The House by the Cemetery

This would have been absolutely perfect for a Halloween read. I'm...as you can see a month behind. Oh well. I still enjoyed it. The author delivers the perfect ghostly treat for fans of gore-splashed '70s and '80s horror. The interesting aspect of this is the main character, Mike, isn't exactly hero material. He was hired to repair an old haunted house next to a cemetery in time to open in October. Mike is distracted by a pair of strange visitors. The setting is inspired by the actual Bachelor's Grove Cemetery in Midlothian, Illinois...a place rumored to be haunted. In Everson's hands, the haunted site transforms into a bloodbath of epic proportions in the final act. Another solid effort by the always reliable Everson. If you like show more horror...check out some of his other books. show less

Mike Kostner is having a rough time. His wife left him, he's lonely and going into the slow season for construction work. An offer from a friend for a construction job couldn't come at a better time. Perry wants him to strengthen the floors and stairs in the old Bremen House at Bachelor's Grove....an old house with many local legends told about murder, ritual sacrifice, witchcraft, satanism, ghosts..... What a perfect place to construct a gruesome haunted house! Perry promises if the county makes money from the venture, then Mike's construction company will in turn get more work and more money. It seems a win-win situation... Until Mike starts working on the house. Then it seems..... evil.

I love reading horror novels in the fall! This show more lovely, demented tale by John Everson is a perfect October release! The old Bremen House is creepy, evil and scary! I enjoyed this story! The suspense builds up nicely and it has just the right mix of creepy, scary, demented and just icky emotions. Nicely done! The ending is unusual....but completely fits with the story.

There is a bit of sex and gruesomeness in this book that leads me to say it probably shouldn't be read by teens younger than 14. Bit adult in places. Nothing too graphic, but not for kids.

All in all, an entertaining, very creepy read. I found myself having discussions with Mike in my head while I was reading. Kinda like when I catch myself yelling at the TVduring cheesy horror movies: "No! Don't go in the basement to check the fuses!'' I kept wanting to lecture ol' Mike about his choices in girlfriends, and his dedication to a job that he should have walked away from when the creepy stuff started. It reminded me of that old Eddie Murphy routine about white guys and haunted houses. When the house screams "get out!'' white guys move in with their kids, their elderly parents, etc. Anybody else sees S like that and they run back to their car and drive away, never looking back. Mike....dude.....you shoulda run while you had the chance.

Too Late.

Anybody who loves horror, haunted house, witchy or devilish tales will enjoy this book!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are completely my own.** show less

3.5/5 stars!

Bachelor's Grove is a small town featuring a house backing onto a cemetery. There have always been rumors about the house-something about a witch and a haunting. Rumors have no impact on Perry, though. He's an entrepreneur that wants to open a Halloween haunted house there. Great idea, right? Yeah...no. All kinds of things go wrong as you may have guessed and lots of gory shenanigans ensue. Will the haunted house business be a success? You'll have to read this to find out!

I requested this ARC from Flame Tree Press because I loved the cover and also because I've been wanting to read more of John Everson's work. Ever since I read his book SIREN several years back, I've been meaning to get back to him, and with this book I show more finally got that opportunity. While I respect his writing, in general, I think he really shines when it comes to the bloody action-plenty of which is too be found towards the end of this story. I just thought it took a bit too long to get there.

We are introduced to many characters, maybe too many, and while I did like or care for some of them, I don't think they required the amount of attention they received. Also, it took a long time for us to get to where the story really lived. I would have preferred less of the extraneous characters and more about the main characters and perhaps more about the history of the house. It's hard to add anything else without spoilers, however I will reinforce the fact that the denouement was bloody brilliant and I had a ball reading that portion.

Overall, THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY was fun in that bloody B-movie way many of us horror lovers enjoy- and if anyone ever does make a film based upon this tale, I would love to see their rendition of the basement at the end of Halloween night!

Recommended!

*Thank you to Flame Tree Press for the paperback ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it.* show less

This was a creepy and page turning book!

Legend has it that the house and cemetery located in Bachelor's Grove was the site of where a witch had died and now the property is now haunted by her. Satan worshippers had performed rituals in the house through the years which make the property and house very active.

Mike Kostner and his friends decide that what place could be better to use for a Halloween house than the witch house. Mike wants the house to be the best Halloween house ever to scare the residents of the town. Mike and his friends start fixing up the house by buying all kinds of Halloween props along with setting up trap doors for moving around the place.

As the friends work on the house, they endure all kinds of strange things show more including knocking, footsteps, tools disappearing, and cold drafts. They don't really think much of it as they continue to work toward their goal of getting the house completed before Halloween.

When everything is completed and the scary night has arrived, Mike and his friends find out the true meaning of "haunted" as the ghost of the witch brings the "hellish" might down on everyone that enters her domain and the gore starts to fly as she makes her presence known.

This book was a very creepy ride that turned into an extreme blood fest past the halfway mark of the book. I couldn't seem to turn the pages fast enough as the book took off into the bloody unknown and I stayed up late into the night wanting to finish it.

This book is not for the faint of heart as there is extreme gore through the last half of the book and if you can't handle it, then don't read it, but for you horror fans that love your gore, then by all means pick up this book. Giving this book five stars for one heck of a scary, gory ride. show less

When Mike is offered a job shoring up a ramshackle old house to make it safe enough to walk through so that it can be turned into a Halloween attraction, he is not overly excited by the idea. For the last 50 years or so, rumors have circulated that this house is haunted. Not having worked steady for quite a while and in need of money he reluctantly agrees. There are strange happenings as soon as he starts working but for some reason a befuddled Mike doesn't quit his job. It kind of bothered me when Mike was not the least bit suspicious when a couple of random girls showed up to hang out at the house with him, and that he didn't seem to find it odd that he could be talking to them one minute and turn around and they were gone. It was show more just a bit too obvious and predictable for me. Towards the last half of the book there is lots of blood and gore for those of you who like the gross out factor but I just didn't find it to be as frightening as I had hoped.

I received an advance copy for review. show less

The House by the Cemetery by John Everson reads a lot like a horror movie. I could picture it all unfolding vividly in my mind as I read through (sometimes horrified, sometimes laughing) page after page of this thriller.

This book has all of the necessary components for a good spooky read: witches, murder, haunting, psychics, mystery... So it's a good Halloween pick. I actually got scared a couple times while reading in the dark, so maybe leave the lights on if you want to sleep at night!

I enjoyed the characters in the book and the attention it brings to the lack of diversity and stereotyping in the horror genre. While there's no way for me to know if the author purposefully meant to do so, I thought he did a good job of "calling-out" show more some things while not taking away from the story at all.

The main character, Mike, is a carpenter that's hired to work on the abandoned house his friend plans to open a haunted house in. Mike is pretty much terrified of the house, but agrees because he's in need of the job. For the most part, I liked Mike, but at times he seemed way too gullible. Unless he was under some sort of a spell, I just don't see him actually agreeing to some of the things he does.

A problem I have with the mystery genre in general is that I hate guessing "the mystery." This book has quite a number of twists that didn't really surprise me. That being said, there were other aspects that did... One of the hardest parts of reviewing a book like this is not giving away spoilers, so that's about all I can say here.

While this wasn't my favorite mystery/thriller novel, I'd still recommend it for adults that enjoy horror movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street, since the book definitely has the same tone/vibe. Because of sexual content/suggestion and the level of blood & gore description, I'd definitely only recommend it for adults though and wouldn't recommend it for my teens.

Thank you Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for providing me with a free digital review copy of The House by the Cemetery. This in no way influenced my review. Full review available at https://jesscombs.com show less

If you're a fan of classic horror movies, you'll love this. Suspense and creepiness builds to a satisfying crescendo, with the ultimate ending uncertain until you get there. Familiar elements combine into a fresh-feeling tale. This is a fun read for horror fans, not so fun if you're not!
I'm also enjoying the author Q&A sections at the end of these books.
Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for the ARC.