The house at 889 Morgan Road has been empty almost thirty years. Maybe it should have stayed that way.Kevin Taylor is an internet-famous handyman on a mission: Find a house and renovate it in thirty days. By flipping a derelict house in a month’s time and chronicling the entire thing on video for his online subscribers, he seeks to impress a handful of network TV producers and become a star.The … producers and become a star.
The problems that plague this property will require more than elbow grease to fix, however.
Shadows throughout the home are distorted, and an enigmatic trespasser keeps showing up in his footage. Worse still are the hideous voices that issue from otherwise empty rooms in the dead of night.
Amid mounting dangers, Kevin is forced to meet the house’s shadowed past head-on—a past, he begins to suspect, he wants nothing to do with. Armed only with the hearsay of locals and the frightening clues he’s uncovered within the home, he attempts to find out what led to the house’s abandonment while juggling his strenuous renovation projects.
What he uncovers is horrible beyond imagination. All signs seem to be pointing to one thing:
Something in the house is awakening.more
This is the first book I’ve read by Ambrose Ibsen, and I’ll tell you something for free: It won’t be the last. Ibsen faced a number of challenges in writing this book–the most notable being the distinct lack of characters. In essence, there are only two main characters, the protagonist and the thing that is haunting him. Yeah, there are single-serving friend type of characters, but for long stretches, the only living thing in many of the scenes was the protagonist. Think about that–no dialogue, no emotional give-and-take between characters, no way to tell us readers what is happening outside of narrative from a first-person perspective… I’m not going to say that there weren’t one of two moments where it wore thin, but I am going to say that I read every single word of this novel, and I don’t regret a single syllable.
Ibsen’s imagination rings clear and creates the kind of horror story that doesn’t give the reader any easy-outs. There were points when I wanted to slap the protagonist for his horrible decision making, but all those bad decisions were perfectly in character. The ending wasn’t completely unexpected, but it was cleverly done.
If you liked Clegg’s haunted house stories, or even Lovecraft’s, you will like this book by Ambrose Ibsen. Give it a try, you won’t regret it.
Really good, look forward to more by the author.
Purchased as an audible:
OLD HOUSE
BODY FOUND
….AND DYI?
Renovate and let the ghosts loose.
It’s not all the work he has set himself to do that makes him wish…he were dead.
Reviewed in Le Coeur de l’Artiste http://www.djadamson.com/le-coeur-de-lartiste
Kevin Taylor is a successful DIY you tuber. He is hoping to get his big break and buys a run down house for extremely cheap, renovating and flipping it in 30 days, in the hopes that a TV studio will pick him up. The house at 889 Morgan Road is the answer to his prayers! But this house has secrets and Kevin unknowingly lets something out that was trapped in it. Renovating the place is the least of his worries!!
I’ve read a lot of this authors books and I have to say that this is Ibsen at his best! This book was truly scary and incredibly creepy. The book started off with a slow build up of anticipation, that continued to build and build until I had to close the book for a little bit to give myself a breather. It was so well written that you could almost feel the tense feelings Kevin had. My heart was in my mouth at times and I kept thinking to myself that if it was me, I’d be long gone from the house!!
I loved Kevin. He was relatable and likable. He debates with himself about whether to leave the house or stay, which I think a lot of people would do. He just wants to make it big doing something he loves but he gets more than he bargains for. I also liked the fact that this really only features Kevin, there are a few other minor characters, but for the most part, it’s only Kevin and it made me invest in his story more.
In all, this book was amazing. It’s been a while since I was scared to read a book at night, and this one did just that!! While reading it, I heard a noise from my sons room, and knowing he wasn’t in it, I texted my husband to come see what it was because I was too scared to go!!!
Thought it would be your average ghost story. It was different and I wanted to know what would happen to the main character so badly that I couldn’t put it down. I took it with me everywhere and stayed up late to finish it. It’s part of a series now I can’t wait to get the next book!
Very good read!!!
Don’t read this at night unless you can ignore things that go bump in the hallway outside the bedroom.
It was scary! There were times I had to end where I was going stop reading at a less scary part so I could go to sleep.
starts off slow, but builds to a page turning frightener
I enjoyed this book so much that, when I finished it, I instantly bought the next one in the series (and finished it.) The author has a fluid, easy to follow/understand style. He captures the voice of his protagonist perfectly. In this book, the hero is a 25 year old construction worker/video blogger. The writing sounds like this guy is speaking. Totally enjoyable scare-fest, and I don’t much like horror as a genre.
Incredible terrifying story. Almost slept with my light on!
I loved this book!
By Babbi-Dan on May 18, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
This book moved along at a great pace. I loved the story and was surprised by the ending. I tend to be very analytical as I read and continually find myself questioning why something did or did not happen a certain way in the story line. I love how the author seemed to anticipate my every question and answered them with realistic solutions. I am now following this author and intend to read more of his books. I recommended this book to my reader friends as soon as I finished it. Loved, loved, loved this book!