Tag Archives: Horror

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Bell Hallow

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7083562

Bell Hollow: The Ghost Hunters’ Files

3.5 stars for this horror/ghost story. The story itself was not particularly scary but it had a feeling of menace running throughout that made it compelling. The establishing chapters which laid out the area and some of the characters was straight forward and flowed well. but when it came into the present time you had to pay very close attention or lose track of where in the timeline you were. I had a good idea of where it was headed once we got to the sixties but I had to read on just in case I was wrong.

There are forty acres or more tucked away near Nashville, TN that has been shunned since the beginning of time because it has been the site of strange smells, unnatural deaths, and an evil aura. Even the local tribes avoided the area, then a trapper shows up in 1750 and decides to build there and the evil gets more active forcing the local medicine man to try to contain it. He does but settlers come and not recognizing the signs awaken it once more.

This is about a family who becomes embroiled in the supernatural through no real fault of their own. Jared accepts a job that will destroy his close-knit family and drive him to brink.

We don’t even meet the ghost hunters until the last several chapters of the book. But that is alright because they are not a major part of the story. The characters were quickly constructed and did not have a great deal of depth but some still managed to stand out. This was a decent read and I enjoyed it but there just seemed to be something missing. I liked the history of the area that was talked about. Read but don’t look to deep.

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Captured

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15059301

Captured (The Captive #1)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this story and the writing style of Erica Stevens, since this was the first book I read from this author.I felt like I really got to know the characters and that they were very real for me. I got interested from the very beginning and it kept me interested through the end. The story was fluid and there was nothing which did not make sense about what was happening. The world they inhabited was dark and dangerous but it had lightness to it also. The characters have personalities that are three-dimensional and not flat, giving you a chance to know them as people.

Vampires have taken over the world and have ruled for 100 years, meaning that many humans do not even remember what the world was like before they took over. While the vampires live in the cities, in homes and palaces and conduct regular business, the humans who still resist live in the forests in caves and makeshift camps.

Arianna is young and is part of the resistance outside of the town where the vampire royal family lives. She is captured while protecting a young boy and put up for auction along with all the other captives, she can only hope for death or to become a blood slave giving her a short and brutal life, she prays for a quick death. Arianna is a strong character but has some tendencies that make her seem weak at the same time, but I still liked her even she was all over the place emotionally.

Braith is the vampire prince who claims Arianna as his blood slave, even though he has never  had one in all his years of existence. Braith  fought in the war which reduced humanity to slaves and servants. Braith is not like the other vampires, he does not have a cruel streak but has a core of caring. I wasn’t sure what he was doing but felt sorry for him because he wanted something more than just killing and torture in his life.

This is a story about two people who have lived very different lives. While Arianna has heard all these horror stories about vampires she learns that not all of them are the same. Braith finds that love can come even to the most jaded and from the least likely person. They find each other but can they keep each other. I will be reading further because I really need to know what happens to them.

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The Hybrid’s Mate

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The Hybrid’s Mate

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very nice novella which would have been even better if it had been expanded on. At least that’s the way I felt about it because I was enjoying it and was really sad to see it end where it did. I wanted more of the story and to find out what happened to everyone. The characters are different but not to different from what you would expect when reading about vampires and werewolves. Though the story started a bit slowly it picked up quickly enough that I was wiling to forgive the drag of the introduction. Once things started it flowed and made perfect sense within the explanations for what had happened in the world. I don’t think that the characters are as well-developed as they could have been but they still manage to capture your imagination.

Shay is a hybrid, half vampire and half something else, she has been looking for her mate for years with no success. When she finally finds him it turns out that he is a vampire, much to her surprise. Draven is more than just some vampire, he is royalty and has been looking and waiting for her arrival so that he can really begin his life. Though the world is now ruled by the vampires and humans are nothing more than cattle and slaves, Shay hopes that it can change now that she has found her other half.

While they are trying to settle into their life together there is someone who is plotting against them. Just as their lives start to look up one of them is taken and the other must go and rescue them before it is too late.

 

 

 

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Ghost Betweens

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Ghost Betweens

My rating 4 of 5 stars
I usually like my horror a bit more bloody and dark but for this I will make an exception. While not bloody it did have a dark edge to it. It was an easy read that allowed you to get to know the characters in increments as the book progressed. Some were better represented than others but you still had an idea of who they were in relation to each other. The reasons behind the haunting was never made completely clear but the story was still good even without knowing every detail. It was able to keep my interest and keep me turning pages wanting to find out what would happen next. The term Ghost Betweens was a new one on me and I think I like it, it seems very apt for the teens here.

Citrus Valley is located somewhere between Los Angeles and Orange County in California. There is a farmhouse just outside the town which is said to be haunted and no one can say how long it has been empty. The local kids don’t party there and no one has even stayed for a night in the abandoned house, but it has a feeling that keeps people away. There is a sign out front which changes year to year or month to month and sometimes day by day, yet no one has ever been seen doing it.

Josh and Zach are high school boys who decide to go out and take pictures around the old farm and maybe capture some ghosts on film. They definitely get there wish and when the pictures are shown to one of their teachers he enlists them to continue their search for ghosts. They in turn bring into it Kendra, the girlfriend of Zach, and a new girl in school, Whisper who at first thinks she is joining a photography club. They wake up an evil that wishes to use them and they must race to master skills which will keep them alive and save more than their town from what could be released.

While light on scares it gives a nice story of young love blossoming in the face of horror. Finding the person who completes you before you are even complete yourself and learning to work together for the greater good. There was only one thing that bugged me and that was we never really got any answers about the teacher, like how he knew so much about ghosts, and spells, and evil entities, he was a history teacher after all. But that was a small thing and did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. This book is YA and so has no major heavy content.

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On Demon Wings

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On Demon Wings (Experiment in Terror, #5)On Demon Wings by Karina Halle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The intensity keeps going up right along with the terror. Each entry takes you a little deeper into the mystery, a little deeper into the horror, and a little deeper into a tangled romance.

Who will we get to see here: Ada Palomino is Perry’s younger sister and would do anything to help her mend her broken heart. She knows that Perry is not crazy and actually does see ghosts. She may be a fashionista but she is a smart girl with a quick mind.

Mom & Dad Palomino, they love their daughters but have decided that Perry is crazy and that they know what is best for her. The problem is that everything they do shows they may want to help but it pushes Perry further away because their love seems to be conditioned on her being a more perfect child.

Maximus was last seen in “Red Fox“, he was Dex’s best friend in college but there is no love lost between them. He shows up on Perry’s doorstep as if he cares about her, but his motives are much more shady. He may be a handsome man but the things he is willing to do for revenge make him less than desirable.

This installment revolves around Perry and what happens to her in the aftermath of her broken relationship with Dex. As someone who can see spirits Perry needs to protect herself, but in her weakened mental and physical state she leaves herself open to the spirits who would take advantage of her. Perry is faced with fighting for life and sanity and the only person who truly has her back is Ada, a fifteen year old who understands more than she is given credit for.

Though I have loved all the previous books, this one really gave me something to think about. We get some big reveals which make some of the earlier encounters make more sense. And we do get some Dex. 😉

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Into The Hollow

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Into the Hollow (Experiment in Terror, #6)Into the Hollow by Karina Halle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this author, I love these books, and I just want more!!

My favorite non-couple are back together again, sort of. Dex has rescued Perry once again and now is taking her away from the crazies she lives with. Perry has no idea whether she want to be there or not but is determined to try.

When she finds out that she is wanted back on the Experiments with Terror show and with Dex, she accepts what seems to be a simple assignment. Go to British Columbia and film evidence of a Sasquatch in the area. Simple right, they don’t really exist so it should be a easy thing to do with no real danger. But this is Dex and Perry and no matter how simple the assignment it always turns out to have some element of danger. If there is a monster you can be sure that they will run into it.

Once again the action is ramped up as Dex makes an attempt to win Perry back and to protect her from any dangers, human or otherwise. The human story is just as exciting as that which surrounds the supernatural/preternatural events that they are involved in.

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