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The Haunting of Bertha House

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Bertha House is a massive house which foretells of the wealth of the people who lived in it long ago. But its stately demeanor betrays all of the horror and evil that occurred within its walls. Kristine is thrilled at the price she paid for the Georgian mansion. She plans to restore it and then flip it for a nice profit. But things start going wrong the moment she steps foot in the house. Children appear begging for help, and an old lady appears out of nowhere, her beady eyes watching every move that Kristine makes. Convinced that her lack of sleep is causing her to hallucinate, she vows to take some time off and catch up on her sleep. But when that doesn't stop the noises, appearances of people that don't exist and strange stews cooking unattended on her stove, Kristine knows she must find answers. But when she does, she has two choices, stay at Bertha House and face an evil end or run, losing all of the money she has invested in the beautiful house. Can she make it out alive?

43 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 26, 2018

111 people are currently reading
45 people want to read

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Carrie Bates

65 books67 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Peter.
381 reviews27 followers
December 25, 2018
Kristine is pleased with the price that she purchased The Bertha House for. She plans to restore it, and flip it over, for a profit. Things start to go wrong at the house. Kristine see children appearing and begging for help. She also see this old lady with beady eyes, watching every move that she makes. She is convinced that lack of sleep are causing these horrific nightmares. Kristine hears a crash, that sounded like it came from the kitchen. When she arrived, the cupboard doors were wide open and there was broken china all over the floor. There were some bowls on the table, with an unknown substance in them. Kristine inches her way towards the stove, where the unknown substance is boiling. She looks into the pot and becomes sick. There were worm like pieces of human hair, that floated on top. It smelt like rotten flesh. Kristine looked a little closer at the substance and noticed, torn fingernails and pieces of skin attached. Kristine, needs to get answers about the previous owners of the house. She has two choice, stay and face the evil of the house or run, and lose her investment. I enjoyed the book, but the ending came to a screeching halt. I think that there was enought room, to expand on the ending. That is just my opinion. I am going to checkout other works by this author.
70 reviews3 followers
May 25, 2018
When Kristine bought Bertha house she planned on remodeling and staying there while it happened. Her intentions were that of purely making money. She had Brenda, the Interior Designer, meet her there soon after she had purchased it, not wanting to waste any time. However, once she met Brenda, she was most irritated with her. Brenda was too talkative and had sooo many ideas they all came spilling out her mouth that it took her so long to get them all out. After Brenda left, Kristine had to sweep up the disgusting ball of hair that she’d found on the floor.

Not long after, she’d been sitting outside looking at the electronic blueprints of the house when she heard a loud crash. It came from the kitchen, it must’ve been from one of the cupboards falling open, or something. Walking into the kitchen, she found all the cupboards opened, and emptied, all over the floor was the broken china from the cupboards. But the table was set to perfection. In the bowls in the table was some kind of nastiness, bubbling up. On the stove, she found what was the remnants of the glop that had been put in the bowls. Was someone playing a joke on her?! As she stood at the stove looking at the rudest thing she’d ever seen, she realized she was going to pass out, there at the stove was a woman, staring her down, with eyes that were blacked out. Voices, lots of them, “Where’s my Will?! I’ve lost my boy!” So many voices of unknown people looking for their children, she assumed. As she heard them, she began to scream, waking herself from her nightmare.

The next morning, Brenda called very early to have ‘Kristen’ meet her at a coffee shop. When Kristine doesn’t say much, Brenda begins telling her that the house is haunted. “What do you mean the house is haunted?!” Kristine wanted to know the details after her wild dream and having seen the woman. “Oh yeah, not many people stay but a few months because that woman’s ghost chases them out.” Brenda told her. Kristine was still skeptical, telling herself that ghosts don’t exist. “Let’s get on with business, shall we?”

With Brenda’s bid being way over budget, Kristine decided to cut out any extra art work and just go for the general remodel and get it done in a few months time. Next she wanted to have a look around the yard to see what there was to work with, a beautiful yard always helped to sell the house and she was in it for the money after all. While she probably could get most of the yard done herself, she continued to wander through to the back of the house. Making her way around to the back, she tripped on a stone the size of a pocketbook, it also had a number etched in it. Looking further through the back yard she found another stone, another number in it. Wondering what the significance of the numbers meant, her mind started to wander, having remnants of her nightmares from a few days ago. Taking a sleeping pill before bed that night hoping to ward off the old woman in her nightmare, she went to bed without brushing her hair.

Upon waking in the morning, Kristine was making her bed when she noticed the clumps if her own hair on her pillow. What was happening to her?? In her decision to call Brenda to find previous owners of the property and find out about the haunted house, Kristine was determined to get this situation under control. “Not had enough paranormal stories yet, huh?” Brenda was really getting under her skin. It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult but for some reason it was and Brenda was making it harder. “I’m not supposed to tell you anything, but I guess I can just this once.” Brenda gave in to Kristine’s request.

When Kristine found the house of the previous owners, she was reluctant to knock. What would she say...‘Hi, I live in the haunted house you used to live in...’? As she rang the bell a man answered almost too quickly. “Hi, you must be Kristine, I’m Daniel, my wife, Rachel is in the other room. Let me get her for you.” Wondering how he knew who she was baffled her only for a moment, it must’ve been Brenda that alerted them. After speaking with Rachel, she found out that in fact, her house was haunted, by Henrietta Bertha.

Leaving the Willis house after finding out about her beloved purchase made her beyond sick. How could such a thing happen to her? She decided to go for a hike while she awaited her appointment with the electrician at the Bertha house, it wasn’t for a few hours. Having gone for a long walk and waiting at the house for the electrician, the time came and went. Why wasn’t he coming?? As she was about to call him, looking at her phone, she had a missed call and voicemail. He wasn’t coming until the day after tomorrow. Kristine decided to leave right then and there.

This haunted book is pretty good, but much like other books by this same author. They’re not bad, just a little predictable. The characters are well made up, I felt the descriptions are really bad, as in good, as far as the horror goes. I do like this author, and I recommend
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Karen.
1,313 reviews41 followers
August 24, 2023
I have read a few stories from this author in the past and generally enjoy their work. There is a setup, in the prologue, based on the past for what will take place in the future. The characters are not bad though a little thin as far as background. You still get a feel for who they are and what they stand for.

Henrietta Bertha was the last of her family. She had been a doctor when women were expected to be nothing more than ornamental. Her reputation around town was both good and bad, she was reclusive but looked up to because of money and position. But there was a sinister air about her property as young children went missing near her house too often for it to be a coincidence but nothing can be proven.

In the present, her home has been bought and is about to be upgraded and flipped when the new owner starts to experience things that make her think she is going insane. As the incidents build and become more personal and threatening she must find out what is really happening.

The narrator is good and lends some life to the characters. Though a short story it is good if a little predictable along with the main character. A nice quick read when you just want something to distract or take along for a car read. Enjoy!
Profile Image for Teresa.
986 reviews14 followers
July 20, 2018
This is a very short story from Carrie Bates. Although I do wish it was longer I did enjoy it. I love haunted house stories and I have read a few of Carrie Bates's books. She does a really great job of bringing on the creep factor very quick and doesn't stop till the last page. The ending of this book did feel a but rushed to me though.
In the early 1800's Henrietta Bertha lives alone in her huge mansion. She is pretty much a hermit. Se stays to herself and even on her rare trips into town does not speak to anyone. Children near the Bertha mansion have come up missing. No one suspects Ms. Bertha. What they don't know is she likes to do medicql experiments. And choice of patients are children. After Ms. Bertha is found dead in her bed the house goes through several new owners. All who leave rather quickly. The house is Haunted by Ms. Bertha and the4 children.
Kristine buys the house hoping to restore it and flip it, not knowing the house is haunted. As things begin to happen she staarts to rethink her desision.
Profile Image for Leticia Youngblood.
43 reviews
August 10, 2018
Okay, but only eight chapters

I enjoyed the story but it was so short....and left the mystery unanswered. Where are the other bodies? Why didn't Kristine hire a medium or ghost hunter to deal with the evil Henrietta ghost? I didn't know it would be a short story when I bought it. A bit let down.
Profile Image for Kay Tuck.
275 reviews4 followers
November 12, 2018
Another great book from Carrie Bates!

Another great book from Carrie Bates! I just love the stories that she writes. This one kept me turning the pages. As hard as I try to figure out what the outcome will be I can't. If you like a great ghost story then this book is for you. I highly recommend this book and others by this author.
Profile Image for Alex Furness.
98 reviews3 followers
April 9, 2024
The narrative was great and delivered in a way that captivated me to keep reading. My score is so low for this one because of how predictable it was throughout and how abruptly the story ended. Its a shame because I wanted to really enjoy this one after thosr first couple of chapters. Instead it's like reading a bad Netflix original horror movie.
Profile Image for Raymond.
Author 5 books5 followers
September 6, 2018
Very short. Started off with some prospect, but faded fast. The story had so much more potential. I felt the author had thrown it together with little or no thought. The chapters and paragraphs read as if a child was trying to tell you something quickly. Sorry just didn't like it.
141 reviews12 followers
May 16, 2018
Really spooky little story. Fresh story line filled with a few of my favorite things.
Profile Image for Gita Sturtevant.
268 reviews7 followers
May 28, 2018
Scary

Well done fast read on a scary topic good job Carrie. Should be read with the lights on all I can say is wow
54 reviews
July 24, 2018
Chilling

Very intense short horror story. Felt like it would make a great episode in a tv horror show. Looking forward to other stories by this author.
Profile Image for Shana Thompson.
30 reviews1 follower
September 23, 2018
What’s with the hasty ending?

It kind of read like, “them they all lived happily ever after. The End.”What even was this short story? The End.
Profile Image for Jan Sjostrand.
519 reviews2 followers
November 11, 2018
Review

Very interesting and scary tale about a haunted house and the residents and ghosts. The characters and descriptions especially make this book very easy to picture.
248 reviews1 follower
December 21, 2018
Hairball

I was disappointed in this book of ghosts and hairball. I could only give a 3 star. Everyone is allowed mistakes.
88 reviews1 follower
March 5, 2019
Too Short

This book had the capability to be much longer! It ended ready abruptly and it felt odd. Really disappointed with it
Profile Image for §amantha.
675 reviews12 followers
May 14, 2024
Very quick read but overall not a bad read. The hair thing creeped me out a bit.
983 reviews12 followers
October 7, 2018
Carrie Bates can keep the reader enthralled. This book gave me the creeps. What a horrible fate for the children who visited Bertha house! No wonder the place was haunted with their restless spirits!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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