The Hilliard Haunting

by Scott Donnelly

The Watkins' house on Amity Road has a violent history. Once home to a witch named Raven, the land was the scene of several deaths - both mysterious and brutal. After decades of unexplained supernatural phenomenon, Raven has returned on Halloween to take revenge on the city that burned her alive.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal

78 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2015

About the author

Scott Donnelly is an indie author based in Grove City, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and three children. Scott is best known for his horror titles "Mothman: Return to Point Pleasant", “Sea Devil”, “A Monster in a Diner”, “Where it’s Always Spooky Season” (which won a 2023 Pen Craft Book Award) and "Cheater, Cheater" (which is receiving a 2024 film adaptation from writer/director Del Kary and distribution from SRS Cinema). Scott is also the creator and head writer of Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids, a horror podcast geared towards kids 8 and up. In addition to writing fiction, Scott also freelances for Weird Darkness Publishing as an editor and cover designer.

Reviews

[Dannii Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to state that it is probably my own fault that I didn't enjoy this novella. I was looking for a scare-the-pants-off-you read and, judging this book based on the title, believed this would give me the thrills and chills that I required. This is in fact more of a fantastical/paranormal tale and, apart from a few tense moments, little horror takes place.

This is a, you guessed it, tale about the haunting of Hilliard House. Numerous freaky occurrences and unexplained deaths are linked to the house and the inhabitants therein, although nothing has been proven...yet...

The tale was well-rounded and the characters believable but it felt like a repeat of 100 scary movies I have seen before. Any moments that could have actually elicited a horrifying response from the reader were glossed over with little focus, no gory facts or in-depth explanation given. The actual bones of the story would make a good campfire tale, but the execution of it led this to being a fairly good, if unoriginal, paranormal read.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Story, But...

This was a good story, but. Please learn the difference between rode and road, also the difference between past and passed.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

alright.. but generic.

[Jaffer Luba · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off as annoying, but it was fun towards the end. Not scary, but fun. I liked the whole "The Creature" thing. I wish it remained like that up until the end. Because early in the book, you get to know the main villain's name, which kinda sucked for me. I wish it was revealed later on in the future, and just maintained "The Creature". I liked the slight sense of unease it gave me. But when "the creature's" name was revealed, that sense of unease left me.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good spook book.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly better than the average HS short story. Too many grammatical mistakes.