REVIEW: The Haunted

 The Haunted
Author: Bentley Little

Fall is my favorite season...not just because of the cooler weather and the leaves on the mountains near my home turning color, but also because it's close to my favorite holiday of the year...Halloween. Once the calendar hits September, bring on the ghosts and creepy stories! :) A good ghost story is great any time of year, but it's even better in autumn. Because I returned to full time work in 2020, this season is a bit different. I'm listening to more books on audio now because I can listen while I drive, during breaks, while getting things done around the house, or while working in the yard....I still need to get my reading time in, but I have a lot less time to work with now. The great thing is: I have discovered that having a narrator read a horror story to me is just....wonderful! It adds a whole new aspect to the story for me! It took me a long time to come around on audio books. At first I didn't like the format....and now, I'm a convert. I can't do without them! 

The Haunted not only gave me a good creepy story fix, but also introduced me to a new-to-me writer. This is the first book by Bentley Little that I have read. And I will definitely be reading/listening to more!

The basics: The Perry family buys a new house. Their old neighborhood was getting bad, so they move. The house is older and the neighborhood much quieter. Things will be perfect now.....right?? But almost immediately there are warning signs. Nightmares, things moving in the house, dark shadows.....a presence. And soon the creeping darkness permeates not only the house, but their very lives. 

The audio version of this book is narrated by Dan Butler. It takes a certain sort of voice and style to narrate a haunted house story -- and Dan Butler does a superb job! His voice and tone are perfect, and he brought the characters to life expertly. Great listening experience!

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. It has the suspense elements I like in a family-buys-a-haunted-house story and a great sense of growing darkness. The book is well written, and the plot is engaging. The characters are flawed, but so are Real People, so it all came together into a creepy Scary House tale. I kept wondering what my own family would do if faced with the same situation. I'm not sure -- it would be horrible!

But there were some elements of the story I didn't really enjoy..... 

I  have to admit I found some of the sex scenes disturbing. I'm not against sex -- even graphic sex -- in an adult horror novel, or I wouldn't be able to enjoy the genre as much as I do. But, I found myself turned off after the first couple gross, weird sex scenes. None of it really furthered the plot....it was just there....and weirdly icky. After a scene of semi-public masturbation with a Barbie doll and lurid descriptions of the doll's head being used in ways it never should have been (poor Barbie...lol), I just started fast forwarding The Action after that. I needed the plot to move along -- something vital to happen to keep me plugged into the story. But the sex and some gore seemed added purely for ambiance....for me it just slowed the plot development down and made me hit the fast forward button multiple times. Some of the gory scenes seemed just a bit overdone to me as well. And repetition of similar scenes. Yes, I get it....they are seeing faces where they shouldn't see them. What are they going to DO about it?? For me, it added up into some serious Delay-of-Plot-Development. 

And the ending seemed a bit of a let down, or....maybe "too easy'' is a better phrase? But.....it was still a good close to the story. Just not the one I thought was coming. 

So, all in all, a great intro to a new-to-me author. A creepy suspenseful ghost story. And, a great addition to my autumn creepy reading this year! I will definitely be reading more by Bentley Little!