Be ready to get scared! This house is hiding secrets… and you don’t want to find out what they are!

After reading The Beckoning Dead (1, 2, 3) series, I decided I wanted more of Ambrose Ibsen. He seemed to be able to write amazingly creepy books and I was eager to see what else he had written. So I got several of his books and this is the first one on the list! A spooky tale featuring a haunted house… and the old owners who want it back. NOTE: These people are dead.

Meet Kim and Jullian, a sweet couple who finally have money to buy their own place. They come across the Beacon estate (which I loved as it reminded me of the haunted house on Beacon Hill) and Jullian falls in love and so the decision is made. But from the start, we see things through Kim’s eyes, we see that things are strange. Weird. There is a dead forest nearby (yes, really, that alone would have seriously put me off from buying a house), the house is making weird sounds (and I seriously didn’t believe all of Jullian’s explanations), and oh yes, dreams. The dreams. shivers

I loved Kim and found her descent into madness/into paranoia well written. Most of the book is through her eyes and we see all she experiences in the house. Things are getting pretty scary and I just felt so for her and wanted to hug her. On the other side, I also just wanted to shout and scream to just get out. Let Jullian live there if he loves it so much, but get the freak out. With each page, each chapter, each new thing we learn, or each new thing we meet in the house, I just wanted to have her out. I just couldn’t understand why she stayed. I get that most of their money is in the house, I understand that she is married, but really? If my house did that crazy shit? I would have just disappeared out of it. I don’t care where I have to live then. Better poor and safe than possibly dead and constantly frightened.

I disliked Jullian. Even later when he got to be the MC. I just wish he was a bit more kinder and respectful of his wife. I mean, hello? She is clearly frightened, you see that she is struggling, that she is crying, feeling lost, and instead of comforting her or taking her out or I don’t know maybe just leave the freaking place, he keeps making up explanations, he keeps getting angry and frustrated with her, and so on. I kept wishing that he would come around, and while there are some scenes in which he clearly notices something is off.. he just goes back again to how he was and I just got more and more pissed with the guy. Later on when he got to be the MC I was still frustrated with him, though I did admire that he continued on it. He could have left (which would have been the smartest move), but he kept looking. Kept searching.

The book is enormously scary at times and having me NOPE NOPE NOPE quite a few times. Though, hilariously, there are scenes that were more horrific than the ghosts. Like when Jullian got that nail into his head, NOPE! . There were things that reminded me of Ju-on or Ringu. Like the monster/baby and what that was. The hair, the fact that it just frightens people and murders them that way. That Kim died in the closet in fear. And a few other things. I loved that! . I loved finding out more about the house, about the owners, about what happened to them, about the old house that was on the place, about the cellar, about everything. It was well-written and I love how the story was scary from the start. It definitely was a frightening experience.

It was also so American. With them in the middle of nowhere, no neighbours, no stores nearby. And then there was the part where Kim loses her fingertip (and quite a bit going by the description and instead of going to the hospital like a normal person here would do because HELLO you just lost lots of blood and your finger is missing a part, they decide to just dip it in alcohol, wrap it up and leave it. Because going to the ER means it will costs hundreds of dollars. WTF?

Then there is the ending, or I should say those last pages. Those were just pure perfection and scared the crap out of me! I loved that the author took that route as an ending!

All in all, I could probably talk about this book some more, but I will keep it to this one. Recommended!