Sam

Tales From the Graveyard #4

by Susan Shultz

It's been five long years since the horrific murders that took place in the house on the hill, and the little town Ainsley Price once lived in seems to be moving on. All except Sam—sweet, loving Sam. With his pregnant wife, Claudia, by his side, Sam decides to live in the house that was once Ainsley's. He hides the gravestones that stand like solemn reminders in their yard and tells his wife that everything is all right. But Ainsley knows that isn't true. Ainsley knows his secrets. And what he thinks is dead will rise again.Sam is the fourth and final installment in Susan Shultz's dark series, Tales From the Graveyard. Haven't read the series? Start with The Blacksmith.Praise for The Blacksmith, Book One of the Tales From the Graveyard "The Blacksmith by Susan Shultz is like Dexter with a feminine twist gone dark. Ainsley feeds her dead heart by killing men and eating theirs. Who run the world? Girls. And their apparently insatiable desire for man-flesh. A fun holiday read!" —Nerdist.com "It wasn't until I read The Blacksmith by Susan Shultz that I thought about a different type of 'scary story.'…It relies on legitimate fears of loss and the flaws in human nature to make you feel uncomfortable. Don't misunderstand—if you like blood, ghosts, and socipaths, The Blacksmith has that for you." —Volumes of Words

Genres: Paranormal

53 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2015

About the author

Susan Shultz is a writer/journalist living in Wilton, Connecticut with her husband and two children. Susan is the editor of The Darien Times, a Hersam Acorn newspaper located in Darien, Connecticut.

From her Amazon profile:
"I am a horror and anything else that moves me writer, poet and journalist. I enjoy writing about things that terrify me, and you. I consider a great privilege to allow me to frighten you.

I am an English major, from Staten Island, N.Y., now living in Connecticut."

Visit the author on:
Twitter: @SusnShultz
Blog: Creative Conjurings
The Darien Times
Photo Credit: Bryan Haeffele

Reviews

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Full Fathom Five and NetGalley.)

"Maybe we're all crazy."

This was another slightly odd story about Sam who moves into Ainsley's house with his pregnant wife. Ainsley of course doesn't take it terribly well. I found the ending to this one quite confusing, and who would name their child after a serial killer?



6 out of 10

[Kerr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Publish date: October 2015


Full review can also be found on: Paein and Ms4Tune’s Book Blog

I still don't know what was happening and I've finished them all. This one seemed really bitty. I'm not sure there was much of a point to it except to be an epilogue. It didn't feel particularly wrapped up either. I feel it was a poor end to the series.

SERIES REVIEW:

This series started out really fascinating. It's in four parts and the first is told from the point of view of a literal man-eater and the influences in her life - including the haunted graves in her garden. Though, while we get Jessie explained the 'other' graves that only the Blacksmith knows about are never explained, nor is the blacksmith himself which was what I was most looking forward to. The first two are very bloody, the second two not so much. I also found it confusing because they were all told by everyone in some way and I found it hard to work out what was actually going on. The fact that the story was divided into 4 novellas gave it a disjointed feel too. I'm not sure what the point of the story was and while I think the ending was meant to be spooky it was more confusing than anything else.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me ask one thing for a start here: What is wrong with this guy??? He had a crush on a girl living in a creepy house next to the graveyard, she actually [spoiler again] killed herself while being with him [spoiler end] and yet he moves into the house she left??? How messed up can you be to do this? And dragging you pregnant wife into this is simply cruel! Especially after he met with Lila and read Ainsley's journal.

Putting this story as a last one in the set was not a good idea and yet it was really the closing story. But I simply didn't like it and then the last thought about the book are that you didn't like something, your opinion about the whole story worsens.

[✨Cassie ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan Shultz hauntingly tales is the perfect book to pick up during the Halloween season.

Sam (story 4)
Sam has been living with regret since Ainsley killed herself. He is back at the house it all started at, but he's not alone, someone is waiting.

Tales From The Graveyard was a good, dark, haunting story. Each story was different, but had the same occurrence, Ainsley. I really enjoyed the way Susan writes... it's dark, fits with her stories.

[†Reviews of a FearStreetZombie† · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect ending IMO. I didn't want it to end. It's heartbreaking yet awesome at the same time. This was a very lovely story. (I'm odd, I know. lol) but really, it was written amazingly. The story just flowed and brought everything together. I loved it.

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a copy of the collection from Netgalley, In exchange for an honest review.)

Actual rating - 2.75

This one, just like the previous three books, was weird and boring. It dragged quite a lot, but it was nice to know that once it was over, the whole collection would be over!

[[ J o ]]

Read the first book in the Tales from the Graveyard series, The Blacksmith. 1 Star; therefore will not be continuing with the series.