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There are rules to these things. Everything is survivable.I haven't really gotten into the subcategory of horror of haunted houses so The September House was one of the first. One of the reviewers I follow said it felt similar to [a:Grady Hendrix 4826394 Grady Hendrix https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1542284521p2/4826394.jpg]'s style of writing. That really spoke to me especially in the first act. Margaret will not move out of her home - regardless of who else inhabits it. She can handle the bloody walls, her furniture being moved around, the ghosts in their various forms of brutality that they had suffered. There are rules and she simply has to follow them. She just has to make it through September.
Thanks to Oni Press and Netgalley for the arc!
Due to be published on Oct 3 this will be a good read for anyone looking to get in the Halloween spirit. This is a quick graphic novel about a group of queer teens during the satanic panic where just being different had made them a target. I really loved the art style and am always excited to see more queer horror out there. I had a good time with this book.
First impressions: I've been reading a lot of r/horrorlit recommendations because the readers there seem to have a recommendation for any setting you might be looking for. I picked this up after seeing it as inspiration for [b:This Thing Between Us 56269269 This Thing Between Us Gus Moreno https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618452978l/56269269.SY75.jpg 87659806]. Both books explore grief through horror, which I am discovering is something I really seek out. This doesn't come close to that book for me. I had a good time with the story-within-a-story telling but need a break from men writing about women for a bit. Spoilering ahead because of plot & by describing the stuff that irked me the most I am telling a piece of the ending.Abe introduces us to his life as well as the loss of his wife, Marie. He finds solace in fishing, and it gives him just what he needs in order to get up every day after such a loss. When his coworker Dan loses his whole family, he becomes a companion to Abe when they go fishing. Dan recommends a trip to Dutchman's Creek, although it's in no fishing guides. On the way there, they get rained out and end up eating breakfast at a diner. Howard, the cook, learns where they are headed and gives the men a story of warning. Howard's tale of Der Fischer is what really shined the most to me. Although Abe was just gearing up to talk about his own personal horrors with Dutchman's Creek, Howard's retelling of Lottie's story is where the story shines the most to me. It is also where the horrors of the creek-to-be are introduced. The imagery of the situations this community ends up having to face is really horrifying.It isn't until we go back to Abe again after he has heard his cautionary tale that it stops working for me. Naturally, the guys still end up going to the creek. I was doing alright up until not-Marie appeared. Of course she shows up naked (when Helen reappeared after her death in the village, she was clothed, I'm pretty sure) So what does Abe do right off the rip? Bang his wife that at this point has been dead for years. Afterwards, he witnesses what she truly is. So with his knowledge that it isn't really his wife, he is still remarking on her ass cheeks as he's following her to the dark ocean. I don't know what I expected with him coming face to face with a wrong version of his loved one but it wasn't that. It just seemed like a moment that wouldn't have been about sex that devolved into one anyway.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an arc!
The Heiress is the story of The McTavishes, specifically Camden & Ruby McTavish. Ruby is the McTavish matriarch who is known in the area for having been kidnapped as a child and miraculously returning back home. That wasn't all though as all of her husbands passed away to various accidents and incidents. Camden has not been back to the estate in 10 years - and is called to come home. Camden has to unravel his own history with Ashby House as well as the motivations of her relatives who so desperately want every penny of of the McTavish estate.
We are able to learn about Ruby through letters and learn about Camden and Jules through their point of views. Hawkins did an excellent job of writing a book I didn't want to put down. It was such a good time trying to figure out what would happen next.
This book is special. I intentionally put off finishing this book because I didn't want it to end. McDowell once said “I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that. I am writing things to be put in the bookstore next month. I think it is a mistake to try to write for the ages.” It is safe to say that his writing has lasted for the ages even if it was never his intention.
Blackwater chronicles the lives of the Caskey family and those who are in their orbit. Our story begins with Elinor being found in one of the hotel rooms in the flooded town of Perdido, AL.
First published as a serialization you can see where the reader gets a little recap before diving back into the action of the family. Although very heavy on the interpersonal relationships between the family members there are moments where you can see how this story is classified as horror.
I haven't really delved into surreal literary horror like this before. Based off the blurb I saw this going one way and couldn't have seen where this was headed. I had a quick reaction of WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST READ so I am understanding more of the polarizing reviews.
I think this is an interesting book because I really wasn't rooting for anyone except Jake (the roommate). Remy and Alicia are obsessed with Jen, one of Remy's old coworkers. They turn on post notifications, look at Jen's photos together, and even incorporate Alicia-as-Jen into their sex life. Remy would be the guy you know but would never want to hang out with ever. Alicia is very much a stand in and disappointment to Remy by simply not being Jen. In many ways they perpetuate the worst qualities about one another.
I won't go into much more but I can see now why this book gets recommended. This certainly won't be a book I will forget.
I just finished this yesterday and have some thoughts!
I can see how this is described as a thriller/crime but I feel like it very easily dips into horror just in how it makes you feel. Throughout this book I could just feel this pit in my stomach grow as I knew things just weren't going to change for any of our characters.
~spoilery things below because I just want to talk about this book while it takes over my brain~
It was a ride to go from trusting Dustin as our thought to be reliable narrator to introducing other perspectives. It was so just well executed with the unravelling of his memories. I thought at one point Kate had planted even more ideas about what Rusty had done - but nope - it was real.Jill momentarily held him together but in a lot of ways Dustin was destined for coming undone. Jill also didn't ask him to confront and work through his experiences. So in turn the life that they were living was so delicately held together.
This was a book that was suggested in a thread about women slowly going mad and the unhinged women trope. Maybe because I went into it with that sort of expectation I was disappointed overall with where it ended up going. It also doesn't help that this is what I read soon after finishing [b:When Darkness Loves Us 868727 When Darkness Loves Us Elizabeth Engstrom https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666975701l/868727.SY75.jpg 854113] which delivers much more on this premise. Overall I do feel like this was a decent book but not exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
Once again I found myself on r/horrorlit and saw Elizabeth Engstrom come up as a recommended author for well-written disturbing horror.
I read both of the novellas within an afternoon and wasn't able to put them down. Both stories
When Darkness Loves Us will definitely be coming back to me in the middle of the night to haunt me with the dark twists it took and the decisions Sally Ann made which we are left to reckon with.
Beauty Is... will be a story I see myself coming back to of just how unnerving it is. At the end of this novella, my heart ached for Martha and the ways that trauma came to steal her away.
