeff Strand
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Horror/Humor
Released: June 5th 2012
Review Source: Sourcebooks
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) When your best friend is just a tiny bit psychotic, you should never actually believe him when he says, "Trust me. This is gonna be awesome."

Of course, you probably wouldn't believe a voodoo doll could work either. Or that it could cause some one's leg to blow clean off with one quick prick. But I've seen it. It can happen.

And when there's suddenly a doll of YOU floating around out there—a doll that could be snatched by a Rottweiler and torn to shreds, or a gang of thugs ready to torch it, or any random family of cannibals (really, do you need the danger here spelled out for you?)—well, you know that's just gonna be a really bad day ...

We’ve all have had those people in our lives who just get under our skin and irritate us to no end. Unfortunately, I’ll be the first to admit, that I even had some not so nice thoughts about them. That’s how our man Tyler feels in this novel. The protagonist of the novel, Tyler, is a normal teenage guy who is just trying to get by, like everyone else. For Tyler though, there is just one person who he can’t stand. In his mind, he feels that he has probably the worst teacher imaginable who has a special vendetta out for him. His friend Adam comes up with a very peculiar plan for pay back in the form of a voodoo doll, in which he got from the local fortune teller. Just playing along with this friend’s little game, Tyler pokes the doll in the leg, and watches in horror as his teacher’s leg pops off. This sends Tyler on a series of misfortunate events all around his town, filled with missing body parts, cannibals, and plenty of voodoo.

A Bad Day For Voodoo is written like a horror comedy; like one of those movies where you wonder what made them make this, but you’re secretly glad they did. That’s the sort of vibe you get from this book. Author Jeff Strand creates a storyline full of humor, with somewhat random happenings throughout, that really caters to the teen fan base. That randomness of humor is a fun twist that sneaks up on the reader causing little laughs along the way. While not a very serious story, this novel is deviously fun and should be read by people who want a little craziness in a new read.