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

Widow's Point: The Complete Haunting by Richard Chizmar and W. H. Chizmar

 

Five "Freaky Found Footage" Stars

Do You Dare Enter Widow's Point Lighthouse?

A small taste of what lies within:

A team of paranormal investigators decide to stay a few days in the Widow's Point Lighthouse as they want to see if the local legends are true about it being haunted. Another paranormal investigator had disappeared from the lighthouse a few years before so this team wants to see if they can find out what is going on there. 

The team of investigators have better equipment and setup so they are hoping to catch footage of anything creepy and try to find out what happened maybe to the other investigator. Little do they know that something does lie within and it might not want them to leave! 

Lighthouse in the Fog

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more then go read this book! 

Thoughts:

This book is told in two parts - one part is told with the first paranormal investigator and what he went through at the lighthouse which is only about 25% of the first part of the book. The second part is told with the new team of paranormal investigators and their findings of whether the lighthouse is haunted or not. 

The first part of the book seemed to move a little slow for me that was wrapped around the first investigator but when the second part opens up with the new team is when the book takes off.  I like how the story was written by the authors as each team member gets their take on what is happening around them. The pace picks up around the 50% mark and I had a hard time putting the book down. I ended up reading the last 30% in just a few hours and the story just blew me away! I loved this book! 

There is a movie out there called Widow's Point and I did watch it awhile back but that story is only wrapped around the first investigator and it doesn't involve this new team. There was another book that was written which was Widow's Point by the author, Richard Chizmar and that is where the movie came about however this book was released last year in 2025 with tons of more content including the new paranormal team. Loved the characters in this book even though a handful were kind of quirky but I felt that the book deserves the five stars for it's creepy and spooky atmosphere! 

Author Profile of Richard Chizmar on Amazon:

Richard Chizmar

Author Profile of W. H. Chizmar on Amazon:

W. H. Chizmar

My Goodreads Review:

My Review

Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer

 

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Five "Dreadful Demon" Stars

What Darkness Lies in a Chicago Suburb? 

A small taste of what lies within:

Four friends (Amy, Jess, Melissa & Liz) all live in a Chicago suburb and they are all tight knit friends. Their children play together and go to school together. The suburb where they live is just perfect for them as it seems so peaceful.  The four friends decide they want some kind of club house for themselves where their husbands and children will not be around so they decide to have a She Shed built in Liz's backyard. 

However before things can get off the ground with building the shed the friends decide to christen the area with wine for their upcoming personal club house but things go awry after the christening as a wind blows up and the area where the shed is supposed to go just feels off for some reason. 

Not too long after their christening Liz starts behaving oddly and she doesn't seem herself. When the friends try to find out what is going on they realize that Liz has become something else entirely as it seems that an evil presence has invaded their friend! 

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 is the author's debut book too.  This book just kept me glued to my kindle as once the friends christen the area where the She Shed will go things turn dark quickly and the story takes off into the unknown! I was captivated by the speed at how quick the book took off as I just could not put it down! 

I literally read this book within 48 hours as I just could not break away from the storyline. The story has some humor and dark humor wrapped within its pages but it also has a story of friendship and what friends will do when they are faced with something beyond their control. It shows what true friends will do for each other and how they go about to make sure their friendship will endure.  

The story also had some "creep me out" moments too along with some horror action and suspense. The story is heavily laced with the occult and demonic activity but the author wrote it in a way that you do not need to leave the lights on with this book. The author wrote the story in a mild mannered way which there is evil involved but nothing to scare the pants off of you! :) 

Looking forward to reading more books by this author as I see she has a couple more out there to read. 

Attached is the author, Maureen Kilmer, profile page from Amazon:

Maureen Kilmer

My Goodreads Review:

My Review

Sleep Savannah Sleep by Alistair Cross

 

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Five "Supernatural Suspense" Stars

What Secrets Lie Within Shadow Springs? 

A small taste of what lies within:

Jason Crandall along with his son and daughter have settled down in the town of Shadow Springs as they all come to terms with the loss of Jason's wife. They move into an old mansion as Jason is a massage therapist and he wants to set up shop in the mansion. 

When Jason is introduced to Savannah Sturgess is when things start to slowly go awry as Savannah has a lot of the men in town chasing after her but when she ends up missing is when things take a bad turn and Jason finds himself in the middle of her disappearance! 

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 book is what I would consider a supernatural suspense mystery that starts out a little slow which was due to background world building. As the story slowly moves along I found myself caught up in a supernatural mystery as the story has quite a bit of supernatural content as I moved through the story. 

Around the 40% mark the book picks up speed and I found myself staying up half the night one evening to the early morning hours as I became tangled up in the story and could not put the book down! 

The suspense of the story kept me guessing as once the character, Savannah Sturgess disappears the book goes into complete overdrive with many questions that need to be answered. All the questions are answered at the end of the book and I was floored to learn the answers! 

This book kept me guessing to the very end and I enjoyed this book so much. The author, Alistair Cross keeps the book flowing along with lots of surprises, twists and turns throughout the story. I have read books before by this author and have loved every one. Looking forward to reading whatever else he has coming down the pike! 

Attached is the author, Alistair Cross, profile page from Amazon:

Alistair Cross

Attached is the website of author, Alistair Cross:

Alistair Cross

My Goodreads Review:

My Review