Review: Where "The Exorcist" meets "Ghost Busters"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 22, 2012
I first met Alexie Aaron on a writer's website a few years ago.  The book she offered there for reading, "The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow"--well--haunted me.  I remember being moved by her mastery of character-development, pacing and suspense, all culminating in the dramatic impact of her story's climax.  In a word, I was wowed!I picked up "Hauntings" again, just recently, (having bumped into Alexie on Facebook) thinking I would refresh my memory of its plot-line and characters, simply skim through it, preparatory to reviewing it.So much for intention!What I didn't account for was that a really well-written book is just as hard to put down during the second reading as it was the first."Hauntings" is such a book.  Oh, I suppose I could have forced myself to stop reading after the first chapter, then scanned the rest, and written a reasonably decent review.  But--and this is important--I DIDN'T WANT TO QUIT."The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow" may not alter your life in a profoundly existential way.  There are enough books and writers out there that profess to do that. But, thank God, that isn't this book's intent.What it will do, though,--and do it pretty profoundly--is make you RETHINK the wisdom of ever spending a night alone in a cabin in the country.From my personal perspective, this disturbingly scary story left its imprint on that part of my psyche where exists my first viewing of "The Exorcist", right alongside its unlikely neighbor, "Ghost Busters".Both elements exist in Alexie Aaron's well-crafted novel.  On the one hand, you have an otherworldly horror that crosses over into a kind of Psycho/Spiritual Warfare, culminating with that soul-crushing confrontation between Good and Evil. It is a fine battle--from the literary standpoint-- hard-fought by both sides.On the other hand, you have a couple of really likeable ghosts, seemingly more at home in the more comedy-driven "Ghost Busters" movie.  These ghosts appear on the surface have no hidden agenda, no axe to grind--well... (well, that's a kind of inside joke you'll be privy to when you get into this novel).  But, they are much more than comic relief.And, somewhere between the one hand and the other the reader is introduced to the lovely, quirky, feisty Mia, our protagonist, who just happens to see dead people and is therefore feared and despised by most of the townspeople.  Oh, you're gonna love to get to know Mia!I do want to emphasize, that while this is a serious, and a seriously entertaining, novel, don't get the impression it's without humor.  Mrs. Aaron has developed characters that are fully fleshed-out (I'm speaking now of the "living" characters, but a good case could be made for the "otherworldly" as well). As with any well-written novel, the humor grows out of her characters and the situations in which the characters find themselves.  You'll find humor, but you'll also find the full range of other emotions.  There is romance that can go one way or another--can develop then deteriorate, which  of course does--and, I promise you, the reader's heart is thu-rumping right in the midst of it.Then, as you would expect in a story of this nature, there is conflict and violence in spades!.  And, throughout all of it, the reader is dragged by the scruff of his emotional captivity along whichever path of action Mrs. Aaron decides to tug him.So, join me in the pages of this remarkable novel.  You'll discover dark corners of terror you may never have explored elsewhere, and you'll soar to levels of selfless courage to which most can only aspire.  And in the mix you'll find plenty enough romance and intrigue to carry you right up to the final page of this wonderful journey.And, lest we forget, there are a couple of ghosts I guarantee you're gonna fall in love with.