That Night in the Woods by Kristopher Triana

 

When Jennifer receives a message from Scott Dwyer after twenty years without contact, her first reaction is one of excitement. Scott was her first love, and now that she’s in her forties and in the middle of a divorce, nostalgia for her youth gets the better of her.

Scott invites Jennifer to his house in Redford, the very same town she grew up in. It’s a place she’s made great effort to put behind her, for not all her childhood memories are sunny. When she accepts Scott’s invite and returns to her old hometown, she struggles with mixed feelings, especially when she learns of the death of Steven Winters, one of her and Scott’s childhood friends.

Scott invites three other people from their past to honor Steven’s memory—Corey, Traci, and Mark. But the group is more than old friends. They share a dark secret that has troubled them for decades. Now it’s time to face their traumatic pasts. Together, they must unravel the mystery of what happened that night in the patch of forest behind Scott’s house, a place once known as Suicide Woods.

From the author of Gone to See the River Man comes a chilling novel that reminds us old ghosts are the ones that haunt us most.

Twenty years ago seven teenagers went into suicide woods on Halloween, to party, camp out, and scare themselves a little. Only six of them made it out alive. 

They went their separate ways after that, never wanting to think about that night, trying to put it, and each other out of sight and out of mind.

Now all these years later, the messages come to each of them from the one person who stayed in town. Scott still lives in the house near suicide woods and he has bad news. Their childhood friend Steven has passed away and he wants them all to come back in honor of his memory. He claims this reunion was Steven's final wish and he has a message to share with them. 

Is he telling the truth or does he have nefarious reasons for wanting his former friends to return? He's certainly acting a bit strange. 

There's an old saying that tells us you can't go home again. Maybe that should be changed to "Don't go back if you were lucky enough to survive the first time."

As a fan of small-town horror,  I loved the atmosphere and the characters, These are people I could have gone to school with. The friends, the lovers, the nerdy kid, it's like I knew them all. But then came the sudden fear of the unknown. The party went from innocent fun, to fight for survival.  You wouldn't think you could get claustrophobia from reading about being outside in the forest but I did start to feel like those trees were closing in on me. I'm not going to tell you anything about what really happened that night in the woods but it has me staring suspiciously out my window on the lookout for more than just wildlife, and I won't be answering any calls or emails from long lost friends who want to reunite.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications.

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I'll Tell You My Secrets by A. Lopez Jr.

 

When Camila approached horror author A. Lopez Jr. in 2019, she had no idea that her life was about to change forever. Over the next two years, she shared her family's haunting story, and now, her chilling autobiography is finally here. Growing up in a traditional Mexican-American family in Arizona, Camila was an ordinary girl with an extraordinary gift that would ultimately lead her down a dark and sinister path. In this gripping memoir, Camila shares her harrowing journey of coming to terms with her paranormal abilities, as she grapples with the shadows that lurk in her family's home and the malevolent presence that seems to have taken hold of her devout Catholic mother. As Camila uncovers the truth behind her family's sinister secrets, she takes readers on a terrifying journey, filled with twists and turns, as she battles to rid herself of her debilitating curse. But with the fear that she may pass on her gift to her young daughter, Camila is left wondering if she will ever be truly free. I'll Tell You My Secrets is a haunting tale, steeped in deeply rooted Mexican-American culture and beliefs, that shines a light on the shadows that exist just beyond the edge of reality. In this work of fiction inspired by true events, this gripping memoir will challenge everything you thought you knew about religion and science, leaving readers with a frightening glimpse into the dark forces that hunger for our souls. If you're a believer in the paranormal or simply looking for a spine-chilling read, then this is a must-have for your bookshelf.

In this cleverly written "mockumentary" style novel, the author paints a chilling picture of a young girl growing up with abilities she doesn't yet understand in a house full of creepy happenings where a demon has possessed her mother.

Camila's story begins when she is a child, sharing a room with her sister in a house her father built with his own two hands. They are a close-knit Mexican-American family, but a wedge begins to form when Camila knows her parents are keeping a secret from her.

Strange shadows and ghostly apparitions torment Camila, but the real terror begins when her mother seems to have an evil presence taking over her body and mind. This evil plagues her into adulthood, and years later she tells this story to the author, who may also face the consequences of the curse on Camila's family.

The author's skill drew me in and made me feel like I was the one Camila was trusting with her terrifying story. Now I'm wondering if I too will face the consequences of knowing.

Will you dare to let her tell you her secrets?

My thanks to A. Lopez Jr.

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The Dead Pennies by Robert Ford

 

After leaving an abusive relationship, Abby visits an old friend on her way to her mother’s in Florida.

Hayden’s Uncle Jack is renovating a building into high-end apartments in town, and with the lure of living rent-free in a beautiful loft, Abby becomes the caretaker with the entire building all to herself.
Abby hears strange sounds in the building. Shadows move as if they’re alive. Led to believe the structure
was previously a school, Abby is told by the last living employee of Harper’s Grove that the building
used to be a home for the infirm and unwanted children, the Dead Pennies of society, unfit for circulation.
Abby and Hayden search for the cause of the strange events at Harper’s Grove, and find out why the
spirits of the dead children won’t sleep until they get vengeance.

Abby has finally called it quits on an abusive relationship with a drug addicted creep. She packs what will fit in her car and heads to her mother's house although she really doesn't want to stay with her. On the way, she speaks to an old friend and decides to stop at his loft instead. He offers up what sounds like a great alternative to her mother's house. She can stay rent-free in a gorgeous apartment in a huge empty building while his uncle sorts through some red tape before renovations can continue to turn the rest into apartments.

It seems like the answer to all her problems. What she doesn't know, is that this building used to be an institution for physically and mentally disabled children, some of whom never moved on after death.

This was a chilling, multifaceted, ghost story. The spine tingling suspense comes from both the living and the dead. There is an unnerving encounter with a strange man before Abby even moves in, but the intricately woven back story of the building's days as a home to unwanted children was both heart-breaking and enraging due to its realistic portrayal of life for the residents of that kind of institution in those days. 

I felt for Abby and her circumstances, but it was the backstory of the building's dark past that really twisted my guts and kept me awake nights. 

Robert Ford is now on my short list of must read authors.

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications.

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Feeders by Caleb Stephens

 

It’s just an average night at the Ink Tank, the tattoo shop in Austin, Texas, where Brynn works as a tattoo artist. After a long shift, all she wants to do is head home, pop a few pills from the fresh bottle of Roxicodone in her jacket pocket, and slip into a nice buzz. Her plans crumble when she’s abducted by her convict father, Alan, and forced into the road trip from a cross-country trek to the Rocky Mountains and the shelter he built years ago to protect his family from the monsters living in his head, the monsters he says will erupt from the earth at any minute—the Feeders. With each mile he unravels further, thrusting Brynn back into the childhood nightmare she thought she’d escaped forever. Alan is paranoid, and he’s definitely dangerous—but is he crazy? In this novel, we find that truth is not always what it seems and that some secrets are better left buried.

Feeders is a road trip with a small group of people that you wouldn't think you'd like to be stuck with. There are strange and deadly bug like creatures bringing death and destruction in their wake. One man has what he hopes will be a safe refuge from these monsters if only he can get everyone there alive, even if it's against their will.

It's a strange experience to be made to like an unlikable cast of characters but somehow the author has pulled off this feat.

Brynn is a drug-addicted tattoo artist suffering from withdrawal.

Her father Alan is a murderer who has abducted her. Brynn's aunt has been cold and distant and resentful of taking care of Brynn and her brother Mac after their mother's death.

Somehow I ended up caring about all of them.

Feeders is an action-packed, creature-feature, survival horror. But before I knew it, it also turned into a story with heart and soul. It's also a cautionary tale that serves to remind us all that there is only so much we can take from the earth before we are made to regret it.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Timber Ghost Press.

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