About the Book
-
Author:
- Leon Kemp
- Genres:
- Boy-Boy Romance
- Horror
- Voices:
- Cis Boy
- Gay
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: My Eyes Adored You
Drinking Buddy: No
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Literary jump scares, tobacco use)
Talky Talk: This is a Haunted House and You Are Scared
Bonus Factors: Creepy Abandoned Building, Ghost Hunting
Bromance Status: Ouija Board: GOODBYE
Cover Story: My Eyes Adored You
This is not the cover of a horror story (except for the vaguely ominous title). This is the cover of a romance, with the boy staring through the broken remains of his dreams at his unrequited love. Would not have given this a second glance.
The Deal:
Two years ago, Riley, his boyfriend Ethan, and his friends Colton and Vee, broke into Dominic House, a religious school/juvenile hall for wayward teens. It was closed in the 80s after the head priest and a handful of kids mysteriously vanished. That’s the sort of place that would make a great location for their ghost hunting podcast.
A few hours later, Riley and Colton are badly injured and Ethan…has vanished. No one can give a clear account of what happened.
Since then, everyone has been trying to move on with their lives. But now Jordan Jones, the woman who hosts a popular ghost hunting show, wants to pay the three survivors to participate in a sort of reunion at the Dominic House. A little spirit photography, heat vision goggles, and maybe a seance? C’mon, it’ll be good closure for the (newly adult and can’t be sued by their parents) kids.
Riley, Colton, and Vee haven’t spoken since the incident. But money is tight, and they agree. It’s all smoke and mirrors anyhow. Except…it’s not. There’s something still in the house. The thing that took Ethan is still there. It’s been waiting, and it’s not happy.
Drinking Buddy: No
Riley didn’t have a lot of personality. He’s sullen and angry and lashes out. Understandable, considering his tragic backstory. However, we get to see into his thoughts, and they weren’t especially deep or interesting. His romance with Ethan wasn’t anything special (Ethan has a f—ing dimple, just like every other YA boy). Also, this story is told parallel: we see what happened that original night simultaneously with the present day ghost hunt. The group goes from best friends to three strangers, barely able to keep their fists off each other. But the kids never really gelled as a gang of best friends, nor were they believable as enemies.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Literary jump scares, tobacco use)
The house was haunted two years ago. It’s still haunted now. Creepy things crawl out of the woodwork. Odd things show up on the instruments. It’s spoooooooky. And every time something supernatural happens, Riley goes out of his way to cover it up, rather than share information that might show what happened to Ethan. If this book was a movie, it would be something they’d show on Halloween, but early, before the kids have gone to bed.
Talky Talk: This is a Haunted House and You Are Scared
The Shining pulled off the ‘trapped in the isolated haunted building where a tragedy happened’ story. This was just a lot of glances of strange figures through the window and mysterious voices. I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t invested in the characters.
Also, do a shot every time a character ‘glances over (their) shoulder’ and you’ll be passed out before the halfway mark. If they didn’t use that phrase forty times, I’m sorely mistaken.
Bonus Factor: Creepy Abandoned Building
The best part of this book was the Dominic House. It was a place where parents or the law could dump troublemaking teens when they were at the end of their rope. Or just didn’t want to deal with them. When the 1980s tragedy happened, the authorities blamed one of the kids and wrote everyone off. But is that what really the true story?
Bonus Factor: Ghost Hunting
We’ve all done it: messed around with an Ouija Board, conducted a seance at a sleepover, or tried to contact the dead in your apartment basement with a bunch of unsuspecting Baptist missionaries. Jordan Jones, the host of the ghost hunting show, is an avowed skeptic. She thinks Riley isn’t revealing something about that night, and would love it if he made an emotional confession on tape. But the Dominic House isn’t shy about showing its true face, and this has the makings of a new Blair Witch Project if they’re not careful.
Bromance Status: Ouija Board: GOODBYE
Thanks, but no thanks. See you on the other side.
Literary Matchmaking
Saint Juniper’s Folly by Alex Crespo is another average LGBTQ+ haunted house story.
Madeline Roux’s Asylum series also deals with a building’s dark history.
As does Trang Thanh Tran’s She is a Haunting.
FCC Full Disclosure: I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher, but no money or fresh fruit.
