Bark At The Ghouls

State of the Blog Hi everyone, I've been going back and forth for weeks but have decided I am going to be making some changes regarding my posting frequency to this blog in order to continue my work on two group blogs before I burn myself out completely. I've been working on all three for a little bit now and have come to the depressing realization that I am spreading myself too thin. I'm finding myself with very little time left in the day to comment and visit back which makes me feel terrible. I'm also cutting into my reading time which is pretty sad considering these are all book blogs I'm working on, lol. Running a blog solo is hard work, as I'm sure you all know, and having a crew behind you takes a lot of the pressure off.  I'm going to keep this blog up and will post occasional reviews and my usual random posts but there will be less content here than what I've been doing because I'm only going to post when I know I can keep up with comme...

My ongoing archive project continues with an issue heavy read. About the Book Going Under by S. Walden New Adult Fiction  344 pages Released March 2013 Goodreads  | Amazon Brooke Wright has only two goals her senior year at Charity Run High School: stay out of trouble and learn to forgive herself for the past. Forgiveness proves elusive, and trouble finds her anyway when she discovers a secret club at school connected to the death of her best friend. She learns that swim team members participate in a “Fantasy Slut League,” scoring points for their sexual acts with unsuspecting girls. Brooke, wracked with guilt over her friend’s death, decides to infiltrate the league by becoming one of the “unsuspecting girls,” and exact revenge on the boys who stole away her best friend. An unexpected romance complicates her plans, and her dogged pursuit of justice turns her reckless as she underestimates just how far the boys will go to keep their sex club a secret. ...

The blurb is going to be longer than my "review" but there's a reason besides my laziness. When The Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica Audiobook   Deceptive Fiction , 9+ Hours Released September 2018 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   A woman is forced to question her own identity in this riveting and emotionally charged thriller by the blockbuster bestselling author of The Good Girl, Mary Kubica  Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known. Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is b...

Hmmm, there are some good and some not so good in here. And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich , narrated by Polly Lee Audiobook   Dark Fiction , 9+ Hours Released September 2016 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   When Silla and her little sister, Nori, escape London and their abusive father, Aunt Cath's country house feels like a safe haven. Leaving the smog and fear behind, the girls have the love and freedom they never had in their violent home. But slowly, ever so slowly, things begin to unravel. Aunt Cath locks herself in the attic and spends day and night pacing; every day the surrounding forest inches slowly towards the house; a mysterious boy appears from the enclosing wood offering friendship, and Nori claims that a man watches them from the dark forest. A man with no eyes who creeps ever closer. . . These Are My Thoughts This is a difficult book to review because it was a difficult book to read. Much of the story was repetitiv...

Black Wings releases today. Black Wings by Megan Hart Dark Fiction Released February 14, 2109 Goodreads  | Amazon   |  Better World Books   There hadn't always been something wrong with Briella Blake, but when she's invited to attend Parkhaven, a private school for extremely gifted students, the girl's wicked genius begins to manifest itself in ways her mother can no longer deny are...strange.  Briella's friendship with a raven, Onyx, that's equally as smart as she is, prompts her mother to restrict the animal from Briella's company. Soon Marian learns that nothing can stop her daughter from interacting with the bird, who seems to have become an integral part of the girl's experiments into the possibilities of recording and recreating personality and memory. Also the existence of angels, the afterlife and the soul. Marian's pregnancy with a sibling Briella doesn't want spurs the girl into a frenzied activity of experiments and despera...

This one releases today. Just in time for Valentine's Day, lol! Without Condition by Sonora Taylor Dark Fiction Released February 12, 2109 Goodreads  | Amazon Cara Vineyard lives a quiet life in rural North Carolina. She works for an emerging brewery, drives her truck late at night, and lives with her mother on a former pumpkin farm. Her mother is proud of her and keeps a wall displaying all of Cara’s accomplishments. Cara isn’t so much proud as she is bored. She’s revitalized when she meets Jackson Price, a pharmacist in Raleigh. Every day they spend together, she falls for him a little more — which in turn makes her life more complicated. When Cara goes on her late-night drives, she often picks up men. Those men tend to die. And when Cara comes back to the farm, she brings a memento for her mother to add to her wall of accomplishments. Cara’s mother loves her no matter what. But she doesn’t know if Jackson will feel the same — and she doesn’t want to find out. ...

I can take or leave Elevation but the bonus story featuring a dog named Laurie? I could listen to that for days. Elevation by Stephen King Audiobook   Dark Fiction , 3 1/2 Hours Released October 2018 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   Stephen King reads his latest novel—plus a bonus story, “Laurie,” unavailable in book form! Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restauran...

I love Chuckles Book Cave's feature  "Around the Blogs with Chuckles"  so much that I'm going to do one too. 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. As you can see, I didn't get around too much this past week again! Can I get a few more hours in the day, please?! February, I fear, is going to by in a too busy blur but it's the good kind of busy. If my posts dwindle down to a review or two a week that'll be the reason.  Ladies of Horror Fiction News We are celebrating Women In Horror Month #WIHM over at Ladies of Horror Fiction with a readathon, a photo challenge and a Community Readalong of Tananarive Due's THE BETWEEN. Get all the info here:    https://www.ladiesofhorrorfiction.com Booker T's Farm Warning Barb has a rant about the movie Po...

Our reading group lovingly called this book "old coots" as we read it for what felt like FOREVER (if you ask me)! Ghost Story by Peter Straub , Narrated by Buck Schirner Audiobook   Dark Fiction , 22+ Hours Released April 2012 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   In a seedy motel in Florida, a young man holds captive a little girl in a soiled pink dress. He is anxious, tormented, introspective. She is calm, passive, strangely detached. She says her name is Angie Maule. In the small upstate town of Milburn, New York, four old friends meet to honor the traditions of the Chowder Society. They drink good whiskey and trade ghost stories. As chilling as these tales are, and as strangely prophetic, they pale before the horrific nightmares that began a year ago when one of their members attended a party for a visiting actress--and there died of a heart attack. Or was it fright? Ask the actress. She says her name is Ann-Veronica Moore. In California, a talented young no...

People love it but I'm sitting here like "meh". The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager Thriller , 384 Pages Released July 2018 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips. Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees a...