An horror on the prairies. I was expecting The Vvitch vibes, and it tries for that. The only thing that really scared me, really stuck with me, was the scarecrows. ( )

This one wasn’t for me. I really like different types of horror, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
The way the story began was like a bad dream and then the rest just felt like I couldn’t wake up. I really didn’t like the characters and I couldn’t figure out what made them unique. ( )

Quick and easy fun read. Creepy and satisfying. ( )

Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics is a chilling horror novel that ever so slightly reminds one of the Little House books but this one totally embraces the dark side. Sixteen year old Amanda is the oldest child in her family, she and her family live in a small cabin in the woods. She has been meeting a boy in secret but now that she is pregnant, he has left her to deal with the consequences on her own. The last winter was a very difficult one for the family as they were snowed in for months. Their pregnant mother was sick and gave birth to a deaf and blind child, and Amanda goes a little stir-crazy and believes she saw a devil coming for her.

Her Pa decides to move the family to the prairies where he assures them they will have a better life and winters will be easier. They find an empty cabin but something terrible has happened there as the inside is coated with blood. They clean up the cabin and move in, but their troubles have just started. The author gives us plenty of horror along with the blood and gore. Building on the isolation they are experiencing Amanda has feelings of being watched, or thoughts of possession by devils or other evil.

Daughters Unto Devils is an effective horror story that made me feel uneasy and chilled. The author slowly builds the creepiness until you are not sure exactly what is happening or who to trust but there is no denying the creepy atmosphere or the sense of doom that is building as the book goes along. This is a debut novel and if you enjoy good horror, Amy Lukavics is surely an author to watch out for. ( )

Amanda Verner has been meeting the postboy in the woods behind her family’s cabin. After the events of last winter, she thinks she’s going to hell anyway, so she might as well enjoy the sins of the flesh while she can. She realizes she’s pregnant at about the same time that her Pa announces they’re moving off the mountain and onto the prairie. Farmers are predicting an even worse winter this year and Pa hasn’t forgotten about last winter either. He knows his family of seven needs more room to breathe than the tiny cabin they currently inhabit affords them. But it’s too late in the year to build something bigger himself. Rumor has it that there are plenty of abandoned cabins for the taking down on the prairie. So the Verner family leaves the only home they’ve ever known.

But there aren’t as many cabins available as rumor would have it. They pass one that appears occupied and finally settle on the next one they find, a home with plenty of room for the family. But when they open the door, the furniture inside has been destroyed and everything is covered in blood….

Oh my goodness. This scared me to death! I got worried that I was going to have to put it aside. I gladly read most horror but one trope in particular seriously gives me nightmares and this book went there. I soldiered on though and holy cow, what a ride this was! I keep seeing it compared to a horror version of Little House on the Prairie so I started calling it The Little House on the Shining when I was telling my husband about it. That’s pretty apt!

I don’t want to say much more because half the thrill of the book was watching everything slowly unravel. What exactly did happen last winter? And what happened at the new cabin?

Jorjeana Marie’s narration was suitably creepy for this book. I’m curious if I just felt that way because of the content or if she’s that good at telling “spooky stories” as they say in the book. Either way, I can’t imagine anyone else reading it, so she did a fantastic job.

I definitely recommend this for anyone looking for some pretty serious horror. I’ll have to give my nerves a break for now, but I’ll look for more of Amy Lukavics’s work in the future. ( )