Review: The Secret of McKinley Mansion by K.F. Breene

Author: K.F. Breene
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Publication Date: March 2018 (2020 for audiobook)

 It was a dark and stormy night...

It's no easy job being the town nutcase. Ella knows from experience. She's grown up in a quaint little place with people that pretend the extraordinary isn't happening around them. That ignore the bumps in the night, and won't talk about doors closing by themselves or items moving mysteriously.

They also won't talk about the old woman who haunts the streets, long in her grave but for the nights when a particularly bad storm blows through. Those who do are fibbers, begging for attention.

But Ella knows it is no lie - when the lightning cracks and the rain thrashes, someone goes missing. A child, lost to the night. There is no breaking and entering. No foul play. No clue as to where they've gone.

Urban legend says that if the old woman stops in front of your house, you're next.

Well Ella has been next for years. She's resisted the urge to run out into the darkness with everything she has. Resisted that old mansion up on the hill, beckoning her. Resisted giving into people saying she's crazy.

Until a handsome new boy with a troubled past moves across the street. Suddenly Ella isn't the only one haunted by the old woman. Except, it's not clear if the new boy is here to help Ella…or help the woman drag Ella up to the mansion.

You'll want to turn on your nightlight for this one.

In The Secret of McKinley Mansion, Ella knows that she should avoid the creepy mansion on the hill.  She also knows that she may be the next to disappear.  I thought this was a fairly solid YA horror novel.  The characters weren't exactly likable, but the overall story more than made up for it. This book was really creepy.  I think it would make a great B-horror movie. I liked that no one was safe in the house. I also loved that I didn't know who to trust.  I listened to the audiobook and having it read to me amped up the creep factor.  I definitely recommend this one.