Category Archives: Horror

books, Horror, Reviews

Reunion by Christopher Farnsworth

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5.

This is one darn good book! It’s a bit of a cross between Stephen King’s It and a superhero story, as the protagonists are children that had to fight an unimaginable evil in their high school year. That experience changed them in ways that, even twenty years later, still weigh on them. But those are not ordinary children. All four have superpowers. One has a photographic memory and absolute recall, and also phenomenal powers of deduction. One is a genius inventor with an almost computer-like brainpower. One is half Fair Fold prince who is stronger, faster, and more ruthless than any adult. And finally, one is a literal magician.

It was interesting to get to know these children and their adult versions. I loved that the chapters were split between THEN and NOW, so we got to gradually uncover both what happened during that fateful night of New Year’s Evil during their high school year and what is happening in the present when they are all called back into Middleton for the 20-year reunion. We are gradually introduced to each of the four protagonists and shown what makes them special, but we also discover what drew them together and allowed them to defeat Colchester the first time.

I must admit that the NOW chapters were rather depressing, especially when showing their lives before they came back for the Reunion, because all of them, except for Alana, maybe, seemed to have lived in a holding pattern. They had so many dreams and goals before New Year’s Evil, and they just let those turn into ash. It’s especially apparent for Eric who lost his real magic and spent 20 years being a stage magician in Las Vegas, and drinking himself into an early grave.

So while returning to Middleton isn’t something none of them wanted, that return allows them to finally kill the past once and for all. To resolve issues that were left hanging. To defeat the evil that was left to linger and fester because of cowardice. And by doing that, they can let go of that past and finally start living the lives they were destined to have. That’s a powerful message right there.

My only complaint is that the Followers are a very stupid bunch for an evil death cult. I know that humans can be cruel, petty, and selfish, but come on, are you telling me that so many people went along with literally bringing about the end of the world and expected to survive it? Or even gain anything from it? And not kids. Normal adult people who should know better.

But that’s just a small gripe. If you want a good character-driven book and you loved It, then I suggest you go and get Reunion. You won’t regret it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Ghost Story, Reviews

The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird by Louisa Morgan

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

This book started with a bang, and I really liked the character of Beatrice and her genuine desire to help people. She is a compelling character and easy to like. Though I must admit that I couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief that dropping acid a couple of times would somehow unlock her latent ability to see other people’s ghosts. However, I was willing to let that slide because I liked Bea, and I wanted to see where this story would go. I wanted to see Bea conquer her ghosts and come triumphant on the other end of her ordeal.

I also loved the island and the nuns who run the ferry. Mother Maggie was a pleasure to read about, and I would have loved to hear more about her life and her very pale and washed-out ghosts. Unfortunately, we don’t get nearly enough of her in this story.

The descriptions of island life are also very calming. I wouldn’t have minded living in Bea’s cottage with the cows and the views of the tumultuous sea. So I was fully engaged with the story and read the first 50% of the book in one sitting. Then Anne arrived at the island, and the book went downhill from there.

See, the story shifted from being about Bea to being about Anne and her abusive and controlling husband. Bea was relegated to a side character who was there to build up Anne’s confidence and be a receptive ear for Anne to tell us her story. It would have worked hadn’t Anne been such a meh character. I understand what the author tried to do here – the battered wife who carries all the guilt about being in this situation in the first place and thinks it’s her fault. However, this is written a bit on the nose here. Her husband is a caricature of an abusive and controlling psychopath. He is so over-the-top evil that I couldn’t take him seriously as a character or as a threat to Bea and Anne. There are better books written about this topic. Heck, even Stephen King wrote a book about a battered wife who ran away from her abusive cop husband and managed to build a new life for herself, and that book was more compelling than Anne’s story.

So after the focus shifted to Anne, I slowly lost interest in the book. In fact, I put it down for a few weeks and only came back to it because I don’t like DNFing books unless I absolutely don’t jell with them. But I skimmed till the end more than I read, hitting the major plot points. And even then I can tell that the ending is very overwritten. It should have stopped several chapters before it did. In fact, it should have stopped after James left the island the second time. Everything else could have been summarized in a brief epilogue. 

As it stands, this book had a lot of promise but ended up a disappointment for me, but I am willing to give it 2.5 stars because in the beginning I really thought I would love it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews

The Atrocity Engine (Custodians of the Cosmos 1) by Tim Waggoner

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Stars: 2 out of 5

I was ready to love this book. On a side note, love that cover! That’s what drew me to the book in the first place. 

The idea behind this series is very intriguing – the world is basically dying (albeit slowly) because there is a giant black hole in the center of the universe called the Geir that is devouring it. Our protagonists work for the Maintenance whose sole purpose is to slow down the destruction of the known universe and delay the inevitable collapse. Our antagonist is an aspiring member of the Multitude, whose purpose is the exact opposite – precipitate the end of the universe and inflict as much death and destruction as possible in the process.

The premise is excellent, and I was all onboard to enjoy a thrilling ride… but I was sorely disappointed. 

There are several issues, but the biggest one is the lack of worldbuilding, or the inconsistency thereof. The author mentions that the Maintenance has existed since at least the Roman empire and that they know everything it’s possible to know about Corruption and entropic energy… Yet they miss some pretty big clues during this book. 

Their agents are supposed to be trained in fighting the Corruption and the corrupted people, yet in all the fights we see, they freeze or behave like this is their first time on the job. The most glaring example is when 4 Interventionists just froze and let their enemies swat them with a car like flies. These people are supposed to be professionals, so why is it that the only two people who know what they are doing are our protagonists? Also, whose stupid idea was it not to arm the agents that are the first in the field? Yes, they their role is to observe and call for backup, but they have a right to defend themselves while backup is getting there. 

But my biggest issue were the characters. They are very one-dimentional. The bad guys are so bad they are almost caricatures of themselves. I mean Rachel takes the cake of psycho bitch who loves making her victims suffer. But she is also not very bright… I would even say stupid. All her actions show a lack of planning and an inability to predict the consequences even two steps in advance.

And Neal and Gina… well, we have the grizzled veteran and the special snowflake. Neither of them are interesting or relatable. 

Neal knows everything better than anyone else at Maintenance, and is always proven right. Constantly goes against the authority of his superior, but somehow never gets even a slap on the hands for it. Then why is he still at the bottom of that ladder?  If he is so great, shouldn’t he be running the joint by now?

Gina comes across as naive to the point of stupidity. Oh, you only now start to wonder if your family is maybe pursuing their personal gain instead of the goals Maintenance has? What, you never noticed that none of the other Maintenance workers lived in mansions and drove expensive cars and wore luxury clothes? You never once stop to consider why your family thinks that is normal when the very core of Maintenance is to live modestly and only take what you need? Yeah, I didn’t connect with her at all, and her POVs were a chore to read through.

The plot itself is full of contrivances and conveniences that drive it to where the author wants it to go instead of letting it evolve naturally as a consequence of the actions characters take. I’m guessing that’s why the villain comes across as brain-dead and making such stupid decisions.

All in all, this was a complete disappointment for me, and I will not be continuing with this series. This was also my first book by this author, and now I’m not even sure if I want to give him another try.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Ghost Story, Reviews, Urban fantasy

Ghost Detective (Myron Vale Investigations 1) by Scott William

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Stars: 4 out of 5

This was a surprisingly good book, though not what I expected when I started reading it. I mean, it’s classified as a mystery book, and even though yes, we have a private detective investigating a possible murder, the book isn’t really about that.

This book is about human connections and ties that bound. About love and hate, and everything in between that can spark between two people and can often transcend death. It’s about how we often hurt the people we love, or stay in a toxic relationship because we still love the person hurting us.

I was actually surprised at how much I liked Myron Vale, our protagonist. If you think about it, his life is a bit of a nightmare. He can see ghosts… all of them… all the time. Not only can he see them, but he can also hear them, and smell them, but he can’t touch them. But more importantly, he can’t tell the difference between the dead and the living. To him, they all feel real. The only way for him to differentiate the living from the dead is to touch them. And touching strangers is kind of frowned upon in our society.

I could understand the depth of despair he descends into after the shooting when he realizes that his not being able to differentiate between the living and the ghosts means he can’t do his job as a police detective anymore. When he can’t tell which treat is real and which is just a ghost, he can’t react quickly and efficiently. Worse, he can put his partner in danger.

I wasn’t particularly fond of Billie, but the more I learned about their relationship, the better I understood her as well. Theirs is the perfect example of a love that has turned toxic, but neither is willing to end the torment. In a way, I’m glad about her decision in the end.

The murder mystery case that Myron is paid to investigate in this book isn’t really all that interesting or mysterious, but it was never the emphasis of this book, just a vehicle for the story.

I do have some questions though. Like why did the priest want Myron to drop the case? Why did he imply that if he followed through with it, some entities in the ghost world might consider him a threat and might even eliminate him? This is never brought up again. Maybe this will become important in the following books in the series, and I think I will check out book 2.

books, Horror, Reviews

Haunted Ground: The Ghosts of Laskin’s Farm by Cailyn Lloyd

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I had such great hopes for this book! It started strong, and I thought that finally, this would be a decent ghost story. One where supernatural elements would help the protagonist against the very real threat that the cartel poses.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. 

The setup is perfect – an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere seemingly frozen in time. Fully furnished and provisioned, like the family just stepped out for a minute and never came back home. All their possessions still there. A desperate protagonist who is willing to put up with the creepiness of the situation in exchange for a safe haven from the evil that is hunting her. I loved the beginning of this book with Kat finding the house and setting up, but unfortunately, the story went downhill from there.

The biggest problem is Kat herself. I hate protagonists who are too stupid to live, but survive against all odds (and common sense) because of plot armor, and Kat is a perfect example of such a protagonist. 

So she is on the run from the cartel. She thinks her best bet is to go to ground and disappear off the radar for a while. That makes perfect sense. If I were her, I would leave the state first, and go as far as I could before I found a hole to hide in instead of staying in the vicinity, but okay, to each its own. She finds this abandoned farmhouse by looking through satellite images and Google Maps. Okay, that works too. But then she starts remodeling the place and improving it once she gets there – clears out the backyard, dumps the trash from the house outside, etc, and it never crosses her mind that all those changes will be visible to satellites? Google updates its maps regularly. So a cleared-out backyard in an abandoned farm would stick out like a sore thumb. Does she think that the people looking for her are too stupid to use Google Maps?

Also, if you are trying to hide and keep a low profile, settling near a small town where almost everyone knows each other and the presence of a stranger will be noted is not a very good idea. Biking to said town several times a week for supplies is also rather stupid. People remember a stranger on a bike buying provisions twice a week. At least spread your shopping between several small towns. Go to different ones each week, etc.

My other issue is that I didn’t particularly like how women were portrayed in this book. Other than Kat, who is portrayed as this good person who slipped and make some mistakes, but is turning her life around now, everyone else is bitchy and condescending. Natalie is judgemental and self-serving, oh, and seems to hate rich men for no particular reason. And Gina… don’t even start me on Gina. Power-hungry but insecure she-bitch. I mean, I thought we were done with these cliched representations by now. All the women in Kat’s life are horrible, apart from her cell-mate who is conveniently absent from the story. All the men around her are also horrible, apart from her love interest who is too nice to be true. 

Finally, why did we even mention ghosts in this story? They play no part in it. Everything that happened is a geological phenomenon. Take the ghosts out of the book, and nothing changes. I came for a haunted house book, not for whatever this turned out to be. 

Also, the plume affects literally everyone apart from Kat herself? She is the only one who can keep her wits about her and not succumb to paranoia, violence,e and stupidity? Yeah, I don’t believe that. 

books, Horror, Reviews

Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This is a hard book to review. I’m not sure if I liked it or hated it, to tell the truth. The narrative is a jumbled mess with the concept of an unreliable narrator pushed to the limit. It did, however, leave an impression on me, and that’s usually an indication that it’s a good book even if it’s not really a book for me.

Let’s talk positives first, shall we? The prose is beautiful. The author knows her way with words and how to paint an immersive picture. It’s beautiful and haunting at the same time. The descriptions worm into your mind and slowly seed a sense of malaise the longer you read the book. Things aren’t quite right, you can feel it, but most of the time, you can’t really put your finger on what’s wrong. This is a psychological horror story, so there will be no jump scares and splatter gore, and it’s exactly how I like my horror books.

However, this book is also a jumbled mess, which makes it confusing and frustrating, and you don’t get all the answers by the end of it. 

The biggest issue I had was the split timeline. We get the Before chapters following the 10-year-old David dealing with the disappearance of his grandfather and then his slow descent into a full-blown psychotic break. But we also have the After chapters that follow David as he is trying to retrace his grandfather’s steps and find the door he used to escape this world.

Problem is, at the beginning of the book, we don’t know that the After chapters and the Before chapters are about the same person, and we have no emotional connection to the narrator. So I didn’t really care about what happened to this strange person running from some pursuers in a very strange world. It was, as I already mentioned, confusing and even a bit irritating.

I liked the chapters with young David the best. I can relate to his struggle to accept that his grandfather is gone, especially since he was the only person who talked to the kid. I mean, the rest of his family sure didn’t. I was a lot less invested in the older David, even though I could empathize with his slow unraveling. 

I think my biggest issue is that the After chapters are pretty much useless to the story. If I understood well, they were just hallucinations born from DAvid’s broken mind during a dissociative state. There were no doors to other worlds, no strange liminal land called Mothtown. Or was there? There is no clear answer to that.

Also, if all of this was just in David’s head during a mental breakdown, what of all the vanishing people? Is that real? Or is that also part of his delusion? There is never a resolution to that particular plotline. It just gradually disappears from the narrative. 

All in all, even though I loved the prose of this book, the story was way too confusing and jumbled for me to enjoy fully. I don’t mind working for my answers, but I need to get at least some of them by the end of a book.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews

Rags by Ty Drago

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Stars: 4 out of 5

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. I knew it was horror, and I knew there was some kind of evil spirit involved. What I hadn’t realized is just how much heart this novel would have. 

Abby is a foster kid. She’s been bounced from foster home to foster home all her life, until she finally ended up in her current foster home with another twelve foster kids that she calls her sibs. It’s a good home, and her foster parents are good people. Problem is, the foster home is a run down hotel right on the broadwalk in Atlantic City, which is prime real estate for casinos and such. And bad people want that stretch of land, and they won’t take no for an answer. But Abby has a a dark power of her own, one she is terrified of, but that she will have to use if she wants to save her family.

I grew to really like Abby and her siblings and feel for them. I heard horror stories about the American foster system, and here the author managed to convey the point of view of a foster child pretty well. The helplessness, the need to have something that belongs to them in a world where all your possessions can fit in a trash bag and your whole world can be uprooted in a moment’s notice by adults for whom you are just a number in the system. So when you find something good, something that feels like family, of course you will hang on to it for dear life.

And the mystery with Rags was intriguing and resolved in a satisfying manner. Rags isn’t your run of the mill evil spirit. It didn’t want to be a mindless killing machine in the service of a vodou practitioner. It wanted to tie itself to someone who had a moral compass. To become a guardian instead of a butcher. 

There is still plenty of violence, mind you, preformed both by Rags and the bad guys. And the bad guys are truly villainous, even excessively so, I would say. I am not sure that crooked cop could have gotten away with as much as he did get away with, but then again, I am an optimist who believes that those who choose to serve (be it in the police or the military) do it mostly from altruistic reasons, apart from a few bad apples. But it sure makes it easy to root for Abby the underdog and cheer when Rags dishes out its brand of justice onto them.

The final choice Abby had to make to save her family was heart-wrenching but logical. There was really nothing else she could do. Yes, she could have run away and decided that it wasn’t her problem, but having followed her from the beginning of this book, I knew that it wasn’t a choice she could ever have made. And now her foster home has a guardian against all the evil people who want to harm her sibs and her adoptive mother.

PS: I received  a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Fantasy, Ghost Story, Reviews

The Path of Thorns by A.G. Slater

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

This was one dark tale. I don’t know if I should categorize it as a fairy tale or a gothic tale or  just historical fantasy, but that doesn’t particularly matter, does it? It’s a good book.

The world is reminiscent of Victorian England, only with traces of magic still around, and magical creatures still lurking in the shadows of everyday life (though who is to say that is not the case in our world as well?).  Asher Todd arrives at a remote manor in a remote village to assume the role of governess for the three grandchildren of the lady of the manor. Only Asher Todd is not who she seems, and her reasons for arriving here are not altruistic. She has two goals at Morwood Grange – one requested from her by the person who sent her there, and another one very personal. As customary for any gothic tale, things won’t go well for anyone. 

I liked Asher Todd, and I really rooted for her to accomplish her goals and win… until I slowly discovered what those goals were and who she was doing all this for. Then I rooted for her to finally break free of her past and the unhealthy hold her mother has on her. Because Asher never lived for herself a day in her life. Her mother made sure every breath she took was full of guilt and sense of duty. I’m glad that Asher managed to tear herself free of Morwood in the end. 

The other inhabitants of Morwood Grange are rather depictable human beings. I was happy that they got their just desserts in the end. That whole house was like a big jar full of poisonous spiders ready to sting each other to death. The only innocents there were the children, so I’m glad they were spared. 

I liked how the author introduced the world and slowly wove details from Asher’s past into the unfolding story of Morwood Grange. And even though the book dragged a little in the dreaded middle, it still managed to keep me invested in Asher’s quest. I will definitely check out other books by this author.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Ghost Story, Horror, Reviews

Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women by Lee Murray

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

This collection of short stories seems better put together than the previous collection I read in this cycle – Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror. I think the decision not to add anything to the collection except an introduction and an afterword and let the stories speak for themselves was a good one.

And the stories themselves are good. Some I liked better than others, but all of them kept my attention and made me think about the messages they wanted to convey. I also know that I will check out some of the authors features in this anthology and see what other works they have.

All in all, it was a good collection of short stories that I read between other bigger novels as a palate cleanser and had fun doing so.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews, Zombies

The City Grew Monsters by Hunter Adams

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

This was a surprisingly good book as far as zombie apocalypse books go. Interesting zombie origin here – from a mutated bug bite. The fact that it takes several victims for the virus to mutate enough to fully reanimate a human is also a nice touch. The rate of infection is rather fast, in my opinion, but that just adds to the tension of what’s unfolding on the pages, even if it sounds rather unrealistic. Zombie books aren’t about realism, right?

Though I am still confused as to how the contagion that started in an hospital in LA spread so fast as far as San Francisco in the span of one night. I’m no map expert, but aren’t those cities pretty far apart?

I liked all the characters and loved experiencing the unfolding events from their different points of view. They are all flawed and often selfish, but they are relatable. It was interesting to see the veneer of civilization coming off them when faced with the full horror of their situation. You can’t reason with a zombie. You can’t just give him your wallet and hope that he won’t stab you in response. You have to run or fight and hope like hell that you will kill that walking corpse before it infects you as well. 

The point of view of a six years old child caught in the midst of all this was especially terrifying. Maddy is already traumatized by what happened to her mother a couple years ago and has severe developmental and psychological issues because of that. Add to this the fact that she is in this building illegally, and that she isn’t supposed to talk to strangers because that could get her dad fired from his job, and this adds an additional level of stress and confusion for an already traumatized child. Is it surprising that she makes mistakes and often rather stupid decisions? 

My only complaint was that I didn’t particularly like the ending. It was a little bit too convenient that the billionaire whose penthouse Maddy was hiding in chose to come get his art right at the precise time they needed saving. Also very convenient that he, for some reason, decides to save them instead of his possessions. Yes, Maddy’s father mentions at one point that the man owes him a favor, but that idea is never expanded upon. That’s one heck of a favor to make someone abandon his priceless possessions.

All in all though, I really enjoyed this zombie book and will definitely check out more books by this author.