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The Haunting of Wellsley Manor
Len Handeland’s The Haunting of Wellsley Manor is a gothic horror novel that follows William Martens, a young man seeking to escape the dead-end monotony of his hometown by attending Cornell University. But his aspirations are soon entangled in a series of ghostly encounters at his grandfather’s decaying estate in Ithaca. As he settles into his new life, William is haunted—literally and emotionally—by family secrets, unresolved trauma, and spectral figures that begin to cross the veil between the living and the dead. The deeper he digs into the house’s eerie history, the more he realizes that some legacies come with strings attached and blood on their hands.
I was drawn in from the very beginning. The dialogue felt natural and raw—sometimes even painfully real, especially during the tense moments between William and his bitter, emotionally distant father. There’s something incredibly satisfying about a story that doesn’t rush. The buildup is slow and deliberate, and that pacing works here. It lets you soak in the atmosphere—the creaking floors, the dusty corridors, the strained silences. The house itself becomes a character, and not just a spooky backdrop. What Handeland nails is the eerie tension between generational pride and inherited guilt. His prose has this honest, almost nostalgic warmth when depicting William’s relationship with his grandfather, Isaiah. Those moments hit me hard.
Sometimes the writing dipped into the overly descriptive, and while the story’s emotional arcs were compelling, the scares occasionally felt more atmospheric than truly chilling. I didn’t mind that too much—this is more The Sixth Sense than The Conjuring—but readers expecting non-stop frights may be left wanting. Still, the dream sequences and ghostly children were deeply unsettling in a quiet and lingering way. The mirror scenes especially gave me the kind of slow-building dread I love in horror fiction.
I’d recommend The Haunting of Wellsley Manor to anyone who enjoys a slower burn and emotionally rich storytelling. It’s a ghost story wrapped in a coming-of-age tale, laced with regret and second chances. If you liked The Others or even older Stephen King novels like Bag of Bones, you’ll probably enjoy this. It’s not just about ghosts. It’s about how the past clings to us, follows us, and sometimes, if we’re not careful, swallows us whole.
Pages: 236 | ASIN : B0DTBZNRV9
Finding The Murderous Sidney Friedlander
Requiem for Miriam follows a young detective with a hidden psychic gift as finds herself in mortal danger from the man she’s hunting. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
When I was young, I briefly thought about going into law enforcement (specifically, undercover work as a detective). Growing up, I was intrigued by classic television shows involving strong women in law enforcement, including Charlie’s Angels, Policewoman, and Murder She Wrote as was my character Maria Rodriguez. Rather than make the lead detective a man (with men being the majority of lead detectives in the 1980s) in charge of finding the murderous Sidney Friedlander, I wanted the lead detective in the case to be a woman and someone of color, as it’s essential to include as much diversity in my novels as possible.
Your characters are fascinating and well developed. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Writers, from time to time, including myself, are inspired by actual events that occurred. The story of Miriam and Sidney Friedlander was inspired by the Sunny Von Bulow case back in the 1980s. At that time, my husband and I lived in New York, so naturally, the news was filled with the events surrounding the murder of the wealthy heiress and the husband confessing to the killing of his wife. Despite the Von Bulow’s being the typical New York “WASPS” (white Anglo-Saxons), I wanted to represent the Jewish community as New York has a large Jewish community. I worked for a Jewish boss and had many Jewish friends who introduced me to the customs, traditions and life celebrations of the Jewish community. I wanted my main characters (Sidney and Miriam) to be anything but the typical gentile couple. The other characters (Maria Rodriguez & Raphaella ) were inspired by people I met while I lived in New York. One was a strong, very vocal, and opinionated Haitian woman I worked with, and the other was an equally strong, proud, and beautiful Puerto Rican-American woman I befriended while studying at FIT (The Fashion Institute) in Manhattan. The Haitian character Raphaella appeared in my first novel, “The Darkest Gift.” She is one of my favorite characters and interesting enough to be included in two of my books!
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
My novel’s themes included love, devotion, deception, jealousy, rage, revenge, adversity, and justice.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next novel is called “Transplant – The evil that dwells within,” which is the story of a young woman (Elizabeth Bennington) who was born and struggled with a congenital heart condition. Her life is further complicated by being bullied in school, leading to depression and attempted suicide. Being institutionalized, including therapy. Meeting the man of her dreams, having a child which strains her health, requiring a heart transplant with the donor being unknown, leading to destructive urges that overcome Elizabeth as if she’s being possessed by the donor who turns out to have been a serial killer. It should be released by January or February of 2023.
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Maria, an ambitious young detective with a hidden psychic gift, is on the case. With the help of her Haitian lover, Raphaella, a striking, rum-drinking voodoo expert, she tracks Sidney down and goes undercover to entrap him. But Maria soon finds herself in mortal danger from the man she is hunting.
Will Maria and Raphaella get their man? And will Miriam find the justice – and revenge – she seeks from beyond the grave?
Requiem for Miriam
Requiem for Miriam is a chilling paranormal crime thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat at every harrowing twist and turn. Fast-paced and immersive, this book will have you hooked from the very first page and leave you haunted in the best way possible. Set in New York City during the 1980’s, the book follows a couple who is part of the richest, most successful, and elite circles of New York. For anyone looking in from the outside, the couple seems to have it all; but in reality, that is certainly not the case. Their thirty-three-year-old marriage is hardly ideal; Sidney Friedlander, Miriam’s husband, has serious anger issues and constantly has affairs with younger women. As a result of a horrific series of events, Sidney murders his wife. With her last breath, Miriam curses Sidney and promises to haunt him for life. We follow Maria Rodriguez, a young detective in the NYPD, as she tracks down Sidney to seek justice for Miriam’s ghastly murder. She is helped by Miriam’s ghost and Raphaella, a Haitian psychic.
Len Handeland has written this supernatural thriller in very easy-to-understand language which draws the reader in and keeps them immersed in the eerie plot. He also breaks up the creepy events with bits of humor and keeps the mood light. Furthermore, the intriguing characters we meet in the book are diverse and well-rounded. It’s easy to understand the characters and their motives and the reader soon starts empathizing with them. I especially loved the great representation in the book. Maria, my favorite character, is a strong, confident Puerto Rican woman in the police force. She has to constantly fight to prove herself capable and themes of racism and misogyny underlie her interactions with her fellow officers. The LGBTQ+ community also finds representation in this riveting thriller which was a pleasant surprise.
Requiem for Miriam is an engrossing and suspenseful supernatural mystery novel. I would definitely recommend this haunting novel to readers who enjoy the paranormal genre, or anyone looking for an eerie mystery. It will give you chills, make you laugh, and keep you guessing until the last page.
Pages: 340 | ASIN: B0B25PHZB4
LITERARY TITAN 