The Grand

Name: The Grand
Rating: 2.75 (4 reviews)
ISBN: 9780994780515

By Evelyn Chartres

Publisher Description

"Even things that go bump in the night need a place to unwind."

You will find The Grand nestled atop a cliff that overlooks a cursed valley. Surrounded by foreboding mountains, this ritzy French palatial-style hotel is a place where a roaring party's success is measured by its body count. This hotel does not cater to the rich or famous. Instead, its staff and facilities serve a clientele with a more discerning palate.

The Grand is a collection of Gothic fantasy stories with an overarching storyline that incorporates supernatural themes. The Roaring Twenties serves as a rich historical, linguistic, and cultural backdrop.

Centred on the victims, each story brings a unique perspective to the hotel, the staff, and their esteemed guests. At The Grand, it is best to remember: Even things that go bump in the night need a place to unwind.

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The Grand Reviews

2.5

Rebecca Smith

Created about 3 years ago

KittyLisha Reviews

Created about 3 years ago

“This review was originally posted at https://www.goodreads.com . Tucked away in the mountains of North America is a hotel that caters to both the normal and paranormal. However, accidents happen to the normal folks with regularity and it is up to the staff to make sure nothing happens to The Grand. Closed to the public during the roaring twenties there are still plenty of secrets trapped within this looming giant. I got this book due to seeing the author post about it on Twitter. It is a free book and I love horror, so had to get it. Initially I believed this was a book set in Britain due to the insane terminology. I asked some of my UK friends and they were familiar with quite a few of the terms such as flapper and some others. I think I annoyed him a bit asking all the questions. This book does have a word guide, but it is at the end of the book, so without knowing that (Because I didn't until the book was over) you struggle until you get to the end. There are plenty of wonderfully gorey and graphic scenes in this book, which I loved. That being said I have no idea what the point of this story is. It is just a bunch of random events that happened in The Grand and how the staff handled them. The only common thread is the barrister every other chapter. I enjoyed the mythical creatures and gods/goddesses in the book. Such as Bastet and how she obtained her prey. It was an enjoyable and bloody scene.”

MinaQ

Created over 3 years ago

Taylor Levesque

Created over 4 years ago

“The Grand is a magnificent structure set atop a cliff, surrounded by mountains, and overlooks a less-than-inviting sort of valley. It is a place where bloodbaths may occur just as frequently as sunsets, and said events are disregarded just as naturally. But, Evelyn Chartres so kindly chronicled some of these events, documenting the interactions of the less-than-human guests at the mysterious hotel. The result? A collection of dark, Gothic-fantasy stories revolving around this hotel for the damned. As the name, description and blurb may suggest, this book of stories revolves around The Grand’s magnificence itself as opposed to any select group of characters, not too differently from how Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame revolved around the magnificence of the church. While there were some more prominent mentionings of the otherworldly leading to what one may believe to be some sort of main character or role of importance, it always falls back onto the hotel itself. A Hotel of Horrors with a dark and gruesome history in its shadow. Most of the story is told in journal entries, but the entries themselves could sometimes be quite disjointed. By this, I mean the amount of jumping around (in terms of characters, places, and time) could occasionally lead to some confusion, especially when it came to the familiar faces, or a story jumping right on in to a situation we had no background information on and finishing before any of our questions were answered. With that said, this is not to say that the connections being disjointed are a bag thing if this is what Chartres was aiming for. And that very well could have been the aim! My own personal struggle with it was that it is simply not how I can retain or follow a book or story. There was a lot of good in this book, from the reference and slang of the Roaring Twenties to the Gothic and eerie feel Evelyn Chartres is so well-versed in. There is no holding back, whether it’s gore and foul play or twisted mind games. You don’t dare bat an eye at the commotions or the screams, or you will be next. I love that atmosphere, and it is expertly displayed in many of these stories. The historical accuracy only adds to the allure, as do the wonderfully-weaved descriptions. In summary, I would gladly read more by this author. It is very well-written and I loved the overall feel, but the jumping around did lead to me getting a little confused at times. But it was still great!”

About Evelyn Chartres

Evelyn Chartres is the nom de plume for a self-published Canadian author. The writer of eight Gothic fantasy novels, Evelyn released her debut novel, The Portrait, in 2016, and her latest, The Van Helsing Impetus, in 2023.

A fan of the phrase ‘live to eat’, Evelyn shares her recipes on evelynchartres.com. These recipes have a loose focus on French-Canadian cuisine, which feature deep-dish meat pies, seafood, and desserts that are rarely seen outside of La Belle Province.

Evelyn is currently living in Ottawa, Ontario, and is busy laying the foundations for her next book featuring Marc.