Bark At The Ghouls

Evil girls doing evil girl things. Missing Dead Girls by Sara Walters Released January 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads  | Amazon What is friendship without a few secrets? It wasn't Tillie's choice to leave Philadelphia. But after everything that happened junior year, her mom insisted the quiet suburb of Willow Creek was the perfect place to get a fresh start, to put the trauma and rumors behind them. Madison Frank is the perfect distraction. Beautiful, fun, and from the wealthy side of town, Madison is the kind of girl who has a pull stronger than gravity. She commands attention, even inspires obsession. And by the end of summer, Tillie's forgotten everything—everyone—she left in Philadelphia. Almost. Then Madison goes missing. A photo of her bloody body is texted to the whole student body...from an account with Tillie's name on it. Tillie's caught in a tangled web of secrets that will destroy her if they surface...and will destroy everyone...

It's a little over the top but fun stuff. Come Out, Come Out, Whatever You Are by Kathryn Foxfield Released December 2022 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon Welcome to the reality game show that'll scare you to death! Have you got what it takes to last the night? On the reality show It's Behind You!, five contestants competing for prize money must survive the night in the dark and dangerous Umber Gorge caves, rumored to be haunted by the Puckered Maiden, a ghost who eats the hearts of her victims. But is it the malevolent spirit they should fear, or each other? As the production crew ramps up the frights, tensions rise and the secrets of the cast member start coming to light. Each of these teenagers has hidden motives for taking part in the show. But could one of them be murder? My 2 Cents for Free! If you love campy horror this is a book for you! Campy horror novels (and movies) can be such a welcome break from reality. Nothing here can be taken...

It started out strong but lost me for a bit. The Corpse Queen by Heather M. Herrman Released September 2021 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon In this dark and twisty feminist historical thriller, a teenage girl starts a new life as a grave robber but quickly becomes entangled in a murderer's plans. Soon after her best friend Kitty mysteriously dies, orphaned seventeen-year-old Molly Green is sent away to live with her "aunt." With no relations that she knows of, Molly assumes she has been sold as free domestic labor for the price of an extra donation in the church orphanage's coffers. Such a thing is not unheard of. There are only so many options for an unmarried girl in 1850s Philadelphia. Only, when Molly arrives, she discovers her aunt is very much real, exceedingly wealthy, and with secrets of her own. Secrets and wealth she intends to share--for a price. Molly's estranged aunt Ava, has built her empire by robbing graves and selling the corpses to me...

It's more of a girl eat boy world, tbh. This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham Released April 2023 Source: Received for Review Consideration Goodreads   | Amazon Four best friends, one music festival, and a cooler filled with human organs: this summer is about to get gory. ​​​ Jennifer’s Body fans will clamor for this new sapphic horror standalone from New York Times bestselling author Kayla Cottingham. Three years ago, the melting of arctic permafrost released a pathogen of unknown origin into the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a resul...

This one was a wee bit of a disappointment. The Cousins by Karen M. McManus Published December 2020 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   |  Bookshop From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying comes your next obsession. You'll never feel the same about family again. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they've never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they're surprised . . . and curious. Their parents are all clear on one point--not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother's good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it's immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious--and dark--...

Behind that beautiful cover is a book filled with glorious body horrors! Wilder Girls by Rory Power Released July 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Purchased With My Own $ It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything. But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that t...

I have had a decent run of books lately and there have only been two 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 and there are simply too many books in my pile(s) right now. Lustmord: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher - Book One  by  Kirk Alex The face you make when you put your damn glasses on, read the fine print and realize the book you've just been accepted for on Netgalley is nearly 800 pages long. I don't know if I can do this one, folks. I'll give it another try in a few weeks . . . Quite a few weeks later: Nope, this book is too long, too meandering and too cruel. I will never finish it. Sorry, Netgalley. I suck and I need better glasses. Here There Are Monsters  by  Amelinda Bérubé It pains me to do this because I purchased this paperback brand new and I don't splurge that often but I am going to DNF this one after re...

I thought it might be fun to start looking back in time and seeing what I was reading this time last year and all of the previous years since I started cataloging my reads! I sometimes see people doing this on social media and it's a fun reminder that older reads need loving too . If you're a nerd like me and want to do this please leave me a link to your post. I'd love to see it! November 2018 Week 3 Lizzie Borden: Zombie Hunter by C.A. Verestraete Some of my thoughts then: "This is a fast paced zombie/ghoul slaying tale that answers the question you never knew you had about the Lizzie Borden case. What if a zombie plague were the reason Lizzie Borden wacked her parents with an ax? I LOVED this set up and that it jumps right into the grisly murders. And they are grisly." 3 ★'s November 2017 Halloween Carnival Volume One Some of my thoughts then: "Halloween Carnival is a collection of three short stories and t...

This was a Ladies of Horror Fiction Goodreads Group Read . Our next pick is Wilder Girls by Rory Power  and it starts today (join us if you can!). Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand Released October 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Purchased With My Own $ Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep. He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep. Who are the Sawkill Girls? Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find. Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is. Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies. Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses gra...

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,...

This was a surprisingly strange story. I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells, Narrated by John Allen Nelson Audiobook   Released March 2010 Amazon  ♦  Goodreads John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential. He's obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation. Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer. Perhaps that's what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat---and to appreciate what that difference means. Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside ...

The one where the blurb will be far longer than the review. Caraval by Stephanie Garber, Na rrated by ‎ Rebecca Soler Audiobook   Released January 2017, Unabridged  Amazon  ♦  Goodreads Welcome, welcome to Caraval! Stephanie Garber's sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game. Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over. But this year, Scarlett's long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season's Caraval revolv...

DNF Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Narrated by Jennifer Ehle Young Adult Fantasy Audiobook   Unabridged Length: Too Many Hours Amazon ♦ Goodreads Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still. When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.  Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.  Friendless and hu...