Old Hodmedod by David Haynes

 

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Five "Shivering Scarecrow Spooks" Stars

Suspensefully Sinister!

A small taste of what lies within:

An old farmhouse and property are under close scrutiny by a big development company that wants to come in and turn the property into new homes, but there might be a small speed bump in their future as things are slowly going south when old human bones are discovered on the property. Chief Haberlay is quite shaken along with the Mayor and other townsfolk when the discovery is made but they are far from surprised as the old man that lived there at one time (Seth Ackers) had committed some crimes in the past. 

The property is haunted which makes it ripe pickings for youngsters and teenagers wanting to get a thrill but they will get more than that if they start stomping around in places that they do not need to be. Seth Ackers was known for putting up scarecrows all over his property but what they represented was far beyond the true purpose of scarecrows. The ghost of Seth Ackers has laid claim to his property and he will do whatever it takes to keep everyone off his land!

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

Thoughts:

Another great book by this author and this book was one spooky ride into terror! I had some weird dreams when reading this book as it kept me encased fully into the clutches of the book! Loved all the characters in this story as I could feel everything the characters were feeling as things began to unfold in the story. 

The story starts out right away with a bang and the story just keeps moving at a fast pace through the rest of the book. There is something happening with every page turn and the dreaded suspense of what might happen gave me some breath hitches here and there. 

This would be a great story to read around Halloween time as so much happens with the story and the book has tons of spooky moments! 

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David Haynes

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David Haynes

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Slay Bells Ring by J.D. Allen

 

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Four "Holiday Horrors" Stars

Creepy Collection of Stories

I am not doing a small taste this time as this book is a collection of Christmas horror stories that will draw blood and then mix it in with all the Christmas cheer of the holiday!

Stories and poems in this book are as follows:

The Twelve Nights of Christmas

Silent Nights

Maul Santa

The Snowman

I'm Dreaming of a Red Christmas 

The Christmas Carolers of Chaos

Snow Angels

Humbug!

Down Thru the Chimney

Re-Gifted

Secret Santa

Do Not Open Till Christmas! 

He Sees You When You're Sleeping - He Knows When You're Awake

The Gingerbread Men

T'Was The Night After Christmas

Thoughts:

All the stories and poems were great! I enjoyed all of them so it is hard to pick favorites out of this collection!

Holiday stories are fun to read especially when there are horrors that lie within them and this book had a few story collections of Christmas stories gone wrong and weird. There are also a few poems too that were fun to read. All in all a great collection of the bizarre and strange of Christmas horror stories. 

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J D Allen

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J D Allen

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The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

 

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Five "Chills and Thrills" Stars

Nail Biting Suspense!

A small taste of what lies within:

1950 - Vermont - Idlewild Hall

A boarding school that is possibly haunted and four roomies that become close friends (Cece, Sonia, Katie and Roberta) and what they each have to endure while living there along with the ghost of a girl named Mary Hand who wanders the boarding school halls.

2014 - Vermont - Idlewild Hall

Fiona Sheridan is a journalist but she has always wanted to know what happened to her sister, Deb that had died at Idlewild Hall. She decides to dig deep into the boarding school to find out what took place there and why it is considered to be haunted. Fiona feels that though justice was served as her sister's boyfriend was convicted of the crime something just seems off about the whole thing and she will do whatever it takes to dig deep into a long buried past to find out what really happened long ago!

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

Thoughts:

This was another great book by this author filled with intrigue, suspense, tension and a haunting. I felt that the story was a little slow at first with background world building but the book follows two timelines from 1950 to 2014 and your dropped into 1950 with the happenings of the four friends then dropped back into 2014 with the journalist character, Fiona as she tries to track down old leads from the 50's. 

The pace becomes faster the more I read of the book and there were some twists and turns along the way. There is one twist near the end of the book that I wasn't expecting and it shocked me out of my shoes! This is my fourth book by this author and looking forward to reading more of her work.

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Simone St. James

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Simone St. James

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My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

 

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Five "Daunting Demonic" Stars

Dread and Suspense!

A small taste of what lies within:

Abby along with her best friend, Gretchen have been through everything together ever since the fifth grade but now that they both are in high school things have taken a slight turn. Abby and Gretchen along with two other friends, Glee and Margaret end up having a get together out in the woods to have some fun but when Gretchen wanders off and gets lost (or so it seems) out in the woods she comes back out of the woods....different.  Something is off but Abby cannot put her finger on what it is so she just ignores it. 

Abby is befuddled though as Gretchen starts acting more withdrawn and seems to just not be the same but Abby is determined that with them being best friends then friendship will win out no matter what and Abby will do whatever takes to find out what happened to Gretchen when she got lost in the woods and to find out how she can draw her friend out of whatever dark place has taken her. Abby is going to have a fight on her hands when she realizes that her best friend Gretchen has been taken over by demonic forces and her friend, Gretchen is lost within herself as evil has taken a hold of her best friend! 

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

Thoughts:

I felt that this book was a coming of age story as this book shows a lot about friendships that you make when you are young and how best friends just grow together through the years. The story just grabbed me right away as it is set in the time of the early 80's so there is a lot of mentions of that era. The book starts out a little slow with background info on the friends and the different things they endure together as they grow up. 

The demonic/occult action is a slow buildup as Grady Hendrix just gradually weaves in how the demonic force slowly took over the character, Gretchen. It seems subtle at first which takes up the first half of the book but the last half of the book is where it all hits the fan and things begin happening faster as the story progresses. 

This is my fourth book by this author and I am hungry for more! I love Hendrix writing style as he slowly draws the reader into his world and then pummels them with wild action throughout the storyline. Looking forward to reading more by Hendrix as he has a few more books out there that I need to lay my hands on! 

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Grady Hendrix

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Grady Hendrix

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