Don't Look Back, Agnes / In This House

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Two short works by Kathryn Meyer Griffith.

1) Don't Look Back Agnes--Agnes Michaels is coming home. Home to her childhood town of Fairfield and the house her father lovingly built for her mother. A house surrounded by the woods where Agnes' two childhood friends and her boyfriend, Tyler, were all murdered twenty summers ago when she was just seventeen. She was the only one who escaped, but not without emotional and physical scars. Agnes knows that the woods and the evil entity that lives in it have been waiting for her all these years but she has no choice but to return to Fairfield and her mother's house when her mother falls very ill and needs her care. Agnes can no longer avoid her destiny. Because the killings have begun again and she's the only one who can stop them. And with the help of a new friend and Tyler's ghost, she'll defeat the evil and save another child's life.

2) In This Bernard and Althea have lived their whole lives in the neighborhood, in the same house and have grown old there. But Deer Run's lead smelter plant has been buying out the houses around them because of lead contamination fears and now the lots are empty weeds and only their house remains. Their neighbors are gone. They're alone. Althea's been sick and Bernard cares for her even as he remembers how lovely she once was, all the friends they once had and all the good times they enjoyed when they were young. He loves her and he'll never leave her. They'll never leave their home. But they can't stop time and they're only waiting for their lonely daughter, Jenny, to make one last visit so they can say goodbye to her and introduce her to the man they know she's meant to be with...then they can leave this earth happy.

Genres: Paranormal, Horror, Romance

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

About Kathryn Meyer Griffith 2023
Since childhood I’ve been an artist, and have worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over fifty-one years ago now, and have had thirty-five (romantic horror, horror novels, romantic SF horror, romantic suspense, romantic time travel, historical romance, thrillers, one non-fiction short story collection, dinosaur books, and murder mysteries) previous novels and thirteen short stories published from various traditional publishers since 1984. But I’ve gone into self-publishing in a big way since 2012; and upon getting all my previous books’ full rights back for the first time in 36 years, have self-published all of them. My seven Dinosaur Lake novels and Spookie Town Murder Mysteries (Scraps of Paper, All Things Slip Away, Ghosts Beneath Us, Witches Among Us, What Lies Beneath the Graves, All Those Who Came Before, When the Fireflies Returned, and Echoes of Other Times) are my best-sellers.
I was married to Russell for over forty-three years; have a son, two grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. I live in a small quaint town in Illinois. I have a quirky cat, Sasha, and we live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk/classic rock singer in my youth with my late brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.
2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *Finalist* for her horror novel The Last Vampire ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS * Finalist * for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

*All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/ld4jlow
*All her Audible.com audio books here:
http://tinyurl.com/oz7c4or

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:
Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forged, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire (2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Horror category), Witches, Witches II: Apocalypse, Witches plus Witches II: Apocalypse, The Nameless One erotic horror short story, The Calling, Scraps of Paper (The First Spookie Town Murder Mystery), All Things Slip Away (The Second Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Ghosts Beneath Us (The Third Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Witches Among Us (The Fourth Spookie Town Murder Mystery), What Lies Beneath the Graves (The Fifth Spookie Town Murder Mystery; sixth, All Who Came Before, When the Fireflies Returned (the seventh Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Echoes of Other Times (the eighth Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Egyptian Heart, Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, A Time of Demons and Angels, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Six Spooky Short Stories Collection, Forever and Always Romantic Novella, Night Carnival Short Story, Dinosaur Lake (2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Thriller/Adventure category), Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising, Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation and Dinosaur Lake IV: Dinosaur Wars, Dinosaur Lake V: Survivors, Dinosaur Lake VI: The Alien Connection, Dinosaur Lake VII: The Aliens Return, Memories of My Childhood, and Christmas Magic 1959.

Her Websites:
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Reviews

[Kirsty Cochrane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Don't Look Back Agnes as a short read. The story was well developed in a short timeframe and is interesting enough to be finished in one sitting. I liked the characters and how they were developed. I really enjoyed how they worked together to create the story presented. I would have liked to see more from this book though, and was left wishing that it was a bit longer.

I couldn't really get into the story In This House which was very short. If it had been longer I probably wouldn't have finished it.

[Romancing the Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed By~Marissa
Review Copy Provided By~Author

Don’t Look Back, Agnes is a very eerie book. That’s not bad eerie but good eerie. The kind of eerie that makes chills run up your spine and your mind scrambling for possibilities. It begins easily enough, with Agnes arriving at her family home to tend to her mother (who had fallen and was unable to get up on her own) and the house; although we quickly find that Agnes has a troubled past. Something in the woods behind the house haunts her. And it is this enigma that keeps the story going.

This book is part mystery, part thriller, part haunting. And I say haunting because Agnes is haunted by her past, by something that happened to her as a teenager that she has never been able to leave behind. There are a lot of twists and turns in this short story that kept me glued to the pages.

A lot of times I would rather see a short story stretched into a longer book; to give more of a background and more detail, but this story was actually good in the short version. I felt as if I knew Agnes well enough and I was kept guessing at the various relationships with the townspeople she came across. The nurse who seemed so familiar and Herb, a friend of her mother’s, who she could swear she knew from somewhere.

There is a hint of romance in her meeting the Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Peterson although it is more perceived than fact, something I found pleasant in this story. This book belongs to Agnes alone and there was no need for a hot-and-heavy romance to boost the story. As I read, I knew the romance would happen eventually (as so often happens in real life) and I was in no rush for them to hop into bed together.

In This House was a second short story included in the book and was the complete opposite of Don’t Look Back, Agnes. Here we have the charming, touching story of an elderly couple at the end of their life together. They have been happily in love for 50 years and they reminisce about the “good old days” as they think back on their life. There is a strange twist here that, yes, I saw it coming, but it had me in tears nonetheless.

Both Don’t Look Back, Agnes and In This House were a wonderful interruption to my usual erotic and romantic fare and I will definitely be picking up more of Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books.

[Mareena · Rating 5 out of 5]

In these two short stories by Kathryn Meyer Griffith, the pull of the past and a person's memories can prove to be incredibly strong. In Don't Look Back, Agnes, Agnes Michaels, recently widowed and returning to care for her critically ill mother, comes back to her hometown twenty years after the gruesome murder and kidnapping of herself and three of her teenage friends. Agnes, as the sole survivor of this horrific event, has attempted to forget the summer when she lost her two best friends - Sophie Cunningham and Lawrence Nilson - and her first love, Tyler Summers and she barely escaped with her life.

Agnes has returned to her childhood home that her father built for her mother, a house that is surrounded by the woods where she and her three friends were held and terrorized for so many weeks that summer so long ago. She has returned, and the monster that still haunts Agnes' dreams has begun killing again - this time kidnapping Sophie's mother's 16-year-old granddaughter, Lottie. Agnes must finally overcome her fear and defeat the evil that has haunted her for twenty years - Lottie is depending on her.

In the second short story, In This House, Bernard and Althea have been married for fifty years, living and loving each other in the same house while the world has progressed around them. With the introduction of Deer Run, a lead smelting plant that has moved into their neighborhood, Bernard and Althea are now alone. Their neighbors have all moved away, the surrounding houses have been demolished, and their friends have all long since passed away. Althea's health is failing and Bernard has become her caretaker, even as he remembers Althea's beauty, his everlasting love for her, and all the good times they had when they were young. They will never leave their home, not until their lonely daughter, Jenny comes to visit them. Then Bernard and Althea can finally say goodbye and introduce Jenny to the man they know she's meant to be with.

I really did enjoy both these stories! Don't Look Back, Agnes had me crying about halfway through, because of some of the heart-felt, touching scenes. I give Don't Look Back, Agnes an A+! and In This House an A! I think that both grades average out to an A+!

[Tony-Paul Vissage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two novellas in one book.

Don't Look Back, Agnes is a short story but a chilling one, concentrating mostly on the psychological as it delves into Agnes’ memories of her kidnapping, the regret of the loss of her friends’ lives, and the guilt that she escaped to continue to live and mourn them. Her confusion over the sudden appearances of the mysterious Herb, and his plausible but unsatisfactory explanations, as well as the things she tries to convince herself she doesn’t see, all add to the chills.

I personally felt a little more should’ve been done with Officer Ben’s interest in Agnes but he was a good, stalwart rock for her to fall back on, and since this was her story, and she had to face her demons alone, perhaps that was best.

A chilling little story, short of gruesomeness, long on tension.


In This House:

Bernard and Althea are growing older, spending most of their time reading the papers, going to Senrior Citizens’ Bingo night, or to the funerals of their friends. But they love each other, and are happy together, and that’s what’s important. While the land around them is being renovated and leveled through Progress, they think of happier times, and what has been, not what will be…

My Opinion: A sweet love story, a nostalgic, bittersweet ghost story, In this House has a bit of a Twilight Zone-ish quality about it. Readers may guess the end of the story but that won’t stop them from enjoying both the way it’s written as well as the touching ending.

[Arlena · Rating 4 out of 5]

In This House...
Author: Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Published By: The Wild Rose Press
Age Recommend: 14+
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Reviewed For: GMTA
Review:
"In This House" by Kathryn Meyer Griffith was a very sweet short story of a love. The novel was of ...Bernard and Althea, from the Knotty Pine area, their neighbors .... friends now gone... going to funerals, Senior Citizens' Bingo night, reading newspapers, and their only daughter Jenny Kelly and then in the end ...Michael. All of this short story come about as Bernard thinks about the life he and his wife had in this House. They had LOVE! They had been married for 50 years and truly loved each other. Bernard and Althea were the only ones still left in this area. All of their neighbors had moved away or died. Jenny Kelly their daughter was a nurse but lived eight hundred miles away and was divorced. Then the story takes a turn to let you truly see what has happened to Berrnard and Althea.... Both being feeble and not well. Will Jenny like this new person Michael who has now come into her life since she has come home for the final arrangements? Happy times come and after a while it can slip away.... but true love never dies once you find it. Indeed, Bernard and Althea knew this kind of love.
I did enjoy this short story romance and I would recommend "In This House" for being a easy and good read. ©2010, arlenadean, all rights reserved.

Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.probo...

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this book, I confess I skipped reading the blurb. It is a delightful ghost story that gets spooky but never frightful.

Agnes has come home and this is more about her exploring a place she left and reconnecting. The tragedy in her youth kept her away from her hometown and mother.

In order to settle in again she has to go back to that tragedy and help set things right. Ghosts and killers make a showing in this delightful story.

I loved the story and the interactions with her mother. It was beautiful and I really hoped it would have evolved into a series. There are more stories to tell here.

There is also the short story In This House, it is a sentimental journey. While I knew where it was heading I willing fell into the trap. I confess I was sobbing in the end. A very bitter sweet tale.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Lesley Ann Fogle, who is a perfect fit for the story. She has a warmth and texture to her voice that lends added depth to the storytelling. Her narration moves seamlessly through the stories. I was enchanted all the way through!

I am eager to read more of this author. She has a delightful voice and a way of enchanting the reader.

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, ratings and opinions are my own.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Great story and good narrator!"

Overall 4 Stars
Performance 4 Stars
Story 5 Stars

I really enjoyed the story "Don't Look Back Agnes"! It is rather macabre at times which gives the story a supernatural feel.

Agnes has been gone from the small town of Fairfield for 20 years. She left when she turned 18 to escape the the town and the memories of the place she was kidnapped from when she was 16 years old. But now her life has changed again, and she moves back home six months after her Army soldier husband is killed in action in Iraq to take care of her ailing mother who is now in a nursing home.

Not long after her arrival in Fairfield she learns that once again teenagers are mysteriously disappearing just as they did all those years ago, and it is not long before the grandmother of one of the missing teens asks for her help finding her.

Along the way Agnes meets some ghosts who also want her help to destroy the evil that has returned to the town.

This is not a long story but is well worth the listen.

Lesley Ann Fogle does a decent job narrating the story. I thought she sounded rather lethargic at times, but I got used to it and in the end really enjoyed it.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author in exchange for a fair review.

[Ryan Lawler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't Look Back, Agnes: This was a quick and easy to read short novella with some dark and ominous themes. Griffith does a great job with the slow build of tension, feeding the reader enough information to work out what's going while denying that information to the protagonist, Agnes.

The widowed Agnes slowly cultivates a relationship with the widowed Ben (Griffith sure has a thing for widowed characters), and you get some great tension here because you are always unsure whether Ben is real or not.

For all the tension created, the payoff / climax didn't nearly do enough. Things just sort of happen in a rush, partly off screen, with Agnes not allowed to contribute anything to the resolution. It just needed more oomph!

If you like dark themes and ghost stories, you will enjoy this story

3/5

In This House: This bonus short story was even quicker and easier to read. A charming ghost story and another case of the widow finding love with the widower. A solid and appropriate addition to the short novella.

4/5

[C.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two books for the price of one -- great deal.

In Don't Look Back, Agnes (doesn't that just give you the chills?). Needing to take care of her mother, Agnes must return to her hometown where twenty years a gruesome murder and kidnapping of herself and three of her teenage friends took place. Agnes who is the sole survivor wants to forget that summer. How can she when except her childhood home is surrounded by the dark woods of her nightmares. Her being back seems to trigger the killings again. Will she survive this time or join her dead friends?

The second short story, "In This House," features an elderly couple who have been married for fifty years and living in the same house. Except time moves on and they don't want to go. Their neighbors leave one by one. They wait for their daughter to return. They want to make sure she meets the man they know she's meant to be with.

Both will connect with her heart. But I'd get a flashlight and blanket while reading Agnes. Enjoy!

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't Look Back, Agnes By Kathryn Meyer Griffith.

Quick but fun read.
Agnes is a woman who ran far and fast from her home town to escape her past, but now she has to go back to take care of her ailing mother. The ghosts from her youth, emotional and real are coming to visit her when the news that the same type of kidnappings that happened to her years prior are happening again. But what to do?!
In the end Agnes saves the day, become the hero and finds the hopeful man of her dreams.

[Deedra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this short ghost story.I think it should have been stretched into a full book.We need more!lol Agnes is back in town due to her moms sudden health decline.She hasn't been back since a bunch of kids were killed when she was a teen.It's happening again.Can Agnes help? The narrator,Lesley Ann Fogle,did a good job with all the voices.
The second story,'In This House ',was also good.I was gifted this copy for an honest review.