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SUMMARY

They say if you listen carefully at night , you can still hear the screaming…

Seven bodies are recovered from Hellsleigh , the most infamous asylum in the country, which has been left derelict for the last 30 years.

24 Hours Earlier:

On the eve of its planned demolition, famed parapsychologist and author, Brandon Fiske and his team of paranormal investigators break into the abandoned hospital determined to find proof of its supernatural powers.

Local villager, Jason Hough whose past is connected to Hellingly returns for one last visit, along with a group of university students in search of a place to party.

Little do the two groups know, they are there on a very special anniversary for the hospital, an occasion the building remembers only too well…One thing they’ll all find out the hard way is: once you enter Hellsleigh, it wont let you leave…

REVIEW

Hellsleigh has a haunted past. It was once an asylum for those with mental illness but twisted and cruel events occurred there. For the past thirty years the place has been left disused and is about to be demolished. Brandon Fiske, who has made a career out of writing about haunted places, has brought a team with him to investigate the hospital on the eve of its destruction. One way or the other he wants to find out if spirits are real. Meanwhile, Jason Hough and a group of his friends are looking for a place to party. And what better place for a part is there than an old, abandoned hospital where no brothers, parents or police will be? Once everyone has arrived, things start down a dark and deadly path. It remains to be seen if any of them will survive.

DC Brockwell does a fine job of managing a large list of characters and balances the time focused on each well. There are significantly bloody and frightening scenes so anyone who enjoys a good bit of body horror will enjoy this book. The death scenarios are fairly inventive as well and are guaranteed to stick in the readers mind. The end comes to a satisfying conclusion and ties up the loose ends nicely.

While a lot of the book is inventive and intriguing, the setting of an abandoned mental hospital does read like something horror fans have seen before. In addition there is a bit of time jumping that some readers may not enjoy but it is necessary for the end of the book to work as intended.

All in all Brockwell has put out a solid horror story that has enough for most horror fans to keep them awake at night. It would be great to see a fresher, more surprising setting in the next book from this author. Either way I’m sure it will involve a good scare worth reading.

If you are a fan of American Horror Story, The Shining or movies that involve a good amount of blood and gore like the Saw series this is a book worth reading.