Brilliant collection.

Boylan House:
There is a house in nearly every town that stands abandoned and just left there. Well, the Boylan house is one of them! It has stood for centuries on Meeting House Road, New Hampshire. It's a house no-one dares to enter, and if they do, they usually don't come out. Also every year, around Halloween, boys seem to go missing in or around the house, never to be seen of heard from again. Just what is going on?

Well, Mason Philips is intent on finding out what is going on. When he was a boy, on Halloween, himself and his friend decide to call to the house on a dare. Mason swears that a trap door opened in the roof and something pulled his friend into the house. Nobody believes him though and he goes through life remembering the house and wanting to see if it was just a young boys imagination. He goes back to try to find the truth, and what he unravels was shocking.

This was awesome!! So creepy and scary and perfect for this time of year!! This is the type of book that would work well read at a camp fire. They are perfect little bite sized bits of spooky.

Character wise, I really liked Mason. He has always thought about the house from his childhood and is finally in a position to find out more about it. During his research, he meets a lovely librarian, a police officer that is willing to help, and even his estranged Uncle, who has already dabbled with the house and the evil within. This ragtag group of people may just get to the bottom of what lies within the house.

Plot wise, it's a really short read but packed with chills, thrills and enough of a spooky atmosphere that it will keep you on the edge of your seat. This author is fast becoming one of my go to ones for a short scary read! He knows how to tell a great story.

Thom Bowers read the book well. He had plenty of different tones and inflections to make the story thoroughly enjoyable.

Blood Contract:
I didn't read the summary, or any reviews of this before starting it, I just saw who the author was and dived in, and I have to say that it was not at all what I was expecting!! For the first few pages I thought this would be the typical haunting, but it's not!! There was an awesome twist to it that I loved and I'm so glad I went in knowing nothing because I was giddy when I was reading it.

The plot was fast paced, intense and all round full of awesomesauce!! The basic premise is that the Blood family has owned property in the town of Thorne for generations. The family gave some of the land to the town but a contract was written up expressly forbidding the town to encroach upon the only land the family kept. All was well for generations, until the town decided to develop on the land. With the contract breached, the Blood family can not rest, but you will need to read the book to figure out why!!

As I said, I loved the plot and the twist the author put on it. I loved the creatures and learning about why the contract was put into place. I loved all the characters and found them all to be well written and developed. The creatures were well described and I want more of them!!! So yes, I pretty much loved everything about this book and would love to see more from the characters, and the creatures.

In all, a book that truly surprised me and one I highly recommend.

Jake Urry was once again amazing. he knows how to bring across the atmosphere and has so many tones and voices for the characters that the world comes alive. He is one of my favourite narrators.

Hungry Ghosts:
Connor Mann saw something when he was a child and it caused him to be put into psychiatric ward for more than a decade. It's now time for him to be released and he is anxious about going home. His mother is dead and his father is an abusive drunk. He tries to live a normal life but when he sees something from his childhood and gruesome murders are happening in the cemetery across from him, he realises that his life will never be normal. With the help from a neighbour, Connor needs to get to the bottom of what is happening before it's too late.

Pot wise, I really enjoyed learning about Chinese Ghosts and the difference between them and the normal Ghosts. The lore was fascinating and I ended up Googling them. The pacing of this was fast paced and really creepy, especially when the Ghosts would say that they were Hungry!!! It gave me chills. I was also glad to see a twist on the normal Ghost books this author has written.

I liked Connor. He saw his mother being killed by a Ghost and was put into a psychiatric ward for a lot of his life. He is now out and finding it hard to adjust. When the Ghosts try to kill him, Mister Hu is the only one he can turn to, because Hu believes him. Connor, despite his faults, is willing to do whatever he can to stop the Ghosts.

In all, this was an exciting, new and entertaining book. I loved seeing the flashbacks at the end of the book, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what is next for these characters.

Thom Bowers is able to bring the creepiness alive!! His portrayal of the Ghosts was chilling and he brought the atmosphere to life. Thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

Shermans Collection:
This is one of Ron Ripleys' earlier works and after reading some of his more recent ones, you can tell he has evolved tremendously as a writer!! Still though, this book was well written and developed and I loved it.

The plot is fast paced and doesn't let up. When Mr. Sherman dies, his one stipulation in his will is that when his house is sold, nothing from the Library can be removed. The new owner has to agree to this before they can buy the house. Charles Gottesman doesn't see a problem with this so he eagerly buys the house. But before he can move in, items from the Library are stolen and it doesn't take long for Charles to realise how important Mr Shermans request was.

I think I see where the author got inspiration for his amazing Haunted Collection Series!! This is similar though not as expanded as the Haunted Collection Series. I loved finding out about the objects and what was haunting each. Also the buyer of the sword was creepy and I would love to have seen a bit more on him. As with all this authors work, he has created a creepy and spooky set of circumstances that the characters have to deal with, and I loved every bit of it ;) I listened to this in a little over a day because I needed to see what happened next.

In all, this is a well written and quick read. It has given me a hankering for re-reading the Haunted Collection Series!

Jake Urry is one of my favourite narrators and I always enjoy his performance. He read this well and had plenty of tones and voices for the characters. His cadence and inflection was perfect too and he brought the book alive.

I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

10 people found this helpful

Narrator takes away from collection

Love Ron Ripley's books! The issue with this collection is the narration of Jake Urry. The 2 books narrated by Thom Bowers were wonderful! Jake Urry's narration was such that I was unable to listed to the 2 books read by him. Very disappointing as I love Ron Ripley's books

3 people found this helpful

one of the narrators just ruined it.

loved the books hated the narrator. lost me because of it. guy could put anyone to sleep.

3 people found this helpful

Jake Urry; an assault on my ears

Jake Urry's performance destroyed 2 stories. I Could not bear to listen to his voice. I hope Ron Ripley sticks with Thom Bowers from now on . Urry's narration is somewhere between a drunken Brit and a well meaning answering machine. I desperately wanted to listen but simply could not after 30 minutes. Very disappointing.

2 people found this helpful

Narrator ruined it.

I am returning this audio book. I like Ron Ripley books and I have all of them and I own quite a few audio versions also. The narration on Blood Contract is awful. So bad that I cannot continue. He speaks so slowly hat it has become a challenge to go on. I even tried to speed up the narration and that didn't work either. I think that Hungry Ghosts was not one of Mr Ripleys better books and I am kind of glad that I won't have to listen to that one. However, Sherman's Collection is one that I might have enjoyed listening to as I did like the book but I just can't take the chance that I will have to listen to what I think is bad narration. I do like Thom Bowers narration but I just can't listen to Jake Urry. Maybe someone else can. I'm just not that person.

8 people found this helpful

should have had one narrator

these stories were pretty good, but could have been better without the second reader. the reader of the first and third stories was one of the better ones ive heard. different voices, accents, and filled the naritive with feeling. the reader of the second and fourth stories was one of the worst ive heard. same sounding voices, monotone reading. awfully hard to listen to.

1 person found this helpful

It was okay

1st book was good. I couldn't finish the 2nd one...after 6 chapters, it still hadn't grabbed my attention. 3rd and 4th were okay. but narrator portrayal of female characters was annoying. He made them ALL sound like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and a 6yr old.

1 person found this helpful

A fantastic collection

I haven’t read/listened to a book by Ron Ripley that I haven’t liked. Boylan House is about a man who as a child had an unforgettable experience one Halloween night when he watched a boy get dragged into the creepy house that they were dared to go up to. Now years later and after discovering many boys have mysteriously gone missing in or around that house he is ready to figure out the mystery and make the disappearances stop. It is a great book that will make you really want to know what happened to all those boys.

Blood Contract, another great story! Hundreds of year ago a contract was put into place about the lands around town and where people could and couldn’t build/settle. What they didn’t realize or failed to remember years down the road was that this contract was put into place to keep people safe. Now that the contract has been broken ghosts are rising and seeking blood and they aren’t the only things coming to town. I don’t know where Ron Ripley gets his ideas but this one is great. You feel for some of the characters who end up with a messy death, others.. they probably deserved it.

Hungry Ghosts. Now I read this when it first was released and I really enjoyed it then. I’m only sad that it seems that either it won’t be made into a series or it has taken the back burner. It is a great book; creepy cemetery, evil ghosts, mystery... why are ghosts killing people? What’s going on with this fox ghost? Will Connor be able to face his past and help?

Sherman’s Collection. Another great read/listen! I wonder if this story is how Ron got going on the Haunted Collection series. In this book a man purchases an old house with the stipulation that the library remain intact. We find out quickly that the things in the library are more than they seem, with spirits attached to them. Right from the start someone robs the house and steals items, much to their demise. Will Charles be able to collect the items and return them to the library before the ghosts hurt more people? Read it to find out!

As always a terrific narration by Thom Bowers as well as Jake Urry. I do sometimes increase the speed of the reading a little as at times it is a little slow for me but, easily fixed! I would definitely recommend this collection and/or any of these books individually. Check out the other Scare Street authors when you’re done, you won’t regret it!!

1 person found this helpful

Not for me

I was not into it. I felt like it was things I had heard before.

really enjoyed this story

I loved these books!! my personal favorite was Sherman's Collection...reminded me of the Friday the 13th series I used to watch as a child. I love a great scary story. I really enjoyed all 4 books overall would listen again!!