Review: Asylum Lake By R.A. Evans

 

Asylum Lake by R.A. Evans is one of the first horror stories that I have read in a long time that totally captured my attention and my imagination.  Mr. Evans has deftly woven the past and the present into a completely believable tale.  I could not put Asylum Lake down until it was completely finished.  I found it captivating and scary with some humor entwined within the story.

We meet Brady Tanner, headed to his childhood summer home after the death of his father.  Brady is a depressed, broken man, mourning the loss of his wife and unborn child.  He hopes visiting his old home will help him break out of his state of depression and begin to live life again.  Little does he know what he will face when he arrives in Bedlam Falls.

From the beginning, R.A. Evans pulls you into the emotions of the story.  From the beginning, you feel Brady pain from his loses.  You feel the underlying fear when weird things start to happen.  Evans makes the reader feel as if we are watching everything happen and not just reading words on the page. 

The novel flows quickly and with the addition of each quirky character, the story never misses a step.  Instead, the characters blend into the weirdness of Bedlam Falls and the story.  I also loved the way Evans integrated the stories from the past into the present day story to allow the reader to begin to piece together what really happened at the Asylum along with Brady.

The horrors of the asylum permeate the town and provide a chilling backdrop to events from the past and the forthcoming events from the future.  Even though it has been closed for years, the asylum still haunts the lives of the people who live there.  It is creepy enough to keep thrill seekers away.  I think the thing that sent chills down my spine the most was the Scrabble board that kept appearing around the house with different words spelled out!

This story is a stage for a thrilling supernatural adventure.  There are hauntings, possessions, the creepy asylum, along with murders and other atrocities of the past.  These are all the elements of a great horror!  I strongly suggest reading this one with all the lights on!