Tag: Scary books

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey 🌟 ARC Review 🌟

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Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This book was so good, the ending so so good, I wanted to just scream. Unfortunately, I can’t because I share this space with other people who would be very angry if I screamed over a book… instead of, you know, actually being in danger. Whatever. But, this book. This is an incredible new look on horror.

Vera was called home by her mother. A home she hasn’t been to in years because she was not welcome there. But, as her mother dies inside that house, Vera at last approaches her home and her past. Horror has often included grisly deaths, monsters under the bed and haunted houses, but never like this. If you are a fan of horror then I cannot recommend this enough.

TW: violence, gore, unsettling imagery

Out July 19, 2022

🌟 Arc Review 🌟 The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward

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Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan, Tor/Forge for this incredible and intense arc, The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward.

Okay….. ooookkkkaaaayyy… honestly ya’ll, I’m having difficulties figuring out where to start with this book bc it literally led me in every direction possible and impossible alike. And, I mean that in a good way!

Meet Ted. Ted is quite strange. Not only does he eat really unique food combinations but his daily life/habits are quite questionable. He has a daughter named Lauren…. he also has a homosexual cat named Olivia. The living arrangements seem a little off, just not clear on where everybody spends their time. Definitely awkward… creepy.

The reader will have different narrators each chapter, Ted, sometimes Lauren, Olivia the cat… also Dee. Dee is an interesting character. She is searching for her little sister lulu who has been missing for some time. And all of this is connected but probably not at all in a way you might presume.

This story, horror story, is bizarre and full of secrets within secrets like those Russian wooden dolls… always more to see than meets the eye! I was completely shocked over and over again. I could have sworn I knew what was really going on and still, another twist and another turn!

This story truly speaks on survival and hope. The way a mind copes with fear and suffering. I highly recommend this read. It is truly unlike anything I’ve read before. Treat yourself to this mind bending ride this Halloween/fall season!

Expect this on Sept. 28th!

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, A Quick Review

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This story takes place in the year 1950 and follows the confident and beautiful Noemi. After being called away from a costume party by her father, she is told that she absolutely must go to her cousin, Catalina, and try to get to the bottom of the disturbing message she has sent them from her new home at the mansion High Place. It’s when Noemi arrives at this once beautiful and grand, but now grandly dilapidated, house that the creepiness begins. Noemi is a strong-willed woman and brave, however she cannot make sense of the visions and illusions that haunt her in High Place or the strange state of her cousin. This book is creepy in every way and the characters have stayed on my mind since I finished reading. The idea behind this tale is disturbing and pushed me to wonder about the morbid and hateful ideals spoken of throughout this book. It’s not just the actual imagery of horror but the mindset that created it in the first place, the master of the house and his whole horrible objective. There were parts that had my skin crawling with chills and goosebumps. Definitely a great read for this spooky season!

The Raven by Jonathan Janz, A Quick Review

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This action packed thriller set in a post apocalyptic world follows Dez as he attempts to find someone that was taken from him. Dez is a Latent, meaning he doesn’t have any powers. When the world went crazy, people everywhere developed Supernatural powers turning them into the monsters of myth. This dangerous world is not only horrifying but incredibly interesting in its structure. Little did I know when I began reading this book how much I would love it. I loved Dez’s character and felt like I was part of the story, at times feeling like he was speaking directly to me particularly when he was journaling. Overall The Raven was a really fun read and a perfect fit for this creeptastic time of year!

After Sundown edited by Mark Morris, A Quick Review

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This was a great collection of horror short stories. All the authors involved are incredibly talented at creating creepy atmospheres that would frighten anyone. From monsters to simply unsettling themes, this collection contains it all. I highly suggest this to anyone looking for a scare!

Feed by Mira Grant, A Quick Review

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Mira Grant (AKA Seanan McGuire) really packed a punch at the end of this first book to The Newsflesh Trilogy. I would like to mention that I did not realise how emotional a Zombie Scifi/fantasy/horror book could be. McGuire did such an amazing job getting the details perfect for this line of storytelling. I really was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. I think the credibility of Maguire’s ideas that create this new Zombified version of America are truly well thought out and fascinating. This is a great read for Zombie fans, for Scifi fans, for fans of Journalism and Politics… all of the above. I cannot wait to read the next book!

The Outsider by Stephen King, A Quick Review

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What a perfect start to my Spooktacular Fall Reads! King did not let me down. The beginning especially, the first 300 pages or so, were incredibly suspenseful. I had no idea what was happening until a certain character basically laid it out. This book was full of creepy surprises and was based on a horrifying murder of a young man. This murder led to an arrest but also many other questions which personally held me in the most suspense. This book was published in 2018 and I must say that King still has the crown of “Master of Horror ” with his real world horrific events mixed with the supernatural.

It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan, A Review

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First, can I just say, what a creepy cover this is? The sense of beauty in its creepiness is a very good way to illustrate the style of writing in this book of horror.

This story is about a family that lives in a very old house. Mainly about the two sisters, Sam and Elizabeth, after Elizabeth moves back home 8 months pregnant and separated from her husband. Sam is very different from her sister however, mainly in that she can see and hear the past inhabitants of her and her mother’s home. This does not start becoming really scary until after her sister’s arrival back home which somehow sparks the presence of a new ghost, a little faceless boy.

The past is just as haunting as the present in this thriller and even more so in the gorgeous style of storytelling the author uses that not only makes the reader feel like a part of this tale but see it clearly play out in the mind’s eye. The author truly builds this haunted house with their words and the fear just spills out from the pages.

I highly recommend this book for fans of horror! Thanks for reading my review and happy reading!

Carrie by Stephen King, A Review

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This. This is where it starts. And what an incredible start to a continuously outstanding career. The arrangement of the story is unique in a way that makes it move swiftly and keeps the reader interested. Stephen King’s debut novel became an immediate hit not just because it was a distinctive story but because it was just THAT good.

The character of Carrie seems so real. I feel like I knew several versions of Carrie throughout my time in middle school and high school. This story creates a fear in the reader not just because of the fantastical occurrences around Carrie, but how easy it is to believe in the dreadful mistreatment she suffers at the hands of her peers. All of us have either been on the giving or recieving end of high school bullying, which is why this story is really not that farfetched (besides the telekinetic activity, which, perhaps, some do believe in.)

I feel like I’ve really gotten to know Stephen King on a different level this year. And the reoccurring theme that I find in his work that I’ve read is the truth to the human cruelty. And that is what terrifies me the most in his novels. I can really believe that without a doubt, humans are capable of malicious harm, and if it can happen, Stephen King can imagine it. And, I tell you what. I will leave these realistic and horrific circumstances to the master himself and I will also, very willingly, leave it in his books because I do not want to ever experience any of the things he’s imagined.

I highly recommend any book by Stephen King. He will find a way to crawl under your skin and mesmerize you while terrifying you!

Thanks for reading my review and happy reading!!!

The Stand by Stephen King, A Review

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This book was long… very long. It is no simple undertaking. What I found most interesting is how comparable this long book is to Stephen King’s other very long book, IT. And I must say, I had the same feeling towards the end of both of these books and I do not believe it is a feeling that would be appreciated by the author.

Honestly, the “good guys” are just too good by the end. I feel like their goodness overwhelms me and not in a positive way. I feel like they get a little preachy and self-righteous which makes me wonder if I would be better off defecting to the side of evil. This book begs the question that I did ask myself… Where do you Stand?

The book begins in crisis mode and just rolls forward from there. A government experiment gone wrong, very wrong. And as the plague is released, I followed five main characters on their painful, life altering journey. Not just surviving the plague while watching everyone around them succumb, but figuring out how to move forward and with who.

Some interesting observations I had about King’s descriptions of The Walking Man, the evil one, was the similarities to descriptions in Lord of the Rings. This man was described as dark, and as “the black man” which is how the Nazgul are described by Tolkien. Not only that, but he had a way of opening up a red and all-seeing eye, much like the eye of Sauron.

This is a must read for King fans! I know, soooooo long… but power through and then tell me, where do you Stand?

Thanks for reading my review and happy reading!!!