A year or so ago, I read THE DEVIL CREPT IN by Ahlborn after seeing her name on a list which purported to be the ten best horror writers alive today. I thought this was a very good horror story which kept my interest throughout. Later I saw APART IN THE DARK on a book trading site so thought I would read something else by Ahlborn.
This one actually contains two short novels: THE PRETTY ONES and I CALL UPON THEE that had been previously released as ebooks. I thought both of these were again good tales of terror and I will probably be looking out for more of Ahlborn's novels.
THE PRETTY ONES was a tale about a young woman, Nell, working at an office in Manhattan who commutes there every day from her dingy apartment in Brooklyn that she shares with her brother, Barrett. She is what could be described as mousy and quiet and most of her coworkers make fun of her by disparaging her clothing and her looks. This story takes place back in the 70s when the "Son of Sam" was terrorizing the city by killing young dark-haired women. Then when Nell is rejected by one of her office mates who she tries to make friends with, the girl winds up dead. But who killed her? Was it the Son of Sam or could it have been her brother, Barrett? This one takes some very violent turns with somewhat of a surprise ending that I did, however, see coming.
I CALL UPON THEE is about a young woman, Maggie, who is away at college and suddenly gets an emergency call from her sister to return home to Savannah because her other sister, Brynn, has died. Brynn was always an odd one, dressing in goth outfits and listening to weird music. She also showed Maggie how to summon the dead using a Ouija Board. When Maggie was young she would visit the cemetery with Brynn and wanted to make friends with a young girl buried there. This one was really a good horror yarn and had very good character development, especially for a short novel. Of the two stories, I liked this one best.
This one actually contains two short novels: THE PRETTY ONES and I CALL UPON THEE that had been previously released as ebooks. I thought both of these were again good tales of terror and I will probably be looking out for more of Ahlborn's novels.
THE PRETTY ONES was a tale about a young woman, Nell, working at an office in Manhattan who commutes there every day from her dingy apartment in Brooklyn that she shares with her brother, Barrett. She is what could be described as mousy and quiet and most of her coworkers make fun of her by disparaging her clothing and her looks. This story takes place back in the 70s when the "Son of Sam" was terrorizing the city by killing young dark-haired women. Then when Nell is rejected by one of her office mates who she tries to make friends with, the girl winds up dead. But who killed her? Was it the Son of Sam or could it have been her brother, Barrett? This one takes some very violent turns with somewhat of a surprise ending that I did, however, see coming.
I CALL UPON THEE is about a young woman, Maggie, who is away at college and suddenly gets an emergency call from her sister to return home to Savannah because her other sister, Brynn, has died. Brynn was always an odd one, dressing in goth outfits and listening to weird music. She also showed Maggie how to summon the dead using a Ouija Board. When Maggie was young she would visit the cemetery with Brynn and wanted to make friends with a young girl buried there. This one was really a good horror yarn and had very good character development, especially for a short novel. Of the two stories, I liked this one best.
