Vengeance from Beyond: Ruthie is a terrifying tale of one dead child's quest for revenge

 

Ruthie

Angie Gibson

Independently Published, 2025

Ebook, 128 ppg.

ISBN-13: 979-8311772297

Buy link

 

A group of 12-year-old friends know about a missing 6-year-old girl named Ruthie in their area, but when they find Ruthie, they at first find her as what appears to be a body. Frightened out of their wits, they run away screaming, but when they return, the child is sitting up and is alert. What’s going on here? Didn’t they just see her as a body not too long ago? Nevertheless, they befriend Ruthie, thinking she was just left there, and they decide to help her bring her abductor to justice. Then strange things start happening with Ruthie. The group of friends – four boys named Jalen, Pedro, Dylan and Dakota – are not really sure what’s happening, only that Ruthie needs their help! But are they willing to hang in there until the very end, despite all of the strange things that keep happening with their young friend?

 

I really enjoyed reading Ruthie by Angie Gibson! It may be a story for kids, but it definitely held my interest! I loved seeing how the four friends were trying to figure out if Ruthie was alive or not, and if not, then what was she, exactly? Was she a zombie? One of them asks the others if they think so. Nah, one of the boys say. “Zombies aren’t real.” Maybe so, but Ruthie sure does show interesting signs of being a zombie – like how she is slowly falling apart and smells pretty much like death!

 

I also liked seeing how the friends relate to each other. Even when one of them is freaking out over Ruthie’s strange behavior and is convinced they need grown-up help, they rally together to help this friend. It’s definitely a scary situation for a kid to be in, but they keep their heads in the right place and stay grounded when they work through everything happening together.

 

This story was scary, mysterious and full of suspense. It kept me guessing at every turn. I was surprised over the new things happening as the story unfolded, and I worried that something bad was going to happen to one of the boys before they could bring the person who hurt Ruthie to justice.

 

As a person familiar with ghosts, and as someone who has read many ghost stories (both real and fictional), I was really intrigued by the “ghostly” aspect of this story. It’s hard to see the character Ruthie as a ghost, since she eats the same food as the other kids, but there are some parts of her existence that is ghostly. So I pretty much saw her as a ghost in the story. That said, I also recognized her as a child that had been murdered. For the longest time, as I read this story, I tried to ignore the brutality of a child of only six being murdered. I tried not to let it get to me. But when I got to the part where Ruthie says “I miss my friends and my dollies” that was when the waterworks broke. That made me so sad. I have seen similar statements by child ghosts in stories, even though Ruthie is not a ghost in this story. So, yeah, that hit hard.

 

And as a parent, I was thoughtful over the boys’ actions, as well as the mother who was dealing with the pain of her missing child.  

 

Ruthie is a story with very scary moments, but it is also a very moving story of making right what was made wrong. Themes of vengeance, loss, and friendship are very strong in this story, possibly themes which young readers 12 and up could relate to. It’s a spooky story that is both entertaining as well as chilling. Ruthie is the kind of story that stayed with me long after I read the very last page, and even though it had a very satisfying ending, I could only wonder if there was the chance our young ghoul may once again rise from the grave, hungry for more blood and revenge!

 

 

Five stars.

 

 

Disclaimer: I downloaded this book through my subscription with Kindle Unlimited.

 

Ruthie by Angie Gibson is available both as a Kindle ebook and for free through Kindle Unlimited.

The Headless Horseman Rides Again: The Sleepy Hollow Gang is an Awesome First Book in a New Series for Kids with a New Sleepy Hollow Tale

 

 

The Sleepy Hollow Gang: Shivers #1

Robert P. Ottone

Weird House Press, 2023

ISBN-10: 1957121645

ISBN-13: 978-1957121642

152 ppg., Ebook

Buy links:

Amazon

WeirdHouse Press

 

If you have been around for a while, you may have heard the stories surrounding Tarrytown, a village in New York and the setting of Washington Irving’s novel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. You may have even read this story in school and have seen the many different versions of this story in movies and on TV. Indeed, there is nothing quite as spooky as the specter, The Headless Horseman, one of the most famous ghosts in American literature.

 

Tarrytown is real and so is Sleepy Hollow. It’s actually a small part of Tarrytown and the townspeople had voted to have an area of Tarrytown named Sleepy Hollow in honor of the story. It’s also where you will find the famous Old Dutch burial ground, containing the graves of some of the people the characters in Irving’s story was based on (well, except for Ichabod Crane, who is buried in Staten Island).

 

I have always wondered what living in Tarrytown must be like, knowing it’s famous for being so close to Sleepy Hollow.

 

Well, after reading Robert P. Ottone’s latest book, The Sleepy Hollow Gang, I found out!

 

The Sleepy Hollow Gang, Book One, by Robert P. Ottone is told from the point-of-view of a character who moves to Tarrytown, so we are treated to Tarrytown as we have never known it before. Derek Houseman is a seventh-grader who moves to New York from Georgia, and not only does he have to adjust to living somewhere vastly different than the Southern state he grew up in, but he also must adjust to being “new” to a town rife with ghosts, legends – and a dark past. Fortunately for Derek, he makes new friends at his new school, but one of these friends, Herman, is so obsessed with monsters that he wants to try out a ritual called “Wake the Dead” on Halloween night – right at the grave of the person the character of the headless horseman is based on (who died headless in real life!). And that’s where things go terribly wrong.

 

But it’s just a game, right? That’s what Derek thinks. Just some harmless fun. But young Derek will soon find out, and he’s in for a night of thrills and chills!

 

One thing I really liked about the group of kids in the story is how they are each unique in their own way. While Herman is the “monster kid,” Annabelle is the diabetic educating her friends about the virtues of carob brownies, Zoe is the badass fighter who is not afraid to stand up to bullies, and Lucy is the kindhearted and empathetic voice of the whole group. And, of course, there’s Derek, who has some kind of strange attachment to Sleepy Hollow that he struggles to understand. As a group, they make a great team!

 

And for a group of kids battling the Headless Horseman, I couldn’t help but chuckle when, at one point, Annabelle defends her lack of emotions by saying, "One of us has to keep their head on straight." (page 92)

 

There was just so much other stuff in the story that I loved too. Hermy ordering a SALAD at the diner – and how it’s his “usual.” How Lucy sets things right with her and Derek after she reveals her true self.  And like Derek, I was laughing when the Headless Horseman was electrocuted, because I could picture the whole thing happening like in a cartoon (although Derek notes he didn’t see the Horseman’s skeleton, how disappointing!). I also loved the show of compassion Zoe has for her alcoholic mother.

 

This story is definitely full of scares, action and excitement. The action picks up as the Headless Horseman closes in on Derek. It was definitely hard to stop reading at that point! And then there was the epic, mind-blowing ending. It was AWESOME!

 

I definitely recommend this book to kids who enjoy reading stories about ghosts, Sleepy Hollow, and the Headless Horseman. But grown-ups would probably enjoy reading this story too. It is, after all, another Sleepy Hollow story. Another action-packed and scary tale of the Headless Horseman. So, take it from me. Read this book no matter how old you are, because while some of America’s oldest legends may pass on to the bygone days of the era, they can always be made new again with new stories of adventure, friendship, excitement, and one VERY popular and scary headless creature!

 

 

Five stars

 

 

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