I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror. It was very unsettling.

For years someone or something has been stealing children from Ojibway City. Everyone knows about it, but nothing is being done to stop it. But that all changes when clairvoyant Lydia Cayce begins investigating. But is it too late? This book was not for me, I had to force myself to finish this book. It contains descriptions of graphic violence including violence against animals which I cannot deal with. I also felt like this book dragged and the ending was rushed. It felt like the author spent more time describe the violence only to suddenly solve the monster mystery behind the scences. ( )

I did not finish this book, because it was a bit too much for me in graphic violence and depictions of abuse, however I did enjoy other parts of it. I thought the story was interesting, and I liked the multiple timelines. I thought the characters were well developed. I would recommend to horror fans, who don't mind the graphic content. ( )

A haunted house connecting the bloody fate of several families over decades.

“The Dark and the Darker” is a great horror novel for fans of gory horror. It borrows ideas from known horror stories and feels like an homage to “It” by Stephen King and “American Horror Story". Don’t get me wrong – it hasn’t got any “already read that” vibe: It even mentions the inspirational novel and Hickey created an own interpretation of characters and motives.

If you are faint of heart it might not be the right choice for you. I, personally, enjoyed the character design and the gripping narrative style. It is a 400+ pages eBook and I finished it without even thinking about its length. This is always a sign for an exciting story, and you can take that as a reading recommendation. 😊

But… It’s such a pity that its editor did a very bad job. There are typos, redundant descriptions, repetitions, sloppiness mistakes, etc. Despite not being an English native speaker, I felt the urge to start correcting. I had to take off a star for that.

Thank you, Black Rose Writing, for providing this ARC! ( )