Customer Reviews

Haunted

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you love haunted house novels, you can't go wrong here. I was captured from start to finish. It's got all the hallmarks of a classic ghost story - the skeptical researcher, the sordid history of the house, the slowly building occurances of ghostly activity, the climatic ending, etc.

It's stunning just how graphic this book gets without actually going over the edge - a real achievement nowadays. make no mistake though, there are things that happen in this story that are pretty disgusting.

The dialog, plot, and character development are excellent. Like Richard Matheson's "Hell House" (which no self-respecting fan of Haunted House stories should be without!), this one will stay with you until you have to read it again....

'Haunted' is a wonderfully fast paced ghost story. The characters are well drawn and the plot exciting if somewhat far-fetched. Be warned that the book contains quite a bit of sex. This is must reading for fans of 'Poltergeist' or authors like John Saul and Richard Laymon.

Baudley House is a sprawling mansion supposedly filled with ghosts and demons. Eager to see if the legend is true, horror writer David Masters moves onto the estate with his teenage daughter Amber to write his latest book about the house. Given this rather basic premise author Tamara Thorne then lets her imagination run wild and pulls every trick in the book to keep the reader at the edge of their seat -- seances, cold spots, daggers, dungeons, possession, a cult, succubi, a headless ghost, an abandoned lighthouse, bloody dolls, a torture chamber... HAUNTED is wonderfully atmospheric and grips the reader from the start, holding them fast, and maintaining a solid momentum throughout this juicy, and nearly 500-page, tale of possession and evil from beyond the grave. A spooky and sexy epic. Lots of fun for those who crave a good scare before bedtime.

I just finished reading Haunted by Tamara Thorne. A horror writer and his daughter move into a (you guessed it!) haunted house on the California coast. The writer believes that the house will inspire him for his new book. Well, yeah, I guess it does. The house is haunted by an evil teenaged voodoo priestess prostitute (trust me, it works) who murdered a bunch of people and trapped their souls in a bunch of weird little anatomically-correct dolls that she made to look like her victims before she herself was murdered in 1915. Just to make things even more fun, her spirit can influence living people and possess some of them, and her presence is accompanied by the strong odors of jasmine and rotting flesh. Yay?

This book was a great ride and hard to put down. The characters were vivid and the story well-told. I love the way Tamara Thorne's mind works. She is one sick puppy with a weird sense of humor. Cool. Though it is a very real possibility that I will never wear jasmine again. Or rotting flesh, but that is another story entirely..... No poodles were harmed in this one (unlike her novel Bad Things) --- just real estate agents. And sailors. And some hippies. No poodles though.

Baudey House (or should I say Body House) is quite possibly the most haunted house in America. And now successful horror author David Masters is moving in, for inspiration and to experience whatever the house can throw at him. But nothing can prepare him for the evil that lies waiting to regain power and walk again in the living flesh. Ghosts and Gore abound, with a heavy dosage of eroticism (both real and spirit related) that make Tamara Thorne's novel a terrifying treat. The story is well told, with excellent characters throughout. Nothing about this novel seems forced and the action is fast paced and intense. So if you're a fan of Ghosts or Haunted House stories pick this book up, wait until it's dark out to start reading and be prepared to question every creaking floorboard in your own house. A highly recommended Horror novel that has earned its place on my list of favorites.

Bestselling horror writer/amateur parapsychologist David Masters and his teenage daughter, Amber, move for the summer into California's notorious "Body House," the site of two horrendous massacres and the occasional odd death over the past eighty years. Masters is setting his latest novel in such a place, and wants the atmosphere of the infamous house for inspiration and publicity.

The gossipy locals consider him a fool, and after a while he has to wonder if they're right - the house is haunted by its owner, Lizzie Baudey, a turn of the century madame, and her evil daughter Christabel, who was raised in absentia by a voodoo priest who taught her the black arts. Lizzie's former lover, a sea captain, also wanders about the deserted lighthouse at odd hours, minus his head.

Things start out well enough, with only the occasional bothersome cold spot around, but then Amber finds two of Christabel's legendary missing dolls, and all hell starts breaking loose...

Another well-written winner by the inexplicably all-but-unknown Ms. Thorne, which benefits most from her usual sympathetic and enjoyable characters. Its only real problem is the precise nature of the haunting, which now and then is a little confusing, and a bit of a slow start. But the suspense is steady, the horror pretty gory, and the finale scary and exciting. Haunted is not a classic in the sense of Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Matheson's Hell House or King's The Shining, but that's only because of its more formulaically dramatic streamlining. It is, however, only about one rung beneath those famous pieces, and certainly will satisfy ghost story or haunted house lovers.

Thorne is an author to watch.

This is a great horror story. Ms. Thorne gives us the perfect blend of sex, ghosts, suspense and gore. A writer and his daughter move into a house with a haunted reputation. He is looking for inspiration for his horror novels, but not expecting to be living in the middle of one. This is a real page turner and I wish that there was a sequel to this. This is a SCARY book! The characters have such depth and the plot is unpredictable. Please read this book, I know you will enjoy it.

I don't usually read horror, I've read a little Stephen King (kinda have to living in the same town as the guy). Tamara Thorne's books enthrall me though. Her view of ghosts in this book is extravagant. Her writting captures the reader and keeps you reading untill you hunger for more. I anxiously await more from her as she is a wonderfull writer.

There were many things I loved about this book. It has all the thrills and chills of a great ghost story. The sexual undertones are marvelous, without getting overly graphic. I found the history of Baudey House horrific, sad, and interesting. It didn't surprise me that the past victims were town members. The murders, I found were reminiscent of some of the serial killings I have read about (both fact and fiction). I haven't read much on the subject of voodoo, so I can't compare. But it did shock me that a teenaged girl was capable of such attrocities.The story was fast-paced and tightly woven, its descriptions and character depictions excellent. Ms. Thorne fleshed out the spirits so well that if it weren't for their ghostly appearances and actions, you might mistake them for solid nemesises. They were truly frightening, and so were their deeds. The last half of the book was so tense and engrossing that I had to sit there and finish it in one sitting. I look forward to reading Ms. Thorne's next novel.

I picked up the book in a grocery store and bought it on a whim. I had never heard of her and it seems she only has two books out (Haunted and Moonfall). The book is wonderful, the characters vivid and the story chilling. I stayed up so long reading it! Haven't done that in a while! I did some research and it seems she has another pen name, Chris Curry, under which, if I am correct, she has written a few books (often with a partner, Lisa Dean), I am sure they are worth a read! I certainly hope she shows us more of her talent!