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Beneath Us
Included in this book are four short paranormal stories. "The Skull," In the summer of 1987, 14-year-old farm boy John Gardner comes across a mysterious skull shaped figurine which will ultimately change his and his family's life forever. "The Farmhouse," When Eleanor finds out her grandfather has passed, she goes to visit his old farmhouse to help clean out years worth of clutter when she discovers something strange about the old house. "The Ouija Board," When Rose moves into her new home, her friends decide to pull out a Ouija Board for some laughs until it reveals the day Rose will die. "Chipper," tells the story of Sarah, who is fresh out of high-school and is looking for a new job when her father lands her one at their local lumber mill, and learns just how dangerous working in a mill could be.
154 pages, Paperback
First published February 12, 2020
9 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 10, 2024
If I remember correctly, I found this book when the author had posted it to Reddit at some point, related to a subreddit related to abusive or unsupportive parents. I empathized and understood what it was like to be a child of this as well, so I wanted to support an author that didn't have the support to publish a book for themselves.
I want to preface this that I am stating this in a kind manner, because I whole-heartedly believe that Serena has the potential takes to improve as an author and I want to give grace for not only their first book, but also it being completely self-published.
That being said, I really, truly wish that there had been some proofreading done before this book was published. I understand that it's self-published, but there are lots of people online that are willing to help proofread everything from school papers to resumes, and even books for free. There were a considerable amount of typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, wrong variations of words, lack of proper punctuation, etc and it was super distracting, and sometimes completely changed the meaning of a sentence in some cases.
I'd say that besides this though, this would make for a 'slightly more mature' YA supernatural/horror anthology. There were two stories within that genuinely kept my interest through the entire thing and especially in the story 'The Farmhouse' I empathized deeply of how creepy it is to be in/cleaning out an empty house where someone has recently died and it's described well.
Otherwise, again, I do think Serena has a lot of potential to grow as an author, especially once getting some proofreading help.
I give Beneath Us 2/5 woodchippers
While growing up, her Christian mother had banned it from the house along with Monopoly and Hungry Hungry Hippos (something about it not having any Christian values.)"
I want to preface this that I am stating this in a kind manner, because I whole-heartedly believe that Serena has the potential takes to improve as an author and I want to give grace for not only their first book, but also it being completely self-published.
That being said, I really, truly wish that there had been some proofreading done before this book was published. I understand that it's self-published, but there are lots of people online that are willing to help proofread everything from school papers to resumes, and even books for free. There were a considerable amount of typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, wrong variations of words, lack of proper punctuation, etc and it was super distracting, and sometimes completely changed the meaning of a sentence in some cases.
I'd say that besides this though, this would make for a 'slightly more mature' YA supernatural/horror anthology. There were two stories within that genuinely kept my interest through the entire thing and especially in the story 'The Farmhouse' I empathized deeply of how creepy it is to be in/cleaning out an empty house where someone has recently died and it's described well.
Otherwise, again, I do think Serena has a lot of potential to grow as an author, especially once getting some proofreading help.
I give Beneath Us 2/5 woodchippers
While growing up, her Christian mother had banned it from the house along with Monopoly and Hungry Hungry Hippos (something about it not having any Christian values.)"
November 29, 2020
I saw a terrible, mean review for this book. So naturally, I got curious. As usual, it was just someone hating on a well written, fun story just because it is independently published, and they were the usual self-appointed literary critic who is bitter and little and sees indies as an easy target. Sorry, but being a good critic is being able to think outside of one's preferences, not being someone who reads one thing in a book they don't happen to like and thinks they therefore have permission to trash other people's hard work. That's stupid. Have a great read guys, and support your local indie!
February 13, 2020
I downloaded mine on eBook last night. Each story is different but my two personal favorites are “The Skull” & “The Farmhouse.” The Skull was the sadder story out of the four, but also very touching. I’ve grown to really relate to John and eventually his daughter. “The Ouija” has a very unexpected ending but I’ve never read anything like “Chipper” before, which is less on the Paranormal side and more on the mystery side. Overall very thrilling!
March 25, 2024
Enjoyed the read, I liked the setting and the detail on the first three stories. The fourth story had me on the edge of my seat. Would love to see more from this author.
October 8, 2024
Love the 4 short stories! My favourite is the idea of the samwill one! Great execution
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews