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  • Writer's pictureAmelia Hooke

Review of 'Diary of a Haunting'


Diary of a Haunting

By M. Verano, 2015, Simon Pulse Paranormal, Ghost story, Mystery

Rating: 👻👻👻👻 (4 out of 4 boos)


“Following her parents’ high-profile divorce, Paige and her brother are forced to move to Idaho with their mother, and Paige doesn’t have very high hopes for her new life. The small town they’ve moved to is nothing compared to the life she left behind in LA. And the situation is made even worse by the drafty old mansion they’ve rented that’s filled with spiders and plenty of other pests that Paige can’t even bear to imagine.


Pretty soon, strange things start to happen around the house—one can of ravioli becomes a dozen, unreadable words start appearing on the walls, and Paige’s little brother begins roaming the house late at night. And there’s something not right about the downstairs neighbor who seems to know a lot more than he’s letting on.


Things only get creepier when she learns about the cult that conducted experimental rituals in the house almost one hundred years earlier. The more Paige investigates, the clearer it all becomes: there’s something in the house, and whatever it is…it won’t be backing down without a fight.”


What’s the main character like?

The reader gets to know Paige quite well through her diary entries that make up the book. She comes across as an average teen—interested in dating, afraid of spiders, bitter about moving to such a small town, not always in line with her mom’s kooky ways. Her best quality in my opinion is how well-adjusted she seems; the fact that she’s bright and normal helps establish a stronger reality for the disturbing paranormal activity that begins happening around her.


How scary is it?

This book is actually pretty creepy, in my opinion, but I have a friend who read it who said it could have been scarier. I chose to read it in the daytime. As the summary explains, things start multiplying, and I don’t know why, but those parts really disturbed me. The diary entry format sells the creepy factor very well.


Who might like this book?

If you like Go Ask Alice and ghost stories, this is the perfect book for you. If you like small-town stories, or haunted house stories, or creepy cult stories, this book is also perfect for you.


What did I like best?

I like the simplicity of this book: a girl writes in her diary about how her new house is haunted. Within that simple foundation, the author has added in creepy twists that make this book unique, scary, and a lot of fun.


What was not so great?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, but my friend who read it wanted more development of the cult backstory.


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