Tighter by Adele Griffin
What a great cover for a ghost story! Unlike The House of Dead Maids, Tighter's cover accomplishes "spooky" without totally grossing me out. Instead I feel peril and an inescapable feeling of smothering.
I love how the image and the title complement one another. The title of the book is "Tighter" and immediately leads to questions of what is getting tighter? Who is doing the tightening? And who, exactly, is the recepient of this tightening?
The cover image only underscores these questions, while offering no answers. It is unclear whether the figure is trapped by the sheet and trying to get out...or if the sheet is preventing the figure from getting at you!
Have you ever laid on a bed, crawled under the sheets, and then looked through the sheets? That is what this image makes me think about. Like I am trapped under the sheets and some thing is trying to get at me! This feeling of being in bed means that I'm lying down. Lying down is such a vulnerable position, especially with something looming over you like that. This just makes the cover so much more frightening.
Or, is the figure the victim of the tightening--desperately struggling against the suffocating sheet? If that is the case, then it evokes all kinds of feelings of claustrophobia and suffocation. I feel like gasping for breath just looking at that cover!
The dual possibilities of the image reflect the confusion the reader goes through while reading the book. The reader is kept on their toes, constantly wondering if events are the result of a supernatural haunting or the drug-hazed mind of the unreliable narrator. The haziness of the image obscuring the nature of the figure is the final touch that makes the cover truly perfect for the story inside.
What do you think about this cover?
Do you like it? Dislike it?
Does it make you want to read the book?
Interested in covers?
Be sure to check out another Cover Crazy post by Gina from My Precious. Click here for more of my cover reviews!
Do you like it? Dislike it?
Does it make you want to read the book?
Come back tomorrow to read a special guest post from Adele Griffin! Adele will be explaining how this cover was chosen and sharing some of the proposed covers and early concept pictures!
Interested in covers? Be sure to check out another Cover Crazy post by Gina from My Precious. Click here for more of my cover reviews!
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This cover simultaneously reminds me of mummies and aliens - as if the person is being bound up in gauze or perhaps sealed into an egg pod. I am such a weirdo.
ReplyDeleteCreepy cover. It makes me feel claustrophobic just looking at it - and I don't normally have a problem with claustrophobia.
ReplyDeleteBTW...how did you hear about Adele Griffin? I haven't heard of her books anywhere other than here.
This book cover has definitely ALWAYS creeped me out...majorly... lol! :) I'm enjoying your posts about Adele Griffin! :)
ReplyDeleteI love this cover! Can't wait to find out about the secrets behind the cover! Looking forward to the rest of your Adele Griffin week! :)
ReplyDeleteI totally love this cover! It's way creepy, I won't even tell you what it made me think of initially though!
ReplyDeleteI loved this line:
ReplyDeleteTighter's cover accomplishes "spooky" without totally grossing me out.
I agree! And I love the shaky look on the title. This cover makes you do a double-take!
BTW, do you ever do gmail chat? :)
I love this cover! It does look completely creepy. This book is quite high on my TBR list and I can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best book covers I've seen in awhile. Intriguing, yet haunting.
ReplyDeleteThis cover creeps me out! It reminds me of a person pressing themselves against glass to try and look inside. It makes me want to shrink away.
ReplyDeleteI really like this cover too, it's one that makes you want to stare at it to see just what all you notice the longer you look. I like the monochromatic colors too, taupe/beige isn't really a color I would associate with being creepy or eerie, but it works really well on this cover I think!
ReplyDeleteI think this cover is almost as scary as The House of Dead Maids exactly because of that ambiguity; I wouldn't want it face-up because it might mean that the person would pop out at some time! I'm glad to know that it does capture the uncertainty present in the book though-love accuracy in covers.
ReplyDeleteIm here from the Comment Exchange!:D
ReplyDeleteI really like this cover, it makes the book almost seem scary, but also mysterious, making you want to read it(:
lida
www.turningpages94.blogspot.com
I've always been fond of this cover. Its so mysterious. I didn't know Tighter was a ghost story. I never really thought of the white material as a sheet. However, I've always had the feeling this person was above me looking down through the whiteness.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a crazy cover! Okay, now I have to try that with the sheets. lol The book's cover kind of scares me. It feels like a poltergeist to me. lol
ReplyDeleteLove the cover! It absolutely freaks me out!!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover! It gives me the heebie jeebies, but it makes me excited to read the book too!
ReplyDeleteLogan, Haha, no, no I get it. I think your impressions are very creative versions of what I was getting at. The alien association makes me think of being on an exam table with those hazy aliens hovering over you (and that’s so NOT ending well) and the mummy impression is kind of like being wrapped up and constricted.
ReplyDeleteT.B. I love the covers that make questions start swirling in your head. Those are the covers that make me really want to read the book the most.
Alison, Me too! I first heard about Adele Griffin when I won Tighter through Goodreads. I hadn’t heard of her before then, but after I read Tighter this past January I immediately sought out more of her books.
Sierra, Yay! I’m glad you’re enjoying them! There’s something so eerie about this cover.
Leanna, I can’t wait for you to read the book too! I hope you enjoy it :)
Bookish Brunette, Haha, oh where my imagination is taking me :P
A Backwards Story, Ooh, I agree about the title. I don’t even know what gmail chat is! I’m very much in the dark ages when it comes to that sort of thing. It’s a miracle I’m blogging :P Thank you for asking though!
Two Readers Reviews, You don’t have to wait anymore! I hope you enjoy it!
Lena, “Intriguing, yet haunting” You so perfectly described it!
Laura, Ooh, neat impression! I love how we all have similar impressions about some thing trying to get in. It’s very effective.
Jenny, That’s a great point! If anyone asked me what I think of when shown the color beige it isn’t “scary” at all. More like bland. Here though I think it’s the perfect color and heightens the creep factor. Interesting observation!
Bookworm1858, I love accuracy in covers too and this one is sooo accurate. It really captures the overarching feel and theme of the story.
Lisa, Thanks for stopping by! I agree, it’s scary but very intriguing.
Gina, I love seeing all our different impressions and how similar they all are at the root. Such an effective cover! It is a ghost story, but I think fans of contemporary books will also like it a lot.
Julie, Haha, make sure you have a lot of light when you try it with the sheets. :P
Lazy Girl, Me too!! Sometimes what isn’t seen can be so much scarier than what is shown clearly.
Natalie, I agree. It's a good combination of scary but makes you want to read the book to find out what's going on.
This cover kind of freaks me out. It makes me feel trapped.
ReplyDeleteReading Lark's Cover Crazy