Haunted House Harbor

Haunted House Harbor
2017
9
author: 
Roma Gray

Synopsis: 

The world has just been struck by the "Perfect Apocalypse": nuclear bombs, disease, famine,
zombies, killer bees and many other hidden terrors. As the world crumbles, a group of survivors
discovers there is only one safe haven: the mysterious town of Haunted House Harbor. For some
reason, all of the unleashed perils cannot penetrate the city limits. But there's one
problem--Haunted House Harbor has its own dark side... 

A unique and very different zombie novel. If you enjoy dystopian fiction, but are looking for something different, you've found the right book.

Review: 

Haunted House Harbor" by Roma Gray is a terror book (part of Project 26, book 8) about the "perfect Apocalypse". But no definition could ever describe the amazing work Gray brings to us.

The plot is complex, many characters are introduced at the same time, suffering a worldwide terrorist attack (a very creative one, I must say) each one of them, in their way. They find (or are they forced to find...?) shelter in a place which hosts its own evil entities.

You’ll still have to deal with what already lives in this town, and I think you will discover that it is always hungry.” With a cackling laugh, she added: “Welcome to Haunted House Harbor, boys.”

I won't say anything else because I absolutely won't ruin your read.

One of the best parts of the book is how real characters are. Thank you for that. No superheroes. A teen with Asperger (autism) with her mother in a wheelchair, are the centre of the story. Police are confused and scared, lazy construction workers, robbers...

To me, this book is not about zombies, so don't hang that label on it. Zombies are the element to intensify the story and bring that heart racing feeling to the reader. You need to read it to understand.

And what about Gray's writing? She's clear, delightfully ironic, very pleasurable to read. No endless descriptions but very accurate and sensorial. She pays attention to the tiny details that make you hear in your mind every sound, every broken thought... you freeze and lose your breath together with the characters. This book is quick to read, not because it's simple but because you can't just leave it.

The first part is dedicated to introducing all the characters, and the second is an avalanche of panic, action and that face you do when you're watching something that will give you nightmares.

I read lots of books (lots) and I love terror, and believe me, this is GOOD. I would want to be a more serious reviewer at this moment, but I can't because I'm very excited about this book and discovering Roma. I already purchased her other books and I can tell I will keep you updated.

I honestly recommend it to all action readers, suspense, thriller and of course, horror lovers.

Review written by The Bold Mom

Horror Experts

Post by Mar G.-Amorena on 11/12/2017 - 20:12

OTHER BOOK REVIEWS

HUSKER

HUSKER

Marc W. Johnson

Writing this review has taken me a couple of days because it has several subjects I'd like to highlight. It's been difficult though, to put my mind together, because I can't reveal most of the scenes that will get you glue-stuck to the book. I couldn't leave it, and when someone talked to me I got upset because they were interrupting my connection with the story. Well, that said. Marc W Johnson is in my list of "Writers Extraordinaire". He is a screenplay writer, and you're going to find that influence on the book. Is it a bad thing? Hell, no. The writing is agile, fresh, always keeping you anxious to find out what'... Read More

Crystal Bones and Gossamer Wings

Crystal Bones and Gossamer Wings

Dona Fox

This piece is a novella by Dona Fox and the length has allowed her to elaborate her writing deeply on her already established study of the human psyche —and its insanity. This time, many characters guide you through this labyrinth. The plot is full of twists and turns which will make you reconsider constantly what you have comprehended so far. The protagonist expresses herself in first person, habitual Fox's tool to show the reader in a more intense way the feelings and madness of that mind. She is a combination, or so it seems, of devotion, conformity, complete surrender and... love? to her father and all the... Read More

Netted: The Beginning (The Silent Red Room Saga Book...

KT Rose

This is the first work I read from KT Rose and I'm greatly surprised. She takes basic elements such as blind dates with a psychopath, and combines it with de danger of the dark side of the internet, the consequences of a deeply broken family, a girl with a court of ghosts on her shoulders, a man in grief, a cult leader and an audience so hungry for —blood. What could possibly go wrong? The author sews all together and leaves nothing behind. Characters are very realistic, antiheroes trying to survive life. Lots of blood, fight, betrayal. I like how she moulds the characters to have a deep psychology factor, so they... Read More

And Hell Followed

Death's Head Press

Anthologies are not always an easy read. Very often they are not exactly what you are expecting, or the selection of stories doesn't amaze you. Well, And Hell Followed doesn't have this problem at all. Let's break it down: All the stories are good and enjoyable, they could all perfectly be standalone pieces preceding an entire novel. Some of them are more serious and really mess with your mind, making you wonder and ask questions. You want more. Others are funny (in a very macabre way, of course) and some of them give you a very different vision of what a "hell on Earth" could become. It's a book that, depending... Read More

Three Days in Ashford

TY Tracey

Well, wow. I think this is the review that, so far, has taken me the longest to write. There are so many things to say about this book. I'll start making clear that I had never heard of TY Tracey until I purchased this book, well, this absolutely MUST change to future readers. The complexity and layers conforming this book make very difficult for me to "summarise" why I loved it, several times. I think the best way for me to express is to describe, point by point, WHY it is different and to me, a must-read. One, of course, the writing. Tracey develops several "description scenes" along the book, but they are... Read More

Clock's Watch

Clock's Watch

Michael Reyes

"Clock's Watch" is a very interesting horror collection. The idea of a guardian between two worlds, human and evil, perhaps has been used before, but not in this way. Our protagonist is one and only. There are two things I especially liked in this book: For starters, the great investigation and research about sorcery and demonology. Every story has those elements. The chants or spells Clock pours over the demons as well as the method to hunt them bring a dose of realism that keeps you interested, not only in the story, but in the occult content. Also, I love so much the protagonist. Hero or antihero? I couldn't... Read More

The Overleden: Hell on Earth

The Overleden: Hell on Earth

Terence Simmons

This novel is a complex lattice with sub-stories traversed between them, creating a magnificent performance worth becoming a movie. Or two, I must say, because here we have material for weeks. Let's start from the beginning. I like how the author introduces the several characters (Jasmine, her mother, her boyfriend, friends...) but without stopping to develop impossible descriptions which would make the book tedious and even more massive. No, Simmons knows what he is doing and keeps you awake, not abandoning a shuddering style of story-telling that doesn't allow you to put the book down. You just don't find the moment... Read More

Desert Shadows

Desert Shadows

Joshua Dowidat

"Desert Shadows" is a young-adult horror book. Two boys explore their lives and surroundings in a way we all would have wanted to: creating stories in your mind, adventure, a treasure hunt! Slowly though, they see themselves locked in a horror spiral. A stranger enters their lives to change them forever. I'd like to break this story down, because Dowidat provokes in you transforming emotions. In the beginning, it's a kid's tale. Two brothers, Caleb and Liam, who spend their free time in the desert, building their own world. Slowly, they enter a true, terrifying horror story. A character who seems to be the key is a... Read More

Murmansk-13

Murmansk-13

Richard-Steven Williams

Williams has written a book which will keep your hands full for several hours, I read it in one go. There is something very interesting about this story, and it's how the author introduces to the reader all technical concepts he needs you to understand but without being too thick. He makes it gloomy, catchy, mysterious. Space adds an extra plus of creepiness to the thread, since in a ship—there's no way out. Locked with your predator, let the game begin! The book is long but very quick to read because Williams' writing is not heavy, he jumps from one concept to another with ease. Scenes and characters precede each... Read More

Death, Infection, The Devil... and Jed

Howard Carlyle

Allow me to talk a bit about my thoughts on Howard Carlyle. This book is not the first work I read by him since I follow his blogs "The Meyerstown Secret" and "Gloriously Gory". He is an emerging author, with an amazing basis of imagination and twisted influences in his writing, who is working full engine to bring his words to readers. His ideas are intense. Quick stories, flash characters and little winks at the reader form a little collection of four stories, very different between them, all of them tied up with his black irony which has no mercy or compassion for the redeemed. "Death, Infection, The Devil... and... Read More