Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

“Unsettling Thoughts” explores a thrilling narrative that blends psychological and supernatural elements into one suspenseful horror story. The plot revolves around Tina, who, after a seemingly harmless antique shopping spree with friends, begins to experience drastic changes in her behavior and perception.

A relaxing tradition of scouring small towns for vintage treasures takes a chilling turn when Tina purchases a coveted reading chair. Bringing it home unlocks a Pandora’s box: her cheerful disposition darkens, replaced by irritability, unfounded jealousy, forgetfulness, and vivid nightmares. Is she haunted by an unwelcome spirit, or are her loved ones gaslighting her?

As an arsonist and murderer terrorizes the town, Tina’s friend Wanda becomes suspicious. Could a malevolent entity from their ghost tour be attached to the chair, manipulating Tina? Determined to unravel the horrifying history of the chair and save Tina from her descent, Wanda journeys back to the quaint town they visited.

Erik Dean’s dual endings allow readers to experience this new terror twice. Gripping and unpredictable, “Unsettling Thoughts” keeps you on the edge of your seat. 🕯️🪑

Note: Alt ending #1

I found very intriguing and immersed me in a whirlwind of emotions and reflections that I personally found disturbing. It is a great supernatural thriller that perfectly combines psychological horror and suspense, and I'm so into this kind of book. I really loved the cover of the book and then the story was great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

This is a story of horror, mystery and suspense all rolled up into one book, and since these are three of my favorite genres, what's not to like? Unfortunately, the writing style didn't seem to flow very well and that made it a bit less enjoyable to read. That being said, the horror elements were very unsettling and actually scary and that helped this book a lot. I had a good time with this one!
Thank you for this ARC, NetGalley!

I dnfd pretty quickly. The writing was really horrible and it distracted me from getting into the book

Tina and her friends have gone on their yearly trip for going to small towns to find vintage treasures. For fun, they decide to go on a ghost tour. On the following day, Tina finds her “reading chair.” She is happy to have found it even though her friends say it is ugly and lumpy. Tina uses her chair for reading but seems to fall asleep after reading a chapter or two. Slowly, Tina starts to change personality when with her husband and friends. Wanda decides to talk to her grandmother about the possibility that the chair is haunted and trying to possess Tina. What answer does her grandmother give? Will Wanda decide to act on the information or ignore it?

The author has written a novel that moves you into a state of terror. It is a horror, mystery, and suspenseful novel. It is a plot full of twists and turns. The author has given the reader two alternative endings to the story. I liked the original and second alternative endings. I was surprised that he wrote these endings as I never had read a novel with alternal endings. It was an interest experience.

Read: June 18th - 23rd, 2024
Review: June 24th, 2024

Rating: 3/5 Stars

This was a decent read.

I did not love the writing style. It read almost too formal and almost point-blank form. Kind of reminded me of stories you would read in school that were to teach you to read and write. It just did not flow well. The flow got a little better as the story went on and even good in some areas.

The novel started strong in the first chapter. I enjoyed the story. The plot was a good idea. It was a creepy and mysterious haunting that kept me interested. The characters were likable, but we didn’t get to dig deep with any of them, so I didn’t particularly care about them. They could be hard to keep apart at times too.

The ending came a little quick. Not sure it was my favourite ending, but it was unexpected. I did like that the author included two alternate endings. The addition at the end where you get to know the author a little and read how they came to the idea of the story was nice too.

Thank you to Erik Dean for providing a free copy to read from Netgalley.

This was truly a unique read with so many twists right until the very last chapter! It went in so many directions that i didn’t see coming and every twist really just took my by surprise and i couldn’t put it down, i just needed to know what was happening!! I can’t wait to read more from Erik Dean, i just know it’ll keep me addicted until the very end.

Unsettling Thoughts was the first novel I have read from the author Erik Dean, it starts with a horrific fire and then jumps to the present day and a group of friends of which the women go antique shopping and one of them ends up buying a cursed chair. The idea was an interesting one but I did get bored fairly quickly, it just failed to grab my attention and I found the writing was repetitive in parts so I have to admit I did jump to the end just to see what happened, but even then Erik Dean gives the reader an ending and two alternatives, so you can choose which one you preferred, and personally I think he chose the right one.

Interesting, yes it's quite scary with chills and thrills, and vividly entertaining. I enjoyed this read and I have to say original ending is the best. A really wild ride.

DNF at 6%.
Starts with a bang (content heads-up: fire, fire injury, death) and is tragic sad. The writing style kept taking me out of the story. I think the way people speak and the dialogue has everyone sounding the same. It's almost too formal or grammatically correct? Everyone sounds robotic to me. There's a lot of back and forth dialogue that didn't read naturally and I kept imagining the characters standing there talking at each other.
Also some of the things people say is a little off. For example, when a character tells police who they think did a crime, the officer said something like "okay, don't worry, we'll go arrest them now."

Anyways, if I'm not liking the writing style and it's making me feel frustrated with the book, I don't think it's fair to keep reading and give a bad review online since others may enjoy it.

I found the premise of this book really intriguing and I think the overall story and idea was really good.
I enjoyed the first chapter about the fire and was hoping the rest of the book would carry that amount of suspense. For me, after the first chapter it just didn't hold my attention.

I found it confusing to tell the characters apart as they were just names, there didn't seem to be much depth to any of them and as a result I wasnt emotionally invested in what happened to Tina or anyone else. I think the idea would have worked really well if there had been more character development and a bit more history about them.
Whilst I like the idea of alternate endings, it felt like a bit of a cop out and more like the author couldn't decide which to choose.
Overall I think it was ok but could have been great if I had been more invested in the outcome of the characters.

Unsettling Thoughts explores a thrilling narrative that blends psychological and supernatural elements into one suspenseful horror story. The plot revolves around Tina, who, after a seemingly harmless antique shopping spree with friends, begins to experience drastic changes in her behavior and perception. These changes escalate after acquiring a particular reading chair, leading to nightmares, forgetfulness, and suspicion of either haunting or manipulation by her loved ones. As eerie events unfold in her town, including arson and murder, Tina's friend Wanda investigates the potential paranormal influence linked to their ghost tour and the objects they brought back, including the chair.

Erik Deans storytelling is engaging, as he balances descriptive narrative with dialogues that drive the psychological tension and horror forward. Character development is intricate, with the transformation of Tina's character central to the plot, supported by the evolving dynamics and perceptions of her friends and community as bizarre and terrifying events unfold. The horror aspect of the novel is effectively executed through the blend of everyday settings with supernatural occurrences, creating a relatable but unsettling backdrop for the story’s eerie events. Dean's ability to weave horror with psychological underpinnings makes the novel a compelling read for fans of both genres, offering a story that lingers with the reader through its haunting themes and dual endings.

I can say with certainty, I have never read anything like this before, I didn’t know how it was going to end, and even in the last chapter there were multiple twists that I did not expect.

A truly unique read and experience, and one I throughly enjoyed through out.

I really enjoyed the story, but issues with the writing style and grammar made it almost unreadable.

While majority of the story was predictable, I really enjoyed the story and I have to admit I didn't see the ending coming in which Tina dies. However, once she was dead, the original ending was expected. The first two thirds of the book was also very repetitive - they would go to work, come home, Tina would sleep in her chair, they would go to sleep. This was repeated over and over again and I thought it was unnecessary.

I liked the original ending the best.

Regarding the writing style, I found it quite blunt and lacking emotion. The sentences didn't flow into each other. It was almost like reading a bullet list recounting events, rather than a flowing story. Agnes was a genuinely scary character and her anger showed in the writing, however the other characters didn't really seem to have any emotion, even though they were involved in these horrifying events.

There were a myriad of grammatical errors, such as commas in the wrong place and the incorrect use of past and present tense. This made it very difficult to read and deterred from the story. There were also name mix-ups and holes in the timeline that made some parts confusing. For example, when they dispose of Tina's body Paul states that he will stay and clean up. He is then mentioned as being in the truck with Travis and Jack. I don't think the book has been edited well for these constant errors to still be present. I'm not sure if this was because I was reading the book provided by Net Galley - maybe these errors have been fixed in the final version that was released? As such, I have not included this part in my public review.

It's a captivating read that keeps readers on the edge of their seats as the haunting elements become entertaining. These unexpected developments during the tour make the story interesting, with a decent amount of horror.