Books by Ruby Jean Jensen

Heather was forced to go live with her Uncle. Uncle Reece, her mother''s brother, felt obligated to take her in. But, Aunt Pansy and her cousins resented that she was upsetting their lives. Heather hoped that her mother would soon save her. Coming home from school one day, a strange old man caught her eye and carefully laid a package on the lawn for her. When she opened it she found an old fortune teller''s pendulum. Experiments soon progressed, and Heather seemed to have a unique ability to make the pendulum move when she held a person''s hands and focused on their future. Some of the predictions were frightening! The pendulum might point at-DEATH, or UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS. Nicole encouraged Heather to host a fortune-teller booth at the upcoming Halloween carnival at school. Miss Upton, Heather''s sixth-grade teacher, was immediately supportive of the idea. In fact, Miss Upton seemed to be trying to get closer to Heather. Heather certainly did not want to be a teacher''s pet! Everything seemed to come together the day of the carnival. The pendulum''s predictions seemed to be coming true! At the same time, she was hearing weird noises in her Uncle''s house. While Heather began to learn more about the history of the house, she also began to remember more about the day that she had followed some older kids out to the sand pits-the day that Antol had drowned. Might all of these things be somehow connected?

Amy and Jodi hardly remembered their father who lived and worked in a carnival, but now they were going to live with him. Their lives were soon disrupted by two mysterious murders that were somehow related to the history of the House of Illusions.

Winifred had always blamed Daniel for the disappearance of her fifteen year-old daughter Charlene. No body had been found. She had been terribly lonely since the loss, and kept Charlene’s room in the big house just the way she had left it. For twenty-six years, Daniel had been constantly tormented by the death of Charlene, his cousin and his sweetheart. He knew things about Charlene that no one else ever knew. Daniel was restless, and could not stay with his family, even though he loved them. After starting yet another relationship, he suggested that new wife Ronna and the three kids go to California to live with Winifred. Ronna felt that she had no other choice. Upon arriving, it quickly became apparent that Winifred was not as friendly as she had seemed in her letters. She was especially cold towards Kim, Ronna’s daughter from a previous relationship. Ten-year old Kevin explored the huge old barn, then struck up a friendship with Carl, a boy from a neighboring house. Don't go near the river, his aunt had said. But Kevin was bored and not inclined to listen. Kevin and Carl soon decided to go swimming. Their discovery of something trapped beneath the river bank launched a chain of events they could not hope to understand. Kevin tried to explain what had happened, but his family simply could not believe him. Within a few short days, it was apparent that lives were endangered—by something dark and evil, caught in the shadow worlds between life and death. Something seeking revenge …

Ten-year-old son Timmy had already missed the opportunities to go to summer camp with one of his buddies. When family acquaintance Dan offered to take Timmy to the mountains for two weeks for hiking, camping, and taking pictures of wildlife, his parents thought that was a great idea. Lots of fun, a perfect vacation. Timmy tried to argue against the trip, as he had never felt really comfortable around Dan. However, his parents won the argument and off he went. The closer they got to the cabin, the less friendly Mr. Walker''s smile became. The scarier the sound of his voice. After driving all day, Dan and Timmy arrived at a remote cabin. But Timmy was very, very, drowsy, and had some very strange dreams that first night. He awoke in the morning surprised to find that he was not the only child in the cabin. Thirteen-year-old Rex, eight-year-old Dale, seven-year-old Joey, and even five-year-old Susie shared bunkbeds in a common room. He quickly sensed their dread, felt their terror, and heard their screams in the night. Over the next few days, "Uncle" Dan seemed to change personality from one minute to the next. And he was constantly telling the children that they should strive to please "Little Mother". If they made Little Mother happy, perhaps he would introduce them to her. In fact, Dale was chosen for the introduction one evening. But, the next morning Dale was nowhere to be found. Timmy slowly became aware that Dan had no intention of keeping his promises to Timmy''s parents . . . Then he peeked through the keyhole of the forbidden locked door and saw the blood-curling horror that awaited him. He began to make plans, although he had little hope of escaping the deadly welcome of their Home Sweet Home . . .