Rhiannon

There are monsters in the world and the Keating family has seen them with their own eyes.

Right from the opening pages, this relentlessly traumatic story lets you know it’s not going to pull any punches. The fallout from this horrific nightmare follows the four young Keating children, both literally and figuratively, as we pick up four years after the nightmare began.

They’ve never known why they were targeted by the monster, but they want to find answers – and hopefully some peace. When the family is presented with an opportunity to exorcise the monsters from their past, they are unaware it will come at a very high cost.

This is ostensibly a horror novel about a disintegrating family as they navigate the aftermath of one horrific loss after another while collectively questioning their very minds and memories. Their individual struggles in how they deal with PTSD and each other is what I found most interesting and eminently relatable. This family is messy – how they deal (or don’t) with each other and their father, how their anxieties have come to define them individually, and how they struggle to break from those chains to find a happier existence, is what this story is all about. And it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

There are no happy endings here. Greenwood’s stories are always ultimately emotional horror and this is no exception.

And that monster… maybe it has a family too…

After escaping their collapsing world’s ecology by taking a one-way trip through a gate, a group of colonists land on a world that is occupied by a singular and peculiar planet encompassing ‘Root’. The new arrivals find a strange equilibrium by learning to harvest this disturbingly somewhat sentient entity for sustenance. A whole religion and symbiosis erupt around it and fifty years after colonizing, the (particularly gruesome) Miracle happens and things take a turn for the horrifically surreal.

The imaginative, if desolate, world was unique and interesting – I loved the description of this strange environment. A great concept for an alien planet. The writing is often poetic and frequently challenging, as there are several POVs going on and it’s not always readily apparent whose you’re reading when you start a new chapter, which some readers may find confusing or off-putting.

Thematically I do wish there had been more development around motherhood, humanity’s hubris, and arrogance regarding the environment. It’s a shorter novella that I think could do with a bit of expansion to really explore not just the themes, but more of the characters themselves.

An intriguing and thought provoking story.

My thanks to NetGalley and Stelliform Press for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

Releases 30 July 2026

Now, I’m not the target audience here. But it was absolutely insisted by a 12-year-old relative that I unconditionally HAD to read this book, and she promptly lent me her copy, along with its sequel. It’s been a long while since I’ve visited a book (that would be way back when Potter first arrived) that goes for the ‘tween’ demographic. That term was nowhere near in use when I actually fit that age category. And honestly, I was reading some pretty advanced books for my age (Dune, The Silmarillion, Thomas Covenant, and a bunch of wildly inappropriate horror by 12), so it probably wouldn’t have mattered much to me at the time, regardless.

Anyway. I digress.

Turns out my cynical, sardonic soul can still be charmed by childhood adventures. And this book was an absolute delight of surprisingly sophisticated, but not excessively so, writing. The turns of phrase and humour made me giggle. The imagination was excellent and I really appreciated the author’s use of a mix of mythical creatures in a hidden archipelago of islands on earth. The illustrations were positively enticing. This is the kind of thing that would have sent me spinning off to a library to research every creature and critter she mentions to find out its history and that would have led me to reading mythology, etc. Which is kinda what happened when I became obsessed with Harryhousen movies as a child. The book is strongly reminiscent of Earthsea and Potter and a smidge of Lewis and Pullman thrown in as well.

I rather enjoyed this sweet journey into childhood. It was a marvelous and memorable adventure and I guess I will have to listen to more 12-year-olds’ book recs!

This collection of stories isn’t bad, but most of them, individually, also weren’t great. However, a couple of standouts for me:

Once Seen - Conrad Williams has a bit of a cosmic detective noir feel to it that has a lot of uneasy abstract imagery. Its inevitable conclusion was obvious but also very Lovecraftian in its simplistic end.

Sideways - Ray Cluley was very effective and creepy with its other-dimensional mystery and weird cosmic angles and liminal spaces.

Agent of Chaos - T. Kingfisher is a perfect blend of cosmic horror and humour. Loved it.

The Beholder’s Share - Caitlín R. Kiernan – as always, I love Kiernan’s writing. It never ceases to make me feel uncomfortable and full of dread.

Halogen Sky - Wendy N. Wagner was a fantastic liminal space vibe of all hotels being the same, creepy hotel (I’ve always believed this.) It’s also an excellent story of a life stripped away through sameness. This one will haunt my sleep.

One Possible Shape of Things To Come - Brian Hodge was excellent. An engineered apocalypse and the end of society as we know it via a deeply disturbing affliction of children and the always effective ‘weird angles and architecture’ theme. I loved this story.

My overall discontent with this collection is the majority of the tales, while ostensibly horror, didn’t provide that frisson of apprehension, the subconscious and existential dread that gets stuck in your hind brain and doesn’t leave. These stories aren’t meant to be part of the Elder God mythos, and that’s fine. I’ve always been a fan of all Lovecraft tales, but they all have a very specific ‘feel’ to them and I was expecting at least that to be the underpinning of such a collection. Mostly I felt somewhat bored and annoyed that the stories didn’t meet that brief for me. Again, they weren’t necessarily bad (although some were as dull as paint drying) but my expectation – given the title of the collection – wasn’t really met.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

An exhaustive compendium of the Pet Shop Boys uniquely recognizable visual aesthetic and style throughout the years. This high-quality, gorgeous hardback illustrates and details the PSB artistic decisions in everything they’ve done from 1984 to 2024 – from sleeve artwork, videos, photo shoots, video, performances, costumes, books, and even the more obscure theatrical designs for their live performances and works with collaborators for live stage and theatre.

The book alone is magnificent in its quality, production values, and content. This is a must for any PSB fan – or anyone who just loves design. PSB has cultivated a very specific path for their lengthy career and the vast collection of stunning images gathered here, along with their respective meticulous conception and development stories, made me appreciate their unique and quirky style and personalities all the more.

A frantic and hair-raising horror tale of a man tasked with protecting his dead mother's body from the evil that is hunting them.

It’s a last request (more of a directive) from his mother, Maggie, as she lies on her deathbed – instructing him to take her body from Indiana to a town in Maine within two days, with a vague and haunting promise that if it’s not done, an unimaginable evil will be unleashed. Despite his fractured relationship with his inscrutable and prickly mother, Malcolm and Violet, his sister-in-law who has effectively been abandoned by Malcolm’s reprobate brother, Elias, promise to fulfill Maggie’s charge to him.

The action in this horror novel moves along at breakneck speed. Malcolm and Violet have only 2 days to get Maggie’s body to its destination. It’s the 1950s and transportation is restricted to train and automobile, not giving them much time at all to meet their deadline. To further complicate matters they discover they are pursued by terrifying creatures and it’s a literal race as they (and the reader) try to understand what hunts them, what secrets Maggie held, and why it seems that she may not be entirely dead. Along the way Malcolm will come to understand the root of his troubled relationship with his mother.

I enjoyed the framework of this story – it kept the core mystery going without becoming tiresome or irritating – feeding the reader just enough to keep the momentum and interest. The complex relationships between Malcolm and Violet, as well as his absent siblings, and how that has shaped their precarious ties with each other and Maggie, felt real and relatable. The horror of the creatures pursuing them as they cut a literal path of absolute bloody destruction and death was visceral and compelling.

Setting the novel in the 1950s made for a unique setting as well – tech as we know it now isn’t available. Mores and values are very different, adding to some very interesting dynamics and relationships (some of which made my teeth grind in frustration and grateful for progress.) The idea of vampires isn’t a culturally known phenomenon, so it’s fresh and exciting. If you enjoyed the movie Sinners, this novel is similar in setting it an older decade but not so old as to be entirely unfamiliar. Quite enjoyable and striking entry into the vampire subgenre.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blossoming, budding… blooming horror… this has it all and it packs a punch.

This delicious novella is sweet and savage in all the right ways. When Ro meets Ash at a local farmer’s market, she’s instantly smitten with her and her seemingly perfect bucolic life, much to her surprise. And she’ll do just about anything to stay in Ash’s bewitching presence – including overlooking all the warning signs…

Dawson’s prose is gorgeous and lush without being indulgent. It’s a horror that’s languid in its pacing but I loved Dawson’s writing that I was still fully engaged in the story even when it’s a lot of atmosphere and set up. Although this strange sapphic relationship moves fast it doesn’t feel like it when you’re reading it.

And even when you start getting weird interior alarm bells ringing, because it’s all set in this perfect, beautiful pastoral farmhouse and market the horror sneaks up on you. Yes, Ro is blind to many things, but she’s also new to this sort of relationship, has been recently crushed by an infidelity, and Ash is a creature of physical sensations – food and life and colour and growth… and monstrous.

The blurb for this drew me – a book about a timeless, mythical island that’s drifting on the ocean with an equally mysterious man living on it who never ages and the girl who returns to it as a woman to discover a very different life on offer. It sounded like a perfect fable (and that gorgeous cover seemed to set the perfect tone as well), a magical realism tale set on the ocean (I adore ocean stories). The set up for the story was gothic and moody in all the right ways – hinting at an enigmatic and magical land with loads of secrets.

Alas.

The first third of the story was great – I was hooked and wanted to hear more about the island and the mysterious Clay. Unfortunately, there came a point where the story veered into a romantic tale that just didn’t move and stalled out. I can handle romance, to a degree, but from that 30% mark it just dragged and absolutely nothing of interest happened. Then in the last 20% it picked up again and became interesting all over. It’s not a cheery book by any stretch and even the romantic tale seemed to be dull and dreary as well. And don’t get me wrong I love a good moody gothic tale but this one didn’t really hit on any emotional level at all for me – I was more interested in the ‘magical’ part of the island but even that got short shrift… 😔

The writing was good – very descriptive and well done for settings and scenes, so that made the book decent. But unfortunately, the story just didn’t do much for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent follow up to Puzzle House, this second installment ramps up the action as Henry must make his way across a god-and-demon filled post-apocalyptic Los Angeles to get to his wife and exact revenge on those responsible for the carnage in the first book. As soon as I finished that one I had to head straight back in, and I’m so glad I didn’t wait. And yes, you have to read the first one to truly understand what’s happening in this one.

Ralston amps up the momentum as well as the stakes as Henry discovers that Puzzle House was just the beginning. He’s involved in a sweeping coup as ancient gods appear all over the city along with demonic creatures, and the decay of humanity and morality is fast-tracked in the chaos. What transpired in Puzzle House was just the beginning and now he’s after the evil corporate entity who are running the show.

The action moves along at a brisk pace but this book spends more time on characterization – and I appreciated that as I really like Henry Hall – he’s done some bad sh*t but he’s a good guy and that dichotomy plays out well in this new hellscape. Henry hooks up with some new associates who I also love (the Major is my unsung hero now and reminds me a bit of the Russell Casse character in Independence Day but better. And I fear for his future.) There’s humour and humanity in our core cast. And to paraphrase Ivy: Duncan, did you really write a book series from a cosmic sixty-nine joke? 😏

Fair warning – although there’s some shocking scenes at the start of this novel, and really no one is immune from the havoc and bloodshed – it’s not extreme horror. It’s effective at conveying the swift decay of morality without being sensationalist.

Another heads up: this one ends on another cliffhanger, much like the first. The natural separation of the novels serves the evolving plot as the stakes get bigger and deadlier and much more personal for our dogged heroes.

The next book can’t come fast enough!

A decent collection of 10 short horror stories. I’d say these lean more to a moderate level of horror, so if you’re not into anything too squeamish then these stories should be right up your alley. A lot of the themes seem to centre around comeuppance and karma. There are a few stories involving animals that might worry you — I’m an animal person and this had me worried a few times but overall, they weren’t over the top or cause for concern. A couple of other stories edging on taboo topics but again, nothing extreme.

There’s some botanical horror in The Sprouting (whose only two characters were horrible so I wasn’t really invested in them as people but karma and all that…), a bit of ancient almost cosmic horror in Dead Trees; some childhood trauma horror (watch your triggers here) in Battel The Monstur with an imaginative and tragic boy who fights back (this one was quite emotional and effective)…

I think it was a respectable mix of horror topics with nothing pushing boundaries 𝙩𝙤𝙤 much – reminding me a bit of the style of Stephen King’s early short collections that edged around horror without overt explicitness while still having characters that were despicable doing despicable things. As a collection of horror, I would have preferred the shorts to have a bit more punch/intensity to them, but I can also see this author probably doing well with a longer form expansion of some of these stories as there are some great, imaginative ideas here that cry out for more exploration.

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 A.F. Cosentino 𝒂𝒏𝒅 BookSirens 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑹𝑪. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.

I mean, I wouldn’t do it for any amount of money because I absolutely suck at these kinds of puzzles and I’d be done for before I finished walking in the front door, but reading about them is absolutely my jam!

This is kinda like a mashup of elements of the movies Saw and Cabin In The Woods and Cube and Agatha Christie locked-room whodunnits (but where you already kinda know the murderer) all set in a crazy escape room - no HOUSE - with a big fat reward at the end of it all – if you survive.

It’s a load of fun and I was thoroughly entertained by the fast-paced action and creativeness of the house and I really liked a lot of the main characters – although I’d have been happier with more detail and backstories from some of the other Six. I enjoyed what the plot evolved into as well, and so I'm thoroughly invested in where this is going.

I’d already bought the second book before I even started this one, so convinced I was that Duncan wouldn’t disappoint, and he didn’t let me down. I’m heading straight into the next one right away, which looks to amp up the action even more (why am I getting Hardcore Henry vibes now?)

Go Henry GO!

Solid and wonderfully varied collection of stories centring on addiction, hunger, desperation, desire and all its various permutations… this offering of quick and dirty short horrors will satisfy that craving and leave you wanting more.

Standouts for me were:

Agreeable Grey by Tyler Downs – he’s fast becoming a favourite for me. I find I’m absolutely mesmerized by his characters, including this one of a quick glimpse into the life of a deteriorating addict and his apathetic existence… but for that one thing…

A Need for Skin by Henry Penrose was just ick and creepy and gruesome and I loved it.

Evergreen Terrace by Mark Towse which took an unexpected and perfectly wild swing that I didn’t see coming.

Inspiration by Matthew Jon Smith is brilliantly meta, clever and hysterical to boot. This one also took some wild turns that I absolutely wasn’t expecting, making it all the better for its surprises.

We Do Without by Judith Sonnet was an emotional tale of two brothers in a post-apocalyptic world and the need for expression, communication and connection… the grounded characters were an emotional gut-punch.

Sunflower by R.S. Mot was equally heartbreaking and horrifying, from the incredibly creative perspective of fauna.

Vitreous Abyssal by M.G. Phillips was absolutely horrifying in how far a son will go to keep his father alive. Also, super ick.

Evans sets the bar high in the quality and creativity of the stories on offer here. This collection will scratch that horror itch.

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑹𝑪. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.

Clearly familiar with the VHEMT group/movement, this author had a very interesting premise for this logical/nihilistic (depending on which side of this particular philosophy you fall on) novel that I was very interested to read, as my own familiarity with VHEMT goes all the way back to 1992, shortly after the group was formed.

Unfortunately, despite the decent writing, it at times also came off as pretentious and preachy (and I’m someone who’s not adverse to the basic underlying VHEMT beliefs). I enjoy a good philosophical horror, which this is – good vs evil, humanity’s hubris, religious themes, etc… but it also was far too repetitive for me, and maybe that’s because I’m quite familiar with this movement already? Maybe for those new to it it’s more effective in driving the point home? But I kinda doubt it. There’s just too much repetition of scenes, and phrases. For a minor example the phrase ‘black heart’ is repeated nearly 100 times throughout the book and it was honestly wearing on my nerves. Like, I get it already please stop clubbing me over the head with this 🙄… and that’s just a phrase. I think it would be more enjoyable if it was cut down by at least a third? I think it would be more accessible to a wider audience then.

This is a very heavy ‘internal monologuing’ kind of novel without a lot of movement, so you really have to go into it with that in mind. It’s not light reading by any stretch. It’s dismal and heavy and misanthropic, but it also makes you think and ruminate on the core nature of humanity. For some, this might be too much though, too draggy, but it also might work for those who enjoy a more cerebral horror. You will absolutely feel mentally exhausted reading this.

I went into this thinking I’d really enjoy the philosophical horror but felt myself far more interested in the physical horror aspects (some very excellent visceral scenes, excellent creature and world building). The scope and length and structure put me in mind, very distantly, of some of Clive Barker’s longer novels like Weaveworld and Imajica, and I was impressed by that kind of detail.

In this case though the length and repetition ultimately detracted too much from it being a good or great novel for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Witching Hole Publications for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

A lovely gothic novel set in 1950s Netherlands complete with a forbidden sapphic romance, a decaying manor house in the country and ghosts that bind themselves to their haunted humans (à la Lasher of Rice’s Mayfair Witches) all strongly in the vein of Poe and du Maurier.

Roos grows up under the abusive, exploitive, and strict rule of her (maybe) mother, performing sham séances for money. But Roos has a real spirit tethered to her, Ruth, who has protected and cared for her since she was a child. When Roos reaches the age of 21 her mother effectively sells her off to a mysterious, wealthy widow, Agnes, who says she only wants to have Roos as a companion and seems to understand that Roos’ claim of the spirit Ruth is, in fact, real. Agnes and Roos have much in common.

Roos happily goes off with Agnes to live in her decrepit home in the country, also inhabited by Agnes’ ailing sister-in-law, the memory of Agnes’ deceased husband, and loads of secrets and inherited familial madness.

A haunting and elegantly written gothic romance with plenty of deep dark secrets, charming and terrifying ghosts and a story that unfolds at a languid pace. The story was intriguing, the setting atmospheric, and the characters complex and morally ambiguous. The structure of the story was done well with short ‘interviews’ Roos has with a doctor, separated by 3-4 chapters of first-person narrative told from her POV, so you’re never really certain just how reliable she is, but I found myself drawn to her eagerness for a normal life and her sweet relationship with her spirit, Ruth. I found myself really rooting for her.

Strongly recommend for that haunting, atmospheric read!

Inventive but also deeply irritating! Weird architecture is always fascinating to me, from liminal spaces to cosmic elder god cities to structures with hidden rooms and passageways, so this book, on the surface seemed right for me.

Unfortunately, the characters’ wildly hysterical speculations that just somehow magically seem normal(?) and not at all histrionic (my god so over the top) was making my eyes roll so much. It kinda reminded me of how my best friend and I in our late teens and early ‘20s would make up wildly silly conspiracy theories about the most mundane of things and then laugh at our nutty inventiveness.

I mean, strange architecture is strange, sure. But this book’s absurdities just go on and on and somehow the two earnest amateur sleuths amazingly are never too over the top in their melodramatic hypothesizing. I'd have actually bought into it more if it had turned out to be a liminal space trope. Alas, this is not that.

And then when you get to the actual history and motivations behind the alleged perpetrators it’s just more implausible nonsense and behaviour that I was giggling at, which I don’t think was the writer’s intention? Meh, what do I know though?

The book is a very fast read even though it’s at a fairly normal 200 pages. This is because the drawings of the house are redundantly repeated over and over. Some of the illustrations do have differences, but honestly the main drawings (like the one on the cover) must be repeated at least 8 or 9 times in the book, which is kind of unnecessary padding.

Weirdly enough, I think I'd still read some of Uketsu's other books. They're kind of like junk food? Anyway, it was a mildly entertaining fast read, but I do wish it hadn’t been so over the top in its plot. Just don’t go in expecting too much from this.

I had so many thoughts on this book and what I would say in my review. First, things to know: Big Country is and has been my all-time favourite band from the moment I first heard them at the age of 13 back in 1983. That has never wavered, not once. I have remained devoted to them (I had bought every album and 12” and special editions in both vinyl and CD) regardless of all the other music in my life, of which there is So Much, despite my wildly varying tastes, and despite the band not being ‘cool’ or ‘popular’ (here in North America, anyway). This Scottish band has remained true for me.

So, when Stuart died in 2001, I was broken. I was 31 and absolutely devastated by his death. I was never able to follow Big Country with the various lineup changes they made after Stuart was gone though – it never felt right for me. Back in those days we didn’t have mass media or social media so there were only vague rumours and hints of what had led up to it, and what really happened. I have waited literal decades, like so many other fans, with great apprehension and trepidation for the story.

And here it is. And it’s made me feel no better, although it has answered some questions and confirmed some things. What it has done is made me realize that this band that I thought was so close was in fact in constant chaos and disarray. That they weren’t at all this cohesive unit musically or thematically. That members of the band often didn’t like the music they were making. The dark and tragic lyrics that Stuart so poetically conveyed were always his words, and his alone. None of the others felt the depth of them as much as he did, beyond recognizing that he was an amazing poet and storyteller. And some barely even thought of him as a friend…

I knew this book wouldn’t be a happy one – how could it be? But I wasn’t expecting it to be so scarce in joy, when the music they made brought me and so many others such delight and wonder. I am sad but not surprised. The music won’t change for me.

I give it 4/5 – I did find the writing uneven and a bit jumpy at times. But I am so very grateful that the author was able to finally get access to the principal players in this story – band, family and friends. I can’t imagine how hard it was for them to be this honest about Stuart’s life and death.

First, I have to preface this review by saying that, with very few exceptions, I’m generally not one to read urban-fantasy-light-horror books. I usually find them too forced, too twee, too repetitive. And yes, this book leans much more to the light side of things and is only horror adjacent in that it does have ghosts, entities, witches, and supernatural shenanigans.

So, when I surprisingly realized by the second chapter of this novel that I was absolutely smitten with it, I suspected I had been lured in by nixies and held hostage by a group of pesky chaneques… somehow Debra Castaneda had won me over to her magical world in just a few pages!

Along with creatures and entities from a wide and wild variety of world mythology, it’s packed with Mexican folklore and witchcraft, which I was rather unfamiliar with, and which I’ve discovered to be rich with complex, but engaging, tradition and culture. And it’s set in a real historical neighbourhood, Chavez Ravine, in the Los Angeles area – albeit in an alternate reality. And the (real) history of that neighbourhood is, itself, intriguing and tragic. Castaneda has done a fantastic job altering the history just a bit in a bid to bring in the supernatural elements, as it were. And she’s done it with a charmingly effortless blend of magic and the mundane. This is a world where magic and spirits are par for the course and wholly believable.

I loved the lighthearted humour. I adored the very real characters in this world – Maddy felt absolutely relatable and someone I’d want to hang out with – she’s weary but determined. She has real flaws and tragedies in her past that don’t overwhelm her character or the story, but rather make her the strong person she is without boxing her into a trope.

The humour is subtle and clever, the mystery intriguing, and the overall tone has just the slightest hint of darkness amongst the whimsical without it being overbearing. I loved this book and can’t wait to continue on with a new favourite series!

Fast paced occult detective noir brimming with mystery, excellent world-building, and characters I love.

I was initially sent an e-ARC by the author, but by the end of the first chapter I had to send him a message to say I wasn’t going to be finishing the ARC.

‘Oh no!’ you think. Bad sign.

But wait! I had to immediately place an order for a physical copy, I’d fallen in ❤️ with the book that fast. And when I truly love a book, I absolutely must own a physical copy. So. I immediately placed that order.

It was an excruciating wait, but when the book arrived I dove right back in. I was not disappointed.

Seriously, by the beginning of Chapter 2 I was fully immersed in the late 90s nostalgia that felt effortless and weirdly comforting. But also, how Tyler managed to write a perfect 1998 when There Is No Way he’s old enough to have experienced it first-hand is a testament to his talent. Tyler’s creativity and imagination are wondrous things to behold – his characters are tough, funny, flawed, and wholly relatable.

Here, he writes a detective noir in 1998 Salem, Massachusetts, replete with occult critters, demons, ghosts, reanimation, pretty gruesome murders (but not so gruesome that the more squeamish will be put off, so it’s got a broader audience appeal in that way.) The main-Main Character, Ed, is scruffy, world weary and cursed to rise from the grave once a year (the opening scene of his death gave me strong Eric Draven vibes, again amping the 90s feel) to partner up with Sam, the young adult son of an old friend and solve some pretty heady supernatural crimes in the space of a week. Their relationship is touching, funny, and utterly relatable.

The mystery they’re pursuing is rife with action but the humanity and emotional connections are what really surprised and impressed me. I was quite thrilled with the plot, but these characters... I absolutely adored them and yes, Tyler, we need to hear more from this world!

And Tyler’s afterword, a tribute to someone who changed his life, broke my heart and made the story all the more moving.

Seriously folks, Tyler Downs does not disappoint! (And thank you Tyler for the e-ARC I didn’t read because it was too good.)

Water Horror? I let the lake in and I’m so happy I did!

This is my first Hessenauer book and what a great way to start. I love a good ocean/lake/water horror and this one was that, in spades. And it’s a hybrid epistolary structure with film footage, transcripts, interviews, and video diary entries, which is one of my favourite story structures.

We have a documentary film crew exploring a near 100-year-old mysterious ship wreck 🛳️ at the bottom of Lake Superior (an actual shipwreck relocated from Lake Charlevoix for the purposes of this story, which actually adds to the remoteness and jeopardy to good effect), along with a possible red algae bloom, maybe ghosts, superstitions, hallucinations, murder, and definitely people losing their minds.

Hessenauer sets up the story by immediately diving (pardon the pun 😉) into video transcripts of a doctor-patient interview with an apparent survivor of an incident that occurred out on Lake Superior (which, as a 70s 🇨🇦 kid is extra spooky – thanks Gordon Lightfoot.) It gives us just enough to get a good sense of something horrific – through the patient’s actions and reluctance to talk – but just enough to know that at least someone has survived this horror, at least in a fashion. The mystery is immediately apparent by the second chapter when we learn that a doc crew has gone to investigate a sunken ship mystery, and that ghostly mood builds perfectly to the end.

There’s a lot of factors playing into the horror and the atmosphere is made genuinely ominous through the use of the description of diving footage 🤿. There’s also the added bonus of a red algae bloom which, in this tale, is reminiscent of mycelium horror, another horror sub-genre I love.

This is a great take on that, and by having it water-based adds the extra element of ‘shipwreck ghost story’ to it, along with the eerie depths of the lake, which the author conveys perfectly – the murkiness of the water’s depths, the isolation on the water, the strange way water messes with sound and vision… and the main characters are interesting and complex to boot, so there’s a vested interest in their fates.

An excellent, creepy story! I’m definitely checking out more of this author’s work.

My thanks to the author for the complimentary copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily; all opinions are my own.

Once again Stephen Graham Jones doesn’t disappoint! This follow up to My Heart Is A Chainsaw delivers in all the best possible ways – multi-character POV, intricate plot with non-stop action (it all happens over a 36-hour period during a wicked winter storm), gruesome deaths and some of the best characters ever written in a horror novel. Jade is absolutely my hero, but really so many of SGJ’s characters are so vividly alive. This sequel is better than the first – more evenly paced and smoother in its action and plotting. And although it also has a large cast of characters as well, I felt that I was closer to more of them than in Chainsaw, more invested.

Jade makes me weep with her refusal to believe she is better than she thinks, and worthy of love and admiration. That armour she’s cultivated is seriously hard to pierce, but we readers can see beneath, and see what she’s truly made of even if she can not. Her glib, dark humour is still present, although it’s reigned in by distance and time. Her subtle humour is part of that armour she’s honed so well. But you can also feel her softening up just a bit in her relationship with Hardy, her concern for the students, her softening towards Banner, and she actually dares to consider someone her ‘best friend’ and I almost felt the earth shake when she thought that, I was so proud of her.

SGJ’s horror movie knowledge is epic and intimidating and he uses it all to such great effect that I am in awe of his skill. Of course, horror fans have a lot of meat to chew on with his books and this is no exception. There’s lots to entertain.

One caveat: don’t try reading this without having read Chainsaw. It just won’t make sense to you. SGJ’s worldbuilding in this series is deep and crafty and lived in, and although Chainsaw is maybe more chaos, it’s absolutely imperative to really understanding Jade’s (and others!) journey through the little town of Proofrock.

I do love collections of short stories, but unfortunately more of these didn’t really land for me than did. The collection focuses on themes of shame, desire, identity, a lot of parental trauma, much of which is told through allegorical whimsy or surrealism. Some of the literary devices work, some just were unbearable or fell flat for me. I found a lot of the experimental writing aggravating or tiresome – and I generally tend to like experimental structure or writing.

But the stories that worked for me, I really liked: Smear the Queer, The Failed Messiah (which had a sharp sense of humour to it that surprised and delighted me), similarly Siren Island had that edgy humour. And Alex Adams… was clever and interesting as a Peter Pan gender flip in the real world.

So, although I was mixed overall, I do think I’d enjoy a novel length work from this author and will be looking further into their catalogue.

My thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

What would you do to get your beloved child back from the dead?

Brilliantly bleak grief horror that explores the spiral of emotional and physical pain, the kind that is like a constant gut punch, the kind where you feel a constant pressure behind your eyes and ears and in your jaw so visceral nearly unendurable, and it isn’t going away.

After years of enduring the absolute loss of his beloved son and the subsequent collapse of his entire life, Rob is drowning in alcohol and regret. Until he hears of a way that may bring his son back. At a cost. And oh, what a cost it is.

Stick with the opening set up, which is an excellent depiction of a man who no longer cares about anything on his way to the bottom of his grief spiral, because when Rob makes his Faustian bargain, the price gets higher and higher.

And oh what a twist in that hidden chapter.

A fun, fast little read of story with an ancient, grouchy demon named Ammit who must make his required human sacrifices while possessing the body of an animal. Any animal will due, and usually he picks some truly terrifying predators. Ammit tries to be strategic in what animal body he chooses – until he makes a hilariously tragic miscalculation and winds up in the body of an aging, fat domestic housecat, Purcell Hounsfield.

Now he must use all his resources and inventiveness to try and off his equally elderly human companion.

Fast paced, wry and easily relatable to those of us who have often muttered “my cat is trying to kill me” on a regular basis while trying not to trip over them going down the stairs, Feral is an amusing, droll short horror comedy that left me giggling and smiling and looking sideways at all the cats in my neighbourhood.

There’s some really good, unique world building here. Very visual, very bleak. But I think that was about the only interesting part of the book for me. It’s an interesting concept, but I was getting weary of the male MC is ‘gonna save’ his GF and why are all the ‘bad’ guys always Guys? The idea of the Black Farm being ‘not hell’ made me wonder what ‘hell’ would actually be like for this world? I was surprised that the majority of suffering in this world is physical with no real emotional or existential torment… (apart from our MC feeling some guilt over his GF being here as well.)

And there’s some gnarly extreme stuff. There’s a scene about a quarter of the way in that actually made me feel somewhat nauseous – which is very uncommon for me. But I think it was a little too repetitious and predictable for me in the end and just meh overall.

I can’t remember what I was going to write…

My brain has melted out of my ears. This book is so nearly impossible to describe… it is existential cosmic scifi horror with no happy ending or clear path. It’s challenging, weirdly subversive and most definitely not for everyone.

Do not bother with this if you’re looking for something:

• Light and effortless

• Linear

• Uninteresting

• Boring and staid

• Relaxing

• Reassuring

How many times have I read this book?!?!? Now I have so much more to worry over what I’ve ever forgotten in my life… 🤣 😟 😕 😵

I strongly recommend watching the short film on Youtube. It’ll give you the opening chapter in 15 minutes and at least you’ll have an idea what you’re in for.

https://youtu.be/3v8AsTHfAG0?si=Tgg224Q7rrOuga1H