Bark At The Ghouls

If you like gothic horror you need this book in your life!



Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-GarciaPublished June 2020

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

Source: Library Borrow An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . .
From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a novel set in glamorous 1950s Mexico.
After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find - her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin’s new husband…

I wrote this piece for Dead Head Reviews earlier this year and I'm gonna park it here as well, with their permission. Give them a visit. They recently did a complete site overhaul and it looks gorgeous. They're doing great things in the horror community. Hi there, my name is Laurie but I’m also known as Bark around social media. I can’t even remember how that happened but it probably had something to do with my big mouth and my tendency to bark back at trollish behavior. Dead Head Reviews invited me here to talk about my reading life today. Thank you Dead Head Reviews, I hope you don't regret it! I've been reading scary books my entire life and reviewing them since I first discovered the internet. I've strayed from the genre on occasion but never for very long and I have heard all of the insulting statements and questions that people tend to throw at horror fans. Especially female horror fans. You’re likely familiar with a few of them too.
"Why do you read that …

This book is such fun!




Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess Published February 2020

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

Source: Received for Review Consideration The summer of 1989 brought terror to the town of Shadows Creek, Florida in the form of a massacre at the local carnival, Cirque Berserk. One fateful night, a group of teens killed a dozen people then disappeared into thin air. No one knows why they did it, where they went, or even how many of them there were, but legend has it they still roam the abandoned carnival, looking for blood to spill.
Thirty years later, best friends, Sam and Rochelle, are in the midst of a boring senior trip when they learn about the infamous Cirque Berserk. Seeking one last adventure, they and their friends journey to the nearby Shadows Creek to see if the urban legends about Cirque Berserk are true. But waiting for them beyond the carnival gates is a night of brutality, bloodshed, and betrayal.
Will they make it out alive, or will the carnival’s past demons…

Let's talk about the coveted stars for the briefest of moments, shall we?  Why are they given so much importance in this world? Why do people freak out when one doesn't give ALL of them away and why do they take it SO personally when they haven't even written the book? Why can't people see past them and read the words in a review? Why don't we all slap a star on a book and call it a day instead of agonizing over words? WHY ISN'T IT OK TO HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION? What is wrong with us? Don't answer that. I write reviews. As silly as they may be, I put time into them and I try to share my likes and my dislikes so other readers can make up their own minds about whether or not a book will appeal to them. We're all different. My five star might be your one star and vice-versa, rinse and repeat, blabbedy blah who even cares anymore?! I've said this until my head is ready to explode, even devoted an entire ranty post about it, and I can't believe I am …

This book will destroy you but you must read it.



Betty by Tiffany McDanielPublished August 2020

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

Source: Received for Review Consideration A stunning, lyrical novel set in the rolling foothills of the Appalachians in which a young girl discovers stark truths that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
"A girl comes of age against the knife."
So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence--both from outside the family, and also, devastatingly, from within. The lush landscape, rich with birdsong, wild fruit, and blazing stars, becomes a kind of refuge for Betty, but when her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, she has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural tow…

I have sadly neglected this little feature, as I have done with many things in my life, but I have NOT stopped watching horror films. If anything, I have been watching more than ever now that I've discovered party watches via Netflix and Prime. Here are some mini reviews of my recent watches. If you're on Twitter or Letterboxd you might've seen these already (sorry about that!). 

In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic 80's HorrorAn exploration of ’80s horror movies through the perspective of the actors, directors, producers and SFX craftspeople who made them, and their impact on contemporary cinema.

My two cents for free!I fell asleep watching this last night not because it’s boring or because I’m lame (we’ll that’s up in the air) but because it’s 4 hours long and honestly I could watch 8 hours or more of this! It’s an excellent documentary and a love letter to all the 80’s films I so love. It makes me a little sad thinking about the loss of video stores and how my…

What's on Your October Reading List?
Hi everyone! I have missed you and I have missed my blog. The past few months have been madness and I have been so scattered and off-kilter in 2020. I've been reading but posting my reviews has been a challenge. Going forward I plan to work on knocking out my final review commitments and then I'll be working on Ladies of Horror Fiction and my personal tbr pile. Yep, you read that right. I'm going to actually read some of the books I bought YEARS ago. Or that's my plan, at least. I'm going to be blasting through a few audios and plan to get through some of these physical copies this month:



The House That Fell From the Sky by Patrick DelaneyWhen twenty-nine-year-old Scarlett Vantassel comes to the conclusion that her life doesn’t resemble any of the things she actually wanted for herself, she drops out of school and moves back home, attempting to reconnect with the people she left behind. But a shadow falls over her return one …

Ugh, this book is why I hate numeric ratings!



Catherine House by Elisabeth ThomasPublished May 2020

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

Source: Library Borrow A story about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.
You are in the house and the house is in the woods. You are in the house and the house is in you . . .
Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House …