August Read: In the Lonely Hours by Shannon Morgan

 

We had a short run of cooler temperatures and sweet sleeping nights a few weeks ago and now we're back into the hellscape of heat and humidity. It didn't sway me from jumping into my "Fall feels" and now I just want to read my spooky, moody, gothic, magical novels. I'm ready for pumpkin bread, soup, and early nights. I'm done with summer!

This novel was exactly what I needed to give me that shove into the fall season. Shannon Morgan is a new author to me, and I'll definitely read her first novel Her Little Flowers.  

Taking place on a remote Scottish island, we join Edie Nunn and her daughter Neve. Edie, who grew up in an orphanage and never knew who her parents were, finds out she's inherited an island and a castle from her family, the Maundrells.  Off they go, to check it out and stay for just a few days. No way Edie can keep the castle; it will be sold. 

The castle and the island are filled with ghosts of every shape and size, including Viking ghost ships in the blood red loch (yes, it's red water!), a witch, the evil former owner who scares every other ghost in the castle, and creepy shadows that slither around, waiting to pounce. Edie's ready to leave after just one night; Neve is curious and wants to dig into the family history, which includes the hunt for the infamous Maundrell Red, a diamond coveted by more than one person, living and dead. It disappeared in 1965, and no one has ever found it. Neve wants to figure out the mystery and find the diamond. But is someone else on the island looking for the diamond? Are Edie and Neve safe, as Samhain (October 31) approaches? Will the witch claim Edie and Neve as victims, as the family curse has promised over the years?

At first I had a bit of a time keeping everyone straight as the story bounces from Edie and Neve to 1965 and the Maundrell family. There's a handy family tree included in the book to help you keep track. The haunting is immediate, and there's lots of creepy stuff on the island and in the castle. The history goes back thousands of years, so there's plenty of trauma and death soaked into the island. 

Ghost story fans will love this gothic novel. The setting is well done, and definitely gives you the bone-deep chills only a damp, haunted castle can do. Edie and Neve's relationship is solid and grows with their experiences. And, you are invested in finding out who Edie's parents are...there's plenty of possibilities. The bad people are definitely bad--no doubts about it--and beyond redemption. 

I'd say fans of Carol Goodman, Wendy Webb, and Simone St. James would enjoy this author. 

Rating: 4/6 for an intriguing family curse and mystery wrapped in a historical castle and island, haunted by creatures that will keep you looking into the shadows. 

Available in paperback, audio, and ebook. 

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August Read: In the Lonely Hours by Shannon Morgan

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

 

I picked up a few creepy tales from B&N a few weeks ago and finally managed to read one of them. I'll confess I've been starting books, then picking up another one, over and over this month so far and not making progress on too many of them. Super restless reading-wise this month. However, I stuck with this and after a few "I'm not so sure about this one" moments, it clicked and wow, this was a great read. Just enough spooky to make you sit up and take notice, but not so much that you can't sleep at night. At least, for me it wasn't so scary. 

This novel is actually the first in a series about Okiku, a three hundred-year old spirit of a young woman who was brutally murdered in Japan. She was tortured, then tossed down a well, breaking her neck. She died upside down. So now, she spends a lot of time upside down, hanging from ceilings. She can look pretty gruesome, too. But sometimes she reverts back to what she looked like as a servant girl all those years ago. Her mission is to seek and destroy (yes, kill) people who murder children. She's pretty brutal about it, too. These serial killers carry the souls of those children with them--literally these souls are chained to these people (who are completely unaware of them). But Okiku can see them, and the only way to free those poor souls is to kill the horrible person who keeps them trapped. 

So, Okiku has been doing this for hundreds of years. Now she's taken an interest in Tark, a young teen boy who moves to a new community with his father. Tark has something strange about him--he has black tattoos covering his arms, chest and back. These tattoos look like they move, which is a bit freaky. Tark's mother gave those tattoos to him when he was five years old, and they are a symbol of something truly horrible living in Tark and trying to get out. Okiku sees what that horrible creature is, and is strong enough to defend Tark against it, but a final showdown can only come about if Tark and his father travel to a special shrine in Japan and undergo a dangerous ritual. 

Tark's cousin Callie can see Okiku, too. Freaked out a bit by her, but eventually gets a little more comfortable once she understands Okiku is there to protect Tark. Callie joins Tark in Japan and together they uncover the story of Okiku and the horrible spirit that lives inside Tark and is desperate to be free and kill, kill, kill. 

Sounds dark, right? It is actually a really well written story, full of Japanese mysticism, ritual, and legends. Fascinating look at how other cultures deal with death, spirits, and the afterworld. Okiku is even referenced as the inspiration for the movie The Ring. Her story continues in the next novel: The Suffering. 

This novel was published in 2015, so it's not new. Wow, it really was a gripping read. If you're easily queasy, don't read it. It's not super gory, but it has some moments. I'd read more of Rin Chupeco's novels any day. 

Rating: 5/6 for a truly creepy read, based in Japanese folklore and mysticism. Took me a bit to get into it, but BAM! it suddenly became unputdownable and I got completely sucked into it. 

Available in paperback, ebook, and audio.

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The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco