Tag: horror

Kate’s Review: “Forgotten Sisters”

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Book: “Forgotten Sisters: A Novel” by Cynthia Pelayo

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org| Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A city’s haunted history and fairy-tale horrors converge for two women in an addictive novel of psychological suspense by a multiple Bram Stoker Award–nominated author.

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.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

I’ve been following Cynthia Pelayo on social media for a few years now, and that was where I first caught wind of her newest novel “Forgotten Sisters”. I had hopes that there would perhaps be very early ARCs of it at ALA last year, and while that didn’t come to fruition (hey, a girl can dream and I DID get “Loteria” and “The Shoemaker’s Magician”), I waited patiently for this “Little Mermaid” inspired dark fantasy horror novel. I was pumped when I saw that it was available on NetGalley, and when my request went through I was very eager to start. Pelayo is one of the more unique horror authors out there right now, a multi- Bram Stoker Award winner, and this one was REALLY tantalizing.

While I thought that “Children of Chicago” was more full on malevolent horror, “Forgotten Sisters” leans more into dark fantasy, with references to “The Little Mermaid” being crafted into a melancholy tale about sisters Anna and Jennie. Through Anna’s perspective we learn about the terrible loss that they have endured, the way that they have clung to each other, and the river side house that they have been living in since their childhood, which may be housing a number of ghosts as well as grief and haunting memories. Anna has been running a podcast about the haunted history of Chicago, and while she loves her sister and can’t see herself leaving their troubled home, she does seem to long for more, in spite of Jennie clinging all the more at any hint of Anna pulling away (which becomes all the more complicated when Anna meets a man named Peter through her podcast). When we start we know that Anna isn’t necessarily reliable due to the unknown unresolved trauma she has endured, but Pelayo does a good job of easing into the peeling back of the tragedies that these women have had to live with, and what cost their enmeshment has taken and how that warps Anna’s perceptions. It’s dreamy and weird and uneasy, and it was both mesmerizing and unsettling at once, and while I pieced together bits and pieces just based on hints laid out and a knowledge of the history of Chicago, I thought that it was a well done dark fairy tale at heart. That said, sometimes I got lost in the flowery and dreamlike elements of this part of the story, which could take me out of it once in awhile.

I did like the police procedural parts quite a bit as well. I am a huge sucker for a procedural, and Pelayo succeeds at writing gritty and cynical dialogue and setting up interesting and tense crime beats. In this book we have Detectives Kowalski and Rodriguez, a seasoned long timer and an idealistic rookie, who are investigating the mysterious deaths of young men who are found drowned in the Chicago River under strange circumstances. It has hints of the Happy Face Killer theory, and with the criminal history of Chicago always lurking (after all this is the city of John Wayne Gacy and H.H. Holmes, amongst others) you get a more sinister vibe and a sense of dread as these two detectives try to piece things together. I liked their dynamic, and I liked seeing them slowly circle in on a potential serial killer, and the connection to Anna and Jennie and the River itself. It comes together really well and makes for a satisfying combination of dark fantasy and cop thriller, balancing each other out in ways that caught me by surprise.

One of the things that always strikes me when I read a Pelayo book is that she so clearly loves the city of Chicago, and that love comes through her tales even if they are about the darker histories of this city. As a Midwesterner I’ve been to Chicago multiple times, and it’s always a joy seeing the references to various locations and historical footnotes, as she so effortlessly sprinkles them in as well as making her book just so grounded in the city itself. This really comes through in both the hard boiled cop procedural aspects, as well as through the pieces we see of Anna’s podcast. Pelayo has such a strong knack for writing and developing a sense of time and place, and it makes the city shine, even if it’s the darker sides of the history.

“Forgotten Sisters” is another well done dark fantasy horror tale from Cynthia Pelayo. I’m always intrigued by what she writes, and this haunting story is sure to please her fans.

Rating 8: An eerie and melancholy dark fairy tale meets a gritty no nonsense procedural, “Forgotten Sisters” is another tribute to Chicago from Cynthia Pelayo!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Forgotten Sisters” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward To in 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “Thirst”

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Book: “Thirst” by Marina Yuszczuk and Heather Cleary (Translation)

Publishing Info: Dutton, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic.

It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet.

In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother’s terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back.

With echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and written in the vein of feminist Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Carmen Maria Machado, Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.

Review: Thank you to Dutton for sending me this eARC via NetGalley!

As many people know, I love vampire horror, but along with that loves comes a pretty picky set of standards. I would love to frame it as ‘passionate’ but I’m sure part of it is being a bit of an elitist/a bit bratty when it comes to vampiric tales. But I couldn’t help but have my attention snagged when access to an eARC of Marina Yuszczuk’s “Thirst” arrived in my inbox. The cover is already eye catching, for one. For another, a horror novel about a female vampire that has a historical element, as well as Sapphic themes, just sounds INCREDIBLY tantalizing. I kept thinking about “The Hunger” and the characters of Darla and Drusilla from “Buffy”. I was hopeful going in.

Honestly just give me an entire prequel book series about these two with Spike and Angellus all being very sexually fluid together. (source)

The first half of this book was amazing. I loved the way that we follow our nameless Vampire from her transformation, to her liberation from her sire, to her need to escape once people in Europe start hunting her and her kind down, to her arrival and time in Buenos Aires. It is such a compelling arc and background for her, examining how she became a vampire and how she slowly accepts it and turns into a predator with a shade of seductive longing. The time and place is so well formed and presented, and the eeriness and horror moments are very well done. I LOVE predatory vampires in vampire fiction, and ones that have a little bit of dangerous eroticism is always a great harkening back to the way vampire lore has always had shades of longing and desire within it. And the explorations of feminine longing and feminine power and agency in this section is so interesting as we see her prey on her victims while also feeling a need for connection as she moves through her existence as times change. I also really enjoyed the setting of Buenos Aires during the Yellow Fever plague and how mass death and illness could make for both a good place to fade into the background, but also a dangerous place as hysteria ramps up and her cover could be blown. I found Part One to be so, so interesting and enthralling.

Which made it even more disappointing when Part Two was a bit lackluster. In this part we have Alma, a modern day woman living in Buenos Aires who is grappling with a divorce, her sensitive son Santiago, and now the impending death of her mother. She soon finds out that the family has had a key to a mausoleum passed down for generations, and now she has to figure out if she’s going to sell the mausoleum or what. I’m sure you can guess who is living in that tomb, which is ABSOLUTELY a great set up. But my problem with Alma’s story was that, while it’s a pretty standard examination of an unhappy woman at a crossroads, I didn’t feel like it tied in SUPER well with the Vampire’s story, as when it goes come together there isn’t much exploration of it before the book was done. I appreciated trying to draw a dichotomy between the feminine struggles that the vampire faced, even as a vampire but also before, as well as the struggles that Alma was experiencing as a woman in the modern times. But there wasn’t enough time with the Vampire and Alma actually connecting and interacting, and because of this certain choices made and plot points that shook out didn’t really work for me because not enough time was spent building up to them. I think that had there been a third part from both Alma’s and the Vampire’s perspectives to see a full picture, as well as more interaction and relationship building, would have really fixed this. But as it was it just felt a bit abrupt.

Overall, “Thirst” is fantastic in the first half and ultimately evens out to a still entertaining read, even if I wanted more from it. I will absolutely be checking out more from Marina Yuszczuk in the future if we get more translations of ehr works.

Rating 7: A fabulous first half followed by a not as fleshed out second half made for a meet in the middle read. But I REALLY loved the historical moments and the concept itself.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Thirst” is included on the Goodreads lists “Girly Pop But Make It Insane”, and “Weird Woman Book Club”.

Kate’s Review: “Murder Road”

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Book: “Murder Road” by Simone St. James

Publishing Info: Berkley, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases .

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

I’ve been reading and reviewing thrillers from Simone St. James since this blog was founded eight years ago, and my track record with her has been pretty stellar. I really enjoyed “The Sundown Motel”, “The Book of Cold Cases”, and “The Broken Girls”, and when I saw that she had a new book called “Murder Road” coming out I KNEW that I had to read it. The description was tantalizing, as a married couple stumbling upon murders and urban legends on a stretch of lonely road is SO up my alley, and my expectations were pretty high given my enjoyment of her past stories. So imagine my shock when “Murder Road”, after being so promising, was a bit of a disappointment.

But first the good stuff. Character wise, “Murder Road” had some standouts. The first and most obvious is our protagonist April, who is on the way to her honeymoon with new husband Eddie when they run into trouble in a small Michigan town when a injured hitchhiker they try to help ends up dying, and the local police set their eyes on them as suspects. April and Eddie soon learn that many people have died on that same stretch of road, and take it upon themselves to clear their names and solve the mystery of The Lost Girl, an urban legend of a ghostly hitchhiker who may have malevolent intent. April is telling this story through a first person perspective, and we know from the jump that she is trying to start over and leave a dark and mysterious past behind her. I liked slowly getting to know her and seeing her try to solve this, if only so she and Eddie can try and go back to the anonymity she needs to survive and let go. There were also some people in the town that I greatly enjoyed, whether it’s the no nonsense Rose, who takes April and Eddie in and has a combative and complicated history with the police that are hounding her boarders, or the Snell sisters, two teenage amateur sleuths that are plucky and weird Nancy Drew wannabes.

But I think that what hindered it for me, ultimately, was that the supernatural aspects and the suspense never really took off. I love the premise of a cursed stretch of road that has numerous strange deaths associated with it, and I really love the urban legend of a vengeful ghost picking off hitchhikers that are unlucky enough to spot her. But I feel like we didn’t REALLY get a good expanded deep dive into what was going on with this ghost for a LONG time, and by the time we did it started to feel kind of rushed, with lots of twists and reveals stuffed in and very few of which made me go ‘ah, yes, I can see how we got from point A to point B with these reveals’. I’m being vague because I don’t want to spoil it, but I definitely felt like I needed more explanation as to what was going on, and I needed there to be more build up to the solution to the mystery because when we got there it fell flat. Even incongruous at times. And as I said, it felt rushed at the end, but at the same time there was a good chunk of the story where I felt like it was spinning its wheels a bit. And while St. James is usually really good about holding cards to her vest, one of the big surprises was telegraphed SUPER early, and took the wind out of those sails almost immediately.

I was sad that this newest Simone St. James novel didn’t connect for me. “Murder Road” had a strong main character and some fun supporting ones, but the thrills and chills fell flat.

Rating 5: This was a surprising miss from an author I usually really enjoy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder Road” is included in the Goodreads article “Reader’s Most Anticipated Mysteries & Thrillers 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “The Bad Ones”

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Book: “The Bad Ones” by Melissa Albert

Publishing Info: Flatiron Books, February 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC23.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Goddess, goddess, count to five. In the morning, who’s alive?

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town’s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local folklore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games…

An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, THE BAD ONES is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.

Review: Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing me with and ARC of this novel at ALAAC23!

It has been more than half a year since Serena and I attended to Annual ALA Conference in Chicago, but we have my last straggler of an ARC that I got while on that fantastic trip. When I saw that “The Bad Ones” by Melissa Albert wasn’t coming out until February, I placed it in an organized pile, and coming back to it in January was like letting go of that trip (though we’re planning on going to San Diego in fourish months, so, I’m not exactly shedding nostalgic tears). I loved the cover when I first got it, and it still really stands out as an eerie yet poppy image of a creepy angel. I didn’t really know what to expect, honestly, and once I was in it I started building expectations. Some of which were well exceeded! Others of which were not.

But as always, first the good. I really thought that Albert captured the complicated, sometimes toxic, and certainly enmeshed relationship between our narrator Nora and her missing best friend Becca. You get to see through Nora’s perspective as well as a series of flashbacks for Becca just how close these two girls are, and how they mean so much to each other, but how that can also lead to codependence and an unhealthy relationship. I thought it was great that neither girl was being judged for this, per se, but how it is also pointed out that both girls, especially Becca, have some pretty hefty baggage that is seeping into their interactions, and how that isn’t fair to either of them. Albert is careful not to villainize Becca, and instead looks at the ways that teenage girls can be failed by a community that tries to hide or look away from trauma or predation, and how that can damage a person. I also did like seeing Nora slowly piece together the mystery of her missing best friend, and the other missing people who disappeared on the same night, and how that connects to the town’s past. The mystery itself was well conceived and it had me guessing for awhile.

But the downside of all of this is that “The Bad Ones” is a horror/supernatural/dark fantasy tale, and I think that this was the weaker aspect of the novel. I liked the slow reveal of Becca and Nora’s Goddess Game and how it was far more powerful than Nora realized, and I REALLY loved the imagery of the creepy angel statue in the cemetery that was looming throughout the narrative (it reminded me of the Black Angel in Iowa City, which I loved to visit when I was in town seeing my Aunt). But once we got into the full on nitty gritty of the horror and supernatural aspects, and we got one of the big reveals in the last third of the book, I was left underwhelmed, as it was suddenly a whirlwind of wrapping things up and tying it all together. The revealed motivations of the bigger picture (no spoilers) were also pretty well worn territory, thematically wise, and while I liked said motivations, it didn’t set itself apart from other stories like this. This could, however, be more about my own vast experience with these kinds of stories, and me not being the target audience.

“The Bad Ones” is a book I found entertaining and enjoyable, and I know exactly who I would recommend it to. I will definitely be keeping my eye on Melissa Albert going forward, as this one had lots of potential, horror wise, and lots of wins, realism wise.

Rating 6: I really liked the mystery at hand and thought that the exploration of enmeshed friendships was interesting, but the supernatural and horror bits weren’t as fleshed out as I had hoped they would be.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Bad Ones” is included on the Goodreads lists “Bubblegum Horror”, and “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “Island Witch”

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Book: “Island Witch” by Amanda Jayatissa

Publishing Info: Berkley, February 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late 19th century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.

Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.

Now someone—or something —is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.

As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic. No one can find out what happened .

Lush, otherworldly, and recalling horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist , Island Witch is a deliciously creepy and darkly feminist tale about the horrors of moral panic, the violent space between girlhood and adulthood, and what happens when female rage is finally unleashed.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

If a book has references to “Carrie” and “The Exorcist” and adds in the promise of feminist rage in a not as seen setting, I am absolutely going to want to get my hands on it. That is just catnip for me, really. So seeing the description (and FANTASTIC) cover for Amanda Jayatissa’s new horror novel “Island Witch” really, really caught my interest. I love horror that takes on wider societal themes, I love feminist exploration within the genre, and there is also THAT AMAZING COVER. I was really excited to read this book, and had really high hopes. But I’m dismayed to report that they weren’t really met, at least not as much as I had expected them to.

I’ll start with the good, though. What I really liked about this book was how Jayatissa takes on the concepts of misogyny, religious zealotry, and colonialism and imperialism with her setting of 1800s Sri Lanka, as a young woman named Amara is seeing her village slowly turn against her and her father, the local Capuwa (or demon priest, as he performs rituals and exorcisms to ward off demons) when mysterious attacks leave men dead. Amara is an intriguing main character, as she finds herself a target of her community as their Christian belief system sees her and her family as threatening, and starts to realize that there are other dangers beyond the potential demonic attacks. I love how Jayatissa explores the way that Amara’s community, former friends, and even at times family holds her gender against her, her family against her, and her non-Christian beliefs against her, and how Amara’s desperation to clear her father’s name becomes more about clearing her own. Jayatissa doesn’t shy away from violence, sexism, prejudice, and trauma, and Amara’s journey harkens to other feminist horror tales of women taking back their power from those that want to take it away and snuff it out. I also found a lot of the demon lore and other horror aspects to be pretty good, and at times more ambiguous as opposed to cut and dry about good and evil.

But I had a really hard time with the first person perspective of this book, because while trying to show Amara’s coming of age, and her journey to find out the truth about what is happening in her community and both the dead men and the women they left behind, made for a lot of telling instead of showing. I definitely get that Amara is starting out as a somewhat naive and hopeful person, and has to become more hardened as she is finding out dark truths about those around her and the potential demonic activity, but her voice was very stilted, and at times hamfisted in execution. There were many times that it took me out of the story, and her inner thoughts would project a very obvious plot point that was coming up because of how much telling she was doing. It was too bad, because I think that had Amara’s voice been a little more complex this would have connected a lot better with me.

“Island Witch” was a mixed bag for me. I loved the effort and the greater themes, but the narrative style muddled it up a bit.

Rating 6: Overall I liked the themes of misogyny and colonial oppression and group think, but I thought that the voice of the main character was a little more simplistic than I had hoped for, and made it a stilted flow.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Island Witch” is included on the Goodreads lists “Popsugar 2024 #40: A Horror Book Written by a BIPOC Author”, and “Historical Fiction 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “The Hollow Dead”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Hollow Dead” by Darcy Coates

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, February 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: When Keira first woke alone in a strange forest, she remembered only two things: that she could speak with the dead, helping them move on from the mortal world, and that sinister mask-wearing men were hunting her. She had no idea what she’d done to earn their hatred or what dangerous secrets she may have uncovered. Until now.

Peeling back layer upon layer of the mystery surrounding her origins, Keira has finally learned that the strange masked men work for Artec, an organization profiting off spectral energy produced by hundreds of chained, tormented souls. Their goal is to spread their macabre cemeteries across the world, using the agony of the dead to extend their power and reach―and only Keira and her loyal group of friends can stop them. But there are still mysteries to uncover in Keira’s foggy memories, and as she prepares to fight for the souls of the tormented dead, what she doesn’t know about her own past may come back to haunt her.

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

After plowing through the first three books of Darcy Coates’s “Gravekeeper” series last year, it occurred to me that now I was going to be back on the usual reading timeline, as being caught up means having to wait for the next book in a series. Luckily, “The Hollow Dead” has arrived, and being the fourth novel in the series I was curious about what to expect. Were we going to get more answers about Keira’s mysterious past/memory loss? Were we going to see what Artec, the evil corporation using the energy of captives ghosts to make a profit, was planning for continued evilness? Would Keira and Mason finally get over their awkwardness and finally KILL ALREADY?! A fourth book in my opinion, can become the point where unanswered questions become frustrating, so I went in hoping that wouldn’t happen. And good news! “The Hollow Dead” keeps the pacing up and makes some significant moves that signal where we are headed going forward!

We have been waiting for some answers regarding Keira’s past and her connection to the mysterious corporation Artec, and while Coates has been giving good hints and little details up until now, “The Hollow Dead” is the book that really gives us insight, answers, and details. And I have to say, I really, really enjoyed how well Coates timed all of it out so that it kept interest piqued without getting overdrawn. It was clearly time to do some big reveals, and without spoiling anything I thought that they were done pretty well and in a satisfying way. The questions and suspense of Keira’s gift and connection to Artec has been a huge part of the “Gravekeeper” series, and I’m happy to say that Coates has managed the lofty build up very well. This one veered more towards thriller versus horror, but given that Keira, Mason, and Zoe have always had a witty and bantery tone and the story premise has always had thrilling elements, I was wholly fine with the shift. This series has always harkened back to action-y horror tales like “Buffy” and “Ghostbusters”, so it fit. It has also made the plot and characters progress enough that we are seemingly set up for a conclusion, which both excites me and saddens me because I’m not sure I’m READY to leave Blighty and all the people there?

Speaking of, one of the other standouts about “The Hollow Dead” is how we are still seeing some great spotlighting on the eccentric people of the town even beyond Keira’s inner circle. Whether it’s hints of a budding romance between town crank (turned less of a crank due to Keira’s help) Dane Crispin and café waitress Marlene, or the emo oddball Gothic florist’s son Harry teaming up with Keira et al to try and stop Artec as a getaway driver, or even the introduction of another ghost in need of Keira’s help, I really love the living and dead of the town, and seeing how Keira has slowly become part of the community. Hell, even our main characters are still growing and evolving his far in, as Zoe is almost immediately thrown into a family tragedy, and Keira and Mason REALLY have to start dealing with their burgeoning but often pushed aside feelings for one another. Coates has really made it easy for me to invest in SO MANY characters in this series, and I quite enjoy seeing the different ways she gives them moments to shine (I am SUCH a Dane and Marlene shipper now just based on the ONE moment we got of them).

“The Hollow Dead” seems like it’s starting the process of wrapping up Keira’s story in Blighty. I am very curious to see how Coates is going to wrap it all up, as this does kind of read like a penultimate novel in a series. Absolutely interested in where this goes. I guess I have to wait!

Rating 8: A thrilling new entry into a fun and at times creepy series, “The Hollow Dead” gives Keira some answers, and starts to tie up threads for her and her friends while showcasing the reasons we love them so much.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Hollow Dead” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “Reads for Spooky Season and Fall Vibes”.

Previously Reviewed:

Joint Review: “What Feasts At Night”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “What Feasts At Night” by T. Kingfisher

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, February 2024

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate received an eARC from NetGalley,

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: After their terrifying ordeal at the Usher manor, Alex Easton feels as if they just survived another war. All they crave is rest, routine, and sunshine, but instead, as a favor to Angus and Miss Potter, they find themself heading to their family hunting lodge, deep in the cold, damp forests of their home country, Gallacia.

In theory, one can find relaxation in even the coldest and dampest of Gallacian autumns, but when Easton arrives, they find the caretaker dead, the lodge in disarray, and the grounds troubled by a strange, uncanny silence. The villagers whisper that a breath-stealing monster from folklore has taken up residence in Easton’s home. Easton knows better than to put too much stock in local superstitions, but they can tell that something is not quite right in their home. . . or in their dreams.

Kate’s Thoughts

When Serena told me there was going to be a new “Sworn Soldier” story, I knew that I was already game to read it because of how much I enjoyed “What Moves the Dead”. I wasn’t sure of what to expect, as while the first book in the series was a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, I didn’t know if Kingfisher intended to do more Poe, or another classic horror author/story. But when I saw the description and saw that it had a ‘breath stealing monster’, and that the title implied that it was happening at night, I FLIPPED because I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A NIGHT HAG!!!

HELL YEAH, one of my favorite folklore beings that fills me with ALL THE DREAD! (source)

Quick folklore lesson: a Night Hag, also known as a Boo Hag, a Mare, Karabasan, Witch Riding, and many other things, is almost certainly sleep paralysis, in which someone wakes in the middle of the night, unable to move, with a feeling of something pressing on your chest making it hard to breathe. I have been obsessed with Night Hag mythology ever since I went to Savannah for the first time and was fully terrified by the idea of a demonic force sitting on your chest and sucking your essence out of you while you slept. So “What Feasts at Night” is one HUNDRED percent up my alley, and I loved what Kingfisher did with it within her fictional setting of Gallacia. The slow build up of Alex slowly realizing that the people in the community they have recently returned to are falling ill by something mysterious and unknown, and starting to realize that perhaps it isn’t just superstition, was a great slow burn of eeriness and the exact kind of unsettling atmosphere I would want and expect from a Night Hag story. But Kingfisher always knows how to balance out the scares with some humorous moments as well, and there were PLENTY of moments that I was laughing out loud as well as reveling in the creepiness of the plot. And finally, I liked getting to know Alex a little bit more, whether it’s through flashbacks to their time in combat and how they are still coping with that, or with seeing them interact with familiar faces as well as new ones as they try to figure out what killed their old friend, and what may be targeting others as well.

“What Feasts at Night” was another spooky and spirited horror lite story from T. Kingfisher! Love seeing Night Hags in any story, and this one was pretty well done!

Serena’s Thoughts

Unlike Kate, I had no idea what type of horror story this was drawing from when reading the description. I’ve read other horror stories about beings that come in dreams or at night and sit on one’s chest (and the connection to sleep paralysis) but I didn’t know anything about the history of this type of being or any of its names. That’s all to say, even without any background knowledge, man, Kingfisher nailed the creepiness of this creature! I’ve never had sleep paralysis, but I do have “exploding head syndrome” fairly regularly, so I have a visceral reaction to this sort of story about some nefarious being/thing taking advantage of the vulnerability of sleep. While the horror stuff was definitely a slow burn affair, when it arrived, it was truly creepy. There was one scene in particular with the horses that really stuck with me, both because it was so viscerally horrifying, but also because…never mess with the horses!!

As for the rest of it, like Kate, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a return to this world. The first book was so successful on its own, perfectly introducing this character and world and neatly wrapping up that tale by the end in a way that felt complete. But I was pleasantly surprised by what we got here. Alex remains an excellent lead character with a distinct, often hilarious, POV. I also really enjoyed that the story took place in their homeland of Gallacia. We heard a decent amount about this fictional country in the first book, but we got even more here. I loved the whole “lovingly exasperated” take that Alex and the locals seem to have about their own country and its culture and history. Again, lots of laugh-out-loud lines to be found here.

Overall, I loved this book just as much as the first! Sign me up for a return to this world and character at any time! Can’t wait to find what other normal life event (like sleep) Kingfisher will manage to make terrifying for me…

Serena’s Rating 8: Leave it to Kingfisher to write a book that left me terrified to go to sleep but also cackling my way through the night.

Kate’s Rating 8: A fun take on Night Hag mythology and folklore, “What Feasts at Night” is scary, entertaining, and another enjoyable horror lite tale from T. Kingfisher!

Reader’s Advisory

“What Feasts At Night” is included on the Goodreads list “Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasty of 2024”, and “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.

Serena’s Review: “The Butcher of the Forest”

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Book: “The Butcher of the Forest” by Premee Mohamed

Publishing Info: Tor, February 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: A world-weary woman races against the clock to rescue the children of a wrathful tyrant from a dangerous, otherworldly forest.

At the northern edge of a land ruled by a monstrous, foreign tyrant lies the wild forest known as the Elmever. The villagers know better than to let their children go near—once someone goes in, they never come back out.

No one knows the strange and terrifying traps of the Elmever better than Veris Thorn, the only person to ever rescue a child from the forest many years ago. When the Tyrant’s two young children go missing, Veris is commanded to enter the forest once more and bring them home safe. If Veris fails, the Tyrant will kill her; if she remains in the forest for longer than a day, she will be trapped forevermore.

So Veris will travel deep into the Elmever to face traps, riddles, and monsters at the behest of another monster. One misstep will cost everything.

Review: I’m a sucker for “deep, dark woods” books. I see that pop up in a book summary and you’re already halfway to me requesting the book immediately! Add on top of that a creepy, fairytale-like cover, an adult leading lady, and the mention of “traps, riddles, and monsters,” and yeah, I didn’t hesitate to slot this one down for review. And man, it was both everything I expected and wanted, and yet somehow also much more.

There was so much that I loved about this book that I don’t even know where to start! I will say, this is a novella, so readers are plopped down fairly quickly into this world and left to piece together an understanding of its politics and dangers fairly quickly. To accomplish this, the book relies on fantasy readers’ knowledge of some of the tropes commonly found in this type of book: a deep, dark cursed forest that everyone know not to enter; a cruel, tyrannical lord who is as brutal as he is unpredictable; and, of course, a leading character with a particular set of skills and a mysterious past. But while all of these elements are familiar, the fantastic skill of the author deploying them raised it all to a new level, allowing me to not only easily orient myself but to also find myself quickly invested in Elmever’s story.

She’s the exact sort of character I love: brave, but not foolhardy; sad and worn down by a cruel world, but unwilling to forfeit all hope; willing to take action, but also capable of dealing with the blows dealt to her. I also loved the slow reveal of the mysteries in her past, with the final clincher coming late in the story in a way that completely took me by surprise. Not so much what the reveal was itself, but how it played into the current events unfolding on the page.

This book is also incredibly dark and would comfortably fit under the “horror” umbrella. And while “horror” isn’t my preferred genre, I do like seeing aspects of the genre pop up in books like this. There’s nothing more disappointing than a fantasy book with a cursed forest that turns out to be fairly…tame. This is not that. Scene after scene buffets the reader with gruesome creatures, terrible choices, and the inevitable feeling that there’s no way Elmever can possibly keep this up much longer. The stakes always feel high, and by the midpoint of the book, I was frantically reading at a pace that could almost be described as “frenzied.” And on top of these horror elements, this book is dark in the sense that it tackles some very tragic themes. These characters have not had easy lives, and no one is safe. I was honestly surprised by just how willing the author was to fully go there with some of these scenes.

It’s hard to say I “enjoyed” this book per se, given how tragic and tense it was for much of the time. But I did love it and was incredibly impressed throughout the story. For such a short book, it packs a powerful punch. I never felt like a scene was wasted, unnecessary or not fully explored. Instead, the book felt succinct, sharp, and incredibly poignant at times. I highly recommend this one to readers who enjoy dark fantasy novels and are looking for a short, satisfying read.

Rating 9: Heart-breaking and fear-striking, this book will catch you up in its claws and wring you out, all in the best possible way!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Butcher and the Forest” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Animal Sculls on Cover and Cottagegore

Kate’s Review: “The End”

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Book: “The End” (Black Shuck Shadows) by Kayleigh Dobbs

Publishing Info: Black Shuck Books, November 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a print copy from the author.

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A series of micro-collections featuring a selection of peculiar tales from the best in horror and speculative fiction.

From Black Shuck Books and Kayleigh Dobbs comes The End, the thirty-fifth in the Black Shuck SHADOWS series.

Review: Thank you to Kayleigh Dobbs for sending me a print copy of this collection (and for the adorable holiday card!)!

I have warmed up to the concept of short story collections in the past few years, as while I used to be skeptical, I’ve had a pretty good streak of entertaining ones that have come across my reading pile. But I had never heard of the concept of a ‘micro-collection’, until Kayleigh Dobbs sent me an email talking about her newest work “The End”. This newest book is part of a larger series, in which there are a small number of stories in each short story collection, which is, apparently, a micro-collection. Love learning new things! And I loved the idea of “The End”, which has six stories about various ways that the world could come to an end, all of which are supernatural. I was definitely intrigued, and I happily accepting the invite to read and review. And it was not only a new experience, reading format wise, it was also a fun time!

I’m going to do this a little different this time around, as while I usually pick three stories to showcase in a short stories collection, this is a micro-colection, which means there are only six stories total. So I’m going to review each of them, as highlighting half but not the other half feels strange to me. So on we go!

“The Claim They Stake”: A conspiracy theorist discovers that the unassuming elderly neighbor down the street is actually a lizard person. But when he tries to convince people of the truth, he’s met with derision because of his conspiracy theorist ways. Okay, full honesty time here, and it’s more about me than the story itself. Given all the stuff that has gone on in the past eight years, I no longer can stomach conspiracy theory stuff so well, even if it’s used in a satirical way. So while this one was admittedly a fun twist on the idea of conspiracy theorists being seen as crazy when, in this case, he was ACTUALLY CORRECT, it didn’t really click for me. The good news is that after this tale they all got much more palatable to me, so let’s move on.

“Just Like Baking”: Four witches are performing a ritual that has a lot of precise and intricate parts. So when one of them has to bring their little sister along, things start to get a little… muddled. This one was my favorite in the collection because 1) I love witches and anything to do with them, 2) it had serious “The Craft” and “American Horror Story: Coven” vibes, and 3) it was both hilarious at times and scary as hell at others. And the very idea of a witch being forced to bring a younger sibling along against her will is a hoot. Also, I think I MAY have spotted a Dark Willow from “Buffy” reference, and that is ALWAYS going to be a key to my heart.

(source)

“Catch Fire”: A married couple goes to the house of the wife’s sister, who has always been toxic but has always been given second chances by the wife. When they arrive at the dinner party, general toxic familial tension starts to turn into something far more sinister. This one had a dread that eased into building itself up, and I was on the edge of my seat basically the entire time. Watching poor Emily try to make excuses for her awful sister Jen, only to be let down again after so many betrayals was one thing. But the added twist of the story was the perfect metaphor for horribly family dynamics really coming back to bite you in the ass if boundaries aren’t set before it’s too late. Kind of like a Reddit “Just No Family” post to the extreme.

“Dead”: A woman wakes up realizing she is dead, and can see her shambling corpse as it starts to wreak havoc. This was another one of the more amusing stories in the collection, as poor Grace finds herself powerless to be of any help as her zombie self tears through the house and the neighborhood. I absolutely loved how hapless Grace was, as well as the references to the life she was leading up until her death, and how fun to combine ghosts AND zombies into something of a screwball comedy if a screwball comedy involved a zombie apocalypse.

“Omega”: A devout and zealous Evangelical congregation follows their leader Pastor Bob as he performs miracles, whips up devotion, and preaches of salvation. But one last gathering of his flock for what he calls The Reaping promises an eternity of peace in the afterlife, those who follow him find themselves face to face with a more horrible truth. This one was absolutely the scariest story in the collection for me, as it takes the idea of a fundamentalist sect with utmost devotion to its leader, and turns it into something else altogether. It’s religious horror, it’s the horrors of faith, it’s just so damn upsetting and really got under my skin.

“The End”: A meditation on what awaits humans once they reach death goes from philosophical musings to something a bit more jarring and horrifying. This was the last story in the collection, and it was probably the most outside of the box entry as well, with a somewhat second person narrative and an escalation from something theoretical to something cruel, taunting, and steeped in malice. It’s a solid closer to a collection that feels cohesive and bold.

So as a whole, I thought that “The End” was a fun and freaky collection that speaks of the end of the world, however that may look. It’s a quick read and one that I recommend for horror fans who want something breezy and spooky, while also being quite humorous.

Rating 8: An unsettling and at times quite funny micro-collection of stories about, well, The End, “The End” is charming and eerie and a lot of fun!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The End” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “This Is The End…” .

Kate’s Review: “The House of Last Resort”

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Book: “The House of Last Resort” by Christopher Golden

Publishing Info: St. Martin’s Press, January 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received and eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Across Italy there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild—selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years. It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives. It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize.

But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought. There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina…something stirs.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

I’m always excited when a new Christopher Golden book is coming out, because he is pretty reliable when it comes to telling a nice and scary horror tale. Because of this I was clearly excited about “The House of Last Resort”, his newest horror novel, as it seemed like it was going to be a haunted house story. Which is always a favorite of mine. So I was a LITTLE nervous when I realized that it was also going to be a demonic possession story, as that is a sub genre that I’m NOT as into, just because of tropes that feel overused, and the tendency to sometimes get a little, shall we say, preachy with it. BUT, I do have faith in Golden as an author, and so I went in with an open mind. And I’m happy to report that he can firmly consider his take on the sub genre more than acceptable and VERY enjoyable.

So even though possession and exorcism based stories can be pretty hit or miss for me, Golden has written an effective possession tale that goes beyond the tired tropes of the sub genre and broadens the themes to include societal and religious complacency as well as familial/generational trauma, which I thought really added to the concept as a whole. The idea of the Catholic Church owning a house where they sent supposedly possessed people to either be hidden away until they were ‘exorcised’, or until they had died, is such a deeply upsetting concept, but also feels like something that would absolutely happen in real life. I also liked the growing tension between Tommy and Kate, but also between the two of them and the community as they start to unravel the secrets of this house, and also how much the people around them knew about the disturbing history as a ‘house of last resort’ for the Church when it came to exorcisms. On top of that, there is the scary factor of the idea of demons lurking in the crypts beneath the home, but also the idea that there were very much NOT possessed people there, merely people who were mentally ill or in crisis, and were abused and further traumatized by people who thought they knew better.

And the horror parts of this book are spot on, and I’m saying that as someone who doesn’t usually feel affected by possession stories. There were multiple moments where I found myself setting my kindle down to say ‘oh my god this is scary’, especially early on when the dread it slowly building and we aren’t completely sure as to what is going on in Tommy and Kate’s new house. Golden has a true talent for bubbling up the tension until it reaches a snapping point, only to start again at a higher level and to rebuild once more. There’s also just the all around scares of the secrets that can be kept from people, whether the motivations are well intentioned or because of a shame on the part of those keeping the secrets. There’s just something SO sinister about everyone around Tommy and Kate knowing that there is something deeply wrong with the house they are trying to call home, and not telling them about it as strange and disturbing things start happening. I do think that perhaps one reveal happens a little abruptly and sends a bit of the rest of the suspense off kilter, but overall? Very creepy stuff from Christopher Golden, and I expect no less.

“The House of Last Resort” is another winner from Christopher Golden. It had some really scary moments and a fresh take on possession tales. What a lovely day for an exorcism.

Rating 8: A scary tale about secrets, be they religious, familial, or community based. “The House of Last Resort” is a possession story that sets itself apart from the usual demonic fare.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The House of Last Resort” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.