Bloody Bones by Garrett Boatman

YOU CAN'T KILL WHAT'S ALREADY DEAD.

Listen... do you hear the squeaking swing? Bloody Bones is on the porch, and he's coming to get you.

Thirty years ago, the stranger came to the sleepy southern town of Farnsworth, and the killings began. Wearing a black suit and passing himself off as a traveling preacher, the Dark Man targeted children. But when he took the daughter of the local hoodoo woman, she exacted a terrible revenge.

Listen... do you hear the creaking door? Bloody Bones is in the house, and he's coming to get you.

Bound to a ploughshare at the bottom of a quicksand hole and unable to die, the Dark Man raged as his body rotted to bones. Three decades later, a murder and a gruesome burial resurrects the stranger. Now, two boys, a witch, and a deputy will attempt to keep the Dark man from sating his monstrous appetite. Listen! Do you hear the blood dripping on your bed? Bloody Bones is here, and he's...GOTCHA!

Bloody Bones is a jarring, distressing, occult horror. It made my heart hurt.

I am not even going to talk about the plot. I am only going to say that it concerns an abomination from the past that is reawakened by a depraved act 30 years later, told in graphic detail.

It is very dark, disturbing, and upsetting. I feel like I watched someone's soul get crushed when their hope was ripped away by evil. I have always said the best horror can make you feel something.

The writing is skillful, the storytelling is excellent, and I'm sitting here stunned. Never have I ever, until Bloody Bones, read a book that made me wish with all my might that the children in it would die. To be clear, I didn't just want them to die I wanted them to suffer first. Even the thought that they might get away with what they did filled me with such rage that I had to take a break and check my blood pressure.

Even though this is likely to end up on my best horror of the year list for 2025 I would cautiously recommend it to those who think they can handle it. It strained my own boundaries very close to the breaking point.

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the e-ARC.

5 out of 5 stars

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The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi

Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers cringing, laughing, and guessing until the very last page.

Rose DuBois is not your average final girl.

Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home. When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn’t too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age!

Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can’t help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister?

Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there’s a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn’t careful, Rose may be their next victim.

 

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home has been a safe and welcoming place for seniors who are still spry enough to take care of themselves, while knowing that medical help is available when needed. It is here that we meet a quirky cast of characters, including three witches and a retired school teacher, Rose Dubois. Rose may be nearly 80 years old, but her mind is sharp as a tack, and as a true crime buff with a penchant for mysteries, she is the first to notice that something is off about an alleged fatal accident in the retirement home. As the body count racks up can Rose catch the killer before she becomes the next victim?

In the author's notes at the end of this book, he says he hopes he made readers gasp or possibly chuckle. Well, congratulations on getting that and more, at least from me. It also made me shed a few tears when elderly characters reached out for help from their families and found that nobody cared. 

It was so refreshing to read a slasher novel that wasn't a cautionary tale to warn high school and college students that sex can lead to decapitation or streaming entrails. The murders are clever and gory, with loads of dark humor and suspense.  The plot moves full steam ahead with likable, realistic characters in impossible situations.

This is a novel that succeeds in creating a fresh original take on the slasher subgenre.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for the paperback.

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An Echo of Children by Ramsey Campbell

A slow burn, chilling horror in a gorgeous edition. Ramsey Campbell always delivers...

Coral and Allan Clarendon have just moved to the seaside town of Barnwall with their young son Dean. If an uncommon number of children have died unnaturally in Barnwall throughout history, surely Dean must be safe with his parents. Could their house be a source of peril? Allan and Coral seem to think so, since they call for an exorcism. Allan’s father Thom believes his wife is wrong to think the ceremony has left Dean in worse danger. But if she’s alone in seeing the terrors that are gathering around him, how desperate will her solution have to be?

Two sets of parents are visiting their children and 6 year old grandchild in their new home. Things seem a bit off right away. Jude is the first to notice that her grandson, Dean, is excessively polite and that her son and daughter-in-law constantly correct everything he does. He is not allowed to play with his toys, and his only friend is invisible. Could it be just a lonely child's way of coping, or is this imaginary friend something more? The other grandparents and even her husband are dismissive of her concerns at first.

This is a slow-burning horror told with Ramsey Campbell's usual flair for the subtle and insidious. Things escalate gradually as Jude begins to research the dark history of the home and the town. I could feel her fear and frustration at being the only one willing to acknowledge that something dangerous was happening, and it was about to get worse. I was so angry at the way she was treated when her son and in-laws tried to gaslight her into believing that everything she noticed was just a product of her own mind. So many times, I wanted to scream at her husband to stand up for her. I believed you, Jude!

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Flame Tree Press

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What Remains by Corey Niles

 The White, mysterious, undulating clouds from which no one and nothing return, is overtaking the northern United States. Food and supplies are scarce, extremist religious groups are taking hold, and anarchy is rampant.

Ex-boyfriends Alexander and Sebastian are fleeing south. Their only hope of escaping its grasp is reaching the equator, where the destructive path of the White is believed to end.

As the feuding pair come face to face with an even deadlier threat and the White draws near, they must contend with their broken relationship, their future, and what it really means to survive.

Alex and Sebastian were best friends, turned lovers, who hit a rocky patch in their relationship just before a mysterious, moving cloud of unknown substance began to consume everything in its path. They are broken up but stuck with each other as they try to escape this weird happening known only as "The White."

Word is, that if people can make it to the equator, they will be safe.

Alex and Sebastian will have to help each other to survive. They have very different personalities. Alex cares only for Sebastian and their survival. Sebastian wants to help people along the way, even if it means he might lose his own chance to live. Their broken relationship and its cause create a lot of tension and bickering along the way.

Food is scarce. Some roads are blocked by abandoned cars. Others by a cult like group of people who are kidnapping survivors in the belief that The White will cleanse them of their sins.

This is a dystopian, end of the world as we know it, survival horror.  Will they reach their destination?

I would recommend it if you are looking for a quick read in a suspenseful horror thriller.

My thanks to Crystal Lake Publishing

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