The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

 

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Five "Spooky Shivers" Stars

I have decided not to do my normal backstory about this classic horror book as it seems so many people know this classic story, so I'm just going to give out my thoughts. 

Thoughts:

This book was a reread for me as I read it a few years back and loved it so much more this time around. I loved it the first time I read it but I just didn't read it slow enough to absorb the story but this time I read it with a friend and we discussed what was happening within the story. 

This classic haunting story just has all the creepy/spooky feelings within and it wrapped itself around me as I made my way through the story. I loved all the characters as they all have their own personalities and the author, Shirley Jackson brings them to life on the pages of this book. 

Hill House also comes alive on the pages of this book as it is the real character in the story as it weaves itself into the minds of the characters. The atmospheric storytelling pulls the reader into the heart of Hill House providing scares and shivers.  

I am happy to have reread the story and look forward to rereading this classic haunting tale in the future. 

Author profile of Shirley Jackson on Amazon:

Shirley Jackson

Trucker Ghost Stories: And Other True Tales of Haunted Highways, Weird Encounters and Legends of the Road by Annie Wilder

 

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Four "Eerie & Foreboding" Stars

I am not going to do my normal small taste so just going to lay out some thoughts for this book.

Thoughts:

There are 68 short stories of true encounters from real people. The author credits each true story at the end of the story with the person's name. The stories were all interesting - everything from ghost apparitions to unknown balls of light in the sky.  Some of the stories were downright spooky as to what happened to people on the highways and byways late at night. 

I felt that the people that told their stories experienced lots of emotions as they were experiencing these different encounters. I for one would not want to be out in the middle of nowhere seeing some of the things these folks saw out there late at night. 

I liked how the author gave each person a chance to tell their story of what they experienced and I will be looking forward to reading more true stories from this author as she has a couple more books out there with paranormal stories. 

Author Profile of Annie Wilder from Amazon:

Annie Wilder

Spine Chillers: Hair Raising Tales by Q. L. Pearce

 

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Five "Spooky & Creepy Vibes" Stars

Spooks & Creatures! 

A small taste of what lies within: 

There are seven short stories that lie within this book so I am going to list them out and give just a tiny cryptic note on each story. 

The House on Beech Street: 

Friends decide to check out a haunted house but something decides to check them out. 

Night Crawler:

A zoo harbors more than ordinary animals - something else lurks. 

Hale Hollow Woods:

A house located deep within Hale Hollow is not as empty as some people seem to think - something else lives there. 

Seaworthy:

Winning a race isn't all its cracked up to be for one young man who just wants to win a race against his friends. He soon learns that a ship is waiting for him. 

Blackout:

Friends find out that creatures only love the dark but hate the light and humans are on the menu. 

The Healer:

A brother finds out that his sister has a special gift. 

Prom Date:

An urban legend comes to life for some friends that are out for revenge. 

Thoughts:

This was a new author to me as she was recommended to me by a friend and I had to check out this horror short stories collection. I loved all the stories and I loved the writing style of the author. I kind of zoomed through this book as the pace and flow of all the stories just kept me glued to my kindle! 

The stories would probably be considered YA but they all worked for me as I just love anything horror and all of the stories had some sort of creepy vibe to them all! This would be a great book to read around Halloween too just for the spookiness of the stories! I have found another new to me author to explore! 

Amazon Author Profile of Q. L. Pearce:

Q. L. Pearce

Goodreads Review:

My Review

Knock, Knock (Welcome Home #1) by Samara Cove

 

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Five "Twisted Psychological Terror" Stars

Twisted Shocker!

A small taste of what lies within:

Sarah Harrelson along with her husband Logan and their two children inherit a house in Lake Tahoe from an uncle she never knew. Sarah begins to wonder if there is more behind this inheritance as nothing makes sense as to why she would get the house.  

As Sarah and her husband settle into the property they notice that there is a strange man living in the forest behind their house and he is living in a tent.  The problem is the man lives "on the property she just inherited" but when she discusses it with the attorney that is handling everything she finds out that the stranger "Phil" is allowed to live there with no strings attached. 

For Sarah though something doesn't add up as when they try to approach Phil he just seems to be detached from reality and Sarah along with her husband Logan just have wary feelings about Phil. Sarah soon learns though that not all things are as normal as the attorney has implied and Phil is not who he seems to be, but is he a danger to her family? 

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste so if you want to know more then go read this book! 

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and this book is the beginning of a series which I have already grabbed the other books. This story took me on a twisted psychological terror ride that kept me glued to my kindle for the last week! There was one night that I read near 30% of the book in one sitting as I just could not lay it down! 

The characters of the story were great as well as they all have their own personalities.  All of the chapters in the book are pov's of either Sarah or Logan which gives the reader more time to delve into those main characters and what they are thinking.  

The pace is fast in this book too as it never slows down. Not one time did I feel that the book dragged - there is no dragging in this story. I was just swept up in the mystery and terror of what was taking place with the characters, Sarah and Logan but I will say near the end of the book the author gives a major twist that kept me up to the early morning hours to finish this book! Which led me to grab the next two books in the series as I feel this is going to be a wild ride! Looking forward to reading the rest of the series to see what happens next to these characters! 

Amazon Profile of author Samara Cove:

Samara Cove

Goodreads Review:

My Review

A Haunting at Farrar: Investigating One of the World's Most Haunted Schools by Richard Estep and E.E. Bensen

 

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Five "Creepy & Chilling Supernatural" Stars

Would You Want to Step Foot in the Farrar School?

I am not doing my normal small taste on this book so just giving out thoughts of how I felt while reading the story. 

Thoughts:

This book was one creepy ride into the supernatural unknown. Author, Richard Estep along with author, E.E. Bensen go deep into this story which is about a haunted school (Farrar) located out in the middle of nowhere in the state of Iowa. The authors do not give a precise location for the protection of the owners of the school and property. The school is closed down and has been for many years but even though the school is closed there are still ghosts of children and some staff that still linger in that place. 

There are some creepy entities that are known as the principal, the janitor and the librarian.  The principal and janitor can be violent with pushing and shoving people, leaving marks on people and just causing a little bit of chaos if they feel their space is being invaded.  

Both authors not only give their versions of what they experienced but they do interviews with other paranormal investigators that talk about their experiences from past investigations.  

This book was super interesting with all the details of what both authors discovered about the school and the property. There is just so much ground that they covered with the school and just all the creepy happenings that took place when the principal and janitor got involved.  The librarian wasn't discussed much and the authors felt that the entity was mild compared to the other two entities. 

I enjoyed reading about the school and what everyone went through with their investigating time there. I have come to love reading books by author, Richard Estep as he goes to great lengths to explore the backgrounds on all the places that he investigates. 

Amazon Profile of Author Richard Estep

Richard Estep

Amazon Profile of Author E.E. Bensen

E. E. Bensen

Goodreads Review:

My Review

Where All Light Dies by Michael Penning

 

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Five "Ocean Depth Haunting" Stars

What Mystery Lies Within the Atlantic Ocean?

A small taste of what lies within:

Freya Keating, the commander of the U.S. Coast Guard along with her crew are on a mission to find out why a submersible is floating out in the Atlantic. No one seems to be able to get in contact with the crew of the submersible and no one has heard from them for a few days. 

The submersible was supposed to have been exploring a sunken ship called the SS Celestine - an old WWII passenger ship that had disappeared during WWII.  The real mystery lies within the submersible as when the crew from the Coast Guard check it out they find that the crew that had been aboard the submersible has disappeared. There is no sign of how they just vanished and then the mystery begins of what truly took place! 

When haunting music along with possible ghost sightings surrounds the vanished members is when Freya tries to find out what really happened as she doesn't believe in ghosts! 

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste so if you want to know more then go read this book!

Thoughts:

The story just grabbed me from the first chapter as something happens right away which kept me glued to my kindle for a little while. As I made my way through the story I found myself wrapped up with the characters as I was wanting to find out what happened to the vanished crew too! 

The author, Michael Penning writes in visualization as everything I read on the page I can see it happening in the story. I could feel the mystery, suspense, and the panic of the characters. The characters are brought to life on the pages of this book and everything they feel I could feel as well.  

Looking forward to more books by this author as everything I have read by him I have loved. 

Attached is the author, Michael Penning, profile page from Amazon:

Michael Penning

My review from Goodreads:

My Review

How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold

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Four "Nightmare Room Doomed" Stars

What Lies in Wait at the Queen Estate? 

A small taste of what lies within:

Mortimer Queen a horror author has died and he leaves a will to be read to seven horror authors. They all make their way to his estate thinking that Mortimer has left them something valuable in his will but what they find is anything of value and instead they are required to play a game which is solving a riddle/puzzle to be able to make it out of each room in the mansion.  

Little do they know that they will have to go through hell to escape each room and they learn quick that it will be a life and death situation to make it out of the mansion alive! 

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste so if you want to know more then go read this book! 

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and I was drawn into the story right away as it grabbed my attention.  The book is like an escape room type of story - the characters have to solve a riddle to go to the next room.  I liked all the characters in this book but a couple of them started to get on my nerves and I kept wondering if they were going to make it out of the mansion alive with the antics they were doing. 

All in all the pace was fast and as the book rolls along I found out more about who the authors were and why they were brought to the mansion.  There are sections in the book that gives a background info on each author and how they came to know the deceased.  I love how the author wrote it that way as it gives more insight on each character in the book and how they are wrapped into the story. 

The only reason this book is getting four stars instead of five is because it just seemed that the characters would argue too much among themselves that it slowed down the story - there just seemed to be lots of time spent in one room with each of them trying to come to a decision of what to do next or how to solve the riddle or how to proceed to the next room. 

It was exhausting as it kind of reminded me of the horror movies where you have people that just want to go off and do their own thing but not listen to reason. That is what some of this book has within it - it kind of drove me crazy as I wanted the characters to come to a decision quicker and move along but they just wanted to linger around in each room trying to decide what to do next. 

However having said that I did love the writing style of this author and with liking her writing style I decided to grab another book by her since it is on the cheap side at the moment.  If you like escape room type of books then check out this book as it did have quite a bit of horror action that lit up the pages of this book.  

Amazon Author Profile of Mallory Arnold:

Mallory Arnold

My Goodreads Review: 

My Review