Where the Crows Sing: Chorus of Crows is a chilling story of ghosts on the homestead

 

Chorus of Crows

Sharon Wagner

Dreamsphere Books, 2026

ISBN-10: 199772622X

ISBN-13: 978-1997726227

Ebook, 306 ppg.

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When Sedona Walton is fed up with her job and her life in Wisconsin, she decides to head back home to live with her widowed father, who has Parkinson’s Disease. Switching to living on a farm after living in a city is quite a change for Sedona, but she is determined to be a caregiver for her ailing father and bring positive change into her life. She doesn’t count on finding love, but that’s exactly what happens. In Chorus of Crows by Sharon Wagner, readers are treated to a touching story of a daughter’s loyalty to her sick father and her quest to find happiness. But even as Sedona tries to make life easier for her father, life becomes more challenging for both father and daughter as strange paranormal activity happens at the farm, along with several crows often lurking on the grounds. 

 

Reading about how Oren deals with his hallucinations is heartbreaking. They are very real for him, even if people try to tell him that they are not real. But as the hallucinations keep happening, he begins to accept that they ARE hallucinations, and he starts to question if that’s what’s happening when they do happen. At the same time, however, some of the hallucinations are so terrifying that he is more frightened of them than he is analytical. When he starts to see monsters and attacking crows, he is no longer certain if he really is hallucinating or not. Sedona tries to encourage him to share about what he is seeing, but sometimes, he has no words to explain any of it.

 

Sedona knows what she is getting into when she decides to take on the role of caregiver for her dad. Even so, as his symptoms and side effects from the medications get worse, she struggles with how emotionally taxing it all is. She finds comfort in Jeb, a local pastor she knew as a teen (they were both school mates) and who she begins dating. She also finds relief from her duties in Lavinia, a local woman who has been consistently caring for her father before Sedona arrived. She also finds comfort in reading her mother’s journals. Reading the journals causes her to reminisce on happy memories as well as getting to know her mother in a way she never had before. Her mother has been gone for many years but she and her dad still miss her very much. She also misses her brother, Seth, who died in a tragic accident at a young age. It is an accident that Sedona feels terribly guilty about, and she knows she must come to terms with this guilt.

 

The story is written so well. I loved the author’s writing style in describing the settings and the characters are fleshed out so well that they seemed to be real people I was reading about and not just characters in a story. I also liked how some past scenes of Oren’s life with Annilise, Sedona’s mother, is shared in the second part of the story.

 

Chorus of Crows is an entertaining and chilling story that hooks readers from the very beginning. It offers good insights about the realities of Parkinson’s Disease while also exploring the myths and superstitions associated with spirit boxes. I love how the author wove these two things together to create such an interesting story, and the symbolism of the crows throughout the story was not lost on me. Filled with engaging characters, surprising twists and terrifying paranormal experiences, Chorus of Crows is an entertaining novel horror lovers are sure to enjoy.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is entirely voluntary.

 

Horror Poetry at its Best: Gathered Here Today is a collection of terrifying, creepy poems horror fans will love

 

 

Gathered Here Today: An open casket of art and poetry

Edited by Kelley York and Kala Godin

Graveside Press, 2025

ISBN: 978-1-967547-97-5 (Ebook)

Ebook, 290 ppg.

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It’s hard to find a collection of good horror poetry these days. It would seem, however, that the editors at Graveside Press have finally created a collection of both horror poetry and art that fans of horror will want to check out! Gathered Here Today: An open casket of art and poetry is a collection of poetry from some of today’s top poets who not only know how to craft an amazing poem but also create poetry that could make your skin crawl! These poems and works of art provided lots of good scares and chills as I read them and I would definitely want to keep a print copy of this book in my library for the amazing work it contains within!

 

There are a variety of poems in this book, about a variety of spooky subjects. From monsters and creatures that haunt our imagination to actual monsters in the guise of evil people, these poems capture the haunted, the monstrous and the macabre. Written in a variety of poetic styles, these poems tantalize the reader with spine-tingling and creepy revenants of the dark.

 

If there’s one kind of poem that I absolutely love the most, it’s the kind of poem that tells a story in verse. That’s what readers are treated to with the poem “I’m Sorry, My Dear” by Rich McFarlin. Not only is this poem delightfully creepy, but it is told so well. What an unexpected surprise at the end! I loved it!

 

I also loved the poem “A Cold, Windswept Place” by Kurt Newton. What a surprise the ending brought! The words pulled me in and I was so captivated by this tale. 

 

The poem “The Crow” by Terry Campbell was awesome. Of course, that title made me think of the movie, but as I read the poem, I realized that it was a modern-day retelling of Poe’s famous raven poem, but with a crow! It made me laugh and shake my head in disbelief. The author of this poem did well in writing it and it was an enjoyable read.

 

I’m a fan of the poet Jeff Oliver, so I was delighted to see that he has a poem in this book, as well. “Apocalyptic Sun” captures the brooding of a dark and haunted soul with so much raw emotion and angst. I also loved the artwork that went with this poem! (I loved all of the artwork included in this book!)

 

Another poet I am familiar with is LindaAnn LoSchiavo, and I absolutely LOVED her poem, “My Dungeon Ghost.” The quote from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight drew me in, as I adore the Arthurian legends, and I loved how this poem is treasured by both of the people in the poem while they are both alive and it is one of the things that strengthens their friendship. Indeed, it ends up being one of the things that strengthens their connection with each other after one of them transitions to death. I also enjoyed reading her erasure poem “Slow Burn.” The graphic that accompanies it is a nice touch! 

 

“The Talking Board” by C. Payne was another good poem. I don’t support using Ouija boards, but they can create some interesting stories and poems. And in this case, it adds to the scare factor of this particular poem. The messages the board users received were scary and the surprise at the end really creeped me out! 

 

Other poems I enjoyed reading were “Evil Sirens Sweetly Singing” by Lillian Csernica and “I Am Haunted” by JJ Carpenter and “The Hunger of Horace Leach” by Lance McVay. 

 

Horror fans looking for a good collection of creepy and terrifying poems should definitely grab a copy of Gathered Here Today. Filled with good scares, monstrous terrors and horrifying haunts, this collection of horror poetry is a satisfying and scintillating read for anyone who enjoys reading the kinds of poems that will send chills down your spine.

 

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ghosts, Murder and Scandal!: Secrets of Lakeluster House is a chilling YA ghost story full of mystery and suspense

Secrets of Lakeluster House

Diane Scott Lewis with Jorja Parkinson

BWL Publishing, 2025

Ebook, 160 ppg.

ISBN: 9780228635598 (PDF)

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“Lakeluster was always said to be haunted.” And until 13-year-old Sage actually goes into the house to see it for herself, she hadn’t been so sure. Up until then, there were just rumors about the house being haunted. A house which her great-great grandmother once worked in so long ago and where there were stories filled with mystery and scandal surrounding it. So when Sage and her 14-year-old cousin, Patrick, and her 11-year-old brother, Nate, go inside the house to meet with the new owner, Miss Dora, she is the only one who does, in fact, see a ghost. A REAL ghost!

 

Secrets of Lakeluster House by Diane Scott Lewis is a young adult paranormal mystery novel of one young girl’s mission to uncover the secrets of a mysterious house and try to find out what really happened when her ancestor worked there.

 

If it hadn’t been for the ghost, Sage probably would not have had much of an interest in the house beyond wanting to know about what happened when her two-time great grandmother. But seeing the ghosts keeps tugging at Sage’s curiosity about the house, especially since there is a young ghostly girl living there who is intent on revealing to Sage all of the horrible things that happened there.

 

There is also the fact that she had a teacher who was investigating the house’s history and ended up dead under mysterious circumstances. Sage just has this burning desire to know the house’s secrets, no matter what kind of danger it might get her into.

 

Fortunately, she has her cousin and her brother along for protection. She seems to feel safer being in that house if one or both of them are with her, even though their occasional rudeness and daring annoys her. Still, she is a good sister/cousin to them both, often adopting a take-charge attitude to keep them out of trouble.

 

I was surprised that the butler, Huntley, tolerated her many visits to the house so well. She is smart enough to pretend she’s doing research, so she has at least this to go by when she starts suspecting something about Huntley.

 

Along with her fascination with Lakeluster House and finding out the truth about what really happened there when her great-great-grandmother worked there, Sage is also still trying to cope with the recent death of her history teacher, Mr. Saunders. The man was found hanging from a tree near the house, his body skinned. It’s a terrible tragedy for everyone and nobody knows why or how it happened. While she investigates Lakeluster, she also tries to get to the bottom of what really happened to her former teacher. She and her best friend sometimes talk about him, and both of them want to know why it happened, which is natural considering they were his students. After Sage learns that he was likely murdered, she wonders if his murder happened because he was investigating Lakeluster House.

 

I liked seeing the character, Sage, grow and develop in this story. Apparently, she hadn’t seen any ghosts her whole life and now she was seeing them. It frightens and mystifies her at the same time. Plus, at some point, she accepts that it is just a part of her life now: “All this craziness had become her normal.” (Page 85) She does feel some hesitation about revealing her new gift to others, and she understands that she has to be careful about who she tells it to, especially after she is indeed in danger the further she investigates the murders in and around Lakeluster House. But she learns to be brave and to persevere, admirable traits in a young character.

 

I also appreciated how the grown-ups in Sage’s life made sure she wasn’t getting too obsessed with ghosts and haunted houses and murders and such. Sage is 13 and should enjoy a happy summer like most 13-year-olds. Plus, the topic of death and murder, along with the horrifying ways such things happened, are mature topics that can frighten and traumatize a teenager. So her parents make sure that Sage takes time away from her visits to the house and a break from her investigations to hang out with her BFF, visit historical sites and have fun at the beach. All good summertime activities that kids, and teenagers, need to have in their lives. So many authors of young adult books say to keep adults and parents out of the stories but sometimes kids need to have that kind of guidance when going through a scary experience. But it’s not like the grown-ups are all over the story – aside from the GHOSTLY grown-ups! There’s a good balance of Sage or Sage and company (the “motley crew,” like Huntley calls them – LOL) and Sage with grown-ups.

 

Sage has trouble adjusting to her new gift of being able to communicate with and see ghosts, and she learns some hard truths about her experiences too. Along with this investigation, she struggles with uncertainty about her parents’ future together and the details of her teacher’s murder, and all of these elements in the story cause her to grow up and be more mature. A fitting situation for a girl about to go into high school and encounter all of the dramas and angst about her teen years. In some way, everything she goes through sort of prepares her for it all.

 

The Secrets of Lakeluster House is a chilling ghost story about a teen girl trying to come to terms with the mysteries of her past relative and put a stop to the enduring evil inside of a creepy manor. Filled with tension, mystery and frightening haunted moments, this novel is sure to be enjoyed by readers of any age who like to read ghost stories, as well as stories of a haunted house!

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.