Saturday, June 26, 2010

Book Review: Manchester House






















Manchester House  by Donald Kirch.

Manchester House was built upon secrets and blood. Even the land upon which it was built was considered…bad.

ITEM: Native Americans for untold centuries believed that if a bird flew over the property it would die.

ITEM: On the forced “Trail of Tears” march to Oklahoma, a rival tribe invaded a campsite of a sworn enemy, resting upon the property, decapitated the women and cooked their heads. No reason was ever given.

ITEM: While traveling to Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant had an experience that changed his life forever – he never would say what.

ITEM: On his travels, Grant lost an entire squad of soldiers, two field surgeons, a team of horses and mules, and one Gatlin gun. No explanation given. Grant, himself, refused to investigate.

No one in the town wanted to admit that the ancient house even existed. All homes facing the ruin had their windows boarded shut. All roads to the thing were blocked, overgrown, or forbidden.

Manchester House was a beacon of evil at the center of a small Kansas Town with a dark and mysterious past that would not go away. All tried to forget it even existed -- until the police had to bring the bodies out.

When a group of professional "ghost hunters" explore a local haunted house, they descend into absolute darkness and terror, learning the incredible truth behind the legend of MANCHESTER HOUSE. 

 
A house steeped in blood and death.  Manchester House was one of the most terrifying reading experiences of my life.  I would like to say first that this book is incredibly well written.  It should, however, come with a warning.  The entire time Kirch's characters walked the haunted halls of Manchester House my lights flickered, lighting flashed, and thunder roared.  The moment I would set down my copy of Manchester House the flickering and storm would stop only to begin immediately upon opening the book once again.  Something paranormal?  It definitely made for a frightening reading experience!  Manchester House is a well crafted work of horror that will have you jumping at shadows and keeping the lights on for nights to come.

I would recommend Manchester House to mature readers of paranormal suspense, horror, urban fantasy and fans of paranormal investigations and haunted houses.  Keep in mind that this is a terrifying read!  There are also some graphic scenes that I would not recommend to young readers or readers sensitive to violence.  A must-read for horror fans.

To learn more about author Donald Kirch and Manchester House visit my interview with Donald here.

Source:  This book was provided by the author for honest review.


Manchester House on Amazon.
Manchester House on Goodreads.

10 comments:

  1. This looks like a very haunting story!!!!
    When you mention "my lights flickered"that made want to read the story ...

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  2. One thing's for certain, E.J. You'll NEVER look at duct tape and plastic tarps the same way, ever again! Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!

    Thank you for the review!

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  3. In that case I think I'll stay away from the book. "Real" horror is too terrifying for me. Gives me nightmares. LOL.

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  4. Mmmm...I don't recommend eating eggs with ketchup while reading this. LOL.

    An exceptional read. It was my pleasure to review.

    xx,
    E.J.

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  5. I agree 100%. This was one of the most creepy books that I have ever read and I loved every page of it. I scared myself many a time going to the bathroom in the middle of the night after reading it. My lights stayed on for a few nights and I am not ashamed to admit it!

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  6. Great review!! It was so great that I went to Amazon and bought a Kindle copy... so now I can scare myself silly while hubby is away at work...

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  7. Whoa this sounds like a fantastic read. Thanks for the awesome review.

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  8. I had the pleasure of reading Manchester House awhile back and it definitely kept me up nights. This one will leave you thinking about what lies ahead in those dark corners and "empty" basements!

    Donald wrote a fascinating story relating to the experiences he had prior to writing this book. I get to feature it on my blog on July 22. And I can't wait to read more of his work!

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  9. A big "Thank you" for all of you who showed up and were interested in my work. "Manchester House" was great fun to write. If anyone would like to contact me directly, my email is:

    Storywriter1967@yahoo.com.

    I look forward to hearing from you!

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