Tag Archives: paranormal

Friends Dared Him to Spend a Night in the Bell Tower Suite

The Bell Tower Suite by James Field is a paranormal short story about a retired army officer who takes a dare and spends a ghost-filled night in a haunted house.

Retired Colonel Mortimer pays a visit to Sibyl. She is the housekeeper of a mansion that has a ghostly reputation. Two security guards, Alf and Bert, live in the nearby guardhouse.

His friends at the club dared the colonel to spend a night in the Bell Tower Suite. The colonel’s grandfather was a judge who stayed in the suite, and met his unfortunate end there by a revengeful convict. The no-nonsense Sibyl changes the bed linens, and instructs Alf and Bert to lock the colonel in the bell tower suite for the night.

Retired Colonel Mortimer Pays a Visit

During a nasty thunderstorm at midnight, the ghosts walk. The outcome is nothing like the four of them expected.

The Bell Tower Suite is a delightful little story that paints vivid characters in a short time. It tells a spooky story within a story, and wraps it together in a gothic-fused package.

James Field uses an expert touch and mixes in fun surprises concerning a cellar rat, and the security guards’ practical jokes. Gentle Readers who love gothic ghost stories would enjoy The Bell Tower Suite. This story is best read at night with a thunderstorm crashing outside. Be sure to lock the door, and watch out for the cellar rat.

The Bell Tower Suite on Amazon US

The Bell Tower Suite on Amazon UK

The Bell Tower Suite on Goodreads

James Field on Goodreads

James Field website

Review: Mateguas Island

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Mateguas Island: A Novel of Terror and Suspense by Linda Watkins is a supernatural thriller about a family down on their luck who inherit a magic-filled malevolent house on an island off the coast of Maine.

The Twins Discover a Mysterious Box

Bill Andersen, his eight-year-old twin daughters, and his wife Karen move across the country after Bill loses his job in the California high-tech industry.

Bill’s aunt left them her house on Maine’s Mateguas Island. To Karen’s privileged eyes, the place is a run-down dump in a boring backwater.

For the girls, their great aunt’s house is creepy and holds secrets. The twins discover a mysterious box in their room that they keep hidden from their parents. Even when Bill finds a promising job on the nearby mainland, and Karen makes friends with the locals, things are not quite right with their new home. An odd-acting owl makes working in the yard unsettling. The worst part is that something unhealthy lurks in the swamp behind their house, and it is hungry for revenge—and worse.

Native American lore, mixed with an unusual haunting that possesses Bill and Karen to take uncharacteristic risks, makes Mateguas Island a dandy supernatural tale. Linda Watkins uses a deft hand in creating characters so real that they all but sit alongside and read aloud their scary story to you.

An Odd-Acting Owl Makes Working in the Yard Unsettling

The descriptions of island life create a perfect sense of the place. Lita heard the fishing boats rubbing against the docks and shivered from the chilly contempt of the yearlong residents’ regard of those ‘from away.’ Lita wanted to scold the twins for keeping secrets, tell Karen to stop being so selfish, and shake some sense into Bill. In other words, the story drew Lita into their scary little world.

Gentle Readers that enjoy a bit of adult misbehavior from characters caught by a force that eats the weak-willed, would love a visit to Mateguas Island. Just be sure to catch the last mainland ferry before dark. And stay away from the swamp.

Mateguas Island on Amazon US

Mateguas Island on Amazon UK

Mateguas Island on Goodreads

Linda Watkins on Goodreads

Mateguas Island website

Review: Doctor Sleep

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Doctor Sleep by Stephen King is a supernatural thriller about a recovering alcoholic, Dan Torrance, and his fight to save a young girl named Abra Stone from a group of RV-hauling vampires that eat the paranormal powers of children.

The Ghosts Tried to Steal Danny’s Paranormal Powers

Dan began his fight with malevolent spirits at the age of five, when he joined his parents for a terrifying winter as the caretakers of a Colorado Grande Dame hotel. Although closed for the season, the secluded Overlook Hotel teemed with specters. They tried to kill little Danny and steal his considerable paranormal powers to fuel their murderous haunting. He and his mother barely escaped. The Overlook was never rebuilt. The site became an RV park with drop-dead views.

Spirits haunted Dan’s rough road to middle age, namely the type that live inside whiskey bottles. Substance abuse deadens his psychic ability so he can forget the horrors of the grasping dead. Dan hits bottom and the filthy dregs of his life disgust him. But unlike his drunkard wreck of a father, Dan finds help, sobers up, and takes a respectable job as a hospice attendant.

They Travel in RV Caravans and Pose as Vacationers

Abra is just a baby, but her exceptional ESP reaches all the way across the country. A roaming group of psychic eaters hears little Abra. They travel in RV caravans and pose as vacationers. These genteel-appearing predators in ball caps and Bermuda shorts bide their time until Abra is old enough for their grim plans.

Dan also hears this psychic prodigy. One day, Abra reaches across the miles and begs him to help. His last stand with the murderous ghosts of his childhood takes Dan full circle back to The Overlook RV Park. He must redeem a lifetime drowned by alcoholism, and save Abra from these child eaters.

Down the Path of Reasonable Little Events to the Horrifying Showdown

Doctor Sleep is a most satisfying continuation of the haunted life of Danny Torrance that we met in The Shining. Stephen King continues his masterful way of leading us down the path of accepting a string of oh, so reasonable little events. The journey ends in a horrifying showdown that mixes delicious revenge against the bad guys with bittersweet reminders of the long-lost good guys.

Gentle Readers that enjoy a well-told paranormal thriller, plus fans of psychic vampires, would enjoy this story. People who already have a fear of RVs might want to keep away. Because of Doctor Sleep, Lita now casts a fretful eye when she passes one of those lumbering motor coaches on the highway. Lita looks for ghostly faces in the windows.

Doctor Sleep on Amazon US