A review by turrean
The House in Poplar Wood by K.E. Ormsbee

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Generous helping of spookiness, and an interesting take on human interactions with the supernatural.  Some awkward moments: one character kneels down to talk to a thirteen year-old girl (is he, like, eight feet tall? Most girls at thirteen are nearly full adult height.) Hints of junior high “romance” struck me as jarring and unnecessary. Inconsistencies abound in the level of awareness the town’s citizens have of the paranormal goings-on that control their lives.
The town coroner and cop, what Gretchen hears about the kindly apprentice in another town…why has Gretchen’s family even let her know about summoning? Seems like the summoners and apprentices should work together and overthrow their eldritch overlords.

The “agreements” that regulate the services apprentices provide their masters are fairly horrifying. And since each town has its own “Death,” there’s no way to ensure you’ve made a deal with a kindly specter rather than a sadistic devil. Personally, if I knew a child of mine would be condemned to macabre other-worldly servitude, I wouldn’t have children. Meh. If the Mayor’s wife married the mayor due to a “deal with Passion,” is there any agency at all in affairs of the heart?
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