Doug and Laura thought they bought Galaxy Farm, but the old house is possessing them instead.
Doug and Laura Locke are New Yorkers who need a fresh start, so they move to Galaxy Farm, an old thoroughbred stable in Tennessee. There Doug finds inspiration to write his epic novel and Laura renews her love of teaching. They also rediscover the love that first drew them together. But the home has many secrets. There’s a graveyard hidden at the property’s edge, and tragic deaths stalked the previous owners. Doug has become entranced by the abandoned taxidermy he discovers in the attic. And Laura falls under the spell of the ghosts of twin girls she meets in the old nursery. Only a local antiques dealer senses the danger. She has gruesome premonitions of horrible events to come. She knows she must convince Laura of the threat before the dark force in the house can execute its plan. But time is short, and something seems to be very wrong with Doug…
Russell R. James was raised on Long Island, New York and spent too much time watching Chiller, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and Dark Shadows, despite his parents’ warnings. Bookshelves full of Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe didn’t make things better. He graduated from Cornell University and the University of Central Florida.
After a tour flying helicopters with the U.S. Army, he now spins twisted tales best read in daylight.
His wife reads what he writes, rolls her eyes, and says “There is something seriously wrong with you.”
He has published the novels DARK INSPIRATION, SACRIFICE, BLACK MAGIC and DARK VENGEANCE, the compilations OUT OF TIME and TALES FROM BEYOND, as well as numerous short stories. He founded the Minnows Literary Group.
He and his wife share their home in sunny Florida with two cats.
Drop by the website to kill some time with some short stories.
DARK INSPIRATION, by Russell James is a haunted house story that managed to feel unique to me. The characters--including the ones referenced in from the past--were written so that you wanted to know MORE about them. The atmosphere steadily increased in the "creepiness" factor, and the actions taken all proved to further the plot.
I loved the writing style, and subject matter of this novel. There is a sequel to it--although this is a standalone novel, in my opinion. However, I would LOVE to read a prequel about the occupants of the house prior to when this story takes place.
The thing with the haunted house story is that it has been done to death. It's such an incredibly ubiquous thing, such a horror cliche, that it absolutely has to be strikingly original to stand out. This book doesn't quite hit the mark. It starts off unoriginally enough as yet another young couple tries for a fresh start away from the large and dangerous metropolis to what surely must be a calm, quiet and safe countryside. Once they start to live in the house, there are some original and interesting developments. Nothing mindblowing, but entertaining enough. Fun way to pass the evening with this well paced story. The writing is quite capable for a first novel, would be interested in checking out more of the author's work. Looks like a new publishing house, pretty nice edition, though I'm not sure that the cover artist has read the book. Always nice to have more publishing houses for horror fiction. Good way to discover new authors like this one. 3 stars.
What a nice, suspenseful read. It has it all: creepy house, ghosts of creepy girls, creepy displays of taxidermy, creepy human neighbors and creeptastic creepiness all around. It reminded me a little of The Shining (writer loses his marbles - did I mention ghosts of creepy girls?) although it features two strong women (three, if you count the dearly departed). When Doug and Laura, two New Yorkers fed up with the city, buy a farm in Tennessee, they think they will be walking off into the sunset together. They soon realize that the house is haunted and...well, things don't turn out as expected. As an animal lover, like the character of Laura, the thought of my husband murdering innocent animals while possessed by ghosts really made my skin crawl (want to chase me around with a croquet mallet? Go ahead: just leave the bunnies alone!). There is also a medium with a bad ex-husband, a neighbor who thinks he is entitled to the farm, and other secondary characters, all well fleshed out – if a little stereotypical. I highly recommend this book.
Almost as soon as I started this novel, I felt I'd come home. I cut my reading teeth on Haunted Houses and Supernatural Horror, but I haven't read enough of those lately. What a treasure to stumble upon DARK INSPIRATION and its sequel DARK VENGEANCE!
Outside a tiny insular Tennessee town sits an eighty-five year-old Victorian and horse barn on its fifteen acres: a lovely residence on a scenic wooden site. Isolated and peaceful--well, not. Horrible evil piled upon tragedy and occult arts have darkened the very atmosphere, and an implacable spirit refuses to rest until its desires are achieved.
Russell James keeps the fear factor burner well-lit and burning brightly. Keep this one for the daylight hours, gentle readers.
"This is a good story. It’s enjoyable. A two hundred and fifty-page book that has me reading it in a day has certainly kept my interest for me to not want to put it down. For me though, it could have been stronger. The horror could have been a lot scarier. There are certainly scenes within the book that have high levels of tension and the build-up in these scenes is excellent. I would have just liked more on the final scares."
A really quick and fine horror novel. I really loved many details in this novel and the new hobby Doug develops when "writing" in the turret room. I shall definitely devour the follow up to this creepy little book. Great read and clear recommendation!
This book was mesmerizing from the first page to the last. Russell brought his characters to life with great details. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a great ghost story. I could not wait to finish reading it.
It was hard to put this one down! I am not usually into paranormal books or movies but I was hooked on this one from the beginning. Reading Dark Vengeance next!
This was a great read.A couple moves into a house that has some history and it isn't good.Is it EVER? Pieter Visser was a good narrator.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”
First time reading Russell James and have to say really impressed. Excellent story line, characters were so believable and writing was flawless. Will be reading Russell James again.
This is as much about the prejudices of a small town as it is about the Ghost Story. Yes, the bulk of the story is about Galaxy Farm but it was the little bits tossed in there about the locals reactions to out-of-towners moving in to the Old Hutchinson place that really stuck with me. In particular when Laura starts working as a long term substitute teacher at the Local Elementary School, the staff reaction to her is downright chilling. Yes, this is a tiny bit of the story and related in an almost throw away style but I found it probably more disturbing than the actual ghost story.
I was relieved this wasn't about the house itself being evil - I will admit to having a few reservations that this was going to be a "take" on Shirley Jackson's Hill House. There are similarities but only because you have to explain where the hauntings come from, at least there is no flashback device used here - we find out the history of the house along with Doug when he sets out to investigate the history of the house after Laura starts having very specific dreams about twin girls and even hears something like child's laughter.
The tension builds slowly up to the climax and I found it sucked me right in and I kept having that "just one more chapter" feeling. The author does a great job of almost normalising Doug's breakdown after he finds the hidden attic and starts to unlock it's secrets - of course an attic cannot be hidden, there is always going to be that roof space but someone did a good job of trying to hide the access to it. Some bits did remind me of The Shining, especially Laura's reveal at the end of the book about what she found when she investigated Doug's Great American Novel.
This was so much better than I expected it to be, I think it took me a little bit by surprise. The tale is narrated by both Laura and Doug and you get a great sense of each protagonist on the page and there is a matter-of-factness to the events at Galaxy Farm. The ghost story itself is wound quite deftly in to their tale and although there are scenes that shock, they are not shocking (if that makes sense) and I was never left feeling that something was there just for effect (sadly something that proliferates in the genre).
Well plotted and full of suspense. This book really gave me hope that the horror genre still has a lot to give.
This was my first book by Russell James and definitely it will not be my last! I love his way of writing. I was grabbed from the first page in! If you like Stephen King, you WILL LOVE Russell James! Going on line and purchasing another one of his books! Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
With this book, Russell James has delivered a solid ghost story. Here, you'll find all of the classic components of books in this genre: a big, old house that manages to be both beautiful and creepy and has been the sight of a fair amount of death; possession; premonitions; dark magic; ghosts; malevolent neighbors; and a marriage between the characters that has seen better days. The fracture in the relationship between Doug and Laura is neither surprising nor unnecessary, as it proves to be the element that can be exploited enough to allow certain things to gain a foothold in order to get the ghostly ball rolling, so to speak.
In terms of the characters, Laura almost seems too good to be true. She's a selfless super-teacher who opens the book with an act of heroism, a long-suffering wife who won't give up on her marriage or her husband, and a grieving mother who is extraordinarily open to and welcoming of a pair of ghost children. The only flaw that the author gives her, which isn't much of a flaw at all, is that she's plays games with Doug when it comes to their fights - she openly recognizes that she baits him sometimes and expects him to offer up apologies within a certain timeframe, all while not communicating all that much with him and being prone to walking away. That bit grows to be a little repetitive, but given Doug's behavior, it's not necessarily something for which she can be faulted.
As for Doug, well, he's not my favorite character ever created. Aside from a few warm and fuzzy thoughts for his wife near the beginning of the story, he's remarkably self-centered, self-indulgent, and weak-willed. The things he does are not unpredictable by any stretch of the imagination, but the author cleverly writes Doug in such a way that everything that happens to him seems to be a natural consequence of the kind of person he is. More specifically, in some ways, his behavior as the story progresses doesn't entirely come out of nowhere, but is largely (though not entirely) simply an extension of who he is and what he does prior to he and Laura moving into the house.
The ghosts, the possession-related elements, and all other paranormal goings-on aren't what I would call scary; there are moments that are faintly chilling, but for me, this isn't the kind of story that, say, makes you jump at every creak you hear in your house late at night while you're reading it. What the story lacks in scares it makes up for in intrigue, though, which says a lot because the pace is very deliberate and the story isn't exactly full of unpredictable components, so if Russell James had chosen to skimp on the interesting-factor when it came to the events in the story, the book could all too easily have veered into boring territory. That is not the case here, though, because as you read this, you'll likely find yourself more than interested enough to want to find out how everything gets resolved.
I do have to inject one brief warning here, and if you've read the summary of the book - particularly the part about how Doug becomes fascinated with taxidermy - this won't really fall under the heading of a "spoiler" but just in case, I'll give this a small amount of space before I continue....
...When I read the mention of taxidermy, I had hoped that it would be more of an interest in what Doug finds rather than that interest turning into a desire for him to undertake that particular activity himself. That's not what happens in this book, so if you have an aversion to reading about cute, fluffy little animals being captured and then, well, all of the activities that inevitably follow when this particular subject matter is explored, be forewarned that you'll encounter a fair amount of that kind of material in this book.
So, to sum up, I think that Russell James has done a commendable job. It's not a thrill-a-minute scare-fest, but it is a solid story that steadily builds toward a satisfying conclusion, so I would recommend it.
Russell James' debut novel for Samhain Horror, Dark Inspiration, is an entertaining read for those who enjoy classic, cursed-home stories. Offering solid characterization, tight prose and consistent pacing, it's a fine read invoking the classic themes of possession and obsession overtaking the unwitting in their pursuit of personal gain.
Doug and Laura Locke's life has stalled. Though Laura's happy teaching in an inner city school and Doug's carved out a lucrative career writing for the tabloids, neither of them are satisfied with their lives. Laura feels disconnected from Doug, and though Doug has gained a measure of notoriety, dreams of writing that "Great American Novel" have all but faded from the horizon.
After a school shooting that lands Laura in the hospital, they realize the need for change. With a new sense of togetherness and resolve, they purchase and move to an old horse farm in Tennessee. Laura lands a long-term substitute position in the local school district almost as soon as they move, and the beautiful farmhouse they've purchased - for a "steal" - works like a tonic on Doug's long atrophied muse. It's not long before Laura feels right at home in her new classroom, and Doug's pounding away at the keys, writing as he never has before.
But all is not well at the Galaxy Farm. For this house holds secrets. Its previous owners died tragic deaths, and no one in town wants to talk about them. Before long, Doug discovers the attic...and all the wondrous "things" it contains. Laura becomes enthralled with two ghostly visitors - little girls who died in the pound outside the house - and neither Doug nor Laura are aware of the insidious, creeping force working into them, from the house itself. Even with the help of a local, recently-divorced psychic warned by bloody premonitions of danger, it might be too late for Doug and Laura to escape the malevolent entity that owns Galaxy Farm.
Dark Inspiration is another solid offering from Samhain Horror. There's nothing astoundingly new in the story of an evil entity haunting a house, tempting and corrupting a writer as he labors on his first novel ,but it's still competently done here, and quite frankly, it's not trying to be anything else other than what it is. There's a nice, unique angle involving the Egyptian occult, and the story does delve a little deeper than the standard: "ghost who died bad death haunting old house." Though the story's resolution feels a little rushed, Dark Inspiration is another solid contender in the Samhain Horror line-up.
I love a good creepy story and Dark Inspiration is full of a lot of different, spooky, elements. Laura and Doug buy and move into an old house that happens to have some otherworldly inhabitants already living inside. Laura is sweet, even though she tends to bait her husband during arguments. She acts first and thinks later, which gets her into trouble. As for Doug, I did not care of his character at all. He was self-centered, egotistical, and full of himself. I found it easy to understand why he went down such a dark path, since he was already so awful to begin with. But, what he eventually does left me with such a creepy feeling! Ugh! Even so, I found Doug to be the most interesting character within the entire story.
The book has a good pace and plenty of detail. There is a little bit of everything within the pages – spirits, psychics, possession, and a little bit of history throughout. I did find that the ending was a little rushed and wish more explanation was given as to why things ended the way they did. However, it is a good story and anyone that enjoys horror or ghost stories will enjoy it, too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The plot kept me interested and I wanted to know more about the characters. I cheered for the protagonists and wanted to know more about the history of the house. It has graphic detail so if a little blood bothers you then this is not your story. The extreme detail of the taxidermy bothered me a little but it was, fortunately, a small part of the story. Overall, a very nice ghost story.
This was a good haunted house/ghost story. I thought it moved quickly, and I liked the different take on a ghost story from some others that I have read. I really liked the characters (especially Laura and Teresa. This was the second book I read by Russell James, the other being Sacrifice, and I really enjoy his writing style.
Doug and Laura move into an old farmhouse in a small town. Over time, things get darker and darker as Doug and Laura both find themselves entertaining visitors who once lived there but now are trapped spirits. It's a story line we have all heard a dozen times, but I still recommend it. The book is scary and well written. The characters are rich, and the narrator does a good job.
I can't put it down! I've not read a horror book in a long time - pretty much not since my horror phase back in grades 10 and 11 when Poe, Lovecraft, and (Shirley) Jackson were my favorites. Russell James may just get me back to reading horror again...at least his books!
Russell James' page-turner of a debut takes the reader on a thrilling, mysterious ghost train ride through the dark secrets and nefarious deeds of its well-drawn characters. James has a lovely coloquial style that draws you into his story before delivering the chills.
I enjoyed this book. I kept reading until I finished it. The characters were well thought out,I felt as if I knew them. If you've read Dean Knootz's earlier books under his pseudonym it has that kind of feel.
I love a good ghost story and it's always a delicate balance to keep the story from becoming campy and hard to believe. Russell James does a wonderful job keeping that balance and adding a unique twist to your standard ghost tale. Every family has secrets but not every family's secrets are so dark.
Loved this book. Another great one by Russell James. James has a way with developing characters that really make you root for the good guys. And great pacing and timing of the story line makes it hard to put one of his books down.
I thought this book was very well written. All I can say is if you like John Saul, you will LOVE Russell James! I am looking forward to reading his upcoming book, "Sacrifice".
This author has a knack for writing characters whom the reader can deeply resonate with. However, this book lacked tension and I felt like it could have been much shorter. The multiple typos throughout really took me out of the story.
Al final la historia termina muy sencilla y se resuelve muy rapido. Aun asi mantiene el suspenso durante la mayor parte de la historia. No esperen asustarse, tal vez solo fascinarse de ciertos aspectos sobre el más allá
This book will keep you reading just to know the end. There are some grammatical errors but they are not so frequent ad to get in the way of enjoying the story.