Story for the Week
I don’t remember having a ton of nightmares as a kid. I didn’t worry about monsters in my closet or under the bed. I watch horror movies at night and in the dark because that is how horror is meant to be consumed. And I was once accused of being a little crazy because I read Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders in the middle of the night while I sat alone at the security desk of my college dormitory.
The one dream from my childhood that I vividly remember to this day isn’t one that I would classify as a nightmare at all. I was probably 10ish, and my sister and I shared a bedroom. At the time, we had twin beds on opposite walls of our bedroom. I remember waking up (in my dream, of course) and looking over at my sister’s bed. She faced the wall, so her back was to me, and I saw a bunch of miniature skeletons dancing on her bed. I did not wake up screaming. I thought it was a little weird, but I just rolled over and went back to sleep (in my dream, of course).
Now don’t go judging me. I never said my dreams were rational. They almost never are. I recently had some dental work done and ended up dreaming that my temporary crown fell out along with two other teeth. Surprise, surprise…they didn’t. I also had a dream that we were on a cruise ship (we have a cruise scheduled next summer), and I couldn’t find our state room or any of my traveling companions. As the ship was about to set sail, I became more and more desperate, and I woke up before I thought to just ask a cruise employee for the location of my stateroom. Again, I never said my dreams were rational.
I seem to have passed on my irrational dreams to my daughter, but you won’t find her reading Helter Skelter at night or watching horror films alone in the dark. Corinne is mildly afraid of the dark and has been since she was little. She was the classic kid who thought she saw things in the shapes of her clothes in the closet, so she has always had some sort of light for her room.
Recently, she told me that she believes she’s afraid of the dark because of something that happened when she was little. She laughed when she swore up and down to me that this was NOT, in fact, a dream. She convincingly tells me that it really happened. But she’s a smart kid, so I have to believe she doesn’t really believe in the boogie man. 🤣
She told me that, when she was younger, she would say something to herself about the boogie man while she was lying in bed. Don’t ask me why. I mean, why would you intentionally manifest the boogie man? 🙄 Regardless, leave it to my kid to choose to manifest the boogie man.
Anyway….she would say something to herself about the boogie man. Her floor would open up, and the boogie man would rise out of her floor to about his waist. Of course, I asked her what the boogie man looks like, and she describes him as a “zombie fisherman.” He would say “boogie, boogie, boogie” and then go back into her floor.
When she confirmed for me that she still slept in a twin bed the last time she saw him, I pointed out that maybe it hasn’t happened recently because she has a full-size bed covering the floor where the boogie man came out. I was joking, of course. The boogie man doesn’t exist. But I’m not entirely sure Corinne agrees with me.
I recently finished a debut novel about a house that has an evil pall around it. People claim to see the spirit of The Mother in the woods and hear a woman screaming. Those are also some things that nightmares could made of.
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 Stars for Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
325 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 1, 2025
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Minotaur Books.
Publisher’s Description
Today is Sophie Matthews’ sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion—once thought haunted and shuttered for years from outsiders—is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.
It’s a killer guest list…
DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl
ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house
MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume
KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of…
Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.
************
Main Characters:
- Dani – 27 years old, married to Ethan, new mom to Charlotte, stepmom to Sophie, suffering from self-doubt as a mom and probably a bit of postpartum depression, social media influencer who makes elaborate cakes and desserts and posts them online
- Ethan – extremely wealthy psychiatrist, purchased and remodeled their mansion on a hill when he was still married to Kim, designed it to look almost like a life-size dollhouse with full-length windows facing the front of the house, Sophie’s dad who will go out of his way to give Sophie everything she wants without consulting his ex-wife
- Kim – Ethan’s ex-wife and Sophie’s mom, resents that Dani gets to live in the house she helped redesign and remodel, has a serious drinking problem
- Órlaith – Irish nanny in her sixties, hired to help with Charlotte while Dani “recovers,” superstitiously believes there’s an evil aura around the house
- Sophie – Ethan and Kim’s daughter, invited all of her friends (including her ex-boyfriend) to her party, loves Charlotte and Dani but hasn’t been to the house with them since an “incident” several weeks before the party
- Mikayla – Sophie’s best friend, works hard on her family’s ranch and comes from a family without the kind of money Sophie grew up with, typically spends the night at Kim and Sophie’s around Sophie’s birthday, also has not been to Ethan and Kim’s since the “incident”
- Curtis and Gemma – Ethan and Dani’s go-to couple, Curtis works with Ethan and has been meeting with Dani to work through her issues, Gemma used to be best friends with Kim
- MaryBeth – one of Dani’s Instagram followers from the very start of her influencing career, comments on every one of Dani’s social media posts
- The House – hadn’t been lived in for a century before Ethan and Kim bought it, the townspeople say the house has always belonged to The Mother. “Perched atop the highest cliff in Comal County, Texas, the Queen Anne style Victorian was built in the nineteenth century by Wilhelm Vogel.” After Wilhem’s wife Ada fell to her death, the townspeople began to tell stories about the house being haunted
In this debut novel by Kelsey Cox, we meet a wide array of characters at Sophie Matthews’ sixteenth birthday party, each with their own idiosyncrasies and flaws. Ethan pulled out all the stops for his daughter, inviting her friends, his friends, and acquaintances. In fact, it seems like the entire town is in attendance to see the unveiling of the house. During the party, someone falls to their death. We don’t find out until the end who it is, and so many people are suspects!
This book is such a wild ride. The story unfolds from a variety of perspectives—Dani, Kim, Mikayla, and Órlaith. Dani is suffering from a lack of confidence as a new mom and her lack of sleep colors her perspective. Kim is a raging alcoholic who resents Dani for being the one who gets to enjoy the house. Mikayla alludes to the idea that she may not be the nice girl everyone thinks she is. And Órlaith gives off The Hand That Rocks the Cradle vibes.
The timeline alternates between “Before” the party, as Dani is getting ready, and “After,” which basically gets us to the evening of the party. The author includes back story mainly in Kim and Mikayla’s chapters regarding the history of the house and Mikayla and Sophie’s friendship. But the primary focus is the party itself. The house overflows with people, Ethan plays the ultimate host, Dani is completely overwhelmed, and the teenagers sneak alcohol every chance they get. What could possibly go wrong?!
To add to the tension, unbeknownst to anyone, Dani has been receiving threatening notes and suspects that the person who sent them is AT the party. Her suspicion grows as the party progresses, and we really have no idea who is leaving her the messages. I had my own list of possibilities, but the way this story unfolds…. Let’s just say, don’t trust your instincts.
I feel like the timeline got just a bit confusing, and I kept flipping back to check the headings of Before and After. A chapter would be a section talking about the day of the party but then it would be Kim or Mikayla thinking back to sometimes years before. That information could have been included in Before. Ultimately, though, I enjoyed the pace of the story, and the unreliability of the narrators just added to the mystery and suspense. I was sooooo suspicious of so many people, and I was still surprised at the end. I will not be giving any spoilers for this one because you should also have the pleasure of suspecting everyone.
Someone is dead. I’m not telling you which someone. Is it circumstance, intentional, or is the house really haunted and evil? 🤷🏼♀️ (I already told you, I’m not giving anything away.) There is something I will tell you though: Will I be reading Kelsey Cox again? Most definitely! 👍🏼
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