Bark At The Ghouls

This is a great addition to your gothic fiction collection! The September House by Carissa Orlando Released September 2023 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel. When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her miss...

Recent Mini Reviews Let's face it, most of my reviews lately are what most people consider "mini" anyhow. Most of the time I'd rather be reading than writing an essay deconstructing every part of a book, so it is what it is. Here are the quick takes and the thoughtless thoughts about the recent(ish) books I've read.  How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a good read with some terribly flawed characters who pissed me off multiple times before I learned all of the circumstances. It's a well-crafted spooky read with some great characterization. Stick with it if the fighting between the siblings starts putting you off. I probably would've quit if I weren't listening on audio because it's long and the arguments drove me nuts but I'm so glad I finished. I’m also pretty sure my mother’s creepy ass Ashton Drake dolls feature heavily in this book so that was an extra level of creep. Recommended if you don't mind being very a...

This was such a fun audio! The Only One Left by Riley Sager Released June 2023 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier. At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined ...

I wrote this review many moons ago. It's a bit more plot heavy than my recent reviews but it's still brutally honest. About the Book Hideaway by Dean Koontz Released January 1992 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon Strange visions plague a man after he survives a near-death experience in this chilling thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. Surviving a car accident on a snowy mountain road is miraculous for Lindsey Harrison, but even more so for her husband, Hatch, who was clinically dead for eighty minutes.   After experimental procedures bring Hatch back to life, he awakens with the terrifying feeling that something is it out there . But it soon becomes apparent that the evil stalking Hatch is within him—a dark force of murderous rage that hides within us all... My 2 Cents for Free! I first read Hideaway when I was able to waste away an entire day reading and I remember loving it to bits. This time around I listened to it on audio because I can...

This was fantastic on audio! It almost made me look forward to housework.   Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison Released September 2023 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle. Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep. Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it me...

Hello, everyone! I hope you found some time to read last week or were at least able to take some time for yourself.  Recent Reads & Listens  I still have an arc or two to finish up and then I'm reading purely for me. New books, old books, books that catch my eye. If I don't like them I'll be free to toss them. Ahhh, the freedom. Here's what I've finished recently: Clicking on a cover will open a new window to my review if you'd like to read it. ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ 1/2 ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Additions to the TBR I found nearly new copies of The Wicked King & The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black inside one of the Little Free Libraries last week, so I grabbed them not realizing they were books #2 & #3 in The Folk of Air series. Ooops. So, I ordered book #1, The Cruel Prince, so I could read them in order. Have you read this series yet?  Recent Watches   ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐ 1/2 We just finished up Fargo Season 6 and it was a wild one! Jon Hamm was the absolute worst ex...

Here's an oldie I just discovered. It's book #2 of a series and of course I read them out of order 😄 When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James Released January 2011 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty... Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast. Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman. Linnet is not just any woman. She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love—in just two weeks. If she decides to be very wicked indeed... what price will she pay for taming his wild heart? My 2 Cents for Free! I wasn't so sure about this book when I first started it. It was a bit convoluted and a little irritating if I'm being completely honest.  Everyone assumed the heroine was pregnant be...

While I haven't been reviewing (or blogging) much over the past few months, I have been reading and also doing other things! This is one of them. It's the Rice Jumper from We Are Knitters (if you plan to make a purchase sign up for emails and wait for a BIG sale like the 40% one they just ran because their 100% wool yarn is not cheap). First I picked the yarn (the fun part!). I changed the default colors of the pattern because they kind of clash with my paleness and I went with more of a muted palette.  Look at all the pretty yarn 💗 The Rice Jumper pattern is super easy to follow and great for tv/movie knitting, but it leaves out a few important points. Fortunately, there are usually notes on Ravelry  or helpful people blog about their experiences. I found this one with my Googlefoo and it saved me so much frustration.  https://consciousbychloe.com/2022/11/02/rice-jumper-we-are-knitters-la-casita-de-wendy/ There's a little rib stitch on the bottom and the sleeves and th...

Hello, everyone! I'm back after my brief but much needed hiatus. I've decided to stop accepting ARC's and am focusing on my tbr for a bit because it was all becoming too stressful and unfun. We'll see how this goes, lol. Anyhow, here's a very good book you might want to read (and it's on Kindle Unlimited if you subscribe)  ↓  A Woman Built by Man edited by S.H. Cooper & Elle Turpitt Released February 2022 Source: My TBR Pile Goodreads  | Amazon A Woman Built by Man is a collage of 21 horror tales that seek to crawl under the skin and deconstruct the many ways women are built up and broken down by a patriarchal society. And the many ways they're finally saying, "Enough." My 2 Cents for Free! I was going to do a write-up on each story but decided to focus on the ones that I liked best instead. Call it laziness or call it not wanting to sit with the content of some of them for too long. Probably a bit of both. I read every one but I had to take a ...