WIDOW’S POINT: THE COMPLETE HAUNTING by Richard Chizmar and W.H. Chizmar (Gallery Books, September 30, 2025) Hardcover, 336 pages. ISBN # 9781668057704
Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .
'This is a bad place. I don't think people are meant to live here.'
Longtime residents of Harper's Cove believe that something is wrong with the Widow's Point Lighthouse. Some say it's cursed. Others claim it's haunted.
Originally built in 1838, three workers were killed during the lighthouse's construction, including one who mysteriously plunged to his death from the catwalk. That tragic accident was never explained, and it was just the beginning of the terror. In the decades that followed, nearly two dozen additional deaths occurred in or around the lighthouse including cold-blooded murder, suicide, unexplained accidents and disappearances, the slaughter of an entire family, and the inexplicable death of a Hollywood starlet who was filming a movie on the grounds.
The lighthouse was finally shuttered tight in 1988 and a security fence was erected around the property. No one has been inside since. Until now.
Told across two harrowing incidents from 2017 and 2025, those who enter the Widow's Point Lighthouse searching for supernatural proof and the next big thing find themselves cut off from the outside world. And although no one has recently stepped foot inside the structure, they are not alone.
In this remarkable collaboration, father and son writing team, Richard and W.H. Chizmar combine forces to tell a terrifying ghost story that will make you think twice about what's waiting for you in the dark.
My FOUR-STAR Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
After an initial episode in 2017 that begins the first part of this novel and is truly creepy - - things slow down a bit and this is only borderline scary until Page 220, and then - - - OMG! Horrifying. Shocking. Brutal. Definitely worth the wait.
This is a fascinating and compelling read for several reasons:
1) The storytelling method - - just like a found footage horror movie, and in my opinion, better utilized here than what Paul Trembly was attempting in his HORROR MOVIE novel.
2) A unique and totally different haunted house story. It's better that I don't say too much here. Reminds me a little bit of the classic THE HAUNTING black-and-white film from the 1960's.
3) The build-up to the core events may catch you off-guard, just after your expectations are somewhat diminished and you are no longer prepared. Not as immediate as a jump-scare, but just as effective.
4) Characters that I did not like but kept reading anyway - because everything else held my attention.. I wasn't wishing for bad things for them and only wanted one of them to have a favorable outcome. I won't say that was exactly what happened, but it was satisfactory. Usually, if I can't find a character in a novel that I can empathize or have any feelings for I will stop reading. This was the exception.
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