Tales From Grimlock Cove - Book Review

Tales from Grimlock Cove: Volume 1 by Oscar Whiting is a collection of stories that take place in Grimlock Cove, a sinister and cursed town founded by the Grimlock family. They are rich and powerful, and it is rumored that they are evil. When you were a small child, did you sense evil standing in the corner of your bedroom or scratching beneath your bed, the kind of fear that paralyzes you? The kind where you can't breathe or call out. The kind where you wonder if you are awake or still asleep because It seems so real! That is what young Bella Cordero was experiencing as she tried to sleep in the chilly attic of St. Julian's Catholic Church back in 1887. It was supposed to be a safe place for Bella and her mother. Can evil lurk in the house of God? Bella will discover the answer.

The stories take place at different times in the Grimlock Cove. After the 1887 episode, we meet again in 2016 when a young woman named  Mei is flying to Grimlock Cove to visit her sister Nori. Her flight seems to be the proverbial flight from hell.
Horror stories are written to evoke fear and goosebumps but also to stir up a range of intense emotions in readers: fear, rage, anger, heartbreak, shock, frustration, and occasionally even a hint of joy. Whiting includes all of these, and you feel them right off when young Bella confronts the chilling spirits that haunt the night. Or feel the hair bristle on the back of your neck as you read the Halloween Miracle. Crazy Barbara Banes horrifies us with the grisly details of her deeds, but that is what you want in a horror story, which will make you squirm as you read it. Whiting lets you step into Barbara's shoes to share her confusion and terror as she confronts her darkest sins that have come back to haunt her on Halloween night. Whiting masterfully immerses you into the lives of captivating characters as they face unimaginable hardships and the catastrophic shattering of their reality.

By the time you have completed his collection of horror stories, you will probably not want to fly, stay in a motel, or go to church, but you will have enjoyed a few scares and a thrilling narrative, which is what reading horror stories is all about. If you find yourself quietly mumbling, "We have eyes, but we do not see, So humbly we give our eyes to thee," then it is time to smile and express gratitude to Whiting for satisfying your craving for horror.