Tag: horror

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Lost Ones

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By Anita Frank

Some houses are never at peace.

England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…

I loved this book!!! Gothic, ghostly, horrific, mystery….all the pieces were there for me. 

Stella is a grieving woman who goes to stay with her sister at Greyswick, a house full of terrible secrets. She finds her sister terrified. Her maid, Annie, talks with ghosts in the house and soon, it’s apparent that the house is harboring a deadly past and is looking for revenge. 

The main character of Stella is stubborn and strong. Still suffering from the loss of her fiance, she fights against the doctors and her parents who want to hospitalize her for “hysteria”. Upon arriving at Greyswick, she finds her bright, jolly sister frightened of every shadow. Stella delves into the mystery of the house, much to the dislike of the lady of the manor, her companion and the house manager. 

I absolutely loved her. I also loved little Annie, Stella’s maid with a gift for seeing and communicating with ghosts. She’s spunky, truthful and endearing. 

There were times when I, eager to get to the meat of the story, thought the story lagged. However, I actually discovered an appreciation for the author who took her time telling the story. It’s not really a who-dun-it as much as a what-happened. I found myself tumbling head-first into this story and didn’t let go until it was done. 

The ending was well done and again, not rushed through. Anita Frank does a great job of leading us through each and every step of the climax of the story, giving the reader time to recover before introducing the next twist. 

For a gothic ghost story lover, this book had all the goods. Creepy mansion. Weird housekeeper. Crabby old lady. Nice but mysterious companion. Babies crying in the night. Walls that whisper secrets. 

Absolutely brilliant. 

My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: 

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Dunmoor

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: London Clarke

England, 1818. Lady Helena Winters hasn’t seen her husband in over a year—not since he disappeared without a trace. Torn between seeking a new purpose for her life and longing for her husband to return, Helena travels with her father to Dunmoor House for a fundraising ball. Although the estate was once her husband’s ancestral home, it has recently been purchased by Luke Lennox, a gentleman planning to establish a foundling hospital.

Helena quickly finds herself battling memories of life with her husband and searching for answers to what might have happened to him. Even so, she is drawn to Luke Lennox and his dream of saving and educating children—a passion she shares.

Within Dunmoor’s decaying walls lies a long and sordid history, a legacy of evildoers perpetrating unspeakable acts of wickedness. Now, the corridors echo with voices. Vines grow inside the house, and shadowy figures plague the children at night.

But in the dark forest on the edge of the property, a terrible secret awaits, and what Luke and Helena uncover there will endanger both their lives.

NOTE: Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read with the lights ON!

Last night, I sat up reading this book, doing the “just one more chapter” thing until it was well past midnight. I’m a huge fan of gothic horror/suspense/ghost stories and this one was right up my alley. 

I was drawn quickly into this story, into every character and their lives. I love Helena’s strength, charisma, intelligence and compassion. I totally fell for Luke and his wanting to save the world attitude. His friend, Alex, provided comic relief as well as that reckless hero figure. The backstory was wonderful, filled with curses and folklore. I love when folklore is written in such a way that it gives life to inanimate objects. I never look at a tree the same way again!

The settings were very well written. I love when a scene in a story’s setting is cold, damn and chilly and I find myself reaching for a cup of tea and a blanket. It’s the perfect marriage between setting and suspense that leaves me wondering if the chill running down my spine is from terror or from the cold. 

Some potentially triggering moments…I understood the folklore to be very dark, very tragic, and very sinister. However, some of the human suffering factors, especially where the children were concerned, was a bit much. It’s not a hidden fact that orphans in the 1800’s were treated horribly.  That being said, I understand the author is also trying to bring attention to the very real modern day problem of sex trafficking. Kudos to her for doing that so well with this story. 

And that ending!! Woah! I’m already there for the next book and new adventures with Helena and Luke. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: 

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Behind the Veil

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: E.J. Dawson

In 1920s Los Angeles, Letitia Hawking reads the veil between life and death. A scrying bowl allows her to experience the final moments of the deceased. She brings closure to grief-stricken war widows and mourning families.

For Letitia, it is a penance. She knows no such peace.

For Alasdair Driscoll, it may be the only way to save his niece, Finola, from her growing night terrors. But when Letitia sees a shadowy figure attached to the household, it rouses old fears of her unspeakable past in England.

When a man comes to her about his missing daughter, the third girl to go missing in as many months, Letitia can’t help him when she can’t see who’s taken them.

As a darkness haunts Letitia’s vision, she may not be given a choice in helping the determined Mr Driscoll, or stop herself falling in love with him. But to do so risks a part of herself she locked away, and to release it may cost Letitia her sanity and her heart. 

From the very first page, this book grabbed me and didn’t let go. I was instantly intrigued by Letitia and her world as well as her gift. Alasdair Driscoll was an engaging, maddening and seriously endearing character. 

As a ghost story, this works. There’s enough of the eeriness and creep factor within these pages to make many shivers run up and down your spine. Letitia’s reaction to the first taste of real darkness we come in contact with was enough to have me sleeping with my closet light on. 

As a thriller, this story also works. There’s enough of a who-dun-it to keep you guessing as to why girls went missing and what happened to them as well as Finola’s fate, how it’s all tied to the missing girls as well as Letitia’s fate and who will survive when it’s all over. 

The undertone romance between Letitia and Alasdair was nicely written. It was just that – an undertone; a subplot that didn’t subvert or take over the main plot of the story in any way. It was weaved through the main plot so nicely and so lightly and yet, it was almost pivotal to the outcome of the story. 

I really loved all the glimpses in the readings Letitia did for others as it gives us a view of her gift from the inside. The character of Letitia is strong, broken, vulnerable, and endearing. I loved to see her growth as the story progresses. 

While the ending wasn’t necessarily a shock ending, it provided enough answers to the questions I had to satisfy my desire for a complete outcome. I was very content with how this story ended. 

All in all, this is a wonderful story that’s beautifully written. It’s a fast=paced read perfect for chilly winter nights, wrapped up with a blanket and a nice cup of tea. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Resting Place

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By Camilla Sten

The medical term is prosopagnosia. The average person calls it face blindness—the inability to recognize a familiar person’s face, even the faces of those closest to you.

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, her anxiety mounts. The dark feelings of having brushed by a killer, yet not know who could do this—or if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. The place her grandfather died, suddenly. A place that has housed a dark past for over fifty years.

Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to bringing the truth to light, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

A heart-thumping, relentless thriller that will shake you to your core, The Resting Place is an unforgettable novel of horror and suspense. 

Note – Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This is the second Camilla Sten book I’ve read. I read The Lost Village last month and it was a decent read. I wanted to give her another try. 

In truth – I didn’t love it. It started out all mysterious and eerie. The timelines flipped back and forth from the past to present and back again. In the beginning, it was hard to know who was who – I got a little lost in the introduction of the character Anushka. 

The spooky atmosphere starts to build immediately as Eleanor and her boyfriend, Sebastian, reach Solhoga, the abandoned family mansion in the woods. Floorboards creak, a dumb waiter has a mind of its own, shadows appear in the woods and doors open by themselves. The main character has prosopagnosia (face blindness) which adds to the intensity of the story. You can clearly see the two storylines racings heading towards an intersection. Clearly, the author wants us to think the house is haunted and tries to write it as a character on its own. 

Unfortunately, it fell a little flat to me. The storm that cuts Eleanor and her party off from all civilization seems a little contrived. The characters were uninteresting and over-dramatic. There were a few loose ends that left me with question – like Vivianne’s background. It’s hinted at but never really explained. The relationship between her and Anushka is weird and unexplainable. The family dynamic was really disjointed. Sebastian was condescending and commonplace. I didn’t buy that he cared even a little for Eleanor. 

The macabre ending was predictable and uninteresting.

I will say that Sten’s writing style, her use of vocabulary is stunning. She’s descriptive and fluid. She’s detailed without losing you in the detail and is adept at creating a tangible atmosphere.  

Overall, I wanted to love this but I didn’t. However, I’m still a fan of Camilla Sten and eagerly await what she’s got in store for us next.

My rating – :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Rock Paper Scissors

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By Alice Feeney

Think you know the person you married? Think again…

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

The hook line for the synopsis is “think you know the person you married? Think again…”. That’s really the whole theme of this book. If you think you know what the story might be about, think again. If you think you know who the characters are, think again. All this ‘thinking again’ that happened while reading this book took me on one of the wildest rides I’ve had in a long time. 

After reading a few paranormal books, I’d actually decided on some family drama for my next read. I probably should have looked for something lighter, to be honest. I thought this might be a little lighter, a little more thought-provoking, perhaps some gritty characters that look deep inside themselves to find their soul….yeah…that wasn’t this book. 

In the beginning, it was a little slow. There was a nice hook to draw you in but when the letters start, it felt a little whiny. Both Adam and Amelia are really self-serving at this point in their marriage. Neither knows why they are still in it but they have this opportunity to make one last ditch effort after Amelia wins a free weekend at a getaway in Scotland. 

As someone who’s been married for ten years and then divorced, there was a lot in the letters the wife wrote that resonated with me, right down to losing their baby. The emptiness and sadness that engulfed her was very real. The fading away of love and how comfortable two people can get in something that’s so completely broken, always grasping at straws and yet still able to somewhat sleep at night. The language between the two felt very tangible and very evident of a relationship destined to fail. 

Then the fun started! The creepiness, the whispers, the eerie “housekeeper” who lived in the cottage down the lane…I couldn’t put it down and yet I didn’t want to read anymore. The twists and turns catapulting the reader to such an ending – every time I thought the story was over and I knew who everyone was and what they had done, there was one more chapter blowing my mind. 

The resolution left me breathless and almost wanting more. It begs the question of how can these characters possibly trust anyone ever again and moreover, how can we as readers ever trust them again. I closed the book wondering who was the bad guy and who was the good guy. And then I reached for my own inhaler! 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: