Tag Archives: ghosts

Review: The Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki

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Title: The Ghost of Graylock

Author: Dan Poblocki

Publishing Information: August 1, 2012 by Scholastic Press

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 258 pages

Source: Gifted from Brittany (The Book Addict’s Guide) for All Hallow’s Read

Recommended For: Fans of Anna Dressed in Blood, or atmospheric mysteries that make you look over your shoulder from time to time

Everyone’s heard the stories about Graylock Hall.

It was meant to be a place of healing – a hospital where children and teenagers with mental disorders would be cared for and perhaps even cured. But something went wrong. Several young patients died under mysterious circumstances. Eventually, the hospital was shut down, the building abandoned and left to rot deep in the woods. As the new kid in town, Neil Cady wants to see Graylock for himself. Especially since rumor has it that the building is haunted. He’s got fresh batteries in his flashlight, a camera to document the adventure, and a new best friend watching his back. Neil might think he’s prepared for what he’ll find in the dark and decrepit asylum. But he’s certainly not prepared for what follows him home. . . .

I was lucky enough to be gifted this book by my very dear friend Brittany for our All Hallow’s Read book swap and I know she struggled in finding me a novel with the proper amount of horror. I have a very high threshold, you see, and she wanted to make sure that I was properly scared! I am happy to say that this book was just right for me, it has just the right amount of thrill that kept me glued to its pages.

The characters in The Ghost of Graylock were fun and relatable. Neil and Bree are the new kids in town, and their curiosity shows through their many adventures. What I liked about Wesley and his brother is that they weren’t those stock “weird” kids in town. In fact, Wesley’s older brother is kind of a “cool” kid who has some typical teenage male snarky behaviors, which I think made him more real! Parents were missing from this one, but Neil and Bree’s aunts are their and take care of them well enough, I would have liked  to see more from them.

One of the best things about The Ghost of Graylock was the way in which Dan Poblocki compliments the story with very vivid imagery. I found myself to be so engrossed while reading The Ghost of Graylock that though the book was not overly scary or horrific, I still jumped out of my skin a few times. The author provides the reader with such detail that I found myself hearing the drip of lake water falling from a ghostly girl. I felt terror as the characters ran and hid for their lives in the walls of the old asylum. The end of The Ghost of Graylock was incredibly twisty and though I suspected some aspects, I did not fully see it coming. I love it when that happens! I definitely had a look of surprise upon figuring out just who the real bad guy was and what terrible things crimes they had committed.

One of my sincerest wishes is that Dan Poblocki forays into adult horror, because he completely has the ability to scare even the most fearless reader. I have a very high tolerance for the scares, and this one felt a little bit juvenile to be classified as a proper horror novel. However it was still wildly entertaining and just the right amount of creepy, and comes highly recommended if you are looking for something to have you looking over your shoulder from time to time.

Fortnight of Fright: Guest Post by Vyki from On the Shelf

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Happy Friday, all! What an excellent week we have had for Fortnight of Fright! I’ve had so much time reading everyone’s posts and to end the week we have Vyki from On the Shelf to tell us all about a haunted jail. As you guys know I LOVE “real” horror stories, and this one is no exception! Take it away, Vyki!

The Haunted Jail

Old Jail 3

There are lots of creepy haunted places that come to mind when we think of Halloween, cemeteries, run down factories, old mental hospitals, scary looking old houses, but one of the creepiest I know of in my county is the old jail.  Opened in 1958 right before the original jail was torn down, the metal bars of this jail has seen a lot over the years.  Though it has been updated some though the decades, the cosmetic touch ups can’t hide the creepiness underneath. It is what you think of with a traditional older jail.  Metal bars, clanging doors, dreary cement walls, and graffiti scribbled or etched into every space available.  Those walls have witnessed who knows how many beatings, stabbings, deaths and suicides and it seems like some of those who died still stay within those cells.  Walking down the barred corridors makes you feel like there are several eyes staring at you from the empty cells and you can almost hear the echos of the clang clang clang of inmates running things along the bars.

Old Jail 2

The most chilling areas of the jail, however, are the solitary cells.  These were the cells where the extremely violent and mental people would go; those who couldn’t play nice with others and lost touch with reality.  These were isolated and dark, with tiny fractured windows, and if you listened hard enough, you could hear the screams of the insane still ringing about.  For a very short time, we had to open the old jail to house some inmates while some renovations were being made to the new jail, and during the stay, both inmates and officers talked of the strange incidences that occurred.  Noises, clanging, footsteps, water running, even a figure passing across the camera monitor that was never there.  Night of course was always the worst times and officers dreaded having to work their third shift in the creeptastic building.  I’ve been to the old jail twice and both times were during the day and even in the light, it gave me the willies.  I think if they were allowed to turn it into a haunted tour for Halloween, it would be the most popular and scariest around!  And I’m certainly glad I never had to be someone working or housed in this heeby jeebies building!

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Wow!! I love the whole atmosphere surround this jail, it sounds so intense! Thank you so much for joining us today, Vyki! Readers, don’t forget to head over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has featured today! Happy haunting!

Fortnight of Fright Guest Post by Dianne Salerni

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I am SO EXCITED to be featuring one of my favorite authors on the blog today!! Dianne Salerni is the author of WE HEAR THE DEAD, THE CAGED GRAVES, and THE EIGHTH DAY (a forthcoming series from HarperCollins) and some of you may remember that I gushed about her earlier this year after devouring THE CAGED GRAVES. Today, Dianne is here to talk about real caged graves, the spiritualist movement, and happenings that stemmed from both of these unique bits of history.

Graves in Cages and Spirits in the Basement

My first two novels, We Hear the Dead and The Caged Graves, are both better categorized as historical novels than paranormal or horror stories. However, each one originated from something creepy – and true.

The Caged Graves was inspired by two real graves in an abandoned cemetery in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. The graves belong to sisters-in-law who died within a couple days of one another in 1852 and whose family – for some reason — chose to enclose their burial plots in iron cages.

Grave of Sarah Ann

Grave of Sarah Ann

The story behind these graves has been lost to history. The most often cited explanation for the cages is protection from grave robbers – especially medical students seeking fresh cadavers for anatomy practice. But one has to wonder why only those two graves needed protection. Why did the family of these women consider them likely targets for grave robbers? And, more importantly, why erect a decorative, permanent structure for a danger that would only last a few days?  The bodies wouldn’t be desirable very long.

There are some other strange things about this cemetery.  On my second visit I noticed that all the graves belonged to women and children. It’s possible some headstones have been lost or broken to pieces, but it seems strange that not a single marker for an adult male survived. Not even the husbands of the two women! (I only discovered this after I wrote my novel, so the book doesn’t include this little mystery. That might have to wait for a future story!)

Grave of Asenath Thomas

Grave of Asenath Thomas

While the historical facts behind The Caged Graves have been lost to time, the inciting incident that inspired We Hear the Dead is well documented by a pamphlet published a few weeks after the events. In May of 1848, in a one-bedroom, rented house in Hydesville, New York, a persistent but unexplainable rapping sound kept the tenants up several nights in a row. The adults, Margaret and John Fox, searched in vain for the source of the noise, while their two daughters, Maggie and Kate, insisted the rapping was caused by a “spirit.” After a few sleepless nights, an exhausted Margaret Fox complained that it must be the Devil himself.

That’s when the youngest girl, Kate, sat up in bed and said, “Here, Mr. Splitfoot*. Do as I do!” She snapped her fingers three times — and was answered by three sharp raps.

Kate and Maggie enticed the mysterious noise to imitate them several times and finally to answer questions by rapping once for yes and twice for no. By this means they determined the raps were caused by the spirit of a man who’d been robbed, murdered, and buried in the basement by a former tenant.

This creepy little incident was the beginning of the spiritualist movement – or rather, when Kate and Maggie’s older sister decided to take the girls on the road as spirit mediums – that was the beginning. The Fox sisters went from entertaining/scaring the neighbors in Hydesville to contacting wealthy patrons’ dead relatives for money all over the country. The younger girl, Kate, became the Lindsay Lohan of the 1850s while her sister Maggie was caught up in a star-crossed celebrity romance with a famous Arctic explorer.

Was it a hoax? There is evidence both for and against that.  One sister admitted to fraud forty years later, but only after she was well paid for the confession. The other sister never recanted.

It’s a shame Maggie and Kate were never asked to contact the women buried in Catawissa’s caged graves and get the scoop on what happened there!

*Mr. Splitfoot is a 19th century term for the Devil.

Spirit Game poster

I bet that you didn’t know that We Hear the Dead was the inspiration for a short film called The Spirit Game, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes film festival! The trailer to the film can be found below, but also stay tuned for my review of We Hear the Dead, coming soon! Dianne, thank you SO MUCH for joining us on Books Take You Places, I loved reading all about the facts behind your books! Readers, head on over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has in store for you today!

The Spirt Game Trailer from Craig Goodwill on Vimeo.

Fortnight of Fright Guest Post by Jamie from The World for the Reading

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Hello readers! I hope that you are enjoying Fortnight of Fright thus far, we have been very lucky with our guests this year! Today we have Jamie from The World for the Reading telling us all about a TRUE HAUNTING (umm my favorite!!) Take it away, Jamie!!
The Haunting of Hoyt Hall

HoytHall

I don’t believe in ghosts, so when the opportunity came to live on the notoriously haunted fourth floor of Hoyt-Bowne Hall, I took it. The rooms were huge and Hoyt was right in the middle of campus. A little ghostly shenanigans seemed a small price to pay.

The ghost’s origin story varied depending on who told it, but here’s the gist: in the late 18th century a woman having an illicit affair found out she was pregnant, was rejected by her lover, and hung herself in the attic.  Other versions have her as defenestrated by her boyfriend; still others say that the pregnancy was the result of sexual assault.  Whatever the true origin the result was a spirit said to be particularly malevolent to men. Any men who slept on the fourth floor were said to experience nightmares, headaches, trip over nothing, and if they should take a shower: extreme changes in water temperature.  For this reason only women resided on the this floor, an unusual circumstance on a campus where every other dorm is co-ed by room.

My first night there I was awoken by a creak… creak …creak.  The room’s two closet doors were opening and shutting on their own. Chalking it up to the open windows, I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next night: creak…creak…creak went the doors. This time the windows were closed. Well it’s an old building, I thought to myself. I shoved a plastic bin in front of the doors to stop the creaking, and learned to live with it. The rest of the year was spent mostly untroubled by the “ghost”: a girl down the hall yelled for me to come see a ball rolling around her floor apparently untouched by human hands, there were strange knocks on the walls at random places, my friends across the way found mysterious holes in their window screens. (This last had a clear explanation: a squirrel had chewed through the screen to get to a dish of Hershey’s kisses with almonds, the squirrel equivalent of crystal meth.) My friend Tom complained of random bruises, though they were likely the result of drinking in the woods, not supernatural in origin.

I had no more personal experiences… until one Friday night. Hoyt 4 was empty, finals were coming and we’d been given Monday and Tuesday off for “reading days”.  Many people, my roommate and neighbors included, elected to go home for the weekend. I had several papers to write and had woken up that morning with a stomach virus. I decided to quarantine myself in the dorm and get as much work done as possible in between miserable trips to the bathroom. All was quiet that afternoon and into the evening. Suddenly there was a knock at my door.  Startled, I answered it only to be blinded by a light. A camera was shining in my face and three freshmen guys stood there. These amateur Ghost Hunters wanted an interview: “No one else answered their door. How do you like living in the creepiest building on campus? Ever been attacked by the ghost? Did you know the lights are sometimes on in the attic? Are those Pokemon pajama pants?” The only thing currently haunting me was the Norovirus. Sweaty, nauseous, and mildly irritated I declined an on-camera interview and sent them on their way.

Some hours later, maybe around 2:00am I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom sink after another miserable excursion when I noticed how cold the room was. The window had been opened, even though it had been shut the last time I visited in the room about an hour before. Someone else must be up here after all, I thought, then shut the window and continued brushing. I heard a noise like swoosh swoosh coming from the side of the bathroom with the shower stalls. “Hello?” I called, “Anyone there? Cindy, is that you?” No response. The lights flickered, but then they often did. I washed my face.Creak… creak… creak. The doors of the toilet stalls were swinging back and forth. The door leading to the hallway opened. Small knocks were coming from the walls.  Finally, bang went the toilet seat that I had left up, just as the lights went out.

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I raced out of that bathroom and locked myself in my own room with all the lights turned on, shoving the bin back in front of the closets as a precaution.

I *loved* this. So much. It sounds like a scene out of a really fantastic novel that I want to exist so I can read it RIGHT NOW, PLEASE! I love scary things but even I am not sure how I would have reacted to this one! Thanks so much for sharing with us, Jamie! As always, readers, remember to head over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has featured, and check back tomorrow for a featured post from THE CAGED GRAVES author, Dianne Salerni!

Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

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Hello fellow readers! Fortnight of Fright continues with a review of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab!

Title: The Near Witch

Author: Victoria Schwab

Publishing Information: August 2, 2011 by Hyperion Books

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Witches, Romance

Series information: Standalone – though a prequel can be read for free here

Format: Hardcover, 282 pages

Source: Obtained an ARC from the author a Book Expo America

Recommended For: Fans of fairy tales and lyrical, imaginative prose

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

The first thing to talk about when discussing The Near Witch is the way in which Victoria Schwab integrates gorgeous imagery into her prose. The Near Witch is reminiscent of fairy tales of old, invoking images of deep forests, dark moors, and misguided villains. What Schwab excels at is weaving absolutely beautiful descriptions with layered characters, and plot, she teetered on the line between too much and too little throughout the novel and I find that for me, The Near Witch was just right.

I thoroughly enjoyed the strength shown by the characters in The Near Witch, Schwab has an excellent way of showing the reader glimpses into multiple characters without becoming too overwhelming with detail. Lexi is our main character and though she is growing up in a small village ruled by men, she does her best to stand out and follow her own path. This is done in a beautiful way as we are shown the integrity in her character when she is willing to trust a stranger when no one else will. The aforementioned stranger is a rather mysterious young man who has a bit of a shadowy past, though he is doing his best to not let that affect his future. The relationship between the two characters was indeed sweet, if not a little rushed.  The secondary characters of the novel were also layered and interesting, the two “witches” of the village, Dreska and Magda, stole the show on more than one occasion, and I simply adored Lexi’s mother, though in truth I would have liked to see more of her throughout the novel.

What I can say about The Near Witch in terms of plot is that it is an extremely straightforward novel, there are no hidden agendas or surprise elements. In fact, I had a hard time not thinking ahead and making up my own twisty endings for the novel. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I did find that it made the novel lack some depth. Perhaps my expectations of a reader are too high but upon completion I did feel as if the novel was missing a certain something to place it on my favorites shelf. With that being said, I must mention that despite the lack of depth, The Near Witch was a beautifully detailed fairy tale that spoke to my heart. I recommend it to those of you looking for something less enthralling, but more comfortable, it evokes a feeling of putting on your favorite sweater on the first cool day, after a very long summer.

Fortnight of Fright: Hallow’s Reads

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Welcome, welcome!! It is day one of Fortnight of Fright! For those of you wondering what Fortnight of Fright consists of, head on over to the intro post and take a gander!  I am so excited to have so many excellent blogger and author participation this year, we are going to be bursting at the seams with Halloween happenings! To kick off the event, Brittany and I thought that we would compile a list of some great Halloween recommendations from our fellow bloggers. So here we go, best Halloween reads!!

First up we have April from The Steadfast Reader recommended some of her favorite Halloween reads…and quick side note: I am PETRIFIED of IT (and all clowns, really) so there won’t be any images of him over here!!

– It by Stephen King (blog review): Why I love it: First line: “The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years–if it ever did end–began, so far as I can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”

It’s a deep and intricately woven tale about childhood, love, loss, and imagination. At it’s core it’s about the loss of innocence and the power children and imagination have. King does a masterful job of putting the reader in the shoes of his characters. The Loser’s Club, in all their glory, both as children and adults are what make this novel the fantastic piece of horror literature it is.

Why it’s great for Halloween? It’s the penultimate horror story. Every creepy, scary archetype ever rained down upon mankind is found in this book. What scares you? Clowns? Check. Sewers? Check. Spiders? Check. Dead children? Okay, that’s less of an archetype and more of a tragedy — but that’s in there too. It should be noted depending on your reading speed, if you start on Halloween, this one might take you until Christmas, but that doesn’t mean that the journey isn’t completely worth it.

– Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones: Why I like it: It’s a unique piece of work in that it’s written as a treatment for a screenplay. It’s packed with footnotes and so full of pop-culture that it’s practically bursting at the seams! I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever read anything else like it. Between that and the emotions that it pulled from me, I classify it as art.

Why it’s great for Halloween? Well, the screenplay treatment is for three movies that take place on Halloween. This piece pulled some visceral emotional response from me. There’s both camp-horror and really scary horror. This makes it an ideal spooky Halloween read.

Secondly we have Celine from Nyx Book Reviews  and as you can see Celine ALSO recommends IT as one of the scariest books out there…I TOLD YOU!!

– It by Stephen King (Goodreads)

It is by far the scariest book I have ever read. Not only does it deal with the evil inside humans, it also features a monster that is evil itself and that turns into your greatest fears. While reading this Stephen King classic you will find yourself turning on all of your lights and hiding underneath a blanket. It’s even more terrifying if you’re afraid of clowns.

 – The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (Goodreads – my review)

With such a creepy cover, it’s almost impossible to go wrong. The Replacement is a lovely scary young-adult book, which has one of the most unique story lines and setting I have encountered so far. Deliciously weird, The Replacement is a great read for people that love their books atmospheric, but that value getting some nightmare-free sleep at night.

– The Trial by Kafka (Goodreads – my review)

Never has a book made me as uncomfortable as The Trial has. At first glance it sounds like your average thriller – a man gets accused of a crime. Kafka manages to turn this simple premise into an absurd surreal experience that gets under your skin. Reading this book is uncomfortable and confronting, and ultimately scarier than most books about monsters are.

Thanks so much for sharing your recommendations with us, girls!! I will definitely be adding a few of these to the TBR – and steering clear of a certain CLOWN..ahem..Make sure to head over to Brittany’s blog for some other Halloween recommendations!! Happy reading, my friends!

Fortnight of Fright (2)

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Hello my friends!

Two awesome things coming your way…

First, you may remember that last year Brittany from The Book Addict’s Guide and I hosted a two week event called Fortnight of Fright, where we shared different posts on ALL OF THE HALLOWEEN THINGS. This year we are working together again to showcase different creepy books, movies, author interviews, and other excellent autumn and Halloween related goodies! The best part is that we get to work together with some awesome bloggers to make this happen, and the more the merrier, so if you think that you want to assist in ANY way, even if it is just telling us your favorite thing about Halloween, sign up via the Google Doc down at the end, below part two of this post!

Some fun posts from last year included:

The Scary-Funny Sweet Spot by Heidi at Bunbury in the Stacks

Favorite Villains

Favorite Halloween Shows

…and so many more!!

All Hallow's Read

Second, you may also remember that I told you all about All Hallow’s Read, which is a lovely new tradition started by Neil Gaiman where people give each other BOOKS instead of CANDY. Doesn’t that sound AMAZING?! Brittany, Amy and I are all participating and we are gifting each other Halloween-y books for us to read and review during the month of October. I can’t tell you how excited we have all been to choose books for each other (and um we are obviously psyched to receive those books as well!!) and you have time before Halloween so I suggest that you get together with some friends, and give each other books, because WE ALL LOVE BOOKS. For more information on All Hallow’s Read, head on over to their website, and I will keep you all in the know as well because last year Neil Gaiman gave away a free short story via Audible and it was PHENOMENAL.

Happy reading, my friends!!

Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

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15806868Title: Towering

Author: Alex Flinn

Publishing Information: May 14, 2013 by HarperTeen

Genre: Young Adult, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Fantasy

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 304 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Fans of quick reads filled with a little bit of mystery, and a lot of insta-love
Rachel is trapped in a tower, held hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her. 

Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.

Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now.

It’s hard to tell you how I feel about this novel because while I was reading it I really enjoyed it. However, now that I am looking back to write my review I am thinking of all of the things that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Does that ever happen to you? You read a book and you’re entertained at the moment but then looking back you find that it wasn’t a particularly good book? It’s hard to rate a book like that, but I’ll do my best.

The POV in the novel goes back and forth between Wyatt and Rachel, though much time is spent in Wyatt’s head as Rachel really doesn’t have much going on up in that tower. I liked Wyatt a lot, I found him endearing and gentle and a little bit sad. Rachel was a decent enough character as her naivete is believable due to her circumstances and her reliance on her “Mama” is necessary for her continued survival. I like Wyatt’s curiosity and strength, and I enjoyed the way Rachel took control of her own life when she felt the need, even though it did seem rather forced. However, I did not like the instalove between these two, and despite the fantastical elements that went into their meeting, it didn’t click for me and I was annoyed at how quickly and deeply they fell in love. The secondary characters in the novel were scarce and the villains fell very flat. In fact, the only time we really see the villains in depth is during the climax of the novel, and that was a disappointment as I really felt that so much more could have been done with their characterization.

My absolute favorite part of the novel was the mystery and setting. It read like one of those old school mysteries, teenage daughter goes missing, ghost starts haunting the new boy in town, mysterious singing, deep snow and wind reminiscent of the moors of Wuthering Heights. Sounds awesome, right? It really could have been, had it contained more detail and depth. On a whole, there was one interesting part that I honestly did not see coming, and there were times that I couldn’t stop thinking about the plot and even while I wasn’t reading, I was wondering what was going to happen next. I think that was the biggest disappointment for me. Once the novel climaxed, and the mystery was solved, I couldn’t help but feel let down. It wasn’t just that things were solved too quickly, though that was an issue for me, it was my disappointment in the flatness of the tale.  The BIG REVEAL happened and tied up ALL THE THINGS and Rachel saved the day (and her man) with her MAGIC and all was well!

The gist here is that before I started, and as I was reading, what I thought I was getting was an incredibly layered, detailed, and intriguing mystery. What I got was a rather typical young adult novel filled with enough magic to tie up all loose ends, and an insta-love between a troubled boy who would have a lot going for him if he hadn’t fallen so in love that he now has a live in girlfriend who doesn’t know the difference between a car and a carriage.

For those of you who are looking for a quick read to cleanse the palate in between those layered and detailed novels, give this one a go. It was enjoyable enough, but I won’t be running to read the author’s other novels any time soon.

Review: In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

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ItSoBTitle: In the Shadow of Blackbirds

Author: Cat Winters

Publishing Information: April 2, 2013 by Amulet Books

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 400 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Readers looking for a period piece with mysterious and romantic elements

I am a fan of historical fiction novels but I have to admit that they usually revolve around some intrigue happening in the Tudor court and not the Spanish Influenza. To be honest, it was the cover of this book that first caught my eye while browsing Netgalley, and once I read the blurb it was the addition of séances and spirit photographers that really made me request it. In truth, I started the book on a whim, and couldn’t put it down.

Mary Shelley Black is forced to live with her aunt in San Diego after her father is arrested. She isn’t completely new to the area, she spent a lot of time there as a child, and has many memories there of herself and her childhood sweetheart, Stephen. Stephen has since left for the war and it isn’t long after Mary Shelley arrives that she finds out that Stephen has died. As she struggles to overcome this heartache, Mary Shelley begins to be visited by Stephen’s tortured spirit. It seems that Stephen can’t move on until he comes to terms with his death, and he’s determined to use Mary to find out some answers.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds has so many layers that it is hard to begin to describe its intensity. As stated above, it is a historical fiction novel, and Cat Winters did an excellent job in describing the austere and frightening time period in which people were struggling with the effects of war and death.  I found myself shivering at the thought of a flu outbreak and nearly sobbed over the details surrounding the war. Through this backdrop there is also a beautifully heartbreaking love story between Mary and Stephen. Though Stephen is only portrayed alive in Mary’s memories, his ethereal character was very real and deeply moving. I found myself somewhat surprised at how much this relationship touched me and made my heart ache. The underlying plot of this novel is of course the mystery, and being an avid reader I am very rarely shocked while reading. Cat Winters leaves many puzzle pieces throughout the novel and to be quite honest, I really thought I had it all figured out. As the novel climaxed and secrets were revealed I was stunned, horrified, and rather shaken to find that things were not at all what they seemed.

In an effort at full disclosure I have to share that I lost someone very close to me a few years ago in a very traumatic way and I couldn’t help but feel connected to the story on a very deep level. As a spiritual person, I connected to the way in which Mary gained more precious moments with her love, long after his time on Earth was over. My heart ached for those moments and I couldn’t help but feel bittersweet feelings over their relationship after death. Cat Winters captured real, heart wrenching emotions that I could have never put into words, and I will forever be grateful.

This is not a particularly happy read, but it is glorious, in the end. It is hard to find a specific audience for this novel as I really believe that it is fitting for all. If you enjoy layered novels, filled with historical fiction, mysterious, paranormal, and romantic elements, then this is the novel for you. This is a book that I am thinking about months after its conclusion. In the end,  In the Shadow of Blackbirds will consume you, body and soul.

Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

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12507214Title: Girl of Nightmares

Author: Kendare Blake

Publishing Information: August 7, 2012, Tor Teens

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Horro

Series information: Book two in the Anna series

Format: Hardcover, 332 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Fans of horror, romance, dark humor and well developed characters

It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can’t move on.  His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with. Now he’s seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong…these aren’t just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears. Cas doesn’t know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn’t deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it’s time for him to return the favor

“She crossed over death to call me. I crossed through Hell to find her.”

Girl of Nightmares scared (I used the term loosely) me more than Anna Dressed in Blood and I was both happy and disappointed by this fact. In Anna Dressed in Blood, Anna was thought to be the villain, she was a murderess and creepy as Hell. As the story progressed we learned her background and why her story was so sad and in turn we realized the real villain(s) of the novel. Girl of Nightmares is vastly different. There is much history presented on Cas and his family and I was really interested to find out his background, it really made for a nice companion to book one where we learned more about Anna. However, due to the focus on Cas, we didn’t hear much from Anna and when we did she was being harmed and though she was definitely the same, strong Anna from book one in that she was no damsel in distress, she was also a little more like a teenager in love and I missed her intensity. As I mentioned, this book did scare me properly, there was a fantastic part in the novel in which Cas, Thomas and Carmel are walking through a “suicide forest” and honestly readers, I had to put the book down for a bit because I was too afraid of something lurking over my shoulder, there really aren’t many books that manage to creep me out to that extreme.

Like book one, Kendare Blake weaved together an intricate and beautiful storyline that held me captivated from page one. I especially loved how included the secondary characters were in the story, Thomas and Carmel are perfect characters to balance out Cas, they all work together in a glorious way. Blake’s characters were layered and interesting enough that made me care about their feelings and actions, while some of them made me question their motives and made me want to keep my eye on them, metaphorically speaking of course.

A review for a second book in a series is always tough to do. You don’t want to spoil anything for your readers who have yet to read the first, and you are inevitably comparing the two works and how they work in tandem instead of appreciating them without bias as unique pieces of literature. Thus is the case with Girl of Nightmares. While reading the book I was entranced, intrigued, and even a little scared. I went into the story knowing that this was a two book deal and I have to say that they were perfectly matched companions to one another.  I was particularly fond of the ending of this novel, the story progressed beautifully and the ending gave me what I wanted and needed from the characters without being too neatly tied up. In other words, it didn’t feel rushed or forced but it was believable and made me content as a reader.

Overall Girl of Nightmares was a successful conclusion to the series. There aren’t many authors who can maintain such impeccable balance between dark humor and serious undertones in a novel. Girl of Nightmares was both scary and endearing, a perfect October read.