Tag: horror

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo (ARC Review)

March 31, 2024
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Sisters Anna and Jennie live in a historic bungalow on the Chicago River. They’re tethered to a disquieting past, and with nowhere else to go, nothing can part them from their family home. Not the maddening creaks and disembodied voices that rattle the old walls. Not the inexplicable drownings in the area, or the increasing number of bodies that float by Anna’s window.

To stave off loneliness, Anna has a podcast, spinning ghostly tales of Chicago’s tragic history. But when Anna captures the attention of an ardent male listener, she awakens to the possibilities of a world outside.

As their relationship grows, so do Jennie’s fears. More and more people are going missing in the river. And then two detectives come calling.

They’re looking for a link between the mysteries of the river and what’s housed on the bank. Even Anna and Jennie don’t understand how dreadful it is—and still can be—when the truth about their unsettled lives begins to surface… Read More Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo (ARC Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand (ARC Review)

March 24, 2024

Dawn hasn’t spoken to her brother, Cody, since he was sent to prison for a violent crime seven years ago. Now living in a shiny new Toronto condo, Dawn is haunted by uncanny occurrences, including cryptic messages from her dead mother, that have followed her most of her life. When the life Dawn thought she wanted implodes, she is forced to return to her childhood home and the prairie city that holds so much pain for her and her fractured family.

Cody is unexpectedly released from prison with a mysterious new friend by his side, who seems to be the charismatic leader of a dangerous supernatural network. Trying to uncover their plans, Dawn follows increasingly sinister leads until the lines between this world and the next, now and then, and right and wrong begin to blur and dissolve.

What unfolds is an eerie, incisive, and at times darkly funny horror novel about a young Indigenous woman reckoning with trauma and violence, loss and reclamation in an unsettling world where spirit realms entwine with the living ― and where it is humans who carry out the truly monstrous acts… Read More An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand (ARC Review)

— ARC review, book review, young adult —

The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum (ARC Review)

March 23, 2024

The small-town mysteries of John Bellairs are made modern with a dash of Stranger Things in this spine-tingling supernatural horror-thriller.

After his father returns from treatment for addiction, highschooler Vish ― lover of metal music and literature ― is uncertain what the future holds. It doesn’t help that everyone seems to know about the family’s troubles, and they stand out doubly as one of the only brown families in town. When Vish is mistaken for a relative of the weird local bookseller and attacked by an unsettling pale man who seems to be decaying, he is pulled into the world of the occult, where witches live in television sets, undead creatures can burn with a touch, and magic is mathematical. Vish must work with the bookstore owner and his mysterious teenage employee, Gisela, to stop an interdimensional invasion that would destroy their peaceful town. Bringing together scares, suspense, and body horror, The Grimmer is award-winning author Naben Ruthnum’s first foray into the young adult genre. This gripping ride through the supernatural is loaded with vivid characters, frightening imagery, and astonishing twists, while tackling complex issues such as grief, racism, and addiction… Read More The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum (ARC Review)

— book review, young adult —

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt (Review)

March 19, 2024

Wil Greene’s mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed–they claim she skipped town and you can’t find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn’t just leave…and she knows the family of her former best friend, Elwood Clarke, has something to do with it.

Elwood has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday–in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But when he comes home after one night of after a final goodbye with his friends, already self-flagellating for the sins of drinking and disobeying his father, he discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He’s not his father’s successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he’s grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood.

Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership; she’ll help him hide if he helps her find evidence that his family killed her mother. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

And there’s a reason they need Elwood’s blood for their satanic rituals. Something inhuman is growing inside of him. Everywhere he goes, the plants come alive and the forest calls to him, and Wil isn’t sure if she can save the boy she can’t help but love… Read More Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt (Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey (ARC Review)

February 22, 2024

Bestselling authors Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey have teamed up to deliver a dark new story with magic, monsters, and mayhem, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill.

Julie Crews is a coked-up, burnt-out thirty-something who packs a lot of magic into her small body. She’s been trying to establish herself in the NYC magic scene, and she’ll work the most gruesome gigs to claw her way to the top.

Julie is desperate for a quick career boost to break the dead-end grind, but her pleas draw the attention of an eldritch god who is hungry for revenge. Her power grab sets off a deadly chain of events that puts her closest friends – and the entire world – directly in the path of annihilation… Read More The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey (ARC Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian (ARC Review)

February 22, 2024

A folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft, dead (or alive). And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bona fide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit.

On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed school teacher with nothing left to lose. As their posse grows, so too does the danger.

Racing along the drought-stricken plains in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. But the crew is determined to get that bounty, or die trying.

Written with the devilish cadence of Stephen Graham Jones and the pulse-pounding brutality of Nick Cutter, Red Rabbit is a supernatural adventure of luck and misfortune… Read More Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian (ARC Review)

— ARC review, book review, young adult —

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea (ARC Review)

February 15, 2024

Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood.

The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she’s dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom.

But even as undeniable as she is, Laure is not the only monster around. And her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate choice: continue to break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is—monstrous heart and all. That is, if the god-killer doesn’t catch her first… Read More I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea (ARC Review)

— Adult, ARC review, book review —

The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan (ARC Review)

January 17, 2024
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When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep… Read More The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan (ARC Review)