Welcome to Dead Oaks.The New Home of Fear!Something strange is happening in the sleepy, little, town of Dead Oaks, N.C. Tales of disappearances, strange deaths, murder, and mayhem have been passed down through the town’s history and are now used as scary tales to keep local children behind locked doors at night. Still, it all continues. Whatever sinister force that has its claws into Dead Oaks is … into Dead Oaks is still there, and it wants nothing more than to claim the town as its own.
Six Years Ago
Hikers, campers, and even locals had been disappearing around Dead Oaks Lake. Some claimed the ghost of a local man who went missing years before was the reason. During a neighborly camping get together, Tiffany Sellers vanished in the middle of the night. Mia Evans was the only witness. What she saw that night sent her family far from Dead Oaks in hopes of escaping the evil surrounding the town.
Present Day
Mia, and her twin sister Tia have come back to their family’s cabin by the lake. Their hopes? To finally put the past behind them and reconnect with old friends for a Halloween bash to remember. As an unexpected snow storm strands the twins and their friends, they find themselves fighting to survive not only the storm but whatever is haunting the lake. Soon they realize, in Dead Oaks, sometimes the past should just stay buried.
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This book was great from page 1! Paranormal meets Suspense/Thriller. It had me thinking..Could it be them? Naw not that person..Wait how did that just happen..Thru the whole book. So excited this is the start of a series. This duo of authors working together write an awesome story.
This book is AMAZING and I cannot wait for the evil that is waiting to befall the town of Dead Oaks!!!
Rena Marin and Skylar Mckinzie have outdone themselves with this story!!! I loved the mystery and danger that befell this group of teenagers as they were looking to have a bit of Halloween fun. I really thought I knew what was going to happen as I was reading…but I was so wrong!!! Nothing about this story was predictable. I was kept on my toes until the very end.
This story was haunting and imaginative. It is filled with twists, turns, and lots of coffee.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good mystery!!!
Excellent book..spooky and creepy. Grabs you right from the start. Keeps you guessing all the way till the end.. pull up your blanket and prepare to be spooked!!
Halloween Nightmares will have you on the edge of your seat! The backstory gives you a glimpse into what happened in Dead Oaks. From there the story only intensifies. Now that the group is older nothing seems to have changed. In fact, I’d say it’s gotten worse.
I loved the twists and turns in this story. From the disappearances, the suspicions certain characters had, what Mia and Tia found in their mothers journal. All of this combined creates one thrilling ride. Lots of creepy history in Dead Oaks and I cannot wait to read more in this series!
I enjoyed this suspenseful story due to the following reasons:
1. The authors wrote as one.
2. It kept me on my toes. I gasped a few wows and oh-no!
3. I jumped at different moments, reminded me of a classic horror, slasher, thriller movie turned into a solid novel.
After reading and enjoying Ouija, I was eager to see where the Dead Oaks series began by reading Halloween Nightmares.
The beginning was very chilling and really set the stage for a creepy read. There was no shortage of action and fear-inducing scenes as the book went along. The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed this book.
I could not finish this book. I got to a certain point, then skipped to the end to see who the killer was. None of the characters attracted me, and, in the end, I kept losing track of who was who. The writer chooses to use the “big strong men protecting the scared little women” trope and I can’t deal with that in this day and age. In skipping to the end, I did catch a scene where a female character did jump in and save the day, and that’s why the book is getting two stars instead of one. I knew who the bad guy was as soon as he was introduced into the story, and I hate that. I like a book that keeps me guessing and second guessing. In the end, I don’t think I’ll read more by this author.
I absolutely fell in love with this book and once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. It was amazing. Character development, plot, climax and descriptive writing were well above expected and I loved how this book was deeply interwoven. I didn’t expect the ending, although Rena Marin gave us a hint three quarters through the book, I still think it was acceptable. I don’t usually like the ending to catch up to me suddenly or too shockingly. Through and through, it was an amazing start of the series, I cannot wait to pick up book 2! I would definitely share this book with my bookworm friends, I am sure they will love it as much as I did.
This first book in the world of Dead Oaks has a bit of that vibe that I remember so well from horror flicks in the late 70s / early 80s. We have a group of young people meeting up at an isolated cabin just in time for a snow storm to keep them stranded. When people start disappearing, one by one, there are lots of those moments where you find yourself talking to the characters. “Don’t go out there.” “Oh, no, don’t split up.” Considering the number of those creepy horror movies that I’ve watched, I did have a good idea of where this tale was going, but with the added supernatural aspect and the building tension of the story, my guess didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book. There are a number of scenes that I can well imagine how gory they would be on film, but thankfully, a good deal of the possible gore is left to the reader’s imagination. The only thing missing here was the obligatory steamy scene, which was a refreshing surprise for this reader. All in all, Halloween Nightmare is a promising start to a series and I will be interested to see what’s next for the residents of Dead Oaks.
Welcome to Dead Oaks. This town has a dark history and this Halloween night it will come back to terrify, haunt, and tear apart several teenage lives behind a tragedy years ago. Tia and Mia have returned to their family’s old cabin out by the lake where all the disappearances happened. They intend to have a fun weekend full of partying and having a good time. What they don’t expect is for a snowstorm to kick up and essentially lock the entire town down. The twins have invited some friends (old and new) to come party with them, but what they don’t know is that something even more sinister is hiding out in the snow and storm. The girls will learn some secrets that their family has been hiding for years, and one of their friends will learn to appreciate family.
Halloween Nightmare book one of the Dead Oaks Terrors series by Rena Marin and Skylar McKinzie is an engaging and awesome YA horror story. This story will grab you from the beginning and keep you page-turning all the way to the end. I have to warn you though, even when the story ends you will be begging for more. The story starts off with Tia and Mia being young girls out camping with their family, and that night tragedy strikes. A girl disappears from their camp and is never found again. Then the story shifts forward six years. The girls are back, with friends for a Halloween weekend planned out to be fun. Caleb, Austin’s brother, warns the group that the weather will turn bad. I love the intensity in this book. There are supernatural elements and then there is the twist that comes in. This story is absolutely fantastic. There is even a hint of romance in this book for those who like a bit of romance to keep things from getting too dark.
The only thing I didn’t like about this book is…that it had to end!!!! This story was fantastic! I will say I would have liked it if certain elements had been more drawn out, but overall the two authors did a fantastic job writing this story. You will honestly think that only one person wrote this book instead of two.
I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. This book is a fantastic YA horror supernatural story. I was so pleased that this story actually does have a supernatural element to it and not just a person who’s perfected being extra creepy. LOL! We get some backstory, drama, danger, spooks and more. If you are a horror fanatic like me you will enjoy this book so grab it up today!