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Showing posts from October, 2019

TBR Thursday (1)

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Do you plan out your next read or are you a fly by the seat of the pants type of reader? I'm the latter but am trying to force myself to be the former and hope these kinds of posts will help me stay on the right path. At least until I get my to be reviewed stack finished up! I am embarrassed to admit that one of these books slipped through the cracks because I forgot to add it to my Goodreads bookshelf until yesterday. And I rely on that bookshelf to keep me from missing stuff. Ugh, why am I such a mess? Anyhow, next up is Chris Sorensen's THE HUNGRY ONES which is a sequel to his book THE NIGHTMARE ROOM   which I liked a whole bunch. I've been looking forward to it and regret that I accidentally put it off for this long.  Also up soon is VIOLET by Scott Thomas. This is by the author who wrote KILL CREEK and I loved that book so I have high hopes. Seeing as I'm one of the last to actually get it read, I've been doing my best to avoid all of the spoile

Little Paranoias: Stories by Sonora Taylor Book Review

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Happy Halloween, reading friends! I hope you get to do something spooky today! Little Paranoias Stories by Sonora Taylor Released October 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon Source: Received for Review Consideration  Is it a knock on the door, or a gust of wind? A trick of the light, or someone who’ll see what you’ve done? “Little Paranoias: Stories” features twenty tales of the little things that drive our deepest fears. It tells the stories of terror and sorrow, lust at the end of the world and death as an unwanted second chance. It dives into the darkest corners of the minds of men, women, and children. It wanders into the forest and touches every corner of the capital. Everyone has something to fear — but after all, it’s those little paranoias that drive our day-to-day. My 2 Cents For Free! I read and adored Sonora Taylor’s novel WITHOUT CONDITION earlier this year and will likely read whatever she decides to put out from

The Class Reunion by Sean McDonough Book Review

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Here's a little slasher fun in book form! The Class Reunion by Sean McDonough Released October 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration St. Regina Academy. Some of them loved it. Vickie Fields hated it. Tonight, she and six former classmates will sneak into the abandoned school to drink, flirt, and make new memories with old faces. But someone is waiting for them inside of the school. He wants their blood. He wants their flesh. And he's going to ensure that this night will be a class reunion that no one ever forgets. My 2 Cents For Free! The Class Reunion is a slasher story about a group of former classmates who decide to meet up at their old school during a major snowstorm to drink some booze and catch up. Ummm, that’s probably not the best idea but add in a crazed killer and you have a recipe for some romancing and some slashing fun! There’s a not too big cast here when the

Ritual by Steve Stred Book Review

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Watch out for those boring co-workers . . . Ritual by Steve Stred Released October 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Meet Brad. A quiet, hardworking man who goes about his daily routine with joy. He works as a telemarketer, trying his best to sell poorly made, over-priced products to the unsuspecting people on the other end of the phone. Brad doesn't mind though, it's a means to an end. Life's about to change for Brad. Now that Father has anointed him the Chosen one, the one to open the gates and allow them to flock into the Black Heavens. Eternity awaits. But is Brad ready to perform on the big day? My 2 Cents For Free! Ritual is a dark little tale about a pretty normal guy named Brad. Brad has a routine and he sticks to it. He reads the Bible, buys food and sells over-priced crap for a call center. He seems perfectly okay with his dull routine because he knows he has a bigger purpose in life. He also spe

In The Scrape by James Newman & Mark Streensland Book Review

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This one is a nail-biter! In The Scrape by James Newman & Mark Steensland Released July 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration Most kids dream about a new bike, a pair of top-dollar sneakers endorsed by their favorite athlete, or that totally awesome videogame everyone’s raving about. But thirteen-year-old Jake and his little brother Matthew want nothing more than to escape from their abusive father. As soon as possible, they plan to run away to California, where they will reunite with their mother and live happily ever after. It won’t be easy, though. After a scuffle with a local bully puts Jake’s arch-nemesis in the hospital, Sheriff Theresa McLelland starts poking her nose into their feud. During a trip to the family cabin for the opening weekend of deer-hunting season, Jake and Matthew kick their plan into action, leaving Dad tied to a chair as they flee into the night. Meanwhile, the bully and his father ha

Hanging Around the Blogs: News & Reviews You May Have Missed #15

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Inspired by  "Around the Blogs with Chuckles" .  There are never enough hours in the day to be a creeper on all the blogs and social media outlets so here's a recap of some great posts, articles and news tidbits you may have missed while you were out living your life. This week I have a few links, a little LOHF poll and some mini film reviews because I haven't been able to snoop on all the blogs as much as I'd like. Random Fun & Some Twitter Stuff & Nonsense Booker T's Farm Barb at Booker T's Farm has some fun correcting book titles and I haven't laughed so hard in ages: http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2019/10/ttt-this-needs-new-title.html Books, Bones & Buffy Tammy has an interview with author Sharon Lynn Fisher and is hosting a Giveaway for a her new fantasy series! Check it out here . On the Twitters: This is SO COOL! I’m a Pisces so my book is Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin. I’ve already read it, but I’m

Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare Book Review

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Call Me Evie hurt my brain a little. Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare Released March 2019 Thriller   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Library Borrow In this propulsive, twist-filled, and haunting psychological suspense debut perfect for fans of Sharp Objects and Room, a seventeen-year-old girl struggles to remember the role she played on the night her life changed forever. For the past two weeks, seventeen-year-old Kate Bennet has lived against her will in an isolated cabin in a remote beach town--brought there by a mysterious man named Bill. Part captor, part benefactor, Bill calls her Evie and tells her he's hiding her to protect her. That she did something terrible one night back home in Melbourne--something so unspeakable that he had no choice but to take her away. The trouble is, Kate can't remember the night in question. The fragments of Kate's shattered memories of her old life seem happy: good friends, a big house in the suburbs, a devoted boyfri

Stolen Roads by Randy Chandler Book Review

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Follow me into another roadtrip straight to hell :) Stolen Roads by Randy Chandler Released February 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon Source: Received for Review Consideration  "It was like I was riding on a stolen road, like somebody'd just shanghaied the road and plopped it down in some foreign land." Thus, "stolen roads" entered the esoteric lexicon of popular culture. William Kidd’s travels on stolen roads begin when he’s a boy on leave from a psychiatric hospital and survives a car accident that kills both his parents. Although hallucinations are nothing new to him, Kidd knows the otherworldly thing crouched on his dying father’s chest at the scene of the accident is no hallucination. Nothing in his mental inventory of the planet’s natural creatures jibes with this pebble-skinned thing nearly as big as a man, a terrifying beast with spiky shoulders and lizard-like snout, its long knobby limbs folded insect-fashion as if it

The Venus Complex by Barbie Wilde Review

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This is a story about a deviant fellow. The Venus Complex by Barbie Wilde Released November 2018 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration A man rises out of an abyss of frustration and rage and creates works of art out of destruction, goddesses out of mere dental hygienists and beauty out of death. It's also about the sickness and obsession that is LOVE. Enter into Michael's world through the pages of his personal journal, where every diseased thought, disturbing dream, politically incorrect rant and sexually explicit murder highlights his journey from zero to psycho. My 2 Cents For Free! The Venus Complex takes an intimate look inside the head of a man with deviant tendencies who decides to act on them and it is horrific and somehow strangely compelling. I felt rather ewww after spending time in his head and had to take breaks but that didn’t stop me from coming back to it. It’s probably n

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White Review

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Here's another five star read to make up for yesterday's post! The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White Released September 2018 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Purchased With My Own $ Elizabeth Lavenza hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her "caregiver," and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything--except a friend. Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable--and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable. But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no

The Oh-So-Sad DNF Collection: Take 3

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I have had a good run of books lately but there have been a few that didn't quite work out for me. I don't like to DNF but I also don't like the idea of struggling through a book that doesn't get along with me. Here is a little collection of books I had to give up on/skim-finish because I am a quitter and I have entirely too many books in my tbr pile. Family Business  by  Brett Williams I had to DNF this audiobook at 20% because of the animal abuse. I suppose I need to be better about researching books before I agree to review them. I prefer going in blind and reading reviews after I've read the book so as not to get my opinion tainted, or accidentally snatching a phrase. It usually works out for me but sometimes avoiding blurbs and reviews bites me in the butt. This is one of those times. I can stomach almost anything but too much animal abuse is something that haunts me and this book is filled to the brim with it and it is explicit. TW: Rape, Animal C

Remains by Andrew Cull Book Review

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I am so behind on reviews and everything. Sorry everyone. Here is a five star review of a dark and dread-filled book. And if you're wondering if I've been body snatched, what with all of these good reviews lately, don't worry I have a DNF post coming soon, haha. Remains by Andrew Cull Released August 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration Grief is a black house. How far would you go? What horrors would you endure if it meant you might see the son you thought you'd lost forever? Driven to a breakdown by the brutal murder of her young son, Lucy Campbell had locked herself away, fallen deep inside herself, become a ghost haunting room 23b of the William Tuke Psychiatric Hospital. There she'd remained, until the whispering pulled her back, until she found herself once more sitting in her car, calling to the son she had lost, staring into the black panes of the now abandoned house where Alex had di

Hanging Around the Blogs: News & Reviews You May Have Missed (15)

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Inspired by  "Around the Blogs with Chuckles" .  There are never enough hours in the day to be a creeper on all the blogs and social media outlets so here's a recap of some great posts, articles and news tidbits you may have missed while you were out living your life. This will be the mini-review of creepy films edition with a smidge of Ladies Of Horror Fiction news on the side. Sorry everyone, the past few weeks have been a wee bit challenging. Ladies of Horror Fiction News We had a tie this month so we will be hosting two Ladies of Horror Fiction group read discussions. I hope you'll join in! You can find the group here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/963939-ladies-of-horror-fiction These are the two books we are currently discussing: The Blair Witch Project meets Imaginary Girls in this story of codependent sisterhood, the struggle to claim one’s own space, and the power of secrets Sixteen-year-old Skye is done playing the kni