Never Whistle at Night

Title: Never Whistle at Night

Author: Various

Publisher: Vintage 2023

Genre: Short Story Horror

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Indigenous Culture; Spooky Season

Where I Got It: Library

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.

These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

Randomly found this collection of horror filled stories at the library and knew that I needed to read it. Like every short story collection, some stories are outstanding, while some are not-so-great. Thankfully this collection erred on the better side. I found myself actually a bit creeped out by many of the stories included. I especially loved the ones that incoprotated folklore and mythology into the horror. The ones that were much more based on the horror of current life didn’t work as well for me. I’m not as much of a real-life horror fan. I like the weird, the strange, and the supernatural. Overall, this was a good collection and shared a lot about indigenous life.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Murder Road by Simone St. James

Title: Murder Road

Author: Simone St. James

Publisher: Berkley 2024

Genre: Thriller/Horror

Pages: 341

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Spooky Season

Where I Got It: BOTM March 2024

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

Not my favorite of St. James’s books (that’s The Book of Cold Cases), but still an enjoyable thriller/horror book. I enjoyed the random throwback to the 90s as we follow Eddie and April on their ill-fated honeymoon. They are both carrying secrets and I enjoyed seeing them be revealed throughout the story. Our book opens with a great propulsive sequence, so of course I was intrigued. Once the Carters start investigating the murder and the mystery of Atticus Lane, the book slowed down. There was a lot of circular conversations and actions in the middle that started to drag things down. Thankfully it picked up towards the end and we barreled across the last pages. I didn’t love the neat-as-a-bow wrap-up, but overall enjoyed this book with moderate ghost involvement.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Universal Monsters: Dracula

Title: Universal Monsters: Dracula

Author: James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds

Publisher: Image Comics 2024

Genre: Comics; Horror; Classics

Pages: 120

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season - D

Where I Got It: Library

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH creators, James Tynion IV (W0rldtr33, Something is Killing the Children)and Martin Simmonds, reteam to tell a new tale of the monster who started it all!

When Dr. John Seward admits a strange new patient named Renfield into his asylum, the madman tells stories of a demon who has taken residence next door. But as Dr. Seward attempts to apply logic to the impossible...his daughter falls under the spell of the twisted Count Dracula!

Collects UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: DRACULA #1-4.

A wonderfully creepy graphic novel version of a classic story. The art is decidedly vague when it comes to the count and the horror and very clear when we follow our human characters. I loved the dichotomy of style within each page. As for the story being shown, I do appreciate that they focused on the part back in England. We see what happens to Lucy and Mina and Renfield. I do love seeing classic stories retold in different ways. A quick fun read for the day.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 2

Title: The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 2

Author: James Tynion, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire

Publisher: DC Comics 2023

Genre: Comics

Pages: 176

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: None

Where I Got It: Library

One of the most critically acclaimed and bestselling horror books of 2021 returns for its shocking second act—and now is the perfect time to enter the house! The 10 hardy survivors gathered in the house by their mutual friend Walter thought they’d finally cracked the code on his plans…and now everything they thought they knew has literally changed. Can they free themselves from their patterns? Or are they all just determined to build a prison of their very own?

I finally grabbed the second trade in this series and goodness, it was a journey. The first couple of pages really threw me. The reader has to orient themselves to the story being told. Once I got my bearings, I sped through the next chapters of this story. I loved the interplay of the different personalities and their reactions to the events. I do wish that the story would have a progressed a bit more before we got to the end. Now I just have to wait I guess. No idea when the next chapters will be released.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deading by Nicholas Belardes

Title: The Deading

Author: Nicholas Belardes

Publisher: Erewhon Books 2024

Genre: Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Where I Got It: Library

If you want to stay, you have to die.

In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people.

Once infected, residents of Baywood start “deading”: collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fanatical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things.

Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshiping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors of Baywood must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal.

Such a disappointing read! I was hoping for some great cli-fi horror involving snails and an otherworldly presence. I was hoping for something like Annihlation. Instead, this is a disjointed (not in a good way) mess of random characters and about fifty (it feels like) plots. We never really focus on any one thing. Instead, every chapter is jumping around characters, time, space, and plot lines. I grew very frustrated that we never knew who was speaking until almost halfway through each chapter. It wasn’t mysterious, it was just confusing. That choice made it very hard to connect to the story in any meaningful way. The horror involving the snails was interesting, but never fully explored. The story keeps turning to the deading and a semi religious cult that spring up. Pretty boring. And I really didn’t need almost a 100 pages of random birdwatching. Seriously, I started skimming those sections. Too detailed and very off-putting for the reader. This has not been a good week for my reading…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Temptation by R.L. Stine

Title: Temptation

Author: R.L. Stine

Publisher: Simon Pulse 2008

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 407

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

Where I Got It: Library

In this collection of three fan-favorite stories, the vampires of Sandy Hollow crave the summer months. Summer means plenty of beach tourists…and plenty of fresh blood after months of deprivation. But this year the Eternal Ones have decided to spice things up with a little bet: The first to seduce a hot date of the human variety, and then turn him into a fellow creature of the night, wins.
The catch? In order to successfully turn their prey, they must take only three small sips of blood on three different nights. If they take too much blood on any night, the human will die and the bet will be lost.
The setup sounds simple enough, but things quickly get complicated—especially since each vampire is just dying to quench her thirst...

I saw this book featured on an episode of The Big Door Prize and of course I had to grab it. I knew that it was going to be some cheesy young adult vampire stories. It did deliver on that. But I must say that it also didn’t have enough at all. The dialogue was terrible and kept pulling me out of the story. It really felt that these teenagers were living int he 70s, not now. I wanted to see a bit more modern language and interactions. This book was good for just some silly stories.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1

Title: The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1

Author: James Tynion, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire

Publisher: DC Comics 2022

Genre: Comics

Pages: 200

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: None

Where I Got It: Library

Everyone who was invited to the house knows Walter-well, they know him a little, anyway. Some met him in childhood; some met him months ago. And Walter’s always been a little…off. But after the hardest year of their lives, nobody was going to turn down Walter’s invitation to an astonishingly beautiful house in the woods, overlooking an enormous sylvan lake. It’s beautiful, it’s opulent, it’s private-so a week of putting up with Walter’s weird little schemes and nicknames in exchange for the vacation of a lifetime? Why not? All of them were at that moment in their lives when they could feel themselves pulling away from their other friends; wouldn’t a chance to reconnect be…nice? Collects The Nice House on the Lake #1-6.

How did I miss this series? Probably because it came from DC Comics. I’m definitely more of an Image reader. But I finally picked this one up and devoured it. This is a story that starts slow, but hooked me immediately. I desperately wanted to unravel the mystery presented with the inhabitants of the house. We get clues here and there and then the story takes a huge turn. I was absolutely floored and cannot wait to grab the next volume.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert

Title: The Bad Ones

Author: Melissa Albert

Publisher: Flatiron Books 2024

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Omniscient Narrator; Library Love

Where I Got It: Library

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town’s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local lore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games. . . .

An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, The Bad Ones is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.

Such a disappointment. I loved Albert’s Hazelwood series and was hoping for more dark fantasy. This one started very very slow and failed to go anywhere for too many pages. Once we finally kick the plot into gear, the horror doesn’t deliver like I had hoped. It’s very lackluster. And don’t get me started on the “romance” sections. I just couldn’t buy those two characters being together and didn’t care what happened to them. Overall, I found myself being extremely bored throughout this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

Title: Incidents Around the House

Author: Josh Malerman

Publisher: Del Rey 2024

Genre: Horror

Pages: 371

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?” 

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel. 

But Other Mommy needs an answer.

An interesting experiment in storytelling that doesn’t quite live up to the hype for me. I have loved many of Malerman’s previous stories and was very excited to get this one from the library. We get an interesting literary perspective by telling the story through Bela’s eyes. Many aspects of this story are hidden as we only get to see and hear what she does. Interesting, but ultimately, I was not very interested in the story being told. Adults liar and obfuscating the truth is nothing new. I could have basically called the “twist” about Bela’s parentage from the beginning. It also made it really hard to root for the adults in the story. In the end, their bad behavior made me very angry for Bela and her decision to try and save them. Not my favorite.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Cursed Cruise by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Title: Cursed Cruise (Horror Hotel #2)

Author: Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Publisher: Underlined 2024

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

After their fateful stay at the Hearst Hotel, the Ghost Gang is back with more spooks and more subscribers. They’ve been invited to record onboard the RMS Queen Anne, a transatlantic luxury ocean liner with a colorful past of violent deaths of hundreds of passengers—souls that bought a one-way ticket to the afterlife (and never disembarked).

When Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma board the ship, they have a funny feeling they’ve been sucked into a ghostly time warp—a theory that takes a frightening turn when Chrissy goes missing on the first night.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Chrissy has been sucked into another time by a passenger who wants the Ghost Gang to know her untimely death was not an accident and the perpetrator is still alive—and on board this ship.

Well, that was decently fun. After two duds of books, I was really hoping for something fun and exciting that wouldn’t make me think too hard. This was just the ticket. We jump back into the Ghost Gang months after their adventures in the Horror Hotel. This time they are going on a haunted cruise ship (nothing can go wrong, right?) and meeting some TV rivals. I liked this book incorporated a ton of high seas urban myths as well as some classic ghost stories. I liked that we shifted focus from Chrissy to the rest of the Ghost Gang. Seriously, I didn’t realize how tiresome Chrissy was in the first book until I read the second. I also liked seeing Kiki and her mom reconnect over trauma. I sped through this book in two days attempting to cleanse my reading palette and it totally worked. There’s nothing deep here, but great ghostly fun.

Horror Hotel

• #1 Horror Hotel

• #2 Cursed Cruise

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

Title: Ghost Station

Author: S.A. Barnes

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2024

Genre: SciFi Horror

Pages: 377

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

An abandoned plant. A hidden past. A deadly danger.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of Eckhart-Reiser syndrome (ERS)—the most famous case of which resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. It's personal to her, and when she's assigned to a small exploration crew who recently suffered the tragic death of a colleague, she wants to help. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that the crew is hiding something.

Ophelia's crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizers' hasty departure than opening up to her.

That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental deterioration from ERS? Or is it something even more sinister?

Terrified that history will repeat itself, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out what’s happening. But trust is hard to come by…and the crew isn’t the only one keeping secrets.

Another proper space horror adventure! I really enjoyed Barnes’s previous book Dead Silence and was hoping with would be another good horror adventure. Thankfully it completely delivers on the promise! Right away we’re introduced to our main characters and have to decide whether or not to trust them. As the plot slowly unravels, we learn more about the characters, their motivations, and their secrets. I really fell for Ophelia and found myself really hoping that she would be a truthful main character. And obviously Severin was positioned as a mysterious and yet intriguing counterpoint. I loved seeing the characters respond to the events on the station. The last 60 pages or so were a wild ride. I was very much there for it until the end. Really enjoyed this adventure.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon by Matt Dinniman

Title: Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2019

Genre: Horror LitRPG

Pages: 660

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

It had seemed like a dream offer. Paint a mural. $15,000. How could Duke not jump at the chance?

But it came with a catch, as these things often do. He had to first see what his client wanted him to paint.

A private server. A digital playground. An alliance of the world’s most sadistic, most depraved minds. A place to bring their prey, to hone their skills.

Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon. Survival horror. One of the most brutal, most terrifying full-immersion games ever made. A place where fantasy characters such as elves and dwarves clash with technology, where giant monsters roam the hills, entrusted with protecting the gates of heaven from the demons who would tear it all down.

A game where one plays the last of the battlefield surgeons: a healer tasked with keeping the behemoths alive at all costs.

But on this server, they don’t care about the game. That’s not why they’re here. They’ve come because of the game’s most unique feature: Full pain. Realistic anatomy. The ability to bring their victims well beyond the body’s normal breaking point. And most importantly, the ability to bring them back and do it all over again.

Trapped in a bloody, merciless nightmare, Duke only has one goal. To survive. And in order to survive, he must play the game. He must win the game. And to do that, he must become the most cruel, most ruthless monster of them all.

After reading and really enjoying the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, J wanted me to read Dinniman’s earlier stand-alone work. This one wasn’t quite as much of a win or me. The style is very much classic LitRPG. There’s a lot of telling but not showing. The paragraphs are full of long blocks of exposition describing the action, but often it drags down the narration. As to the story itself, this one is very brutal. It is much more horror than the Carl series. The body horror and gore factor is very very high. I would not recommend this one to many people. Only one or two scenes actually made me a little squeamish. But it definitely it full of gore. While I did enjoy this book, Duke is not Carl and there’s definitely many differences between those characters. I learned so much about Carl just from the first book. Duke is much more of a mystery even by the end of the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Title: Horror Hotel (Horror Hotel #1)

Author: Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Publisher: Underlined 2022

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 224

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless.

But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.

Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help—and the living we should fear.

I spied this on a library featured shelf and immediately snatched it. I was hoping of a creepy fun ghost adventure. And that’s exactly what I got! We dive right into the adventure with a group of ghost hunters with a YouTube channel. Of course I had to keep in mind that this is a young adult novel. There were a few times when I got very annoyed by the character’s reactions to things, but then remembered that they are teenagers. This was much like the R.L. Stine novels of my early teen years. The plot was fast moving. The creepy scenes wee sufficiently creepy. I finished this one in two days and enjoyed the time. I am definitely going to read the sequel.

Horror Hotel

• #1 Horror Hotel

• #2 Cursed Cruise

Next up on the TBR pile:

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

Title: Diavola

Author: Jennifer Thorne

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2024

Genre: Horror

Pages: 293

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; 52 Book Club - Year of the Dragon

Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.

It isn’t easy when she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t quite fit in. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he’s practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone—including her blandly docile husband and two kids—falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails—the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself.

A Nerdy Bookish Friend suggested this book as a good horror selection for me. And she was so right! This was exactly the type of horror book I wanted! We get the lush setting, the absolutely creepy atmosphere, actual ghosts, and a scrappy heroine. I loved the slow descent into madness and horror that the entire Pace family experiences at the hands of the La Dama Bianca. Every description of creepy feeling or sighting was perfectly horrifying. I absolutely adored the mystery surrounding the haunting. And we get to see a very dysfunctional family at play throughout. So many times I really wanted Anna to just turn her entire family (well maybe not the nieces) over to the malevolent spirits. I was with this book to the very end!

Next up on the TBR pile:

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

Title: What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2)

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightmare 2024

Genre: Horror

Pages: 151

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Duology

After their terrifying ordeal at the Usher manor, Alex Easton feels as if they just survived another war. All they crave is rest, routine, and sunshine, but instead, as a favor to Angus and Miss Potter, they find themself heading to their family hunting lodge, deep in the cold, damp forests of their home country, Gallacia.

In theory, one can find relaxation in even the coldest and dampest of Gallacian autumns, but when Easton arrives, they find the caretaker dead, the lodge in disarray, and the grounds troubled by a strange, uncanny silence. The villagers whisper that a breath-stealing monster from folklore has taken up residence in Easton’s home. Easton knows better than to put too much stock in local superstitions, but they can tell that something is not quite right in their home. . . or in their dreams.

Another creepy novel featuring some great folklore and major atmosphere. Right away we jump into the creepy and silent Galicia. I loved getting to see Alex return to their homeland only to find life a bit more complicated once again. I could see exactly where this story was going and yet I still loved every page of it. This is short and compact, and yet I found myself lost in the story. Kingfisher allows write with such tension and suspense, I always love it.

Sworn Soldier

• #1 What Moves the Dead

• #2 What Feasts at Night

Next up on the TBR pile:

Witnerset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

Title: Winterset Hollow

Author: Jonathan Edward Durham

Publisher: Credo House 2021

Genre: Horror

Pages: 274

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: In Case You Missed It - 2021; Library Love

Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction . . . especially on Addington Isle.

Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book—a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is actually fact, and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It’s Barley Day . . . and you’re invited to the hunt.

Winterset Hollow is as thrilling as it is terrifying and as smart as it is surprising. A uniquely original story filled with properly unexpected twists and turns, Winterset Hollow delivers complex, indelible characters and pulse- pounding action as it storms toward an unforgettable climax that will leave you reeling. How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.

Someone (I truly cannot remember who now) said that this was one of the scariest books that they have ever read. Of course, I had to pick this one up and read it immediately. While the book doesn’t live up to the hype, I still enjoyed this horror novel. I got a lot of reminders of The Magicians and Narnia with a splash of The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down. Once the second part started, I knew exactly what was going to happen in the storyline, but I was still interested in reading the rest of the novel. We follow our main trio as they explore a childhood inspiration from a favorite book. Of course, things are not all that they seem. We know that things are much more dire and dangerous than should be. Once the story truly gets going, it doesn’t let up until the end. Fascinating look at the nature of humanity and conquest. A solid horror book to pick up.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

Title: Empty Smiles (Small Spaces #4)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2022

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 208

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Includes a Personal Phobia (can you guess?); Library Love

It’s been three months since Ollie made a daring deal with the smiling man to save those she loved, and then vanished without a trace. The smiling man promised Coco, Brian and Phil, that they’d have a chance to save her, but as time goes by, they begin to worry that the smiling man has lied to them and Ollie is gone forever. But then a terrified and rambling boy who went missing at a nearby traveling carnival appears with a message for the trio from the mysterious man who took him: Play if you dare.

Game on! The smiling man has finally made his move. Now it’s Coco, Brian, and Phil’s turn to make theirs. And they know just where to start. The traveling carnival is coming to Evansburg.

Meanwhile, Ollie is trapped in the world behind the mist, learning the horrifying secrets of the smiling man's carnival, and trying everything to help her friends find her. Brian, Coco and Phil will risk everything to rescue Ollie—but they all soon realize this game is much more dangerous than the ones before. This time the smiling man is playing for keeps.

And the end of this fun and spooky series! I have really enjoyed the fun creepy bits here and there and this one really amped up the spook factor. I was all for the carnival setting and the return of the smiling man. Plus we get some very creepy minions. The mystery of how Olivia and friends can ge3t out of the situation was extra fun. The storyline kept moving and progressing quickly just how I liked. My biggest problem was how quickly the ending happened. We don’t get to see Brian and Coco get through the carnival to save Olivia. They just show up and everything happens super quickly. I wanted to see more. sStill, it was a great ending to the series.

Small Spaces

• #1 Small Spaces

• #2 Dead Voices

• #3 Dark Waters

• #4 Empty Smiles

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Title: A Tale Dark & Grimm (A Tale Dark & Grimm #1)

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Publisher: Dutton Books 2010

Genre: MG Fantasy Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairy Tales; 52 Book Club - Author Self-Insert

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

A lovely horrifying spin on the Hansel and Gretel stories. I love how Gidwitz mixes up the classic stories into one large narrative. With every story, the situation becomes even more horrifying and my love for this book grew. But I think my favorite story was the story were Hansel tricked the devil. The narrative voice with the author inserts was an added bonus to the book. I will most definitely have to continue reading the series.

A Tale Dark & Grimm

• #1 A Tale Dark & Grimm

• #2 In a Glass Grimmly

• #3 The Grimm Conclusion

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Title: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Author: Andrew Joseph White

Publisher: Peachtree Teen 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 387

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Picked without reading the blurb; Library Love

Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old trans, autistic Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife.

After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium. When the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its guts to the world—so long as the school doesn’t break him first.

Featuring an autistic trans protagonist in a historical setting, Andrew Joseph White’s much-anticipated sophomore novel does not back down from exposing the violence of the patriarchy and the harm inflicted on trans youth who are forced into conformity.

Be forewarned, this book is full of horror and gore. It is not for for the feint of heart, but it’s such a great story about a person finding their self. We are immediately thrown into Silas’s confusing world full of expectations and horrors. We follow along as he attempts to carve his own path in the world only to butt up against societal expectations. The story really gets going when we transition to the Braxton school. From there, the mystery starts to unravel. The plot was fast moving and truly horrifying. I was very involved in the story and figuring out what happened to the girls at the school. My favorite parts with the scenes with Daphne. I loved see Silas and Daphne slowly find their partnership. Apparently, I’ve really been on an identity finding books kick lately.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

Title: A Guest in the House

Author: Emily Carroll

Publisher: First Second 2023

Genre: Graphic Novel Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

After many lonely years, Abby’s just gotten married. She met her new husband―a recently widowed dentist―when he arrived in town with his young daughter, seeking a new start. Although it’s strange living in the shadow of her predecessor, Abby does her best to be a good wife and mother. But the more she learns about her new husband’s first wife, the more things don’t add up. And Abby starts to wonder . . . was Sheila’s death really by natural causes? As Abby sinks deeper into confusion, Sheila’s memory seems to become a force all its own, ensnaring Abby in a mystery that leaves her obsessed, fascinated, and desperately in love for the first time in her life.

Emily's masterful balance of black and white, surreal colors, rich textures, and dramatic lettering is assured to bring this story to life and give readers a chill up their spine as they read.

Now this book was much more up my alley. We get a horror comic examining a life of complacency and self-doubt. I loved how Abby’s story spirals with Crystal and Sheila’s stories. The interplay between black and white images and bursts of color drove home the push and pull between reality and dreams and nightmares. Throughout the pages, I was rooting for Abby in every encounter. After reading this volume, I definitely need to get more from Carroll.

Next up on the TBR pile: