The nitty-gritty: C.J. Tudor’s latest is an action-packed dystopian thriller that rubs elbows with the horror genre. Tense, scary and atmospheric, this was a fun one! To call this story “crazy” would be an understatement, but perhaps if you’ve read C.J. Tudor’s books before, you’ll know what I mean. This was my first book by […]
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: Macabre and full of dark humor, All the Blood We Share explores the surprising and complex lives of a family of serial killers. “Maybe it’ll pass,” I said. “This affliction of mine—” “Oh no.” Ma shook her head. “I don’t think one can heal from bloodlust.” Camilla Bruce is a must read author […]
The nitty-gritty: An ancient evil threatens a small, rural village in this terrifying story, perfect for fans of folk horror. “Board your window, keep on your light, when the Tatterskin walks at night.” The Hollows is a tense, thrilling horror story about a group of people who have to face a terrible threat while stuck […]
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 […]
The nitty-gritty: A most unusual werewolf tale that combines body horror, romance and humor in surprising ways. If you aren’t reading Rachel Harrison, you need to get on that, stat. “I run and run. It doesn’t matter how fast I’m going, which I know is fast, animal fast, my senses are not dulled by the […]
The nitty-gritty: A beautiful, horrible tale of inescapable family ties. Above, the castle sighs and shifts. Creaks, cracks, sound and movement as if with the passage of vast dark coils. The thing from Dinah’s dream is down here, too. It crawls up through the trapdoor. Catriona Ward has a gift for creating characters who are […]
The nitty-gritty: Slow burn suspense, mystery and an atmospheric setting make Lute a thoroughly compelling read, despite uneven and puzzling world building elements. This is one of those books that completely sucked me in, but after I had some time to think about it later, I started to have a lot of questions. Like many […]
The nitty-gritty: A group of friends discover the mysteries and dangers of ghosts and hauntings in this creepy, disturbing tale. “Ghost isn’t the kind of drug you find. It finds you. You hear about it from someone who’s used it. They tell you about it, then you tell someone else, like a —” “Ghost story?” […]