{"id":16340,"date":"2021-11-22T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=16340"},"modified":"2021-11-14T22:54:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T03:54:21","slug":"review-boy-with-spider-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16341\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/the-boy-with-the-spider-face-lr\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?fit=518%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"518,800\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?fit=518%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-16341\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?resize=227%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks\" width=\"227\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?resize=227%2C350&amp;ssl=1 227w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?w=518&amp;ssl=1 518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 227px) 85vw, 227px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystallakepub.com\/cover-reveal-the-boy-with-the-spider-face-by-aj-franks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>The Boy with the Spider Face<\/i><\/b><\/a><b> by AJ Franks<br \/>\n<\/b><b>Crystal Lake Publishing (November 26, 2021)<br \/>\n<\/b><b>126 pages; TBA paperback; TBA e-book<br \/>\n<\/b><b>Reviewed by <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SadieHartmann\"><b>Sadie \u201cMother Horror\u201d Hartmann<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this young adult, coming-of-age horror novella, AJ Franks imagines what life would look like for a teenage boy with an actual spider-face. The story unfolds rather quickly with the protagonist, Jeff Pritchet, struggling to lead a normal life but realizing that nothing will be easy for a boy with his unique condition. At school, Jeff befriends \u201cthe new kid\u201d which introduces a combination of subtle queer themes and very heavy-handed racism.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jeff\u2019s parents and the parents of his new friend are disapproving of their boys hanging out together. Things escalate quickly as the story winds down to its violent climax. Franks leaves the door open for the potential to position this novella as an origin story in order to develop a certain storyline further.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to the style of the writing and the use of familiar body horror tropes, <em>The Boy with the Spider Face<\/em> would have maybe been better served as a graphic novel. The descriptions of Jeff\u2019s mutations, like an emerging thorax, were tough to visualize, leaving the reader to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. It was confusing to understand how Jeff\u2019s human form and arachnid parts functioned as a whole. Equally confusing were Jeff\u2019s parents. The character development just didn\u2019t have enough time in the oven for readers to buy into some of the over-the-top hostility and violence, again suggesting this story would make a kick-ass comic. As a novella, it just falls really short of reader expectations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks Crystal Lake Publishing (November 26, 2021) 126 pages; TBA paperback; TBA e-book Reviewed by Sadie \u201cMother Horror\u201d Hartmann In this young adult, coming-of-age horror novella, AJ Franks imagines what life would look like for a teenage boy with an actual spider-face. The story unfolds rather quickly &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80],"tags":[2495,93,1572,79,1545,2494],"class_list":["post-16340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-aj-franks","tag-crystal-lake-publishing","tag-mother-horror","tag-reviews","tag-sadie-hartmann","tag-the-boy-with-the-spider-face"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks - Cemetery Dance Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie &quot;Mother Horror&quot; Hartmann reviews The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cemetery Dance Online\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"headline\":\"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-22T12:00:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":284,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR-227x350.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AJ Franks\",\"Crystal Lake Publishing\",\"Mother Horror\",\"Reviews\",\"Sadie Hartmann\",\"The Boy with the Spider Face\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks - Cemetery Dance Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR-227x350.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-22T12:00:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"description\":\"Sadie \\\"Mother Horror\\\" Hartmann reviews The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?fit=518%2C800&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?fit=518%2C800&ssl=1\",\"width\":518,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"cover of The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-boy-with-spider-face\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/reviews\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"description\":\"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks - Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Sadie \"Mother Horror\" Hartmann reviews The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cemetery Dance Online","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/"},"author":{"name":"Cemetery Dance Online","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"headline":"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks","datePublished":"2021-11-22T12:00:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/"},"wordCount":284,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR-227x350.jpg","keywords":["AJ Franks","Crystal Lake Publishing","Mother Horror","Reviews","Sadie Hartmann","The Boy with the Spider Face"],"articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/","name":"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks - Cemetery Dance Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR-227x350.jpg","datePublished":"2021-11-22T12:00:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"description":"Sadie \"Mother Horror\" Hartmann reviews The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?fit=518%2C800&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/The-Boy-with-the-Spider-Face-LR.jpg?fit=518%2C800&ssl=1","width":518,"height":800,"caption":"cover of The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-boy-with-spider-face\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/reviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Review: The Boy with the Spider Face by AJ Franks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Cemetery Dance Online"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p81cXa-4fy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16340"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16343,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16340\/revisions\/16343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}