A Christmas Haunting: Clark Mansion

By: Carrie Bates

Narrated by: Steve McCutcheon

What is that terrifying tree topper?

Christmas was never a peaceful holiday at Clark Mansion. But Bob and Emma are not aware of its gory past when they purchase the mansion. They dream of raising their family in the expansive home, but their dreams become living nightmares.

Emma and the kids witness horrifying sights. Emma is stalked by a madman who wants to control her. Too late, Bob and Emma realize that the mansion holds nothing but evil. As Christmas approaches, the family tries to make an escape. But Clark Mansion is dying to repeat its horrific Christmas past. Can Emma’s family make it out alive?

©2018 Carrie Bates (P)2018 Carrie Bates

Great horror story for Christmas

This was a suspenseful quick story about a family home that was anything but perfect. Bob and Emma buy the Clark Mansion hoping to make it a happy home for their family. What they don’t know is that the house has a gory past. And it’s a past that hasn’t left the house. As the readers/listener we get the history of the house and also the story of Bob and Emma’s family being plagued by the past.
It all started with a couple who drifted apart and a once happily married man and father who came to resent his family ending with gruesome events on Christmas. Asking for a tree on Christmas day was the last straw apparently.
Emma and the kids start to witness gruesome and horrifying things in the house. As in most horror stories, the father doesn’t believe them. That is until he can’t deny it. Emma is the main one plagued by the houses gruesome history. For some reason, the ghost of the madman picks her to torment the most. He wants her to repeat what he did.
Christmas comes and the family is in danger. As much as Bob and Emma try to ignore the horror of the house, the house won’t be silent. I was on the edge of my seat through the whole story. Christmas for Bob and Emma’s family wasn’t what I expected at all. I refuse to spoil this book with more details.
I have read other ghost stories from Carrie Bates. I really enjoy them. They are all unique. This one was the perfect Christmas themed horror. We get the feeling of joy of the season, turn quickly to horror. This narrator, Steve McCutcheon, was a great voice for telling the suspense full story.
As I mentioned before it’s a quick story. I promise you will be enthralled the whole time. I highly recommend. Five out of five stars!

Had me on the edge of my seat

I have read one other book by this author and enjoyed the way they approach the haunted house for the most part. The only thing that I find a bit distracting so far is that the prologue to both books I read is pretty much the same just set in a different time period and location. The characters are well defined and come across as fully formed individuals. The story moves pretty fast once you meet the main characters and pulls you into what they are having to deal with. Christmas may never look the same again.

Bob and Emma had saved for years to buy a large home for their growing family. They wanted to give their kids a good life in a place that they could call home and feel attached to. Clark Mansion seemed to be that place. It had plenty of room and best of all it fell within their budget, though they were very surprised by this at the time. They did not know the story of what happened in the home and with Christmas coming which has never been peaceful at Clark Mansion, their dreams are about to become a nightmare.

Emma and her children are all-seeing and hearing things that cannot possibly be real but are starting to feel as if they are being stalked. As Bob and Emma come to believe that their new home is evil they want to leave. The problem is can they get away from what lives in the mansion.

This is very much worth the read. You have a sense of dread that builds from the moment they arrive and takes you right through the final act. Because I read and listened I found the narrator to be alright though he has a monotone quality as he relates the story but does a very good job of giving life to the characters.
I was caught totally off guard at the ending and I loved that fact even more!

A Brutal Holiday Tale

This novella really surprised me it was really brutal especially the ending. I dug it.