A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
First line: When I wake in the middle of the night, I don’t always see darkness.
Summary: Fell, New York is known for its strange occurrences. For the Esmie family the disappearance of the youngest child, Ben, it is what finally drives them out of town and to lose contact with each other. Each of the older siblings have been haunted by mysterious visions and a fear of returning to their family home. That is until one day their brother Ben appears at the house, still a child, and summons them home. Why is he all of a sudden back and where has he been all these years? Fighting their fears they return to see if they can finally figure out what happened during that fated game of hide and seek many years before.
My Thoughts: Simone St. James is a master of her craft. Her books are a perfect mix of mystery and horror. It is always enough to give you the creeps but still keeping you invested in the plot. With this book I loved her inclusion of Easter eggs from her previous books. Tying them all together was genius and so much fun for her devoted readers.
There was so much to love about this book. It was truly spooky. The abandoned family home that is basically been left as a tomb for their missing sibling. Each of the siblings had some sort of paranormal encounters from seeing ghosts, visions of drowning and bright lights that no one else can see. Then there is a ghost child leaving wet footprints on the floor. A town with a dark past that no one can explain. What more could you ask for?
I really, really enjoyed this book but I still had a few things that bothered me. The strong attachment to Ben seemed so strange to me. Maybe I just don’t understand it. My sister is close in age to myself and I never had to take care or raise her which could be the reason behind the sibling’s feelings. And then the ending seemed to be rather quick. I guess I just wasn’t ready for it to end. I will still recommend this to any and all readers who like a good ghost story but these things were what seemed odd to me during my reading of it.
FYI: Missing children, ghosts, death