Emily has accepted a new position in Rochester, New York, having recently terminated a two-year romance with the man she expected to marry. While settling into her modest one-bedroom apartment, she has an eerie encounter with a striking little girl who looks as if from another era. Terrified, but curious, Emily uncovers that her apartment was once occupied by a once-famous silent film actress, who died in Emily’s bedroom in 1985. Emily is quickly pulled into a nightmare and forced to confront the fact that something malevolent is lurking within the apartment, something that knows of a secret Emily has carried since childhood, for It’s the same secret that forever altered the tragic life of her apartment’s former tenant: one of Hollywood’s most sensual and iconic silent film stars, Louise Brooks.
Emily has accepted a new position in Rochester, New York, having recently terminated a two-year romance with the man she expected to marry. While settling into her modest one-bedroom apartment, she has an eerie encounter with a striking little girl who looks as if from another era. Terrified, but curious, Emily uncovers that her apartment was once occupied by a once-famous silent film actress, who died in Emily’s bedroom in 1985. Emily is quickly pulled into a nightmare and forced to confront the fact that something malevolent is lurking within the apartment, something that knows of a secret Emily has carried since childhood, for It’s the same secret that forever altered the tragic life of her apartment’s former tenant: one of Hollywood’s most sensual and iconic silent film stars, Louise Brooks.
“The body in Apartment 307 was discovered by a neighbor across the hall. It was the early hours of Thursday morning — August 8th, 1985. The remains belonged to an elderly woman who had been a virtual recluse for most of the last thirty years. She’d left her apartment so infrequently, in fact, that few people could even describe her or recollect her name. Only the neighbor who had discovered her had taken a personal responsibility during the last few years to check in on her each night to make sure she’d eaten and to aid her each morning, making sure she’d had enough to eat for breakfast.”
“The woman died in her sleep of natural causes hours before, but her gaunt, tortured appearance suggested otherwise. Her mouth gaped open, as if she’d spent her last moments gulping for air. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her right hand was clenched into a twisted, bony fist.
A half-full glass of water, two unopened prescription medicine bottles, a notepad, and a pen were on the bedside table. Two aluminum walking canes leaned against the wall near a small closet.
Except for a small, framed reproduction of a Man Ray painting that hung opposite the bed, the walls were bare, and the dominant color in all three rooms of this austere, 850-square-foot apartment — the walls, the ceiling, and the furniture — was a dull pink. A somewhat frayed pink night coat was spread on the bed close to the woman’s body.
Aside from the neighbor who had found her, nobody living at the building on North Goodman Street knew who the woman was, much less that she’d been a Ziegfeld Follies dancer, a silent film femme fatale, and later a writer, or that she’d had an affair with Charlie Chaplin when he was at the height of his career — and she was just nineteen.
Excerpt From: Scott R. Howe. “Pandora’s Box.”
Pandora's Box by Scott Howe has all the ingredients I want in an amazing ghost story:
- A solid hook that piqued my interest and pulled me forward.
- A relateable main character who is flawed and human
- A circle of supporting cast members who are equally relateable (especially the bestie)
- A slow burn to the paranormal
- A riveting unravel as the characters' stories become entangled
- A fantastic secondary storyline equally as intriguing and engaging
- A clean wrap up
I loved Emily and Chloe. They reminded me of the relationship I have with my best friend. They're honest with each other and so supportive, even in the face of something that would seem ridiculous at the start (to be fair, we go ghosthunting together, so...).
I loved that their line of work lends towards the believability of both the case with the Scarecrow Killer and the paranormal activity surrounding the death of Louise Brooks.
Oh, and yes, I absolutely loved that the character of Louise Brooks is based on an actual person! I checked out the links that the author included at the end of his book, and wow, she lived quite the life! Mr. Howe did her life justice as he blended her story into his, and I'm here for it.
So if I loved these pieces so much, why did I only give it three stars?
The short answer: I believe the story is worth reading, but I wish it flowed better.
The long answer is, well, longer.
Like I said, the story has all the right ingredients for an epic ghost story. I believe that with every fiber of my being, as both an editor and a paranormal author. The problem is that this story is plaqued with issues that took me out of the story:
- So much telling vs showing. Emily told us what was going on, or what she saw, instead of just experiencing it, so we can watch it in our heads like a movie.
- Too many long paragraphs that forced me to stop and reread to figure out what was going on.
- Too many adverbs, many in tandem with unnecessary dialogue tags.
These really hurt the story for me. I hope the author sees my criticism as constructive and adjusts either this story or future stories, as I would love to see more work from him.