Kealan Patrick Burke

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary American home, but since its construction in 1956, people have vanished as soon as they go upstairs, the only clues the things they leave behind: a wedding ring, a phone...an eye. In its sixty-year history, a record number of strange events have been attributed to the house, from the neighbors waking up to find themselves standing in the yard outside, to the grieving man who vanished before a police officer's eyes. The animals gathering in the yard show more as if summoned. The people who speak in reverse. The lights and sounds. The music. The grass dying overnight...and the ten-foot clown on the second floor. And as long as there are mysteries, people will be compelled to solve them. Here, then, is the most comprehensive account of the Abigail House phenomenon, the result of sixty years of eyewitness accounts, news reports, scientific research, and parapsychological investigations, all in an attempt to decode the enduring mystery that is...THE HOUSE ON ABIGAIL LANE.

56 Abigail Lane is a place where people disappear. They can go upstairs but never come down. The account and the 60-year history of the house is so well documented that I had to check to see if I was reading a fictional story or a real-life documented account. The book has a very factual tone that, at times, will make you consider if these accounts had actually happened. That just adds to the eeriness of the house...as if it needed any more eeriness.

The accounts of what happened in Abigail house scared me...something that very few ghostly, eerie, nightmarish books are capable of. If you love horror, you need to read this book. If haunted house stories are your thing, you need to read this book. If you just feed on intriguing stories, you need to read this book. If you just like good solid writing you need to read everything Kealan Patrick Burke has written. To say this is a compelling read would be a gross understatement. Be sure to remember to keep your lights on and your doors locked.

I loved this from the book cover: Remember:"There is something very wrong about the house on Abrigail Lane. From what I can see, it's just a house, no different on the outside than all the others around it. It certainly doesn't radiate evil, but then, the devil is clever, and where better to catch the innocent sleeping but at home in their beds?" show less

This is a novella but a good little terrifying, short story. What begins as a character study of a man who is in the last throes of screwing up his life, slowly turns serious as the man, his wife, and young son are lost in the woods while camping. Kealan builds the tension using small details. You can feel the man's discomfort, both physical and emotional, as events spiral downward. Then, just as you're starting to think that this story is all about internal conflict, the man stumbles across show more something in the woods...and from here the situation turns ugly... fast. Just when you think things are perhaps going to turn out okay... think again. This actually reminded me a great deal of early Stephen King...back when he was writing more short stories than full length novels. This is one very weird, creepy tale the outcome, of which, I would have never seen coming when I started reading about a family camping trip. show less

I don't think I will ever look at sour candy the same way again...

This is a super fun and shocking ride. At just 74 pages I kept wondering if the story would have worked better cut down to short story length, but then I was like "why am I trying to find something wrong with this?". I loved every page as I was reading and I feel like it has the perfect pacing of events. Slightly slow build up in the first half, and then a flood of weird, unsettling terrors in the second half. It widens to a show more pretty epic scale by the end and on the whole is full of creepy cult horror shenanigans.

I was truly enraptured as I read. I couldn't look away. I had to know what was going to happen next to Phil. The young boy is seriously creepy, and I was legitimately worried about what was going to happen. And speaking of, there are numerous twists and turns that I did not expect. In fact, it's the type of story that is best read with your expectations at the door. Just buckle in and enjoy the ride! show less

"She burns, he burns, we all fall down."

3.5 stars rounded up for that great cover! When you crack a horror story, you are never quite sure what you are getting. The horror genre is pretty wide open with few barriers. It can get very gross and very weird very quick and I don't always love it.

But this one was great. It's got that perfect creep factor. Just enough that you are constantly unsettled with just enough detail to make you shake your head but definitely keep reading. I don't even show more mind that it was short (I'm actually kind of relieved). It's almost stressful, just how high notched the fear and unease is. It was a wonderful read, one that will stick with me for a hot minute. And I'll get dodging sour candy for a few too. show less