Dead Cats of Civilization by Douglas Ford

 

From the author of The Beasts of Vissaria County and The Infection Party comes a novelette about natural disasters and the unspeakable things they awaken from the ocean’s depths. When a hurricane strikes his hometown, a young man rushes away from his new life so he can help with the recovery effort. He finds his old neighborhood dealing with the storm’s aftermath in some macabre ways, including the construction of a strange totem. Even worse, nothing can prepare him for the twisted horror that awaits him inside the walls of what he once called home.

This was a wild and weird short story about the aftermath of a hurricane. 

A young man drives for hours to get to his parents' home after a storm ravages their neighborhood.

The damage is still being assessed when he arrives so he is happy to see that his parents are among the living. However, they are not as happy to see him as he expected and they don't seem to want his help with repairs. In fact, they are reluctant to even let him in the house at all. I wondered what they were hiding in there but even my wildest guess could not have come close to what's been going on in there. 

This is not my usual type of read. I go for the scary over the stomach-churning, but it's a well written story if you can handle it. Be warned, it's pretty gross in their bathroom and it's not just from the flood waters or the stench of fish.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Douglas Ford for the Kindle copy.

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Bruises on a Butterfly by Chad Lutzke

 

A young boy runs away from his abusive home to live in the fort he'd built with friends, smack dab in the middle of a Michigan cornfield. But when a cosmic discovery one night warps reality into a mutating nightmare, it's up to loyal friends to fix what they can, and bury what they can't.

A dark coming-of-age tale that fuses COLOR OUT OF SPACE with STAND BY ME.

Expected publication January 1, 2024

From the opening lines of the prologue, it's clear that someone will not survive this story. Two young boys stand at a grave they have visited often, but we don't know which two are above ground and which friend is buried. It's just enough to provide a taste of things to come. To cast a shadow of foreboding over this heart-stopping coming-of-age tale.

Three best friends, 12 year old Taylor, Jackie, and Kevin do everything together. Their friendship and loyalty to one another is fierce. But one in this trio is not like the others. Jackie and Kevin have normal happy homes. Taylor lives with constant abuse and neglect. His home life is a never ending torment. His friends know that his father hits him but they have no idea the depths of suffering he endures. Taylor doesn't speak about it, and out of respect for his privacy, they never ask.

When Taylor has taken more than he can stand, he leaves a note that guarantees he can never return home and goes off to spend the night with his friends in a fort they have built. He has no plans for what he'll do when the night is over, he only knows he never wants to see his father again. 

Secrets will come out, and a twist of fate will change everything this night.

I finished this book in one sitting. I almost never do that, but once I started there was no way I could stop. It put me through a gamut of emotions from rage, to hope, to sorrow. Chad Lutzke is an expert at testing your empathy by writing characters that are impossible not to connect with.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications.

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THE BEDMAKERS by Chad Lutzke and John Boden

 

After two elderly men tire of their homelessness in downtown Chicago 1979, they hop a train in search of work out west. But before their last stop, a traumatic event in an empty train car steers their once-hopeful journey into a path of chaos filled with deceit, murder, graverobbing, and dormant secrets.

Once in a while, I take a break from horror to read something different. It takes a gifted storyteller to pull my attention out of my horror novels so it doesn't happen often. When I saw this collaboration from Chad Lutzke and John Boden there was just no way I was going to be able to concentrate on any other book before reading The Bedmakers.

So who are The Bedmakers? I'm glad you asked.

Calvin and Eugene are former servicemen and homeless best friends facing hard times in 1979 Chicago. They decide to head out west for the warmer climate and possible work.

 Even though they share everything, one is keeping a secret from the other, or at least he's trying to... On the way they run across some shocking trouble but that's nothing compared to what they find when they settle in at their destination. A quaint little town they think of as Mayberry has some secrets of its own and a few dangerous residents.

Eugene and Calvin have such a genuine friendship that I couldn't help but fall in love with both of them. They are the kind of gentlemen I'd be happy to sit down and share a conversation with or invite to my table for a meal, and if anyone said a word against them or their too worn out clothes I'd smack them. Although for elderly gentlemen they do quite well at defending themselves and each other when needed.

I still feel a little emotionally hungover from this story. If you are looking for a book with all the feels this is it.

5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

Expected publication date February 13 2024

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The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger

Step into the dark roots of Christmas past where the Krampus punishes the bad boys and girls.

Christmas time is truly the darkest and creepiest time of the year filled with devilish creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to get us. Best known is the Krampus who has been the subject of films and songs. There was a time in the late 1800s when people sent Krampus cards, not holiday greetings. There are other violent and dangerous monsters from all over northern climes who have been hunting naughty children for centuries. From shapeshifters to mountain trolls, to elves, to heavy-handed cohorts of Saint Nicholas, the Christmas holiday has been filled with ghosts and monsters ready to dole out punishment to those who need it.
The Fright Before Christmas  will delve into the folklore of Krampus and his friends with the elf-like Tomten and the goblinesque Karakoncolas. The Belsnickel is ready to hit us with his switch of sticks and Gryla may drag you back to her mountain lair. And watch out for the Yule Cat ready to pounce! These are just a few of the yuletide beasties coming for us in The Fright Before Christmas in the hope they can save us from ourselves.  

The folklore roots of Christmas under its many other guises (Yule, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia) is examined in a different, darker light. The Winter Solstice is a time to be afraid. It’s the shortest day of the year. The longest night. In some parts of the world, the sun doesn’t rise at all. It’s dark, and we have to wonder if the sun will ever come back at all. Christmas has always been creepy and with  The Fright Before Christmas you'll see the other side. This is a book for everyone who loves a little darkness around the holidays.

Be good or the Krampus will get you!

Just a super quick review today because I'm still on a break.

The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger is a well-researched, entertaining, and informative look at the history of Christmas, Santa, Krampus, Belsnickel, The Yule Cat, and more. It includes the traditions, beliefs, and origins of Christmas trees, wreaths and several winter time creatures that I was not familiar with. I quite enjoyed it.

This is a must read for anyone who loves folklore as well as Christmas. I never knew where the tradition of hanging garlands came from or why we kiss under the mistletoe. I learned this and so much more in this fascinating and educational book. The illustrations are spectacular too!

5 out of 5 stars

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Twelve Days of Christmas Horror Volume 3 by Rick Wood

 

The third Christmas horror anthology from horror master Rick Wood...

Featuring such stories
- Santa Vs Krampus
- Charades With a Side of Rage
- Carolling With Killers
- Christmas in Hell
- Christmas Night of the Living Year Two
(and much more...)

It's time to bring a little horror to the festivities...

Having enjoyed the first two volumes of Twelve Days of Christmas Horror I looked forward to this final installment. 

Unfortunately for me, this did not live up to my expectations. Some of the sarcastic wit is still present but the dark humor that I so loved in the previous volumes was not up to par. 

There were only two stories that I enjoyed. The majority of this book was more flat than fearsome. 

Also, I don't know if it was done purposely or if there was a mishap at the printer but my copy has no page numbers until you get to 104 and then they end at 114 even though the book continues on for several more pages. It just added to the feeling that not much effort was put into this volume.

You may enjoy it more than I did, but this one was just not for me.

2 out of 5 stars

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Best Horror of 2023

Another year of great books has gone by and I have been privileged to have a front-row seat for some fabulous reading. These are my picks for the Best Horror of 2023. The title links will take you to the book synopsis, review, author information if available on Goodreads, and Amazon page. If you're looking for something spectacular to read allow me to recommend any or all of these twelve books.

DMV by Bentley Little       All Hallows by Christopher Golden      

Lone Women by Victor LaValle       The Broken Places by Blaine Daigle      

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca     

Wasps in the Ice Cream by Tim McGregor

Conjuring The Witch by Jessica Leonard  Guests by Kealan Patrick Burke

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy  Nightmare Abbey 3    The Dead Pennies by Robert Ford

Riding The Nightmare by Lisa Tuttle

Appalachian Winter Hauntings: Weird Tales from the Mountains

 Appalachian Winter Hauntings includes eleven bone-chilling accounts-penned by many of the preeminent storytellers in the business-that are appropriate to the Appalachian region and relative to the heart of the holiday season. This anthology, edited by Michael Knost and Mark Justice, is designed for cozying up close to a blazing fireplace on the coldest of winter nights. Contributors include: Ronald Kelly, Brian J. Hatcher, Patricia Hughes, Steve Vernon, S. Clayton Rhodes, Steve Rasnic Tem, Sara J. Larson, Scott Nicholson, J.G. Faherty. EmmaLee Pallai, and Elizabeth Massie. The texture is gritty and the stories are moving. Think Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" turned up a notch with a ghostly Appalachian backdrop. So, pour yourself a mug of hot cocoa, wrap your favorite blanket around you, and brace yourself for ghostly stories and weird encounters that take place in the shadows of snowy hilltops or along icy mountain trails. Family friendly.

This was a case of "Don't judge a book by its cover" but that is what I did. I saw this gorgeous cover and expected some terrifying tales. Had I read the description down to the very bottom I would have noticed the "family friendly" part at the end. I believe that may be the reason this book has so few reviews. The cover may have caught the eye of horror fans like me while turning off its target audience, which would be people of all ages who like ghost stories. 

These tales are not gory horror. and there is nothing particularly scary. They are more in tune with the classic style of  "Ghost Stories for Christmas."

Most of the stories are heartwarming, poignant, and bittersweet.

There is some Christmas cheer but I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles with depression at this time of year. There is much poverty, sadness, grief, and loss in these wintery tales, more than a few of which left me feeling quite melancholy even though some of the ghosts offered solace to the living. A couple of these stories had me close to tears. 

All of the stories except The Peddler's Journey by Ronald Kelly were new to me. I had read that one in a different collection. It's one of my favorites about a spirit with unfinished business.

A Sky Full of Stars and a Big Green Forever by Steve Vernon is a lonely tale of a man spending another Christmas on his own.. I think the message conveyed was not to let grief steal what's left of your life.

A man returns to his childhood home after the death of his parents in Smoke In A Bottle by Steve Rasnic Tem. Clearing out the house brings back childhood memories that look a bit different through the eyes of an adult.

The Nativity Tray by Sara J. Larson is one of the stories that had me close to tears. A grief-stricken woman who has lost her family to tragedy prepares for her lonely Christmas Eve until she is interrupted by a visitor.

Apple Head Dolly by Scott Nicholson was closer to the type of story I was expecting to find here.  No ghosts in this one, just a boy who is resentful of his sister when his financially struggling parents spend more on her Christmas presents than his,

The Christmas Letter by Emmalee Pallai is another story that had me a little misty eyed. A boy who lost his dad when he was too young to remember him gets an unforgettable Christmas gift that he will always cherish.

Beggars at Dawn by Elizabeth Massie is about a man at the end of his rope, who finds a reason to hold on a little longer.

So bottom line, I would recommend this anthology to anyone who likes ghost stories, but not for someone specifically in search of a scary read.

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Cursed by Leigh Kenny

 Have you ever agreed to something without understanding the consequences? What would you do if a cursed object came into your possession? Burn it? Seek spiritual help? Pass it on?

This is the impossible choice Curtis must face as a sinister entity is thrust upon him. As the walls close in and the evil takes hold, he must act before his life is forever altered.

Curtis is haunted.
Curtis is afraid.
Curtis is... Cursed

The ideal read for fans of horror, mystery thrillers, possessions, and supernatural beings. The Grudge meets Drag Me To Hell, Cursed is the story of one man's relentless journey through darkness and isolation, as he discovers how far he's willing to go to save himself and those closest to him.

Cursed is a fairly straight forward horror novella debut from Leigh Kenny. 

The unlucky protagonist in Cursed is a likable young man named Curtis, who is a trash collector, having an ordinary day in his workaday life until he unknowingly accepts a cursed object from a woman in obvious distress. Curtis notices strange symbols and markings on this otherwise run-of-the-mill cardboard box he has accepted, but still, he assumes it is only trash that she is asking him to take because it wouldn't fit in her garbage bin. He throws it away and thinks no more about it... until it reappears, and it's not as empty as he first thought.

I liked Curtis, and I anxiously awaited a solution to the curse he was saddled with. I wanted him to be ok. There were several chilling scenes as the curse took deeper hold, along with the suspense of "will he or won't he" be able to escape it's clutches. 

This was a quick and creepy read and a praiseworthy first book.

My thanks to Leigh Kenny.

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Nightmare Abbey 4 Edited by Tom English

Nightmare Abby 4 is a delight to behold. I'm going to confess something to you that I have never admitted in the bookish world before...

I often skim or skip the introductions to books. (I'm sorry but it's true.) But I never skip the introductions here because Tom English is a hoot in the Dear Abbey section, which tells you what to expect and is a damn sight clever in the process.

The artwork is gorgeous and every volume contains top-notch fiction, and of course, the stories are my favorite part but I also learn something new every time. Nightmare Abbey is informative as well as entertaining. This volume contains an interview with Paul Finch, in which is mentioned an old TV show from the 70's called Beasts. I had never heard of it before and I love all those old spooky series so I immediately had to search it out and grab a copy on DVD.

As for the stories I enjoyed them all, but the ones that stood out the most to me were Finding The Hollow Man by David Surface about the sole survivor in a group of kids who entered a cave 50 years ago. She has never told anyone the whole truth of what happened until now. You can be the first to hear it.

Another favorite was Devils of Lakeland by Paul Finch in which a man traces his deceased brother's last steps in an attempt to answer whether his death was a suicide or an accident. The answer he finds is shocking and unexpected. The ending shook me a bit.

Invasive Species by Helen Grant also deals with deceased relatives, this time as a woman who has been estranged from her father tries to reach him before his death. Finding out she would be too late didn't stop her but she would have been better off if it had. This was one of the creepier stories and not the first I have enjoyed by this author. I think it's time for me to look into her full length novels because she is adept at building tension and spine-tingly suspense.

The Brightest Heaven by John Llewellyn Probert a weekend writing course and a chance meeting lead two writers on a hunt for a muse. Consequences await.

Two couples meet by chance or proximity on their vacations in paradise in Get Away by Ray Cluley. You may have heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but in this story, the same can be said for the sea. Don't look too long or too deep you may not like what you see.

Last but not least in my favorites was Sundown In Duffield by Steve Rasnic Tem.This was a frightening and emotional story about a man with dementia who convinces his grandson to take him to visit his childhood home. He can't remember why he and his family had to flee but he should have stayed away.

If you like short horror stories, and learning about classic horror movies you may have missed, along with gorgeous still shots from the films and amazing artwork you need all 4 volumes of Nightmare Abbey.

My thanks to Dead Letter Press.

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The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: Volume 4 Edited by Paula Guran

 The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror series returns with a splendidly startling fourth volume!

From paranormal plots to stories of the supernatural, tales of the unfamiliar have always fascinated us humans. To keep the tradition alive, fantasy aficionado Paula Guran has gathered the most delightfully disturbing work from some of today’s finest writers of the fantastique!

No two mysterious shadows are alike, and the same can be said for the books in this series. T he Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 4 contains more than three hundred pages of mystical fiction. Reader beware and indulge if you dare, because these chilling tales are sure to spook and surprise!

The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror Volume 4 is an exceptional anthology that makes me want to search out and read the previous volumes because apparently, I have been missing out on something special.

The first story, Shadow Plane by Fran Wilde set the bar pretty high. If surviving a plane crash and being trapped in the bitter-cold wilderness isn't scary enough just wait until you see what those shadows are up to. This was a super freaky story that will have you scared of your own shadow.

Red Wet Grin by Gemma Files is a creepy story that is set in a nursing home where a new patient with a wicked smile has evil plans for staff and residents.

The Lending Library of Final Lines by Octavia Cade is gruesome, sad, original, and twisted. Complete books don't exist in this world but loose pages have an incredible and heartbreaking use. Reading can be dangerous.

Stephen Graham Jones knocks it out of the park with his story Men, Women, and Chainsaws. Breakups can be messy, but this story of romance, revenge, and the bonds of parental love was a riveting page-turner.

The Feeding of Closed Mouths by Eden Royce was another of my favorites. I knew it would be from the opening line "When the news said three more young men had been found dead in their homes, Grace knew her mother had come to town." All I'm going to say about this story is WOW! 

A Belly Full Of Spiders by Mario Coellho is a story of abuse and the supernatural. It is dark and disturbing and brilliant.

The Long Way Up by Alix E. Harrow is a tale of loss, and grief, and what one woman is willing to do for the love of her life.

The past catches up with a small group of teens in Sharp Things, Killing Things by A.C. Wise. This is a story that gave me goosebumps!

Swim the Darkness by Michael Kelly kind of broke my heart. Life is short even if you're not a girl with a strange affliction, so live as if you're on borrowed time. I'm not crying you're crying.

In The Smile Place by Tobi Ogundiran is about a boy who suffers a traumatic experience then later goes missing, and the big brother who lives with guilt over it. It's also scary as hell!

If you love dark fiction you need this anthology!

My thanks to Pyr Books

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Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar

A child died in an avalanche, and she won’t leave me alone.
A woman plagued by blood-draining mosquitoes on the Alaskan tundra figures out a horrific way to scratch her unending itching.
There’s something outside my tent…and I think it’s hungry.
A collector of rare tropical fish, receives a new species that is both fascinating and terrifying.

DREAD - Thousands of people have gone missing out in the wild and here is a collection of tales that offer up some horrifying reasons why. Emmy-award-winning National Geographic cinematographer Kevin Bachar has swum with sharks, climbed the peaks of mountains, and explored the darkest of forests. In DREAD, he weaves together terrifying true stories from his real-life adventures with twisted fiction from the depths of his frightening imagination. Flip open the pages to indulge in the dark side of nature— haunted forests, tree demons, monstrous snakes, and a search-and-rescue team terrorized by the ghosts of those they couldn’t save.
Read... if you dare.

Angry spirits, swarms of bugs, strange lights that lead people astray, Bigfoot, and more are featured in these 22 new tales of Dread. Most take place in wild and dangerous outdoor settings because like they say, write what you know, and the author certainly has lots of experience with such places.

Some of the stories were too short for my taste but that is just my own preference. I love short horror stories but I tend to avoid flash fiction. 

It was the longer stories that gave me chills, and I enjoyed all of them starting from the opening lines of The Peak of Fear in which a search and rescue team is haunted by a mistake. There was more than the icy temperatures in this one that gave me the shivers!

 Another of my many favorites was Forest For The Trees. I love a woodsy setting, probably due to my own complete lack of a sense of direction. I always get an uneasy feeling from these kinds of stories because I live vicariously through the characters from the safety of my cozy chair knowing full well that if it were me I would be the one lost and never seen again. 

Working Like A Dog was another of my favorites. While not a scary story there are some supernatural aspects to this tale of a New England grave digger and his best pal, a loyal dog named Rex. 

I also loved The Starter, which is about a man with a struggling pizza restaurant. If you've ever wondered how to make the perfect crust at home like your favorite pizzeria does you can find an alarming secret here.

Branching Out was the final and creepiest of the stories, in which a grumpy old man who just wants some peace and quiet on his own property, goes a little overboard and pays a horrific price. All the stories were good but those are the ones that I am still thinking about that will be cemented in my memories for quite a while.

If you like dark fiction this collection is for you.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Kevin Bachar

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The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

 

A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Gracetown, Florida
June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.

The Reformatory is a brutal, heartbreaking story set in the old South in the days when good old boys would not think twice about lynching a Black man or child for looking at a white woman. 

When 12 year old Robbie defends his sister from inappropriate advances he gets sent off to reform school. More than just a punishment for Robbie, this is a plot intended to make his father come out of hiding. 

Robbie's father was accused of a crime he didn't commit and skipped town before they could murder him, leaving his children behind with an elderly woman.

This reformatory is more a prison than a school, where the living inmates barely outnumber the dead. Many boys never left after not surviving their sentence thanks to the brutal treatment by the sadistic warden who relished any chance to torture the boys for any slight or made up infraction of his rules. The warden and the children are often plagued by ghosts.

If this sounds familiar, you may have seen the real life news stories about the human remains found at the now closed Dozier School, where it should be noted that the author had a relative who did not survive.

The writing depicts the language of those days. If child abuse and racism require trigger warnings for you then you may not be able to handle this book so proceed with caution.

The pacing was a little slow at times but by the final third, I was nearly sick with worry over whether or not Robbie would survive.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Gallery / Saga Press

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About the Dozier School

 

This is Halloween by James A. Moore

 Author James A. Moore offers up ten autumnal tales of the darker things that lurk just around the corner of Indian Summer. A man learns of a town's obsession with scarecrows and tries to find the answers as to why they are so important. Children move through familiar streets and find that Halloween makes everything different. Tis' the season when ghosts are real, witches soar through the night, and things in the Beldam Woods are not always what they seem. Sometimes it's the monsters that wear the masks.

If the gorgeous cover didn't get me, the title would. Halloween is my favorite holiday. Short horror stories are my addiction, and Halloween horror is my favorite. I expected a lot from this collection, and it delivered all I could have hoped for.

These stories embody the spirit of the season. 

From folk horror to trick or treating at homes that don't exist in the light of day this book held me spellbound from start to finish. You will travel to small towns with strange and deadly customs, meet vengeful spirits, and more. The writing crackles like crisp leaves and snaps like an October wind. And much like Halloween itself, I hated for it to end.

5 out of 5 stars

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Ghoulish Tales Issue #1- Various Authors

 The debut issue of Ghoulish Tales features stories by Robert Nazar Arjoyan, Barbara Castro-Rojas, Clay McLeod Chapman, Chloe Harper Gold, Rae Knowles, Angela Liu, Nina Maar, and Betty Rocksteady. Also includes articles by Nicholas A. Battaglia and Lor Gislason.

This is the first issue of a brand new magazine from Ghoulish books. I hope many more issues will follow.

I have been addicted to short horror stories for as long as I can remember. There's nothing I love more than a good anthology, and Ghoulish Tales delivers some fantastic dark fiction.

This was a quick and creepy read with dark humor, body horror, revenge, and more. There are a couple of articles but to be honest I'm just here for the horror fiction.

My favorites were Life In The Demon's Gizzard by Betty Rocksteady about two sisters, one of whom can't or won't let go of the past. On what is their last night together they share snacks and differing memories of their childhood.

Tonight's Guest Is! by Robert Nazar Arjoyan in which a talk show guest is surprised by the host who seems to know more about his life than what was published in his recent memoirs.

All the stories had unexpected twists, but those two really hit home for me.

My thanks to Ghoulish Books.

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Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

 

Ana and Reid needed a lucky break.

The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling: with mobility, with her relationship with Reid, with resentment for her baby. That's about to change with the words any New Yorker would love to hear―affordable housing lottery.

They've won an apartment in the Deptford, one of Manhattan's most revered buildings with beautiful vistas of Central Park and stunning architecture.

Reid dismisses disturbing events and Ana’s deep unease and paranoia as the price of living in New York―people are odd―but he can't explain the needle-like bite marks on the baby.

When Reid and Ana put their names in the lottery for an affordable luxury apartment they never dreamed they'd win. They also never dreamed that their lives would be so different from the time they entered the lottery to the time they finally got called.

When they are shown the apartment it seems perfect for most people, but Ana has misgivings right away. She is confined to a wheelchair these days and can not get down the stairs from their upper floor apartment if there is ever an emergency. Ignoring her unease, and buoyed by her husband's excitement over their win. she agrees to take the apartment. After all, it will do them good to get away from their obnoxious antisemitic landlord.

It's not long after moving day when Ana knows something is wrong with this building. Her baby seems to sense it too, constantly screaming and crying as if she knows this is a bad place to be. Reid becomes obsessed with learning the history of the building, to the point that he loses interest in all else, even gaslighting Ana when she points out the tiny bite marks on the baby after having seen a face at their top floor window.

Not since The Sentinel or Rosemary's Baby has an apartment building had such an unsavory past or housed such sinister tenants. I can't say much else about the plot without spoilers, but I loved the domestic drama as much as the scary parts. The psychological fear mixed with the supernatural terror combined to make Nestlings into an exquisite horror that was perfection from start to finish. This book will land firmly on my best horror of the year list.

5 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Tor Nightfire.

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Movie Review- Heir of the Witch

 

Heir of the Witch is a chilling folk horror full of unnerving surprises. All is not as it appears. In fact, the things that you see may not be what is truly going on at all. Anna is plagued by traumatic memories and haunted by the angry spirit of her grandmother, the witch who is even more dangerous in death than she was in life. Through Ana's memories, we are shown in flashbacks how she came to be cursed.

Starring Victoria U  Bell as Anna, a seamstress caring for her sickly aunt and supporting herself by making beautiful dresses for wealthy snobs who flock together like a bunch of "mean girls" with all the maturity of a high school clique. Anna floats along on the periphery of their lives, never really being part of the in crowd.   The movie does not rely on typical jump scares but adds an element of psychological fear that kept me glued to my screen. My only minor complaint would be that it does occasionally make use of distorted demonic-sounding voices which although they can be scary it sometimes makes the dialogue tough to understand. What is scary, is the ever-increasing dread as the witch infests every aspect of Anna's life in order to get what she wants. The effects are better than I have seen in recent indie movies and many of the scenes are visually striking.

Deanna Rashell shines in the role of Chloe the leader of the clique who takes advantage of Anna's good nature and financial problems.  Ben Holtzmuller was perfect as Chloe's unhappy husband with a wandering eye. 

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys psychological horror in addition to folk horror.

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Too Scared to Sleep by Andrew Duplessie

 

From debut author Andrew Duplessie, a terrifying collection of teen short horror stories--and accompanying videos--that will keep you up long into the night! Perfect for fans of Five Nights at Freddy's.

A garbage disposal that feeds on flesh . . .

A beloved stuffed rabbit that cooks up your parents . . .

Roses that require human blood to bloom . . .

From blood-chilling horror to supernatural scares, this collection of short stories from debut author Andrew Duplessie offers something to stoke anyone's fear factor. But that's only the beginning. In a first-ever twist, each story also comes with a pulse-pounding video that deepens the horror. Point your phone at the QR code and be prepared to scream! Maybe even share it with your friends, if you dare.

Ready or not, Too Scared to Sleep will answer the question: How brave are you, really?

Too Scared To Sleep is a fun collection of spooky stories geared towards teens and tweens. The majority of the stories revolve around main characters who are fourteen years old, getting into weird and spooky situations.

Cell phones and futuristic technology, along with the dangers of AI are also the main themes here, with cautionary tales of why you should never steal, the dangers of social media, and why you should live each day as it comes because life is too short to even wish away the bad times.

There were a few stories that just didn't work for me, but I enjoyed most of them, and I think the modern themes will resonate with kids of today.

A unique feature of this book, is that a short video accompanies each story. I've read many collections that would include an illustration to go with each story but this is the first time I've ever seen a book that provides a video via a link in a QR code. It was a clever idea that added to the fun.

4 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Clarion Books.

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