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Girls of Brackenhill
Girls of Brackenhill
Kate Moretti | 2020 | Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
As a kid, Hannah spent several summers at Brackenhill, her aunt and uncle's beautiful mansion in the Catskills. Joined by her older sister, Julia, they enjoyed a peaceful time away from their troubled mother and her boyfriend. But that final summer, Hannah made the journey home alone after Julia disappeared. Now, seventeen years later, Hannah is back at Brackenhill, accompanied by her calm and steady fiance Huck, to deal with the aftermath of her Aunt Fae's death. Her uncle Stuart is quite ill and Hannah must handle the necessary affairs. But once at Brackenhill, long buried memories flood to the surface, along with some undiscovered family secrets.

"She'd escaped Brackenhill once. She could do it again."

I read this completely captivating thriller in one breathless day. It's such a wonderfully eerie and ghostly mystery that excellently captures the spooky atmosphere of Brackenhill. I'm all for a read with a creepy castle, ghostly happenings, and a history of missing girls. Told in a then (Hannah and Julia's summers at Brackenhill) and now format, Moretti sucks you in from the beginning, making the reader feel as if they are a part of the haunted happenings at Brackenhill.

"The Ghost Girls of Brackenhill are an urban legend."

The result is a twisted and dark story--a true Gothic ghost tale. I figured out a few pieces, but still found this impossible to put down. Moretti excels at weaving in the devastation of family secrets and small town mystery. As Hannah unravels the mystery of her family history and her sister's disappearance, we do as well, and you'll share her sense of dread and the overall foreboding that sweeps across the pages.

I wished the ending offered a bit more resolution, but this is an excellent, haunting, and spooky supernatural read. You'll be madly flipping the pages (with the lights on)! 4+ stars.
  
Beast (Six Stories, #4)
Beast (Six Stories, #4)
Matt Wesolowski | 2019 | Paranormal, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I find it hard to determine, who was the protagonist of this story. Scott King is interviewing people, who knew Youtube Vlogger Elizabeth or her killers, and trying to find out why and who locked Elizabeth in the Vampire Tower, where she was found dead. The characters in this novel are absolutely brilliant. They are diverse, complex, incredibly absorbing and mysterious. I really liked the way Scott King was choosing the people he interviewed, it showed different opinions and views, that kept me immensely intrigued.

The narrative was told from multiple sources, I should say. We are able to read what Elizabeth was saying to her followers, while she is doing an online challenge, as well as to read what Scott King uncovers during his interviews. I loved everything about this narrative, the way vampires were incorporated, giving this book a dark and ghostly feeling, the kind of Q&A writing style, and all the twists and discoveries that unravel as we read along. The topics discussed in this book were very dark, troublesome but at the same time very modern and realistic. Such as need of validation, the power of manipulation, abuse and bullying, social exclusion, social degradation and many, many more.

I really loved the setting of this book as well. It is set in Ergarth, a miserable town, that feels forgotten by the world, where unemployment and homelessness thrive, where the trouble is always next to you, and it is haunted by the Vampire Tower. LOVED IT! The whole book is divided into six chapters, and they are quite long, but the story absorbed me so much, that the pages just flew by. (And that comes from a person who despises long chapters
  
Tower of London (1962)
Tower of London (1962)
1962 | Horror
8
5.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Vincent Price (0 more)
Haunted Memories
Did you know that Vincent Price appeared in the 1939 version of "Tower of London" with Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. I thought that was intresting. Anyways this version adds the horror element to it mixed with historical drama and it does a good job. The drama added with the horror combines well.

The plot: In 15th-century England, Richard III (Vincent Price) desperately wants the throne, but his ailing brother, King Edward IV (Justice Watson), instead bestows it upon his other sibling, Clarence (Richard McCauly). This sends Richard into a homicidal rage, resulting in Clarence's murder and the deaths and torture of many others who could keep the crown from the crazed man. But as the mayhem continues, Richard's sanity slips, and the ghosts of the murdered men begin to haunt the beleaguered royal.

Aside from the historical setting, the movie is not connected to the 1939 film of the same name, starring Price, Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff.

The movie was meant to be the first of a three-picture contract between Corman and Small. Corman later called the movie:

"The most foolish thing I’ve ever filmed. Every night he [Small] would come to see me or call me. The script was changed, reworked without my consent. Lots of strange things were happening all the time, and finally I asked him to tear up our contract. He realized he wouldn’t get anything worthwhile out of me and tore it up. I have nothing against Eddie Small. He’s an old man who had lots of success during the thirties, and who doesn’t know that times have changed".

I thought it was a really good film.