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Cursed
After the loss of her husband, Susan sought a safe place to rebuild a life for herself and her six-year-old daughter, Christine. Quaint and picturesque, Porter Mines seemed ideal. Susan soon learns appearances can be deceiving.
Like many small towns, the history of Porter Mines was woven in a tapestry of dark secrets. One centered on a witch, who vowed with her dying breath to claim vengeance against those who wronged her. A ghost story rooted in grisly truth.
Can Susan protect Christine from a wrath even death couldn’t tame?
Or will her only child fall prey to the curse of Porter Mines?
Like many small towns, the history of Porter Mines was woven in a tapestry of dark secrets. One centered on a witch, who vowed with her dying breath to claim vengeance against those who wronged her. A ghost story rooted in grisly truth.
Can Susan protect Christine from a wrath even death couldn’t tame?
Or will her only child fall prey to the curse of Porter Mines?
235 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2020
11 people are currently reading
706 people want to read
About the author
Richard Schiver
27 books81 followersRichard Schiver is an author of supernatural thrillers and science fiction, blending cosmic horror, psychological suspense, and family drama. With a passion for exploring the boundaries between reality and the unknown, Richard crafts stories that challenge, thrill, and inspire.
Written in Blood is Richard's personal blog where he shares his thoughts on writing, and whatever else might strike his fancy. http://www.richardschiver.com
He can be contacted directly at rschiver@gmail.com and would be delighted to hear from you.
Written in Blood is Richard's personal blog where he shares his thoughts on writing, and whatever else might strike his fancy. http://www.richardschiver.com
He can be contacted directly at rschiver@gmail.com and would be delighted to hear from you.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 27, 2021
Good creepy book
Cursed
By Richard Schiver
This book has supernatural and human horrors to keep you turning papers. A town myth that appears true, children go missing, revenge by more than one crossed character! Interesting and creepy book!
I won this on Goodreads Giveaway! Thanks!
Cursed
By Richard Schiver
This book has supernatural and human horrors to keep you turning papers. A town myth that appears true, children go missing, revenge by more than one crossed character! Interesting and creepy book!
I won this on Goodreads Giveaway! Thanks!
June 23, 2021
Actual score 4.5 stars. Received a arc copy for a honest review.
Moving to a small town with her daughter has not been easy. But when her daughter comes home with stories about a witch who punishes children starts bringing up memories of her treatment as a child and the death of her brother. But when children start disappearing her fear grows even more. Plus there's much more that's going on with the people in town that she just can't get the people she's met to talk about.
I lowered it half star due to what I felt was constant repeat of back stories before adding to them. Otherwise it's a good scary story.
Moving to a small town with her daughter has not been easy. But when her daughter comes home with stories about a witch who punishes children starts bringing up memories of her treatment as a child and the death of her brother. But when children start disappearing her fear grows even more. Plus there's much more that's going on with the people in town that she just can't get the people she's met to talk about.
I lowered it half star due to what I felt was constant repeat of back stories before adding to them. Otherwise it's a good scary story.
August 23, 2021
Porter Falls seems to be the best place for Susan and her daughter Christine after the death of her husband. However, shortly after the move Christine started coming home telling stories about a witch. Susan became more interested in finding out where this was coming from as it also brought up memories of her youth as well as the death of her brother. There are too many coincidences to put it out of her mind. As death starts drawing near, can Susan save herself and her daughter? Is there more to the story of Porter Falls than what the locals want to say? This is a very well written book that will definitely keep you up reading and afraid to turn the lights out. I love great horror stories and have a hard time finding one like this where everything comes together just in time to catch you off guard and scare the crap out of you. The characters are so well written that they mesh together perfectly. If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. If a great horror is what your looking for....this is the one to read.
Thank you to goodreads for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to goodreads for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review!
March 23, 2021
Following the death of her husband in Iraq a year earlier, Susan and her six-year-old daughter Christine move to Porter Mines in Maryland for a fresh start. At first everything seems idyllic as Susan gets to grips with doing up her new home. But Christine soon becomes unsettled and frightened after claiming to have seen a witch outside her bedroom window one night.
Susan too begins to experience strange phenomena inside her house — a flash of movement from the corner of her eye; a shadowy form in the hallway. She begins to realise she's unwittingly placed her daughter's life in terrible danger.
With an appealing book cover that literally jumps off the shelf, I really enjoyed Cursed by Richard Schiver. I thought it was cleverly plotted and well-paced. I should point out that even though the text contains numerous malapropisms, I didn't find them too distracting.
Characters were developed to a good degree and despite stereotypes creeping in, most were believable. The story wasn't scary (or perhaps I'm too hardcore lol) and it certainly wasn't gory. But here's the thing — I really didn't mind! It stood up on its own without the bloodshed and carnage I've come to expect from this genre. It was very entertaining and reminiscent of the 1980s horror I read as a teenager.
Book Source: Review copy from the author
Read my review on my blog: https://bit.ly/3sh7u3t
Susan too begins to experience strange phenomena inside her house — a flash of movement from the corner of her eye; a shadowy form in the hallway. She begins to realise she's unwittingly placed her daughter's life in terrible danger.
With an appealing book cover that literally jumps off the shelf, I really enjoyed Cursed by Richard Schiver. I thought it was cleverly plotted and well-paced. I should point out that even though the text contains numerous malapropisms, I didn't find them too distracting.
Characters were developed to a good degree and despite stereotypes creeping in, most were believable. The story wasn't scary (or perhaps I'm too hardcore lol) and it certainly wasn't gory. But here's the thing — I really didn't mind! It stood up on its own without the bloodshed and carnage I've come to expect from this genre. It was very entertaining and reminiscent of the 1980s horror I read as a teenager.
Book Source: Review copy from the author
Read my review on my blog: https://bit.ly/3sh7u3t
July 31, 2021
Reading Cursed seemed a little disjointed to me. There were a lot of characters introduced and I didn't really understand who they were and how they all related to each other until later. The whole book didn't seem to flow as one cohesive story, but rather as several stories that ended up merging into one.
The book seemed to end rather abruptly and I found myself with a lot of unanswered questions. Eric and Susan's relationship seemed to come out of nowhere and I would've liked to have seen more development with them. I wasn't really invested in their relationship so I didn't much care whether they stayed together or not. The events with Donnie also seemed to wrap up rather abruptly and he came across as a rather weak character for me.
Cursed was an okay read. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I think it could've used a pass through a beat reader or editor; there were quite a lot of mistakes throughout the book. Overall, it passed the time but it's not something I think I would read a second time.
The book seemed to end rather abruptly and I found myself with a lot of unanswered questions. Eric and Susan's relationship seemed to come out of nowhere and I would've liked to have seen more development with them. I wasn't really invested in their relationship so I didn't much care whether they stayed together or not. The events with Donnie also seemed to wrap up rather abruptly and he came across as a rather weak character for me.
Cursed was an okay read. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I think it could've used a pass through a beat reader or editor; there were quite a lot of mistakes throughout the book. Overall, it passed the time but it's not something I think I would read a second time.
November 2, 2020
This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
October 11, 2022
Very creepy and intriguing story. Small town witch legend seems to be actually happening and it happened before. Very atmospheric
December 27, 2022
Good horror read
This book started a bit slow. But it sure picked up steam. My only complaint is this entire town needs to invest in depends, as everyone kept peeing themselves.
This book started a bit slow. But it sure picked up steam. My only complaint is this entire town needs to invest in depends, as everyone kept peeing themselves.
September 5, 2022
I am leaving the rating as a 3, but it was more like a 2.5 in my opinion. I'm bummed about it too.
First I wanted to say that I won this book from a goodreads giveaway. Thank you to both the author and goodreads for giving readers these opportunities.
Before I continue I want to say that writing a book is hard. I admire any author putting their work out in the world. However, this one was a miss for me.
I really liked the idea of this book. This topic, this idea, is right up my alley. I love spooky, old myths of a small town and a mystery to solve. This book had it all but seemed to me to fall flat with the follow through.
**Spoilers Below - do not read if you want to find out for yourself**
This book seemed highly inspired by It from Stephen King. There were many of the same ideas all throughout the book. A creepy, old monster disguising itself as something else to take children to sustain if for 30 years. The premise of It, right? Nope this is Cursed. It even indicates that all the parents forget about the terror they felt as a child due to this "witch". Same as what happens in Derry in It.
I know that every story, every book is inspired by something else and I am okay with that. This one just felt too heavily inspired and not enough originality.
However, I still wouldn't have minded it too much if the writing hadn't been so choppy and hard to understand. There were sentences that weren't finished and some that were finished in the next sentence. Punctuation was not used very well at all.
EXAMPLE: "She might have thrown away her one chance of making a name for herself, but Christine and Eric were more important, and if they were in trouble." -- if they were in trouble what??
There was even a part in there where he called the character Peter - which was the correct character - and then later, on the same page, called him Doug. I got so confused because Doug wasn't even with Peter.
I guess some editing could have been done.
I can't say that I would recommend this book, but if it interests you give it a shot.
First I wanted to say that I won this book from a goodreads giveaway. Thank you to both the author and goodreads for giving readers these opportunities.
Before I continue I want to say that writing a book is hard. I admire any author putting their work out in the world. However, this one was a miss for me.
I really liked the idea of this book. This topic, this idea, is right up my alley. I love spooky, old myths of a small town and a mystery to solve. This book had it all but seemed to me to fall flat with the follow through.
**Spoilers Below - do not read if you want to find out for yourself**
This book seemed highly inspired by It from Stephen King. There were many of the same ideas all throughout the book. A creepy, old monster disguising itself as something else to take children to sustain if for 30 years. The premise of It, right? Nope this is Cursed. It even indicates that all the parents forget about the terror they felt as a child due to this "witch". Same as what happens in Derry in It.
I know that every story, every book is inspired by something else and I am okay with that. This one just felt too heavily inspired and not enough originality.
However, I still wouldn't have minded it too much if the writing hadn't been so choppy and hard to understand. There were sentences that weren't finished and some that were finished in the next sentence. Punctuation was not used very well at all.
EXAMPLE: "She might have thrown away her one chance of making a name for herself, but Christine and Eric were more important, and if they were in trouble." -- if they were in trouble what??
There was even a part in there where he called the character Peter - which was the correct character - and then later, on the same page, called him Doug. I got so confused because Doug wasn't even with Peter.
I guess some editing could have been done.
I can't say that I would recommend this book, but if it interests you give it a shot.
November 3, 2020
Porter Mines is a New England town with some history. Many of the town’s inhabitants can trace their roots back to the original founders of the outpost at the edge of the wilderness that began as Porter Mines. Gossip, superstition, and accusations riddle the founders to do an unspeakable deed that will cost them for generations to come.
The story centers on Susan and her daughter, Christine. Susan is looking for a fresh start after the loss of her husband to the war overseas. She decides to move back toward her childhood home to start fresh and raise Christine. She soon recalls the tale of The Witch of Porter Mines and feels she has to do whatever she can to protect Christine as the Witch collects her due.
This is a fantastic story! Richard Schiver knows how to build a world to immerse the reader and then throw in the suspense to catch you off guard! There were a few chapters I had to put the book down and catch my breath. This is a page turner that’s was extremely hard to put down.
Cursed is up for consideration of a Bram Stoker award. I highly recommend everyone checks out this gem!
The story centers on Susan and her daughter, Christine. Susan is looking for a fresh start after the loss of her husband to the war overseas. She decides to move back toward her childhood home to start fresh and raise Christine. She soon recalls the tale of The Witch of Porter Mines and feels she has to do whatever she can to protect Christine as the Witch collects her due.
This is a fantastic story! Richard Schiver knows how to build a world to immerse the reader and then throw in the suspense to catch you off guard! There were a few chapters I had to put the book down and catch my breath. This is a page turner that’s was extremely hard to put down.
Cursed is up for consideration of a Bram Stoker award. I highly recommend everyone checks out this gem!
November 5, 2024
Great urban legend story about a witch!!! Creepy and entertaining!!!
August 27, 2024
Cursed is a gem to read. Fast and fun. Richard Schiver has once again taken a road well traveled and made if feel fresh. I wish I knew how he does it. Once again his easy to read style covers a multi layered story that is part social commentary and a great ghost story. The tropes are all there, the witch, the small town, the children, the terrified townsfolk, the sheriff and the unlikely hero. Cursed mixes them together and bakes a well crafted story.
Richard Schiver asks the question of what happens if the bogey man is real and the children are right. He looks through the child's eyes and tell us how it happens to them and how the adults somehow miss the obvious. Perhaps the greatest service to the story is how human everyone is and they all remind the reader of someone they know.
Take the time and read this gem. It is certainly a genre novel, but it is a great one.
Richard Schiver asks the question of what happens if the bogey man is real and the children are right. He looks through the child's eyes and tell us how it happens to them and how the adults somehow miss the obvious. Perhaps the greatest service to the story is how human everyone is and they all remind the reader of someone they know.
Take the time and read this gem. It is certainly a genre novel, but it is a great one.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews