Magpie marks author Sophie Draper's second novel. Her first novel (Cuckoo) being a critical success and a worthy addition to any psychological thriller genre fan. Following on in those footsteps, Magpie marks a return to the psychological genre, but with a focus on suspense rather than being a thriller. This marks a nice distinction between the two books (as both being named after birds with a similar font and cover, I wouldn't blame you if you thought they were part of a series).

Despite being released to largely positive reception in late November 2018, I only came across this book by accident. Scrolling through AmazonUK looking for new books, or anything that took my fancy. Down to £2 for the paperback delivered to my door, I thought why the hell not.

Ghost stories are often called some of the scariest pieces of writing of all time, and they make up a great majority of the horror genre. Written from the beginning of literature onwards, people have always been interested in the movements of those who are already gone and have written many stories for and about them. Some are based on real experiences, some are completely fictitious (well, you better hope they are) and some have grounding in historical or fantastical realities.

Stephen King's Doctor Sleep: A Book Review

Halloween is right around the corner and, with the holiday season presenting many spooks, I think it’s good to remember the literature that can also scare the living hell out of us too. There are many ways I like to celebrate Halloween, and one of them is by reading and re-reading some of my favourite scary reads on the way up to the special day. Others ways I like to celebrate are watching scary films and making some seasonal bakes such as things pumpkin flavoured and biscuits normally containing dark chocolate, raisins and toasted nuts. I’ve always been a big fanatic of Halloween because I love dressing up even if I’m not going anywhere. I like to make cookies and give them creepy aspects. Last year, I made my brother a cookie shaped and decorated like the Slenderman. Anyways, this list is meant to be a bit of fun, so we’ll go through one hundred books you can read to celebrate this holiday season. I’ll talk about ones that are particularly special to me. Before you ask, I only ever include books I’ve actually read myself in lists like this, so you can talk to me about any one of them if you’re having a hard time choosing (I don’t blame you because they’re all so good). I’ll mark some of my favourites with a (*) as well, so make sure you look out for them! Oh, and lastly, these books are in no particular order either.

DLW never fails to grab me by the balls and drag me kicking and screaming though her writing. I'm never sure if she's intentionally fucking with the audience, or if her writing is just naturally chaotic/evil and reading it causes insanity.

It came from 1954. The beast of Sunny Florida. The thing from another world.

Surface, surface, surface...

As an avid reader, I can easily go through three or four books a week, particularly during the summer months, and this particular book came into my possession as an impulse buy at my local second hand market. I had never heard of the author, or the title before, however while the brief synopsis on the back cover gave little away, the contrasts between the basic plot and the seemingly innocuous title—Heart Shaped Box—was enough to get my attention to give Joe Hill's debut novel a try.

Let me get it out in the open that Joe Hill's NOS4A2 is a brilliant book; it is a sheer irresistible page-turner packed with a fantastic story and characterization, it tells of Victoria McQueen, known as Brat to her father, finding out her unique ability to a bridge that brings together reality and thoughts/fantasy.

Who Are the Best Horror Writers?

The first text we're going to use is a controversial one. Heart of Darkness was written by Joseph Conrad in the year of 1899. There are multiple quotations in the text that suggest that Marlow has a lot more control over the narrative than Frankenstein in his text. Frankenstein's motives are controlled by his emotions, this can change events and retellings of other people's stories. Whereas, Marlow is able to control the emotions of others using the story. The most notable of these incidents is when he tells Mrs. Kurtz what Kurtz's last words were; of course, he doesn't tell her the truth and says that he said his wife's name instead of "The Horror! The Horror!"