impossible the route seems or what trials they might face and what stakes they must overcome.
This book definitely gave me the creeps. Children are always terrifying in horror movies and books, and add some black sludge and you’ve got a nightmare cocktail. I appreciated how Casey’s mom somewhat believed him when he reported these freaky occurrences, even if she didn’t believe him completely. The book was slower than I would have liked, the biggest plot point didn’t occur until 60% of the way through the book. Some transitions (especially in the beginning) were confusing for me to realize we were now in the past or in the present. However, even though the first half was slower than I would have liked, I could not put the last half down. The journey to save Casey is so intricate, you really have to read closely to make sure you have the entire picture painted in your mind. This book is perfect for the beginning of spooky season.

This was a weird book. First dor me from this author and thought to give it a go, given some great reviews.
Children have been going missing for over a hundred years from one place at a pool/lagoon.
Writer Dane moves to an inherited house next to this pool, and young mum Winona and son Casey are escaping from her abusive partner and move to her parents little schoolhouse which is also on the same property. Strange things happen, Casey goes missing and then they are in the other world and are trying to get back.
Hmmmm. Did find it weird and not scary at all.
Grateful for the opportunity to read this book.

An abusive school teacher from long, long ago is about to be forced from her post, so she decides to take her class with her to continue teaching on another plane.
When a single mom and her 4 year old son move into the old school house they develop a friendship with the writer on the other side of their woods. All three are warned to stay away from the murky pool in the writer's back yard. Some say it's the gateway to something evil. The locals seem especially concerned that the young boy not go anywhere near it. Mom is concerned about their interest in her young boy!
One night every parent's nightmare becomes real with the 4 year old disappears without a trace. A search finds nothing. Strange, huge and deadly animals emerge from the woods.and the local lore about the pond begins to become a story that can't be ignored. The only option left is the scariest, but they must find the boy so the into the waters of evil they go.
This was yet another character driven and enjoyable tale of wierdness by Eddie Generous. Thank you to #netgalley for allowing me to read #Hetty. I would recommend this book.

The premise of Hetty was what intrigued me, but the writing and the characters made me stay. This book was full of life ….and death in the best way.
We follow Dane, a struggling writer as he moves to Moreland after he receives an inheritance. He meets Winona, a single mom with a four year old son who is also new to Moreland. She is also struggling financially and they become close.
The story grows at an interesting pace as a reader you already know something about Hetty and the schoolhouse but not much is revealed in the beginning. You anticipate learning more about this ghost legend and her schoolhouse. The anxious anticipation makes reading the story somewhat of a nail biter and the action scenes in the end are worthy of a horror movie.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it as a quick and fun read for horror fans.

Oh, this one is eerie!

In Hetty, Eddie Generous brings us old school chills with the tale of missing children and a very scary school teacher!

As is usual with the author, the characters practically live and breathe. I was so worried about them – and a certain fierce good boy.

The story builds at a good pace, weaving together dark history and a more modern tale that manages to be just as horrifying and heartbreaking.

An excellent read – perfect when you want something chilling!

*ARC via the Publisher

Hetty by Eddie Generous sounded like a horror story that was right up my alley. It is a supernatural horror that has unsettled spirits, a town full of secrets, and one incredibly brave dog. The writing style and overall atmosphere had a similar feel to Stephen King or Stephen Graham Jones. This could work well for fans of The Broken Girls by Simone St. James or Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt.

As far as the story goes, I think the plot was solid. Over 100 years ago, Hetty, an old schoolmarm, committed a heinous crime after her school attempted to fire her. Since then, her restless spirit is thought to have caused the disappearance of dozens of children over the years. In the present day, a woman and her son move into the old school house and the "horror" part of the story picks up from there.

I decided to give this a 3 star because, while the idea of the story appealed to me greatly, I felt that the execution just wasn't my style, While reading the book, something consistently felt off. The narration would jump from one scene to another very quickly. It was also often difficult to tell whose POV we were reading from. Within the same scene, we would go from Casey's point to view, to Winona's, to Dane's with no real indication that it was going to happen. At times, this took me out of the story because I had to reread a paragraph over again to understand who I was following. Also, I felt like we didn't get a lot of the inner monologue from the characters, so they felt a little emotionally flat. Because of this, the romance aspect felt a little forced. I never really felt or saw Dane start to have feelings for Winona or vice versa.

After about the halfway point, I realized what felt "off". This reads like a movie rather than a book. the frequent scene jumping, not hearing the character's inner monologue, characters speaking without introduction, etc. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some people may prefer this. However, it just doesn't work for me.

Some things that I did really like -
- Getting Chauncey's POV. It's not every day that we get to read a story from a dog's perspective.
- The portion of the story that we spend on the "other side" was very imaginative and also heartbreaking.
- The story moved quickly and didn't leave a lot of room to get bored.

Overall 3/5 stars and I wouldn't mind picking up another book from this author in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down. It was an interesting take on a ghost story. I highly recommend it. I truly believe it should be made into a Netflix original. I'd love to see it play out in live action.

Good story, if a bit confusing. I don't know if it was me or the way it was formatted. Still a creepy and spooky read.

Had an old timer horror story feel which I enjoyed immensely. A classic for sure, with gore and sinister creatures living outside an old school house. A real page turner!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This book was horrifying. It’s probably the scariest thing I’ve read all year. I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next. I literally read this book and one night with the light on.