Secret of McKinley Mansion

by K.F. Breene

It was a dark and stormy night...

But then, it was always stormy when she came. Beckoning. Calling to her followers.

And follow her they did - never to be seen or heard from again.

~ * ~ * ~


Larkin, MO is not the cute, sleepy town it appears to be. Beneath the quaint façade lurks a secret - a secret everyone knows, but no one will talk about.

Everyone knows to keep curfew. To stay in on stormy nights. To avoid that big, empty house up on the hill.


Until one day, a new family moves to town...

** This standalone ghost story was issued to newsletter subscribers as a free bonus read **

Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Horror, Audiobook, Fantasy, Mystery, Ghosts

408 pages, ebook

First published March 14, 2018

About the author

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K.F. Breene is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Amazon Most Sold Charts and #1 Kindle Store bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and fantasy novels. With millions of books sold, when she's not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she's sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and out of work treadmill.

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Reviews

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely wasn’t expecting this book to wow me like it did! As I’ve grown older I still love a good YA story but I’m more picky about my choices and tend to avoid YA horror in general because it tends to be quite awful. But this book proved all of that wrong and I loved every second I was between its pages! The whole idea absolutely fascinated me and I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved that it most definitely didn’t shy away from the gore aspect and I was actually distinctly uncomfortable more than a few times. This book is YA horror done right!

[Daydreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reminiscence of the slasher movies from the nineties, not really spooky but a fun read.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Secret of McKinley Mansion was a fun horror-lite story about a town with a ghost problem. One where on stormy nights something might appear in your house and rattle doors or walk around in an attic. Or an old woman may wander the street trying to coax someone out of their house and up to the McKinley Mansion, to never be seen again.

Ella is slated to be the next victim of the old woman. She has held out for years and so kept the old lady at bay and the rest of the town safe. She has stayed away from that mansion for years until Braiden, a new guy, comes to town and heads up there with a group of kids. After that all bets are off as all the kids get stuck in a haunted mansion and will learn that not all the ghosts in the town are harmless.

This is really reminiscent of 90s horror flicks, with all the cliches you would expect in those. I had a good time with the story overall but the kids don’t talk like kids but mini adults and some of the scenes earlier on are kind of choppy and never get resolved, but it is a ghost story so I didn’t mind it too much.

Overall, it is a fun spooky tale as long as you aren’t putting too much deep thought into it and just something to have some fun with.

[Madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor narrator, poor dialogue.

I think only someone under 11 would enjoy this.

[Laura..devouring books like crumpets · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Moral of this story if its says keep out then its for a reason.....

👻 Best way to stand up to Bullies.... Take them Ghost hunting!

👻 A overstepping Headmaster that tries to put kids in detention to stop them talking about, or going to Mkcinly Mansion abnd the parents do nothing about him....

👻 Why where everyone is petrified of this mansion has no one tried to perform an exorcism or knock it down considering some creepy lady comes out and takes their kids away...???

👻 everyone should know to lock pick before going into a haunted house

👻 Don't go in creepy ass abandoned Mansions

[Aneta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about this book before I started listening to an audiobook. I was just in the mood for haunted house story and I saw this one on Scribd. Well, this wasn't great experience.
I'm not a big fan of this narrator and the way she did all the voices and on top of that this audiobook was glitchy. But even if I got past this, it's just not a good book (at least not for me). Dialog is so cringey! And I can't get over that because it was painful to listen to. I didn't care for any of these characters. I didn't enjoyed the ending either but I'll give it a one thing and it's spoiler I'm glad this isn't one of these book where all the deaths are completely wiped out or reversed! They are still dead by the end.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Secret of McKinley Mansion, Ella knows that she should avoid the creepy mansion on the hill. She also knows that she may be the next to disappear. I thought this was a fairly solid YA horror novel. The characters weren't exactly likable, but the overall story more than made up for it. This book was really creepy. I think it would make a great B-horror movie. I liked that no one was safe in the house. I also loved that I didn't know who to trust. I listened to the audiobook and having it read to me amped up the creep factor. I definitely recommend this one.

[Beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5⭐️

Dear authors: Please don’t attempt contemporary YA dialogue if you’ve had no interaction with an actual young adult since the mid-90s.

Stars off for poor dialogue, a billion clichés and tropes, inconsistent pacing, and Unnecessary Epilogue Syndrome.

[(NurseLisa) Square Granny from Ohio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy wows! I am impressed. Totally unexpected! #NerdHerd

[Dolorianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It may be YA, but it didn't skimp on the creepiness factor! To be honest, I was a little concerned in the beginning. It's a 9+ hour audio and the set up felt a little long to me. The main character is very low in her school's social standing, and is often a target of bullies. She seemingly has only 1 loyal friend. The rational is that everyone knows she sees ghosts, or claims she is making it all up for attention. Even the staff gets in on it. And the whole situation gets worse when a new boy moves in next door, and then basically glues himself to her at school. Having so much of the book focus on this had me wondering if this was the book for me. However ... having seen her stand up for herself every time made a real difference when things started picking up. I can absolutely say that the book would be completely different had we not seen this. She is so strong, and when things hit the fan we know she's going to handle it ... in the greatest, most positive form of the phrase.

Somewhere near the middle, Ella finds herself on a kind of supernatural field trip that not only proves her case, but also changes the power dynamic in the story. It's haunting and heartbreaking, and it's only the beginning. Soon, she has to choose between playing it safe or helping the kids who previously shunned her. I wasn't a fan of many of the characters, they were bullies and cowards ... but they were scared kids in the end, and the author was able to show us that without excusing their previous behavior. Ella doesn't hesitate. Then things really get crazy. Spoiler alert ... the haunted house is haunted. The secrets are intensely horrific. The author puts these kids through one encounter after another as they pass through different areas of the house, never letting up, with no time to breathe or relax ... for more than 4+ hours in audiobook listening time. I appreciated the creativity and storytelling. This isn't a safe space and the author didn't pretend it was. Not everyone who went in came back out. But it wasn't a slasher book. And the twists and turns kept everything moving towards the satisfying end.

[Jennifer Lil'n Dunski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I STILL HAVE GOOSEBUMPS, IT'S THAT GOOD!



**I received an ARC and giving my honest opinion**

Wow! Where do I begin.... I know KFB is a master at her craft, yet I was blown away by this creepy little number that I could not put down!!! Honestly, I'm big into horror stories but this had a nice paranormal/urban fantasy kinda twist to it.

Ella is the town freak and nerd, always going on about the haunted McKinley Mansion. No one is willing to talk about about the town's disturbances. A the new family moves into town, and when the town's new bad boy wants to check out the creepy mansion, suddenly things are going all backwards for poor Ella.

This standalone is a great read and and outstanding work once again from K.F. Breene!!!

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

as expected another winner and a wonderful paranormal romance that is so deliciously sinful. K.F. does PNR like no other and I have high expectations that she continually exceeds. I have not read one story that she has written that I have not loved and has not wowed me. I love seeing new worlds coming to life and meeting new characters and with K.F.’s wordsmithing she lets you see every single nook and cranny and vivid life of both. She always writes a story that is so unique and enthralling and so original that you can’t put them down, you have to know what is happening right away. This story is a complete delight in oh so many ways. K.F. builds so much emotions in the story and you always find yourself laughing out loud with the crazy goings on and banter between the characters. But don’t be fooled there is equal amounts of times that you will also need a tissue. Well done girl you always set the bar exceedingly high!

[Mara (Sh....) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Είχα ξεκινήσει να το διαβάζω πρόπερσι το καλοκαίρι στις διακοπές μου στην Σκιάθο, αχ τι ωραία ζωούλα που είχαμε προ κόβιντ, αλλά κάπου κοντά στη μέση του βιβλίου το ενδιαφέρον μου το είχε μονοπωλήσει η θάλασσα. Ευτυχώς τώρα που το σκέφτομαι γιατί ποιος ξέρει πότε θα μας ξαναβγάλουν για κολύμπι σε νησί... Χτες το ξανάπιασα στα χέρια μου ξεκινώντας το από την αρχή και δεν δυσκολεύτηκα να θυμηθώ γιατί είχα χάσει το ενδιαφέρον μου και την πρώτη φορά: είναι φλύαρο εις βάρος της υπόθεσης. Όλο αυτό το παρατραβηγμένο και συνεχές high school drama ήταν too much ακόμα και για ένα YA βιβλίο όπως αυτό. Εντάξει, δε λέω, θα ασχοληθείς και μ' αυτό αλλά όχι στα 2/3 του βιβλίου! Έχεις μια πόλη γεμάτη πνεύματα, θα μπορούσαν να διαδραματιστούν δεκάδες άλλα ενδιαφέροντα περιστατικά για να πλαισιώσουν την κεντρική ιστορία αλλά εσύ πας και αναλώνεις τόσο μελάνι στα σχολιαρόπαιδα και σε πράγματα που δεν προσδίδουν τίποτα στο στόρι ούτε και αφορούν τον αναγνώστη. Φάουλ.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost story

This is a very well written Young adult hunted house story. I would recommend this for all ages. I enjoyed it :)

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a YA ghost story so this was fun.

[Opal Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, the first chapter caught my interest and that was why I started reading the book. The book got interesting with time, it had a lot of interesting twists and turns. There were many instances where I was frustrated with the MC and her decisions, but hey, if I was in that situation, I would probably freak the hell out, so I really appreciate her bravery. Scarlett had the main character vibes more than the MC herself, I love Scarlett #teamscarlett. One thing that made the book a little dull was the part in the mansion, half of the book was inside the mansion and it gets frustrating after a while, and the end didn't really solve my thirst for uncovering the mystery and putting everything to an end, since we don't really know what happened to the other spirits, or the bodies/what happened to the two husbands, or if the hauntings will return back after a good while, by the other souls or entities, or why did Braydon have this urge to protect Ella, or if Alex felt the same way Braydon did. Other than that, its a good read. Overall, 3.75/5 stars.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Loved this story and would highly recommend to all!! I originally started reading the story as free chapter drops in her newsletter and wow I hated waiting for the next chapter. This is something very different from KF Breene’s usual, but if you love ghost stories somehow mixed with humor, teenage angst, and the Eighties then this book is for you. The story is about a town that is haunted but no one talks about it even though almost every residence has some sort of visitors and children periodically go missing. The book centers around some high schoolers, KF does an amazing job outlining the divide between the different jocks, nerds, the outcasts, and the popular crowd. The characters come alive through their interactions and the references to the eighties sealed the deal for me. A true page turner that I couldn't put the book down.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

A group of teenagers stupidly go into a hunted mansion that the entire town knew was hunted for the last 100 years. Ghostly, malevolent beings wreak mayhem and, yes, death to the majority of the teens. It was fast paced, nail biting, and fun especially for those that were teens in the 90s and can relate to the times lol.
Did I, personally, think this was scary? No, but it was enthralling and kept me on the edge of my seat, or bed as the case may be since I couldn’t put it down until the end and it’s now 4 am.
Well done Ms. Breene, well done

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lame

So cliché. So lame. So nineties. It actually said "gag me with a spoon!". Glad it was free!! Skip this one

[Amy Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Secrets of McKinley Mansion, we are following Ella, a stereotypical high school nerd who is ostracized for her staunch belief that the mansion on the hill is haunted and the Old Woman nearly made her a victim.

But Ella’s a senior and her plan is to escape with her best friend, Scarlet, to a college far, far away. Anything to get out of this town, these people and the ghosts that plague it.

Enter Braiden. New, hot mystery neighbor from New York with a bad boy past. He, too, receives a visit from the Old Woman the same night as Ella does and manages to not follow her to the creepy mansion on the hill. Instead, he starts engaging Ella, completely throwing a wrench in the ‘cool kid hierarchy’.

Braiden feels compelled to protect Ella from the Old Woman and he thinks a trip to the mansion [with a crew of the popular kids] will solve this once and for all. Spare me from amateurs who think sage will make an active spirit crossover.

This is where the book really takes off into creepy land. K.F. Breene paints the scenes very well and I actually felt like I was watching a movie, rather than reading a book. I was classifying it as YA up to this point. I might would call it YA-Mature...is that a category?

Ella, Braiden & Team take quite a few hits solving the mystery of this mansion, confronting the Old Woman and trying to survive until help arrives. It was well written and the high school aspects of the ostracizing is, unfortunately, accurate as well. I enjoyed reading how ‘unhinged’ Scarlet became when she was hungry. That’s me every afternoon. =)

I received this as an ARC for an honest review. It amazes me how many different types of books Ms. Breene can write. She is truly talented.

[Lindsey McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just wow!

Ok so this story was a bit intense for YA, at least in my opinion. I'm not usually one who reads ghost stories or watches horror movies, but i do like a good cozy mystery and if it's got a paranormal or supernatural aspect to it that's great too. THIS book i grabbed because my oldest asked if she could read it and because K.F. Breene has fast become one of my favorite authors so i figured why not.

Ok about the story, Ella lives in a town called Larkin that has tons of paranormal activity going on, but basically no one will admit to such so Ella is left looking like the town loony. It starts of simple enough with typical teenaged outcast getting picked on for being different, she embraces who she is and doesn't back down despite being ridiculed which is a great model for younger readers to show how to embrace and love who you are and how you are different and feel no shame for it. When a new kid moves to their haunted little town and gets visited by the town ghost, Ella realizes he might be an ally against the powers that are making kids vanish. As she helps Braiden learn about the town and all its spooky history things take a turn for the scary when the new kid as well as the popular group of kids at school decide to visit the haunted mansion on the hill. This is where the story escalates and gets going in the scary horror sort of fashion. It was a crazy intense fun read, probably not something I will let my oldest read just yet but definitely something she will enjoy in a year or two without scaring her too much, she is only in 6th grade after all ;)

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun old fashioned ghost story

I enjoy this author’s books which usually trend more to fantasy and urban fantasy. However, this book was a departure from the usual offering instead giving us a somewhat classic ghost story.

The premise is pretty simple - haunted house with evil ghosts, missing kids thanks to said ghost, and the one girl who has been able to fight off said ghost but is either called a liar or weirdo by the local populace.

Like all good ghost stories, there’s a tragic past leading to the haunting and a decent collection of creepy humans to further the atmosphere. Ella, the main character and chief ghost avoider, manages to reluctantly gather herself a somewhat inept Scooby gang and tackle the haunted house down the street. Ah and let’s not forget her new to town white knight who may or may not also be trying to lure her to her death.

Things go bump in the night as expected in the haunted house and from there, things go very, very badly for the Scooby gang. Like any good ghost story, it has well written suspense, oddities thanks to haunting warped reality, and a battle or two.

All in all, it was fun, decent amount of creepy, and a quick pacing with little to no lag. Some of the descriptions once the story moved into the house were at times challenging to follow and the eventual rationale reveal for the haunting, evil, etc was a bit weak. But no matter because even those small details didn’t derail from what was a very good story.

Four stars.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read scary/ghost stories. They're not really my thing but, this one was really good. It is really different from the usually books K.F.B. writes. Mostly because it's a YA novel. However, I bought it anyway. I've loved all of her other books, and this one was no different.

Ella, the Outcast Nerd, meets Braiden, the new Hot Bad Boy, and they form a kind of friendship. The popular kids at school are off-put by their budding relationship because Ella is the school's weirdo. She says she sees ghost and other strange things, which of course labels her as the crazy girl. However, there's something that draws her and Braiden together. Something powerful, magical and unexplainable.

Scarlet is Ella's BF, and while she is clumsy, she is also the brains of the group. She's the one who seems to have answers when Ella doesn't.

The supporting characters (Dirk, Buffy, Emily, Cliff, Carl, Clarissa, Leo, DJ, Maria, Bobby, Nate, Otis, Shana, Mr. Morris and Miss Potters) range from loveable (Maybe not so much) all the way through to I-Want-To-Junk-Punch them (most definitely) types.

This book gives you a bit of everything. I had some good laughs, some 'duh' moments, some surprising moments (ex. Dirk revealing his secret feelings) and some moments when I had to pull my feet back and tuck them under the covers.

I'm really glad I took the chance on this book. It's amazing and, if you take the chance on it too, you won't be disappointed.

[Brandi ;)]

DNF @ 57%

This was awful.

I struggled so hard to keep going, hoping it would miraculously get better. I know it’s YA, I expect an amount of immaturity, but this was childish. And not cute childish, but annoying childish.

The principal totally oversteps his authority like an overbearing parent & it’s just allowed.

One girl jokes about drugging a boy to make them hallucinate as an explanation for him seeing ghosts.
Like haha, I cooked up some drugs in the lab & slipped them to you so you’d see stuff & think it was ghosts. It was ghosts. She did not drug him. The dude wasn’t stupid. But the whole part could have been left out, it was not needed and unnecessary. And definitely not funny to joke about slipping someone drugs.

I almost stopped then, but I wanted to wait till they got in the haunted house to see if it got any better.

It didn’t.

I was over the insat-love between the hot popular new guy & the geeky girl that’s really hot but she doesn’t see it & neither does anyone else until hot new guy comes along (insert eye roll).
I was over the childish teenagers.
I was just over it.
Which sucks because i LOVE ghost stories, they are my favorite. When they are good.

So no formal rating, but I give it 1 STAR informally.

[Misty · Rating 4 out of 5]

🔪🔪🔪
I was not expecting a book like this. I have read a different series from this same author (a romantacy). So imagine my surprise when I started to read a YA 90’s horror ghost story.
It started off somewhat slow but once the kids stupidly went into the mansion, things picked up very fast. This had everything you would expect from a 90’s slasher.

-Sinister or malevolent being ✔️
-Everyone walking towards the danger (even though the whole town KNOWS how dangerous this mansion is)✔️
-People Separating ✔️
-Ditsy girls being killed off✔️
-Jocks being killed off ✔️
-The nerdy kid being killed off✔️
-Jump-scares✔️
-A thrillingish plot twist ✔️
-An ending the contained hope✔️


There are some plot holes and some reviewers commented on the dialogue not sounding like it came from teenagers, which I didn’t have an issue with because once again this book reminded me of the 90’s where all of the teenagers in movie and shows never really sounded like teenagers. The end kind of fizzled out but in general I would recommend this to anyone who wanted to read a tame horror story. Scary but still able to sleep at night type of book.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this kind of by mistake. I was on the Audible website looking for something else and this book was on sale. I really like KF Breene and it is very rare that I dislike any book by her so I thought, "what the heck?" I ordered the audio version and ended up listening to most of it on Audible.

Since I went into this book completely blind, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't even read the summary so I was listening pretty intently in the beginning to follow what was going on. I have to say that the premise of this book is not one I've come across before. A haunted town with ghosts that people pretend doesn't exist, yeah, kind of unique.

I enjoyed the female MC Ella and liked the relationship she had with her bestie Scarlett. The male lead Braydon, was a combination of new, good looking and he had a nice car. What more can you ask for in a YA? Seriously though, the story kept my interest from the beginning until the end. If I had a complaint, it would be that the last quarter of the book went a little off the rails.

Without going into spoilers, it is hard to specify exactly why I'm saying this but I'll give some clues- psycho teachers, massive teenage death and crazy narcisistic ghosts. But with that being said, it was still fun. Crazy and "out there" but it definitely wasn't boring.

[Samantha Malstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy crap!!!
I was going to review this book as soon as I finished it after my all-nighter but I couldn’t figure out what to say so I decided to give myself the rest the day to process it. Well it is now night and I still cannot figure out how to process my feelings. It was fantastic!!! It didn’t take too long to get to the good part because the action started in the first two chapters! There was so much going on throughout half the book and I had no clue what to expect so I was just in shock for most of it and there may have been one time or ten where I had to check over my shoulder. There is no place in this book where you will be bored or waiting for the anticipation to build, including that ending. Holy crap!! That ending!!! Just when you feel like you have everything figured out: surprise, you knew nothing! It was amazing and spectacular and just perfect! See? Still unable to process my thoughts. Thanks a lot KF Breene. If you like spooky, read the book, guys, read the book!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have that nightlight ready!!

I typically stay away from ghost haunting stories...but I was in a Hocus Pocus mood with Halloween around the corner. Y’all, this book is a heart pumping thriller!! I loved that it was YA, and I absolutely loved the main character Ella. Her character is so likable. For a teenager she seems to be able to handle anything tossed her away, especially since she is treated like a pariah in their small town. There is so much more to this book. The plot twist was great! I was on the edge of my seat reading this book. It was so hard to put down. Don’t let the YA turn you away. If you’re in a mood for a spooky Halloween read, look no further.

🎧Audiobook review🎧
I listened to the audiobook and it is fabulous. It’s narrated by Nicole Poole and she does a fabulous job bringing all the things that go bump in the night alive. Highly recommend!!

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

It's like Pretty in Pink meets House on Haunted Hill.


I wasn't expecting this.  And I loved it. 
All the characters are great. 
Scarlet the mc best friend is so funny!!

Nerdy girl sees ghost.  New kid jock and her have a connection.  Town is haunted.  Children go missing over the years.  Everyone knows it has something to do with the old house .. but no one wants to say it. 
Group of kids go into house and run into some scary ghost. 
I probably should not have read this alone at night in the dark.  Some parts freaked me out.  I'm a big old chicken though. ..

The late 80s early 90s talk it so awesome. 


If you like K.F. Breene.  Pick this up.  It's a tad off from her normal but definitely worth the read.  Hurry before it's gone.

[Carol Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a K F Breene mega fan & having dipped my toes into the world of YA in the past i was more than happy to give this book a go & i wasn't disappointed . A town where spooky goings on & kids going missing was the norm , nerdy girl who is disbelieved & disliked by most of the school for her belief in the paranormal & a hot new boy who just happens to be her new neighbour & wants her as a friend much to the dismay of the popular gang . Everything was in this book that has been in K F Breenes adult books , you got all the paranormal you could want , tension & plenty of humour , Scarlet's her sarcasm had me at times laughing out loud & good twist to finish . This book was at times a spookily scary stroll down late 80's early 90's memory lane & i loved it .