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The Drowning Game: A Novella of the Supernatural Plus Six Other Spine-Tingling Tales
Welcome to the Sutton County Line. . .
It was the hottest summer on record in Sutton County, and Sandy and her friends were desperately in need of a swimming pool. There was a perfectly good one going to waste right in Sandy’s neighborhood—a pool that belonged to the rambling, empty old mansion behind her house—a pool that no one ever used. Until one blisteringly hot summer afternoon, Sandy and her friends made the mistake of trespassing on the mansion’s grounds and taking a dip the pool. Soon they found that something terrible lurked in the pool—something that would prove the old saying that Sandy sometimes heard around town when growing up: “You never know what will happen, once a body crosses over the Sutton County Line.” It was a lesson that Sandy would learn again and again, in a novella and six other spine-tingling tales of the supernatural from horror author Jane Nightshade. Visit the haunted swimming pool of the old Sutton Mansion; the enchanted Old West-themed shopping center in downtown Sutton; the old saloon where an elderly barfly confronts his part in a mass murder, and the other dark places of Sutton County.
It was the hottest summer on record in Sutton County, and Sandy and her friends were desperately in need of a swimming pool. There was a perfectly good one going to waste right in Sandy’s neighborhood—a pool that belonged to the rambling, empty old mansion behind her house—a pool that no one ever used. Until one blisteringly hot summer afternoon, Sandy and her friends made the mistake of trespassing on the mansion’s grounds and taking a dip the pool. Soon they found that something terrible lurked in the pool—something that would prove the old saying that Sandy sometimes heard around town when growing up: “You never know what will happen, once a body crosses over the Sutton County Line.” It was a lesson that Sandy would learn again and again, in a novella and six other spine-tingling tales of the supernatural from horror author Jane Nightshade. Visit the haunted swimming pool of the old Sutton Mansion; the enchanted Old West-themed shopping center in downtown Sutton; the old saloon where an elderly barfly confronts his part in a mass murder, and the other dark places of Sutton County.
196 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 22, 2018
About the author
Jane Nightshade
36 books22 followersI write non-fiction and fiction. Check out my non-fiction articles on Horrornews.net and Horrified. My fiction includes The Drowning Game: A Story of the Supernatural, A Scream Full of Ghosts, and the just-released Jane Nightshade's Serial Encounters. I've also been published/dramatized in more than 20 anthologies and/or podcasts.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 27, 2019
What an incredible novel put together in several shorter stories or episodes. Everything started with the drowning game (a boy actually drowned in a competition who could hold his breath longest under water) in the pool of the old Sutton House. Who is this mysterious Melissa or Melissandre we often come across? What is her connection to the Sutton family (who built this town and were the richest family). I love the reference to the old folk lore of Melusine (a kind of female water demon). Main character is Sandy, a 13-year old girl who was a witness to the terrible drowning of the boy. Later on she takes on a job with Ignace Pace who owns the historical museum of Sutton. What about the gold nuggets he has on display and the mysterious old man who tries to get them back? What is hidden inside the clothes of the mannequin in the window? The author invents a whole town and let's her main character act in a brilliant way from one eerie and uncanny adventure to another. The stories are well plotted, you soon feel familiar with the cast and everything is very mysterious and compelling. I was very surprised about the quality of that book and was very enthusiastic about reading it. Highly recommended!
January 31, 2026
ARC REVIEW
This anthology comprises a series of interconnected stories. Drawing inspiration from Ray Bradbury's stories , the author crafts a narrative centered on Sandy and her extraordinary gift. The stories possess a distinctly eerie tone, balancing originality with suspense. The first tale is especially noteworthy. On the whole, the collection is engaging.
Thanks to Book Sirens for sending me an advanced copy to read and review
This anthology comprises a series of interconnected stories. Drawing inspiration from Ray Bradbury's stories , the author crafts a narrative centered on Sandy and her extraordinary gift. The stories possess a distinctly eerie tone, balancing originality with suspense. The first tale is especially noteworthy. On the whole, the collection is engaging.
Thanks to Book Sirens for sending me an advanced copy to read and review
April 17, 2026
I’ve decided to rate this book as a whole by finding the average rating of all of the stories. I’ve also arranged these stories from least favorite to most favorite.
Stagecoach Plaza 7/10
Water Summons 8/10
Sutton County Line 8/10
The Fresno Kid 9/10
Silverado Saloon 9/10
The Girl Who Wasn’t There 9/10
The Drowning Game 10/10
I loved that this book was centered around the same girl and her supernatural experiences. I also loved that it jumped around in time and I would definitely recommend.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Stagecoach Plaza 7/10
Water Summons 8/10
Sutton County Line 8/10
The Fresno Kid 9/10
Silverado Saloon 9/10
The Girl Who Wasn’t There 9/10
The Drowning Game 10/10
I loved that this book was centered around the same girl and her supernatural experiences. I also loved that it jumped around in time and I would definitely recommend.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 5, 2026
4.5 This novel is full of eerie occurrences that all seem to have a young girl of 13 stuck in the middle of. This book had me captivated. Each story kind of bleeds into each other. My favorite was the first one called the Drowning game. It’s tragic but it was interesting how a mystery was solved. I kept wondering why everything was happening to Sandy? I mean, one weird experience is one thing but multiple ones one right after the other? And why in Sutton? Well, you find out a clue at the very end.
I really liked this book. The author has a great imagination.
I received a free ebook from BookSirens. My review is voluntary.
I really liked this book. The author has a great imagination.
I received a free ebook from BookSirens. My review is voluntary.
March 29, 2026
This book really surprised me. Usually in an anthology, there may be one or two stories that I find kind of ho-hum. At least one, at least. This group of seven tales took me over completely. I absolutely adored the protagonist, Sandy, or Sandra Maureen as her friend liked to call her when he was teasing. I could hear a quiet soft southern drawl in that. I also enjoyed Mr. Ignace Page, proprietor of The Sutton County Historical Society's Museum, and I am very curious about what else might be in that big ole safe he has in the back. The writer captured the feeling of the early 70s so perfectly that it invoked summer memories for me from that time period. The style of writing was a joy to read, I really did not want to stop. I enjoyed the interconnection of the stories, as well as the darker undertones during this hot California summer and through a few years of a lonely girl's existence once things turned bad that summer. I hope that in the future Ms. Jane Nightshade may revisit this place, in this time. I would eat it up eagerly.
i received a copy of this book via the author through BookSirens and I voluntarily leave my opinion of the tales.
i received a copy of this book via the author through BookSirens and I voluntarily leave my opinion of the tales.
March 22, 2026
Book was a bit slow to start but it turned out great. It’s a cozy horror with interconnected shorts stories. My favorite was The Girl Who Wasn’t There. I would read more from this author.
I received this free ebook from BookSirens.
I received this free ebook from BookSirens.
March 21, 2026
This was such a brilliant read .
I like stuff about mermaids and this was quite eerie . the first story was my favourite. very creepy.
the other stories were really good too. a lot of mystery and suspense .
It kept me engaged and interested.
I like stuff about mermaids and this was quite eerie . the first story was my favourite. very creepy.
the other stories were really good too. a lot of mystery and suspense .
It kept me engaged and interested.
October 26, 2020
The Drowning Game is a collection of seven short stories that link together chronologically, following 12 year old girl Sandy through the smouldering summer when her best friend dies, through starting at an unfriendly new school, gaining a friend and mentor in the oddball proprietor of a local museum, through to starting High School two years later. Touched by death and, quite literally, touched by a supernatural entity in the first story, Sandy seems to acquire, at least for a while, the ability to sense and interact with otherworldy forces, triggering the eerie events of the following stories.
Nightshade confesses up front her devotion to Ray Bradbury and the great man’s 1962 classic Something Wicked This Way Comes. Bradbury recast his hometown of Waukegan, Illinois as the fictional Green Town. In place of the small town Midwest of the 1920s, Jane Nightshade invites us to Sutton, the rural California of the 1970s, a place where foundational myths blend with Old World paganism, Indian lore, serial killers, school hauntings and, of course, demonic circuses.
It’s a fine setting, catching a glimpse of the American experience at a juncture when the old lifestyle of tight-knit rural communities, with their semi-aristocratic founding families and peculiar local lore, were blending together into anonymous suburban sprawl. Nightshade is recalling the long hot summers before video games or cell phones, shops without malls, children free to cycle everywhere and, just outside the town limits, the rattlesnake-infested hills where pioneer villages hold strange secrets or, just beyond your garden fence, Victorian townhouses host forgotten horrors.
The first, and longest, story is The Drowning Game itself, in which Sandy and her friends trespass in the obligatory Victorian mansion in order to use its heavenly outdoor pool. The ‘game’ involves holding your breath underwater and Sandy’s anxieties are powerfully conveyed as her friends court death beneath the surface. And death, once courted, responds. A supernatural mystery unfolds around a shocking death but what the ending leaves you with is the profound disappointment of dashed romantic dreams.
In Stagecoach Plaza, Ignace Pierce plays cards with a ghost and in The Girl Who Wasn’t There Sandy experiences a haunting herself. The Silverado Saloon introduces local serial killer lore and ventures further into magical realism. Fresno Kid is a delightful morality tale, in which Nightshade gets to honour Ray Bradbury with her very own supernatural circus. Water Summons takes a slightly more Lovecraftian turn, as an old vinyl record invokes a malevolent entity, but the tone stays resolutely upbeat. Sutton County Line returns to the themes and secondary characters of the first story and rounds out the collection with a monster that Sandy is by now equipped to tackle head-on.
I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Sandy is an amiable narrator with the right mixture of self-awareness and an adolescent stupidity that keeps her from resolving problems too quickly. Other than the first story, there’s no great sense of peril in these tales. I would struggle to characterise them as ‘horror.’ They are weird tales in the Young Adult genre. Yet there is something here for older readers, which is a powerful jolt of nostalgia for an America and a childhood that no longer exists, a lost age of innocence, which seems to be a ghost that haunts the American mind to this day.
Nightshade confesses up front her devotion to Ray Bradbury and the great man’s 1962 classic Something Wicked This Way Comes. Bradbury recast his hometown of Waukegan, Illinois as the fictional Green Town. In place of the small town Midwest of the 1920s, Jane Nightshade invites us to Sutton, the rural California of the 1970s, a place where foundational myths blend with Old World paganism, Indian lore, serial killers, school hauntings and, of course, demonic circuses.
It’s a fine setting, catching a glimpse of the American experience at a juncture when the old lifestyle of tight-knit rural communities, with their semi-aristocratic founding families and peculiar local lore, were blending together into anonymous suburban sprawl. Nightshade is recalling the long hot summers before video games or cell phones, shops without malls, children free to cycle everywhere and, just outside the town limits, the rattlesnake-infested hills where pioneer villages hold strange secrets or, just beyond your garden fence, Victorian townhouses host forgotten horrors.
The first, and longest, story is The Drowning Game itself, in which Sandy and her friends trespass in the obligatory Victorian mansion in order to use its heavenly outdoor pool. The ‘game’ involves holding your breath underwater and Sandy’s anxieties are powerfully conveyed as her friends court death beneath the surface. And death, once courted, responds. A supernatural mystery unfolds around a shocking death but what the ending leaves you with is the profound disappointment of dashed romantic dreams.
In Stagecoach Plaza, Ignace Pierce plays cards with a ghost and in The Girl Who Wasn’t There Sandy experiences a haunting herself. The Silverado Saloon introduces local serial killer lore and ventures further into magical realism. Fresno Kid is a delightful morality tale, in which Nightshade gets to honour Ray Bradbury with her very own supernatural circus. Water Summons takes a slightly more Lovecraftian turn, as an old vinyl record invokes a malevolent entity, but the tone stays resolutely upbeat. Sutton County Line returns to the themes and secondary characters of the first story and rounds out the collection with a monster that Sandy is by now equipped to tackle head-on.
I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Sandy is an amiable narrator with the right mixture of self-awareness and an adolescent stupidity that keeps her from resolving problems too quickly. Other than the first story, there’s no great sense of peril in these tales. I would struggle to characterise them as ‘horror.’ They are weird tales in the Young Adult genre. Yet there is something here for older readers, which is a powerful jolt of nostalgia for an America and a childhood that no longer exists, a lost age of innocence, which seems to be a ghost that haunts the American mind to this day.
April 4, 2026
This author is absolutely brilliant! I loved how the stories blended together. It kept my attention the entire way through. I look foreard to reading more from this author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
March 29, 2026
This is a collection of related spooky stories focused on one girl’s experiences with a haunted family and their legacy. I enjoyed the connected aspect and it reminds me of more classical horror stories.
The drowning game - 2.5/5, I liked the mythology but the writing felt stilted at times and it was all pieced together through a monologue chunk towards the end of the story
Stagecoach Plaza - 3/5, easy to guess twist but a fun story
The Girl Who Wasn’t There - 3/5, spooky build up and I didn’t see the reveal coming
The Silverado Saloon - 2.25/5, again all revealed in one monologue type chunk of text at the end.
The Fresno Kid - 2.25/5, the circus aspect is an interesting one with the moral lesson attached
Water Summons - 2.5/5, interesting but not long enough to reach the needed spookiness
Sutton County Line - 3.5/5, I’m enjoying the mystery! It ties in the previous stories, and the historical aspect is fun
When It Rains It Pours - 3/5, the creature is icky but I liked the decisive attitude. And the final tie in to the overall mythology
Thank you to the author and BookSirens for the ARC.
The drowning game - 2.5/5, I liked the mythology but the writing felt stilted at times and it was all pieced together through a monologue chunk towards the end of the story
Stagecoach Plaza - 3/5, easy to guess twist but a fun story
The Girl Who Wasn’t There - 3/5, spooky build up and I didn’t see the reveal coming
The Silverado Saloon - 2.25/5, again all revealed in one monologue type chunk of text at the end.
The Fresno Kid - 2.25/5, the circus aspect is an interesting one with the moral lesson attached
Water Summons - 2.5/5, interesting but not long enough to reach the needed spookiness
Sutton County Line - 3.5/5, I’m enjoying the mystery! It ties in the previous stories, and the historical aspect is fun
When It Rains It Pours - 3/5, the creature is icky but I liked the decisive attitude. And the final tie in to the overall mythology
Thank you to the author and BookSirens for the ARC.
February 10, 2021
Finished reading The Drowning Game the other night. Kinda made me wish I was reading it during the day...with the lights on... and a popcorn bowl containing silver bullets instead of Orville Reddenbacher.
This book is as well written as pretty much any you'll find, and the imagination of the author is second to none. The suspense factor is as good as any Twilight Zone or Night Gallery episode that I've ever seen. I could just see Rod Serling standing in front of an artist's surrendering of a vintage-era swimming pool, and dropping well-placed hints as to the terror that would follow.
But besides just fear, at which this book does a better than fair job, the reader may find that a number of different emotions have also been stoked: nostalgia (as it is something of a period piece, but not so far back that it takes King Tut to remember it), sentiment, joy and sadness, and "coming-of-age", written in a way that most any reader could identify on a personal level.
The author's imagination as to quite literally the "nature of the beast" is nothing short of stunning. All in all it was highly entertaining and could be justly recommended to any avid or even casual reader. If you like suspense, believe me, Jane Nightshade delivers to goods...and THEN some!
This book is as well written as pretty much any you'll find, and the imagination of the author is second to none. The suspense factor is as good as any Twilight Zone or Night Gallery episode that I've ever seen. I could just see Rod Serling standing in front of an artist's surrendering of a vintage-era swimming pool, and dropping well-placed hints as to the terror that would follow.
But besides just fear, at which this book does a better than fair job, the reader may find that a number of different emotions have also been stoked: nostalgia (as it is something of a period piece, but not so far back that it takes King Tut to remember it), sentiment, joy and sadness, and "coming-of-age", written in a way that most any reader could identify on a personal level.
The author's imagination as to quite literally the "nature of the beast" is nothing short of stunning. All in all it was highly entertaining and could be justly recommended to any avid or even casual reader. If you like suspense, believe me, Jane Nightshade delivers to goods...and THEN some!
April 30, 2021
THE DROWNING GAME is a suspenseful, old-fashioned psychological horror tale, influenced by the stories of Ray Bradbury, yet highly original on its own. It takes place among a group of children in early 70s rural California. The descriptions and dialogue are so realistic which takes the reader into that earlier nostalgic time, that some of us also remember. The book is a great escape, especially from this year of the pandemic. Jane Nightshade is a brilliant writer. I can’t wait to read more of her work.
May 15, 2022
Delightful
The author note at the start of this book states she was inspired by Ray Bradbury's Green Town trilogy. I love those stories and I found this every bit as enjoyable.
The author note at the start of this book states she was inspired by Ray Bradbury's Green Town trilogy. I love those stories and I found this every bit as enjoyable.
March 30, 2026
A fresh take on a paranormal thriller, that will leave you wanting more. You have the main story 'The drowning Game' & then a series of short stories that interlink with the main one, explaining certain plot points / historical links.
You begin the story meeting...
* Cleats - The stereo-typical jock who has moved into the quint small town & is pretty much treated as a superstar.
* Sandy - She's got a crush on Cleats & is trying to act cool so her will notice her, but she's likes to play by the rules.
* Paddy - Sandy's BBF & with a dad whose the football coach at school is constantly trying to prove himself in the athletic field to please him dad/get noticed by him.
* Tom - He's more of the hanger-on, being a relative of Paddy's he's 'accepted'.
This motley crew all live near each other & spend their down time hanging out, well as summer progresses & the blazing sun crisping up the foliage they are looking for a relief, & this comes in the form of Sandy's wealthy neighbours pool. The decide to jump the fence & use the pool in secret throughout the summer, only not everything is what it seems & the glistening welcoming pool isn't so welcoming, & when they start to play the drowning game, the inevitable is sure to happen!
I found the referencing to French folklore, mermaids & connections to the 'Gold Rush' era fascinating & very cleverly layered throughout the story, building the tension as the storyline is gradually revealed. I really enjoyed the Stagecoach Plaza section as it gave added depth & a different flavour to the storyline, but linking in the 'gold rush' era into the overall plotline.
I did feel that the pacing was moderate, with a few patchy places were is slowed up, but was redeemable. Whilst the descriptive narrative was superb, really drawing the reader in & enhancing the reading experience.
* Thank you to Booksirens for the free ARC copy of this e-book, I'm leaving this review voluntarily*
You begin the story meeting...
* Cleats - The stereo-typical jock who has moved into the quint small town & is pretty much treated as a superstar.
* Sandy - She's got a crush on Cleats & is trying to act cool so her will notice her, but she's likes to play by the rules.
* Paddy - Sandy's BBF & with a dad whose the football coach at school is constantly trying to prove himself in the athletic field to please him dad/get noticed by him.
* Tom - He's more of the hanger-on, being a relative of Paddy's he's 'accepted'.
This motley crew all live near each other & spend their down time hanging out, well as summer progresses & the blazing sun crisping up the foliage they are looking for a relief, & this comes in the form of Sandy's wealthy neighbours pool. The decide to jump the fence & use the pool in secret throughout the summer, only not everything is what it seems & the glistening welcoming pool isn't so welcoming, & when they start to play the drowning game, the inevitable is sure to happen!
I found the referencing to French folklore, mermaids & connections to the 'Gold Rush' era fascinating & very cleverly layered throughout the story, building the tension as the storyline is gradually revealed. I really enjoyed the Stagecoach Plaza section as it gave added depth & a different flavour to the storyline, but linking in the 'gold rush' era into the overall plotline.
I did feel that the pacing was moderate, with a few patchy places were is slowed up, but was redeemable. Whilst the descriptive narrative was superb, really drawing the reader in & enhancing the reading experience.
* Thank you to Booksirens for the free ARC copy of this e-book, I'm leaving this review voluntarily*
May 10, 2026
I would like to start by complimenting the author on this well-written collection of short stories. The author’s command of language made this a pleasure to read. The storytelling feels classic and rooted in a strong foundational understanding of prose, which I greatly appreciated as a reader.
The book carries the atmosphere of a gloomy library with gold fixtures. There are hints of creeping darkness moving in the corners of one’s vision, but the shadows never fully materialise into outright horror. The strength of this collection lies in how it lingers at the edge of horror without pushing the reader fully into the abyss.
The target audience for this book is likely tween readers exploring the horror genre for the first time. The stories are engaging, and the mystery surrounding them keeps the reader invested. The unsettling atmosphere captures the feeling horror is meant to evoke, while remaining gentle enough not to become overwhelming. I believe this balance makes the book especially suitable for younger readers.
As an adult reader and an avid fan of horror fiction, I recognise that I am not the target audience for this collection. For me, it fell just short of a full 5-star rating because I found it difficult to fully connect with such a young protagonist.
I received this book as a free advance copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The book carries the atmosphere of a gloomy library with gold fixtures. There are hints of creeping darkness moving in the corners of one’s vision, but the shadows never fully materialise into outright horror. The strength of this collection lies in how it lingers at the edge of horror without pushing the reader fully into the abyss.
The target audience for this book is likely tween readers exploring the horror genre for the first time. The stories are engaging, and the mystery surrounding them keeps the reader invested. The unsettling atmosphere captures the feeling horror is meant to evoke, while remaining gentle enough not to become overwhelming. I believe this balance makes the book especially suitable for younger readers.
As an adult reader and an avid fan of horror fiction, I recognise that I am not the target audience for this collection. For me, it fell just short of a full 5-star rating because I found it difficult to fully connect with such a young protagonist.
I received this book as a free advance copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 9, 2026
I liked the beginning of the book. A group of 4 kids hanging out and being lazy during the summer. Sneaking into a neighbors pool with not a care. Boys playing a crazy water game until it got out of hand and one of them died. The middle of the book stumped me though. While Sandy was pretty much in every story, the flow did not work for me. At times the stories just seemed like filler to add to the page count. Towards the end it felt like things got back on track and the story that started it all seemed to get wrapped up.
I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 23, 2026
Enjoyed this collection of interconnected stories; made me want to live in the quaint little town of Sutton County just so I could experience the strange happenings for myself.
Thanks to the author and BookSirens for the eARC.
Thanks to the author and BookSirens for the eARC.
June 4, 2023
This book grabbed my attention straight away. The town is as much a character as the people who live in it. Loved the humour, horror and supernatural elements of the book.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews