The nitty-gritty: Ai Jiang explores grief and loss in this unsettling, beautifully written tale. “This town worships the dead, but it has no respect for the living.” Ai Jiang is destined to be an important author in the horror field, if she isn’t already. Linghun was one of the most unusual stories I’ve ever read, […]
The nitty-gritty: T. Kingfisher mashes together Southern gothic creepiness, a cast of unforgettable characters, and plenty of humor in A House With Good Bones, a thoroughly entertaining haunted house story. “There is probably something more awkward than the morning after you’ve found a jar of teeth and your mother has admitted she thinks she’s being […]
The nitty-gritty: An excellent sequel, Hel’s Eight brings readers more of Ten Low‘s desolate and dangerous desert setting and larger than life characters, with just the right balance of action and emotion. Last year I read Stark Holborn’s Ten Low and loved it, and I’m so happy that the author decided to continue Ten’s story. […]
The nitty-gritty: A sweeping family saga dripping with gothic atmosphere, The Girl From Rawblood is both a love story and a tragedy, filled with dread and shocking revelations. “When I try to think of Rawblood, to draw it with words, a muffling whiteness comes. I can’t describe it any more than I can my own […]
The nitty-gritty: A multi-generational story of the ties that bind a family of women together, with a bit of magic thrown in for good measure. “She looked happy, hand in hand with her husband. Perhaps she was, then. Or perhaps I was standing too far away. A great many things look different from a distance. […]
The nitty-gritty: A feel good story with lovable characters, World Running Down is an engaging dystopian that offers plenty of food for thought. Despite the gloomy title, World Running Down was a breath of fresh air, an upbeat and optimistic story that tackles some heavy themes in an accessible way, and it was simply a […]
The nitty-gritty: Secrets, lies and shocking plot twists will have readers scrambling to find out the truth in this excellent thriller. What Lies in the Woods is a slow burn mystery that was nearly impossible to put down. With this book, Kate Alice Marshall has made it onto my auto-buy list of authors, it was […]
The nitty-gritty: Domestic drama, a vengeful puppet and a family mystery come together in Grady Hendrix’s latest, a fun and bloody must-read for all Hendrix fans. “Your mom’s puppets are watered down copies of copies,” he said. “They’re off-brand Muppets. Put real puppets in a church and they’d burn it down. Puppets unleash anarchy…Puppets are […]
The nitty-gritty: A clever twist on the haunted house trope, Episode Thirteen is both weird and terrifying. Craig DiLouie is one of those authors who never writes the same book twice, and Episode Thirteen is a great example of that. What starts out as your typical haunted house story—creepy old house, strange noises and lights, […]
The nitty-gritty: A family legacy of blood sacrifice infuses Andy Davidson’s folk horror tale with atmosphere and dread. Max stops in his tracks, as if the old house rearing up before them has teeth, claws, is a thing alive. A dragon in the midst of a long slumber. It sees us. A fresh sweat springs […]