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Room 9 and Other Ghost Stories
A girl checks into a haunted motel room, determined to prove that ghosts exist. But what's really waiting for her in the notorious room 9? A man meets an old friend who claims to be haunted by a figure from their past. But when that friend does, who will the ghost haunt next? A town struggles to face the horrors of its past. But no matter how hard the local people try to forget, the victim of a terrible crime is determined to avenge her own death. Room 9 and Other Stories contains the new short stories Room 9, The Ghost of Daniel Dowd and The Horror of Blackforke House, as well as revised versions of The Disappearance of Rose Hillard and The Fan.
376 pages, Paperback
Published May 30, 2018
228 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Amy Cross
664 books1,685 followersAmy 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.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 30 reviews
March 18, 2019
I liked all of these but the last one, The Horror of Blackforke House. It was terribly unfulfilling and disappointing. When I tried to swipe to the next page and there wasn't one, I felt cheated. The rest were pretty good and entertaining though.
February 19, 2022
52 Book Club 2022 Challenge- Prompt 11: A Book with Less that 2022 GR Ratings
Amy Cross writes well. She also writes fast. This means that in every single book I've read by this author, there are multiple jarring typos or context errors. This was once again the case here.
Characters change names or ages (or both) within the span of a few sentences, or a few words will be spelled incorrectly. A key example was the title character of one story, 'Daniel Dowd', becoming 'Daniel Boyd' in a key scene. While this doesn't make the story impossible to follow, it definitely pulled me out of the plot, which is particularly damning when reading a ghost story.
There were several tales in this collection, with some being stronger, in terms of writing than others. The titular 'Room 9' was interesting and had a few twists, but suffered from a case of "reckless-protagonist-who-will-NOT-listen."
'The Ghost of Daniel Dowd' (not Boyd) was a standard and rather predictable story, but Amy Cross always writes the niche archetype of "grumpy old men hiding secrets" really well!
'The Disappearance of Rose Hillard' was a tough read, because of the underlying and overt themes of abuse, and the lengths a sheriff will go to to "protect" his town. Nothing bad happens in Vantage? Clearly, people deliberately aren't looking close enough...
'The Fan' was pretty cliché (still disappointed it was about obsessed people and not a fan of the ceiling variety...) and predictable- you can also draw comparisons to a certain real life disappearance, but this may have been coincidental?
'The Horror of Blackforke House' was the shortest, yet most subversive of the stories and I loved it. All of the action takes place OUTSIDE of the haunted house and the ending really squeezed my heartstrings. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it. It was the only story to really surprise me in this collection.
Overall, this was a rather enjoyable, if flawed collection of short stories. A few of them just seem to end abruptly, rather than having a developed finale or deliberate lack of closure. They also all- unfortunately- suffer from a lack of polish. This is annoying, because Amy Cross is a good writer, but with a few tweaks and edits, she could be a great writer.
Amy Cross writes well. She also writes fast. This means that in every single book I've read by this author, there are multiple jarring typos or context errors. This was once again the case here.
Characters change names or ages (or both) within the span of a few sentences, or a few words will be spelled incorrectly. A key example was the title character of one story, 'Daniel Dowd', becoming 'Daniel Boyd' in a key scene. While this doesn't make the story impossible to follow, it definitely pulled me out of the plot, which is particularly damning when reading a ghost story.
There were several tales in this collection, with some being stronger, in terms of writing than others. The titular 'Room 9' was interesting and had a few twists, but suffered from a case of "reckless-protagonist-who-will-NOT-listen."
'The Ghost of Daniel Dowd' (not Boyd) was a standard and rather predictable story, but Amy Cross always writes the niche archetype of "grumpy old men hiding secrets" really well!
'The Disappearance of Rose Hillard' was a tough read, because of the underlying and overt themes of abuse, and the lengths a sheriff will go to to "protect" his town. Nothing bad happens in Vantage? Clearly, people deliberately aren't looking close enough...
'The Fan' was pretty cliché (still disappointed it was about obsessed people and not a fan of the ceiling variety...) and predictable- you can also draw comparisons to a certain real life disappearance, but this may have been coincidental?
'The Horror of Blackforke House' was the shortest, yet most subversive of the stories and I loved it. All of the action takes place OUTSIDE of the haunted house and the ending really squeezed my heartstrings. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it. It was the only story to really surprise me in this collection.
Overall, this was a rather enjoyable, if flawed collection of short stories. A few of them just seem to end abruptly, rather than having a developed finale or deliberate lack of closure. They also all- unfortunately- suffer from a lack of polish. This is annoying, because Amy Cross is a good writer, but with a few tweaks and edits, she could be a great writer.
July 18, 2018
An interesting read
It wasn't a big bit or a miss but it was interesting enough. Nothing too gruesome about any of the stories, it should appeal to a much wider ghost story audience. Thanks for making the book available on kindle unlimited.
It wasn't a big bit or a miss but it was interesting enough. Nothing too gruesome about any of the stories, it should appeal to a much wider ghost story audience. Thanks for making the book available on kindle unlimited.
September 14, 2018
Very enjoyable!
I am not, usually, a fan of short stories but this collection was quite outstanding. I can honestly say that I enjoyed each and every one of them. Highly recommended.
I am not, usually, a fan of short stories but this collection was quite outstanding. I can honestly say that I enjoyed each and every one of them. Highly recommended.
September 2, 2018
I am a huge fan of Amy Cross and I really need to start diving into more of her books because I am never disappointed. This book of stories is no exception. It's all about ghosts and hauntings. My favorite was the story called The Disappearance of Rose Hilland. This story could honestly be made into a movie. I could see this in my head as I was reading it. Just loved it and it was so screwed up that it made you upset at the same time. She did a phenomenal job with this story.
Room 9 had a 1408 by Stephen King feel to it, but honestly I liked it better, especially the end!
The Fan was very good also can't say anything bad about it.
The Horror of Blackforke House I will have to say that if it wasn't for the other stories being so good, I would have had to give this book four stars, I just didn't really care for this story. Liked the idea when it started but didn't really care for the end that much.
Saying that though I loved this collection. She never disappoints!
Room 9 had a 1408 by Stephen King feel to it, but honestly I liked it better, especially the end!
The Fan was very good also can't say anything bad about it.
The Horror of Blackforke House I will have to say that if it wasn't for the other stories being so good, I would have had to give this book four stars, I just didn't really care for this story. Liked the idea when it started but didn't really care for the end that much.
Saying that though I loved this collection. She never disappoints!
October 12, 2018
This was a very good and perfect book to start out the fall fun of OCT with. There are 5ish short stories in it and they are in varying degrees of interest and spook depending on perspective and taste. I personally liked all of them but some fell flat more than others for me. I liked the first story, the second one was just "ok" the third one was very good but a bit too long for what it was..it dragged at times, the fourth one was my all time favorite, and was surprising and quite chilling, I even had to tell my mate about it! The fourth one was silly but meaningful and I loved how it was outside the box and made a point. Overall a good read and I would recommend it.
June 27, 2018
Couldn't put it down
I really enjoyed this book, read it straight through. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of horror collections. I found the characters of each story engaging and I genuinely cared what happened to them next. I'll be following this one up with more from the same author for sure.
I really enjoyed this book, read it straight through. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of horror collections. I found the characters of each story engaging and I genuinely cared what happened to them next. I'll be following this one up with more from the same author for sure.
July 26, 2018
3.5. Each story had a fair bit of suspense and a few interesting twists (the title story "Room 9" was consistently "twisty" and had the plot was intriguingly disturbing), but I found the endings to all of the stories a bit lackluster.
July 27, 2018
Each and every story was spellbinding. I thought I would never say something like this, but I enjoyed every story. They had
Twist and turns and turns in them plus the last stories and was a suprise. I would recommend this to all ghost stories enthusiast.
Twist and turns and turns in them plus the last stories and was a suprise. I would recommend this to all ghost stories enthusiast.
October 27, 2018
This was excellent, there are some absolutely awesome short stories in here, but also a couple of really weak ones. But what makes this collection stand out is that the good stories are SO good that you sorta forgive the weaker (boring) ones. It's strange to me that the stories wary this much in quality, but it just show that this author can bring her absolute A game when she needs to. I will absolutely buy other titles from her in the future.
August 16, 2021
Great short stories
This is a first short stories book I've read by Amy Cross and it won't be the last one. I love short stories and Room 9 was definitely my favorite but all together it was a spooktacular read!!
This is a first short stories book I've read by Amy Cross and it won't be the last one. I love short stories and Room 9 was definitely my favorite but all together it was a spooktacular read!!
June 4, 2018
Great Quick Read
Great selection as usual! Amy Cross is one of the best horror writers ever! It always amazes me how fast she puts out books!! Off to read another.
Great selection as usual! Amy Cross is one of the best horror writers ever! It always amazes me how fast she puts out books!! Off to read another.
June 15, 2018
Good Read
Amy Cross never disappoints. Great short stories, captivating and creepy. Enjoy this book. A recommended read. How does she do it?
Amy Cross never disappoints. Great short stories, captivating and creepy. Enjoy this book. A recommended read. How does she do it?
July 3, 2018
Hmmm
Good, read not sure I was concerned with all the topics. Bit more shock then scare. I do hold my interest.
Good, read not sure I was concerned with all the topics. Bit more shock then scare. I do hold my interest.
July 11, 2018
Enjoyed the short stories. Was a quick read.
July 25, 2018
Multiple letdowns
I liked how most of these were playing out, and then the conclusions were all so lackluster that I was left disappointed.
I liked how most of these were playing out, and then the conclusions were all so lackluster that I was left disappointed.
July 26, 2018
I liked a couple of the stories, but, two of them were kind of lackluster stories...like they had been rushed in their writing.
August 12, 2018
The third story was really good. The others were ok.
September 14, 2018
Out of the stories in the collection I only found 3 of them interesting, which was a huge disappointment as I love Amy Cross as an author.
September 26, 2018
I'm a HUGE Amy Cross fan, but this particular collection is not one if her best works. Honestly, I only truly enjoyed 3 stories. The rest missed the mark for me.
January 1, 2019
Good book
I loved the different stories in the book, so many different characters and twists in the stories. A must read!
I loved the different stories in the book, so many different characters and twists in the stories. A must read!
January 10, 2019
Enjoyed first two stories but the next one was to dark even for me to enjoy in a horror novel.
May 12, 2019
Some good
Some good, others not. The others were very wordy and hard to get thru.
Overall better than most horror novels
Some good, others not. The others were very wordy and hard to get thru.
Overall better than most horror novels
July 21, 2019
All of these stories were good and I enjoyed every one of them. Some had surprise endings but you'll enjoy them if you give them a try.
July 27, 2019
Good stories
Well told ghostly tales. Some with very surprising endings. Enjoyed reading them would read more by this author
That's all
Well told ghostly tales. Some with very surprising endings. Enjoyed reading them would read more by this author
That's all
September 23, 2019
A collection of horror stories. Good read
May 30, 2020
Mostly Good Stories
Except for the last two, this book was going along very well. Where it slipped was t he last two.
Except for the last two, this book was going along very well. Where it slipped was t he last two.
January 20, 2021
I love your work
Other then the master Stephen king I have never found ant author that I like like you. Don't ever stop. I tell you what you w writing and I'll heereasibf
Other then the master Stephen king I have never found ant author that I like like you. Don't ever stop. I tell you what you w writing and I'll heereasibf
October 19, 2022
Enjoyable, some great stories
Displaying 1 - 29 of 30 reviews