The Haunting of Emma May

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Emma has an egg. When it hatches, a daemon will enter the world and grant her wish.

Emma knows all about grandmother’s daemons that she keeps hidden in the backyard. The sly old witch pretends they’re chickens, and Emma helps her keep the secret.

That secret will become too heavy to bear when something happens to grandmother. Now Emma must take care of the daemons on her own while she tries to unravel the dark mysteries of grandmother's contracts with the other world. The girl tries to keep the daemons out of trouble, but they're intent on mischief as they run wild through the town.

The daemons are her friends, but they serve another dark master. She never would have helped them if she knew what their master wanted.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: Tom Bombadil - Writer

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 3
Views: 4,504

Chapters(13 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(5)

Noah QuinnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall, the story presents a strong, atmospheric narrative that blends mystery, tension, and subtle supernatural elements.
The pacing is well-crafted, gradually building suspense as Emma is led deeper into her grandmother’s strange and eerie world.
Emma’s reactions to the bizarre events around her add depth to her character, making her feel real and grounded, even as the world around her becomes increasingly surreal
The unsettling atmosphere is amplified by the vivid descriptions of the setting—particularly the house filled with distorted clocks, strange portraits, and the mysterious chicken coop, which all contribute to a sense of unease.
The dialogue is sharp and often layered with subtext, keeping the reader on edge and encouraging them to read between the lines
In terms of themes, the story touches on fear, family relationships, and the passage from childhood innocence to a more complex understanding of the world. It’s a compelling mix of horror and psychological tension that promises to keep readers hooked.
In conclusion, there are no major grammatical issues, but small tweaks in sentence structure and phrasing could make the expression more refined and impactful.
Overall, it’s an intriguing start to a story that promises both emotional depth and supernatural mystery.
It captures the overall tone of the story while highlighting the key elements of suspense, tension, and the supernatural that define the narrative.
RD RenworthRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The writing style is where this story really shines. It’s got that gothic-meets-modern vibe, I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman and I feel like I'm reading one of his books, blended with the writers behind Locke and Key, with a lil dash of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Tom Bombadil (great writer name) perfectly balances darkly whimsical descriptions with a relaxed, almost casual tone that fits Emma’s voice. It makes the mysterious elements feel accessible and even oddly comforting, drawing readers into an eerie, secretive world without bogging them down with heavy language.
The story does a fantastic job building intrigue so far (I know it's only 3 chapters in but still, the first 3 are most important), with each chapter adding just enough mystery to keep you hooked. Starting with Emma’s less-than-typical relationship with her grandmother, the narrative gradually pulls back the curtain on a strange legacy of daemons. The pacing is solid, especially for a story that leans into its slow-burn.
We've got a young protagonist in a dark world (again reminiscent of the works I menioned above). She’s refreshingly complex (which always great to see on Royal Road)—sharp-witted, a bit awkward, and more than willing to manipulate her mother to explore her grandmother’s mysteries. Emma’s depth is clear from her unique voice, which is layered with humor, skepticism, and a cautious curiosity about the dark things around her.
Bombadil uses an almost old-fashioned feel in the descriptions with the casual directness of Emma’s inner voice. The dialogue is sharp and believable, capturing Emma’s personality and the underlying tension with her mother and grandmother.
Minor nitpicks: a few lines could be trimmed for brevity to keep up the pacing. Occasionally, the descriptive style verges on overly elaborate, but it never truly disrupts the flow (although I'm also guilty of doing this a lot in my own work so who am I to nitpick here lol).
Overall, it’s very polished and easy to read in terms o
BluesycobaltRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Style - Third-person limited, there is a good attention to sensory details and the little eccentricies that make a mystery seem texturally more vivid. If there is any downside it might be a tendency towards dialogue-heavy sections which slow the pacing a bit compared to similar mystery horror novels.
Grammar - Thoroughly readable, though there enough errors to be somewhat noticable. At least once a chapter there are some odd switches to present-tense which are jarring to encounter.
Story - Aside from some longer dialogue sections, it's a well-paced, fairly low-stakes and low-content warning horror reminescent of a Goosebumps book or a middle-grade mystery. Readable and enjoyable on those merits though it is a little hard to stay connected to the POV when reading as an adult. The mounting sense of mystery, however, is rendered quite well.
Character - The characters are clearly defined and distinct and for the purposes of the story serve their role well. The one downside I would add is that Emma's development feels very fast and very precocious. There is a little bit of a sense of plot convenience bleeding into the characterization here that causes the two kid characters to act and speak older than their age, but this is really only a minor gripe.
Overall, The Haunting of Emma May is a tight, well-paced, and interesting horror mystery.
Dr.SyedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
An amazing start to a deep mystery. I love the detailed descriptions, and the enticing word play. The characters are typical, but the relationships are very well defined. Now for a detailed review:
Style - I am loving the subtle dark humor mixed in with the the mystery vibes. It is usually difficult to merge horror and humor together, but the author does this quite brilliantly. The deep rooted implications of what the grandmother might be up to is a great way to draw in the reader. Definitely a five star here.
Story - I am a big fan of horror/mysteries. And if you are too, then you are in the right place. The story hits you harsh from the get go. Not the typical slow burn start. I can only this is going to be a very fast paced immersive world.
Characters - Now the trope of mysterious grandparents hiding secrets is nothing new. But what is new is the way these characters interact. The grandmother is eerie, while the granddaughter is very headstrong and ready for challenges. Which is a breath of fresh air, when the usual go to is to show the MC as a cowering mess who grows stronger over time.
Grammar - My one and only issue is the grammar. There are some minor tense mistakes and some sentence structure faults. Even so, it is all what I would consider typos. Just a quick proofread would resolve most issues. So not a major problem at all.
Overall - A promising start to a great story with lots of potential. Just needs some ironing out, but exceptional, nonetheless.
GrumpsterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Seizes the hook! The Haunting of Emma May absolutely smashes with hooking people into the story, even if it can be a bit on the exposition-y side of things, I think that the start of the story is amazing, just going into the depths of the fear that Emma feels towards her grandmother.
I love the descriptions given to the Grandmother as well as the creature/daemon, but the only thing I can really say negatively is how Emma speaks sometimes, but that's more of a subjective thing than one I can confidently say objectively.