A Review of Spellbound 2011 by Jenny Twist, et al.

Spellbound 2011 by Jenny Twist
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This collection of short stories will thrill you with its horrific and strange tales, mixed with some passion and humor for flavor. There are ghosts galore, curses, werewolves, an even a deranged uncle.

There are eight stories in all, and I'll touch on them briefly:

Spellbound at Midnight takes place in the mystical venue of New Orleans. Perfect setting for this spooky tale. I felt the ending a bit anticlimactic, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

Room 1309.5, inspired by Poe and Stephen King, led me down a path I thought predictable, but then took me by surprise with its twist!

Mansion of Nightmares is a classic ghost story, but with a passionate and deadly angle I thought was done quite well.

Ghost Taxi reminded me of the movie Ghost. A little sexy, a little sad, a little funny. Really enjoyed it, but felt there was room for more humor.

Uncle Vernon gave me the shudders, particularly the ending. I'm SO glad I have no Uncle Vernon in my house. At least, I don't think I do. *shudder*

Half Seen, Half Hidden is like a night with the Scooby Doo gang gone horribly wrong! It really had an Agatha Christie feel to it. Loved the setting and the hippie-era time period. Great story, but it could have sparkled with a little finer editing.

Telltale Signs kept me literally on the edge of my seat. I did NOT want to put this story down, and only did to feed my son. I was confused though, that it begins with "Chapter One", but there are no subsequent chapters? I really hope that means that Tori L Ridgewood plans to expand this into novel form!

The Origin of Fear is your classic young people break into a haunted house, at a great cost, of course. Definitely some creepy, unexplained weirdness in this one, though I wanted a little more explanation of the events before it ended. Still, it was a great story to wrap up this "spellbinding" anthology.

I recommend this book for young adults and beyond who are fans of the weird and macabre. Grab your copy today!

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