Horror Book of the Week: The Haunting of Bechdel Mansion by Roger Hayden

 

This week's Horror Book Pick is THE HAUNTING OF BECHDEL MANSION written by Roger Hayden.

It is the first book in A Riveting Haunted House Mystery Series.

The book was first published in September 2016 and is on the bestsellers list of Occult Horror.

The book has received several good reviews, but many have mentioned that the book ends on a cliffhanger.

Quick Book Review of THE HAUNTING OF BECHDEL MANSION

The novel opens with an article written by Anthony Moore about the Redwood Murders that took place twenty years ago.

The article mentions how the Bechdel family was considered to be cursed since most of the family members died in catastrophic ways.

He then mentions the infamous Redwood Murders in 1975. That evening, the Bechdel family was celebrating the engagement of their eldest son Travis with Katelyn Drake. The two wealthy families were having a dinner party when masked gunmen entered and took down everyone.

The killer was never caught.

The next chapter takes us back to that fateful evening in 1975, when we meet Bechdel's only daughter Julie. She may be eleven, but even she believes that her brother getting married is done in haste.

Even though she is told to remain in her room, she sneaks out and overhears the Drakes talking amongst themselves. Katelyn isn't sure she wants to get married too soon, but her parents are trying their best to convince her as their fortunes rely on it. Julie is caught by her mother and sent to her room.

Soon after, a van pulls up, gunmen emerge and kill everyone. Julie tries to make it out the window only to be caught by a gunman. She is killed, too.

The next chapter deals with how, over the years, the mansion was thought to be haunted, and anyone who ventured in ran away in fear.

The year is now 2016. Mary Malone is moving into the mansion with her husband Curtis. They are well aware of the Murders that took place, which is why the mansion was priced low.

Before they can drive towards the mansion, Mary has a vision of being in a large hall where someone is hiding in the shadows and calling out to her. She loses consciousness.

When she awakens, the paramedics are looking her over. She is better, but the paramedics are surprised when their ambulance breaks down.

Curtis then informs her that the power won't be on until a few days.

The next day, Mary hears a strange voice and sees no one outside her room who could be speaking.

The book adopts an interesting method to introduce us to the mystery and the family curse. It starts with the newspaper article, followed by a flashback before it brings us to the present.

It's definitely a unique technique for a horror novel.

That being said, the writing, although flowing well, is disjointed in places.

It is as if one person wrote it, and another writer inserted scenes throughout while editing.

For example, one character will be talking about something and , in the next instant, completely contradicts themselves.

Also, after someone just gains consciousness, would they be so up and eager to take a tour around the entire house?

While the article and flashback scenes are written well, Mary's story, from the very beginning, doesn't flow as smoothly.

TO READ OR NOT TO READ

I love haunted house stories. They've always been a favourite of mine because they represent terror in the one place everyone is supposed to feel safe.

We believe that homes are built for security, so when you add ghosts and demons into the mix, it immediately evokes a deep sense of dread.

The HAUNTING OF BECHDEL MANSION is an intriguing story, but I'm discouraged due to two factors.

One of them is because the book purportedly ends with a cliffhanger. While it is a clever gimmick to get the reader to read the next book, it is also frustrating when the book doesn't give some form of closure.

And then there's Mary's part that makes you feel disconnected. The first two chapters that talk about the past are intriguing and develops the backstory adeptly, but  when the story opens in the present, it suffers from pacing, which is possibly accentuated by grammatical errors.

Nevertheless, Mary's connection with the house is worth exploring.

I would read the book just to find out how the mystery unravels.

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