This is a book that might give you some jump scares at places unexpected. So, enter at your own risk!
Last year after having interviewed Director, Producer, Actor, and Author Anirban Bhattacharya on my Virtual Talk Show, I immediately felt inclined to pick his newly released book then, ‘Enter At Your Own Risk’. The day I got it I kept it on my coffee table and got busy with errands, and that evening I had guests at my home. The book still lay there at the centre of the table and my guest surely caught his eyes on its cover and borrowed it from me. So, I got it back after some four-five months, and how much anxiously I was waiting to read the book. By now I was watching the reviews pouring in, and my level of impatience increased and I asked my friend to return my book.
I began reading it soon I had it in my hands, one story after another, I couldn’t stop myself from devouring the words fully. The narration is life like and vivid, it gives you full imagery of the horror tales and by the end your mouth might remain agape, either wanting for more or for the cliffhanger ending. The tales surely have the spine-chilling factor and might give you the creeps if you have a lucid imagination like mine. The stories are totally fiction but have been inspired from the real haunting places like Bhangarh in Rajasthan which is considered the most haunted place on earth, Agarsen Ki Baoli, or even the Headless Ghost tale famous in Darjeeling.
The author has channelized the spirits or apparitions or the tales famous about the haunted places in a most creative way merging his part of fiction efficiently. The descriptions of modern day lovers ending up in a haunted place, to a bygone era brought alive through the precise descriptions of the places, people, and events happening is what I loved the most. The description of the ghosts and their appearance it all seemed too natural to me and the climax of the stories begins immediately so you get a pure horror experience altogether. My most loved stories from the book are ‘The Mysterious Suicides’ and ‘The Headless Ghost’ these had an animated effect on me and I didn’t feel like I was reading them, I felt I was watching them as a movie or some series. My only thirst that remains- wish the stories could have been longer because I couldn’t fathom, that they finished too fast. Perhaps the author might develop a full-fledged novel one day around them. For now, I would highly recommend this book, if you want horror and bone-chilling experience both, from well crafted stories by Author Anirban Bhattacharya.
Anirban Bhattacharyya is an Indian television producer, author, standup comedian, and actor. He is the creator and producer of the hit true crime TV series Savdhaan India and Ishq Kills. Bhattacharyya released his debut book entitled The Deadly Dozen: India's Most Notorious Serial Killers[1] which is published by Penguin India. The book was launched[2] by film-director Anurag Kashyap. The book has been endorsed by actors John Abraham, Ayushmann Khurrana, Ronit Roy and film directors Kiran Rao, Shashanka Ghosh, and writer Jayant Kripalani.
Bhattacharyya's true crime book, India's Money Heist: The Chelembra Bank Robbery, was published by Penguin India. The book is about the Chelembra bank robbery.[3] and it was launched by actor Mohanlal[4]
In 2023 he released his fifth book The Hills Are Burning which is a memoir of his friends and him growing up in a boarding school in Kalimpong set against the genesis and the subsequent violence and human rights violations of the Gorkhaland movement of 1986.[5]
In July 2024 his debut horror anthology Enter At Your Own Risk was published by Fingerprint Publishers.
In 2024, a campaign called 'Fit My Feet' about customised footwear for people inflicted with club feet that Anirban directed and co-produced for McCaan Worldgroup won Gold and Bronze at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024 [6]
He writes an opinion and political column for The New Indian Express[7] and a true crime column for Mathrubhumi.
His book 'Swipe Right to Kill' chronicles details of 2018 Jaipur Tinder murder case. Published by Penguin India, the book was released on 22 August 2024 on SoftCover.
Profile Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anirban_Bhattacharyya
Review by Monalisa Joshi, Founder, Director & Chief Editor ( Chrysanthemum Chronicles)
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