The Woman Under the White Tree

by Jamie Stewart

Frank Morris, a young man looking to enter into the Catholic priesthood, is offered the chance to accompany Father Michael Agnew on what he thinks will be a routine task. You know the sort of task priest’s do, such as having tea and buns with old ladies too afraid to leave the house.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

65 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Jamie Stewart is a horror author and editor. His books include PRICE MANOR: THE HOUSE THAT BLEEDS, I HEAR THE CLATTERING OF THE KEYS (AND OTHER FEVERS DREAMS) and MR. JONES. He has co-edited such anthologies as WELCOME TO THE FUNHOUSE for BLOOD RITES HORROR and THE SACRAMENT, which is coming this October from DARK LIT PRESS. His short stories can be found in various anthologies, podcasts and Youtube channels.

Jamie lives in Northern Ireland with his wife and dogs, Poppy and Henry. He can be found on Instagram @jamie.stewart.33 where he reviews and promotes books.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Morris is a trainee priest within the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland, he doesn’t know whether he’ll ever reach the finishing line though, as his mentor, the local Bishop thinks he’s too curious, and asks too many questions, but when he meets Father Agnew ( a fully qualified priest) there’ll be answers to questions that he never asked, and quite honestly ones that he will wish didn’t even exist!

Father Agnew invites Frank to accompany him on a job, but instead of the normal routine of visiting a sick parishioner, or a social call that involves tea, sympathy and cake, they arrive at the Ballygore Road, previously known as the Slaughter Road. As its name suggests, there have been many deaths along this road, but Frank isn’t prepared for Father Agnew’s explanation as to what they’re doing here, because Father Agnew says they’re here to perform an exorcism! Frank thinks it’s a joke, I mean who on earth would exorcise a tarmac road?

As Father Agnew begins his ghostly tale, corroborated by witness statements, Frank will discover that not all things on heaven and earth come with a logical explanation.

Author Jamie Stewart is becoming well known for his short horror stories, and this is the perfect read for Halloween. Oh boy, this was one really dark and scary plot, with some heart pounding moments - a traditional ghost story for the modern age.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three priests (good characterization) are out in the streets to perform some road exorcism on 9 crosswords of Ballygore Road or Slaughter Road as it is later refered to. Why the road has such a bad reputation we are informed by several inset stories. The author describes the further fate of pedophile Fred Hawkins (good details following up his story "Alfie And The Dead Girls") and introduces a mysterious woman with a noose hanging around her neck. Who is she? Then we hear Arthur Reid's story on he found his girlfriend hanging in a tree (very macabre scene). Hundreds of so called suicides are reported to have taken place on Slaughter Road. Were they really sucicides? Saiorse o' Sullivan, the witch held responsible for all the hauntings (we don't know if there's a connection to snooker player Ronnie, her witchcraft at least is top notch and intimidating) captures the three priests and takes them on a rollercoaster ride full of black magic and horror. We hear about her story and why she is stuck between life and death (great personal tragedy with reference to the Great Famine). The denouement is also extremely well done. Jamie Stewart comes up with a great horror story here full of interesting ideas and an absolute scary plot. I really like that he's building his own universe with characters like Fred Hawkins he refers to again from another story and his mentioning of The Exorcist. No, we don't want to go to Slaughter Road and have visions of what happened there (e.g. the train accident). Great modern horror with nasty new ideas, eerie mood, old school elements and a good plot! Absolutely recommended for every horror fan!

[MarilynW · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so not good at horror but I like to read it from time to time. My friends Ceecee and Peter like this story a LOT so I gave it a try. I also wanted to read it because this book ties in with Alfie & The Dead Girls, which I "got" more than this story. I do plan to read the next story that will feature Father Michael Agnew and his fight against the supernatural.

This will tie in a bit with the story: Picture me in a car with Peter and Ceecee in the front seat and me in the back seat, trying to see what is going on outside and asking "What's going on, what does that mean, why did he/she do that?" Ha ha...that was me, thinking too much when I'm reading horror.

Thank you to the author for this ARC. It was also a Kindle Unlimited option for me.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a ghostly read and perfect for this time of year. It’s a short story, less than an hour and was free on Amazon when I downloaded it.

Frank Morris is a trainee Catholic priest and isn’t sure if he wishes to continue as he constantly asks questions which annoys the Bishop who is training him. He sends him on a quest with Father Michael Agnew who for want of a better phrase, hunts ghosts. They travel to a road with numerous crossroads where there have been many awful events and ghostly sightings. What follows is a series of events that are really creepy. The story is well written and there are several jaw dropping moments. My only criticism is the end which seems a bit odd after the events they have witnessed!

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thank you to Jamie for the opportunity to read this (long) short story.

I started reading it one night in bed and got about half way though, and thought "Woah this is a little scary, its giving me goose bumps " (in a good way).
Anyway I went to sleep and at some point tin the night I remember having this dream involving "The Woman Under The White Tree", hmm a little bit more scary, given my wife had to wake me up as I was shouting at her (The Woman, not my wife).

So if that is not a good recommendation for a scary novella I don't know what is.

Jamie has said that he intends to write more stories with Father Agnew, I'd certainly be up for that.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to start this review by stating that I received a free copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changes or affects my review.

This is the third story by Stewart that I’ve been lucky enough to read and I must say, this one is by far my favourite. Stewart’s writing improves with each story and I think he really hits his groove in this one. I was instantly hooked from the start and couldn’t stop reading once I started. This is one HELL of a horror story. So much punch is packed into so few pages and it left me stunned. Every horror fan needs to read this story, it is deliciously dark and creepy!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Woman Under the White Tree by Jamie Stewart
A huge thank you to Jamie for having the crazy good imagination to write this story! So much creepy good stuff is going on with this story and it has definitely got me wanting to avoid Ballygore Road! I will read anything this author writes!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 4.5 star read.

What a corker of a creepy read! I can't wait to read more about Father Agnew. (Hint, hint dear author)

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick read. The story was entertaining, and the character development was good.

[Mindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Morris is a Catholic priest in training in Northern Ireland, however the Bishop who is training him finds Frank to be a man who is too curious to become a priest. Enter Father Agnew, a friend of the Bishop, and a heavily tattooed priest who offers to take Frank with him on an outing. Not surprisingly the pair are not going out on house calls, rather the unconventional Agnew drives them to Ballygore Road, a deserted stretch of tarmac that used to be called Slaughter Road. A number of people have died inexplicable deaths on this road, and Father Agnew has been studying all of them. He's uncovered the reason for all of these deaths, and with the help of Frank, he intends to exorcise the road of the evil that is killing so many unsuspecting drivers.

A fresh twist on traditional ghost stories, a haunted road just may be enough to cause Frank Morris to abandon his curiosity and finally become a man of the cloth.

[Latasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exorcism Road

This is a nice short story about a girl that was wronged and her fury at what she suffered and about a haunted road. I enjoyed it and would read more by this author.

[Octavia (ReadsWithDogs) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"All hauntings have violent histories, and such places repel the many and attract the few. Usually the foolish or depraved. Which category do we fall into?"

When @jamie.stewart.33 offered me a review copy of The Woman Under the White Tree I was expecting a typical Exorcism-style priest story. I was pleasantly surprised to find nothing typical in this creepy short story!
You've got Frank, a young priest still learning the ways of the priesthood and Father Agnew, an older heavily tattooed priest who takes Frank under his wing and offers to bring him on one of his outings. This particular outing is to the crossroads at a road known as Slaughter Road... soon Frank learns why and the evil is revealed.
For such a short story, the backstory was extremely detailed and kept me interested. I liked it so much I decided to check out some of the author's other works after reading it and now Jamie Stewart is definitely going to be an author I follow closely.

[Camden Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

To start this review off, I wanted to quickly say that while the author and I are friends here on Goodreads, this does not affect the way that I criticize and review books. This review is my 100% honest thoughts. With this being said, I think Jamie Stewart has released another great story. I am a huge fan of Jamie's writing and I have seen major growth in his writing since the last time I read one of his short stories. This short story is interconnected with another one of his short stories which helped tie up the loose ends of the last one and also gave us a great story in this one. The only "complaint" I have is that there were a few spelling and grammar mistakes but it wasn't enough to distract me from the point of the story. I'm really excited to see more of Father Agnew's journey as this is listed as a series on Kindle. Was a fantastic quick read.

[Felix Dimaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

~3.5 Stars~

The Woman Under the White Tree by Jamie Stewart was a quick and creepy story involving something very cool that I have yet to read in horror: a road requiring an exorcism.

The story follows a rookie priest and his mentor as they attempt to rid a road of an evil force that has caused several accidents and terrible incidents to those travelling it.

I enjoyed this story because of the unique concept, the amount of atmosphere and tension the author was able to create, and the buddy cop relationship between the two priests. It seems as if there may be more stories involving these two and I’m looking forward to reading them.

My only real gripe about this story (other than some formatting and editing issues) was that the end was perhaps a bit too neat and tidy, and lacked the tension the rest of the story had built up. However, the end came with a clear cut message, and I appreciate that in my fiction.

[Amanda (spooky.octopus.reads) Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the plot premise of this story quite as much as Alfie and the Dead Girls, but the other elements of the story surpassed that of A&DG. The whole mood and atmosphere of the story was dark and foreboding; the descriptions and language used were purposeful in creating a setting that envelops the reader. Character development was spot on, but I have to say that my favorite was the witch responsible for all the hauntings and strange events surrounding Ballygore Road, Saiorse O'Sullivan. If you're into horror with themes of hauntings, exorcisms, evil, and gruesome deaths, you should totally check this one out!

[William Bitner Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Woman Under the White Tree (Father Michael Agnew, Book 1)
By Jamie Stewart

Genre - Fiction
Sub-genre - Horror/Occult/Suspense/Short Story
Pages - 65
Format - Digital (ARC)
Publication Information - Independently Published, October 1, 2019 - ASIN:B07XQLKSF3
Reviewed by William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙📙📙

Once again Jamie Stewart gives us a great tale with his latest short story “The Woman Under the White Tree (Father Michael Agnew, Book 1)”. A very quick, comprehensive and cohesive read. In hell-for-leather form, Jamie Stewart is becoming, to this reader at least, the Prince of Short Story Horror. This little ditty has an eerie, evil “Route 666” meets “Preacher” sorta vibe to it. Great characters along with a fluid, quick flowing and intricately formatted narrative allows the reader to travel along on one “hell” of a journey. I’m always curious and anxious to see what Jamie will conjure up for us next. A fun, exciting and entertaining little read.

From the back cover: Frank Morris, a young man looking to enter into the Catholic priesthood, is offered the chance to accompany Father Michael Agnew on what he thinks will be a routine task. You know the sort of task priest’s do, such as having tea and buns with old ladies too afraid to leave the house.

Frank quickly discovers he is wrong.

Father Agnew isn't like a typical member of the Church. Nor is the nature of his job.

In the rolling hills of the Northern Irish countryside, the Ballygore Road has the highest fatality rate in all of the United Kingdom. It’s history and that of the land around it is long and bloody, stretching back to famine times. Having listened to those fortunate enough to survive; Father Agnew suspects that there is more to the accidental deaths that occur on the road than bad driving.

He believes it's haunted.

Frank Morris thinks the Father is joking. He thinks he’s being pranked. Surely, there’s no such thing as ghosts. Is there?

The Woman Under The White Tree is perfect for horror fans, especially those that enjoy stories that feature two members of the Catholic priesthood, Ford Cortina’s, exorcism, time travel and everything else but the kitchen sink. It is also the first story in the Father Michael Agnew series.

About the Author: About the Author: Jamie Stewart is the author of Amazon Best Sellers Insular and Trick or Treat. Jamie Stewart started writing stories at the age of nine inspired by R.L Stein's Goosebumps series and old horror movies that he was far too young to watch in hindsight. His novel Mr. Jones is set for re-release late summer 2019.

His favourite authors include Stephen King, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Joe Hill, J.K Rowling, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett to name a few.

Other works by Jamie Stewart: “Insular”, “Trick or Treat”, “Mr. Jones” and “Alfie & The Dead Girls”.

[Raffaella Rowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful revelation! I enjoyed this short story. I read through it on a rainy and dark evening in London as it reads easily.
The timing of the year and weather were apt to the spooky subject of the story. Wow!
Frank Morris is a young man looking to enter the priesthood. He accompanies Father Michael Agnew on what he thinks is a routine visit.
But Father Agnew isn't your typical priest. Nor is the nature of his job.
The story is set in the Northern Irish countryside. The Ballygore Road has the highest mortality rate in all of the United Kingdom and a bloody history, stretching back years.
Father Agnew believes it's haunted, and he has a job to do.
If you like horror and spooky stories this is perfect for you. It depicts a Ford Cortina, exorcism and gruesome death scenes that, if I had not needed my eyes to read, I would have closed them tightly and hid under a blanket. But it also touches on important subjects like good and evil, and faith. A delightful story. Brilliant!

[Hugo S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

Nice horror story which holds its own but nicely tied to its prequel, "Alfie and the dead girls." Awesome job, I liked it.

[looneybooks79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eerie tale about a witch wreaking havoc on a road, told by a priest to his apprentice, while they bless the road and the crossroads on it. In the same universe as ‘Alfie and the dead girls’ (offering some justice at all)
4,5/5

[Zakk Madness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone get me a young priest and an old priest...

For real though, how does one up the ante on the classic Crossroads narrative? Ask Father Agnew. The Woman Under the White Tree, is the first story in the Father Michael Agnew series from Jamie Stewart, and it is a good time. Yarns concerning Gents of the cloth and their battles against the darkest evils are an immediate draw to me.

There is a lot to enjoy in this novella. There is also a lot going on in a short amount of time, I’d love another dozen or two pages to flesh out these characters a bit more. This goes for the three priests we meet and for The Woman Under the White Tree as well, it feels like there’s a more to this story. Secrets and revelations. And with the label “The first story in...” I hope we get find out. I’ll definitely come back for the further adventures of Father Michael Agnew.

Entertainment value 4/ 5

Zakk is a big dumb animal!

Read via paid Kindle Unlimited Subscription.

[Valeria Tsykunova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great short story by an amazing aspiring writer Jamie Stewart.

I thought I'd give you some encouragement to go grab it and plunge into this nerve wrecking story of betrayal, misunderstanding, hope, and repentance.

The story is set in Northern Ireland and it features two priests of the Catholic Church on a job to perform an exorcism on the Ballygore Road, previously known as the Slaughter Road.

Frank Morris is a trainee priest who is not sure if he's in the right place, because he's too curious and asks too many questions.
Father Agnew is not your average priest. Like, you know, a tattooed priest performing exorcism. Badass 👌
He takes Frank on the job on request of the local Bishop to show him what the job really entails and see how he takes it. So Father Agnew begins his ghostly story about a series of deaths that happened along the Slaughter Road. And when comes to the part about Saoirse O'sullivan, that's when things start unraveling fast.

This is a story within a story, or better three stories within the main story. Which is even better!! Loved it. It was a 5⭐ read for me. I highly recommend it to everyone if you still haven't read it!!

[Michael Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unexpected and Impressive

This story felt like a hushed and hurried conversation in a crowded room. Poignant and frightening and full of vivid imagery, this story packed a punch that I was not at all expecting.

I would tell you more about it, but I'll say this instead: read this story.

[Thomas Gloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

🎃Gloom Review🎃

“Its branches held no life, and it’s bark was marble white. The road split around it the way a river would around a substance it couldn’t penetrate or erode.”

I don’t normally give this type of review for a short story, but @jamie.stewart.33’s haunting tale grabbed me around the collar, and would let go until the closing words.👌🏼

Last month I reread William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist,” and it’s been solidified as one of my favorite horror novels.🎃

The two biggest reasons I love “The Exorcist” are:
1. Blatty’s beautiful, haunting, mature, and grungy prose. His writing is a true symphony of various styles.
2. The tropes.

Blatty’s novel utilized some of my all-time favorite horror tropes, and many of those same tropes appear in “The Woman Under The White Tree.” The author splendidly weaves them throughout his story, and delivers an authentic plot that doesn’t feel ham-fisted.👀

From a tattooed priest, to a woman with a complicated past, this short story manages to do what many other shorts forget... offer up fleshed out, nuanced, and flawed characters.😎

Beyond the great story, and relatable characters, Jamie’s descriptive prose paints vivid pictures. One scene in particular has been seared into my brain.🧠

As it is a short story, I don’t want to give away too much. What I can do is HIGHLY recommend this artistic expression of the redemptive power forgiveness holds, and the horrific destruction that comes when vengeance is allowed free reign.🔥

An easy:
⭐️5/5⭐️

[Christina B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫✨ (3.75 rounded up)
•
A great short read, perfect for spooky season!
•
I was really impressed by the sense of dread achieved in such a short story. It gave me The Woman in Black vibes which I love. My only complaint is that the ending wrapped up too quickly and easily. After such a heartbreaking origin and horrific history, I think a larger struggle between good and evil would have been a more impactful and effective ending.
•
Father Agnew is a character with a lot of potential. I’d love to see a novel developing him further and could easily see a series with his different encounters with evil. This is the first story I’ve read by Jamie Stewart, but it won’t be the last!

[Godzillareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE WOMAN UNDER THE WHITE TREE by Jamie Stewart is a quick read that doesn't lack in entertainment. I'm not sure I've ever come across a story about a road that needed an exorcism. I was thrilled to see there is a follow up story called ALFIE & THE DEAD GIRLS. I'll be checking out the rest of Jamie's books and you should, too!

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good, short novella with a pretty interesting premise: the exorcism of a possessed/haunted road. Pretty neat idea and it's done well. The writing is good and so are the characters. Flashbacks take up a bulk of the story, and give back story to how thing road got to be the way it is. I would suggest this to any horror fans, especially ones that like something a little different

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cool story, which started out slowly, gradually building into a frightening and gory conclusion. Frank finds he may be more suited to an unusual role within the church.
I want to read more about Father Agnew's escapades as an exorcist...

[W Hearsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Easy to read, great pace and compelling. The Author Jamie Stewart is one to watch. This short story was free on Amazon. A clever creepy tale. Dark, creepy and claustrophobic. A gripping page turner.The idea could become a full series. Look forward to reading more from this Author.. Loved it!