In a large, flaky nut­shell, the Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror Series is an nine-part sci-fi/fantasy/horror series that revolves around a pair of ghost hunters. Well, aspir­ing ghost hunters, any­way. After film­ing a creepy expe­ri­ence in her uncle’s dilap­i­dated light­house, 22-year old Perry Palomino becomes a YouTube and inter­net star overnight. She attracts the atten­tion of Dex Foray, a pro­ducer and cam­era­man for a site that spe­cial­izes in var­i­ous webisodes, who con­vinces her to be a host for a low-budget ghost hunt­ing series. The only prob­lem is, nei­ther Perry or Dex are entirely “with it” — I mean, they see ghosts, after all. And when the duo isn’t wrestling with their very notion of real­ity, they’re grap­pling with a work­ing rela­tion­ship that’s deep-cut with sex­ual ten­sion. As the series moves on, lead­ing Perry and Dex to new locales and super­nat­ural sit­u­a­tions, their lives become more and more inter­twined, where they dis­cover that ghosts aren’t the only things that can haunt them.

When April, the Steadfast Reader, first suggested I join the world of book blogging many moons ago, one of the things that kept me from jumping into the mix was feeling embarrassed about some of my reading choices. While I do enjoy reading a classic, I also really enjoy fun, easy, quick reads that usually fall into the categories of science fiction or fantasy. I could try to justify it by saying they fit into my hectic life as a graduate student, but, if I’m being really honest, it’s more because I like them. And I was initially embarrassed about publicly admitting that to anyone.

I’ve since changed by mind about that.

Every person has a few guilty pleasures. When it comes to something like food, it’s usually something we know we shouldn’t like, but it sure is damned tasty. For example (since I’m confessing everything else), I love fake cheese. Maybe it’s the color of orange that doesn’t appear anywhere in nature, or the sodium content that rivals a box of kosher salt. I don’t eat it everyday, but when I do allow myself a bit of a splurge, it’s near the top of the list. I think you can look at books the same way; the Faulkner Filet Mignon and the Harlequin ham and swiss. Fun, quick reads that you can consume quickly, like a plate of cheesy nachos. Lately, I’ve been snacking on a series by Karina Halle titled, Experiment in Terror. It’s comprised of 9 novels and several novellas that follow a couple of foul-mouthed ghost hunters who fall in love.

I started this series a couple of years back, likely the result of a Pixel of Ink find or daily Amazon free deal or something. I remember stumbling on it my first year of grad school. when there was a lull in the coursework that allowed me some time to pleasure read. The first book, Darkhouse, introduces the two main characters, Perry Palamino and Dex Foray, as they independently attempted to document paranormal activity at an Oregon lighthouse. Their excursions lead to Perry collaborated with Dex for a Seattle-based Internet paranormal investigation show titled, Experiment in Terror. The plots of books 2-7 follow Dex and Perry’s investigations, but early on, the reader discovers they both are endowed with supernatural gifts that inevitably complicate their situations. However, even with several near death experiences and a demonic possession, the show must go on. Intermingled with all the supernatural creatures, ghosts, and demons, the “will they, won’t they” between Perry and Dex builds to a climax (literally) at the end of Into the Hollow (Book 6). They continue to investigate for EIT in the next two books, but the difficulties inherent when two supernaturally sensitive people get together start making waves that tear holes between this world and Hell. At the end of Ashes to Ashes (Book 8), the EIT team calls it quits because shit got real with some demons in an old sanatorium for dying children. But, the even scarier sh*t goes down after the cameras stopped rolling. In the final installment, Dust to Dust, Dex’s demon brother whisks him away to their childhood home in an attempt to open a door to Hell on Earth, using Dex and Perry’s unique energy, as well as her sister’s and mother’s, to create an unsealable gateway.  Dex dies in the process, but Perry goes into the Thin Veil between Hell and Earth to bring him back. You know, because she loves him. And, on the junk food aisle, love usually conquers all. That doesn’t mean a few meaningful characters aren’t lost along the way, but did you really expect anything to really get in the way of a happy ending? And, since I spent the last year immersed in Westoros, I guess I was hoping for less of a happy ending. Thanks, GRRM, for ruining me, BTW. But, this is the kind of story that gets wrapped in a nice little bow, and ties up most of the loose ends to leave the reader with the good feels. I admit that I have the warm fuzzies as the series came to a close at Dex and Perry’s wedding.

Having said that, like with any kind of junk food, there were moments were I just couldn’t stomach it and had to take a break.  Reading has become a bit of a thesis writing rebellion, so I devoured the last three books in about a week. By the time I was wrapping up Dust to Dust I was overly full and ready to stop eating. Fortunately, my gluttony for punishment won out in the end and I can say I’m now done. At times, it almost seemed to me that Halle was contractually obligated to include a certain number of racy sex scenes in each book. While I assume that is part of the appeal when there is a love story interwoven into the plot, it felt forced and overdone at times. Seriously, how many times do I really need to read about Dex’s insatiable need for intercourse and the lust in his dark eyes? Also, the swiftness at which I read these books felt like it was written at a young adult-ish level, but at times there was overuse of colloquialisms and profanity that I even felt was unnecessary, and I think the intimate scenes would have been more entertaining had Dex not wanted to “fuck the fuck out of her.” But probably the hardest thing to chew and swallow were the grammatical errors. They. Were. Rampant. Please, Karina, I beg you, get another editor.

But, at the end of the day, it is what it is: e-ink junk food wrought with too much sodium and added sugar that’s a lot of fun at the time, but once you’ve had your fill, you don’t go back right away. While I felt the storylines in the latter books were more engaging, the unnecessary sex and the bad editing  left that weird residue that interferes with my good impression of the product. And, in a few months, I will probably want something like that all over again.