Suspenseful story with legends that come alive!
After the loss of her husband, Susan sought a safe place to rebuild a life for herself and her six-year-old daughter, Christine. Quaint and picturesque, Porter Mines seemed ideal.
Susan soon learns appearances can be deceiving. Like many small towns, the history of Porter Mines was woven in a tapestry of dark secrets. One centered on a witch, who vowed with her dying breath to claim vengeance against those who wronged her. A ghost story rooted in grisly truth.
Can Susan protect Christine from a wrath even death couldn’t tame?
Or will her only child fall prey to the curse of Porter Mines?
Reviews: Amazon – 4.3 stars with 37 ratings. Goodreads – 4.4 stars with 37 ratings
Buy Links
Autographed print copies are available from the author for $15.99 with free shipping to the continental United States. Drop him a line to let him know you’re interested.
Reviews
Good Horror Read: This book started a bit slow. But it sure picked up steam. My only complaint is this entire town needs to invest in depends, as everyone kept peeing themselves. Kindle Customer
Suspenseful story with legends that come alive: This is a fantastic story! Richard Schiver knows how to build a world to immerse the reader and then throw in the suspense to catch you off guard! There were a few chapters I had to put the book down and catch my breath. This is a page turner that’s was extremely hard to put down. Christina Eleanor Amazon
Great read: A great story that integrates true love and loss into a folk tale. I liked the idea of it having to be earned and how Christine held on to Puddles. I was sad when she was forced to let go or destroy it. Debra Amazon
Creepy and original: Very creepy and intriguing story. Small town witch legend seems to be actually happening and it happened before. Very atmospheric. Amelia Carr: Amazon
I’d give it 10 stars: I love great horror stories and have a hard time finding one like this where everything comes together just in time to catch you off guard and scare the crap out of you. The characters are so well written that they mesh together perfectly. If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. If a great horror is what your looking for….this is the one to read. Laura Hundley: Goodreads
Not Scary: The story wasn’t scary (or perhaps I’m too hardcore lol) and it certainly wasn’t gory. But here’s the thing — I really didn’t mind! It stood up on its own without the bloodshed and carnage I’ve come to expect from this genre. It was very entertaining and reminiscent of the 1980s horror I read as a teenager. Lynne: Goodreads
Excerpt from Chapter 23
Three throws for a buck, the sign proclaimed. Christine was confident Daddy was strong enough to knock over a few little milk bottles.
“Now there comes a sturdy lad with his young lass. What say, ya young man? Three throws for a buck. Knock em all clear off the table and take your pick of a dandy prize for the young lady.”
She looked up as the carnie’s words flowed over tobacco-stained teeth. His skin the color of tanned leather, a smoldering cigarette squeezed between two stubby fingers missing above the first knuckle.
Her father held up his hand and shook his head. “Not today, old timer.”
“Before you leave her, give her something to remember you by.”
Her father had been about the turn away, but the man’s words stopped him.
“How do you know I’m leaving?”
The carnie shrugged. “You work this as much as I have. You learn to see things. Twenty-Nine Palms is down the road a piece, and judging by your haircut, I’d say that’s home for you. I know a unit is shipping out in the next day or so, and I put two and two together.”
“Can’t afford to throw my money away on some game.”
“Daddy, please.” She squeezed his hand as she gazed up at him with imploring eyes. There was nothing special about the bunny, but a sudden need to own the brightly colored creature overwhelmed Christine.
“Tell ya what, seeing as you’re soon to ship out, I’ll cut you a break, half off. That’s fifty cents for three chances to knock over the bottles.”
“I don’t know. I’ve heard they rigged these games.”
“I know many of my brothers and sisters who run these booths pad the game in their favor. But you have my word I’d never do that. It’s a game of skill.”
“Daddy, please, I want him.” She pointed at the sappy-faced grin of a blue and white bunny.
“But honey.” He knelt to look her in the eye. “You remember what Mommy said. We’ll have to watch our money while I’m gone.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“Now we talked about this. You know it’s what Daddy does. I have to help them people.”
“It isn’t fair. Why can’t someone else help…”
Her father placed his finger on her lips.
“Give her something to remember you by,” the carnie said, and her father nodded as he stood, and turned to the booth.
“It would be cheaper to buy her a stuffed bunny from Walmart,” her father said.
“It wouldn’t work,” the fellow said with a wink that spoke volumes. “It has to be earned.”
It had to be earned. Nothing was ever free in this world. There was a give and a take for every transaction, payments made in forms beyond regular currency, deposits credited to accounts that existed far from the established order of the local bank. End Excerpt 1!
Excerpt 2 from Chapter 36
It’s not natural.
“Run out another hundred.” Brian spoke into the microphone in the diving helmet he wore. In his line of work, it was imperative he be in contact with the surface as he was conducting a dive. Safety was a top priority when one worked beneath the surface of the water.
“Can you see the bottom?” Officer Burton said.
“Not at all. Can’t go any deeper without changing my air.”
“Anything at all that might help?”
“Nothing. From my perspective, there is no bottom and there’s nothing here.” Brian glanced up at the silhouette of the boat on the surface. Between them, the rope bowed out instead of following a straight line. A powerful current had surprised him as he followed the line down. Had it not been for the rope, he would have been swept to the sheer face of the cliff, and into the black maw of an opening ten feet beneath the surface.
He shuddered at the idea of vanishing into that cave. It looked big enough to permit his passage, and based on the strength of the current, it led to an underwater river that vanished into the surrounding mountain.
What’s feeding the lake? He looked around, searching for another opening that would account for the flow.
“Let’s move closer to the cliff face,” Brian said. “Check the crevices.”
“Roger that.”
Brian felt the tug of the rope as Burton guided the craft to the rocky face. When he was close, he saw plenty of places for a body to become lodged, and realized it was going to be a long day as he checked each one.
That was his job. To bring closure to the relatives of victims. The only way to do that was to recover the body. Seeing the remains would allow them to move on with their lives, putting to rest any doubts that might have haunted them.
His neighbor across the street when he was growing up was an example of this. Her daughter vanished during a trip to Central America. Her body was never recovered, and his neighbor clung to the belief to the day of her own death that at any moment her daughter was going to walk through the door.
“Is that good?” Burton said in his ear.
“This will work.” Brian glanced down at the emptiness below.
“Another five fifty to the end of the spool,” Burton said as Brian flipped on his light and shined it into the space beneath a ledge of stone. He steeled himself as he did, preparing for the worst, as the underside of the stony ledge came into view.
A flash of movement startled him as a familiar crawl slithered through his belly. No matter how many times he recovered human remains, there was always that moment of hesitation. It was the one thing that kept him tethered to his humanity as he worked, and he knew the day he lost it would be the day he hung up his flippers. Today, it was only a fish that vanished into the shadows beneath him, fleeing his intrusion.
The rope slid through his hand as the spool unwound above him, his other held onto the stone ledge. He was more focused on searching the stone face than what was going on with the rope, unaware that it had formed a large loop in the water around his hand as his partner fed it out above him.
“Another twenty-five feet out. I don’t think there’s a bottom.”
There had to be a bottom. Brian glanced again at the emptiness beneath his feet. His imagination stirring in response to that mysterious void. He tried not to think about what lived in those shadowy depths, preferring to remain ignorant of these things. His job was hard enough without adding that to it. In his line of work, it was better to not even consider the possibility that hovered at the edge of his consciousness.
From the rope came a soft vibration transmitted through the glove on his hand. As if they hit bottom, or something bumped into the rope in the black depths beneath him. He pushed the latter idea away.
He glanced at the rope that hung suspended around his hand. He’d have to straighten that out. As he was reaching for the rope, it slipped through his hand fast enough to burn his fingers through the glove. The rope went taut before he could pull his hand free, trapping his hand in the loop. Burton’s shout of surprise came over his headset as it dragged him down into that black abyss. The depth meter on his wrist jumped from seventy to ninety feet instantly. The tension drew a tight knot around his hand, folding his knuckles over as pain shot the length of his arm. End Excerpt 2!
About the Author
Richard has been an avid reader of horror and the macabre since childhood. Cutting his teeth on Creepy and Tales From the Crypt comics before graduating to prose. A five year stint in the military gave him ample time to pursue his passion of reading horror, that in time compelled him to take up to pen himself.
Richard Schiver 