A Place So Wicked

by Patrick Reuman

Fate brings Toby and his family to Black Falls, New York, where the skies are clear and the future is bright. Except at their new home. There is something off about 23 Ripley Avenue. It’s a large Colonial house, the biggest in town, where the floorboards creak and even the darkness seems darker. Worst of all is the stench, which seems to emanate from the locked door in the basement, the one nobody can get open. It smells of death and decay, slowly spreading from the basement like a sickness. Toby must uncover the truth behind his new home before the death takes over everything – including his family.

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Fiction, Paranormal

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2021

About the author

Patrick Reuman is a writer by day and a Medical Laboratory Scientist by night. He has been writing ever since he was 16 when a school assignment pushed his imagination toward creating his own stories. He has one child, a son, named Aidan. He hopes to continue writing while also plotting to take over the world.

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great spooky read!



A small backstory without giving away spoilers:

Toby Harrington along with his siblings and parents move to Black Falls, NY and settle into a big house on 23 Ripley Avenue.

It doesn't take long for the family to find out that something is wrong with the house especially when they open the basement door and a gagging stench wafts up to meet them.

That is not all that is wrong as things start happening to the family as well with unexplained sickness that seems to take over the family. There are the normal occurrences that comes with a haunted house which are cold drafts, apparitions, and creaks throughout the house. Neighbors from around that area want nothing to do with the house and they make it known to the Harrington's that something is wrong with their house.

What is haunting the Harrington home? What is the bad smell that is coming up from the basement? Does the family make it out of the house? No spoilers here as you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was a new author to me as I came across the book over on Amazon as a suggested horror read, so I grabbed it as the story seemed to be right up my alley. I am so happy that I did as I really enjoyed the creepiness and dread feeling as I was reading through the story. Giving this one four
"spook-fest" stars!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

A PLACE SO WICKED, by Patrick Reuman is a novel of a "unique" sort of small town horror.
There were some really unsettling moments that start the book off right away when they move into their new home. I did enjoy some of the main characters quite a bit.

Although I figured out what the "plot" was very early on in the story, I still wanted to keep reading to find out more. While there were some elements I really enjoyed, it did feel as if the story was very repetitive--particularly in the middle section. I felt that the ending was a bit abrupt, and that we could have benefitted from a little more background at some point.

Nonetheless, I wanted to keep reading the entire novel, so that says something. I would love to read another novel by this author in the future.

[Shelly Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm not going to hurt you because I don't have to. You'll all be dead in a day or two. None of them last long, and you're coming into the final stretch."

A new job. A new town. A new home. A new.......horrifying nightmare! I'm not just talking about the book - I'm talking about me having horrifying nightmares for the foreseeable future! I just might have to sleep with the light on. Not the one in the closet, because after this, my closet will remain closed at night.

This was my first read from this author, and I was NOT disappointed!! You might think that this is a YA story, and I guess you could catagorize it as such since the main characters are mostly in their teens. But there is a lot of creepy factor in this one that makes it a great read for horror fans of any age!

So, the Harrington family moves to Black Falls in this big old house since the dad got a new job. Well, right off the bat, the weird stuff starts - noises, apparitions, disgusting smells, and a strange illness that is taking over the family members. But it's so much more than that and it all surrounds whatever is in the basement. I'm so glad I don't have a basement. Phew!

I had a hard time putting this one down. I even propped up my Kindle on my work desk so I could keep reading! Don't tell my boss, but I read a lot more than I worked today.

If you like the supernatural, haunted houses, evil spirits, horror, and all things creepy, I'd definitely recommend this one!! Now, I'm off to find more books by this author! He's like Pringles - you can't stop at just one!

[Stephanie McWilliams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book because of all of the hype.

Also, I enjoy branching out and getting to know a new (to me) author, their work, and writing style.

Unfortunately, this is only the second book I have ever DNF and I had to stop at 19% in. The style of the book reads very YA which is not a bad thing but not typically a style that I enjoy.

There are so many grammatical errors and typos that it is a struggle to get through.

Here is an example of what I am referring to:

"When they reached the backyard, Richard out the back door, hose in hand, having snaked it all the way through the house."

Another sentence that took me several times reading is:

"The realtor, or whoever would be in charge of something like that, would have had to have had painted the yard days, maybe even weeks ago."

Every sentence has been overly descriptive or very wordy which makes the story difficult to follow.

There are also overlooked errors such as the mom saying they are in the room next to Trevor and then later saying Toby is in the room next door... even though Toby's room is down the hall?

Or the uncle going through a very wordy and descriptive check of the light bulb in the basement and making the determination the bulb is fine and the wiring is bad and then going to town with Richard to buy new light bulbs... a whole box in case there are more bulbs that are bad.

There are too many misses with attention to detail and poorly worded sentences to will me to continue.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting plot but lacked substance

The plot of this book was GREAT and original, but the execution just wasn’t there. It didn’t focus on the ghosts of the house enough to actually be a ghost story, I thought it would have been great to learn more about the three ghosts we met and their time within the house. I also didn’t like how the “monster” or “villain” wasn’t fully thought through. If it’s going to be demons and based is the catholic religion let it be that but don’t switch it to what seemed to be Native American folklore at the very end. Characters could have been flushed out more instead of having them be there simply to force the plot forward. I think this book could have been great if it had just been thought through fully.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. This was very well done, super creepy. An unsuspecting family move to a new house, in a new town and things are great for about an hour and then uneasiness, oddness and eerie stuff abound! I did want more from the ending but otherwise a great haunting story, that's a fairly quick read

[Allen Pisani · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing like a haunted house story. Toby and his family move to a new town. They begin to notice strange things about their new house. The strange smell coming from the basement, they are getting sick one by one. Can Toby and his sister save their family?
If you like books about a creepy old house and even creepier towns people, I think you will enjoy this rather quick read.

[Elli Toney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may sound like a typical ghost story, but this was so unexpectedly not that!!

The storyline sounds familiar, a family moves into a huge creepy house to start over in a new town. Immediately, things are just off. There are noises, foul smells, something is horribly wrong with this place. In the beginning, it feels a little like Poltergeist. However, as the puzzle pieces start falling together, things keep getting weirder and more dangerous. I don't want to give anything away, but there are much more than ghosts to this story.

I devoured this one with a quickness, there was enough strangeness perpetually building until the climactic end to keep me intrigued. You get a little perspective and personality from each family member, which I thought was interesting. The predominant character is a 16-year-old boy, so it had an innocence to it and a little coming of age vibe.

Overall, a very fun and quick read! Looking forward to more from Patrick Reuman.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Place So Wicked has the familiar premise of a family relocating and moving into a haunted house. It has a spooky feel, interesting parts but often unbelievable scenes that we all know, just would not happen in real life.

First, the horrendous odor that only gets worse as time goes by, and yet the family stays. The avoiding realtor who acts clueless about problems with the home is another, along with grass and trees that appear to have been painted to hide the deadness. There are noises and ghostly people appearing to the family. There are few neighbors, yet somehow there are food offerings left on the doorstep. Many of the houses on the street appear empty.

Finally, the family gets sick, one by one and yet the parents still opt to stay, despite all the clues of the town being weird and severe illness coming down on everyone living within the walls of this huge house.

The ending was abrupt and left me unsatisfied about the whole story, yet it did have good parts, it just could have been better. I did want to see what happened, so I wanted to keep reading.

[Jerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5rounded up. Decent read. Fairly fast paced.

[Jane Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

Some moments of creepiness but never felt hairs on the back of my neck go up. Very abrupt ending too

[rorie vanvliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, fast paced book. Very likable characters. Suspenseful. I'm an avid reader, and this didn't seem like a knockoff of any other book.

[Boomer · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading so many gushing reviews with words like thrilling, fast paced, and scary popping up repeatedly, I was looking forward to an exciting ghost story. It feels like I read a totally different book then these other reviewers.

At almost 400 pages this thing plods along like a three legged tortoise. My first time reading this author but he's way too wordy for me. Redundant sentences like "he stared ahead at the wall where a window shaped silhouette had formed on the wall" abound here. POV changes often, sometimes from one paragraph to another, making it tricky to figure out who's actually talking.

The base concept is good, with a family moving into a huge manor with a mysterious locked door in the basement. Strange things start occurring, and I was curious to see where this would end up. Nowhere really interesting as it turned out. The author provides no good reason why the family continue to remain at the house when members start getting painfully sick and a horrible death stench bad enough to make them gag permanently resides there. Makes no sense, much like most of this novel. It's too bad, because there's a good concept here - it just isn't well executed.

[April Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is okay. It’s not bad or great. And though I’m always willing to suspend my disbelief, this book went way too far. Here’s some examples:

1. How does a 13-year-old carry three people (including two adults) down a flight of stairs, outside, and get them in the car?

2. How does the same 13-year-old have a car? This was probably a typo, but it credits her with owning the car.

3. Of all the books to ever stretch the “we have no money to leave” premise, this one just might be the worst. I’m sorry, but their house really, really smelled. How in the world don’t you go to a hotel for at least a night? Especially considering you feel better when you leave the house? Get a cheap motel. Seriously.

4. How could a new family move in regularly and die without anyone outside the town getting suspicious?

5. Why did people build there in the first place? They knew what was up, yet still they wanted to live there. It’s madness.

Some sections are too wordy, but that didn’t really bother me. And, despite all the flaws, this book was still fun to read. That’s worth something, right?

[Amanda F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think the ending of this book lived up to the rest of the book. With a better ending this would be a 4 star easy for me. I just think it felt rushed and we didn’t get enough closure about things. There were too many character POVs for such a short novel, so I didn’t feel like I connected with any except for maybe Toby because so much revolves around him. I thought the premise was really creative and I liked the idea of this one. I just didn’t enjoy the full execution of it.

[Lauren Fitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars
Started out great and creepy, ended flat

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of typos and sentences that needed proofreading. The surname changed 3 times. The house number changed twice.
Story wasn't bad but not great either.

[Jenny Ashford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my whole review here.

Patrick Reuman’s A Place So Wicked was published in early spring of 2021, and although going into it I thought I had never read any of this author’s work before, upon researching his catalog I realized that not too long ago, I had actually read and reviewed his more recent novel, 2022’s The Adirondack Witch, which I liked but didn’t love. And to be honest, I had about the same reaction to A Place So Wicked; I think I liked it slightly better, because it was a haunted house story, but it still had some of the same issues that I encountered with Adirondack.

Wicked has a standard type of haunted house setup. There’s a family whose last names I don’t remember but might have changed a couple of times throughout the narrative: Richard and Lisa are the mom and dad; there’s also an uncle (the dad’s brother) named Robbie who is helping them move and hoping to stay with them for a while because his girlfriend just kicked him out; then there are three teenage kids, sixteen-year-old Toby and thirteen-year-old twins Trevor and Paisley. Just as in The Adirondack Witch, there are a couple sets of names that start with the same letter, but at least here the characters are distinct enough that I didn’t usually have trouble telling them apart.

Anyway, the dad Richard works in IT and has taken a new job in a tiny map-speck of a town called Black Falls in upstate New York. Of course all the kids are bummed out that they’re moving out to the middle of nowhere, especially Toby, who is kind of shy and not all that popular and feels as though he had just got to a satisfactory place in his old school where he had a couple of close friends and could remain relatively anonymous. Now he’s going to have to start all over again.

Weirdly, Richard is really, really enthused about moving to Black Falls, telling his family multiple times that this town is supposedly one of the best up-and-coming towns in the United States and that it’s going to be the perfect place to live. It’s even established that he turned down other job offers in larger cities just so he could specifically move here. Toby, whose POV we mostly follow at the beginning of the story (though the POV character changes wildly and without much warning, which I’ll talk more about later), finds it strange that his dad is so gung-ho, but when they arrive in town, he has to admit there is something really nice about the place, something he can’t quite put his finger on. Everyone seems friendly and welcoming initially, and even their house is massive and beautiful. Better yet, a gorgeous girl named Addison, who is the same age as Toby, lives across the street, and immediately seems interested in him. Toby starts to think that maybe this move isn’t going to be so bad after all.

But not too long after, of course, odd things start to happen. While Toby is out mowing the lawn, he discovers that the grass has actually been painted green; the real grass underneath is dry and dead, and the soil is black. There’s even a tree in the front yard that someone meticulously painted to look alive, even though it is likewise dead. The dead grass seems to surround the house out to a certain distance, then the grass gets normal again outside this perimeter.

There’s also the eerie stillness and quietness on their street in particular (though not on any of the other streets, which seem normal). People keep leaving casseroles and other food on the front porch of their house, but no one knocks or acknowledges the gifts; they just drop the food and skedaddle. When Lisa goes next door to investigate this phantom food phenomenon, she discovers that the house next door is completely empty, and most of the other ones on their street seem deserted as well.

The family also notices a horrible, overwhelming stench emanating from a locked room with a red door in the basement. The smell is so bad that at times it permeates the entire house, making them all gag and lose their appetites. Richard and Robbie want to get into the locked basement room and find out if maybe an animal died in there, but the realtor gives them the runaround, telling them he never could find the key. Richard and Robbie then try to force the door open, but the door doesn’t have any hinges to remove, and refuses to be pried open, remaining as firm as Gibraltar.

As the story goes on, each of the family members begins falling terribly ill: first Trevor, then Robbie, then Richard and Lisa. Toby and Paisley seem to evade the mysterious illness, though, perhaps because they spend more time away from the house: Toby by exploring a burgeoning romance with Addison, and Paisley by striking up a friendship with a fourteen-year-old boy named Eli who she meets at an otherwise abandoned playground behind his house.

At one stage, Toby very clearly sees what is undoubtedly a ghost in the attic, a woman who appears terrified and seems to be trying to force open the attic window to jump out. At varying other times, he and some of the other characters see many apparitions, as though dozens of people are peering out through the windows.

Basically, as events begin coming to a head, Toby and Paisley realize that they’re going to have to be the ones to step up and figure out exactly what’s going on, as the rest of their family has fallen deathly ill and the few other people in the town willing to talk to them are starting to act somewhat sinister. I won’t spoil what exactly is happening with this house and the town, but suffice it to say that it has something to do with the door in the basement holding back some kind of evil force.

As I said, this was a solid haunted house story; nothing particularly original, but fairly fast-paced and entertaining. I really liked the initial buildup of the weirdness, with the painted dead grass and the unseen neighbors leaving the casseroles; that kind of stuff is really creepy to me because it’s so random, lacking context, and isn’t overtly threatening, just odd. Obviously, “something terrible is behind that scary basement door” has been done millions of times before (hell, I just read another recent novel called The Exorcist’s House that had a similar thing going on), but I didn’t really mind all that much, and I will admit I was interested to see where this mystery was going to go.

But there was just something sort of…lacking about the whole thing. The explanation behind the house was conceptually kind of cool if not all that unique, but I wish it had been fleshed out a bit more. I’m usually an advocate of not explaining your mythology too much, of leaving some things to the imagination, but I think this story maybe erred on the side of not revealing quite enough. While I got the gist of what was going on, I felt like it needed a bit more depth, more history behind it. The ending, too, was a tad too abrupt for my liking, leaving a lot of things hanging and unexplained.

Also, a lot of the character establishment at the beginning of the story, such as the big deal that was made about Robbie’s breakup and his anxiety about having to ask Richard to stay at the house with them; and the stuff about thirteen-year-old Paisley and her ambivalent feelings about an older boy named Brent in their old hometown who had wanted to have sex with her, doesn’t ever amount to anything or play into the unfolding story at all, despite how much attention paid to those things in the first act of the novel.

There also seemed to be a lot of neat ideas that were introduced, but not sufficiently followed up on. For example, much was made at the beginning about Black Falls being this town that was up-and-coming, turning up on all these internet lists, and there were a number of instances of characters mentioning how this town was the best place ever. I actually thought that was going to factor into the story more going forward, like whatever evil that was underpinning the place was planting suggestions in people’s heads and sending tendrils out into the world to draw people there, but this was never really elaborated upon. And while I loved the whole setup of the neighbors leaving the casseroles, the explanation for it fell a little bit flat, and it didn’t really get mentioned much afterward. I guess I just wish there had been more back story, and more concrete reasons why certain things were happening.

I mentioned earlier that there were numerous POV changes in the narrative as well, which made the novel read as somewhat cluttered and unclear. I don’t have a problem with changes in POV characters, of course, but it’s generally better to start a new section when you’re inside the head of a new character, to lessen confusion. This one was kinda all over the place; it mostly started out from Toby’s perspective, but then switched on a dime to his siblings, his parents, and his uncle Robbie, sometimes in the same paragraph. It just came across as slightly muddled, and sometimes I had to read bits twice to make sure I knew who it was that was talking.

There were also several grammatical errors, and clunky, repetitive sentence structure that at times read like YA, although I’m not sure that was the intention. Overall, though, this was a decent read, with some intriguing ideas and some spooky set pieces; I just wish there had been less pointless character stuff and more stuff about the town’s history and the nature of the curse.

[Paul Bygrave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family moves to a new house in a new town after the father loses his job and the house turns out to be haunted as sin. A classic setup.

A small note: This book is responsible for me Googling lawn paint. It's a real thing, apparently. The more you know.

The author clearly knows what we expect, so the story jumps right in with the weird things happening from the start. I appreciate that. The family are also all very sympathetic and totally lack the "token asshole" character these stories usually have, which is refreshing. I don't know how you can make a story fast-paced and a slow burn at the same time, but Patrick Reuman found a way. It's very well-written and the creepy scenes are just as creepy to read as you'd like. Good stuff.

If I had any complaints, it would be that the escalation comes off as kind of abrupt near the end. I won't spoil anything, but it feels a bit like it jumps straight from "we've had a few encounters but nobody has actually come to the conclusion that this place has much wrong with it" to "this place is evil and we need to do something RIGHT NOW" within the space of a single chapter. One of the twins, Trevor, is also pretty underdeveloped despite the rest of the family being pretty fleshed out.

On the whole, it's a well-written, creepy story with rounded main characters. Only a couple of problems that I don't really consider that big a deal. A very good read.

[Julie Kersten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but I wanted more

I thought the premise of the book was excellent. The town is kind of like a la Brea tar pit for the soul. I thought that was a very interesting concept. Just like any horror movie, it leaves me wanting more. I want to know more about the history of the town and what the people were doing. The author does a good job of creating both intrigue and horror. I'm glad it has a sort of happy ending but I felt it was a little rushed. I wanted to know more about Eli and his mother. I think I would have also like to have seen more about the people in the town and they're plotting to keep the family there. Also with the writing, at times I felt it was a little jumpy with the point of view switching from character to character. Overall it was a very enjoyable book and I didn't read it much at night.

[Cattie Whaley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly a wicked house!

This book was quite the read! Imagine moving into a huge old house, the biggest one in the town. Most kids would love to have that clout when it comes to friends. But there's something off about the house and those around it. A smell in the basement starts to make everyone sick. Things go downhill very fast for this family. But what does the town know about all of this? Do they know what is happening? This was a very fast read. Liked the characters and the story flowed well. It did leave me with questions though (I won't post them as I don't want to spoil anything for other readers.) I'm going to see what other books Patrick Reuman has written and give them a try. Highly recommend.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy house in a weird town, well its not creepy at first but it soon becomes super creepy. A family is relocated to a "up and coming" town when the father gets a job change. Money is tight after the move, so when weird things begin happening in the home after the move along with the town they are in, they can't move out immediately. A weird smell comes from a locked room in the basement, and one by one the family members begin to get really sick. Two of the teenage kids start to discover the mystery behind the house and the town and the fast paced track to the end of the book starts.

Just enough creepy that it isn't overly scary, light quick read to get through. Suspense happens keeping the reader engaged.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wicked, Fun Ride

This is a really clever book. It's it a haunted house? Maybe. A haunted town? Maybe. Good versus evil? Mostly. Except in the end the good guys and the bad aren't always clear and that makes it fun. It does sort itself out a bit and you think you know what's happening and who can and can't be trusted. But it's never completely clear until it's revealed. The atmosphere is creepy, the characters are unpredictable. It's like a Goosebumps for grownups only with a much more intense story. It was a pretty wild ride! I'm off to read another book by this author because he definitely delivers.

[RegalCanary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wicked Good Tale

A conspiracy tale that delivers the goods. From the moment the Cunningham family enter their new home’s town, Black Falls, NY, they encounter weirdness that only grows as their moments in their new home increase. A bad odor from the basement grows to a reek that permeates the whole house; family members increasingly fall ill and sicken rapidly; people leave food at the door, but flee without introducing themselves; encounters with terrified phantoms foreshadow the new family’s lot if they do not escape. And a mysterious, seemingly inoperable red door in the basement appears to be the key to it all.

[Ronita · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a story about a family that moves to a new town because the dad got a really good job offer. Shit starts going downhill pretty much immediately after they move in. There’s a disgusting smell coming from the basement, weird sounds throughout the house, people in the family sudden become deathly ill. It’s up to Toby the 16 year old brother and Paisley, his 13 year old sister to find out what is going on and Eli, Paisley’s friend helps them. I have to say I really chuckled towards the end when those people couldn’t find the other family members (IYKYK). Overall, it was a good little story, felt kinda R.L. Stine-ish but more for the older teens because there were some sexual parts.

[AGilden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice evil, demonic story. The first 70 percent of the book sets it up, and then it picks up speed in the final 30 percent. The family at the centre of the event is likeable enough, especially the two teenagers who end up trying to save their family. I would have liked more detail about the origin and nature of the evil, and the book should perhaps have gone on for a few more pages to finish the story properly. The supernatural content is also lower than I would have liked, until the end, at least. But a good read overall.

[Doreen Fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family's worst nightmare

A gripping book by Patrick Reuman. A family moves into a huge manor in Black Falls. It should have been a huge improvement over their previous life. It isn't. They are plagued by nightmares. Some of them are paralyzed by a debilitating illness. The author has graphically portrayed the eerie goings on in Black Falls with empty houses and weird people which gave me the chills. A recommended read for horror fans.

[carol mccoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really a ghost story

Really liked the way some people got affected by the house bad and right away. Had a guess about Abby but was wrong, needed to play up the food left on the doorstep more. When everyone started getting sick I would have bought a tent and slept in the yard. The tree and the grass was creepy and new . Did like the way at the end everything picked up, thank goodness for Eli.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darn good haunted house mystery!

This is now the second book by Patrick Reuman I've read...the other being The Adirondack Witch. I have discovered another indie author I really enjoy!

If you like a face paced, dark & creepy, haunted house thriller whose characters (especially the heroic kids in the tale) are fleshed out & realistically written, try this book!

I couldn't put it down until the dramatic/traumatic ending and plan to read more Patrick Reuman!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story hit for me in every way. It moved at a brisk enough clip to keep me engaged & teased with just enough information to keep me wanting more. This book succeeded (for me) where The Exorcist's House failed. Don't get me wrong. There are elements of that story I really enjoyed but this book did the "Hell well" right. The story was creepy & sinister. The characters were written well. I had a great time reading this.