The Bury Box

by Lee Forman

After Lorie and her family move into their new home, strange things start to happen – things Lorie can’t explain. To make matters worse, her husband, Tom, starts to behave oddly, leaving Lorie to deal with the inexplicable on her own. Meanwhile, her son, Reggie, experiences a different sort of he encounters a figure he believes to be God. This being instructs him to dig a hole and bury himself in it. Is something trying to steal Reggie’s body or soul, or perhaps both? Trapped in a desperate game for survival, can Lorie keep her family together, or will unseen forces tear them apart?

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2020

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lorie is trying desperately to acclimate to a new home. Her partner Thomas’ frequent absence and shared substance addiction don’t make that task any easier, and her twelve-year-old son Reggie’s new preoccupation with burial is only going to make it worse. God, you see, has come to Reggie and given him very specific instructions: dig a hole in the ground, put a box inside, climb inside that box, and bury yourself:

“It’ll be like playing hide and seek,” God said.
“I like that game.”
“I know you do, Reggie. Why do you think we’re going to play it?”

Luckily for Reggie, new friends Mikey and Tabby are there to assist him in this task, and it is this initial project that sets off a series of surreally malevolent episodes akin to a diabolical fever dream. Forman’s story is original and downright creepy, and his imagery is meticulously crafted. Sentences like “Her smoky words swirled with concern” and “A piece of his childhood fell from him, sucked into a void” expertly nail each scene’s atmosphere, painting every chapter with a constant shadow of dread.

At its heart, The Bury Box is a ghost story, and not just of the spectral forms that haunt Lori, Thomas, and Reggie, but of the conversations unsaid and missteps made that hang about a family’s consciousness, refusing to resolve themselves until addressed head-on. As Lorie notes in a panicked foreshadowing, “Maybe that’s how these domestic massacres start. Fear, paranoia, the mind playing practical jokes that go too far.” My only criticism of The Bury Box, and this is rather minor, is that I would have rather this story been the headliner in a collection, a longer anchor piece in a small, similarly-themed group, ala Joyce Carol Oates’ The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares, rather than a stand-alone publication. Its images are haunting and guaranteed to stay with you long after you’ve closed the cover.

[Rebecca Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be a GRAVE mistake to miss out on such a well-PLOTTED book.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to read this novel. It's a good thing I didn't because nothing prepared me for what followed. Between the creepiness of the haunted house (and its inhabitants) and the dysfunctionality of two drug-addicted parents, I seriously wanted to scoop the child Reggie up out of the pages and carry him to safety.

There were more than a few heart-stopping moments and several heart POUNDING moments in this novel that I had to put the book down for a breather. The climatic reveal was scary-intense, and the ending, perfection. I dare not say any more on this story for fear of giving anything more away. Just prepare yourself that when you do read it, you'll find yourself quite BURIED in its contents. ENJOY! I most certainly did.

[Fariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked Midnight Mass, the Mike Flanagan series that came out in 2021, a year after this book was released, you are going to love this story. It is eerie and creepy. The scare in the first half, that is mostly from a young child’s perspective, feels very real, especially when you read the conversations the children has. The child is slowly exposed to a very real unreal world and loses his innocence. In the later parts, the games of mind, the confusions between reality, something unreal and drug induced hallucination make the read worthwhile.

I thought that was a very good story where the fear reveals slowly and creeps in through the characters, conversations and confusion.

[Kerry]

Young Reggie hears “god” who tells him how to play the best game of Hide and Seek. Reggie’s Mom turns to drugs and alcohol to deaden her growing unease in her seemingly haunted house, and Reggie’s Dad’s missing on another “bender.”

The action builds in menace in this quick, heart-pounding read told in two POV’s.

[Daniel Volpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story about a broken family who just moved to a new house. The father, Tom, is kind of a deadbeat, but laurie the mother, isn't much better. It's a good story about kids, God and a little bit of a haunting. Great story.

[Samaire Wynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very weird story