Sunday, September 24, 2023

Floor Four Part Two by A. Lopez, Jr.

 


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Five "Night Terror Nightmares" Stars


Scared Stiff!

A small taste of what lies within:

Four years have gone by since things took a wrong turn for Brandon and his friends at the abandoned asylum and Brandon along with his parents moved away to another state. Brandon has tried to move on mentally as he has been meeting with a psychologist (Joseph) that deals in dreams to help him through what he experienced at the abandoned asylum as Brandon still has nightmares from what he went through. 

Brandon does have a new lease on life though as he now has new friends including a girl named Lily and he has tried to move on into a new direction. But then Brandon starts slowly slipping back into having nightmares where the Mangler still haunts and walks through his dreams. The past might be in the past but it is starting to invade his nightmares once again and Brandon along with Joseph will have to figure out how to lay the Mangler to rest once and for all! 

That is about all I can give out on a small taste and if you want to know more then go read this book and the first book as well to familiarize yourself with the Mangler and the abandoned asylum! 

Thoughts:

Wow! I loved this book as so much happens in this story that I could hardly put it down! The first part of the book started out a little slow but after the 35% mark the story started gaining speed to the point that I read quite a bit of it within a few hours. I felt this book was really scary and I was reading the first book along with this book which made it all even more scary as the creepiness and terror of the Mangler goes into a full scary meter haunting! 

Though I felt that this book has some "Nightmare on Elm Street" vibes as the story mostly takes place in nightmares of the main character Brandon. But there is just so much to love about this book as the author slowly builds up the suspense and terror then drags you deep into this story to the point you feel you are in your own nightmare with the Mangler! 

The descriptive details of the story and what takes place with the main character as he goes head to head with the scary villain of the Mangler just captured me and kept me pinned to my seat! I have found out too that the story is based on a real asylum that is named Saint Vincent's and it was abandoned so that makes the story even more creepier! Looking forward to reading more books by this author and I have learned there is a series the author wrote which features the villain the Mangler that I need to hunt down and read at some point.


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A. Lopez, Jr.

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A. Lopez, Jr.

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My Review

Floor Four by A. Lopez, Jr.

 


🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Five "Scary Shivers" Stars


Spooks and Screams! 

A small taste of what lies within:

There is an old abandoned asylum named Saint Vincent which is rumored to be haunted by a serial killer named David Henry Coleman a/k/a The Mangler as he had been shot and killed by police on the fourth floor of the asylum. 

When three friends (Doug, Kyle and Brandon) decide they want to throw a party in the old asylum as the anniversary of The Mangler's death is soon to happen, they think nothing will happen as The Mangler is just a scary story told by the local folk. Brandon and his friends find out the hard way that maybe some stories could be true!

That is about all I can give on a small taste so if that sounds intriguing then go check out this book! 

Thoughts:

This was a scary story when I read it back in 2014 and it has always stayed with me as I remember how creepy the book was when I read it. So I decided to read it again along with the sequel that came out last year. With reading both books at once though really ramped up the scary atmosphere and took me on one ride into terror! 

The pace was fast for this story plus very hard to put down and this book was a scary good time! Going to check out what other books this author has to offer and will be stepping back into his work at some point in the future. 


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A. Lopez, Jr.

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A. Lopez, Jr.

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My Review


Friday, September 22, 2023

ZWA T-68 Flight of the Dead by J.D. Allen

 


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Five "Frightening Flight" Stars


Terror in the Sky!

A small taste of what lies within:

Passengers aboard flight ZWA  T-68 experience something that no one is prepared for when a virus outbreaks aboard the plane as a couple of passengers have been infected from a zombie virus. When the turning starts in the air there will be no help from anyone whether it be in the air or on the ground as things go from bad to worse in a heartbeat! 

That is about all I can give on a small taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more than go read this book!

Thoughts:

Another great story by author, J.D. Allen as when I jumped into this book I was taken quick into a few lives of the passengers. There are quite a few characters to keep track of as the author sets up the background storyline. I was happy with background info on the characters as it gives a more emotional attachment to them when things start to go horribly wrong. 

This story has a small slow buildup with world building but after the 30% mark the suspense slowly starts to gain ground as more things start happening but after the 50% mark is when the book goes into overdrive and one night I was up till near 3 am reading the book as I just could not put it down! 

This was a different take within the zombie realm as when you are in a plane - there really is nowhere to run or hide - the only way out is down and hopefully you would have a parachute on board to help you escape the madness! πŸ˜†

Looking forward to reading more books by this author as I have quite a few of his books simmering on my kindle and warming my bookshelves. 😁


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J D Allen

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J D Allen

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Monday, September 18, 2023

One Autumn in Kane Grove by Dan Padavona

 

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Four "Horrific Vamp" Stars


Blood Thirsty Romp! 

A small taste of what lies within:

A college campus becomes prey for what campus security and police think is a serial killer at first as the bodies are found with throats torn but then some think that maybe it is some type of animal out there killing. Though what they don't know is that it is so much worse as a vampire is loose in the midst of the campus! 

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

Thoughts:

It has been awhile since I read this author - the last book I read by him was Storberry - another vampire book. This was a quick and short read as the book is only about 20 pages. But it was electrifying as far as the storyline as the author drew me straight into the story and just kept me there for the duration of the book. Another great book by this author. 


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Dan Padavona

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Dan Padavona

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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

1722 (The Haunting of Hadlow House #2) by Amy Cross

 


πŸ‘»πŸ‘»πŸ‘»πŸ‘»

Four "Evil Spooks" Stars


Malevolent Haunting!

A small taste of what lies within:

Samuel Butler along with his wife, Rose and daughter, Patience move out to the Hadlow House which has stood empty for near 33 years ever since the tragedy that befell the previous owners. 

The house though has fallen into disrepair and would need to be fixed but Samuel thinks that the house could be made into a nice home for his family though ghosts from the past lie in wait inside the home. People may come and go but the past never truly dissipates into time and what lies in wait for the Butler family plans to make them their own! 

That is about all I can give on a small taste so if you want to know more then go read this book and series!

Thoughts:

This book was a great book as far as the haunting and ghost entities and I felt there was quite a bit of spooky atmosphere that seeped into the story. The characters in this story though drove me batty as the parents (Samuel and Rose) just made me want to harbor bad feelings towards them and I felt sympathy for the daughter, Patience though she became trying at times when I was reading the story to the point where I was becoming exasperated with her antics and how she presented herself in the story. 

The story moves along quickly though as the haunting starts gaining speed and I found myself reading most of the story in one sitting as so much seemed to happen within a short amount of time. 

As always though the author, Amy Cross just grabbed me and plopped me into the storyline weaving the horror around me as I delved deep into this story. With these stories by Cross she always makes the stories where you question why characters do the things they do or why things are the way they are within the story. 

This book is book two in the series of Hadlow House and I will be continuing on with book three soon as I want to see what else happens with this series and how the house affects families in the future that come to live there. 


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Amy Cross

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Amy Cross

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My Review

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Holly by Stephen King

 


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Five "Terror Thriller" Stars


Crime Mixed With Horror!

A small taste of what lies within:

Holly Gibney is on the trail of a kidnapped girl named Bonnie. Her mother Penny Dahl pleads with Holly to take the case of finding her daughter as she just wants her daughter found safe and sound as the police seem to be doing nothing to look for her daughter so Holly finally decides to take the case. 

Holly slowly works her way through with tracking down leads which almost takes her down a rabbit hole as she pulls in some resources and friends to help her out as she tries to find out what happened to Bonnie but as time goes on the mystery deepens as she finds out there have been more disappearances in the same area. What Holly soon realizes is someone is doing something within the town and she has a feeling that all the disappearances are tied together, but finding the link is going to take some work and she hopes to find Bonnie alive before it is too late! 

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

Thoughts:

The core of this story was exceptionally good - I love the horror that was weaved into the crime aspects of the story as King just slowly added horror bits to the story lacing it with his special touch. The suspense and build up of what was happening took a little time to get going almost like a slow burn but there were so many other things to focus on as the story gained speed. 

King dropped a few Easter eggs within the story with connections to some of his books which was cool. He name dropped some movies that I have seen along with name dropping an author I have read. Just different things like that which were slowly added to the story which was almost like adding seasonal herbs to a dinner with a dash of wine! 

Now onto some other thoughts with this book and I am not dragging the book or the author threw the pits of hell as I have seen some reviews so far for this book that does just that so all I am going to say is this on that subject matter. 

This book was set during the time of the pandemic and yes there is quite a bit of everything that took place during that time in this book but truly this book would be considered "historical" fiction as that is basically what is laid out in here. 

There are lots of fiction books out there set in times of historical upheaval whether it be wars or conflicts throughout a country or countries and this book is no different. Yes for some people it is hard to read about but it did happen - history has already been set - no one can go back in time to change the past. I watched an interview with King about this book and he said that the book is like a time capsule meaning for future generations that read the book they will know about what happened during the time of the pandemic.  

So after laying out my thoughts on all that with the pandemic - this story was classic King - he takes the reader deep into a crime/mystery story with the character Holly who has some detective skills that she hones as the story progresses. The puzzle pieces start really interlocking past the 50% mark of the book and the book goes into overdrive past the 70% mark as things become known within the storyline. 

All in all it was a great story with all the crime and horror weaved together that kept me glued to my seat as the more the pace picked up the less I wanted to put it down! This is why King is the Master of Horror! He knows how to take you places that you don't want to go and drops you into a viper pit for no way out - well maybe he will thrown down a rope! πŸ˜€


Noted statement for this review and blog as I know this book is a hotbed with diverse opinions so I am adding this statement to my blog.

"Golden Rule: If you have nothing to nice to say do not say anything at all". 


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Stephen King

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Stephen King

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Sunday, September 3, 2023

The Jalakh Bow (The Weapon Taker's Saga #3) by Jamie Edmundson

 


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Five "Thrilling Quest" Stars


Action & Adventure!

A small taste of what lies within:

Belwynne along with her brother, Soren are back in this third book to hunt down the elusive weapon the Jalakh Bow. Their companions that started out with them on the first quest are here, there, and everywhere in this book as some of them had got separated when the war had first started. 

The war rages on within the lands of Dalriya and there is tons of political intrigue, bloody battles, back stabbing betrayals as the companions try to figure out how to survive within the war. Everyone has their own agenda as they try to accomplish the quest of seeking out all the magical weapons! 

That is about all I can give on a small taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more then go read this series! 

Thoughts:

There is so much that happens within this book as so many things are going on at once within different parts of the country. The companions all go through their own struggles with the war and trying to retrieve the weapons. 

Lots of moving parts in this book! Still loving all the characters as the author just makes them connected to the reader. I feel like I am magically plopped down within the storyline and feeling what the characters are all feeling as they make their way through the storyline. 

Looking forward to reading the last book in this series to see how the author wraps everything up and hoping that some of my favorite characters make it to the end of this series. 


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Jamie Edmundson

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Jamie Edmundson

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The Rochdale Poltergeist: A True Story by Jenny Ashford and Steve Mera

 


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Four "Creepy Paranormal" Stars


Unexplained Manifestations 

A small taste of what lies within:

The Gardner family are having some unexplained things happening in their house which makes their ceiling drip water even to the point of it actually raining in the house and then the water disappears from the ceiling leaving it dry but leaving a water mess on the floor. 

The Gardner's reach out though to paranormal investigators who come to witness their claims of the mysterious water. The paranormal investigators lead by Steve Mera really do not think at first that the water is for real - they go into the home with a scientific theory that something other than the paranormal is at work but they soon get a rude awakening when they witness the paranormal event along with a more sinister presence that makes itself known to the team!

That is about all I can give on a small taste so if you are intrigued then go read this book!

Thoughts:

This was a different type of paranormal haunting with the water and rain manifestations. There was another type of presence that was mentioned in the story suggesting that either a ghost was present or some type of entity. 

The story was not overall spooky and I didn't feel that scary feeling I usually get when reading true paranormal books but I found the book to be more informative with how the rain water was appearing in the home. 

The authors get right to the point in this book as there are no drawn out long explanation with any slow crawl to the storyline. They drew me right into the storyline and kept me hooked into what was happening with this true paranormal story.  


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Jenny Ashford

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Jenny Ashford

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Steve Mera

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Friday, September 1, 2023

The Night Mutilator by Brian G. Berry

 


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Five "Twisted Slasher Terror" Stars

Gore Suit Worthy!

A small taste of what lies within:

A slasher serial killer is on the loose killing anyone that gets in his way - the local news media has dubbed him The Night Mutilator. 

Emma and her boyfriend Adam get into a fight with Adam leaving and walking out into the night. Emma thinks about the slasher roaming the streets and worries about Adam but when times goes by and Adam doesn't return, Emma decides to go out to look for him against the strong advice of her neighbor, Dorothy not to go out in the dark of the night, but Emma ignores all warnings and against her better judgement goes out to look for Adam no matter what the cost!

That is about all I can give out on a small taste so if you want to know what happens within this story go read this book!

Thoughts:

This was a great slasher story with tons of blood, gore, and visual descriptive scenes of the slasher and what he does to his victims! This book is one of the older books by this author and the book packs a mighty gore punch! Author, Brian G. Berry has become one of my favorite extreme horror authors as he does not waste time for blood and gore to start flying! 

Berry jumps right into the storyline with descriptive details of what is taking place with the slasher villain and then keeps the pace of the story moving at a high rate of speed within the book as the story never slows down! I read this book within 48 hours as I just could not put it down which is typical for me when reading a book by this author as he always keeps me wrapped within the horrors of his mind! 


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Brian Berry Author Profile

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