Not your typical haunted house....

"Watching.....waiting....."

I listened to the audiobook of this novel, and I just could not get the voice out of my head each time I'd hit pause and had to go about my life.... "watching.....waiting....."

On the surface, the story is a haunted house tale, but it is so much deeper and psychologically penetrating than any old haunted house. This haunted house has a sinister past, and is one that inhabits its victims as its victims inhabit it. I found the premise truly fascinating and terrifying. Could you imagine exploring the deep woods with a group of friends and finding the famed old house that couldn't be destroyed....you creep in....and just as you start to become scared out of your mind, you realize you're trapped. No way out....the doors and windows have disappeared; there is no way out. You don't know how much time has passed since you've been stuck in the house....hours, days, weeks? All that you know is that the house is playing on your fears, your past, and is literally "inside" of you, or are you walking inside of your own memories and fears? The house pits friends against friends and sews seeds of distrust and blame all the way up until the haunting end.

I got lots of Stranger Things and Lean on Me vibes....you know, a band of kiddos who find themselves in some unlikely and incomprehensible situations full of chaos and evil. I grew attached to some of the characters (which I always appreciate when authors have the ability to do that to me). The tension and chilling dread that ran throughout the book kept me wanting more. D.M. Siciliano certainly knows how to tell a story and turn it on its head...keep the readers guessing....and keep the readers wanting more.

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Long, but good.

I had to start this one a few times. It's not that it's boring or slow, I just wasn't that into it at first. I am very sure it is supposed to feel like this becausr of how it is written, but it almost feels like the characters are in the house for YEARS. I remember thinking, "Jesus, are they STILL fkn in there?!" at one point. But the story is pretty good and I like that with each character that gets picked off, a little bit of hope goes with it. This story doesn't end well and I love that. The whole time I kept going, this can't be the end. There can't be a happy ending here.

I ended up regretting that I hadn't finished this book sooner. It was a really great listen and I love how dark it was. It was downright fucked up at some points.

I am a big fan of Marcus's work. And I literally say this EVERY TIME. They're probably tired of hearing it, but I always forget I am not listening to a full cast. I always get lost in their narratives. Nothing but good things to say, another exellent one, Marcus.

The only issue I had was there was a few play playback/reverb problems. And since I am a big fan of the narrator's, I can tell you they are so intentional about their work that they wouldn't have let it go to be published like that. It would have been nice if Audible had gone the extra step to care about quality and let them fix it. But-- they are a part of Amazon. I'm not shocked that quality isn't their bag. It was a bit disgracing in places.

Other than that, this was a really surprising listen for me. I honestly dragged my feet about it and now wish I hadn't. A good fright was had by all.

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A Demonic House book

A group of teens go into a supposedly haunted house one night. The house isn't so much haunted by ghosts but more its a demonic house. One by one the kids begin to die until there are only 2 left. Escaping by sheer luck is all that saves them but have they really been saved?
The book is scary at times, it makes you want to cry at times but there are no times you want to turn it off. Marcus Rothenberg keeps his book really moving. I enjoyed his narration. There are places in the book though that you can hear background talking almost lie the tracks were dubbed wrong.
I have read other books by By: D.M. Siciliano and have enjoyed them all. This one is no different. I was really caught up in the story and kind of hope there is a 2nd book to follow.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Starts off with a Goonies vibe but ends messy

Set in the 1980s, the adventurous kids had a Goonies or Stranger Things vibe going on at first. Its a bit of a dare: go venture into the dark, scary, haunted house in the woods and prove there is absolutely nothing paranormal about it. Reid pushed his friends into. Alex, his best friend, went along to get along. Clint wanted a wicked cool story to tell his classmates as he entered high school. Then Heather, Alex’s sister, tagged along with her snark and fight-to-win attitude.

The house has a reputation going all the way back to the 1600s and the time of local Native leader King Philip (aka Metacomet). There was human sacrifice involving a fire. Of course everyone has heard the tales. The kids don’t believe any of them. Alas, they were wrong.

I was hooked on the story at first. I really wanted these kids to have the scare of their lives yet come out victorious. At first they think Reid has played some elaborate joke on them but they come to realize the seriousness of the situation after one of the kids dies. So this isn’t the kind of story with a happy ending.

Things get more twisted from there. Each kid has to deal with some pent up angst they have, especially Reid. It was solid character building. I especially like Heather because she kept herself together the longest, pushing the guys on and on as they hunted for a way out. Yet the house and the evil shadow that dwells within were too much for them. Since she’s really the only female character (though there is a mom who is pivotal in one kid’s background), I feel she represented the ladies well.

The story did a decent job of lulling me into a false sense of security towards the end. It was over. A few characters made it out. BAM! Not so fast! The ending left me wanting to hunt that murderous shadow down myself. This book wasn’t the happy scare I was looking for, but it was good enough. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Marcus Rothenberg had a great voice for these kids. Each character was distinct and Heather’s voice was feminine. I especially liked his ultra-creepy voice for the haunted house – watching….. waiting! The pacing was good and he captured the various emotions of the characters quite well. However, his technical skills need some polishing. There were several repeated phrases or sentences. Also, several times I could hear his old recording underneath the current story line. At first I thought he was trying to do some sound effects, like whispers in the dark. However, it happened far too often for that to be the case and in scenes where that doesn’t make sense. 4/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by D.M. Siciliano. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

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A Captivating Teen Horror Story

It’s 1987 and Reid has bullied his three friends to go explore the local haunted house. Danny, Alex and Clint don’t want to go but they know that the beating from Reid is not worth just going to the house. Just as they get to the house, Heather, Alex’s sister, makes and appearance and blackmails them into letting her join in.

The kids enter the one room cabin and find a strange cupboard and smell smoke. They are then chased by a dark shadow that burns with a touch. The kids start running from one room to another trying to escape the shadow. They also have to face different situations in their own lives.

This is well written horror story that caught my attention from the start and left me hoping that the kids would make it out. But as each one burns that hope started to die. I will admit that when I learned of Reid’s story my heart went out for him and I hoped that he would make it to try and have a better life.

If you like horror stories I recommend checking out this book. Marcus Rothenberg does an amazing job narrating the story and added another level to the book. It’s one to add to your audible library.

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Watching...Waiting....

When I was younger I lived in the very woodsy State of Connecticut. I would go foundation hunting with my mom and hear stories of witches who were burnt in their homes or settlers and such. We'd go to these areas and dig about looking for knickknacks. Now I don't recall much of my really little years but I am fairly certain that some of those places were areas kids would dare other kids to go into. Test the bravery, prove the ghost stories weren't real. Inside is that kind of story. Young kids taking on the local haunt to be the cool kids in school. Sometimes though, it's better to heed the warnings...

The audio is told from five POVs (Danny, Alex, Reid, Heather and Clint). I applaud a narrator that can use different voices for a vast amount of characters and stick with them throughout the book. Very well done and I will probably hear "watching....waiting" in that high pitched creepy voice for the remainder of the week in my head. The characters are your typical kids with the tomboy, the loyal one, the bully, the quiet one and the nerd. Underlying themes of child abuse, alcoholism, and cancer play well into the plot too. Though I can't say I was frightened, I really did enjoy the work that went into building this labyrinth of horror. The author effectively created a novel I could see gracing the screen of my Friday night horror movie watching. Between the narration and writing style this was a well done 1980s horror read.

Thank you to Parliament Press and D.M. Siciliano for the opportunity to listen to this advanced listening copy for an honest and unbiased review. True rating (3.5/5 rounded up)

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