Haunted House Harbor

Project 26, Volume 8

By: Roma Gray

Narrated by: Terry F. Self

The world has just been struck by the “Perfect Apocalypse”: nuclear bombs, disease, famine, zombies, killer bees, and many other hidden terrors.

As the world crumbles, a group of survivors discovers there is only one safe haven: the mysterious town of Haunted House Harbor. For some reason, all the unleashed perils cannot penetrate the city limits. But there’s one problem - Haunted House Harbor has its own dark side....

©2017 Roma Gray (P)2018 Roma Gray

For those who loved The Stand

You'll love this one too! Lots of similar elements in play, but a more inventive (and creepier) apocalyptic scenario. I won't describe it here, but if you're allergic to bees, this book may send you into anaphylactic shock. Bring your bottle of Benadryl, and don't say I didn't warn ya.

Also, great pacing, great characters, and well-written. Nice cliff hanger at the end too. I genuinely look forward to the next book in the series!

This book has a little bit of everything!

This book has a little bit of everything in it. Terrorists that unleash both bombs and killer bees (that make sting victims into zombies). The only safe place is a haunted town that was cursed by witches. And a creepy clown doll! There are several likeable characters that I want to survive. My favorite part of the book is the zombie action. I hope the next book in this series comes out soon. This is a very entertaining book. The author did a really good job. I liked this narrator. I think he did a good job as well. I received this book for free for an honest review.

Life sucks and then it gets worst for these folks!

I love Roma Gray’s short stories! I love her longer works even more! Lots of elements thrown in here. Never a dull moment.

Haunted or hopeful

There are many outbreaks in this book, and I wonder which of these would be worse. You can outrun zombies, but what about bees? It seems there is nowhere to run from these tiny things that can get into just about anywhere. I found Roma's descriptions of the scenes vivid enough to put me in the story. I could almost feel the panic.There are people putting their faith in Hope Harbor. They want to escape the apocalypse and think they might be safe there. But will they? This book ends with a definite opening for book two, which I'm assuming there will be one since Book 1 is written on the title. Roma Gray is a skilled storyteller. The narrator does a professional job, and is skilled at multiple voices. Thank you, Roma for gifting me a review copy.

Has the apocalypse come?

Roma Gray is the mistress of horror. I’ve listened to several of her audiobooks and each leaves me chilled. Now, I’m a rational human being who doesn’t believe in the supernatural or the occult, but even I can admit there are things that can’t be explained by stone cold logic. This book is a series of scenes from different characters’ points of view. At first they all felt disparate and disjointed but as time passed the relationships began to take shape. The scenarios began to be logical. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

This book is about the end of humanity as we know it. Each attack is more damaging and damning. From the bombs to nuclear explosions to killer bees and eventually zombies, the world is facing a crisis like never before. There are a group who seem to have the means to survive the carnage but I didn’t get to find out if they survived or not. Optimist that I am, I want to believe they did.

Terry F. Self narrates many of Ms. Gray’s books and again he did a great job. He has the perfect voice for this story and has distinct voices for each character. He also gets to tackle and Irishman, a Mexican, and a young woman with Asperger’s, amongst others. As always, I was impressed by his performance.

If you’re a fan of horror stories then this book is for you. I will continue to listen to her books, never quite believing they are real but knowing they provide plenty of entertainment.

Gary amps up the horror in a great novel

I will not lie. Roma Gray has become one of my favorite new authors. She has a sharp mind, a keen intellect, and a devastating Twilight Zone twist buried in the Outer Limits of her heart. I got to know her writings about the same time I was introduced to Essel Pratt, Kevin Candela, and Steve Vernon. One thing that I love, and you will too (I promise) is that Roma has a way of seeing things with one eye askew, and the conclusions that she draws are not always the ones that you or I will. As I say, she always manages to throw in some unforseen twist or turn that you do not expect, and it can devastate you, make you laugh, or make a shiver go down your spine. Her short Love Letters was the latter, and Black Water was the type in which you snicker at the twist.

Here, she has melded all of those twists into one place, and the star of this show, the one we have all been waiting for, was Blue Bell. I'm not sire if that doll deserves a best character or best supporting character oscar, but if you knew anything about that little SOB you know we were all waitng to see where that story went! Oh, and for you BB fans, there are a few more shorts coming to Audible starring the malicious little doll soon, so keep an eye out for them. Anyway, this is quite the original tale, a city on the edge of the apocalypse, filled to the brim with nightmares and horrors. You get zombies, killer bees, zombies filled with killer bees, and a host of other malicious life ending creatures and events that let you know humanity has punched its ticket, it just hasn't finished the ride. Her characters are everyday mugs who aren't awe-inspiring in their actions, and you realize that these are exactly the people who will be facing the end of the world (and that you could easily be one of them). There are no super heroes here to save the day, just your basic cannon fodder, or zombie chow in most cases. I like that better than one cat or chick suddenly realizing their lost potential and leading a rag-tag band of survivors to safety.

I really can't say enough about this book. If I had a physical copy I would say it was over far too fast, because I would have read it like I was Barry Allen on meth after 37 shots of expresso. As it was I really had to fight the urge not to increase the speed of my narration in my eagerness to find out what happened next. Gray has some powerful, and yet simple, prose. She is direct and doesn't overload you with simple details. She hits the meat of the story like she is a Grishla that has been on a hunger strike. (See her other books to get that incredible reference). The point is, if you like horror, zombies, huanted houses, psychotic killer dolls, swarms of bees, apocalypses, and a dozen other scary story things then this is a book you will not want to miss!!!!

Terry Self, Gray's long time collaborative narrator never fails to nail her sensibilities and fill every scene with an ominous sense of doom and impending death, and yet still seem cool, calm and collected. He really infuses the sense of dread hanging over Haunted House harbor with a light and life of its own. It thereby seems real, and you almost feel likie you could drive there. He brings each character to life, and makes you feel their death, so watch out he will get you.

In spite of all the gloom and doom, this book was a complete blast, sort of like the apocalypse competing with armegeddon, and I deeply and sincely hope that we get a few more books out of this series. Don't miss out on this, or any of Gary's other amazing body of work. I only get to listen to her audible stuff, so I have no idea what I am missing. Don't miss out on an opportunity to get in on the start of some amazing writing, and hopefully an incredible series. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

The zombie apocalypse isn't the worst evil?

While the zombies are taking over outside Haunted Harbor, something even worse is happening within Haunted Harbor. Is that even possible? Zombies aren't the worst we have to deal with? Roma, you've done it again. Terry, as always, is the perfect narrator for your books! Keep them coming!

Can any thing else go wrong?

This is the first book in a series. It has terrorists, zombies, killer bees, bombs, witches, people with bad attitudes, an even a town with a bad attitude.. It also has some sympathetic characters that make you want to read or listen to the second book in the hope that things will get better. Can they get any worse? A good listen and a good start.

Complex

This is book 1 of Humanity's Hope and book 8 of Project 26, to me it didn't really feel like a book one but i also didn't feel like I was missing anything.

The plot for this “Perfect Apocalypse” is as complex as it is disturbing, I was entranced and horrified in equal measure.

What I liked best was the way the book portrayed Asperger (autism), it's not often included in books and it's done very well here.

Everything about this book has been done well, the world building, the character development, the writing style, it all works beautifully together.

The character voices work well, they're distinct and clear and both genders come across well, the pace and tone of the delivery work well for the story.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

If you found this review helpful would you please take a moment to click yes below.

YES!

I'm not a fan of boats, stories on the water, and the haunted house genre has grown bland to me. So, when I picked up this book, I was not expecting much. However, Roma has blown me away with the story within. Holy Hell, this book totally changes the way a story with the words "haunted house" should be told. Well done and perfectly narrated by Terry Self!