The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Halloween is almost here.  When we were kids we had the best time trick-treating.  Our neighborhood was extremely safe and kind of off on it's own, so my parents let us go out with friends.  We visited so many houses for candy.  During this time kids wore plastic masks that had elastic around the back.  I remember one year, I went as Dracula.  I carried a tape recorder that played spooky music, which I tried to hide under my cape.  I'm certain nobody knew where it was coming from.  I was obviously being followed by my own personal orchestra.  I also remember it being cold.  Nothing wrecks a well planned Halloween costume like your mom yelling to wear your winter coat as you head out the door.  One year it even snowed, I don't mean flurries, I mean snow on the ground.  Yep, when the tv tray was set by our front door with a huge bowl filled with candy, you knew fun was on the way, cavities too.

I recently read The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling.  I am consistent, if nothing else.  I just thought this book sounded like a cute romantic comedy and would be a nice break from thrillers.  Turns out Erin Sterling is the pen name of Rachel Hawkins, author of the thriller The Wife Upstairs, which I enjoyed.  The Ex Hex is the story of Vivienne and Rhys.  Vivi and her cousin accidently put a curse on Rhys, which messes up everything.  Life in their small Georgia town was picturesque but as Halloween approaches odd things are beginning to happen.  

This book is fun, not rocket science, just plain old fun.  It's not too long, at just over 300 pages, and is a breeze to read.  The dialog is quite funny.  Some of it spattered with profanity, so if that offends you steer clear.  I promise, this book may not have you on the edge of your seat like my beloved thrillers, but it will have you laughing until the very last page.

Next time you buy yourself a six dollar pumpkin latte, pair it with this book for the full fall treatment.  FYI, the book is a far better bargain.

One by One by D.W. Gillespie

Hello everyone.

I've mentioned our old houses in the past. We currently are working on an American Four Square that is over one hundred years old. We have restored a 1907 Victorian that had been divided into apartments, we returned it to single family. One of the things we did during the Victorian renovation, which took almost ten years in total, was to remove the walls on the third floor. We put heating and air conditioning ducts behind knee walls and installed insulation. While removing the walls, we found so many things; photos, paintings, corset, letters, button-up shoes and more. One thing we found was the corner of an envelope with a company as a return address. We also found writing on the low roofing boards that held the metal roof. There were spots where children had written their names in colorful chalk. We were able to track down the family that had lived there right after the house was built through the company name on that envelope scrap. It was amazing to learn that the 70+ year old man we were talking to was only seven years old when he lived in our house and those names in chalk were his sisters. We were able to talk to them too. It was so fun and made the hard work worth it and the house feel so much more personal.

I recently read One by One written by D.W. Gillespie. This is the story of the Easton family of four, mom, dad, older boy, and a young girl. Most of the story is told from the young girl, Alice Easton's, prospective. This family finds a great old house that needs lots of work. Not only is there a rambling, creepy old house but a large lot complete with dark woods featuring an old locked shed. In addition, next to the house is a pool that is only half filled with sewage like, black, putrid water. My nightmare come true!  As the family moves in and starts to work on their new home, the dad becomes rage filled. Immediately my mind went to The Amityville Horror, and I prepared myself for a B movie-ish retelling. Boy was I wrong. Little Alice tears off a piece of wall paper and behind it finds a drawing of a family that looks remarkably like the Eastons. While the kids are blamed for the artwork, Alice knows the truth, it was underneath the wall paper that had been hung years ago.  Things start to spiral out of control when family members go missing, as an X appears over the representation of them in the drawing.

This story is spooky, hitting many of the horror story highs including that smelly dark pool, the locked shed, odd woods, huge house, angry adults, a possibly evil diary, and a snow storm that isolates this family from the outside world including help from the police. The story moves quickly, leading the reader from the innocent beginning to terrifying end. A very fun read, perfect for this time of year.

Back to some housewife stuff, we finally have someone hired to fix the damage from hurricane Dorian. I sincerely hope he doesn't find anything drawn under the siding.