Click here to buy this book! Kindle Edition Download from Smashwords (eBook) Amazon Lulu The Spooky Chronicles Category:  Horror Publisher: Smashwords ISBN-10:  1452452401 Type: Fiction Pages: 36 Copyright: May 25, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781452452401 Moments after a child on his death bed passes away, he is visited by a mysterious “crooked man” who sends him back to the land of the living. Upon returning, the young boy realizes that his mother was taken in his place, but that’s only the beginning of the Crooked Man’s sinister plan. First book in the series.   Moments after a child on his death bed passes away, he is visited by a mysterious “crooked man” who sends him back to the land of the living. Upon returning, the young boy realizes that his mother was taken in his place, but that’s only the beginning of the Crooked Man’s sinister plan.   Meet Spooky, a dead little boy continuing to grow up. He goes to school, likes taking pictures in cemeteries, and doesn’t breathe. Accidentally starting the zombie apocalypse is his biggest fear, but it’s not his biggest problem.   The Spooky Chronicles is a book series about a child who comes back to life as a zombie but is still getting older. Having already overcome personal tragedy in his life, his unique condition makes him aware of (and draws him into) a secret, paranormal underworld he never asked to be a part of (but still thinks is pretty cool). Excerpt Keeper of the Half-finished Scrapbook Once upon a time, as they say, there was a pale little boy with straight hair and dark eyes. He always seemed smaller than those his own age and wasn’t very athletic. Not usually one for conversation, he paid close attention to everything around him and offered only the smallest of smiles as something in return. At the age of six, the pale little boy became ill, and although he was already small and thin, he grew smaller and thinner still. His skin turned a pallid gray, but the smile never left his face and his mother never left his side. When he turned seven, the tumor in his chest finally overtook his heart, and he died. It is whispered that everyone dies alone. Yet the pale little boy wasn’t alone when he died, and on the other side, he met a crooked man with a crooked stick who pointed at the dead little boy with a crooked finger. The dead little boy then opened his eyes only to find those of his mother closed. Somehow he knew that his mother had taken his place and that the Crooked Man had caused it; what he didn’t know was why. The dead little boy’s father took him to doctors, but none could find an explanation. The tumor was still there, and worse yet, the heart it destroyed still didn’t work. But the dead little boy lived, and after a time, it became obvious to everyone that he was still growing up. Neither ill nor incapable, the dead little boy asked his father to return to school, and with no actual reason not to, his father agreed. Life continued for the dead little boy, even though there was no life within him. Before the dead little boy’s mother died, his mother worked on a family scrapbook filled with pictures and memories. After the funeral, the dead little boy’s father closed the book and put it away, but the dead little boy always knew where to find it. While his father no longer took pictures to add to the half-finished scrapbook, the dead little boy continued to add scraps of his own, waiting for the day when his father would look at the book again and take more pictures to finish it. His parents named him Spencer. His friends called him Spooky.

J.R. Jackson, BuyZombie.com
“Ranson’s writing is very much a modern fairy tale and somewhat of a proverb. Here we have a living dead child who grows up to protect mankind from the unseen evil that surrounds us daily yet is only visible to one that has literally touched death and returned. His story leads us into the supernatural and paranormal, into school libraries with dark shelves and mystical books. The reader is taken into the back room of magic shops to talk with wizened old magicians and all the way into hospital morgue. Along the way Spooky develops his powers more and more to match those of the evil forces he is pitted against.

“The Spooky Chronicles is an incredible read with never a lag in the storyline. The plot is intriguing and not full of clichés or stereotypes. What stands out is the lack of dialogue. This lack does not detract from the storyline at all but actually at times provides an incredible enhancement to the overall feel of the novella.”

Gary Roen, Reviewer, Midwest Book Review (MBR)
“‘The Spooky Chronicles: The Crooked Man’” is film critic Kevin A. Ranson’s short novel of horror that is just plain weird. Two of the strange characters are a dead little boy who crosses over to the other side and a crooked old man with a crooked stick and a crooked finger. Ranson deftly takes the reader through his dark world with a final conclusion that is very interesting. ‘The Spooky Chronicles: The Crooked Man’ is the first of many eerie tales from a very talented writer.”

Madsheep Reading
“This is the first in a series of short stories by Kevin Ranson. This story starts off in a different way to mast as it is almost told as a fairy-tale then continuing onto a standard way of reading. I did not find this a problem as the story still flowed well. This story deals with Spooky dying and coming back to life, while his mother takes his place. This as you can imagine comes with the inherent problems that befall someone who swaps places in death. Spooky carries on along his path meeting new people and finding out powers that he didn’t know he had and how to use them… followed by problems caused by the Crooked Man and his cronies… How will he solve them?

“I found this short story a good well written quick read. I found the characters likable and the interaction believable. The story line flows really well and is easily followed. In all I will be going to look at the next book in the series to find out what else is going to happen to Spooky and what other powers he may have.”