Vampiric Vacation by Kiersten White

Title: Vampiric Vacation (The Sinister Summer #2)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2022

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After leaving Fathoms of Fun, the kids are on their way to the next odd summer destination their aunt has chosen for them. This time, they find themselves dropped off at the Sanguine Spa in the “little Transylvania Mountains.” There they meet the owners: Mina, her mysterious little sister, Lucy (who is extremely pale, can’t go in the sunlight, and has an affinity for hanging upside down from the ceiling), and their intimidating guardian, the Count.  

When the Count sends all the children in the spa on a scavenger hunt, the Sinister-Winterbottoms use the excuse to snoop around and discover that this spa may be more than just eerie—it might also hold clues to what happened to their parents. When Wil starts to show vampiric symptoms, the twins resolve to investigate what’s really going on at the Sanguine Spa.  

The second book in the Sinister Summer series continues the adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their aunt who never saw a discount vacation destination she didn’t love.

The library finally got the rest of this series for me to enjoy. I loved the first one and couldn’t wait to dive into the rest. The series reminds me a lot of A Series of Unfortunate Events with the mix of spooky and absurd happenings. We get another adventure, this time at a spa that may or may not be inhabited by vampires. We get more of the overall mystery and some clues along the way. And throughout everything, we are delighted to be following Theo and Alexander as they keep each other safe, along with occasionally making sure their sister Wil doesn’t walk off a cliff. I loved the play on the vampire myths and the story of Dracula in particular. There was a line early on about lawyers and suites that made me laugh out loud. I think the boys would really enjoy reading this series after me.

The Sinister Summer

• #1 Wretched Waterpark

• #2 Vampiric Vacation

• #3 Camp Creepy

• #4 Menacing Manor

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

Title: The Haunting of Alejandra

Author: V. Castro

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.
 
Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.
 
When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family’s history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.
 
Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her mother, her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.
 
But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers—and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this horror novel, but found that it very very scary. Not in a jump scare way at all, but in a “this is too close to real life” way. Alejandra has awakened to the fact that the life she is currently inhabiting is not one that she envisioned for herself. We get to see just how sad and out of place she is in her current situation. The parts of the book really focussed on her current life made me so sad. From there we get to learn has many of Alejandra’s ancestors felt the same way at different times in history. There is a cycle of generational trauma here that was very true to life. I was so very angry for all the women forced into situation that they did not choose. The demon figure masquerading as La Llorona just added to the horror of the situation, but it was very much secondary. This is a feminist rage book that I can get behind and recommend to anyone that can handle a bit of horror with their rage.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Immortality by Dana Schwartz

Title: Immortality

Author: Dana Schwartz

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 389

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books Club - Includes a Funeral

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.

When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.

As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake for her. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

A successful and satisfying follow up to Anatomy. I was very annoyed by the cliffhanger at the end of the first book, but thankfully, this volume closes that storyline. We re-encounter Hazel continuing her work alone in her family’s house in Edinburgh. This story line is all fine and good, but the book finally picks up once Hazel is transported to London and meets Princess Charlotte. I loved the royal intrigue aspect of the story and Hazel’s relationships with Charlotte and Eliza. We don’t get quite as much medical talk in this one as the last, but it’s still there. This book did feel like a bit more of a stretch by including so many real characters into the plot line. Most of it was fine, but there were a few parts that I was a bit incredulous by the actions taken by some characters. As such, I still have issues with the supernatural aspects of this duology. A nice quick read, but it’s not going to make my top 10 of the year.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Camp Red Moon by R.L. Stine

Title: Camp Red Moon

Author: R.L. Stine

Publisher: 2019

Genre: MG Horror

Pages:

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Camp nights or camp frights? 

Every sleepaway camp promises memories that last a lifetime. But the memories from Camp Red Moon might give you nightmares! 

• The campfire appears to dim when the moon turns blood red and strange creatures prowl the forest. 

• Do you find a total lookalike at camp? Is it coincidence or is he a shapeshifter trying to take over your life? 

• Why don't your competitors at the robotics competition seem exactly...human? 

• And why do campers do anything to avoid Cabin 6? 

The master of the scary story, R.L. Stine, has handpicked a staff of storytelling counselors - Dan Poblocki, Ellen Oh, and Justin Reynolds - to help him tell the creepy campfire stories that swirl around Camp Red Moon. 

No matter how bright the campfire, get ready for some CHILLS! 

Random audiobook for my week. I was hoping for some classic spooky RL Stine chills. These stories are really uneven. I like the first story about the werewolf and the last story about Cabin 6, but the other two were not good at all. Very silly as opposed to scary. Oh well. Sometimes my choices are winners.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

Title: Sister, Maiden, Monster

Author: Lucy A. Snyder

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 265

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR; UnRead Shelf

A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together.

Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?

Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters.

Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation.

I’m not quite sure exactly what I just read, but I think I like it? This starts out as a pandemic novel and then becomes something a lot more apocalyptic. We get three seemingly different characters and storylines that coalesce into a story of change and purpose. We get shades of Lovecraftian horror as Snyder explores a changing world. Be forewarned that this novel is very adult and very very graphic and gory. The ending is a wild ride and I’m still not sure what to make of it. But overall, I was very intrigued by this story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

Title: The Twisted Ones

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Gallery 2019

Genre: Horror

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

When Mouse’s dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be?

Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.

Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you. And if she doesn’t face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale.

I have absolutely loved the three most recent books from Kingfisher. So of course, I picked up this backlist choice very excited. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t land for me. I enjoyed the first section and the build up of tension. The creepy setting and beginnings of strange occurrences got me. But as the book went on, things just didn’t line up for me at all. I got pretty bored. And I didn’t love Mouse and her entire personality. By the end of the book, I was pretty bored with the story. The creep factor felt very bland and I wasn’t excited about the ending at all. At least the newer books have really hit the spot for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Don't Turn Out the Lights

Title: Don't Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Author: Various

Publisher: HarperCollins 2020

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 398

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer Reading Challenge

Flesh-hungry ogres? Brains full of spiders? Haunted houses you can’t escape? This collection of 35 terrifying stories from the Horror Writers Association has it all, including ghastly illustrations from Iris Compiet that will absolutely chill readers to the bone.

So turn off your lamps, click on your flashlights, and prepare—if you dare—to be utterly spooked

I grew up in the 80s and 90s obsessed with Alvin Schwartz’s story collection. I most definitely had to grab this volume off the library and immediately devour it. This collection definitely pays homage to the original stories in their set-ups and payoffs. We get a seemingly normal setting that quickly takes a turn. Many of the stories are urban legends redone, but that’s what makes them so satisfying. We know how the story is going to end and yet still keep reading to find out. This stories are mostly short and sweet giving you a one-two punch in just a few pages. I loved a majority of them. A few didn’t work for me, but that’s usual within a short story collection. Overall, this was a great palate cleanser book between more serious pieces.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Paradise-1 by David Wellington

Title: Paradise-1 (Red Space #1)

Author: David Wellington

Publisher: Orbit 2023

Genre: Scifi Horror

Pages: 688

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Paradise-1. Earth’s first deep space colony. For thousands of people, it was an opportunity for a new life. Until it went dark.

No communication has been received from the colony for months. And it falls to Firewatch inspector Alexandra Petrova and the crew of the Artemis to investigate.

What they find is more horrifying than anything they could have imagined.

I grabbed this from the library and did not quite realize how long it was going to be. I thought I had the large print version, but I did not. This book is a clunker, but also reads very quickly with zippy short chapters and tons of action. Almost too much action after awhile, but it definitely helped me keep reading this behemoth. We are introduced very quickly to our three (four?) main characters and dive into the journey. Things go bad very quickly. There’s very little set up to this book and I appreciated that we got right to the action. From there, we are in a nonstop race to survive in space. I loved figuring out the mystery of the basilisk and encountering its different versions. The summary makes it seem like most of the actions will take place on Paradise-1, but the characters don’t even make it to the surface until the last 20 pages. I guess I didn’t realize that this was the start of a series. Guess I will have to wait until whenever the next one will get published. I am definitely going to put this series on my watch list. If for nothing else, sometimes I need a breezy action/adventure novel.

Next up on the TBR pile:

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Title: House of Hunger

Author: Alexis Henderson

Publisher: Ace 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Marion Shaw has been raised in the slums, where want and deprivation are all she know. Despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she has no real hope of escape until the day she spots a peculiar listing in the newspaper seeking a bloodmaid.

Though she knows little about the far north—where wealthy nobles live in luxury and drink the blood of those in their service—Marion applies to the position. In a matter of days, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger. There, Marion is swept into a world of dark debauchery. At the center of it all is Countess Lisavet.

The countess, who presides over this hedonistic court, is loved and feared in equal measure. She takes a special interest in Marion. Lisavet is magnetic, and Marion is eager to please her new mistress. But when she discovers that the ancient walls of the House of Hunger hide even older secrets, Marion is thrust into a vicious game of cat and mouse. She’ll need to learn the rules of her new home—and fast—or its halls will soon become her grave.

I needed a fun and fast moving book for this week’s reading and this particular book hit the spot. We are plunged into a world of haves and have nots. We meet a have not who dreams of becoming a have. And then her circumstances seem to change overnight. Of course, the reader knows that things cannot be exactly what they seem to be. Slowly the situation devolves and learn more disturbing things about the House of Hunger. As soon as the full name of the Countess gets revealed, I gasped out loud. Even thought I basically knew where this story was going, I was completely on board for the entire ride. This book is not for the squeamish, but it was a great choice for me!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Cinders & Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Title: Cinders & Sparrows

Author: Stefan Bachmann

Publisher: Greenwillow Books 2020

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Spring TBR

When a scarecrow climbs over the garden wall, delivering twelve-year-old orphan Zita Brydgeborn a letter saying she has inherited a distant castle, she jumps at thechance of adventure. But little does she know that she is about to be thrust into a centuries-old battle between good and evil. Blackbird Castle was once home to a powerful dynasty of witches, all of them now dead under mysterious circumstances. All but Zita. And Zita, unfortunately, doesn't know the first thing about being a witch.

As she begins her lessons in charms and spells with her guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, Zita makes new allies--a crow, a talking marble head, two castle servants just her age named Bram and Minnifer, and the silent ghost of a green-eyed girl. But who is friend and who is foe? Zita must race to untangle her past and find the magic to save the home she's always hoped for. Because whatever claimed the souls of her family is now after her.

I grabbed this book out of our big collection of Owl Crate boxes. I was hoping for something a bit spooky and fun. This definitely hit the spot! Right away the book gives us a great spooky house full of gothic vibes. We meet some mysterious characters and a lost and found orphan. From here, the book immediately drops you into the plot and rushes forward until the end. I loved trying to figure out the mystery and peel back the layers of the house and the characters. I absolutely loved the book and will be keeping this one our shelves.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Title: A House with Good Bones

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 247

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - With a Dedication

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

Another very creepy horror story from Kingfisher that I absolutely adored. We started with a typically story about family. But pretty quickly we start to realize that something isn’t quite right in this house. The book follows along with quiet dread for awhile before the last third of the book kicks the horror into high gear. I loved Sam’s narration of her life and her memories of childhood. Once we get to the horror part, I was truly horrified. The reveal at the kitchen table made me gasp. And from there, it’s nonstop horror until the end. Oh so good! I am completely a Kingfisher convert and must read everything she has written.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

Title: The Hollow Places

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Gallery / Saga 2020

Genre: Horro

Pages: 341

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books - Sends You Down a Rabbit Hole

Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.

A deliciously creepy and strange horror novel was just what I needed this week. Right away, we get a great description for the Museum of Oddities that really sets the stage for the story. And then Kara finds a hole and things get very strange. I was seriously having some weird dreams while reading this book. Definitely a sign that I’m really enjoying the book and it’s very scary. I can still picture Kara and Simon’s encounter with Sturdivant. So very very creepy! This book gave me all the Annihilation vibes that I was looking for. And now I want to read everything Kingfisher has every written. I’m craving all the horror.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

Title: A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror

Author: John Hornor Jacobs

Publisher: Harper Voyager 2019

Genre: Horror

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Survival Story

Bringing together his acclaimed novella The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky and an all-new short novel My Heart Struck Sorrow, John Hornor Jacobs turns his fertile imagination to the evil that breeds within the human soul.

A brilliant mix of the psychological and supernatural, blending the acute insight of Roberto Bolaño and the eerie imagination of H. P. Lovecraft, The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky examines life in a South American dictatorship. Centered on the journal of a poet-in-exile and his failed attempts at translating a maddening text, it is told by a young woman trying to come to grips with a country that nearly devoured itself.

In My Heart Struck Sorrow, a librarian discovers a recording from the Deep South—which may be the musical stylings of the Devil himself.

A mixed bag of two stories. I did not connect with or enjoy the first story, The Sea Dreams It is the Sky. I was intrigued by the characters and their pasts under a brutal dictatorship. What they both witnesses and experienced was horrific, no doubt. It just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I kept waiting for the Lovecraftian horror to descend. It never really got there for me. But then I dove into the second story, My Heart Struck Sorrow, and I was instantly feeling that lingering sense of dread. I couldn’t wait to see what would be revealed in Harlan Parker’s journals. The story unfolds slowly, letting you glimpses little bits of horror along the way, until it culminates in a truly terrifying chapter near the end. I had to take a few minutes after finishing the story to digest everything I had just read. That second story got a 5 star rating, but the first story only got 3 stars. So I averaged those out to give the collection 4 stars.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dire King by William Ritter

Title: The Dire King (Jackaby #4)

Author: William Ritter

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers 2017

Genre: YA Historical Fiction; Horror

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series; 52 Book Club - Final Book in the Series

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push the earth and the otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve mysteries in New Fiddleham, New England—like who’s created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why the undead are appearing around town.

At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby’s resistance to his feelings for the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, Jenny Cavanaugh, begins to give way. But before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.

And we that, the story of Abigail Rook and Jackaby has ended. And it was quite an ending. We knew things were going to get very serious after the third book, but I wasn’t quite prepared exactly how serious until we get to the halfway point of this book. I was very much on the edge of my seat for the entire second half. I was totally unprepared for the final battle against the Dire King and his allies. I knocked off one star in that I did think that the final confrontation was too drawn out without enough conclusion/reconnection of the characters. I would have liked to see the pacing at the end reworked a bit. But I did love the ending of Abigail’s story. Overall, this has been such a great mystery series.

Jackaby

• #1 Jackaby

• #1.5 The Map

• #2 Beastly Bones

• #3 Ghostly Echoes

• #4 The Dire King

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dollhouse Family

Title: The Dollhouse Family

Author: M.R. Carey, Peter Gross, Vince Locke, Chris Peter

Publisher: DC Black Label

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

On Alice's sixth birthday, her dying great-aunt sent her the birthday gift she never knew she always wanted: a big, beautiful 19th-century dollhouse, complete with a family of antique dolls. In no time at all, the dollhouse isn't just Alice's favorite toy...it's her whole world. And soon, young Alice learns she can enter the house to visit a new group of friends, straight out of a heartwarming children's novel: the Dollhouse family.
But while the Dollhouse family welcomes her with open arms, in the real world, her family life is becoming much more complicated...and deep within the Dollhouse's twisting halls, the Black Room waits, with an offer to Alice. The house can fix all this, the Black Room says. All she has to do is say the words...
From there unfolds a twisty, surreal, multigenerational horror tale that echoes into centuries past, into Alice's tormented future, and into the beating heart of the madness that makes up our world...literally. Collects The Dollhouse Family #1-6.

Horrific story! Just what I want in my horror comics. We travel with Alice throughout her life getting some glimpses of the past history of the family. When things really ramp up, I was riveted to the page. The action comes fast and heavy with very graphic panels. But such a great story of tragedy and sacrifice.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona

Title: The Me You Love in the Dark

Author: Skottie Young and Jorge Corona

Publisher: Image 2022

Genre: Horror Comic

Pages: 128

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Writer SKOTTIE YOUNG (I HATE FAIRYLAND, DEADPOOL, STRANGE ACADEMY) and artist JORGE CORONA (NO. 1 WITH A BULLET, SUPER SONS, FEATHERS) follow up their critically acclaimed series MIDDLEWEST with a brand new haunting tale. An artist named Ro retreats from the grind of the city to an old house in a small town to find solace and inspiration without realizing the muse she finds within is not what she expected. Fans of STEPHEN KING and NEIL GAIMAN will enjoy this beautiful, dark and disturbing story of discovery, love and terror.

Collects THE ME YOU LOVE IN THE DARK #1-5

I picked this one up off of a list of great horror comics and it sure did deliver. We get a very spooky slow-build story of an artist trying to find her muse in a creepy house. Of course, things are going to go badly, but not before they seem to go very well. I adored how the monster is revealed in little slivers throughout most of of the story. We don’t get to see the true horror until we’ve completely immersed ourselves in the setting. The art was done beautifully. I sped through this one and then went back and reread it immediately to really slow down and appreciate the construction of this story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter

Title: Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3)

Author: William Ritter

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Genre: YA Historical Fiction; Horror

Pages: 341

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; Finishing the Series

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the services of her detective-agency tenants to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all. Soon Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her down to the mythical underworld and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced.

Oh I am so on board with the series still. I absolutely love the mix of Sherlock Holmes and wild supernatural adventures. The first two books were setting up the larger storyline without really telling us that there was a larger storyline. In this volume, we get the big plans laid out. We finally meet the big players, including the mysterious pale man from the previous two books. We also get to learn so much more about Jenny and Jackaby while following the clues in Jenny’s murder case. I sped through this volume on pins and needles desperate to see what would happen and who would live and die. I cannot wait to finish this series with the last book. So happy to have been recommended this series by a bookish friend.

Jackaby

• #1 Jackaby

• #1.5 The Map

• #2 Beastly Bones

• #3 Ghostly Echoes

• #4 The Dire King

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Low Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado

Title: The Low, Low Woods

Author: Carmen Maria Machado, Dani, Tamra Bonvillain

Publisher: DC Black Label 2020

Genre: Comic

Pages: 168

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

There's something in the woods...

Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania, has been on fire for years. The woods are full of rabbits with human eyes, a deer woman who stalks hungry girls, and swaths of skinless men. And the people of Shudder-to-Think? Well, they're not doing so well either.

When El and Octavia wake up in a movie theater with no memory of the last few hours of their lives, the two teenage dirtbags embark on a horrifying journey to uncover the truth about the strange town that they call home.

We get shades of Silent Hill and the creepy atmosphere from the real-life Centralia mixed with magic and transformation. Horrifying yet poignant look at the treatment of women and memory. I was confused for the first issue or so, trying to get my bearings in this very strange town. And then I started to suspect that not all the occurrences were random. The truth slowly unfolds over the issues to reveal decades-long horrors. I loved the interjection of the witch to give council, but it’s the two main characters that have to made the ultimate choice for everyone. I imagine that I will be thinking about this short comic for awhile after reading.

Next up on the TBR pile:

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Title: What Moves the Dead

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightmare 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 176

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

Super creepy short retelling of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” That has always been a favorite of mine and I randomly stumbled upon this retelling and read it in one sitting. It’s a gorgeous homage to the original story with expanded explanations for the illness that Madeline and Roderick suffer. We get some extra creepy scenes involving wild hares that certainly gave me pause. I enjoyed the update to the narrator character giving Easton a much more interesting and expansive backstory. Overall, a very enjoyable slim novella for a fall night’s reading.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beastly Bones by William Ritter

Title: Beastly Bones (Jackaby #2)

Author: William Ritter

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers 2015

Genre: YA Historical Fiction; Horror

Pages: 296

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the supernatural. First vicious shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving mangled bodies behind. Charlie calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt—for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

Another fun adventure story! I’m really enjoying the mix of The Nutty Professor and Sherlock Holmes in Jackaby. We don’t learn a ton more about him, but we do explore a bit more about others in his orbit and unveil a bit of the larger mystery. I love that we get to follow Abigail through these stories. We learn things as she learns them. We get to see everything from her very reader-like viewpoint. For this particular story, we move out into the country and encounter a dragon? It might be a dragon, or it might be something else. We have to solve the mystery along with the characters. I was glad that Charlie was an important part of this book and hope to see hime in the next one. A thoroughly enjoyable series.

Jackaby

• #1 Jackaby

• #1.5 The Map

• #2 Beastly Bones

• #3 Ghostly Echoes

• #4 The Dire King

Next up on the TBR pile: