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The Sun Down Motel
The Sun Down Motel
Simone St. James | 2020 | Horror, Paranormal
9
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I actually read Simone St. James’ incredibly spooky ghost story—set in a creepy motel—in a rather drab hotel room and boy did it scare me! The tag line: The secrets lurking in a rundown motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before...

This was such a great book. It features a hard to put down mystery with excellent characters and some downright terrifying scenes! The book is packed with twists and turns, and it's absolutely captivating.

The parallelism between Viv’s story—set in the 1980s—and her niece, Carly’s, in present-day, is excellent. I was so attached to these tough women and their stories. The 1980s piece really grabbed me; St. James really captures the era so well.
  
The Physics of the Dead
The Physics of the Dead
Luke Smitherd | 2011 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Kafkaesque bittersweet ghost story
For a first novel, Luke Smitherd has done himself justice bringing together classic existentialism, quite literally, with a touch of magical realism. An incredibly interesting concept discussing the in between phase of purgatory and reincarnation and how as humans, we cease to function without the basic notion of togetherness wrapped up in as easy to follow narrative.

While there were a few holes in terms of lack of character development for the the few people in the plot, the author performed his book well and it held together in the end.
  
The Thirteenth Tale
The Thirteenth Tale
Diane Setterfield | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
4
8.0 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
After reading Setterfield's @Bellman & Black, I was excited to read this novel. I was so completely disappointed. I HATE Flowers in the Attic type crap, and I nearly stopped reading. I have no idea why the trope of incest is still used, but it's annoying and so pedestrian.
The Gothic ghost-story is what I stayed for, but, then again, anti-climactic. The whole twin thing started to grate on my nerves, I get that it was a big part of the book, but the main character doesn't have to mention it every single time she narrates.
  
The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House
2018 | Horror
Scarily good
I like scary movies. I watched the first episode and wasn't sure I could watch any more because it was scary. I kept watching and ended up binge watching the entire series. Although its a ghost story, I realised there was more to it. It's about the characters and their flawed personalities and relationships. There's actually so much going on that you may even miss a lot of interesting or scary bits, so don't hide behind the cushion.
I enjoyed it emensly and I'm sad it's finished because it really was very very good.
  
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
1994 | Drama

"The Shawshank Redemption. The title threw me at first. Before I went to jail, I started watching [every jail movie]. That was one of them. I was trying to write a book, and I was having trouble. You know, I didn’t have the right publisher; they just wanted a book. I hooked up with this writer, a ghost writer, and he wrote a script for me, like, overnight. It was my story, but told from a bong’s point of view, and the bong gets put in federal prison. A week later the feds come in. There was some weird cosmic thing going on."

Source
  
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
2023 | Crime, Mystery
6
6.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Not the best of the recent 3 Poirot films (0 more)
Ok for Whodunit fans
I love Murder Mysteries and a fan of Agatha Christie stories. I've not seen a film or Tv adaptation of this cover of the "Hallowe'en Party" story. It's different with the Ghost and spiritual angle on proceedings. A nice setting in a creepy house in Venice. The summing up seemed to come rather abruptly and a couple of things not really that well explained as to how they were worked out. There's not much for viewers to go by to work it out. One for Whodunit fans mainly.
  
Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)
Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)
Jim Butcher | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.1 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Of course I (along with all [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s other fans) have been absolutely dying to read this book ever since finishing [b:Changes|6585201|Changes (The Dresden Files, #12)|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1304027244s/6585201.jpg|6778696]. [a:Sam Chupp|11847|Sam Chupp|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1219698183p2/11847.jpg] and I have been talking about how there could possibly be another book that occurs after Dresden's death. Of course, the novella included in [b:Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files|7779059|Side Jobs Stories from the Dresden Files (The Dresden Files, #12.5)|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1269115846s/7779059.jpg|10351697] was very good and got along quite well without Dresden, but that probably wasn't going to work for an entire novel.

Sam hasn't even started <i>Ghost Story</i> yet, so I can't gloat at home. I was actually right in some of my speculation! I'm being non-specific so as to not give too much away, even though I am hiding this review behind spoiler warnings on GoodReads in case he does read it and remember what I had said (which is highly doubtful). But I feel like bragging somewhere, so you, dear readers, have to put up with it.

Jim Butcher deserves major praise. <i>Ghost Story</i> is amazing. Dresden has become such a powerful wizard that few enemies are truly a challenge, and wiping out the entire Red Court with one spell was an amazing feat. What do you do for an encore to that? Having Dresden immaterial and operating without magic does seriously push him, and that makes for a fascinating tale. Being able to keep a series fresh in its thirteenth volume says a lot for Butcher's talent. I think <i>Ghost Story</i> is the best Dresden Files book yet, and I'm looking forward to book fourteen even more!