I love to receive books as gifts. In fact, I love even more when I've NEVER heard of them. What better than to introduce the reader you love to a new author? I've found five newer horror novels that would make fantastic gifts--there's a little something for everyone. Next week, I'll add a few more ideas for your holiday shopping list. Stay tuned... xoxo, A City of Ash and Red This is a new one for me. Reading the synopsis completely pulled me in. Distinguished for his talents as a rat killer, the nameless protagonist of Hye-young Pyun's City of Ash and Red i[...]
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1 I tend to spend a lot of time looking through upcoming book lists and was delighted to find this dark diamond. Have you heard of Dreaming Darkly? I hadn't until today but it looks amazing. The below cover and summary are from the Epic Reads website. In fact, the Goodreads blurb, which is slightly different, boasts this novel as "A moody and twisty gothic mystery with an impossible romance, Dreaming Darkly is an atmospheric, fast-paced page-turner written by comics veteran Caitlin Kittredge." Moody and gothic is my middle name (not really, there wasn't enough r[...]
It's the most wonderful time of the year! That's right: until November 26th, you have the chance to vote in the Goodreads Choice Awards. This is the tenth year of voting, and I look forward to it every year. Yes, I check out the winners in the end, but the best part for me is going through the nominees and finding books I want to read. Check out this year's look at the Goodreads Choice Awards and the Best Horror of 2018 to find your next read! Best Horror of 2018 Nominees Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage Craven Manor by Darcy Coates Flight or Fright, an Anthology e[...]
A few years ago, I met Brian online. I was running another writing blog and he was a reader. He asked me to come on a podcast he was hosting and I did. We hit it off. It went so well that I couldn't stop thinking about how awesome it would be to write with him. I was afraid, but I asked anyways. He said yes. Harrowed was born. Our YA slasher book, a la Scream, which turned out to be a love story to 80's metal, cool cars, murder, mystery, and first love. It is one of my favorite things I've ever written. It means so much to have so much of what we love in the b[...]
TW: Grief, death. TL, DR: Mom's still dead and books make me happy. It's coming up on a year since my mom died and I Am Doing Okay I Think™️. Of course there are bad days, like yesterday, when I was already worn out from last week's move, had some Prickly and Mysterious Sassiness, multiplied by a suspected gluten-trigger...when I reached for my cell to call Mom. If only we had that good of coverage. But then, Future Erica, who is much more adjusted than I am, reminded me of something my grief counselor (GC) told me: Nature abhors a vacuum (Aristotl[...]
This June, we wanted to recognize LGBTQ+ communities by celebrating our own way—with scary books. Give us all the scary, spooky, creepy, and atmospheric books. Add some amazing books to your TBR list by reading books by and/or about LGBTQ+ people. What is #PrideMonth? A little background... Every June, Pride Month is celebrated across the United States to commemorate the Stonewall Riots and to celebrate and fight for equal rights for all people. The Stonewall Riots happened in June 1969 in New York City's Greenwich Village. Christopher Street Liberation Da[...]
Helllllo, Kittens! I feel kinda bad for referring to you guys as kittens for the last year or two, since I've recently become a cat owner myself. And let me tell you about Velociraptor. She's a complete jerk. Love her, but holy hell. The cat is a dick. One cannot simply talk about a kitten without sharing a photo. Anyhoo. Our founding mother / one of the greatest humans alive, Jolene, gifted me a copy of Gretchen McNeil's newest book, #MurderTrending, and I just have to tell you guys about it. So...shall we? I'm going to steal the book jacket off GR,[...]
A friend recommended the Lockwood & Co. series to me. I bought book one: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud. I started reading it and ran here to share this middle grade horror delight! Be happy. Be excited. Be prepared for the creepy. Blurb... A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see—and eradicate—these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agenc[...]
Sometimes you hear a book name and it catches your attention. When I was flipping through a book listing for Disney Hyperion, I saw Holding Smoke. It's listed as a young adult mystery / thriller, which of course, when I saw that I knew I had to dive deeper. After I read the blurb, I immediately ordered a copy. Have you heard of Holding Smoke by Elle Cosimano? School Library Connection calls it "Part ghost story, part redemption story, part mystery, and very engaging." I call it HURRY UP AMAZON I NEED THIS NOW. HOLDING SMOKE by Elle Cosimano John "Smoke[...]
My day was filled with body horror. I was taking an online first aid course. I was expecting a review of CPR and how to use an AED machine. But the first aid section was the stuff of horror movies: shockingly graphic and so, so bloody. The wound care module opened with an arm so lacerated, they could’ve been fighting off Jason Voorhees and a freshly sharpened machete. But the eye module was worse. I now know the proper first aid if you have your eyelid sliced off. Not just cut open, so your eye socket fills with blood and you need stitches. No[...]