When she agrees to visit a supposedly haunted house with an old friend, Rosie assumes she'll encounter nothing more scary than a few creaks and bumps in the night. Even the legend of Evil Mary doesn't put her off. After all, she knows ghosts aren't real. But when Mary makes her first appearance, Rosie realizes she might already be trapped.
For more than a century, Wetherley House has been cursed. A horrific encounter on a remote road in the late 1800's has already caused a chain of misery and pain for all those who live at the house. Wetherley House was abandoned long ago, after a terrible discovery in the basement, something has remained undetected within its room. And even the local children know that Evil Mary waits in the house for anyone foolish enough to walk through the front door.
Before long, Rosie realizes that her entire life has been defined by the spirit of a woman who died in agony. Can she become the first person to escape Evil Mary, or will she fall victim to the same fate as the house's other occupants?
Amy Cross writes novels and short stories in a number of genres, mainly horror, paranormal and fantasy. Books include The Farm, Annie's Room, The Island, Eli's Town and Asylum.
THE CURSE OF WETHERLEY HOUSE is the first book I've read by author Amy Cross. The haunting and ghost in this novel exceeded my own expectations. This malevolent entity had been inhabiting Wetherley house since 1888, when Robert and his pregnant bride, Marguerite, came to live there.
Cross begins the tale in the present time. Although after only a handful of chapters, she switches to the events of 1888, leading back up to the present in chronological order. While I found this a little jarring at first, once I got into the horror happening in and around Wetherley, I couldn't read fast enough.
". . . it's the kind of place that a lot of people don't even want to talk about . . . "
The ghost, dubbed "Evil Mary" is a result of something even more horrifying and soul shattering. I won't go into spoiler territory here, but some of the things I read actually made me want to reach in and pull the characters out to safety.
". . . To see her face is to know true evil, and to feel her touch on your shoulder is to feel the chill of death itself."
When we are finally brought full circle to the current people investigating the house, I didn't think there was much else that could have surprised me.
I was so wrong.
". . . "Funny how a few little incidents can change everything."
This was a fantastically creepy novel with some very unique twists. If it weren't for the numerous editing errors, and one integral part of the story that I felt we could have been given some further insight into, I would have given this a full 4-star rating. I would absolutely read another book from Amy Cross in the future.
Family saga horror, how the curse of the house wends its way through time, from its inception to its violent end!
Melodramatic, packed with tropes, and fun. This is the creepy story that your cousins told you one night under the covers that gave you nightmares when you were twelve. Some of it doesn't make sense. BUT THAT DOES NOT MATTER. Your cousin isn't here to whisper logic in your ear...
What an awesomely gruesome ghosty read! I have to say that I've been waiting to read a book like this where the author isn't afraid to put a bit more detail in the deathly scenes. I love a good horror read. Of course I'm probably a weirdo in a sense of loving this stuff and have yet to find a ghostly read- ... or movie for that matter, that's literally put a scared chill up my spine. Any recommendations I'd gladly love. But, no doubt this author had me captivated and it's a first of her books that I've read, so no doubt I'm highly looking forward to checking out her other work. This book has multiple POV's and as I've mentioned in other reviews, I'm a bit apprehensive about it in the beginning because a reader can easily get lost and the story can get confusing as if getting whiplash from trying to keep up, but with this book, I was able to smoothly keep up. It starts out in the present with Rosie and Toby going into the haunted Wetherley House and as things start to happen and things start to unfold, we're taken back in time to the beginning and lead up back to current events. You get a sense of each character as each POV is experiencing gruesome events and their place in it. I also enjoyed the ending, I won't say how as not to spoil anything, but I enjoyed reading this and definitely recommend.
Now then, sit down at your desk and make a list of the most horrific and blood curdling descriptions you can cram into one book. Mix with appalling editing, lots of GODAMNS and American phrasing (even if it is set in England), a laughable storyline containing totally unbelievable characters, and out pops "The Curse of Wetherley House". I'm sorry Amy, no disrespect, but I really didn't enjoy this book. I love a good old haunted house story, but the gory horror in this (plus all those maggots!) was just a joke. I only hope that no maggots were harmed in the writing of this novel. Nevertheless, it gave me a good giggle, so it wasn't all in vain!!
Drawn me in and kept me reading. Her characters come alive and you can't stop until you know what happens to them. Do wish these books had better editing. Misspellings, changes from her to him in wrong places. Wrong names etc. Those are distracting to say the least. With good editing, a creepy good book.
If you take a look in the world of independent publishing, you can find some real gems and some might say that this is where the real writing is going on at the moment as it would appear that on the shelves in your local book shop there is just the mainstream, and safe books. One such gem is the The Curse of Wetherly House by Amy Cross. Okay, there are lots of cliched bits here and the writing can in some parts be slightly better, but overall this is a great read, the sort of ghostly horror book to give you chills and look over your shoulder for strange going on. Wetherly is haunted by the legend that is Evil Mary and Rosie is being dragged into the ancient old house with her ghost-seeking pal. In flashbacks, we see the what happened at the house in the past and how Evil Mary got her reputation. It’s a page-turner of a book and I really enjoyed my few weeks reading it on my Kindle. I will be reading more books by Amy Cross.
The premise isn't bad. I love a good haunted house novel, and even better when we get to read the backstory on why it is haunted. As ridiculous as some of the events in this book are, I genuinely enjoyed the first three parts, even the terrible historical dialogue. Of the remaining four parts though, one is incredibly bizarre and doesn't follow the continuum of the historical section well at all, two are almost unnecessary, and the last part forgets what happened in the first part to tie things up. This feels more like a rough or first draft of a novel and not a finished product. The editing is atrocious.
There were moments when I’d be reading this in bed and the dark depths beyond my sight would spook me so bad that I’d have to read with a light on. It was really scary through parts! The story bounced through time pretty easily and the characters were all very well defined. I look forward to reading more of her collection.
I'm a fan of Any Cross books and though there is an element of predictability with them, they're a fun read. With that being said, I found it hard to stay interested in this story. A bit slow for me and a little confusing remembering which girl is which and from what time period. A big help I believe would to add some dates. I found if I returned to this story after being absent for a bit i had to go back and figure out who was which. I finished the story because as I said before I'm a fan.
Childish I know that to define "childish" an horror book with so much gore seems absurd, but that's the way I feel about this book As a matter of fact, I find this author's writing very childish And amateurish. And sloppy, too. This is the third Amy Cross book that I've read, and it will be my last, because amateurish writing bores me. To put gore after gore, and ghosts, in a book, doesn't mean to write a good horror Without resorting masterpieces of this genre, you can pick up Amy Durreson's "A frost of cares", or Laura Purcell's "The silent companions", to see what a very good horror book without gore, and without senseless accumulation of everything, is.
I am an avid fan of the supernatural genre, but I prefer the more atmosphere/psychological type of story. The back story of the haunting, was far more gruesome than I like and I ended up just deleting it from my kindle. I also didn't find the intro to be overly convincing, which was a bummer since it seemed like a great premise.
Okay, review time. :) Do not ..... I repeat .... DO NOT read this chilling novel if you are pregnant, about to give birth or have a newborn, it will literally give you nightmares. Why oh why must I always begin these sort of novels in the dead of night when I can't sleep? Creepy, scary and downright weird are but a few words to describe this haunting tale about ... well ... a haunted house & a family cursed through the generations. Quite visceral at times it's hard to give a synopsis without giving little key spoilers away. I loved how the author split up the chapters to show the present story and then reverted to various characters viewpoints from back in history before finishing with the present time finale. The only thing I was disappointed about was the final ending which left quite a few strings untied. I felt like the author left you hanging as to what would happen with one of the characters, as well as the reveal in the epilogue. Otherwise an amazing 4 poop your pants stars.
The scenes set in the 1880s could have used some historic research. I don't think pregnant women were photographed at that time (I've seen a lot of Victorian photos, and just look at how visibly pregnant Victorian women didn't want to be seen). Also, the language seems more stilted than period, and I don't think British people were in the habit of saying, "Okay." One way to write period dialog is simply to read some fiction from the era.
The author is much more at home with the contemporary scenes, which are well written (and suitably creepy).
Okay, this is definitely...horrifying horror, not just a spooky haunted house novel. And it reminds me there's a reason why empaths tend to steer away from the horror genre.
When she agrees to visit a supposedly haunted house with an old friend, Rosie assumes she'll encounter nothing more scary than a few creaks and bumps in the night. Even the legend of Evil Mary doesn't put her off. After all, she knows ghosts aren't real. But when Mary makes her first appearance, Rosie realizes she might already be trapped. "For more than a century, Wetherley House has been cursed. A horrific encounter on a remote road in the late 1800's has already caused a chain of misery and pain for all those who live in the house. Wetherley House was abandoned long ago, after a terrible discovery in the basement, something has remained undetected within its rooms. Even the local children know that Evil Mary waits in the house for anyone foolish enough to walk through the front door. Before long, Rosie realizes that her entire life has been defined by the spirit of a woman who died in agony. Can she become the first person to escape Evil Mary, or will she fall victim to the same fate as the house's other occupants? A malevolent entity had been inhabiting Wetherley house since 1888, when Robert and his pregnant bride, Marguerite, came to live there.
Amy Cross begins the tale in the present time. Although after only a handful of chapters, she switches to the events of 1888, leading back up to the present in chronological order. While I found this a little tricky at first, once I got into the horror happening in and around Wetherley, I had something else to think about.
The book says..."it's the kind of place that a lot of people don't even want to talk about"
The ghost, "Evil Mary", was the result of something more horrifying and soul shattering than most every day, average, ordinary, normal people could even begin to imagine. I won't go into "spoiler territory", but some of the things I read actually made me wish I could reach in and pull the poor characters out to safety or at least warn them.
". . . To see her face is to know true evil, and to feel her touch on your shoulder is to feel the chill of death itself."
When we are finally brought back around to the current people investigating the house, I didn't think there was much else that could have surprised me. But of course...I was so very wrong. ". . . "Funny how a few little incidents can change everything."
This was the second book that I have read by this author. After reading Stephen, my first book by Amy Cross, I knew what absolute unimaginable horror this author is truly capable of...and this time I was ready for anything. This was a wonderful fantastically creepy horror story with some very terrifying. unique and unexpected twists. This is one that I would diffidently recommend to any true fan of horror, and I will, at some point, certainly read again.
I cringed at the childish tone used in the first few chapters in the book. The countless "like", as in "we should, like, do that" and "I mean" had me wincing. The abundance of dialogues and the thin narration didn't lead my imagination or set the atmosphere. It read like a bad, straight to video B movie. I was ready to abandon. And then something happened. We were transported to the 19th century, and suddenly the story rose like a phoenix from ashes. The author seemed to have spent a greater deal of time honing and polishing this part, because it felt like it was written by a different person altogether. If I was bored with the modern chapters, I was captivated and creeped out by the olden days ones. No naff gore moments, only psychological, cold as ice uneasiness. And amongst it all, a character shone bright: Eve. Ah, Eve. So frightening and mad and utterly fascinating. SHE made the book for me. I was sad to leave her and the Gothic setting to return to a modern era, full of anachronism by the way (mobile phones and e-mails were far from being commonly used, let alone with their current technological functions). Spelling and editing mistakes resumed too, or maybe I had glossed over them during the previous chapters since I was so engrossed, I'm not sure.
I would have read a book based solely on Marguerite, Eve and Mary. I would have squealed in joy with it. The crude additions of gory, seen-it all before modern chapters were unnecessary.
This was the first book I read from this author. I am certainly not discounting reading another one of hers, considering the beautifully crafted Eve, but I will narrow my search to the Gothic era. If Amy Cross hasn't written one yet (I haven't checked her other works), this is a heavy handed hint I'm giving her :)
A spooky old haunted house, an evil ghost....what's not to like?
It's odd to me that I spent most the book feeling sorry for Evil Mary. Poor kid :( I thought her "mother" was horrible...that birth? Jesus. Utter insanity!
But was that really Eve? Or was it the even older, creepy, actually evil ghost? I think it was probably the ghost. I hated Eve from go...but she ended up being pretty pitiful, in spite of her crimes. She was clearly mental by the end. I think it bugged me a little that Mary and her family were the one to take the brunt of the witch's wrath. Marguerite was the only person who even considered helping her...and that's who she chooses to haunt for decades. Shouldn't it have been the townspeople who hurt her and left her to die? I guess there is no explaining the revenge of a twisted witch.
Overall, I liked this! Amy Cross never fails to entertain me. :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Another great book by author Amy Cross. This book ranges from 1888 to present day. Young married Frenchwoman Marguerite hugely pregnant moves from France to her husband’s family home in England. Her husband Robert is tragically killed by his barren, jealous sister. Once Robert is dead Eve is free to steal Marguerite’s baby and raise her as her own. Crazy Mary, Evil Mary, the stories run wild through the town. The story winds down through the generations, you hear each generations trouble with crazy Mary and losing the first born baby. The house has been abandoned for years, no one who goes in comes out alive......or do they? Rosie is headed to a baby shower when her car breaks down and she gets help from Toby a guy from high school. Toby convinces her to go see the haunted Wetherley House with him. Is it a chance meeting or is the house reaching out to lure her home? Is it Crazy Mary? Is it the house? Or is the family cursed?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I have very mixed feelings about this author. Some of her books I like, some I've stopped reading because I either couldn't handle the gore or the book was just too long and drawn out. I am a horror novel addict, I read little else. Most books I read are either a little scary or not scary enough for my taste...this one had me freaked. Even during the parts that weren't very scary, I was having a hard time reading it in the dark. It's like it was all around me, like evil was pushing in around me. More than once I had to turn on the lights to keep reading. I liked how long the book was, that it didn't rush through the stories. I like that even though it covered multiple timelines it was cohesive and organized. And in the end it wrapped up neatly.
I feel like this book should have been renamed 'Maggot Party'- where that many maggots really necessary? There was also a couple of annoying typos and while I loved the chapters set in the past with Marguerite, Eve and Mary, the contemporary chapters fell completely flat for me and I found myself just waiting for them to die off. I was not let down on that front at least. Overall, this just felt like reading two very different books with the maggot party gore and guts contemporary chapters being almost totally at odds with the psychological creepy and unnerving old chapters that also had physical violence, but didn't rely on it as a crutch for the horror.
I have to admit I have not been a huge fan of Amy Cross. But this book had great reviews so I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did. This story was absolutely fantastic. The plots twists and turns kept me interested. I will admit that Cross needs to get herself a team of Beta readers to start reading her stuff before she hits the publish button to correct a lot of ridiculous errors, he when it should be she etc. But overall the story plot and characters in this book were engaging.
Ms. Cross has become another of my favorite ghost story authors. This book is one of those riveting stories you just can't put down. I actually got up during the night after going to bed to pick it back up to see what else was going to happen. So many twists and turns! So far I've read 2 of her fantastic ghost stories and plan to read many many more. I definitely recommend Amy Cross to anyone who wants " up all night " and " in your face scary " ghost stories. Don't forget to leave the lights on!!!!!
Another good, thorough haunt story from Amy Cross. Told from a number of perspectives over a long period of time, with each perspective adding to the tragic history. I gave four stars as it is a good story with a fast but twisted ending that seems to be a trait of this author.. Very satisfying read with more depth than other haunt authors I've enjoyed. I'll be devouring every story Ms. Cross writes, and I have no doubt there'll be many five star reads ahead of me.
I absolutely demolished this book. Amy Cross knows how to make you hold your breathe and have your heart beat out of your chest. This was my first experience with her work and I must say I will be reading more. There is only one bad part about this book, to the point I almost puked several times, her (Amy Cross) love of maggots. Enjoyed your work but not the wiggly critters.
If I had to read one more paragraph about maggots.... This book had the bones of a great story. Unfortunately, it never quite reached that pinnacle. The author's rambling style of writing was drawn out. It almost felt like it was written by a high school student who had a writing assignment that required a certain number of words, but ran out of ideas and resorted to using unnecessary filler material.
Some believe a haunted house is living, breathing thing. That a house absorbs the intense emotion of those who it’s walls--those it has housed and protected. The emotions seep into the wood, the furnishing, the fabric of the house. However, it’s not the house--it’s the spirit that has attached itself to the home. One needs to worry about the spirit who has sunk its taint, perverse energy into the wood and foundation. The concern becomes essential when the sins of the dead bleed through every nook and cranny. The house becomes more than haunted it become a portal for a vengeful spirit to despoil their revenge in an attempt to satisfy a selfish end and raising havoc and even death to the living. In the spirit of The Haunting in Connecticut, The Shinning, and Amityville Horror Amy Cross brings her readers a spin tingling, fear-ridden, brutish horror. The writing style is stellar. A great many times the author craft expressive writing to convey immediacy, excitement or stress, Cross has this mastered. I would recommend this book to anyone with interest in the macabre. It’s simply an entertaining, fast-paced, engaging read.
This is the first book I've read by Amy Cross and I loved it!I didn't know what to expect but if you like horror you'll like this. Its got a good story to it and easy to read. Its a book that you just get lost in as keeps you hooked till the end. I'm off to borrow another by Amy Cross. Can't wait! - thanks Kindle! ...J