Review: On The Day I Died by Candace Fleming

Author: Candace Fleming

Genre: paranormal, anthology, short stories

Pages: 208

Published: 2012

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade

Rating: 3/5 Stars

"Set in White Cemetery, an actual graveyard outside Chicago, each story takes place during a different time period from the 1860's to the present, and ends with the narrator's death. Some teens die heroically, others ironically, but all due to supernatural causes. Readers will meet walking corpses and witness demonic posession, all against the backdrop of Chicago's rich history—the Great Depression, the World's Fair, Al Capone and his fellow gangsters." ~Goodreads

I was so excited to read this book that I didn't even wait for it to go on sale.  I bought it at full price right after Christmas (which is something I normally don't do).  After all, I love a good ghost story more than almost anything.  So I cracked into it almost as soon as it arrived on my doorstep.  Unfortunately I think I built it up a little too much before hand.  It wasn't a total disappointment but it didn't really live up to expectations.

Let's start on a positive not though, shall we?  There were things that I loved about this book.  The premise, for one, was great.  A teenage boy gets stranded in a graveyard surrounded by teen ghosts after trying to return the shoes of a phantom hitchhiker.  He has to listen to their stories before he can leave.  Super creepy right?  I know.  The plot is set up with Mike's story as the backdrop with each short story tying the book together.  This was a really great set-up and It made for a fast-paced, interesting read.  I also really appreciated that Fleming gave each ghost it's own unique voice which tied in with their social background and time period.  This really helped draw me into the stories.  

Unfortunately this is where the positives stopped for me.  There were several problems with this book.  First of all, many of the stories are retellings of well-known short stories.  And while retellings can be fun and all, ask yourselves, do we really need another incarnation of The Monkey's Paw?  I think not.  Not only that, but they weren't even switched around to be their own versions of the classic stories for the most part.  The next issue I had was in the silliness of some stories.  I wanted a book about ghosts not killer sea monkeys from outer space.  It was a cute idea, but it just wasn't what I was looking for or expecting.  Finally, I would have liked it if the stories would have tied together instead of just moving the plot along.  I think that would have really improved the reading experience for me.

Overall, I did have a good time reading this little book and I would recommend it if you're looking for something slightly creepy but not terrifying.  It's a good book for those of you who don't like the really scary stuff but want to be a little spooked.

Make sure you check out my video for a more in-depth review.