James Lee, The Graves of Gasper Weavell & The Haunted Hoarder (Ghostworks #1), Xoum/New South Books, May 2016, 160pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781921134760
Personally, I think these stories deserve to be published separately! I moved from one story to the next and was discombobulated to find they are about different people having different ghostly experiences; separate stories with no connection other than being scary.
In The Graves of Gasper Weavell, Zoe has a ghoulish hobby; she likes to take grave rubbings. When she invites her friends, Noah and James, to join her they stumble across two graves with the same name and unwittingly unleash the forgotten dead . Ooooohhhh… it gave me chills!
In The Haunted Hoarder Cindy takes her friends, Connor and Fiona, to her dead aunt’s house but they are the only humans in a house filled to the brim with junk… and treasure. I actually expected Cindy to kick her friends when she saw the house through their eyes.
When I read a story I appreciate emotions clearly expressed with the perfect choice of words; and in these stories James Lee has woven visual descriptors that are clear and concise. The text is simple with an achievable sprinkling of challenging words and unique names to exercise the reader’s vocabulary. I know that readers, 8years+, will definitely get thrilling chills from these original horror stories, just like I did.
Reviewed by Sharon Smith
