Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Occult Horror
Format: Paperback
Pages: 117
Synopsis:
12 years ago Janet Martlee’s infant son died under mysterious circumstances. Consumed with grief and anger, she ran away to start again...
Yesterday, a 12-year-old boy with dead eyes appeared in her classroom, begging for help. But Janet doesn’t believe in ghosts...
Today, her psychiatrist tells her she must return home to confront her past and uncover the mystery of what happened...
Only some questions don’t want to be answered. And some answers hide in the shadows...
Review:
"The treasure you seek is in the cave you fear to enter."
When Janet Martlee begins to see what she believes is a ghost, her whole world turns upside down and leads her in a direction she has avoided facing. She must return back to the home she ran from many years before to try to restore her memories from the past. What she learns is secrets and lies have led her to believe what was never true. She learns the truth behind her infant son's death, and the truth of dark practices that have been performed for many years by some of the townspeople.
A collaborative novella focusing on the main characters' circumstances of her past life and decisions that she has to choose to make to be able to move forward in her present life. A short journey through a life of unknowns and lost memories, unlocking the mind as all the elements come together, revealing dark and disturbing truths.
I can imagine the thought it takes for two minds to blend a story together. Working together to complete a cohesive story and one that has to engage the reader in a few short pages. One of my favorite elements of a novella is how it leaves some interpretation for the reader to take away from the story itself. Not everything needs an explanation or a packaged ending. That's what sparks imagination and keeps us wondering.
A mystery to uncover with some chilling and horrifying secrets.
~Mark Steensland
Goodreads Author Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/
Amazon Author Link:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mark-Steensland/author/
Author Website:
https://www.marksteensland.com/
Mark Steensland self-published his first book while in fourth grade and has been telling stories ever since—some of them true. He became a professional journalist before graduating high school, writing about movies for such magazines as Prevue, Millimeter, and American Cinematographer. He holds a bachelor's in film studies from UC Santa Barbara, a master's in creative writing from CSU Sacramento, and an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman University. His award-winning films (including Peekers and The Ugly File) have played in festivals around the world. His first novel—Behind the Bookcase—was published in 2012 by Random House. A movie based on The Special, a novella co-written with James Newman, was released in October 2020. He most recently wrote Jakob's Wife, starring Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, and Bonnie Aarons.
~Glen Krisch
Goodreads Author Link:
Amazon Author Link:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Glen-Krisch/author/
Publisher Link:
https://www.cemeterydance.com/
Cemetery Dance Publications
Founded by Richard Chizmar in 1988, Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press and small press publisher of horror and dark suspense. We've published Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, William Peter Blatty, Clive Barker, Gillian Flynn, Scott Smith, Daphne du Maurier, Justin Cronin, Frank Darabont, Mick Garris, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Max Brooks, Joe R. Lansdale, Norman Partridge, Richard Laymon, Michael Slade, Graham Masterton, Douglas Clegg, Jack Ketchum, William F. Nolan, Nancy A. Collins, Al Sarrantonio, John Skipp, Michael Koryta, and many other horror writers, both classic and contemporary.
Thank you!
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