amy cross

Book Review: The Haunting of Edward House

Title: The Haunting of Edward House
Author: Amy Cross
Genre: Horror
Rating: 3,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon

Twenty-five years ago, Edward House and his sister Meg ran screaming from their family home. They claimed that a ghost had attacked their parents, that some kind of evil spirit had been trying to possess Edward and take control of his body. Their father lay dead on the floor, and their mother had lost her mind. Now Edward and Meg only had each other.

Today, Edward is a married man with a daughter of his own. When he and his family move into a new home, they have no idea that a dark force from the past is once again beginning to stir. Edward is certain that the events of his childhood are over, but his sister’s not so sure.

And when Edward’s daughter Molly starts seeing the same ghost that tormented Edward and Meg a quarter of a century earlier, history looks set to repeat itself.

The Haunting of Edward House is a ghost story about a man who refuses to face his past, a woman can’t let go of one moment of horror, and a deadly evil that will stop at nothing to get what it wants.

The Haunting of Edward House is the story of Edward House, a rather bland married man with a daughter of his own. He and his family move into a new home, and strangely enough, his daughter Molly starts seeing the same ghost that tormented Edward and his sister Meg back when they were children–although back then they lived in a completely different house!

As usual, Amy Cross manages to put an interesting, unexpected spin on your typical run-down-the-mill ghost story, making her books stand out from others in the genre. This is not one of my favorites by Amy Cross, but it’s still a decent story. What annoyed me the most was how long it took for Edward and his wife to finally admit they were being haunted. They did wrong by Meg by not believing her sooner. It also didn’t make much sense, given what had happened in Edward’s past, that he was so reluctant to believe.

Fans of ghost stories will find an interesting story here about trauma, family ties and also a lesson that not everything is always what it seems at first glance.

Book Review: How to Make A Ghost by Amy Cross

Title: How to Make A Ghost
Author: Amy Cross
Genre: Horror
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon

Twenty-five years ago, Eve Marsh’s little sister Rebecca vanished. No-one in the family is willing to talk about what happened, and Eve has come to accept that she might never learn the truth.

When a huge storm erupts, however, Eve is forced to return to her childhood home. Her father lives alone, and the house is in danger of collapsing as it’s battered by wind and rain. Eve hasn’t talked to her father since she ran away from home many years earlier, and she soon finds that the old man’s mind is deteriorating. Meanwhile, something seems to be in the house with him, lurking in the shadows and tormenting what’s left of his sanity.

Eve soon begins to discover the truth about what happened to Rebecca. A strange, ghostly figure appears in the house, and a voice cries out for revenge. The more Eve learns, the more she comes to understand that something terrible has been happening to her family for many years. She’s always held her father responsible, but is there something even worse that Eve doesn’t know? And is the ghost of her dead sister really lurking in the shadows of the house?

How To Make a Ghost is a horror story about a haunted house, a dark family secret, and a horrific experiment that has been years in the making.

Over the past year, Amy Cross has become one of my favorite authors. She manages to combine a straightforward, no-nonsense, fast-paced writing style with original, imaginative stories that keep readers on the edge of their seat.

How to Make A Ghost is no different. Seemingly starting off as yet another ghost story, the plot soon takes a turn followed by an ever-more-complicated series of twists that make for an unpredictable, innovative story.

Eve Marsh’s little sister Rebecca vanished more than two decades ago. No one in the family is willing to discuss the incident, and it has estranged Eve from her father, whom she blames for what happened to Rebecca. When a storm erupts and her sister begs her to go check up on her father, Eve reluctantly heads to her childhood home. Upon her arrival, she notices immediately that her father’s mind seems to be deteriorating… But perhaps even more worrying, something seems to be inside the house, trying to destroy whatever is left of her father’s sanity.

Is it the ghost of Rebecca? Or is something else at play?

What I enjoyed the most about this book, without giving too much away concerning the plot, is that the true horror doesn’t come from the ghosts, but from another source entirely. And that is far more horrifying and nightmare-inducing than any ghost could ever be.