First, I'd like to preface this by saying that the Satanic Panic and demonic possession subgenres are some of my least favorite. That being said, the pacing and John Saul's writing were pitch-perfect and the slow burn build kept me engaged and interested up until the short but wacky ending.

3.75/5

This is a very scary book right from the start. I only gave it three stars because of the detailed animal abuse that I think the story didn’t necessarily need. I think the horror portrayed by this abuse should have been done in another way. I read the whole book and even with the animal abuse in it, the book is hard to put down. Great horror book otherwise.

Now here's an example of a book that's perfectly readable, but sucks all the same. John Saul has a difficult time writing scary scenes. He puts a lot of NooOOO's, and other silly things that totally detract from the horror. Where he shines is character development, but when you're writing a horror novel, shouldn't it at least be somewhat scary? This one wasn't, but again, perfectly readable.

It has quite a slow start, I almost gave up on it, but it builds up to be very scary towards the end.

I gave this book a 1 one star rating - only because it was a supernatural horror story and I don't enjoy those. However, if you as a reader enjoy supernatural stories that involve the devil, satanism, voodooism (is that a real word?) and blood and gore, including animal sacrifice - then you will probably enjoy this book.

Rounded up from 2.5. This is basically the disappointing offspring of “The Shining” and “The Exorcist.” This book was basically “inoffensive” and easy to read. But it was also not even remotely scary. For the most part, it was predictable and the scary moments were about as creative as someone jumping out and yelling “boo.” At most, some scenes were unsettling and gross, but so cliche. The biggest flaw that detracted from the fear and the suspense is that none of the characters really seemed to feel especially scared or disturbed until the very end. There was a sense of “something not right,” but it was vague and didn’t really seem to bother anyone that much.

John Saul is as always a very descriptive writer his words challenge you to be able to put the book down as they draw you into the world that he has created. As always I enjoyed his work immensely, but the ending killed it for me. See if I don't like the ending, it just ruins the whole story for me. But I loved the way he described some parts of the book very much, so I would recommend it to others. Not his best, but not his worst either.

Ted and Janet Conway move into Ted’s ancestral home in Louisiana, along with their children (teenage twins Jared and Kim, and baby Molly) after Ted’s estranged aunt dies. Ted is an alcoholic who was just fired from his job so this seems like a fresh beginning for them. But the house has a legacy of evil that, at first, they try to overlook. But as time goes by, and strange things start happening, along with the total change of behavior in their son Jared, they realize they were wrong in moving here.

It was a very creepy, chilling, and captivating read. The house itself was quite eerie, with descriptions of long gloomy halls, darkness outside the windows that goes on and on, a dank and spooky cellar, and people having horrifying dreams within the house. The story was easy to read and I was always looking forward to getting back to the book to see what was going to happen next.

Another fine thriller by John Saul.

I read him and Stephen King quite a bit decades ago. Although my taste in books has changed dramatically since then, I picked this one up at a book sale at my library because it sounded interesting. Partway through, I thought it was going to be to "out there" for me but the bulk of the story was something that could be true to life so I persevered. While it was typical John Saul, (at least what I remember), the believable part of the story kept me reading even as it became pure fantasy. Liked it but I think I've had all the John Saul I need at this point.

A little bit creepy old house, a little bit devil worship, a whole lot of murder, blood and sacrifice. It’s good vs. evil in this horror novel by John Saul and it’s a battle to the end to find out which side wins. John Saul fans will not be disappointed by “The Right Hand of Evil.”

I had forgotten how much I enjoy his writing. Great read.

This is one of the most scariest books I've read so far. The way the author put life into his words really sparked my imagination (well it mostly scared the heck out of me). I distincly remember how scary the flow of the story got especially as it neared the climax.