The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

Title: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe

Author: Kij Johnson

Publisher: Tor Dot Com 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 166

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Professor Vellitt Boe teaches at the prestigious Ulthar Women’s College. When one of her most gifted students elopes with a dreamer from the waking world, Vellitt must retrieve her.

Such a strange retelling of a Lovecraft story. Another great read for my Nerdy Bookish Friends book club. I took this book very slow, savoring each section as I followed Boe into the unknown in pursuit of her student. The story unfolds like a dream itself, challenging the reader to determine what is real and what is fiction. Slowly, we meet more horrors in the dreaming world until Boe reaches the gate to the waking world. I’m excited to talk with all my book club friends about this book on Sunday.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Title: Whalefall

Author: Daniel Kraus

Publisher: MTV Books 2023

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 327

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

Another mediocre read for me this week. I picked this up on th suggestion of a couple of lists with new horror style books for 2023. Ultimately, I wasn’t a huge fan. This read more like a thriller with long chapters of flashbacks and introspection. We didn’t get a sense of building dread that I really love in my horror novels. Instead, the whale swallows Jay pretty quickly and then we slowly have to follow his stream of consciousness and struggle to survive. There are a few parts that turned extremely gory, like even I was a bit grossed out. Overall, I just don’t think I really connected to this story and ended up with a “Meh” reaction at the end.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons

Title: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead (Death Games #1)

Author: Kristen Simmons

Publisher: Tor Teen 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 272

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Four years ago, five kids started a game. Not all of them survived.

Now, at the end of their senior year of high school, the survivors—Owen, Madeline, Emerson, and Dax—have reunited for one strange and terrible reason: they’ve been summoned by the ghost of Ian, the friend they left for dead.

Together they return to the place where their friendship ended with one goal: find Ian and bring him home. So they restart the deadly game they never finished—an innocent card-matching challenge called Meido. A game without instructions.

As soon as they begin, they're dragged out of their reality and into an eerie hellscape of Japanese underworlds, more horrifying than even the darkest folktales that Owen's grandmother told him. There, they meet Shinigami, an old wise woman who explains the rules:

They have one night to complete seven challenges or they'll all be stuck in this world forever.

Once inseparable, the survivors now can’t stand each other, but the challenges demand they work together, think quickly, and make sacrifices—blood, clothes, secrets, memories, and worse.

And once again, not everyone will make it out alive.

This was strange and weird and gory. Usually I would love those adjectives when describing a horror book, but ultimately this one wasn’t really for me. We’re thrown right into this story with little set-up. I had a little trouble connecting to the four main characters and getting their backstories straight to understand their current situation. From there, the game starts. I didn’t mind not knowing the rules. What I minded was the fact that I could never really get a sense of the setting and action. The writing was really unclear at times. I never could really see the story in my head. From that, I was annoyed. And the characters themselves. Too whiny, too closed off, not enough growth for anyone over the course of the novel. Plus there was a big subplot about the Empress character that just never went anywhere. Not my cup of tea.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Title: The September House

Author: Carissa Orlando

Publisher: Barley 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 344

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. 

Margaret is not most people. 

Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.

Another new random book from the library. I had to sneak in a few more spooky books even if it is November now. This one did not disappoint. I was creeped out by the first chapter. We’re told about this house in snippets and flashbacks injected with Margaret’s very detached narration. The events that she recounts are certainly creepy, but are they real? I was desperate to find to the answer to that question. And the book does not disappoint. We get an answer by the end, and it’s a good one. This is very horror filled and not for the feint of heart.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Goblin by Josh Malerman

Title: Goblin

Author: Josh Malerman

Publisher: Del Rey 2021

Genre: Horror

Pages: 416

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you’ll discover the secrets that hide behind its closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin:

A Man in Slices: A man proves his “legendary love” to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh’s—and sends her more than his heart.

Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most afraid of being scared to death. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself.

Happy Birthday, Hunter!: A famed big-game hunter is determined to capture—and kill—the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin’s dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping.

Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion.

A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care . . . and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him.

The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it—until a little girl resolves to be the first to find the mysteries that wait at its heart.

A collection of loosely collected short stories that wasn’t my favorite. I have really enjoyed a few of Malerman’s longer novels, but this one just do it for me. The stories were too much without a point and full of terrible people. I was intrigued b the prologue and the beginnings of a few of the stories, but most o the time, I wanted more. Short stories are never really my thing…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Those We Drown by Amy Goldsmith

Title: Those We Drown

Author: Amy Goldsmith

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 416

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

It should have been the trip of a lifetime.

When Liv lands an all-expenses-paid opportunity to study aboard the luxury cruise ship The Eosfor a semester, she can’t believe her luck. Especially since it will offer her the chance to spend time with Will, her ex–best friend, who’s barely spoken to her since the night their relationship changed forever.  

But as soon as she steps on board, Liv realizes just how out of her depth she is. With Will, with the rest of the Seamester students—including the brittle and beautiful Constantine, who may be hiding his own ties to the Eos—and most of all, with the Sirens, three glamorous and mysterious influencers who seem to have the run of the ship.

Liv quickly discovers that the only reason she was invited to join the trip is because another girl disappeared shortly after enrolling—and no one seems to know what happened to her. When further disappearances rock the ship and strange creatures begin haunting Liv’s dreams, she wonders: Is the Eos hiding a dark secret within its shadowy decks?

The truth will come at a price . . . only, how much is Liv willing to pay?

Another five star read for spooky month! This one gives us a big mystery with a great setting and lots of references to Greek mythology. I was totally into the mystery as soon as we set foot on the ship. Thankfully, the book doesn’t take long to really get going and give us brief glimpses of horror. Liv wasn’t my favorite character, but I really did feel for her as she tries to navigate the ship and relationships all while wondering if she is completely hallucinating things. I figured out the main mystery of the cruise, but still enjoyed how everything was revealed. The ending is super open-ended, but after reflecting upon it, I really enjoyed it. A fun horror at sea for this month.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Title: Starling House

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Publisher: Tor Books 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: BOTM Cleanout; Unread Shelf

I dream sometimes about a house I’ve never seen….

Opal is a lot of things—orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier—but above all, she's determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

All she left behind were dark rumors—and her home. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don’t hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House—and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund—she can't resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur’s own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.

In my dream, I’m home.

And now she’ll have to fight.

The absolute perfect book for spooky season! I love a super atmospheric horror tale with an interesting location. This book delivered on all fronts. Right away, we know that there’s something special about Starling House. We get to follow Opal as she is invited into the house and is given a task of sorts. Opal is an extremely rough-around-the-edges character but I found myself rooting for her from page one. I was hoping to see Opal really grow into her own and lower some of her walls for anyone. And so enters Arthur Starling, Warden of Starling House. We only get glimpses of him throughout the first half of the book, but I loved him immediately. As the mystery unfolds, we learn more about the house and the history of the town. We get some super creepy beings and a ton of good spooky scenes. I took my time reading this book, not speeding through it, but really savoring the pages and the beautiful illustrations throughout. This may just go on my Top 10 of the year list.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Preacher Vol. 1

Title: Preacher Vol. 1: Gone to Texas

Author: Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon

Publisher: Vertigo 1996

Genre: Horror

Pages: 336

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Jesse Custer was just a small-town preacher in Texas... until his congregation was flattened by powers beyond his control and the Preacher became imbued with abilities beyond anyone's understanding.
 
Now possessed by Genesis—the unholy coupling of an angel and demon—Jesse holds Word of God, an ability to command anyone or anything with a mere utterance. And he’ll use this power to hold the Lord accountable for the people He has forsaken.
 
From the ashes of a small-town church to the bright lights of New York City to the backwoods of Louisiana, Jesse Custer cuts a righteous path across the soul of America in his quest for the divine—an effort that will be met by every evil that Heaven and Earth can assemble. Joined by his gun-toting girlfriend, Tulip, and the hard-drinking Irish vampire, Cassidy, Jesse will stop at nothing to fulfill his quest to find God.

The creative powerhouse team of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon bring readers on a violent and riotous journey across the country in this award-winning Vertigo series, beginning with Preacher Book One. Collects issues #1-12.

We started watching the television series, so I wanted to go back and read the comic series. The two are very different stories. I can’t quite seem to really love this volume. The stories have a choppy quality that I’m not a huge fan of. The casual racism and misogyny, while probably accurate to the time and place, is very grating. Tulip is kinda a terrible character and I really wish she grows and develops throughout the rest of the series, but I don’t hold out a lot of hope. Truly, my favorite character of the bunch is Cassidy. He’s at least very interesting in both the comic and the television show. I imagine that I will continue reading this series, albeit at a slow pace.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Title: Nothing But Blackened Teeth

Author: Cassandra Khaw

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2021

Genre: Horror

Pages: 128

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company. It’s the perfect venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends, brought back together to celebrate a wedding. A night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare as secrets get dragged out and relationships are tested. But the house has secrets too. Lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart. And she gets lonely down there in the dirt. Effortlessly turning the classic haunted house story on its head, Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a sharp and devastating exploration of grief, the parasitic nature of relationships, and the consequences of our actions.

What the heck did a I just read? That was incredibly short and incredibly weird. I love a good haunted house and was promised some creepy goings-on with this story. That part of the story delivers. It was the characters that I very much disliked. They are terrible and clearly all hate each other. I wanted to root for at least one of them, but found myself rooting for the ghosts and demons. Not the best foundation for a story. And then I was confused in parts as to what exactly I was supposed to be seeing in this house. I loved the premise, but didn’t quite get the execution.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

Title: The Ghost Tree

Author: Christina Henry

Publisher: Berkley 2020

Genre: Horror

Pages: 415

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in the town of Smiths Hollow, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won't find the killer. After all, the year before her father's body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids.

So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can't just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.

A very fun monster book full of small town secrets, coming of age, and conflict between the insiders and outsiders. I’ve enjoyed other Christina Henry works, and this was a return to the slightly grotesque fast-moving story that I love from her. We dive right in with a very gory murder of two girls and then speed through the book trying to figure out the mystery before anyone else gets killed. Lauren felt like a very typical almost 15 year old with her insecurities and internal identity struggles. I wasn’t annoyed by the whining or immaturity as Henry doesn’t overdo it. We aren’t reminded every page about Lauren’s feeling. Instead, we get a bit of a range of focus on different characters from the town. My favorite were the interactions between David and anyone else. I guessed who the monster had inhabited, but relished the big reveal at the end. I really loved this spooky monster book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

Title: Vampires of El Norte

Author: Isabel Cañas

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 371

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; BOTM Cleanout

As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.

Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.

When the United States invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.

I’ve been going back and forth about this book for the last few days. We’re reading this for the Nerdy Bookish Friends selection for October and I am a little disappointed. I was hoping for a very gothic tale of vampires in the wilderness of Mexico. A fight for survival with some super creepy scenes. There are a few of those scattered through the book, but mostly we get a will-they-won’t-they romance as the focus. A big part of the conflict within Nena and Néstor’s relationship is a big case of miscommunication. This is my least favorite romance trope and it really shows in how much I disliked certain parts of this book. Beyond the romance, the vampire scenes are very few and far between. I did enjoy the comparison of the monstrous vampires to the white colonizers and wished we had spent more them on that angle. I’m looking forward to my discussion on Sunday with the Nerdy Bookish Friends. My rating may just drop to a 3, but right now I’m sticking with a 4.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales by Kiersten White

Title: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Scholastic 2017

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 224

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Once upon a time, a girl skipped into the forest and became a zombie.Wait, no, that's not how this story is supposed to go. Let's try again.Once upon a time, a boy did a horrible job as a sheep-sitter and burned his tongue on stolen pie.No, children in these stories are always good and virtuous. From the top.Once upon a time, a king and queen tried to find a princess for their son to marry, and he wound up fleeing from a group of very hairy vampires.Hmmm...What about, once upon a time, a bunch of fairy tales got twisted around to be completely hilarious, a tiny bit icky, and delightfully spooky scarytales... in other words, exactly what fairy tales were meant to be. Grab some flaming torches, maybe don't accept that bowl of pease porridge, and get ready for a wickedly fun ride with acclaimed author Kiersten White and fairy tales like you've never heard them before.

I grabbed this one for me to read during spooky book month, but ended up reading it to the kids for our night time read. It was the perfect choice for a bit of spookiness without proper horror. Instead we get some fractured fairy tales featuring some classic horror tropes and monsters. All with White’s unique brand of humor throughout. I absolutely adored the idea of the awareness of the narrator for both the reader and the characters in the stories. The little asides were just perfect. The stories themselves are fun twists on the classic stories. My favorite was definitely Red Hiding Hood as a zombie horde leader. This was the perfect read for this month and such a delightful library find.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

Title: Episode Thirteen

Author: Craig DiLouie

Publisher: Redhook 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 437

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts.

Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen—and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong.

Very creepy descent into the mysteries of a haunted house that ended with a bit whomp whomp instead of a satisfying ending. I was very creeped out while reading this book at night in bed. None of the characters are extremely lovable, but they are very intriguing with their own backgrounds and roles within the show. I must say that Jessica was my least favorite in that she never settled on her role within the show and I wanted to see her more clearly. Beyond that nit picking about Jessica, I started to root for the team as a whole after the incident with the apparition in the room upstairs. From there, things start to fall apart for the team, and I was more into the book. Once the team went into the well, I was speeding through the pages to the end. However the ending just wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t feel satisfied by the ultimate ambiguous nature of the finish. I wanted just a little bit more.

Next up on the TBR pile:

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

Title: This Delicious Death

Author: Kayla Cottingham

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 290

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Two years ago, a small percentage of population underwent a transformation known as the Hollowing. Those affected were only able to survive by consuming human flesh. The people who went without quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. Luckily, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy their hunger. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal.

Cut to Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine, four hollow girls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before graduation they decide to attend a musical festival in the heart of the desert. They have a cooler filled with seltzer, vodka, and Synflesh… and are ready to party. 

But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral and ends up killing and eating a boy in one of the bands. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is targeting people like them. And if they can't figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is getting out alive.

Well that was delightfully fun! A very YA (but don’t let that scare you off) horror romp set at a music festival in the desert. The teenagers felt very much like Zillenial teeneagers, but not in a terrible way. I actually really liked getting a look at the younger generations outlook on life through the lenses of a pseudo-zombie storyline. Thankfully this book gets right into the weird and the spooky not dwelling on a ton of exposition right away Instead, we dive right into the music festival and then learn about the characters backstories through chapter starters. Overall a fun romp for spooky month.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey

Title: Eat the Rich

Author: Sarah Gailey, Pius Bak, Roman Titov

Publisher: BOOM! Studios 2021

Genre: Comics

Pages: 128

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

WELCOME TO CRESTFALL BLUFFS! With law school and her whole life ahead of her, Joey plans to spend the summer with her boyfriend Astor at his seemingly perfect family home. But beneath all the affluent perfection lies a dark, deadly rot… something all the locals live in quiet fear of. As summer lingers, Joey uncovers the macabre history of Crestfall Bluffs, and the ruthlessness and secrecy lying in wait behind the idyllic lives of the one percent. Who can Joey save? Who wants to be saved? And can she even survive to tell the tale? The bold, horrifying psychological thriller from Hugo Award-winning author Sarah Gailey (The Echo Wife, Magic For Liars) and artist Pius Bak (Firefly, The Magicians) with colorist Roman Titov and letterer Cardinal Rae. Collects Eat the Rich #1-5.

Creepy little story where I think it’s going to one way and it goes another. I’ve really become a fan of Sarah Gailey’s work in the past few years. It’s great to see them try something a little different with a graphic novel. I sped through this slim volume in an afternoon simultaneously horrified by the contents and wanting to know more. Very gory commentary of our society and I really enjoyed it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Haunting of Winchester Mansion by Alexandria Clarke

Title: The Haunting of Winchester Mansion

Author: Alexandria Clarke

Publisher: 2019

Genre: Horror Mystery

Pages: 440

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; COYER

In the small town of Black Bay, a vacant, forgotten house sits atop an overlooking bluff.

When Bailey and Bodhi Taylor move in and begin renovations, the house seems perfect. But things move on their own, screams echo from the basement, and Bailey sees a shadowy figure out of the corner of her eye. Is the house haunted? And if it is, what does the ghost want with Bailey?

CW: Child death

Well that was a bust for me. I was hoping for some creepy supernatural mystery a la Darcy Coates. Instead, we get a very lackluster mundane mystery with a few supernatural bits. I called the murderer within the first 50 pages and then felt myself becoming more and more bored over the course of the last 400 pages. The story was way too long and drawn out for what it was. The main characters frustrated me. I was not happy about their backstory and the casual way it was dropped. Seriously needed a content warning there… Add in the weird way the story was broken up and edited and I was very annoyed by it. I suspect that this was three novellas that were then smashed into one big book. If you are going to do that, please edit the transitions better. Very annoying.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Title: Mister Magic

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.  

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has. 

Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since. 

After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap? 

Well that was one of the weirdest books that I’ve read in quite a while. White employs the same type of strange setup and unfolding of the story as with her previous adult horror book, Hide. In this one, we get a strange children’s television show, potentially a small-town cult, and a very very creepy house. I love these horror stories that unfold in very strange slow reveals. It’s my absolute favorite kind of creepy. I wasn’t the most excited about the fact that Val cannot remember anything from her life on the show or her childhood. This part seemed a bit of a strange plot device and wasn’t my favorite way to experience the story. I liked her more as the story goes on, but it was really the other children from the show that were my favorites. I loved seeing as how they reveal their true selves over the course of the book. Once we get to the big reveal of the show and how it operated, I was fully into the storyline.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Menacing Manor by Kiersten White

Title: Menacing Manor (The Sinister Summer #4)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2023

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After escaping from Edgaren’t and Dr. Jay, the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their friends arrive at Stein Manor Science Camp. They all work together to distract the friendly teenage camp director so they can explore and look for clues about where their parents might be.

Meanwhile, Theo and Alexander settle on a daring plan. They know exactly where Edgaren’t is going to be: coming for them, and the books. This time, they’ll be ready. This time, they’ll get answers. And this time, they won’t trust the adult in charge, which is easy enough when it’s enormous, lurking, unfriendly Mr. Frank. But as they get closer to opening the books and their parents’ histories, an unexpected foe is watching everything they do. . . .

Fake volcanoes! Real sea caves! Strangely modified frogs! Startling betrayal! And a lightning-struck manor! all combine for the electrifying penultimate Sinister Summer adventure.

Oh that was utterly delightful! I loved the ensemble within this volume. We get to see how many of the kids work tougher to solve the mystery of their parents’ disappearances. We get more clues and some perilous situations. The best part was the interplay between Essa and Mr. Frank. I love the twist on the classic horror stories. I cannot wait until January for the last book in the series. I hope that we get a satisfying conclusion.

The Sinister Summer

• #1 Wretched Waterpark

• #2 Vampiric Vacation

• #3 Camp Creepy

• #4 Menacing Manor

Next up on the TBR pile:

Camp Creepy by Kiersten White

Title: Camp Creepy (The Sinister Summer #3)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2023

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 288

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After leaving the Sanguine Spa in pursuit of Edgaren't, the kids find themselves at a mysterious summer camp, Camp Creek. There are lake games and happy counselors, and there's even a tie-dye cabin. It's all very . . . normal.

But if Theo and Alexander know one thing, it's that normal doesn't always mean good. When everyone around her starts acting strange, Theo wonders if maybe the fumes from the tie-dye cabin are seeping into their brains, and she resolves to investigate what's really going on at Camp Creek.   

The third book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White's Sinister Summer series continues the adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their aunt, who never saw a discount vacation destination she didn’t love.

If you are looking for a series that dupes A Series of Unfortunate Events is some clever ways, pick this one up! I absolutely adore this creepy mystery series. In this volume, we finally get to visit the summer camp full of strangely perky children and teens. And we get more insight into the larger mystery alongside hooking back up with some favorite characters. I adored seeing Wil being much more open and present with Theo and Alexander. A super fun adventure! I can’t believe that I didn’t catch the twist, but thoroughly enjoyed the reveal. On to the fourth book!

The Sinister Summer

• #1 Wretched Waterpark

• #2 Vampiric Vacation

• #3 Camp Creepy

• #4 Menacing Manor

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deep by Nick Cutter

Title: The Deep

Author: Nick Cutter

Publisher: Gallery Books 2015

Genre: Horror

Pages: 394

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure.

But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, a heretofore-unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia”—a universal healer, from initial reports—has been discovered. It may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets.

In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

Absolutely horrifying! This was a masterpiece is laying out suspense and dread over the course of the entire book while still giving us some extremely creepy moments throughout. This is not the book if you are squeamish at all and/or do not like body horror. We all know that something is seriously wrong on the research station even before Al and Lucas begin their descent. And it just keeps getting worse. The book reminded me a lot of Event Horizon or even Sphere. We have to parse out what is real and what is imagined. But in the end, does it really matter? I absolutely was creeped out by this book (which does not happen very often at all). Definitely going to be having a few nightmares from this one.

Next up on the TBR pile: