Say Uncle
Ryan C. Bradley
Ghoulish Books, 2025
ISBN: 978-1-963801-10-1
Ebook, 198 ppg.
Most 15-year-olds get excited when it’s finally summer vacation, but for Braden, his summer vacay is ruined after he learns he must give up his room for his uncle Pauly, who is staying with the family after some marital problems develop between him and his wife. Then Braden discovers a mysterious book in his room that can only belong to his uncle, a book with scary drawings in it. As he struggles to keep everything on the downlow and act cool about losing his room while also dealing with bullying from his older brother Sam, Braden nearly loses control as things go from bad to worse real fast. It doesn’t help that his parents always defer to Sam every time the brothers have a fight or that his uncle’s strange behavior could mean serious trouble for him. The summer he had hoped would be the typical teen summer vacation swiftly turns into a nightmare after someone is killed, the police start asking questions and Braden is trying to keep his friendship with a girl he has a crush on.
Say Uncle by Ryan C. Bradley was an amazing read! Filled with some family trauma in addition to truly terrifying events that are hard to believe, this is definitely a must-have novel for every horror fan to read.
This may be a story containing a lot of family trauma, but it’s certainly the kind of stuff I was able to relate to. Parents holding up a favored sibling no matter how they act, parents who were previously neglectful reacting with shock when being called out and asking the kid why they never said anything, and the bullying sibling being so much of a threat that the main character feels like they’re walking on eggshells around them. Oh, yeah. Definitely relatable stuff!
But that’s the good thing about this story. The family dynamics are real. This is stuff that a lot of readers can relate to because it’s stuff they have also lived through.
Braden is not only accustomed to how he’s treated in the family, he also is so damn complacent about it. I really wondered just how much that kid was willing to take before exploding at everyone. And when he does “explode” by telling his mom that he’s upset because she just willingly kicked Braden out of his room for her brother and how Sam had just beat the ever-loving crap out of him should not be explained away as “your brother’s under a lot of stress.” What, so it’s okay for him to be so violent to his younger sibling? I mean, she doesn’t even hear him. She doesn’t even care. So uncool.
Still, at some point, Braden and Sam do find a way to work together after getting into trouble with the police. It wasn’t enough to make me hopeful that Sam might finally come around and start treating his brother better, but that part of the story was still nice to see.
But all this family BS is NOT the horror of the story. The REAL horror of this story is the deadly magic that is used.
Yes, magic. The thing that lots of people don’t believe in and think is just a bunch of fantasy. But some people DO know how to use magic, especially in a deadly way. And those people are in this story.
This is not a fantasy story. It’s a horror story. This is a story where magic is used in a malicious and evil way. And it’s written into the story so well that I didn’t think for one minute it was all just fantasy. As it is, there are some VERY secretive books out in the world with powerful stuff in them that goes back to ancient times where magic was safely used without persecution. One of those books is what gives the uncle in this story the power to use magic, and he has some terrible ways of using it. Braden tries to stop him, but his uncle seems to keep being two steps ahead of him, and he keeps getting himself into danger.
Say Uncle was a book that was hard to put down! The horror and chaos in this story kept me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath as I kept reading each terrifying chapter. Yes, the story had a slow start, but once it picks up, it grabs the reader and doesn’t let go until the very end.
A frightening and gripping story!
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment