If These Bones Could Talk

by Michael Tyree

In a house of the restless dead, a lone phantom, Calvin, walks the halls and sometimes vacant rooms of 6023 Walnut Street. He looks for something he cannot describe, and attempts to scratch an itch that never leaves him alone. His memories leave him every year, and he knows it is only a matter of time before he loses it all, like those older, now insane ghosts.

Meanwhile, the newest living tenant in the house on Walnut Street is a mystery with a homicidal pastime. Shortly after he moves in, his presence attracts the attention of a dormant malevolence stirring in the walls and floorboards. The two form an infernal pact, which if left unchecked, could spell chaos and suffering for not only the living but also, the dead.

Can Calvin make a stand against their vile partnership while fighting for his own sanity?

Unknown Binding

About the author

Michael Tyree is an author of horror, dark fantasy, and crime. He is heavily influenced by Zdzisław Beksiński, Clive Barker, Thomas Ligotti, and other surreal artists. He has published two collections of novellas and short fiction, POTTER’S FIELD BLUES and THE PALE HORSE with his third book and debut novel, IF THESE BONES COULD TALK due out in Summer 2024.
He lives in Amherst, Virginia with his wife, Morgan, their son, Keilan, five cats, two dogs, and one unmotivated poltergeist. When not writing or spending time with his family, Michael enjoys rescuing stray cats, collecting overpriced toys from his childhood, plotting ways to destroy his homeowner’s association, and communing with the dark forces who gather behind Denny’s.

Reviews

[Emily Lorié · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Oh, but if these bones could talk. They would tell stories of lust and seduction, murder and mystery.”

If you’re looking for a unique, brilliantly written summer read that’ll leave you floating on cloud nine long after you close its deliciously dark pages, grab a copy of If These Bones Could Talk by Michael Tyree.

Mike is a favorite for countless reasons and this is his best story to date. He messed with my emotions while inspiring me to no end. I had zero idea what I would find around every corner. His characters are full of depth and relatability. The setting is absolute perfection. The story flows, even with the sinister surprises that pop out along the way.

These Bones are leading the pack in the race to my 2024 favorite reads.

Read it. Love it. Share it.

[Books For Decaying Millennials · Rating 5 out of 5]

Notes from a Decaying Millennial

I received my ARC of this book from the author, with the understanding that I would provide a
Fair and honest review.

This is not a paid review

I was not ready for this book.

Just as the Tudor House in this story is far more than just an old house, just so If These Bones Could Talk is much more than a simple ghost story. Author Michael Tyree makes this clear to the reader in the Forward of this book, but even then, I wasn’t ready for this book.

Ghosts, spirits, the departed, the unquiet dead. In the realm of Gothic Fiction, these are at times, characters of note, maybe even the main character. However, More often Ghosts and the locations they inhabit are seen through the eyes of the living. Glimpsed briefly, felt maybe heard by some. The author takes the lens with which we in the realm of the living view the world and flips it, for in this book is it spectral resident Calvin, and his fellow residents who are the focus.
The realm that Calvin and the other spirits exist in is is not simply a dim and faded facsimile of the living world. Linear time passes like drops of rain. The horrific experiences of those living in the Tudor and their tragic deaths, slip by like a momentary signal passed on a radio dial.
The residents of this strange and fluid realm
But this book is not simply an examination of the self, of existence. I said before that I was not ready for this book. Like the fluid changing nature of the spirit world around the Tudor, Tyrees' narrative moves from murder mystery, to deep examination of what we are as individuals. Right when you think you’ve got a handle on things you are surprised with grisly death, and made to face phantasmagorical nightmare visions as could only exist beyond the barriers of the mortal plane.

The author works elements of both Modern and Historical paranormal phenomena. Readers who are versed on the subject will pick on the different examples of “Spirit Activity”. Readers who know nothing of the topic will accept it as the facts of the world that the Tudor resides in.

If These Bones could Talk is more than a simple “haunted House book”. Even so, I would consider it a “Title of Note” for the genre.

[Hazel Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oh, but if these bones could talk. They would tell stories of lust and seduction, murder and mystery."

This twisty horror by Michael Tyree drops on July 25 and is an absolute MUST READ for your horror TBR this spooky season.

If you like Grady Hendrix, you'll love this.

Haunting and gothic this third person omniscient POV book takes you through the walls of the house on 6023 Walnut Street in a tale spanning around 100 years through time and dimension. Tyree tells this haunting tale in a contemporary style rife with original, jarring metaphor and vague eroticism that pulls you into the absurd.

Between the ghosts, the darkness lurking in the corner, and a new tenant with strange habits, this predominantly atmospheric, slow-paced horror, weave a mysterious tale that ultimately beg one of life's biggest questions in a most Lovecraftian conclusion: What is a soul, and what of its death?

[Katherine Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

With characters gilded in sadness, Tyree's latest offering is a powerful portrayal of the afterlife and those clinging to what they were before it. Monstrosities lurk in the shadows waiting to claim pieces of whatever is left and some are all too willing to let it transform them if only so they can feel once more. If These Bones Could Talk screams with dread, anguish, and so, so much pain.

[Alana K. Drex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glorifying the spoils of death, illuminating the (sometimes sexy?) monotony of the lives of ghosts, Tyree has written something in the style of the great Clive Barker. Serious- 'The Hellbound Heart'-by-Sir-Clive-Barker vibes promenade the pages.

6023 Walnut Street is cursed. Tyree has featured this haunted house in previous shorts, and here we get to revel in the events that started it all. It's 1927, Raphael Navarro has the dream house he has made sure to add all the architectural delights of his and his wife's dreams. An artist, he begins painting some nightmare scenes, hearing voices and being called into the dark depths of the basement. I don't want to say much here except that what he will uncover and unlock will torture both living and dead inhabitants. For the dead are as tortured, if not more so than the living.

While the horde of stuck ghosts in this house seem to be accepting of their entrapment, Calvin is one that desires to know more. And why does he feel drawn to the ghost whose name is 'Possibly' Charlotte? Why does the ghost Bobby find his release from the living hell so soon?

Then the house is bought by a deviant of a particular deranged sort, and the evil entity sees an opportunity. Calvin witnesses things he is unable to stop, but there must be a way. The evil entity seems also to be looking for something and if he finds it what will it ultimately mean?

I was so satisfied with the ending to this one because it is one of those I find myself thinking of on and off. Tyree, again leaves his mark on my mind, as it's left spinning in the wake of the implications his dark tale offers.

I know this review is ambiguous, but it is one that shouldn't be attempted to explain away in a review. There's a lot here to unpack, and I encourage you to pick it up yourself and see what your takeaway will be 👀 It comes out this summer. Be ready!