Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5
Scary: 3/5

Themes: Horror

The Dead Pennies is about a girl who is running from an abusive relationship and offers to stay at an old school that is being coverted to appartments for a friend. But she was never told the truth of the buildings haunting history. I am not going to lie, I got a few nightmares from this book. Normally these types of books don’t scare me but there was a trope that always freaks me out that crawled its way in. It did take a while to push through the begginging stuff but once I hit the halfway mark things really started happening. The ending took a turn I didn’t see coming but it made sense in the end. I noticed there were other books by this author and they are on KU so I will be reading those.

I received an arc an am leaving an honest review.

The majority of this book kept me interested and i sped through it.. It was an overall easy read for me. There were some great eerie and atmospheric parts that i really enjoyed. The book got a little weak for me towards the end and character development seemed a bit dull, Please check trigger warnings. because some of the subjects can be very upsetting. Even though i was a little unsatisfied with the ending, i do recommend this book- it was a quick and easy read with some decent horror elements.

Thank you to Netgalley for this read in return for an honest review.
This book is scary but also horrifying so please mind the trigger warnings.
I found the story intriguing and I wanted to know how it ended only to find it felt flat.
It kind of felt rushed at the end and got lazy with the story. But overall I did like it.
#deadpennies
#netgalley

Overall 3/5 ⭐️

"After leaving an abusive relationship, Abby visits an old friend on her way to her mother’s in Florida. Hayden’s Uncle Jack is renovating a building into high-end apartments in town, and with the lure of living rent-free in a beautiful loft, Abby becomes the caretaker with the entire building all to herself. Abby hears strange sounds in the building. Shadows move as if they’re alive. Led to believe the structure was previously a school, Abby is told by the last living employee of Harper’s Grove that the building used to be a home for the infirm and unwanted children, the Dead Pennies of society, unfit for circulation. Abby and Hayden search for the cause of the strange events at Harper’s Grove, and find out why the spirits of the dead children won’t sleep until they get vengeance. But there’s also another evil at play—this one of a human nature. Abby’s ex-boyfriend, Nick, finds out where she has run off to. He won’t stop for anything until she’s back in his clutches, but Nick doesn’t expect to come up against the raging spirits of the Dead Pennies."

So much kudos for the master that is The Dead Pennies. Beginning off slow at deeply atmospheric giving a very eerie and creepy vibes, then each section building in fear right until the very end. The plot itself was a bit choppy at times, but it in no way took away from the reading experience. The Dead Pennies is the perfect quick and spooky paranormal read for your October Spooky Season reads - or a great fill in all rounder throughout the year. Great for fans of Hadassah Shiradski, William Friend and Duncan Ralston.

Go in blind to this one, you'll have a greater experience. Do check trigger warnings too - as there are quite a few that may need to be recognised.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cemetery Dance Publications & Robert Ford for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 Stars!

Cemetery Dance has been a publisher of dark fiction for a long time and has been among my favorite publishers for a long time. Many of their writers are at the top of their genre and their books are always high-quality reads. I was not familiar with Robert Ford, but I was immediately intrigued by his new novel, The Dead Pennies, with its creepy cover and menacing title so I knew I had to give it read hoping for a scary read.



When Abby finally leaves her abusive boyfriend, she is hoping for a better life. As she travels to stay with her mother, which she is not looking forward to due to their tumultuous relationship, she decides to stop and visit her old friend Hayden. Hayden’s uncle is renovating an old building to turn into luxury apartments and offers Abby a place to stay, rent free, while the construction on the building is paused. There is only one apartment done and she would have the building to herself. It seems like the perfect place for her to start her new life. The dream arrangements, however, would soon turn into a nightmare.



The Dead Pennies is a very good supernatural horror novel. Robert Ford starts the novel off at a slow simmer with Abby escaping from her abusive boyfriend, Nick, and getting established in her new home. Of course, the reader knows there is more to the building than she believes when she moves in and Ford slowly unfolds the story. There is a strong mixture of religion and plenty of time is given to establishing the horrors that occurred in the building in the past that has led to it being haunted in the future. The story is very heavy on atmosphere and reads like a gothic horror novel. Abby is almost frantic as she tries to unravel the mystery of the building’s history and sense of doom hangs over the story, growing stronger with every page. Everything is done to near perfection and the reader is primed for an explosive ending.



It is the climax, though, that ultimately keeps this novel from reaching its potential. Without giving away any spoilers, Ford brings an element into the story that I found to be a distraction from the core story of the Dead Pennies and their revenge. The ending is brutal in its violence and had plenty of shock value, but it just did not seem to fit the rest of the story. It came off seeming a bit cluttered and overdone. It almost felt as if Ford wanted to tie up some loose ends from a couple different story elements and instead water down the impact of the climax. I would have enjoyed the story more if it had stayed focused on the core story, but The Dead Pennies is still a very good work of supernatural horror and well worth the time it takes to read the story.



I would like to thank Cemetery Dance Publications and NetGalley for this review copy. The Dead Pennies is available now.

This book starts off innocent enough, builds and builds until it explodes from tension! I would say this is more of a slow burn read but once it gets rolling, it is insane! This is not your average ghost story. Cannot wait for more from Ford!!

First I want to give thanks to Netgalley and Cemetery dance publications for providing me copy of this book!
The first part was nothing special. Abby starting a new life, getting back in touch with an old friend. That was it basically. The second part gave me a real hope, that the book will be actually good. We learn the story of the "dead pennies", we follow some of what happened in the facility and the life there. But then the third part really mad me upset. Bare in mind that in the whole book there are few noises and couple of strange things happening in the apartment, nothing much. And then we start with a scene of an action movie-guns, fights ect. Then we go to psycho-stalker mode. And then there are ghost! Why? Are they helping her? Are they after everyone? I don't know! And then all is done. Cut the scene!!! And all the snickering throughout the book... there was a lot of snickering!

This book was different from others I've read in that it focused on a facility for sick or "discarded" children. It's not a subject I've come across, but I feel like somewhere out there, these types of situations actually happen..
It was interesting to read about Abby's journey and how she made it through a tough time in her life. The sorrow that Cora Jean felt because of her part in the story jumped out of the book and made me feel quite the same. While I enjoyed the book, it took quite a while to get to the Dead Pennies. I'd have enjoyed a bit more details about this part of the story.

I absolutely loved this until we got to Book 3. I wish Ford had added trigger warnings so please be aware of things such as child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, assault, etc.

Spoilers ahead!

The summary of the book involving Nick made me believe he would be a much larger part of the story and plot throughout than he actually was which wasn’t until 82% in on my version.

I enjoyed the plot twist involving Hayden and although I could see where Ford got the idea from it didn’t feel fitting to how Hayden’s character had been built and developed. I absolutely loved the backstory and history from Cora-Jean regarding Harper’s grove. The flashback scenes to 1964 left me feeling uneasy and disgusted but heightened by enjoyability of the story and how things were fitting together.

Onto the actual ‘haunting and possession’ area of the story. NOTHING happened. Apart from seeing one or two things, hearing something that sounded like a cat and a few glasses clinking together, nothing noteworthy happened. I wished there were more aspects. It could have been built on so much more than it was.

The ending of the story left me feeling that nothing had been resolved. I found myself getting slightly confused as the pacing was extremely rushed. Book three (part in the novel) could have been executed so much better.

I would still highly recommended this as I loved it until areas of Part 3 however, that last 10% of the story really ruined my rating.

After leaving an abusive relationship, Abby visits her friend Hayden on her way to her mother’s in Florida. Hayden’s Uncle Jack is renovating a building into high-end apartments in town, and Abby becomes the caretaker with the entire building all to herself. Abby soon realises all is not as quiet and peaceful in this building and begins a search to find out about the buildings past, which leads her down a dark path that will put her life in danger.

This book gave me the creeps ! This book was so well written, and while some of the story was a little predictable in places, some twists I did not see coming ! This is my first Robert Ford, and I am now off to find all his back list books.

I would suggest looking at trigger warnings if you have any, as there are a few in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Cemetery Dance Publications, and Robert Ford for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy a good horror book every now and again .... takes me back to my youth (many, many years ago!!) ... and The Dead Pennies certainly hit the spot with added supernatural shenanigans going on as well.

The story centres around the main character, Abby, who is escaping her waste of a skin boyfriend and takes her school friend, Hayden's, offer to stop by the town he lives in on her way home to Florida. Abby lands on her feet when she gets the opportunity to stay in a brand new apartment within the unfinished redevelopment of the old Harper's Grove Hospital but almost immediately, she begins to experience strange things.

This starts out as a creepy and unnerving supernatural story which turns in to a full-on horror fest. The characters are great, the tension and overall creepiness builds and builds and the ending is quite satisfying.

I must give a warning that this book deals with historical child abuse, addiction and domestic violence so if these are triggers for you, please think twice before reading.

Many thanks to the author, Cemetary Dance Publications, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Dead Pennies.

The Dead Pennies by Robert Ford was exquisitely horrific and spooky. This unique horror tale gave me chills. It was so atmospheric and eerie. It starts with a creepy build-up that lands on you and transforms your reading experience. Great sequencing!

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The Dead Pennies is a very unique and definitely gave me some chills - I did not expect so much from this! Some aspects of this story however are somewhat rushed but I enjoyed the eerie creepy vibes this story gave off.

Holy crap! This goes from a softer, more atmospheric horror to full speed gruesome goodness.

Most of the book is build up - it builds up characters and an eerie and heartbreaking backstory. Then, in the final section of the book it's...horror on crack.

I loved our characters, though I was thoroughly shocked by more than one. I won't say that I loved what happened with one of them, but it all made sense.

Definitely a good read!

When Abby leaves her meth addicted boyfriend in Pennsylvania her plan is to go stay with her mom in Florida but when her high school friend Hayden implores her to stop at his house on the way at first she says no but then changes her mind he has a totally redone farmhouse in a modern style and Abby loves it. So when he tells her his uncle Jack also has a furnished remodeled apartment that he need someone to occupy while waiting on construction to finish in the rest of the building again she is hesitant and again she changes her mind. On her first visit there her and Hayden see a distressed elderly man staring at the building and when Hayden asked can he help him the man runs away after asking why did you wake them up? Hayden thinks it is an old school but Abby finds out from locals that it was a hospital for disfigured and unwanted children it isn’t long before strange things start happening including the elderly man making another appearance but this time Abby gets his license plate and when they find out where he lives they decide to pay him a visit and this is the end and the beginning of lots of things. this was really a great classic horror story in at first I thought it would be something I would read to pass the time but OMG make sure you have time to finish because this is one awesome horror story! Robert Ford will definitely be a name I put on my authors to look for list and I cannot wait to read another by him. I want to thank cemetery dance press and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I really enjoyed this book! I found the descriptions of the empty old asylum super creepy- empty except for our heroine and her new apartment. I found some of the main character's dialogue repetitive; as in, constantly saying "Hayseed". And the abusive boyfriend showing up at the end seemed kinda last minute.....but overall, great, creepy story.

When Abby flees her addicted/abusive boyfriend, her old friend Hayden helps her out. She becomes caretaker of a former children’s asylum that’s being refurbished into apartments. But that building has secrets, it comes alive, and the those spectral inhabitants aren’t too happy. All the while, Abby’s former boyfriend isn’t willing to let her go that easily. Another great read by Robert Ford…I loved this one! So creepy!!

Robert Ford is one of my favorite author's, I've read almost every other book he's written so I thought this would be another great book, it wasn't bad but not as great as his other books. I had trouble getting into the character's from the beginning and it seemed to be slower paced. The ending was my favorite part of the book and I will continue to read his work, I never could really get into this one though. I received this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

I am all for re-purposing old buildings for businesses or apartments but after reading this book, I would definitely think twice about suggesting any building that had been an asylum or home for unwanted children. The pasts of these buildings would be to filled with anguish, pain and death to not have some kind of residual effect on anyone living there. Abby thought she was leaving an abusive p, drug addict to start over. Little did she know what she was headed for when she contacted her friend from high school. The building she moved into just needed the energy from Abby’s emotions to open up the revenge the spirits feel they need to extract.
The author was very good at making you feel the dread and trepidation of being in the halls of Harper’s Grove. Reading the stories about the children that were basically abandoned was heartbreaking. I cannot believe some of the stories that come from author’s research about these places. As always children and women are always the most vulnerable and easy to exploit. It is no wonder these type of buildings contain such hateful and angry energy. And even though Abby wanted to help the angry spirits, the anger was too strong for even her good heart. This book was very frightening and eerie.