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.

 

Beware the Terrors You Can’t See: What Lies Unseen is a chilling ghost story of revenge and redemption

 

 

What Lies Unseen

S.E. Howard

Wicked House Publishing, 2026

Ebook, 180 ppg.

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NOTE: This review is based on an advanced review copy (ARC). This book is scheduled for release on March 10. The buy link is a pre-order link.

 

 

For the people who are able to see and hear ghosts, it can be scary anytime it happens. For Sam Avery, it’s terrifying. Most of the ghosts he encounters are malevolent, some of them even attacking him. In this novel of paranormal suspense and horror, What Lies Unseen by S.E. Howard explores the world of parapsychic abilities. Sam’s gift of being able to see and hear ghosts is more of a nightmare for him, but when he gets involved with a group of people with similar abilities, he feels that he may finally be able to understand his ability better and learn how to control it. What Sam doesn’t realize is that this particular group has other plans, ones which could cost him his life.

 

Some people believe in ghosts and some people don’t. For this reason, Sam doesn’t talk much about his ability to see ghosts. He’s had this gift his whole life, but as a kid, it terrified him. The only person he ever told about it was his older brother, Michael. Michael seemed to understand Sam’s ability, and handled his younger brother’s terror-stricken episodes of seeing and hearing scary ghosts really well. At 24, Sam meets someone who can hear ghosts, and it opens up a whole new world to him. Suddenly, he doesn’t feel so alone. Suddenly, he learns that there are other people like him – that they can hear and see ghosts like he does, only hear ghosts, only sense their presence, etc. There are others who can do things like remote viewing, an ability which is put to use in a horrifying way in this story.

 

The characters in this book are so well-rounded. I loved how the characters at the “paranormal meeting” shared their knowledge. I could tell the author did her homework and took the time to do research for the characters. They really know their stuff!

 

This is a story of many twists and surprises. It is told from Sam’s POV, giving the reader first-hand experience about what happens when he has encounters with the paranormal. It is written so well and I was hooked on this story. It was hard to stop reading it! The scares were very real, keeping me on the edge of my seat, and I was constantly reading chapters wanting to know what happens next.

 

I also loved how the author describes the ghosts so well. The ghosts in this story are definitely frightening! One ghost is described in this way: “I felt hands pulling against me, and when I looked down, I saw the emaciated corpse of a girl, arms around my waist. She wore a tattered white dress, and the skirt ballooned up around her like a spent tulip blossom. Her eyes were gone, her sockets sunken and dark, her nose caved in, her lips receding. Her skin looked desiccated, with only the stark outline of bones beneath, yet there was terrifying, impossible strength in her grip as she clung to me.” (Page 106)

 

In addition to the ghost story that takes place in this novel, we see Sam experiencing a relationship with an older woman – a fellow employee at his job (though she is in a senior position). Everything happens so fast in this relationship, and while she tells Sam that she loves him, he feels more like a “fuck buddy” than a partner in a committed relationship. His insecurities are strengthened when she is going through a difficult situation, and when he tries to offer her comfort, she screams at him, “You’re just a kid!” Still, Sam tries to believe that his relationship with her is the real deal – until he discovers that she has lied to him about certain things. The HUGE thing he learns about her having lied to him about drives him to the breaking point, but it also opens up a new level of horrors for Sam that he must try to face.

 

I loved how this novel shares the dark side of the paranormal. It doesn’t just show the negative things that can happen, but also the negative people who not only abuse their abilities but put them to use in horrifying ways. This novel also explores topics of grief, protection of Indigenous land, and friendship. It was certainly an unforgettable and unique story that lingered in my mind long after I finished reading the last page.

 

What Lies Unseen is a chilling tale of communication with the dead as well as the secrets of a centuries-old power hidden within a most unlikely location. Filled with terrifying paranormal encounters, surprises, and unexpected twists, this novel is a must-read for fans of horror and for anyone who enjoys reading scary ghost stories.

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beware the Spider King: The Cult of the Spider People is a YA horror novel of mutant spiders and terrifying secrets

 

 

The Cult of the Spider People (Bone Chillers #1)

Heddy Johannesen

Bone Chillers, 2024

ISBN-13: 979-8342887618

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I’m not a fan of spiders. I only like the kind that exist in fiction. And with a book like The Cult of the Spider People by Heddy Johannesen, there are a lot of spiders to contend with in this YA horror novel!

 

The town in which 17-year-old Piper and her boyfriend, Cory, live in has a spider problem. Tales of spider people abound, all of which the two teenagers shrug off as just urban legend. But when a strange spider creature is discovered in Piper’s home, the two teens investigate to find out where it came from. They enter through a door which Piper had said her father kept locked, and end up going through a portal that takes them to a horrific world called Arachnall, where a Spider King is set on making Piper his queen.

 

This is quite a scary story! From terrifying creatures that are half-human and half-spider to aggressive spiderlings that attack humans and drink their blood, this novel kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end!

 

I loved how the author describes the setting. It is so imaginative! As well as scary. She really knows how to set the stage for a frightening scene and create tension that kept me holding my breath!

 

I liked how Piper and Cory stayed true to each other no matter what happened, never abandoning their love for each other. Even as the two of them both had doubts about the ghost Josephine who claimed to be Piper’s mother, they kept working as a team and looked out for each other.

 

Josephine was a surprise character in the story. I knew that Piper’s mother was dead, but not much is revealed about her death. Readers find out why she is even in Arachnall later in the story, as well as how she tries to help the young teens to escape.  

 

The author describes the setting so well. Here is an example of good description, taken from the scene where Piper and Cory enter the Spider Queen’s lair:

 

“An enormous black web spanned twenty meters swaying like a spectral ghost. The lair was replete with decrepit skeletons. Dead insects, humans, and animals hung from the web like baubles. Spiderling Arachnas wove silk cocoons, eager for an unwary victim. The stench of blood permeated the lair. 

 

Something menacing rested above the web. The cocoons bearing dead and alive prey made her want to scream. Bones of every shape and size riddled the ground beneath the massive web. Blood coated everything. More of the strange Arachnall symbols were etched onto the cave walls. Lifeless eyes stared at her as she passed them. A spiderling crept out from the hollow mouth of a skeleton.”

 

The description of the Spider Queen is likewise terrifying. Then we have the scene describing something terrible happening to Piper close to the end of the story and it really sent a chill down my spine! Just picturing this made me shiver and as much as I wanted to finish reading the story to find out what happens next, I also wanted to stop reading because it was so frightening. (It really tapped in to my fear of spiders!) But I did finish reading until the end and it only made me hungry for more!

 

The Cult of the Spider People is a gripping tale of two teens who try to escape from a world of mutant spiders as well as a relentless Spider King. This story is full of shock and surprises, keeping readers guessing as they read each chapter. This book was enjoyable to read and it offered lots of good scares. I can’t wait to read the sequel, in the event there will be one.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I downloaded this ebook as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription and this review is entirely voluntary.