Ivy League

by Candace Nola

Ivy League by Candace Nola

Something terrible lurks beneath Ivy Lane, something ancient and angry. When a frat house takes over a stately Victorian Manor, the sins against the innocent awaken the wrath of what dwells beneath.

Includes the bonus story, Rebirth.

*Warnings include scenes of gore and violence.

36 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 3, 2025

About the author

I am Candace Nola, and I am a multiple award-winning author, editor, and publisher. I write poetry, horror, dark fantasy, and extreme horror content. My books include Breach, Beyond the Breach, Hank Flynn, Bishop, Earth vs The Lava Spiders, The Unicorn Killer, Unmasked, The Vet, and Desperate Wishes.

I have short stories in The Baker’s Dozen anthology, Secondhand Creeps, American Cannibal, Just A Girl, The Horror Collection: Lost Edition & The Turquoise Edition, just to name a few.

Beyond the Breach, won the “Novel of the Year” and my Debut Novel, Breach, was nominated for “Debut Novel of the Year”, for the 2021 Horror Authors Guild awards. I am also the publisher and editor of the 2022 Splatterpunk Award Winning Anthology “Uncomfortably Dark Presents: The Baker’s Dozen.”

I am the creator of Uncomfortably Dark, which focuses primarily on promoting indie horror authors and small presses with weekly book reviews, interviews, and special features. Uncomfortably Dark Horror stands behind its mission to “bring you the best in horror, one uncomfortably dark page at a time.”

Find me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and the website, UncomfortablyDark.com. Sign up for the Patreon for exclusive content, free stories, and more.

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Ivy League, Ivy Lane is a beautiful, Victorian house that has seen some shit! What was previously a much-loved, well preserved mansion, is now a frat house for entitled young assholes. These men have no morals, and absolutely no respect for the house, it's grounds, or the young women who come as guests to the mansion.

Someone (or something) is sick of these boys and is hell-bent on putting them in their place.

The bonus story, Rebirth, is nothing short of brilliant.

[Horror Bookworm Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Horror Bookworm Recommendation
Ivy League by Candace Nola
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/

Carl is gardener and caretaker for a once elegant mansion turned frat house. Unfortunately, the unruly frat boys commit the most heinous of acts on the innocent. Bound and determined, Carl intends to enact justice on those that are deserving. Respect Mother Earth or you too may find your final resting place beneath the mansion.

With the aid of ivy tendrils, crisp leaves and tree branches, author Candace Nola shows the duality of the world’s light and darkness all through the eyes of Mother Nature. From neck to naval, Nola’s recipe of mud, thorns, blood and flesh will satisfy the most novice of horror readers.

Inside nature’s realm there is a foreign and strange eco-horror towards mankind. Using elements of terror and revulsion, Nola’s approach of merging gruesome pain and angst comes across as poetic justice. Her way of weaving captivating narratives that tap into the most basic of fears, is the writing style that I believe contributes to her having a large diverse audience. Her accolades are not only impressive but well deserved. I’ve said it before and will say it again…Candace Nola is the real deal.

In addition to her story Ivy League, the reader also receives an invitation to a day that begins like no other. When the Earth decides to shift and alter, an unusual Rebirth of sorts is the outcome. It’s the way of nature. A five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.

[Becki 🤎 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ivy League 🤎

I’ve had this one on my tbr for so long, It’s only 22 pages plus there’s a bonus story so I finally got into it 👏🏼

Ivy League is a mansion filled with sorrow & rage, the original owner of the mansion had been through the worst kind of abuse with only Carl the groundskeeper there to love & protect her.

When she died Carl buried her under the manor, which soon turned into a frat house with disgusting boys who use party favours as a way to “have fun” with the girls….but Ivy won’t allow another female to suffer at the hands of any man…she will always get justice 👌🏻

I really enjoyed this, a woman looking out for other women, the gothicy feels of the Ivy manor & the brutality to the pos frat boys was perfection for me 🙌🏼

Bonus story- Rebirth

This was a perfect addition to follow Ivy League, a beautiful story about Mother Nature & how everything must be destroyed before it can be rebirthed. It was actually quite powerful & left me with that warm fuzzy feeling ☺️

I really did love this! Thank you Candace ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

[Nat Whiston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Candace is again on top form with this epic and savage revenge story. We meet Carl groundskeeper for the beautiful Manor house on Ivy Lane. Sadly this beautiful place gets turned into a frat house. Defiling the grounds with their predatory ways, a lot of the characters like Luke and Toby reminded me of ones I had seen in TV shows. Like in the episode Reptile Boy from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Buffy goes to a fraternity house, where she ends up drugged and chained in the basement as a sacrifice. The characters in this story share a very similar malevolent presence as they pray on the young women who go to their parties. This seems to open deep wounds for Carl, having suffered a trauma in his past. Where someone he loved was subjected to the same injustice. Finding sanctuary at the Manor House when it was run by the previous owner, Miss Ivy.
A stern but caring woman, who valued mother nature and all it created. Her spirit still lingered in the grounds and she was pisssssed. You want brutality, shocking yet hard to stomach moments? Candace delivers in spades. Revenge came in the form of twisted vines and blood soaked ivy. It was everything I could have wanted and more, then we got a bonus story.
That fit beautifully into the story set up, the revenge of mother nature. The protection of creation and in order to have a rebirth, there must first be destruction. I won't spoil the book for you but let's just say that I would love to see the second story become a full story.

[Allison | crazypageturner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical mansion turns into a frat house for an Ivy League college. Boys invite, drug and take advantage of girls in this house….but the house has had enough. It begins to exact its revenge on all the boys in brutal ways.

I loved the idea of the ivy moving and slithering about. The ivy is alive with the spirit of the previous owner who passed away.

Only the groundskeeper seems to notice and communicates with the ivy and the house while also taking care of the grounds, keeping the property looking beautiful.

I love me a good revenge story. This was a quick little haunted house story that I definitely enjoyed!

There is even a bonus story afterwards called Rebirth in which the world’s most important resources are disappearing. A world ruled by men and they don’t listen to the women’s input and in turn can’t fix the problem. A story about female empowerment which is the Nola specialty!

[Lia's Haunted Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

What makes Ivy League and Rebirth stand out is how they delve into the heart of what it means to embody Mother Nature.

In these stories, Candace Nola explores the clash between nature and man—how men’s way of dealing with things is often (emphasis on 'OFTEN'; not always) about control and dominance. In contrast, the feminine response is often (emphasis on 'OFTEN'; not always) one of balance, acceptance, and, when necessary, annihilation.

One of my favorite things about these stories is how they capture the beauty within the rage. It’s not just anger for anger’s sake; it’s a deeply rooted, poetic rage that stems from being wronged and finding the strength to fight back. And at the end of it all? Acceptance—acceptance of self, of power, of what needs to be done.

[Emily Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read I got in before bedtime. It was a unique twist on a haunted house story! As always, I love her writing style which made this story vivid and engaging. I love a good female revenge story and this did that well! This also included a bonus short story called Rebirth which was also a great take on feminine rage. If you haven’t read anything from Candace Nola yet, what are you waiting for?!

[Glance Ghoulish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella receives a 4⭐️ from me because of the bonus story at the back named "rebirth"
Honestly Ivy League itself wasn't much for me.... but Re-birth at the back, I won't be forgetting that any time soon.

[Kasey George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I bought it the other day from the author at a Halloween market and I’m glad I did. My only complaint is that I wish there was more, only because I enjoyed it so much! I will absolutely be checking out her other work.

[K D Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise of this book. Ivy always takes back. A short fun read, though I believe this had the potential to be a longer, fuller story. This one left me wanting more!

[Mort · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the first story might not be the most unpredictable that this author has produced, the second one is very unique and I think people will either love it or hate it.
Well worth the read.