Firefly Rain - Richard Dansky

Jacob Logan left his home in the town of Maryfield in rural Carolina many years ago to build a new life in the big city, hardening his heart to his parent's pleas to come back and make his life in the old place.  It was only now that his parent's were dead that he found himself drawn back there after his business collapsed.  The old house looked very much the same, but was it welcoming him back or trying to drive him away?

The furniture van than was transporting his stuff was in a bad accident, destroying all his possessions and then his car was stolen from the drive and vanished without trace.  Left all alone on the property, Jacob was had no means of leaving and had to rely on food parcels brought by the old caretaker of the property, the uncommunicative, surly Carl.  Strange things start to happen around his new home, with doors opening of their own accord and a box of toy soldiers appearing mysteriously appearing on the porch.  But the thing that really made Jacob's skin crawl was that the fireflies seemed to be totally avoiding his land, and the beautiful, incandescent light of these little beetles stopped abruptly at his boundaries.

Jacob eventually makes it in to town after he is picked up by a good Samaritan called Sam and his dog Asa on a pick-up truck , where he finds himself going head to head with Hanratty, the officer investigating the theft of his car.  He also makes contact with other people from his past such as Mr Hilliard the pharmacist who sold the vanilla cokes he still dreamed of from his childhood, and Reverend Trotter the local preacher.

But as Jacob keeps spotting his car being driven through his property and almost dies after chasing it in the rain, he starts to wonder if Carl or someone is messing with his mind, or is there something supernatural going on.  Determined to find out more about Officer Hanratty, Jacob visits the local library to look through the newspaper archives, only to have a terrifying experience down in the basement.

Is it his parents?  Do they want him to promise to stay in the old house and lead his life as they had?  Was pretty librarian Adrienne a lure and a reward to keep him there?  And why was a sinister dog attacking the house every night, frantically trying to get in and attack him?

As the town crowds in on him, and Jacob starts to feel overwhelmed by their suspicion and disapproval, the only ray of light for him is his no-nonsense friend from the city Jenna, who comes to stay because she is so worried about him.  But after his apparently driver-less car is driven into the side of Adrienne's apartment forcing her to seek refuge with Jacob at the farmhouse, events spiral out of control and Jacob is confronted with the truth about his destiny.  Will he be able to save himself and the two women he is trying to protect in his house, and will somebody or something have to die to set him free?

Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky is a good horror story that keeps you turning the pages to find out how it will unfold.  It makes you want to know if Jacob is going out of his mind, if he is being used by human forces for their own sinister purposes or if the ghosts of his parents are controlling him and compelling him to stay.

Have a big bacon and egg fried sandwich with this one, and a coke float like the ones Jacob used to enjoy as a kid, as you try and work out why the fireflies avoid Jacob's land and what it is that they want him to do.

Phil Rickman - The Smile of A Ghost

Merrily Watkins is no ordinary vicar looking after a parish. For a start she is female, she is a single mother and she also happens to be the Diocesan Exorcist or as they call it in these supposedly more enightened times 'deliverance consultant'

The Smile of a Ghost picks up Merrily's story when a teenage boy seemingly jumps to his death from the walls of a medieaval castle in the ancient town of Ludlow on the Welsh border. By the looks of it an 'open and shut' case of suicide, the boy's uncle, a retired detective called Andy Mumford, contacts Merrily to talk about his worries.

Merrily is drawn into a web of mystery in the old town, where it is hard to see whether events are supernaturally inspired or are the actions of man. More people will die and Merrily herself is put in danger, before she can get to the bottom of the mystery.

Another supernatural chiller, to snuggle under the duvet with. Have a large cup of strong tea and lots of chocolate!

The House of Lost Souls - F.G Cottam

Now this book - The House of Lost Souls by F G Cottam - is as different to Kelley Armstrong's slightly tongue in cheek supernatural chills as day is to night. I am not easily spooked, but the is a creepy book that you want to read with the lights on and someone else in the house!

Ten years ago Paul Seaton stumbled into the wrong house and his life has never been the same and he clings to this sanity by threads. He is living a narrow but reasonably stable life, when everything in it is totally disrupted by the arrival of Nick Mason, an ex-soldier who needs his help. Nick's sister has also found her way into the notorious Fischer House and now Nick must find a way to save her before it is too late.

One of the few leads they have is a few photographs taken by the beautiful society photographer Pandora Gibson-Hoare, and they must delve into her life in the hedonistic upper class society of the 1920s to search for clues, unaware of the evil that they will find there.

Can Nick persuade Paul to return to the Fischer House in order to save his sister and her friends? Can Nick and Paul prevail against the terror that they find there?

A big glass of red and a family pack of Maltesers for this one!

Mean Spirit - Will Kingdom

Mean Spirit by Will Kingdom is a supernatural chiller. This is one to read late at night with the duvet pulled up to your ears and all the lights on! Seffi Callard is one of the world's most famous mediums, but is living in fear of her life. She has gained the attention of Gary Seward, a violent career criminal, who needs her help with the spirit world. She applies for help to her old friend, Marcus Bacton, who runs a paranormal journal,and he sends his young assistant Grayle Underhill to the rescue.

As the two women are propelled into a nightmare, they get help from Bobby Maiden, a police detective whose life was irrevocably changed by a near-death experience and Cindy, a fading comic who now hosts a Lottery programme.

The action builds to fingernail-biting climax orchestrated by Seward at creepy Overcross Castle. Will they be able to save Seffi? Will they be able to save themselves?

Have a big bag of maltesers and a mug of hot, sweet tea handy when you read this one!