Category: Horror

Dead of Winter

by Darcy Coates. Pub Date 7/11/2023

4*s. Best Enjoyed

Publisher’s Synopsis:

“When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she’s hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they’ll be safe as they wait out the storm.

She couldn’t be more wrong.

Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing…only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Eight drops to seven and it becomes clear that someone in the group is killing for sport. “

REVIEW:

I’m sure if you’re a long time lurker—first time caller—you may know that I absolutely LOVE survival thrillers. This was my first Darcy Coates book and it will not be my last. Her writing is fantastic. Granted, I had a feeling I knew exactly what was happening from the beginning, which was later confirmed for me, but she still kept me in suspense on a lot of the events. It also made me want to keep reading. It was a bloody, gory book, and I felt the tension to my marrow, which is exactly what I love about stories like this.

When Christa’s boyfriend finally convinces her to come on a trip with him into the mountains in winter, she is packed up—if not entirely ready–to go. Maybe this is exactly what she needed to shake the ghosts that have haunted her for the last few years. Plus, Kiernan grew up in the area and is the one person she feels she can trust, so coming out of her comfort zone in order to make him happy is important to her. However, when a sudden snowstorm blows in out of nowhere, separating Kiernan and Christa and stranding the tour group in a cabin in the woods, all bets are off. A member of their group is most likely dead and there’s no way to call for help.

They soon have a bigger problem on their hands as members of their group are brutally murdered one by one, their heads impaled on the tree outside of the cabin door and their beheaded bodies are found in shocking places. Suspicions turn inward. Someone in this cabin is picking them off one by one.

As tensions grow and supplies dwindle, the group needs to figure out who the killer is before they all starve to death or end up as gruesome ornaments hanging from the creepy pine outside.

The descriptions are absolutely horrific and the characters are so well thought out that they feel like real people. You also can’t help but root for Christa, who may have made some mistakes in her past, but is definitely a survivor. I highly recommend this story!

Thanks to Netgalley, Darcy Coates, and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced e-book in exchange for this fair and honest review!

Horror Uncategorized

The Island

by Natasha Preston Pub Date 2/28/22

4*s, Natasha Preston’s endings always leave us hanging.

PUBLISHER’S SYNOPSIS

“Jagged Island: a private amusement park for the very rich—or the very influential. Liam, James, Will, Ava, Harper, and Paisley—social media influencers with millions of followers—have been invited for an exclusive weekend before the park opens. They’ll make posts and videos for their channels and report every second of their VIP treatment.

When the teens arrive, they’re stunned: the resort is even better than they’d imagined. Their hotel rooms are unreal, the park’s themed rides are incredible, and the island is hauntingly beautiful. They’re given a jam-packed itinerary for the weekend.

But soon they’ll discover that something’s missing from their schedule: getting off the island alive.”

REVIEW

When Paisley, a true-crime influencer, gets invited to the opening of Jagged Island, a private amusement part for the wealthy started by a billionaire, she is so excited. The pictures don’t do the gothic-themed park justice. The hotel is magnificent, the food is amazing, and the park itself is an experience to die for. Unfortunately for some of her fellow influencers, that turns into something quite literal. As people begin disappearing, their bodies showing up in unexpected places, Paisley’s true crime background thrusts her into the center of the investigation. They need to figure out who is killing the members of their group and stop them before this weekend in a gothic paradise becomes their last on this earth.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was packed full of gothic imagery and influencer nonsense, but also had so much character-driven drama. Preston has a real talent for horror and the character building that is necessary to create the kind of realistic scenarios that drive the knife of fear into the heart of a reader. Her endings also always leave the reader wondering if the main character really survived their ordeal or are primed and pressed into a more horrific one. You feel the emotions, practically smell the gore, and come out the other side craving more.

If you’re looking for other works by Preston, The Fear is also a great tale of horror. If you’re looking for more influencer-based horror drama, I recommend Never Coming Home by Kate Williams (review on my blog). Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky is also one I have my eye on.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advanced e-copy in exchange for this review. It was a wild rollercoaster ride. Pun intended.

Horror

How to Sell a Haunted House

Post author By Lady Nightwolf
Post date February 13, 2023
No Comments on How to Sell a Haunted House

By Grady Hendrix. 5*s.

Publisher’s Synopsis

“When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…“

Review:

In all honestly, Grady Hendrix is one of the greatest horror authors. I absolutely LOVE his books. He writes some of the creepiest fiction, but with the most well-built characters and semi happy endings. That may be what I love the most. These stories can be truly scary, and How to Sell a Haunted House has been one of my absolute favorites so far. But they always leave me feeling more of a ‘yay—scarred but alive!’ feeling.

The relationship between Louise and Mark and Louise and everyone, really, was interesting to explore. Mother/Daughter relationships are super complex and this explores that in a very first-hand way. It really makes me wonder where Hendrix got the material.

There’s also that toxic relationship situation between siblings that only a horrific series of events can seem to upend. Mark was a selfish prick and Louise was cold for a good reason from my perspective, but it’s crazy how much they both went through, and it makes you wonder if they had only talked, would they have gone through everything they did to the level and extent they did? Probably not. But they were also pitted against each other a lot. Thankfully, they got a second chance. Unfortunately, it didn’t leave them entirely intact.

To be honest, I had zero clue it was going the direction it was, and it’s so hard to talk about the most incredibly creepy parts without giving all of it away, but I will try to discuss a few moments that just really got to me.

Pupkin as a whole. Honestly Hendrix, why? We all have seen this Punch knockoff puppet with its incredibly scary grin, but to make it into something that drags itself across the floor or runs around on its tiny legs and bites/brainwashes people? WOW. Nightmare fuel. I won’t be able to hear a skittering noise without shitting my pants in the future without thinking a vengeful puppet is coming for me.

Pupkin starts a cult: the Mark in College stories. It got so dark, so quick. Puppet collective seemed like such a bad idea—and who would do that kind of show in an elementary school? Glory.

Marionette/Puppet Horde: this was actually kind of funny in the way only Hendrix can make it…or maybe I’m a little more twisted than I thought I was.

Dolls in general—really hit a note with me. Chucky can take a back seat to these.

Hendrix’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism was made into a movie. That was also an excellent book. But making this one into a movie? I’m not sure I could watch it and still sleep. IT by Stephen King was one of my favorite books in high school, but How to Sell a Haunted House has taken up its own corner in the secret little goth section of my soul.

Contemporary Fiction Horror Mystery

Two Truths and a Lie

by April Henry, Pub Date May 22, 2022

4.5 Stars. Best Enjoyed when you need a fast paced ya thriller set during a snowstorm that has a lot going on–like, a lot.

The Synopsis:

Nell and her drama club classmates are on their way to a national drama competition that they have been working very hard for. This competition could lead to awards, scholarships, and opportunities for them and they are excited and confident. What they were not prepared for was the winter storm of the century catching the California teens and their teacher to be stranded a strange, worn-out hotel far from their intended destination. As they hunker down for the night, they meet other storm-bound people who have found themselves equally stuck at the Travel Inn & Out, including another group of teens who had a competition of their own to attend.

As the storm rages on outside, the teens decide to meet in the common room to socialize in front of the fire. However, their gathering begins to take on a sinister tone as a creepy message appears in the slips of paper they are using to play a seemingly innocent game of Two Truths and a Lie. As a sense of unease settles on the group, they also find out that the hotel is the sight of a 20 year-old unsolved double murder, one that took place in room 238. They decide to do a séance and it goes about as well as one can expect a séance to go in a creepy hotel. And then the power goes out.

The next morning, Nell and a few others in their party group stumble upon the body of one of the girls they had hung out with the night before, apparently hung sometime in the night, a sign pinned to her chest saying “THIS IS THE FIRST.” Was it suicide or something more sinister? As another girl disappears and they find her room splattered in more blood than one could survive losing, with another sign scrawled in blood on the bathroom mirror reading “THIS IS THE SECOND,” all hell breaks loose. Not only are they stranded far away from home and safety without heat, phone service, and power, but they also may be stuck in a hotel in the middle of nowhere with a murderer. Is this the same killer who 20 years ago killed the couple in 238, or is this someone new who has only just begun?

The Review:

I definitely finished this one quickly. The plot throughout is fast-paced and it had everything in it. Suspicious hotel guests, possible supernatural phenomena, unsolved murders, and teenage hormones run rampant. The setting was well described and plays a huge roll throughout the entire book. It’s like the setting is another character entirely, moaning and creaking around its inhabitants.

The storm also adds a ton to the overall atmosphere of the book and if you have ever experienced a blizzard, you know exactly the feelings they have. The isolation, the disorientation when you find yourself in a world that has turned the outside into a black and white alien landscape where the white and fluffy snow becomes an icy desert of drifts and plains, some which may even hide other dangerous creatures. It creates a stark and unforgiving backdrop for a story of people desperately clawing their way to the truth.

There is a cadre of red herrings and strange happenings that make you question the evidence and what might be true verses what might be coincidental. Many of the characters show their true colors throughout the book, which makes them seem all the more real. It’s also always fun to read about people who are tied intrinsically to technology go through an experience where they don’t have any available and have to find ways to survive varying circumstances, like how to unmask a killer while trying to stay warm and fed in a place not meant to be run without electricity. It’s one reason I absolutely love fictional survival stories set far in the wilderness, especially ones where dumb mistakes are made that the protagonist has to survive. Although there aren’t many of those in Two Truths and a Lie, there is still plenty of unpreparedness to keep a reader feeling like this book is both a survival story and a mystery-thriller.

If you’re in the mood for a quick and thrilling read, I would advise picking up a copy of Two Truths and a Lie.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown books for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Horror Mystery

The Fear

By Natasha Preston. Pub Date March 1, 2022

3.5*s. Best enjoyed when you want a teen-oriented slasher thriller.

The Synopsis:

Movie Poster for *Halloween Party*, 2020

There’s a new viral trend going around in a small fishing town that asks participants to repost with what they think is the worst way to die. Everyone thinks it’s just a dumb meme. Until it’s no longer just a meme.

Izzy finds the first body of a classmate lying in the snow in the middle of the street, a girl that she and her friends had just seen at a party less than an hour before. Shortly after calling the police, first responders find another body of another one of their classmates in the river near the other body. People throw around that it is probably a murder-suicide or suicide pact, but Izzy feels it’s something different. Both of her classmates died of the very things they had claimed would be the scariest way to die.

Izzy starts to suspect that what everyone thought was just a meme was really a way for a killer to gain insight into how to scare his victims the most as he killed them. Izzy is glad she didn’t repost the meme, but when she realizes that those closest to her have, it spurs her into protective detective mode. Is it her crush, Justin, who was friends with the victims? Is it her classmate, Axel, the mysterious troublemaker with whom she is developing an unlikely friendship? Or is it someone else who is lurking in the shadows, watching her? Will Izzy be able to uncover the killer before it’s too late?

The Review:

The premise of this story reminded me of a cross between Scream and the movie Halloween Party. Halloween Party was the first to come to mind when reading the original synopsis of the book as it’s very similar when it comes to asking about your biggest fear, but as I read the book, it felt a lot more like Scream if it were set in the winter. Sometimes you just really want to get involved in the slasher-thriller vibe and this definitely fed that part of my brain.

I honestly really loved the ride. It was a constant question as to which person could be the one who was terrorizing the town by killing off young people in the most horrific of ways. It was a bloody and surprising ride filled to the brim with suspense. The ending was also totally unsuspected, with a super startling twist. I think the only actual problem I had was not having all the answers at the end to my copious questions, but I also like things that are wrapped up in a bow and I just don’t think this was meant to be. It kind of leaves a sense of suspense in the air as you close it. Sometimes we just don’t get all of the answers and in a way, the unknown is the truly scary part.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for this fair and honest review.

Fantasy Horror Romance

LAKE’S EDGE

BY LYNDALL CLIPSTONE. PUB DATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

3.5*, Best enjoyed on a dark and windy fall day.

Violetta has protected her brother, Aerin, since the death of their parents during a plague when she was only six. Since that point, Aerin has experienced night terrors which manifest a dark shadowy power, and Violetta has stood in defense of him against their abusive adoptive mother. That is until the day of Tithe, when Aerin’s powers reveal themselves in front of the Lord of the land, Rowan Sylvanan. Rowan—known by the locals as the Monster—shows up at their small cottage later that night and threatens Violetta and Aerin into coming with him to his estate, Lake’s Edge. He needs Aerin’s power to help break a curse brought upon him by the Lord Under. However, Rowan doesn’t explain what started the curse nor what this will entail. However, the threats are enough and Aerin agrees, as long as Violetta is allowed to accompany them.

Unbeknownst to all around her, Violetta is familiar with the cruel Lord Under in ways she is reluctant to reveal.

When they arrive at Lake’s Edge, the estate—and Rowan—are not as the rumors have told. As Aerin works to help end the curse with the instruction of Clover, an Alchemist, Violetta and Rowan grow closer. Rowan has been afflicted by the Corruption that threatens the land and each day more and more of this Corruption begins to take him. Will Aerin and Clover be able to stop the Corruption from taking all they have grown to love, including their new-found family? Or will Violetta have to make another deal with a dark entity that held her hand so long ago?

The book was pretty good, although I would have liked more description. At times it felt very vague, like I wasn’t getting a good picture of what was going on and I’d have to re-read parts to understand what I was reading. I think it could have used another edit and some fleshing out, but I was still pleased by the story itself. Hopefully this will be done before the book is released in November.

This also ends on a decent cliff hanger that really makes me wonder where this is heading. It is slated to be a series and I’m very curious as to what the next book will reveal about all of the characters and what will happen to Violetta—spoiler, mayhaps? Although it was a little lacking, the story really is good enough that I want to hear what happens next.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for an impartial and honest review.

Horror Mystery

Survive the Night

By Riley Sager

5*****. Best enjoyed on a summer evening when you need a good thriller to chill your bones.

It’s 1991 and Charlie may be in the car with the person who killed her best friend. She really doesn’t know. She suspects, but sometimes things go a little differently in her head, like the night Maddy was killed. She sometimes sees movies, something she’s been doing since the death of her parents, where everything becomes stylized and a screen drops in front of her vision, creating a scene straight out of a film noir or classic Hitchcock picture. She has no idea what the identity of the man in the alley or if he was even real. Charlie still blames herself. She never should have left Maddy alone that night, regardless of their fight. Now Maddy is dead, stabbed to death with her tooth removed.

Everyone knows that the Campus Killer murdered her best friend, but no one knows who it is. All Charlie knew was that she needed to get away from Olyphant University, even if it meant leaving her boyfriend Robbie behind. She can’t live with the memories and the movies of Maddy coming back. Plus, how does she not know if she’s next? What if the killer knew she saw him?

Now, after accepting a ride share from Josh, the man in the driver’s seat of the Grand Am and the person she is slowly beginning to believe could be the guy who killed her best friend, Charlie needs to figure out if there’s a way out and if she even wants one. She suspects that she won’t make it back to Ohio in one piece if she can’t figure it out.

I love almost everything Riley Sager writes. In Survive the Night, he keeps you guessing until the very end as to what the real and true danger is. Charlie’s movie episodes are also a huge help in keeping the plotline moving through. The majority of the book you are wondering what is real and what isn’t. Is he really in the car of a killer? Is it all just a movie?

I truly loved it. I was able to finish it in only a few days. Highly recommend!

Fantasy Horror Mystery

DOWN COMES THE NIGHT

BY ALLISON SAFT. PUB DATE 3/2/21

3 STARS. Best Enjoyed when you’re stuck in a dark mansion where something seems wrong but you’re still in the mood for an enemies to lovers romance.

Wren Southerland’s healing abilities and empathetic heart may have finally ruined her life. After healing a young boy who appears to be an enemy spy connected to the disappearances of her fellow soldiers, allowing him to escape, she is dismissed from her place on the guard where she serves under her best friend and first love. Isabel, the Queen of Danu–as well as Wren’s emotionally withholding and dismissive aunt–plans to send Wren far from her comfort and into the mines, a hell on earth for any healer. As she awaits her fate at the abbey where she honed her skills, a mysterious letter appears from a nobleman from the nearby neutral country of Cisneros. In the letter, Lord Lowry promises to aid Danu in the centuries-old war against their enemy, Vesria, in exchange for her help healing his favored servant, Henry. Wren sees this as a chance at peace. Though the Queen disagrees and forbids her from going, Wren still manages to find her way alone.

However, when Wren arrives at the old estate across the border, she finds that nothing is as it should be. Not only does the ancient mansion seem to be hiding dark secrets, but “Henry” turns out to be Hal Cavendish, the Reaper of Vesria and the most wanted man in Danu. After her initial shock, Wren sees this as an opportunity to reclaim her place and begins to formulate a plan. Unfortunately, there are machinations larger than both Wren and Hal at play, and they realize that must learn to work together–as well as fight the growing feelings they have for one another–in order to save not only themselves, but the countries they love.

There are so many things going on with this story. There’s the family drama, the political intrigue, the gothic mystery, a sort of love triangle, an interesting power structure, and an enemies to lovers romance arc. All of the plots were carried through, some far more successfully than others. For instance, the gothic mystery was a little painful as the MC really appeared to be oblivious and I found myself mentally screaming at her at times because very obvious mentions were made to vital parts of the story that seemed to be completely ignored. Usually, that wouldn’t slide with me, but the other plot points kept me invested. There was also the issue I had with figuring out the time period it was supposed to mimic. It felt like a mix between the late 1800s and WW1 Europe. It wasn’t enough to put me off, but at times I was really confused and I believe a little extra world building would have been helpful.

On the other side of this coin, I also enjoyed the setting and the depth of the characters themselves as well as the political and technological differences between countries that have and don’t have magic. I really enjoyed that part of the story because it was believable that a country without magic would have made the nonmagical advances that Cisneros would need to have in order to continue to improve themselves as they could not use magic the way their neighbors could. The enemies to lovers romance was also really great. I enjoyed that part of the story a lot. Although I knew where it was all leading, I wasn’t sure how or why it was going in that direction. It’s possible there may have been too many plot lines active at once. Regardless, it was still a good read.

Saft probably needs more work on her mystery writing, but I think the potential is definitely there and if she also improves her ability to write romance. I think her next book could be a killer. Overall, this book is worth a read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday books for and advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Fantasy Horror Mystery

City of Villains

by Estelle Laure. Pub Date Jan 21, 2021

Four and a Half Stars **** Best enjoyed when you’re feeling like you need a little magic. Legacies can sympathize.

Mary Heart is a Legacy, a member of a community of people who used to have the ability to wield magic until a disaster caused all of the magic in her world to disappear, along with the friends and the relatives of many of the Legacies who worked at the tower in the center of their corner of the city. Now, the only thing remaining is a lake made of black water that is highly toxic where the building used to be. Now, Mary, her friends Ursula, James, and other Legacy peers, are stuck sans-magic while the wealthy members of the surrounding communities have moved into their previously magic neighborhood, now called the Scar, to take advantage of the anomalously perfect weather that is the only remaining indication that magic used to be the driving force there, slowly gentrifying the now broken-down Legacy community. In order to protect those she loves, Mary has turned to the regular way of dealing out justice: as an intern to the city police, with hopes of becoming like her hero, the current police captain who helped solve the murder of her parents when she was a young girl. When her classmate and fellow Legacy Mally Saint disappears one evening from the Wonderland club where all of the Legacy kids hang out, she knows she has to be part of the investigation and find her. The further into the investigation she and her partner, Bella, get, the more she realizes that something is wrong in the Scar, and someone close to her may be in danger as well.

This is the second book by Estelle Laure that I read back in 2020, and it was absolutely amazing. She’s a very talented author and she’s quickly made her way to my must read authors list where Sarah J Maas, Holly Black, Margaret Rogerson, and Riley Sager reside along with a few others I love. However, it wasn’t until after I read City of Villains that she solidified her place.

City of Villains turns the Disney franchise on its head and brings it into a modern and urban setting. I usually don’t like that kind of treatment. I’ve always been a fan of fairy tales in all their glory, and have loved the redemption stories, especially in the vein of Gregory McGuire’s The Other Stepsister and Jennifer Donnelly’s Stepsister, but my favorite part has always been that they stuck to the time period. Even though Laure does not do this, she takes the most prolific of the Disney villains, turns them human, and adds in a healthy heap of police procedural, vigilante justice, and scientific experimentation along with catastrophic disaster and creates something entirely new that is still just as enticing, even to a staunch traditionalist like me. It is something all its own and I have a deep appreciation for it and I’m excited to see where this goes!

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for the chance to read an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review!

Fantasy Horror Science Fiction Survival

The Hollow Places

By T. Kingfisher. Pub Date: 10/6/2020

5 Stars. For when you want a truly unsettling story or love horror and comedy.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher is a story about the worlds that creep into the places below our own and open up when we least expect them.

Kara is going through a divorce and has returned to her roots taking care of her uncle’s curiosity museum. When doing her rounds one day, she discovers a strange crack in the wall leading to a concrete hallway that doesn’t seem like it should be there. She enlists the barista next door, Simon, to help her look into the mysterious corridor that turns out to be a portal to a strange and dangerous world of monsters, alternative dimensions, and tortured souls that seems to be turning the universe itself slowly into a block of swiss cheese. Arm yourself with a steady heart and mind when you delve into this one, and “pray they are hungry”.

I LOVED The Hollow Places. Simon and Kara were both human disasters and their banter and friendship was hilarious and fun, adding levity to the extremely unsettling setting of this tale. Unsettling is the key word, here. There were parts that were terrifying and the entire thing was unsettling but also so interesting and fun. I’ve never read anything that I could describe as both “a humorous buddy comedy” and an “unsettling story of alternate universes” –it felt like the love child of a Will Ferrell movie and an HP Lovecraft story of horror. I FIVE STAR believe it’s a must-read for anyone who loves a good horror story. I don’t think I’ll look at willow trees and fog the same way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for the above fair and honest review.