Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Standing at a creepy Crossroads

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein

I'm a scaredy cat. A big, huge baby. I don't handle suspense well and am so the person who will flip to the end of the book early to see if a character is still around. Yeah, I know, ridiculous, but having that pit-in-the-bottom-of-your-stomach fear is a rush that I love to hate. It's my own personal horror-coaster.

So when I picked up Grabenstein's book and saw this creepy tree on the cover, of course I couldn't walk away. It was like the cover was calling to me. The tree reminded me of one outside my parents house on West 84th that would bang againsy my window for no apparent reason. That house was nuts, with cold pockets and creepy sounds everywhere. Possessed by the memory of that place, I flipped open the cover and the first sentence sent shivers down my spine: "Have you ever seen a face hidden in the bark of a tree and known that the man trapped inside wanted to hurt you?" Creep-py! And I hate to admit it, but yeah, I have felt that way. It's why I can't do haunted houses.

But wait, it gets better. The main character lives on West 84th. No need to do a double take. My old street. My old tree. The rest of the book was one random coincidence after another. Street names, store names, character names. All things from my past but with a crazed ghost floating around. I wanted to put it down, but I was so horrified I couldn't. This is a book about a haunting, and I think it's safe to say, it haunted me.

Want to be haunted? Check it out. Since all good ghost stories should be read out loud, be sure to get the audio.

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