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Chills
A blizzard is slamming into Vermont, but it doesn't matter to Meg Clarke. She knows she'll be trapped in her music store in the shopping mall overnight with a small crew of her employees doing one final inventory.
But after they're locked in for the night, they realize this isn't a normal winter storm. Ghastly faces appear in the store windows and disappear in a swirl of wind-blown snow. Dark, mysterious figures loom in and out of sight in the darkened corridors of the mall. Ghostly voices shriek inside the howling blasts of winter wind. Soon Meg and the others are besieged by something too terrifying to imagine.
Before the night is over, a terrible secret from Meg's past will come back to haunt her and the group's only chance to survive will be to go out into the raging storm that's trying to kill them...
But after they're locked in for the night, they realize this isn't a normal winter storm. Ghastly faces appear in the store windows and disappear in a swirl of wind-blown snow. Dark, mysterious figures loom in and out of sight in the darkened corridors of the mall. Ghostly voices shriek inside the howling blasts of winter wind. Soon Meg and the others are besieged by something too terrifying to imagine.
Before the night is over, a terrible secret from Meg's past will come back to haunt her and the group's only chance to survive will be to go out into the raging storm that's trying to kill them...
207 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Rick Hautala
137 books125 followersAKA A.J. Matthews
Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.
A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.
A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.
Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.
A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.
A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.
Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 15, 2015
This was the first of Hautala's works outside of his short stories that I've read.
An atmospheric, not-bad tale of someone's past coming back to haunt them. It reminded me of the trashy horror flicks I used to watch on late-nite cable in the 1980s and early 90s: one severed head, one "found" corpse of unexplained demise, one person with a history of mental problems and one busty female begging to get offed; two annoying bits of redundant phraseology: a "lungful of air into her lungs" and "just in case that was the case"; three vengeful spirits; and fours hours of enjoyable reading escapism.
Okay. That's my Joe Bob Briggs moment for today. Probably for a while.
A lovely signed edition with great cover art for my bookshelf courtesy of Cemetery Dance Publications.
An atmospheric, not-bad tale of someone's past coming back to haunt them. It reminded me of the trashy horror flicks I used to watch on late-nite cable in the 1980s and early 90s: one severed head, one "found" corpse of unexplained demise, one person with a history of mental problems and one busty female begging to get offed; two annoying bits of redundant phraseology: a "lungful of air into her lungs" and "just in case that was the case"; three vengeful spirits; and fours hours of enjoyable reading escapism.
Okay. That's my Joe Bob Briggs moment for today. Probably for a while.
A lovely signed edition with great cover art for my bookshelf courtesy of Cemetery Dance Publications.
February 5, 2015
I loved this book. A wonderful setting (I once worked for a record store, and remember staying late for inventory nights) with excellent pacing, fun characters, and good action. Hautala gets right to the action and it speeds along nicely. While I might have liked to have had a little more character development, doing that would have slowed down what is a stripped-down thrill ride. Another example of why losing Rick is such a tragedy for his family, friends, and fans.
February 24, 2014
A great spooky ghost story. Read it when it's cold & snowy outside and see if it doesn't make your skin crawl a little when you look out the window.
My signed edition from Cemetery Dance is one of the treasures in my collection.
My signed edition from Cemetery Dance is one of the treasures in my collection.
February 25, 2022
This Rick Hautala Novel will CHILL YOUR BONES!!!
The story's main protagonist, Meg, is just trying to help her aunt Bessie out with her store. With Bessie's daughter, Ashley, and Bessie's employees, Jared, Tyson, Phil, Kimberly, helping to pack up the store for investors, weird things happen as Meg sees something from her troubling past.
This story at times gave me goosebumps. The three ghosts were relentless and this book is filled with a lot of great scenes.
The writing was great and the twist and turns this book had to offer were tremendously good. I didn't really care for Jared too much, and I would have liked a little bit of a different wrap up then what we got with the ending, but overall, I really enjoyed this book.
Four Chilled Bones is what I'm rating this one!
The story's main protagonist, Meg, is just trying to help her aunt Bessie out with her store. With Bessie's daughter, Ashley, and Bessie's employees, Jared, Tyson, Phil, Kimberly, helping to pack up the store for investors, weird things happen as Meg sees something from her troubling past.
This story at times gave me goosebumps. The three ghosts were relentless and this book is filled with a lot of great scenes.
The writing was great and the twist and turns this book had to offer were tremendously good. I didn't really care for Jared too much, and I would have liked a little bit of a different wrap up then what we got with the ending, but overall, I really enjoyed this book.
Four Chilled Bones is what I'm rating this one!
March 14, 2022
Chilling and claustrophobic
In a store, in an empty mall, with a horrible snowstorm outside and things in the snow and I am in heaven. Reading about that at least. The creepiness it at a high level. Loved it.
In a store, in an empty mall, with a horrible snowstorm outside and things in the snow and I am in heaven. Reading about that at least. The creepiness it at a high level. Loved it.
June 22, 2020
Great ghost story!
February 1, 2024
I miss Rick Hautala. I really do. Rarely did the man ever disappoint with a novel. He was the author who introduced me to adult horror when I was a teenager and I've never looked back since. Chills is another successful story from him that seriously almost reads as a screenplay rather than a novel. I can literally picture the setting, the story, the characters and the situation. It begs to be filmed. The resolution might be a little wonky and disappointing but the journey makes it so worthwhile. Who doesn't love a horror story that combines a bleak winter day and people trapped by a terror at a mall. Great stuff!!!!
August 29, 2016
I so very much wanted to enjoy this book. I love atmospheric ghost stories and have enjoyed many other of Rick Hautala’s tales. It was a sad day when he passed away last year. He left us much too soon. However, as much as I wanted to like this story, I have to admit it just left me flat.
The setting is a good one; a small group of employees are working after hours in an empty shopping mall while a blizzard rages outside. The boyfriend, and two other best friends, of the main character were killed one year ago that very night when, coincidentally, another blizzard was wreaking havoc.
Apparently these “best” friends are none too pleased that the main character is still alive and have decided they want her with them. Even while accepting the premise that ghosts really do exist in this fictional world, this is still one of the many implausibilities that plagued the story for me. If they are her best friends, why do they want to kill her? She had nothing to do with the cause of their deaths. It’s not reasonable to me to believe that best friends would suddenly become so full of jealously and evil in the afterlife that they want to take the life of their friend who was not involved in their deaths. Not only that, they apparently want to take the lives of anyone else who happens to cross their paths. There are a couple of security officers in the mall that night as well, whose sole purpose for being in the story seems to be to add to the body count.
The first half of this short novel is an attempt to set the mood and build the tension. Unfortunately, for me, it did not succeed. It is one repetitious scene after another of being told one of the characters feels like they are being watched, or senses movement from the corner of their eye, or thinks they see dark shapes moving in the storm outside or in the shadows of the back room. This happens over and over again. Meanwhile something that truly seems creepy to me - the CD player inexplicably plays songs on its own, songs that seem to be more portentous of their fate as things progress - is viewed as nothing more than an annoyance by our group of characters.
By the time events finally reached their climax, I had lost interest in what the outcome would be. The main characters did not respond to events in a way that was believable to me and the antagonists’ motivations for wanting their friend dead were never explained. All that being said, please don’t let this review deter you from reading Rick Hautala’s work. This particular tale didn’t work for me, but he is an author definitely worth your time.
The setting is a good one; a small group of employees are working after hours in an empty shopping mall while a blizzard rages outside. The boyfriend, and two other best friends, of the main character were killed one year ago that very night when, coincidentally, another blizzard was wreaking havoc.
Apparently these “best” friends are none too pleased that the main character is still alive and have decided they want her with them. Even while accepting the premise that ghosts really do exist in this fictional world, this is still one of the many implausibilities that plagued the story for me. If they are her best friends, why do they want to kill her? She had nothing to do with the cause of their deaths. It’s not reasonable to me to believe that best friends would suddenly become so full of jealously and evil in the afterlife that they want to take the life of their friend who was not involved in their deaths. Not only that, they apparently want to take the lives of anyone else who happens to cross their paths. There are a couple of security officers in the mall that night as well, whose sole purpose for being in the story seems to be to add to the body count.
The first half of this short novel is an attempt to set the mood and build the tension. Unfortunately, for me, it did not succeed. It is one repetitious scene after another of being told one of the characters feels like they are being watched, or senses movement from the corner of their eye, or thinks they see dark shapes moving in the storm outside or in the shadows of the back room. This happens over and over again. Meanwhile something that truly seems creepy to me - the CD player inexplicably plays songs on its own, songs that seem to be more portentous of their fate as things progress - is viewed as nothing more than an annoyance by our group of characters.
By the time events finally reached their climax, I had lost interest in what the outcome would be. The main characters did not respond to events in a way that was believable to me and the antagonists’ motivations for wanting their friend dead were never explained. All that being said, please don’t let this review deter you from reading Rick Hautala’s work. This particular tale didn’t work for me, but he is an author definitely worth your time.
October 14, 2015
Pretty run of the mill story that was pretty good. Story of Meg who is going to help her Aunt do inventory for her closing store. There is a huge storm brewing and the day almost marks the one year anniversary since her boyfriend and two other friends died after they were supposed to pick her up.
Well things start to go weird at the store, is it related to the events of the previous year?
Well things start to go weird at the store, is it related to the events of the previous year?
January 3, 2014
Great book.very vivid. Must read. Highly recommended.
May 9, 2022
I a store, in an empty mall, with a horrible snowstorm outside and things in the snow and I am in heaven. Reading about that at least. The creepiness it at a high level. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews