Happy, happy Friday! Let's get down to business now—book business, that is. Once again, you're reading Fully Booked with Briana Morgan, and today I'm reviewing Kealan Patrick Burke's The House on Abigail Lane. Kealan is a five-time Bram Stoker Award Nominee and a Bram Stoker Award Winner for his book The Turtle Boy. Two of his books, Sour Candy and The House on Abigail Lane, have been optioned for film. I'll probably review Sour Candy in the future. For now, we'll focus on The House on Abigail Lane.

Here's an overview of the book:

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary American home, but since its construction in 1956, people have vanished as soon as they go upstairs, the only clues the things they leave behind: a wedding ring, a phone...an eye.

In its sixty-year history, a record number of strange events have been attributed to the house, from the neighbors waking up to find themselves standing in the yard outside, to the grieving man who vanished before a police officer's eyes. The animals gathering in the yard as if summoned. The people who speak in reverse. The lights and sounds. The music. The grass dying overnight...and the ten-foot clown on the second floor.

And as long as there are mysteries, people will be compelled to solve them.

Here, then, is the most comprehensive account of the Abigail House phenomenon, the result of sixty years of eyewitness accounts, news reports, scientific research, and parapsychological investigations, all in an attempt to decode the enduring mystery that is...

...THE HOUSE ON ABIGAIL LANE.

Click Image to Purchase on Amazon

This book reminded me of Mark Z. Danielewsk's House of Leaves. Like that book, The House on Abigail Lane plays with warping space and time, as well as providing an unsettling and immersive atmosphere. Much like House of Leaves, The House on Abigail Lane unfolds via news reports, eyewitness accounts, and more documentary-style "footage," so to speak. I'm a self-proclaimed found footage fanatic when it comes to horror. I love The Blair Witch Project, The Houses October Built, Paranormal Activity, and all your standard found footage films. I'm also a sucker for found footage in video games, like sections of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (which I have played through twice this year). In books, some of my recent found footage favorites include Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (which you're welcome to read my review of here) and Devolution by Max Brooks. Now, I would add The House of Abigail Lane

to that list.

I love found footage so much that I'm working on writing my own found footage book--but I digress. In addition to providing an engrossing and engaging spooky atmosphere in The House of Abigail Lane, Kealan comments on issues such as post-Vietnam War PTSD and racial injustice. At its core, the book is a haunted house novella, but it is also so much more than that. As a credit to Kealan's storytelling, as I read, I was tempted to Google whether the events of the book actually happened. They haven't, of course, but they could. That's an earmark of good horror.

One of my favorite things about The House on Abigail Lane is how much terror and unease Kealan unleashes in 68 pages. It's a

Author, Kealan Patrick Burke

quick read that never lets up, and the tension throughout makes the novella difficult to put down. The worldbuilding here is phenomenal too--as I mentioned before, the events referenced in the book felt so real that I could believe they had really taken place. If it's not clear, I give The House on Abigail Lane by Kealan Patrick Burke five stars.

You can find Kealan's books on Amazon as well as other retailers. He's active on Twitter and Instagram and designs book covers as Elderlemon Design. Full disclosure: he's my cover designer, so maybe I'm biased, but his work is impeccable. What do you think of The House of Abigail Lane? Please let me know in the comments below! I'll see you all next Friday for more Fully Booked.

Briana Morgan (she/her) is a horror author and playwright of books such as THE TRICKER-TREATER AND OTHER STORIES, UNBOXED, and BLOOD AND WATER. She is also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association. Briana lives with her partner and two cats in Atlanta, GA.

Amazon | Website | Twitter | Instagram

As a reader, I tend to gravitate toward adult fiction. I used to read a lot of young adult fiction—when I was writing more young adult fiction myself—but have seldom strayed into middle grade fiction. At least, not since I was at the “right” age for middle grade fiction.

For a long time, I also (mistakenly) assumed that middle grade horror didn’t have any bite. I didn’t think it could unsettle me or find a way to get under my skin. The first book I read that changed my mind was Seeing Things by Sonora Taylor.

Released in June 2020, Seeing Things tells the story of a girl named Abby who is spending the summer at her uncle’s house. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, as you can tell from the back cover text:

Abby Gillman has discovered that with growing up, there comes a lot of blood. But nothing prepares her for the trail of blood she sees in the hallway after class - or the ghost she finds crammed inside an abandoned locker.

No one believes Abby, of course. She’s only seeing things. As much as Abby wants to be believed, what she wants more is to know why she can suddenly see the dead. Unfortunately, they won’t tell her. In fact, none of them will speak to her. At all.

 Abby leaves for her annual summer visit to her uncle’s house with tons of questions. The visit will give her answers the ghosts won’t - but she may not like what she finds out.

Click Image to Purchase on Amazon

In Seeing Things, we experience the world through Abby’s point of view. I’m not so far removed from being a preteen that I don’t remember what it’s like, and Sonora does a great job of portraying such a youthful character without oversimplifying her thoughts and emotions.

The story is a mystery, but more than that, it’s horror with the elements of a supernatural thriller. It’s also an engaging narrative about a girl trying to find her place in the world and in her family while solving a decades-old local murder. I love the voice in the book as well as Abby’s frustration—not only with her sudden ability to see ghosts, but with the adults in her life for treating her like a child and not taking her seriously because of her age.

The ghosts presented throughout the book are also pretty scary. Sonora’s use of evocative description and vivid imagery made it easy for me to picture them, as well as to understand why Abby is so afraid of them. I was surprised by how spooky they were.

Author, Sonora Taylor

I love a good coming-of-age story intermingled with some family drama, and Seeing Things provides exactly that. Along with Abby’s newfound ability to see the dead comes the unraveling of some long-buried secrets. Like most of the other books I’ve reviewed for this column so far, this one is short, so I won’t go too much in depth here. But trust me when I say this story builds toward a compelling climax that wraps up in a neat resolution.

Seeing Things makes a short, emotional read that’s perfect for the summer. If you’re looking for bite-sized thrills, you’ll want to snag a copy. The book is available on Amazon, and you can follow Sonora Taylor on Instagram and Twitter. I’ll also be tabling with her at Scares that Care! It’s okay to be jealous.

Briana Morgan (she/her) is a horror author and playwright of books such as THE TRICKER-TREATER AND OTHER STORIES, UNBOXED, and BLOOD AND WATER. She is also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association. Briana lives with her partner and two cats in Atlanta, GA.

Amazon | Website | Twitter | Instagram