Bark At The Ghouls

I have a bit of a backlog of these since I've been doing my best to get through some of my tbr pile. So anyhow, here's another post that everyone loves to see (lol and yikes). However, I've always reviewed what I consider the good, the meh and the not-so-great and seeing books others have DNF'd also helps people decide what they'd like to read next. We can't all love the same things and someone might read my words and say "Hey, I love that thing you hate. Thanks for the recommendation!" But it's all helpful as long as it's not hateful. So here goes another batch!  Ooops, nope. That's totally not what this post is about. It's your last chance to turn back! DNF #1 My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones DNF at about 58%. I cannot get into this one. I've tried and tried and tried again but I find myself zoning out and having to go backwards. The constant slasher references are ruining the vibe of the main story and I get it, tha...

Proceed with caution. My 2 Cents for Free! American Rapture by C.J. Leede Released October 2024 Source: Purchased from Aardvark Bookbox See more @ Goodreads American Rapture is a trip through a lust apocalypse told through the eyes of a very sheltered, catholic teen named Sophie. As the virus spreads, she escapes her oppressive life and hits the road to find her twin brother with a ragtag group of survivors and a beautiful, protective dog. I enjoyed this book and yet I didn't. It started out strong as we learn all about Sophie's terrible life with her religious extremist parents and it was all very timely. And I thought the trapped on the highway scene was chilling. I've probably read/watched far too much horror but whenever there is wall to wall stopped traffic on the highway and I'm alone in my car my mind envisions terrible things. This book added a few more. But then the story started to meander for me as she and a band of survivors run around trying to figure out w...

This started out great but disappointed me in the end. My 2 Cents for Free! One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford Released July 2025 Source: Audible Purchase See more @ Goodreads It’s been ages since I read a zombie novel and read this along with the Horror Spotlight discord https://discord.gg/xQuPPJus6U . This one is set soon after a mysterious outbreak strikes in London that makes the infected sick, then they die and then they rage back to life to infect others. Supposedly the outbreak is now over and contained and scientists are rushing to find a reason and a cure and of course probably find ways to use it for nefarious reasons. Scientist Kesta lost the love of her life and the only person she cared about in the outbreak when he was bitten. She’s told everyone he is dead but the moans and groans and noises coming from her home tell another story. She’s been accepted into a secret group called Project Dawn who are working on the cure (and the other things) and uses her knowledge hoping to ...

I have a bit of a backlog of these since I've been doing my best to get through some of my tbr pile. So anyhow, here's another post that everyone loves to see (lol and yikes).  However, I've always reviewed what I consider the good, the meh and the not-so-great and seeing books others have DNF'd also helps people decide what they'd like to read next. We can't all love the same things and someone might read my words and say "Hey, I love that thing you hate. Thanks for the recommendation!" But it's all helpful as long as it's not hateful. So here goes another batch!  Ooops, nope. That's totally not what this post is about. It's your last chance to turn back! DNF #1 When the Weaver Met the Gargoyle by Lila Appleton I borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited because it sounded fun and the cover caught my eye but yikes, I can’t with this one. It feels very much like a first draft and it’s giving me secondhand cringe. Why, you ask? Well, maybe you...

This was such a good read! My 2 Cents for Free! My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen Released May 2024 Source: Library Borrow See more @ Goodreads Ahhh I loved this one. It gives off old-school gothic everything. It tells the haunting tale of a young woman named Roos who has been taken advantage of her entire life by a mother who cares more about money and herself than her child's safety. Roos can see spirits and allows herself to be inhabited by one named Ruth to bilk people out of money. After years of torment, Roos becomes a companion to a woman named Agnes and moves into an old manor, complete with a woman dying of consumption and another resident spirit. The story is told after all the dreadful things have happened. A doctor interviews Roos, giving the reader tiny hints about what is coming. I enjoyed this format because I’m nosy and it kept me guessing about what really happened in that dreary old home. “Some things are so horrible that the only sane response is a bi...

Don't start this or you might not be able to put it down (even though you know you probably should!) My 2 Cents for Free! The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden Released October 2024 Source: Library Borrow See more @ Goodreads I get the appeal of these books. They are fun to read but they are like Pringles. You eat one and you can't stop. I recommend eating something else before you get sucked in. Anyhow, this one features a woman named Sydney who is desperate for a man so she can have babies "before she's 90" because her mother keeps nagging her and going so far as to send her an article about a woman who had a baby in her 90's. WTF?  I mean, maybe just have a baby and forget about the man but fine. Ok. Whatever. At least this heroine doesn't have a designer bag/clothes/shoe fetish so it could've been worse. She just dates and dates and dates some more even though most of the dates are dreadful. Honestly, she should've just adopted some dogs. They'l...

Not as marketed but still good! My 2 Cents for Free! Marion by Leah Rowan Released June 2026 Source: Netgalley See more @ Goodreads This a book inspired by Hitchcock’s Psycho, but it twists things around and a modern-day Marion survives and does so with a vengeance! From there it is a completely different story. It’s more thriller than any kind of creepy horror so keep that in mind if you’re looking for an atmospheric slow burn horror tale like Psycho because this isn’t it. But what it is is fun. It’s not quite what I was expecting from the blurb - it’s not any kind of “alternate history” but I thought it was imaginative, over the top and fun in a very dark way. The “Marion” in this book was raised to fight back, to survive, and to protect. When she discovers her sister is married to a man who abuses her it sets off a chain of events that lead her to Norm’s motel/cabin rental b&b kind of thing and from there she sort of goes into a murder spiral. “Marion wasn’t someone to be fucked...

 If you enjoy modern day retellings of fairytales you might want to check this one out. My 2 Cents for Free! How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann Released May 2022 Source: TBR Pile See more @ Goodreads This is a fiendishly weird book that takes several known fairytales and puts a modern spin on them. It adds in a story that twists up “The Bachelor” as a bonus, weirdly enough. That inclusion felt strange but it makes a sort of sense because all of these women become famous for their very public run-ins/relationships/downfalls with men and the public's perception of them turns out to be not at all the full story, of course. The women, all dealing with various trauma, answer an email which leads them to group therapy sessions where they share their stories. Each story seems stranger than the last or at least as strange as each other with the exception of “The Bachelor” one. That one didn’t really work for me and Ashlee (ignore my spelling if it’s wrong as I listened to the audio) got on ...

This is where I spotlight the sparkling new releases that are tempting me so you can succumb to temptation too. The focus will be on dark fiction and romance with the occasional thriller tossed in that catches my eye.  I hope you're all enjoying the summer and able to get some reading done. I'm doing my best to start working my way through my tbr pile as well as getting to some newer book via audio. Here are 6 new horror books releasing today (or in the next few days) that I hope to read soon(ish).  New Books This Week! Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden comes a high concept horror novel about a man trying to protect his dead mother's body from the evil that is hunting them. Maggie Wise will take your eyes. When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings hav...