This excerpt starts off confusing, and I suppose I feel somewhat like Aiden in this regard. That's not a good thing, because I felt disinclined to read further. Fortunately I pushed forward to the end of the excerpt and found the last chapter suitably spooky, with the letter and burning gloves, which strikes a desire in me to read onwards. However, I'm not a big fan of the writing style/word usage and certain bits like the witch doctor require a little more suspension of disbelief than I can manage.