First of all Hetty was a kind of unique take on a ghost story. I thought it was fun and pretty well laid out overall. There were grammar mistakes and some possible continuity issues here and there, but overall I would give this book a 3.5*. Hetty herself was not really fleshed out fully in my opinion. I didn't fear her, mostly her "class". The real draw for me was the group of main characters. They were flawed and rough and I kind of enjoyed that raw feel. Nothing polished here. Dane and Winona and Casey. The situation was not ideal and they didn't handle it the best way possible and that was perfect. I actually enjoyed the ending of the book. It wrapped up pretty well. I think I will look for more Eddie Generous in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review and review prepublication.

There were some good creepy themes- every time the dead children showed up was very spooky! I wanted to love this but unfortunately the sexy scenes were too cringy for me to read and will keep me from recommending this book.

Great characters. Chilling story.. Hettie is made to retire. So she wants to keep her students forever. She curses the school house. Kids vanish. Now the race is on to find a missing boy.

I honestly couldn't get into this book. It started off straight away like something I would love but it was just so slow and kept jumping from different times and people. It honestly just confused me, there was no real action or plot until about 60% in.

Hetty has characters that are so good. The main characters felt like real people with flaws doing the best they can. I really cared about what happened to them, and I loved rooting them on to stop the evil entity that haunted their area. The protagonists were not the only amazing characters. The creep factor of the ghosts in this story was high. This story boasts a class of fantastic creepy kids and the most evil teacher I have ever encountered.

The small town Minnesota setting was wonderfully realized. I could actually feel the cold in this rural area with frozen pond. The spooky atmosphere of the old school house renovated into a house with a dark history set the mood for one scary story.

The plot great pacing while focusing on character development, and giving the history of the area. There were a lot of really effective scary scenes throughout. The climax was strange, terrifying, and satisfying.

Overall, this was a great book for fans of the dark and macabre. This book did not scrimp on the character development, and is filled with heart that will have readers invested in the outcome of the story.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

An extremely fun and spooky book. The male protagonist comes across as possibly being a bit of a self-insert nice guy since he's a writer of, among other things, horror, but he's also a genuinely good guy so it's not too bad. Recommended to fans of witches in their horror, who don't mind some romance thrown in the mix.

I wasn’t sure about Hetty at first and I almost gave up. I’m glad though that I kept reading because Hetty and her children gave me the creeps.
In retrospect I’m glad the book starts slowly and the reader is eased into the story because Hetty is spine chilling and horrifying.

Dane, Winona and Casey are the main characters. Dane and Casey are likable but Winona annoyed me to no end.

Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

I’ve struggled over my review and rating for Hetty the last two days… and finally decided on 3 stars. Here’s why…

The book got off to a decent start, letting us meet Hetty right off. It went downhill a bit from there until about 60% into the story.

While I understand and appreciate a more active way of getting Dane’s and Winona’s backstories, the constant flip flopping, and time warps, made it confusing quite a bit if the time. It also made the story lag quite a bit. We went from immediate action to humdrum daily life for such a large chunk of the book. Had this not been called the scariest book ever by quite a few people, I’d have never made it to the “scary” bits.

Admittedly, the sex scenes in Winona’s point of view with “the Cowboy” very nearly made this a two star read for me. They were unrealistic and had I not known going into the book it was written by a man, those scenes would have made it glaringly obvious. I think I actually cringed a few times.

The creepy factor would spark then die again as the dead kids made their appearances. I’d get excited, thinking things were about to take off, only to go back to the humdrum parts that lagged. Until Casey disappears. That’s when the magic happens …

I wouldn’t call this the scariest book, in fact, I would call it slightly creepy and at times a bit chilling, but as horror goes, it didn’t make my heart race or make me want all the lights on. It was a decent story and seems to be set up for a potential spinoff.

I just don’t think this author’s writing is quite to my taste, even though the idea behind Hetty was rather fabulous.

Haunting, mesmerizing and a-weeping, a-weeping
TW: physical abuse, sexual assault, drowning, animal abuse, killing of children and animals, emotional abuse, pedophile

Firstly, I would like to thanks NetGalley and publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I was attracted to this story because of the synopsis. When you have ghosts, legend myths of a schoolhouse and missing children, I'm hooked instantly. This book had the the eerie and chilling atmosphere to it,written meant to get you feel scared. Although, I will be honest, this wasn't as scary as I expected. I do like the characters in this book particularly Dane Butler and Casey, the 4-years-old boy. Both of them make a good pair and I really like their interactions..

In the small town of Moreland, Dane Butler, a struggling writer who lost his benefactor, or a savior Jack and then moved to his dead granduncle's house in order to write a new book set for a movie adaptation. He met the new neighbors, a single mother with a young son who recently moved into a schoolhouse just across his house. They formed a sort of friendship where Dane will always babysit Casey while Winona worked at the diner. However, there is an eerie and sinister vibes tied to the schoolhouse especially the murky and frozen pond behind the house. Casey, the young boy kept seeing children's pale face with black muddy water spilling out from their mouths and they kept chanting "Hetty's a-weeping, a-weeping". What happened to these children's and what stakes would Dane go for the boy?

For the storyline and plot, this was a fast paced story and I found myself immersed in the story easily. It was very easy to read as the writing style is straightforward with horror elements well executed. Some of the scenes are quite scary and very disturbing. There are times I was feeling very uncomfortable and spooked out on the scenes especially involving children's. You could say the story focused more on relationship and characters as we spend mostly on Dane and how he formed friendship with Winona and Casey and ultimately become a part of their life. Personally, I wasn't very keen on Winona, she seems very self-centered but her love for her son goes way and beyond.

There is plenty of explicit and disturbing scenes in the story thus its best not to be read by younger reader. Its not pleasant to read those scenes but they do not go into much details.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read and for a horror book, it was quite good. .

A good ghost story with well-developed characters, HETTY will entertain and scare the horror community in the best possible way.
Recommended to horror lovers of supernatural elements who likes to push boundaries.

Hetty Stanley was a cruel, spinster school teacher, who over a century ago killed her entire class. Of course a heinous act this huge would and did create folklore of her haunting the lake she killed the children in. Ever few years a child would disappear from near the lake, keeping her story and the fear alive.
Dane Butler, a struggling writer, inherits a home near the old schoolhouse where Hetty reined in terror. Winona and her four year old son move into the converted schoolhouse to try and start a new life. The two adults form a friendship and Dane forms a bond with the young boy over old '80's video games.
Then as expected, the worst happens. Casey disappears and the hunt for the child and answers begin.
Sounds formulaic, following the path of many a mystery or ghost story. But this one has just that extra little something, that something you find in a good scary horror novel like they used to write. Eddie Generous, whom I have never heard of or read anything from, reminded me of early Bentley Little or Robert Marasco.
Finally a book under the genre of horror that delivers what it promised!
I stayed up late reading, rushing to the end even as I wanted it to last longer.
Definitely recommend to anyone who loved and misses the style of horror that creeps up on you, sinks it teeth in and shakes you around.
Thanks to @Netgalley and Omnium Gatherum for this arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I received a review copy of this through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I might the the only one who just did not like the pacing of this novel. I had so many moments where I thought “oh here we go it’s happening” and boom I was left reading through slow parts.

I will say this… the characters in this novel were awesome and kept me reading… the story is what held me back.

It sucks to not have a glowing review. I just couldn’t take the fast paced to slow paced story anymore.

“Hetty” by Eddie Generous is delightfully morbid for its cruel and merciless descent upon two innocent characters who are tortured by an unnatural force of evil that thrives off killing and terrorizing its victims. Fans of horror will be thrilled by this spooky and downright horrifying tale full of dark and unsettling events.

Years ago, a tragic incident left a bunch of schoolchildren and their teacher, Hetty, dead. Ever since, children from the area have been reported missing, never to be found. Locals say Hetty’s not truly dead and her spiteful spirit still roams the property in search of children to steal. Others call it a coincidence. With a stream of violent deaths followed by another missing child, it becomes clear something is amiss with the old schoolhouse that used to belong to Hetty. And as every horror story goes, there is always someone brave enough (or stupid enough) to face their fears, dig deeper into the unknown, and risk everything to find out what truly happened to those missing children. Except in this story, the characters have no choice but to fight against an entity they know nothing about to save a child and rid the world of an unspeakable evil.

This novel was truly and utterly grotesque … a perfect noir horror that's filled to the brim with gore, haunting lullabies, and violent attacks that will chill readers to their very core. Hetty is every child’s and adult’s fear personified. She is the monster people imagine when alone in the pitch-dark—a force of evil no one wants to face. Unfortunately, the characters in this novel don’t have a choice. They must find a way to defeat Hetty or let her continue her ruthless hunt of terror and murder.

Fans of horror should definitely be on the lookout for this novel on its expected publication date of September 18th, 2021. Not only is it filled to the brim with gore, violence, and the unsettling “oh no” moments that are fun to be spooked by, Generous also creates a cast of characters readers will love (and in some circumstances, love to hate). A book in this genre succeeds when it can frighten readers and part of that stems from having characters that are relatable and well-liked. Dane and Winona are definitely a screwed-up duo with lots of issues but they’ll make readers laugh, get angry, and at times be very worried about their sanity.

Thank you to Netgalley and Omnium Gatherum for providing me with a free e-arc and the chance to share my honest opinion in this review.

A Bad Frog In A Tainted Pond

There are many kinds of teachers. Some love children and feel joy as they nurture their intellects. Some teach merely as a way to make a living. A few stand at the head of their classrooms and relish the power of being the big frog in the midst of their tiny pond full of helpless polliwogs. Hetty was the kind who'd inspect the shiny apple a student brought as her tribute and then beat them if it had a bruise.

Even though corporal punishment was an accepted part of school at the time, I suspect that her students' fear and excessive bruises caused the town to arrange for her replacement. But, tragically, they were still unaware of what kind of person they were dealing with. Too many are.

I liked Dane and his attitude about life. He'd been damaged but found a mentor who completely altered the direction his life was taking, allowing him to establish a career he never dreamed he'd attain. I admired how his heart wanted to pay it forward and how helping Winona and Casey when he encountered them made him feel good about himself. Playing the part-time hero didn't bring him confidence or peace from past pain, though.

Winona had also been betrayed by someone she loved and trusted. I understood her, both her pain and her poor decisions. Having wariness about accepting help from someone decent is a symptom of being emotionally battered, as is being willing to allow a new abuser into your life, unfortunately. The way things developed as she tried to rebuild a home for herself and Casey is too normal.

Eddie Generous showed a deep understanding of people in the way he created his characters with sweetness and the unsavory in their natures. The possibility of Dane, Winona, and Casey finally having good in their lives while being unaware of the evil drawing nearer made what happened next even more terrifying.

Being betrayed and lack of awareness of impending danger are themes throughout the book, from the students and parents a hundred years ago to the present day. Whether Hetty was also betrayed depends on how you look at it.

I cared about what happened to the central characters, whipping through the pages as the suspense grew. My concern for them testifies to how skillfully the book was written. Generous packed a lot into Hetty, and it's a great, scary read.

The author and publisher made a free ARC available to me via NetGalley, for which I sincerely thank them. A free book doesn't buy my recommendation, however. Instead, I give it freely to this book. It earned all five stars!

Took me a while to get into this book but once I did it was very engaging. Dane Butler, an author, inherits a house and Winona and her four year old son rent another house on the property. Hetty Stanley was a school teacher and a murderer who has been dead for over 100 years. Casey starts see children who sing and talk to him and when he goes missing Dane and Winona have to find a way to get to get him back. Hetty's pupils that she has murdered and taken over the years are in the old schoolhouse in another dimension. All Winona and Dane have to do is find a way through to save Casey.
This is a cleverly written book that pulls you in. It is creepy, gritty and scarey. A great supernatural horror.

I haven't read anything this scary in a long time. Not for the faint-hearted, this is graphic and gritty and creepy to boot. The human characters had many layers and were not picture perfect. They had their flaws and baggage but I was cheering them on. The supernatural characters were full on nasty, powerful and hair raising.

I did get a bit confused occasionally and had to re-read to clarify the descriptions so I could visualise what was happening. But the action and the intensity of the dangers were encompassing and I simply Could Not Put This Down. Original and engrossing.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.58
Enjoyment: 8/10


Hetty Stanley was the town's infamous teacher who killed her pupils over a century ago.

Serendipity brings Dane, Winona, and her son, Casey, together. Mother and son share a property line with Dane. All three had just moved to the town. As outsiders, they lean on each other, finding their footing and adjusting to their new lives.

The town has secrets, and when Casey goes missing, Winona and Dane are in for a rude awakening. Children have been disappearing from the old schoolhouse for decades, and the town is pretty sure Hetty is the one doing the kidnapping.

As the police are looking for Casey, Winona and Dane know their only chance to find the boy alive is to take a crash course in the town's history and do what needs to be done, no matter the cost.

I enjoyed Hetty overall, and I appreciate that Generous took the time to develop Hetty and provide her with enough backstory to justify her status as the book's baddy. I thought her mythology was fascinating, and the scenes in her turf were creepy and atmospheric, dark and haunting. I dreamed of her world the night I finished the book!

The climax was easy to visualize and charged with action and emotion. The only thing I didn't like in the book was a subplot that felt unnecessary, disjointed from the main story, and very unsettling. That is my personal preference, so it might not bother other readers. I recommend checking the trigger warnings for this book, though.

I am definitely keeping my eyes on Eddie Generous and will read other books he pens.

Disclaimer: I first read it as an ARC. In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Omnium Gatherum, Eddie Generous, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Hetty.

Big thanks to Netgalley, Omnium Gatherum and Eddie Generous (Unnerving) for approving me for this ARC!

I've become a big fan of Eddie's over the years and have always enjoyed seeing where his writing mind will take us. He's never shy to explore different genre's, attempting new variations of the genre's and introducing unique and intriguing characters.

'Hetty' is a prime example of just that. Taking a tried and true basis of a dark story and inflicting it and warping it to suit his story and how he wanted to tell it.

What I liked: The book opens with a bit of back story, of us learning about Hetty and how she was a schoolteacher but also was doing things she shouldn't have been when no one was looking.

Fast forward and we get introduced to two people down on their lucks - Dane, a writer who is struggling with a recent loss and Winona, a young mother who discovers the truth about the man she believed was the one. Now, after becoming friends, they are working towards figuring out life in a new town, a small town with a secret.

Generous does a great job of showcasing how two different people, from two very different upbringings can attempt to co-exist, help each other out while also doing whatever it takes when it comes down to it, to bring back Winona's son.

The build up to Casey's disappearance had some truly, truly creepy moments and the aftermath of the event itself was great with Generous offering some twists and turns that had me flipping the pages, wanting to see just what happens.

What I didn't like: It felt like a life time until the actual event happens and while it was definitely a slow burn to get there, some may find it a bit of slog at moments. As well, I wasn't totally sure about how Dane was reacting to Winona at the beginning. It felt a bit forced, a bit 'off' from his initial introductions.

Why you should buy this: Generous is always an author that you know you can expect an emotional rollercoaster and with 'Hetty,' which may be the longest book he's released thus far, he showcases his willingness to take a story and twist it, making it a dark and frightening piece.

Good stuff.

Hetty was a good horror story, it was engaging and creepy. I initially wasn’t keen on the main characters but I became attached to them as the story unfolded. There was a particular moment with Winona which was very unsettling to read and pretty graphic, but it was a turning point for Winona and was well written; it had a lot of insight and believability to it. Well worth a read for horror fans.