Eventide is an atmospheric story with an unusual setting and plot complications that I did not see coming. This book is simply but descriptively written and the hinted supernatural element is suitably creepy, but the plot doesn’t quite hang together and some threads are resolved too easily. I’m getting cranky about books that promise me a haunt and end up pulling a Scooby Doo instead, so here’s a quick spoiler as to whether the book … Continue reading Eventide by Sarah Goodman →
CW: Suicide, Mental Illness Spooky season is upon us (my favorite season BTW) and if you are in the mood for something delightfully Gothic with horror elements, I recommend The Nesting. This book works perfectly as a Gothic thriller, is deeply creepy, and has an interesting take on environmentalism. The only thing that I wasn’t certain of was the treatment of the heroines’ mental illness. First of all, this is a very spooky book, so … Continue reading The Nesting by CJ Cooke →
I should couch this review with the admission that I am the biggest scaredy cat. I don’t usually read romance thrillers, let alone straight ahead thrillers with only a little bit of lovin. Not only do I need to be promised a happy ending, I also want the beginning and middle to be fairly cheerful and absent of conflict. I am, admittedly, a bit ridiculous, but yes, I would prefer to be wrapped up in … Continue reading When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole →
The Year of the Witching is a very, very good book. It’s unsettling and horrifying, beautiful and incisive, and ultimately, radiantly triumphant. As it centers on a religious dystopia and has feminist themes, it has already been compared to the The Handmaid’s Tale. This is not an inapt comparison; however, I think in tone and setting it reads much more like Nathanial Hawthorne, but as written by a woman living in 2020. In the vein … Continue reading The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson →
I’m a huge Grady Hendrix fan (see my reviews of Horrorstor, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and the amazingly excellent We Sold Our Souls). This book was so much more intense than I thought it would be, and there’s so much to unpack that it’s a tough one to grade. Truthfully, if I had known what I was getting into, I doubt I would have read this book. And yet I’m so glad I did, because … Continue reading The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix →
Oh guys, I cannot handle creepy books, and this was a creepy book, and not a romance, and also gross and scary. It was also a book that I devoured in a single day and could not get out of my mind. I was sold on this book by the promise of feminist horror, and that’s what I got, so if feminist horror is your jam then you will probably like this book about four … Continue reading The Return by Rachel Harrison →
The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle is a YA horror novel set in the Amish community, and it’s one of the most genuinely frightening books I’ve read in a long time. It’s far more scary than some adult horror novels I’ve read, and it doesn’t rely on themes like sexual violence or violence against children to be frightening. It’s also incredibly well-executed and uses the choice of setting (a small Amish community) to amplify the … Continue reading The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle →
In Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, the heroine is mesmerized by the scandalous gothic novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho. Readers, I read that novel. My paperback Oxford World’s Classics edition (1998) of The Mysteries of Udolpho is 679 pages long, not counting introduction and notes. That’s a lot of mysteries. I read this so you don’t have to. SPOILERS AHEAD. The Mysteries of Udolpho was a huge hit for author Ann Radcliffe when it first came out in … Continue reading The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe →
CW/TW: This book is incredibly gross and gory and features murder and self-harm by way of a deadly space disease. Salvation Day was exactly the book I was searching for. It’s the fucked-up space horror I’d been trying and failing to find for weeks. Though not without its faults, it reminds me very much of the Alien franchise. That’s a good thing because I love those movies (and the video game) very much. Two people whose … Continue reading Salvation Day by Kali Wallace →
TW/CW: Murder, graphic violence, racism, ableist language, mentions of rape and sexual assault. The Girl in Red by Christina Henry is the latest addition in her gritty fairy tale retellings. They aren’t part of a connected series, but Henry has done retellings of Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan. This one retells Little Red Riding Hood where a young woman tries to get to her grandmother’s house following an outbreak of deadly … Continue reading The Girl in Red by Christina Henry →
My day was very productive until I picked up Never-Contented Things, planning to read just a few pages.That concluded the day’s productivity. I’m not saying that this book is perfect but I am sure as heck saying that it is gripping. This is NOT a romance. It’s really good YA Urban Fantasy/Fae Horror, with a really good fledgling romance in it. Ksenia and Josh are foster siblings. They met in foster care when Josh was … Continue reading Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter →
