Synopsis
“A haunted house story that will give you The Conjuring vibes.”—Kasha’s Book Sematary
Fleeing an abusive boyfriend, Cindy moves into her late grandmother’s creepy old house with her young daughter. At first, the home is comfortable and nostalgic. But soon, ghosts randomly appear day and night, doors open and close, a streak of bad luck begins, and Cindy and her daughter have unsettling nightmares. Cindy’s mental state is pushed to the edge.
When Cindy’s video recording of paranormal activity goes viral, she gets the attention of famous ghost hunters. With nowhere else to turn, Cindy accepts their help to find and eliminate the source of the haunting.
Can Cindy and the team of paranormal investigators survive the haunting of The House on Moon Creek Avenue?
Praise for The House on Moon Creek Avenue:
“E.Reyes plays with all the readers’ senses to invoke chills.”—Jamie Stewart, author of Trick or Treat
“I couldn’t put it down.”—Iseult Murphy, author of 7 Days in Hell
“If you’re looking for a spooky haunted house story that’ll give you the creeps, reach for this one!”—Spooky Octopus Reads
Review
Had this one on my radar for a while and picked up the Velox Books audio on sale. This is the year of Reyes it seems. I’m here for it.
Wow this book surely does away with any preamble…and I don’t mean that as a negative. I mean, of course the author sets the scene… we meet Cindy and her daughter, we know she’s moved into her grandmother’s house after it was left to her. We know she’s fleeing the abusive ex, and that she’s a student and part-time cashier. And we know that her father has been helping her out while she’s in school, even with furniture (and to the annoyance of her sister). But what happens quickly is the build up to the house’s haunting. Is that a knock at the window? A twist of a doorknob? A shadow on the stairs?
While the reader does get a smidge of that, oh no there is so much more. I felt like left and right things were taking place that were so impossible to argue or mentally push away as paranormal. The author has done away with the little steps that build into the true haunting—right from the jump in this one I was wondering what the hell they were still doing there. I mean, I know you can’t just abandon your home, but like…maybe you would if it was that haunted! The paranormal cast had me thinking of Thirteen Ghosts, and I was glad they tied back to their upbringing as kids in the house. The Emfer Zima man coming from a cousin who was too young to understand the word emphysema felt like a great plug to establish how young they were and tie nostalgia into the overall arc of the story. It brought to mind the “Fig Men” from Nick Cutter’s The Deep as well as others.
As I often say, you can tell Reyes knows his horror. He knows his tropes. And this is quite the blend of them. When the hauntings get local attention, they eventually catch the eyes and ears of ghosts investigators. They enter in the second half as a style shift that I’d liken to found footage (which I love). They spend time in the house investigating, cameras and questions that build to anything but a slow night for them.
As many of his stories are, this is infused with Hispanic-American characters and cultures. So when the ghost hunters can do nothing but confirm that the haunting is, in fact, very real, Cindy is left seeking help from elsewhere. One of the investigators links her to a spiritual cleanser that reminded me of that episode with the bruja magic from Ash Vs Evil Dead (but like a positive side). And although their arrival and help seemed a little quick for me, I loved the twist of the finale. I think the author seeded it exceptionally.
Really enjoyed this. Not the haunted house you’d investigate for sure, the haunted house you’d move towns to avoid…
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