Brandon Massey

"After 39 years, Monica Stephens finally meets her birth mother, Grace, at a family funeral. Grace quickly becomes an indispensable member of the family, especially when Monica begins suffering from a mysterious sickness that quickly ages her. Monica's husband, Troy, cannot help but be suspicious of Grace who demands to be called "Nana."

I enjoy a horror story where everyone is flawed, as long as it's done right. Stories where the main character inexplicably knows what to do, never failing to show more choose fight over flight, and always makes logical choices...it's more unbelievable than the horror itself. In "Nana," Monica is a sensitive, kind woman who is prone to self-criticism and avoids challenges. Troy, I'll admit, genuinely loves his kids, yet he is the self-declaratory king of his castle. He insists on having the final word much to Monica's annoyance. When Grace shows up, both are forced to face their flaws head on.

Grace adds a great contrast to the story by being terrifying and fascinating at the same time. Monica is enthralled by her confidence, lustful nature and take-charge attitude. Monica is impressed, but there's a creeping feeling of helplessness and competitiveness that she can't shake. The story takes a dark turn when Troy begins to have vivid, erotic visions of Grace at night. Troy certainly doesn't "deserve" the assault that he experiences, dream or not, but it's an entirely new feeling for him to not be in control. Troy, for the first time, is cowed, mentally and physically, by a woman.

The story settles into a pattern, as you can imagine, but it does build the suspense. Other family members are affected and there's a growing rift between Monica and Troy. The theme of ownership, parasitic behavior, "blood is thicker than water" and manipulation is carried through successfully - on both sides! The story moves quickly which is great, but, disappointingly, so does the action at the end. The final confrontation ends too simply for my taste, I needed that second act! show less

This was my second book by Brandon Massey and I really enjoyed the atmospheric ghost story as it wrapped its tendrils around me!

Len and Olivia Bowden move into what they thought would be their dream home along with their daughter, Kennedy. With packed boxes laying around the house and the Bowden's trying to settle in to their new home, a stranger knocks on their door that changes their lives forever.

An elderly gentleman dressed in vintage clothes including a top hat tells them that the home show more belongs to him and that they had bought his home fraudulently. He tells them that they must leave the house within three days or suffer the consequences.

At first they think that he is just a senile old man and they decide to ignore his ultimatum, but then things start happening in the house. Creaks, cold drafts of air, footsteps, doors opening and closing. The basement also holds a mysterious locked trapped door that make the Bowden's wonder what is really below their house.

What they thought was their dream house ends up being a slow descent into hell as they have to endure not only the ghostly things happening within the house, but they also have to endure voodoo that the stranger has invoked upon them.

This was a very creepy book and the more I became involved reading it, the more I couldn't put it down. Parts of the book were a little scary and it probably didn't help me much by reading it in the dark in the middle of the night!

Giving it four stars for keeping me "spooked". show less

This anthology is truly a guilty pleasure and privilege. I found this author earlier this year and read all of the books that he authored and throughly enjoyed them. He didn't have much to do with the actual writing of these stories so it took a lot of "getting used to". Most were very well written...most were long enough to be interesting...all had elements of terror that could play tricks on an over active imagination. In other words darn near perfect!

This is a new author for me and I absolutely loved this first book that I’ve read by him. He writes a well formed, story with great characters that are all endowed with completely, believable human faults. It’s his non-human characters that you have to watch out for. They will take you on one long, wild ride and scare you beyond belief. I don’t scare easily but the character of Grace gave be goose-bumps almost from the first. You know there is something very, very, very wrong. If show more you’ve read much of the horror genre you almost know what it is…but not how far it has, or will, go. You’ll have to wait until almost the very last page to learn it’s true depth and nature. Nana is a truly terrifying tale with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. I am certainly going to be finding more of Brandon Massey’s stories. show less