book reviews
Book reviews for horror fans; weather a sleepless night with literary accounts of hauntings, possessions, zombies, vampires and beyond.
Rules for Vanishing - Kate Alice Marshall - Book Review
Plot Summary: Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall is that supernatural road trip with your high school friends that you never had. Students at Sara’s school receive a mass phone text asking them to play Lucy’s game - to go down the legendary road which opens up one night a year and search for the ghost of Lucy Gallows. No one knows if the road even exists or if the journey down the road is safe. Sara is going to go down the road to look for her sister Becca, who everyone says ran away from home, but Sara knows she’s somewhere on the road. Her friends join her on her journey as well - some because they care about Sara and Becca and some because it sounds like a good lark. Will they find Becca and more importantly, will they survive the road?
Eta GeorgePublished 4 years ago in HorrorThe Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - Book Review
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is the latest book offering by author Grady Hendrix. It’s Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula a Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the ‘90s about a women’s book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.
Eta GeorgePublished 4 years ago in HorrorReed's Literary Horror Review of "Extinction Peak" by Lucas Mangum (2020)
I'd like to point out that I never finished Jurassic Park because the meat and potatoes of that book bored me to tears. I tried multiple times, but there was just something too dry, too clinical about it. Perhaps it was the wording or the plot format, but it always felt like far too long before raptors started eating people. As I've stated that I'm a hard customer to please; being severely ADHD as well as being easily bucked from my reader's trance. If either issue arises in my readings, it's likely to stop my reading altogether.
Reed AlexanderPublished 4 years ago in HorrorOverview of Goosebumps Welcome to Dead House
Enter at Your own Risk... Amanda and Josh think the old house they have just moved into is weird. Spooky. Possibly haunted. And the town of Dark Falls is pretty strange, too. — But their parents don't believe them. You'll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends. — So Amanda and Josh do. But these creepy new friends are not exactly what their parents had in mind.
Jared GutweinPublished 4 years ago in Horror'Pet Sematary' : Does it still hold up?
The 1983 horror novel 'Pet Sematary' is undoubtedly one of Stephen King's greats, with a uniquely terrifying plot and iconic imagery. But do the scares hold up?
Ciarán ColemanPublished 4 years ago in HorrorCoraline: The perfect horror book for kids
'Coraline' is a novella written by Neil Gaiman that was first published in 2001. It was adapted into a critically acclaimed stop-motion film in 2009. Now Gaiman is a household name amongst fans of fantasy fiction and rightfully so, with incredible works like the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, and The Graveyard Book, to say the least. With an ever-growing fanbase and multiple screen adaptations, let's have a look at the children's novella that helped catapult Gaiman into the spotlight.
Ciarán ColemanPublished 4 years ago in Horror'IT' by Stephen King book review
'IT' is in King's top 5, without a shadow of a doubt. A lot would call it his best, over other classics like 'The Shining' and 'Misery'. It's macabre, nostalgic and terrifying but this doesn't mean it's without its flaws. Let's talk about IT.
Ciarán ColemanPublished 4 years ago in HorrorLock Every Door Spoiler Free Review
It’s no secret that I am a SUPER fan of Riley Sager. I preordered an American Copy of his latest book and it has arrived a whole year before UK release (and after this second lockdown announcement? It was a great decision).
Kit ala KatPublished 4 years ago in HorrorBooks to Check Out: October 2020 Reads
October has just ended, and it was quite a spooky one indeed. I only read two books during this month, but they both will help you carry that mysterious Halloween spirit with you whenever you sit down to read them. We’ve got a biography and a psychological thriller, so strap in folks.
Book Review: Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird
Watch out. I'm about to get petty. “Queens of the Abyss” was something by Mike Ashley I was patiently waiting for and when it came out, I had already pre-ordered it. When I began reading it, I was really happy to see that there was a story by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - the writer of books like “Lady Audley’s Secret” and the horror story “The Shadow in the Corner”. When I started reading it, I noticed that not all of the tales were very much ‘weird’ especially in the context of what the book is stating it as. When I read the other tales, not all of them matched up to the Mary Elizabeth Braddon story I read in terms of the contextual weird. The ‘weird’ portrayed by the story by Mary Elizabeth Braddon refers to what is suggestive and supernatural rather than something that is blatant and simply existing which were so in other tales such as the stories by Marie Corelli.
Annie KapurPublished 4 years ago in HorrorUnsafe Words by Loren Rhoads
Tagline: Once you’ve done the most unforgivable thing, what will you do next? Book Description Provided by the Author: In the first full-length collection of her edgy, award-winning short stories, Loren Rhoads punctures the boundaries between horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction in a maelstrom of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Ghosts, succubi, naiads, vampires, the Wild Hunt, and the worst predator in the woods stalk these pages, alongside human monsters who follow their cravings past sanity or sense.
Spirit Guide Communication through the Art of DivinationPublished 4 years ago in HorrorBeneath the Attic Trilogy by V.C. Andrews - Series Review
V.C. Andrews "Flowers in the Attic" series has captivated readers for the last four decades. Five books explored the twisted Dollanganger family - Andrew Neiderman became the ghost writer for V. C. Andrews following her death in 1986. As well as writing his own V.C. inspired family series, he has delved into the Flowers series with a prequel and sequel continuation. These reviews are purely based on my opinion and focus on the prequel series.