An Ancient Gift and Other Stories by Jeanne Grunert

An Ancient Gift and Other Stories by Jeanne Grunert
Series: N/A
Publisher: Grunert Family Holdings, Inc.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 55
Source: Author for review.

An Ancient Gift and Other Stories is a collection of three “light” horror stories. These tales of the paranormal are akin to old-fashioned campfire stories - stories that offer a sense of the uncanny without the gore.

“The Glove” offers the chilling tale of a woman recounting how her grandfather’s prejudices - and gift for sorcery - terrorized a neighborhood boy. Is her son at risk, too?

“Friday Night Visitor” features the old trope of a deal with the devil. But unlike fiddle contests of old, Rita, our heroine, must guess a riddle to unveil the identity of the visitor and save the guy she loves.

“An Ancient Gift”, the title tale, offers glimpse at a reluctant psychic. Anna and her sister Amy are charged with clearing out her grandmother’s house for the real estate agents when they uncover an unusually wrapped package in her father’s childhood closet, a deck of antique tarot cards. Did their father have the ancient gift of divination, and does one of the sisters have it, too?

 

Don't let my two star rating fool you, I did enjoy the three short stories within this book quite a bit. However, I truly went into it thinking they were going to be creepier than they were. However, this is not necessarily a deal breaker because they were creepy in their own way, just not to the point where I was terrified.

 

Honestly I think the three stories would be good for middle grade readers who like creepy stories but aren't necessarily allowed to read all of the extremely scary ones out there.

 

I enjoyed the last story, also the one the book is named after, the most. An Ancient Gift delivered what I was hoping for with these stories. It was creepy and I was really looking forward to finding out what happened to the two sisters. The first story The Glove was strange, I didn't know what to expect and the ending definitely made me want to know more about the characters and what happened. Friday Night Visitor was my second favorite, the whole mystery surrounding what was going on and how everything turned out definitely kept me entertained.

 

The major issue I had with this book was the grammar and spelling mistakes. It took a little while for me to deal with the mistakes and accept them but it didn't make the book less enjoyable overall. With a little more editing I think this book would be good to go.

 

The three stories that make up this book are quick reads and they are definitely mysterious. If you want something that you will fly through that will have you curious as to what is going to happen in the end I would recommend you check this out. You may end up loving it more than I did.



**Copy provided via the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.**