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Homeplace
The isolated ancestral home of a beautiful young artist hides a terrifying secret.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 7, 2007
3 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Massie
179 books161 followersElizabeth (Beth) Massie is a 2-time Bram Stoker Award and Scribe Award-winning author of horror/suspense, historical fiction, media tie-ins, nonfiction, and short fiction for adults. She also writes novels for teens and middle grade readers. Her series, Ameri-Scares, is currently in development for television by Warner Horizon (Warner Brothers), LuckyChap, and Assemble Media. Stay tuned! She lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband, illustrator Cortney Skinner.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 3, 2008
Beth Massie is known for writing a wide variety of types of fiction — from cutting-edge horror to historical drama to young adult adventure tales. In general, Ms. Massie's horror fiction tends to be very dark and frequently centers around characters with severe warpage of the mind. It's almost a surprise to find that Homeplace is about as traditional as traditional gets — at least when you're talking about haunted houses, ghostly goings-on, long-dead witches, and small-town settings filled with small-town characters.
Very slight spoilage follows.
Her life in something of a meaningless rut, artist Charlene Myers retreats to her ancestral home, known as Homeplace, deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, to restore herself. She has vague memories of unpleasantness there as a child, but once she settles in, that old perception takes on a new and disturbing vividness — particularly when she finds that a number of the locals believe that Homeplace was once home to a rather nasty witch and that Charlene must surely be following in those old witchy footsteps. A young lawyer named Andrew Marshall, himself a relatively recent transplant to the small town, befriends her and offers her emotional support as she experiences one inexplicable event after another — at least until Charlene herself begins to behave in such bizarre fashion that even he must doubt her sanity. Finally, however, the supernatural power in the old witch house sweeps up the both of them, and neither has the means to either combat or escape it.
I've always been a little put off by characters who talk to themselves. It's usually a cheap and too-obvious means for the author to explain the character's motivation or propel one scene to another. Charlene talks to herself quite a bit, and at first, it hit that sensitive annoyance nerve I have right behind my left ear; fortunately, it doesn't take long to realize that it's part of her psychological makeup, a symptom of her emotional and physical isolation. Charlene is a somewhat damaged character, but not so far gone that you either pity her or write her off as hopeless. She has occasional moments of sullenness that make one want to smack her around a bit, but most often, she redeems herself by facing the issues confronting her with reasonable pragmatism.
Andrew is a closet novelist, and not a very good one. There are numerous excerpts of his writing, which in abstract ways reflect his thoughts on the goings-on around him. The snippets are a little overdone at times, and I think Ms. Massie included them just to convince us readers that, yes, he really is trying to write, rather than expect us to take her word for it. I might have striven to find a happy medium, but it's really a small matter. As a character, he is both believable and sympathetic (despite his being a lawyer), and his perceptions of Charlene help to define her character as much as his own.
In classic fashion, Charlene goes up against the evil that inhabits Homeplace, and the showdown is part High Noon, part It, and the stakes are high for all involved. After a relatively slow pace since page 1, the supernatural big gundown comes on fast and hard, almost jarringly so. From there, events again play out a bit slower as we move toward the end. On the whole, it all works, showing that Ms. Massie is well-versed in plot-pacing and generating atmosphere. Given the events of the story as a whole, the resolution gives us exactly what we might expect. No silly contrivances, no boogies suddenly jumping out of shadows to clue us in that it's not really over. In that regard, it's a successful means of wrapping up the drama.
I enjoyed Homeplace a lot, in large part because the setting Ms. Massie builds is so close to places I've known and cared about in Virginia. (She and I have trodden a lot of the same ground over many years.) The characters are people we might meet on the street, some of whom we'd like and some we wouldn't. In the time it took to read the novel, I enjoyed myself quite a bit. Definitely time well spent.
Very slight spoilage follows.
Her life in something of a meaningless rut, artist Charlene Myers retreats to her ancestral home, known as Homeplace, deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, to restore herself. She has vague memories of unpleasantness there as a child, but once she settles in, that old perception takes on a new and disturbing vividness — particularly when she finds that a number of the locals believe that Homeplace was once home to a rather nasty witch and that Charlene must surely be following in those old witchy footsteps. A young lawyer named Andrew Marshall, himself a relatively recent transplant to the small town, befriends her and offers her emotional support as she experiences one inexplicable event after another — at least until Charlene herself begins to behave in such bizarre fashion that even he must doubt her sanity. Finally, however, the supernatural power in the old witch house sweeps up the both of them, and neither has the means to either combat or escape it.
I've always been a little put off by characters who talk to themselves. It's usually a cheap and too-obvious means for the author to explain the character's motivation or propel one scene to another. Charlene talks to herself quite a bit, and at first, it hit that sensitive annoyance nerve I have right behind my left ear; fortunately, it doesn't take long to realize that it's part of her psychological makeup, a symptom of her emotional and physical isolation. Charlene is a somewhat damaged character, but not so far gone that you either pity her or write her off as hopeless. She has occasional moments of sullenness that make one want to smack her around a bit, but most often, she redeems herself by facing the issues confronting her with reasonable pragmatism.
Andrew is a closet novelist, and not a very good one. There are numerous excerpts of his writing, which in abstract ways reflect his thoughts on the goings-on around him. The snippets are a little overdone at times, and I think Ms. Massie included them just to convince us readers that, yes, he really is trying to write, rather than expect us to take her word for it. I might have striven to find a happy medium, but it's really a small matter. As a character, he is both believable and sympathetic (despite his being a lawyer), and his perceptions of Charlene help to define her character as much as his own.
In classic fashion, Charlene goes up against the evil that inhabits Homeplace, and the showdown is part High Noon, part It, and the stakes are high for all involved. After a relatively slow pace since page 1, the supernatural big gundown comes on fast and hard, almost jarringly so. From there, events again play out a bit slower as we move toward the end. On the whole, it all works, showing that Ms. Massie is well-versed in plot-pacing and generating atmosphere. Given the events of the story as a whole, the resolution gives us exactly what we might expect. No silly contrivances, no boogies suddenly jumping out of shadows to clue us in that it's not really over. In that regard, it's a successful means of wrapping up the drama.
I enjoyed Homeplace a lot, in large part because the setting Ms. Massie builds is so close to places I've known and cared about in Virginia. (She and I have trodden a lot of the same ground over many years.) The characters are people we might meet on the street, some of whom we'd like and some we wouldn't. In the time it took to read the novel, I enjoyed myself quite a bit. Definitely time well spent.
June 28, 2011
Although Homeplace was well written, the story wasn't nearly as original as I would expect from Elizabeth Massie. Her first novel, Sineater, is the best debut horror novel from any author in the genre. So, granted, she had a lot to live up to with her latest book. However, things really didn't happen until around page 200, and then when it did, I just didn't care anymore. The first death (this doesn't give anything away) happened in broad daylight and it seemed almost comical in its description. It's hard to build a creepy atmosphere at high noon.
I felt that characters overreacted many times and that their common sense was thrown to the wind. The character of Andrew writing a book within the book seemed arbitrary and I wasn't sure why it was included. The TV movie-of-the-week ending was also a disappointment. Rick Hautala and especially T.M. Wright do ghost tales a lot better, but I'll continue to read Massie's work because of the brilliant Sineater.
I felt that characters overreacted many times and that their common sense was thrown to the wind. The character of Andrew writing a book within the book seemed arbitrary and I wasn't sure why it was included. The TV movie-of-the-week ending was also a disappointment. Rick Hautala and especially T.M. Wright do ghost tales a lot better, but I'll continue to read Massie's work because of the brilliant Sineater.
August 18, 2020
Homeplace is an enjoyable Southern Gothic haunted house romance horror story. It's a bit graphic in spots, but not as violent as some of Massie's other work. It was published as by "Beth" Massie, rather than the "Elizabeth" that was on all of her other books, which I found curious. The protagonist is an author who's trying to reboot her career so she moves to a 17th century residence where a witch used to live... The setting is described very convincingly, and overall it's a nice, chilling story.
February 7, 2008
This book can't even offer you hearty entertainment value. The desperation created by an airport layover, I have learned, is not greater than one's own dignity.
March 9, 2019
This novel has one of the best prologues; with perfectly eerie description and tantalizing mysteries that left me eager for the rest of the book. However, the writing quality gradually went downhill; I didn't really like the characters, and the protagonists' romance rubbed me the wrong way . The ending was rushed, story lines started but not finished or explored adequately, and a lot of the dialogue is kind of cringy.
I feel I should warn potential readers about since these are some common deal-breakers.
All in all, I wished this book were better. It started off with a ton of potential and I wanted to like it much more than I did. :-/
I feel I should warn potential readers about since these are some common deal-breakers.
All in all, I wished this book were better. It started off with a ton of potential and I wanted to like it much more than I did. :-/
Read
August 5, 2016Charlene Meyers thinks she has been given a gift when she inherits the house and land of "Homeplace," but things quickly take a dark turn. She begins to remember odd and frightening events from her childhood visit to the house and experiences things that eventually drive her out of the house for short periods, "hauntings" she calls them. One of the only redeeming qualities of the house is its proximity to Andrew Marshall, and attractive writer whom Charlene becomes very taken with. But, will whatever is going on in her house, these hauntings, eventually affect him too?
Massie writes a thrilling tale of suspense and horror mixed with a sprinkling of romance in a small-town Southern backdrop. Massie sets up a mystery closely interwoven with horror that will keep you guessing until the end.
Massie writes a thrilling tale of suspense and horror mixed with a sprinkling of romance in a small-town Southern backdrop. Massie sets up a mystery closely interwoven with horror that will keep you guessing until the end.
July 7, 2008
Scary, yet approachable. I thought the characters were well fleshed out and believeable even if the situation given was unlikely. That's what good horror is about though, and this was a good scary story.
February 3, 2012
every now and then, i like to read a simple haunted house horror novel and this one fit the bill. somewhat predictable until a sudden twist at the end. i did find myself skimming through some of the slower parts of the book.
June 16, 2017
A little bit of awkward romance, but it didn't take up a huge portion of the story. The ending was unique, I was expecting something different like "it was all just an elaborate trick" but there's more to it than that. Not a bad book, but not super scary either.
April 28, 2008
Good beach book! I read the book the first day and a half on my vacation. Good storyline, great pace...I really enjoyed it!
September 30, 2011
Plenty of twists and turns a great story for anyone who likes a good book.
April 1, 2012
A solid horror novel in the Southern gothic tradition. Good plot, but I would have liked it more if not for the characters' habit of talking aloud to themselves. (All of them. Very annoying.)
April 7, 2012
Interesting book. Loved the locales as it's all set in Virginia.
January 29, 2015
I read this on my tablet. It was a pretty good read. :-)
December 30, 2013
The ending was disappointing and seemed rushed.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews