The Haunted by Bentley Little – book review

The Haunted – Bentley Little

I found The Haunted to be a good haunted house horror story. It was written in modern style, easy reading, enabling you to get deep into the story very quickly. The characters are your average family, not overly exciting, but they grow on you as the story progresses. A family of four, the Perry’s, move into a new home in an historical area of their South Western city (I’m assuming Arizona or New Mexico). They are shunned by their new neighbors and old friends feel uncomfortable in the home. Each family member seems to behave differently as the influence of the house creeps into them. They hear voices in the house at night and see shadows in the basement. (spoilers ahead)

It’s not until a house-warming party that they learn what is truly occurring in the house, as a ghost parades through the living room, a spectre spectacle in front of many guests. It’s a chilling scene and the anticipation for it builds. I didn’t find everything in the book to be frightening, the text messages and words on the computer screen did very little for me. However there were more interesting aspects that would be unnerving if they happened in real life, for instance strangers drawn to the home to commit suicide. (end of spoilers)

There’s sex and there’s gore, so I would give it a strong ‘R’ – rating, only for adults. The story built to a great climax and a good ending, not what I would have expected. Summed up, it’s a good haunted house story, not great and not a classic, but entertaining nevertheless.

Recommended for a good Halloween haunted house read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Haunted-Bentley-Little/dp/0451236378

 

 

Shadow Masters – new horror fiction book release

Bentley Little, Yvonne Navarro, Earl Hamner, Ronald Malfi, Melanie Tem, Elizabeth Massie… What do all these famous horror fiction authors have in common? They all have frightening stories in the new horror anthology book, SHADOW MASTERS.

Oh yeah, and I do too!

My short story ‘PIG’ has been published in:
Shadow Masters – An Anthology From The Horror ‘Zine
from Imajin Books.

Other authors include: Scott Nicholson, Simon Clark, Lisa Morton, JG Faherty, Christian Larsen, Cheryl Tardiff, Jeff Bennington and Jeani Rector. Jeani is the publisher of The Horror ‘Zine and pulled together this wonderful collection of horror fiction. She also has a wicked gem of a story in the anthology.

Includes a forward by Joe R. Lansdale

More about my short story, ‘PIG’ –  This tale involves a young woman who wakes in the dead of night to find a demon in a pig costume standing at her bedside. What this demon wants will lead Vickie on a frightening discovery of her own psyche.

Amazon.com – Kindle Version

Amazon.com – Paperback Version

The Horror ‘Zine – www.thehorrorzine.com

Imajin Books – www.imajinbooks.com

Release date: May 27^th, 2013

More Horror Fiction by Michael Thomas-Knight