Not a bad story, but....December 26, 2007 The story isn't bad, but I thought the author came across as somewhat "flaky", thus making the story less believable.
Yikes! (Not in a Good Way)November 22, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I couldn't get through this one. I am fascinated by the subject matter, but the author's presentation was weak and sadly unbelievable. I much preferred Elaine Mercado's "Grave's End."
Great bookOctober 25, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book. While none of us have ever seen a full body apparition, my family and I have experienced similar things.After I read it, I bought a copy and had it sent to my grown daughter. It feels pretty good to know that we aren't the only ones.
DisappointingOctober 21, 2007 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I love reading about true hauntings and watching paranormal shows, so I was excited to read this book; unfortunately, I was soon disappointed.
The writing style is too conversational, which is not to say that a certain amount of conversationalism isn't appreciated, but this crossed the line and distracted me. All I could think was that it was very unprofessionally written.
The overall organization and chapter structure also became irritating. To be fair, the organization at the beginning of the book was much better, but it seemed to devolve into a choppy formulaic structure as the story went on. She began ending every chapter with some sort of half-philosophical summary slash cliff-hanger slash transition into the next chapter and the next chapter was some sort of restatement of the last paragraph or sentence of the previous chapter. Technically speaking, the writing style and organization is very amateurish.
The ghost story was not impressive to me, either. Most of her accounts were not about the more physical or typical aspects of hauntings but of her feelings and the feelings and impressions of other family members and guests, her astral travelling adventures, her dreams, and these strange geometric shapes she saw when going to sleep or waking up (I think there must be a medical reason for that). To me, most of her experiences were just side effects of dreams and are experiences most people have when sleeping, and I wasn't convinced that these things were paranormal at all. I also found it strange that she thought she had control over what the spirits did--she would invite them in to protect her and she would send them away at will.
I had to force myself not to just skim through the book to get it over with; I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. And, by the end of the book, I really didn't feel I knew her family or her at all; they seemed very generic. A good contrast to this book is Grave's End--Elaine Mercado got everything right in that book. By the end of Grave's End, I really felt like I knew her and her family; the writing was excellent and professional, and the ghost story was interesting and more concrete than the one in this book. I guess Grave's End spoiled me, because I was gravely disappointed in Annie Wilder's book.
Spooky Read!October 16, 2007 Why she bought this house I will never know but I'm glad she did so she could write the book and tell us all about it. The house was old and spooky to begin with but she fell in love with it - even though it needed a lot of work. The previous owner had been an older man who lived there alone except he rented out some of the rooms. At first I was scared of him but you will soon realize he is not threatening to Annie and her family but some of the other ghosts are. I'm not even sure I believe in ghosts but at night after reading and laying down to sleep I know I had some strange and sometimes disturbing dreams.
Wilder has a nice writing style - very conversational - as though she is telling you all this over a cup of tea. I found the book delightful and was sorry for it to end. I am looking forward to reading other books by her and I hope everyone enjoys the book as much as I did.
