Happy book birthday to STARLING HOUSE by Alix E. Harrow
Opal and her brother are just scraping by with Opal doing her best taking whatever jobs are available and whatever loose items happen to be within reach. She needs to make some fast money so she can send her teen brother to a good school and out of their crummy little town. As she passes the creepy house that she has always been attracted to its recluse owner offers her a job as housekeeper. The house is happy to have her and even Arthur warms up to this caustic but lovable young woman. But Arthur is the last in line of a history of wardens that guard against nightmare beasts getting out. Dark forces are gathering at the gate both the monsters of Underland and the wealthy monsters in town. A showdown is coming and with it Opal's chance at dreams instead of nightmares and redemption for Arthur. Alix E. Harrow has created wonderful characters similar to Don Quixote's fierce but ill equipped underdog heroes that will pierce your heart. 4 1/2 stars
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With grant money in hand Holly gets the break she has been looking for. The only thing missing is a rental where she and the actors can develop the play and she thinks she finds it in the Hill House. Personalities aside it will take some doing for all of them to feel comfortable in the spooky remote mansion. Soon all of them feel the pull of the house and they begin confronting personal demons. This is the only authorized continuation of Shirley Jackson's classic. All the elements are there - the gothic house with a myriad of secrets, the skeptical housekeepers who won't stay after dark, the townspeople who want them gone, a storm brewing and a group of people whose emotions are running wild. You will slowly sink into the madness with them and you will never look at a rabbit the same way again. 4 stars
Happy book birthday to NIGHT OF THE WITCH by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis
A excellent tale of old witchcraft both green and dark and the age old persecution of witches. In a small village a young girl hides while her mother is dragged off and burned for being a witch. Fritzi is now doing her best to protect the others in the coven while trying to keep ahead of the relentless Hexenjager (witch hunters). Otto is one of those Hexenjager but he has a secret agenda. When Fritzi is captured she must trust Otto or burn along with a hundred of the villagers. A clever mix of hunter and hunted with an enemy to lover angle that will delight both YA and adult readers. The author pair write well together and I look forward to the second book. 4 stars Cam has been living off the glory of his first horror novel without a followup in sight so when he is suddenly offered a writer in residence position at a small college he jumps on it. His girlfriend Quinn is not so eager to return near her childhood home in an area billed as "the most haunted county in America". They agree to get out if anything feels off which it does almost immediately. As Cam gets pulled into an eager and secretive group of his peers Quinn begins to research some of the local history and meets a weirdo group of women all her own. Bad things are afoot and the nightmares which helped Cam write his novel feel a little too identical to Edenville. Scary, gory with over the top cult groupies that you can't get out of your head and a demon made of old wood this is perfect for Halloween as long as you leave the lights on. 4 stars
Happy book birthday to OUT THERE SCREAMING edited by Jordan Peele
I think most will agree that Black authors have probably witnessed more than their fair share of everyday horror and generational trauma and this anthology showcases some of the best. A collection of well known and not as well known authors writing new short stories that mix the very real fear and horror of racism and fear with ghosts, old magic and the unexplained. From stories of the Freedom Riders to a gifted and frightening brother and sister team to children suffering from an addict mother to two ghosts and their game of taking out those unworthy drivers on Deadman's Curve this is an broad look at the genre told in diverse voices. You do not have to be a devoted reader of horror to appreciate the craft and talent of these authors. 4 stars A haunted house, a haunted husband trying to deal with the death of his wife and raise their two young daughters and the aunt/sister in law who is trying to help but is haunted by her own memories.
This is a classic horror tale complete with a boogyman "Black Mamba" who only the girls can see, a creepy basement where there is a door you don't want to go through and plenty of things that go bump in the night. It is also a haunting of grief and the personal nightmare of dealing with ghosts and memories. British but feels distinctly southern gothic. Readers of Shirley Jackson or Lee Mandela's SUMMER SONS will enjoy this. 3 1/2 stars Ruth has been brought up in a god fearing small community in Louisiana where her strict minister father rules home, church and town. She and her swamp rat best friend Everett have wanted to escape since high school after they made a horrible person disappear. Now years later the crime comes bubbling back to the surface. Battle lines are drawn , dark secrets are about to come to light and the holier than thou religious leaders are headed for Hell. Myths, religious zealots and small southern towns are all at play here along with a jaw dropping cliff hanger ending. There are definite ties to myths, nature and a good old swamp mystery as seen in WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING and THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE. 4 stars
Happy book birthday to AFTER THE FOREST by Kell Woods
It has been years since Greta saved her brother Hans and killed the evil witch and she has been hounded for it ever since. Their lives have not been easy with Han's gambling debts mounting and Greta's enchanted gingerbread being the only thing keeping them out of the poor house. Greta meets a mysterious man with secrets of his own and hopes that their feelings for each other is not due to her use of magic. As she learns more of her family history and her own power becomes stronger Greta begins to find her path. This original story takes in all the elements of Grimm fairy tales weaving them together in a spell more appealing than magic gingerbread, more frightening than the shape shifters in the woods and more dangerous than the villager's fears of sorcery and things they don't understand. I found myself fully immersed and enchanted by the book and the audiobook. This is for all of us grownups who still believe in fairy tales and Kell Woods is an exciting new voice in fantasy. 4 stars Happy book birthday to THE HURRICANE WARS by Thea Guanzon
Enemies sworn to destroy the other , Alaric and Talasyn seem like unlikely allies let alone candidates for a political marriage. That is exactly how this starts and they do their best to fight the attraction they have for each other pretty well. This is the first in a new Asian inspired fantasy series which takes all the elements needed for a new world - political alliances, royalty vs. rebels, magical powers, a fierce orphan who ends up being much more and of course, the enemy to lover sexual tension and sets it in a world of horrific storms and a kingdom under siege. A promising start for debut author Thea Guanzon. 4 stars Chuck Wendig has a wonderful way of quietly freaking you out. What begins as a tale of lost apple hybrids and overextended apple orchard farmers just trying to eke out a living morphs into a dark nightmare and you are fully committed. Dan Paton and his teen daughter Calla run an apple orchard. It is a hard life and one Calla really doesn't want to inherit. When Dan comes across what might be an extinct apple it seems to offer hope. Just like the Garden of Eden, one bite from this apple and you are addicted but it comes at a big price. You feel invincible and will do anything for more. As Dan begins to bring more people into his secret cult and shares the apple Calla and others sense something is very wrong. Soon a small band of unsung heroes are the only ones who can stop the legacy of this curse and the ultimate showdown begins. The stuff of nightmares that will keep me from apples or watching Snow White for a bit. 4 stars
(pub date Sept 26) |
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