Bark At The Ghouls

“What harm could a ghost do? 👻 The Spite House by Johnny Compton Released February 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money–it’s not easy to find safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you. When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them. The job calls to Eric,

It's more of a girl eat boy world, tbh. This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham Released April 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon Four best friends, one music festival, and a cooler filled with human organs: this summer is about to get gory. ​​​ Jennifer’s Body fans will clamor for this new sapphic horror standalone from New York Times bestselling author Kayla Cottingham. Three years ago, the melting of arctic permafrost released a pathogen of unknown origin into the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a resul

I love all of these modern day gothic novels releasing. Here's a new one: The Stradivarius by Rae Knowles Released May 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon When a surprise inheritance and whirlwind romance offer Mae a chance to escape her repressive aunt, she’s all too eager to elope and start life anew in her childhood home. But when she and her new husband arrive, the towering Victorian sits in disrepair, and Mae learns that her father’s decade-old, unsolved murder is still a source of rumor and speculation in town. Leading the charge to unravel the mystery surrounding her father’s death is Ollie, a vibrant genderqueer and an outsider in their hometown. Sure that solving the cold case will land them a coveted job in the police department, Ollie gains access to the Victorian by agreeing to do maintenance work on the property. Inside, Mae is taunted by a feminine specter, soft voices from empty rooms, and distinct melodies of Lady Paola: the priceless

Here's a lovely little collection of stories filled with creeping dread that I read recently. A Small Light & Other Stories by Sara Century Released December 2022 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon A mysterious woman stalks a seaside town. An isolated couple inhabit a house full of tropical birds. A rowboat floats down a river toward a witch's cave. Death wanders an unnamed city during the plague. Sara Century's debut short story collection carries with it surreal visions inspired by pulp paperbacks, art house films, comic books of all flavors, and classic queer villains. A Small Light & Other Stories gathers tales that hinge on troubled characters with nothing left to lose encountering existential horrors, where everyday problems escalate into insurmountable monsters, and we find ourselves unable to escape dreams long since transformed into nightmares. My 2 Cents for Free! A Small Light & Other Stories is an eerie, melancholy collect

Feel like a solo hike? You won't after this! It Doesn't Go Away by Wendy Dalrymple Released February 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon A woman on the brink. A long, endless hike. Something waiting in the woods. There’s something waiting for her along the Appalachian Trail. Watching. Following. She knows it. She can feel their eyes on her at every corner. It’s only a matter of time before they catch up… In the aftermath of a horrible traumatic incident, a woman sets out on a solo long-distance hiking trip along the Appalachian Trail. Despite her insistence to push through, dark forces manifest in strangers' faces and terror sets in. With every turn through the dense, dark wood, she discovers that running away from her past is more difficult than it seems, and in the end, it just doesn’t go away. My 2 Cents for Free! It Doesn’t Go Away is a tense little novella filled with danger that lurks around every corner while slowly revealing some pain

This is a wild one! Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder Released February 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon Sister, Maiden, Monster is a visceral story set in the aftermath of our planet’s disastrous transformation and told through the eyes of three women trying to survive the nightmare, from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A. Snyder. To survive they must evolve. 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. Inspired by her Bram Stoker Award

Phew, this one has some rough content! Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid Released June 2022 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads   | Amazon From highly acclaimed bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente. A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites. Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city shifting from magic to industry. As Oblya’s last true witches, she and her sisters are little more than a tourist trap as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the

Like horror movies?  Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesmith Released February 2021 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth is a pop-science look at fear, how and why horror films get under our skin, and why we keep coming back for more. Do you like scary movies? Have you ever wondered why? Nina Nesseth knows what scares you. She also knows why. In Nightmare Fuel, Nesseth explores the strange and often unexpected science of fear through the lenses of psychology and physiology. How do horror films get under our skin? What about them keeps us up at night, even days later? And why do we keep coming back for more? Horror films promise an experience: fear. From monsters that hide in plain sight to tension-building scores, every aspect of a horror film is crafted to make your skin crawl. But how exactly do filmmakers pull this off? The truth is, there’s more to it than just loud noises and creepy images. With the affection of a true horror fan and

Unfortunately, this third book was not for me but you can't love 'em all, right? Beguiled by Darynda Jones Released February 2021 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads   | Amazon Newly indoctrinated witch, Defiance Dayne discovers there’s more to life after forty than she'd ever imagined possible. Especially if one is a charmling, one of only three in the world, with enough magics to make her a target for every power-hungry warlock out there. When one of them sends a hunter to town, she knows it’s time to take her talents seriously before the hunter takes her life. She decides she has three things to do before she can die. Find out who killed her beloved grandmother, teach her BFF the finer points of spellcasting before she blows up the world, and figure out how serious her relationship with the Adonis living in her basement really is. If it’s heading in the direction she’s hoping for, she can die happy. Though, admittedly, she’d rather not. Die. Happy or otherwise. None of that

Horror Spotlight chose this as their read along book for January and I'm so glad! Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice Released October 2018 Source: Library Borrow Horror & Horrorish Fiction  |   Goodreads   | Amazon A daring post-apocalyptic thriller from a powerful rising literary voice With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hope