Stories about the paranormal, and ghosts specifically have always fascinated me. The idea that sometimes people linger on after their death. It’s fascinating isn’t it? I was obsessed with any movie that had ghosts involved. Ghostbusters and Caspar were childhood favorites of mine. But as chilling as simple ghosts were, it was the demonic and inhuman spirit stories that terrified me. I know it’s not the most ground breaking movie ever, but The Exorcism of Emily Rose freaked me out so badly that I legitimately woke up in a cold sweat the night after watching it at 3:15am. And then promptly fell back asleep, laughing it off. I was a sassy thing even then. Just more awkward.
So when a book crosses my path that not only has to do with ghosts, but inhuman spirits, and possessions my heart rate immediately rises. Add to it the phrase “based on true events” and I’m practically wheezing with excitement- and a little trepidation.
Now, I had the pleasure of interview the author of today’s book well before I got a chance to read it. So I learned a lot about the reality of the events behind the book. Jason McLeod, the author, was one of the paranormal investigators helping a CT family that had been besieged by some seriously violent spirits. Knowing what I did going into the book, really added that extra layer of fear that only understanding can give.
If you’d like to see the interview I did with Jason, I’ll add it to the end of this post.
Anywhoo, on to the review!
Dark Siege
Written by: Jason McLeod
Published: Jason McLeod; 3 edition (May 30, 2014)
Longer Book Description
You never know what can be lurking in the cemeteries you casually drive by. Kelly McLaughlin, an innocent six-year-old girl, didn’t even know spirits existed when an apparition materialized, instantly tapped into her consciousness, and followed her home. It quickly targeted her teenage brother, Tyler. When he and his friends attempted contact with a Ouija board, they inadvertently invited a group of inhuman, diabolical spirits into their lives. These spirits isolated and terrorized the family and their friends until they finally sought out the alpha, the wealthy, real estate broker father, who was a natural skeptic and the last one to believe in ghosts. In this tale of real haunting phenomena, a Connecticut family’s home is infested and the family is oppressed by spirits from beyond the grave. Will the McLaughlin’s ever get their lives back? Or will these spirits continue to haunt them? This book is a paranormal powerhouse, but what makes it truly unique is that it contains a chapter-by-chapter analysis where McLeod explains spirit activity through Quantum Physics, the Universal Laws of Attraction, Vibration, Intention, and Conscious Manifestation. Dark Siege: A Connecticut Family’s Nightmare is the most terrifying case of inhuman, diabolical Infestation, Oppression and Possession McLeod has ever investigated. It is a must read for any paranormal enthusiast, investigator, or researcher – and most of all, for anyone who has endured, or who is currently experiencing paranormal activity for themselves. [amazon.com]
Thoughts
One thing I do want to say about this book straight off the bat is that it’s not fiction. Everything that takes place in this book is an account of what happened to a real family that Jason helped.
And that blows my mind.
Honestly, if I hadn’t met Jason myself I would have raised a skeptical eyebrow, but I believe him, and his resume (that isn’t the quite the right word, but I’m going with it anyway) speaks for itself. So yeah, I believe him. And yeah, I also believe that ghosts exist and there are malevolent things/energies/demons/whatever-you-want-to-call them out there that can cause some serious damage. I just wanted to put that out there while I was on the subject.
What’s amazing about this book? You don’t have to believe in any of it to enjoy the story.
If you just come to this book, looking for a frightening paranormal tale. Then you’re still going to enjoy the heck out of it. So, let’s get into why.
The Pacing
Don’t bother grabbing a cup of coffee to help you get to the action in this book, it starts right off the bat with the daughter of the family spotting a ghost and being flickeringly followed home. That scene sucks you right into the story. One second the spirit is a smudge in the distance, next thing you know it’s practically in the car. Terrifying classic horror movie reveals there.
After that initial reveal things slowly build up. The book is even sectioned off into several recognizable chunks
- Infestation
- Oppression and
- Possession
And as the story progresses into each section the activity and violence escalates. First it’s an iron turning itself on, then it’s hordes of flies appearing out of nowhere, then engines that are entirely sabotaged, and people ending up in critical condition in the hospital. Seriously. Things go from bad to “Holy Sh**, did that thing seriously just fly across the room?!” It was beautiful.
In story form, anyway. In reality…
The Family
What grounds all of these supernatural events is the family, and their reactions to it.
Everyone in this story, from the little girl talking to spirits to the skeptical but open-minded doctor in the hospital, everyone is incredibly well written. Now, having real people to base the characters on is one thing, but it takes some real craftsmanship to get a person’s personality to really shine through on the page, and I think that was done rather successfully in this book.
The stand out character is the teenage son and his struggle to try and protect his family. Although, some of his actions (like using a Ouija board in the house) actually made things worse. But I liked his earnestness and the genuine way he reacted to things. For example his reaction to every single wire in his car engine being pulled apart.
Knowledge Bombs
What I found surprising and really comforting about this book is at the end there’s a section called “Analysis” where Jason works through all of the events and explains why and how they happened. Now this is the part where people just looking for a good ghost story can tune out. But for the rest of us, there is some really helpful interesting information in there.
Jason goes over how to smudge your home to rid it of spirit, even leaving the full prayers they used in the text of the book. So, nestled in the pages of the story, and emphasized in the analysis section, is the information you need to protect yourself.
There was also one section where Jason talks about his belief when it comes to the soul and how it interacts with the universe. I found his way of looking at think incredibly comforting and it’s helped me deal with the deaths in my family that I have been dealing with. The brief version of his thoughts are that a soul kind of logs into the existence we are experiencing and follows exactly the path that it needs to get the most out of life while here. And when it’s done, it goes right back up into the ether of the universe to pick out it’s next existence. Yeah, it’s reincarnation, but the way he explains it made the concept so very approachable.
Verdict
5 out of 5 blood spattered stars.
I absolutely loved this book and will happily recommend it to anyone and everyone. Except maybe small children… I wouldn’t recommend reading this to small children. But like, a 10 year old who’s starting to think horror’s cool and just might be tempted to mess with a spirit board? I’d read it to them. Because getting the ba-jesus scared out of you can make for some good life choices later on.
Snag a Copy
Buy it on Amazon or read it for free with a free trial of Kindle Unlimited
Connect with Jason
And last but certainly not least, here’s the interview I mentioned:
I hope you all are having an amazing day! And why don’t you pop on over to my facebook page and let me know if you believe in ghosts 🙂
Horror Made 