Book Review for The Witches of Wildwood Cape May Horror Stories and Other Scary Tales from the Jersey Shore by Mark Wesley

Posted on April 29, 2024 in Authors M-Z // 1 Comment

I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form.

The Witches of Wildwood Cape May Horror Stories and Other Scary Tales from the Jersey Shore, by Mark Wesley Curran, is a collection of short horror stories (plus one novella) about supernatural mishaps, evil or otherwise, that exist in New Jersey. Whether it be love gone wrong, or tragedies intertwining with paranormal mayhem, Curran taunts his readers with visages of the dark, all the while gaslighting them as to whether or not they’re real.

I absolutely loved The Girl in the Attic. The psychological twist as to whether or not the girl-next-door is a vampire reminds me of books where the protagonist questions whether or not the person really is who they say they are. The same could be said for a story like Dante’s Inferno at Castle Dracula; Purgatory isn’t necessarily supposed to be Hell, but when you’re standing in front of a fiery shit show, and you’re supposed loved ones are screaming for help from beyond the grave, it makes you wonder whether redemption is worth the torture. Gus Harvey from his Wildwood Seafood Palace can attest to that.

Then you have your run-of-the-mill horror classics, like Werewolves of Dennis and Jersey Devil, where the characters are, unfortunately, just asking for it. It’s not all of them, but I’m not shedding a tear for half the characters nearby. Moreover, I liked how conversational the stories are. They are simple old-fashioned scares that you can read around a campfire. While all in good fun, I will admit I was a bit disappointed with the Witches of Wildwood. As a horror fan, I love the blood and gore, though I do wish there were some of those psychological elements in the story that were so pervasive at the beginning of the collection.

Fans of The Moth Diaries would enjoy this collection, as would horror comedy enthusiasts. For now, I would give this collection a 4 out of 5 stars.