Old Man Smithers

by Steve Altier

Secrets are hard to hide in a small town like Lizardville.

Bob’s life is turned upside down after a tragic mistake leads to a horrible car crash. Unable to recover from the loss, Bob blames the youth in the nearby neighborhood. Every chance he gets, he expresses his frustration with them, especially with each passing holiday and the weight of being a sole survivor crushing down on him.

When strange and mysterious things start to happen, Bob turns to his lifelong friend Tom for answers in the form of a seance. Bob now must deal with his new reality and keep his family's secret hidden, but the phantom that is haunting him has other plans.

Will Bob and Tom be able to undo and revive normalcy despite what has been done? Or will it require teamwork and help from an unlikely source?

238 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2024

About the author

Steve Altier is a bestselling paranormal, mystery, and suspense writer. He is known for his multi-award-winning series, The Lizardville Ghost Stories, and Amazon Bestseller, The Ghost Hunter. Steve grew up in a small town in central Pennsylvania. His parents owned the damkeeper's house on Lizardville Road. Across the street was an old, broken-down dam and the remnants of the ax factory. Steve and his buddies spent many days exploring the abandoned factory. Unexplained things happened when Steve was a child—inspiring his love for everything spooky and many of his stories. Steve lives in Florida with his wife, four daughters, and a couple of cats. You can visit my world at www.stevealtier.com

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Reviews

[Steve Altier]

A wise man once told me not to rate my own work. I'll leave that for readers.

Bob’s life is turned upside down after a tragic mistake leads to a horrible car crash. Unable to recover from the loss, Bob blames the youth in the nearby neighborhood. He expresses his frustration with them every chance he gets, especially with each passing holiday and the weight of being a sole survivor crashing down on him.

When strange and mysterious things start to happen, Bob turns to his lifelong friend Tom for answers in the form of a seance. Bob must now deal with his new reality and keep his family's secret hidden, but the phantom haunting him has other plans.

Will Bob and Tom be able to undo and revive normalcy despite what has been done? Or will it require teamwork and help from an unlikely source?

[Book Babe of Tampa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book left me speechless. I was captivated by how the author skillfully intertwined this story with his other two works, The Camping Trip and Jimmy's Curse. The author went back 15 years before the other stories and brought them current. It was truly brilliant! Now I understand why Old Man Smithers disliked the kids—they cost him everything.

[Leta Hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part, I enjoyed this story. I've read another Lizardville story by the author, so it was interesting to see how this story fit into the other timeline.
At first the pace was good, with spooky things beginning to happen and then becoming a bit more intense.
However, the pacing seemed to lose steam for me as the timeline stretched on, and I thought the climax was a long time coming.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many twists and turns in this story and unexplained phenomenon that it keeps you hooked until the end. The characters are interesting and have some attributes that make it interesting to see how they react to the things that happen in the story. Hard to put down. There might even be a few unexplained paranormal things going on in the background. Good read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Toni Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love what the author did here. He took us back 15 years before the kids were in Lizardville and mingled the two stories together. What a fun, exciting ride.