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Top Ten Tuesday; Books On My Spring 2024 TBR

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It's Tuesday and perhaps time for yet another Top Ten Tuesday post courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl . The theme of the week was books on my spring 2024 TBR. Here's my top ten list, which per usual is of the more creepy kind as I'm focusing on horror and paranormal. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite Description from Goodreads To serial slayer Andrew Compton, murder is an art, the most intimate art. After feigning his own death to escape from prison, Compton makes his way to the United States with the sole ambition of bringing his "art" to new heights. Tortured by his own perverse desires, and drawn to possess and destroy young boys, Compton inadvertently joins forces with Jay Byrne, a dissolute playboy who has pushed his "art" to limits even Compton hadn't previously imagined. Together, Compton and Byrne set their sights on an exquisite young Vietnamese-American runaway, Tran, whom they deem to be the perfect victim. Swiftly moving from the grimy

Review; The Folcroft Ghosts by Darcy Coates

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A while ago, I read the horror novel The Folcroft Ghosts by Darcy Coates and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads When their mother is hospitalized, Tara and Kyle are sent to stay with their only remaining relatives, their grandparents. It's their first time meeting May and Peter Folcroft. The elderly couple seem friendly at first, and the house, hidden in the base of the mountains, is full of nooks to explore. But strange things keep happening. The swing moves on its own. Peter paces around the house late at night and seems obsessed with the lake where his sister drowned. Doors slam and curtains shift when no one is inside. And one room is kept permanently locked. When a storm cuts the phone line-their only contact with the outside world-Tara and Kyle must find a way to protect themselves from their increasingly erratic grandparents... and from the ghosts that inhabit the Folcrofts' house. My Thoughts on the Book The plot was nicely paced with

Top Five Wednesday; Spooky Books Everyone Should Read Once

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It's Wednesday and perhaps time for a new Top Five Wednesday post courtesy of the  Top Five Wednesday Goodreads group. The theme of the week was books everyone should read once and I decided narrowing it down to spooky reads. Here's my five spine-chilling picks. Sallow Bend by Alan Baxter Description from Goodreads Something old and deadly has awoken. When two teenagers go missing from the small, rural town of Sallow Bend, the residents come together to search for them. Little do they suspect that finding the wayward girls will be the start of their problems. An ancient evil is rising, and only one man seems to realize that everyone is in danger and this is not the first time it’s happened. With the carnival in town, people want to have a good time, but for many, this will be the worst time of their lives. SALLOW BEND – a tense and frightening folk horror novel from Alan Baxter and Cemetery Dance Publications. Dracula by Bram Stoker Description from Goodreads When Jonathan Ha

Book Recommendations; Ten Horror Books By Female Authors

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Considering it's Women's History Month and I'm a female book blogger, I figured out it would only be fair if I wrote a list of book recommendations on horror books by female authors. Horror isn't a genre that's too popular in the first place and as a few female horror authors occasionally do get a bit of crap just for existing, support them is a good thing. Anyway, here's some horror books I would recommend. The Night Silver River Run Red by Christine Morgan Description from Goodreads Some things, according to Cody McCall, are worth risking a whipping. Such as, sneaking out with your friends after dark for a peek at the traveling show setting up just outside of town. Oddities, the signs promise. Marvels. Grotesqueries. Exotic attractions and mysterious magics. Not as if they'd be allowed to attend otherwise, not with parents and preacher and schoolmarm all disapproving. But how often does a chance like this come along? There isn't much else by way of ex

Let's Talk Bookish; Favorite Female Protagonists

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It's Friday and perhaps it's time for new Let's Talk Bookish post courtesy of the book blog Book Nook Bits  and the theme of the week was favourite female protagonists as it's International Women's Day today. Here's the further prompts of this week's discussion. It’s International Women’s Day! Who are some of your favorite female protagonists? What makes a female protagonist feel genuine to you? Share some recommendations! Regardless of gender or whether it's the protagonist or a side character, I prefer complex and well fleshed out characters, especially if they're not the standard "cookie cutter characters". Darcy Coates has a way of writing genuine and complex characters that's relatable and I especially liked Keira from the Gravekeeper series (a series worth checking out if you're into cosy horror).  If you're into Swedish thrillers/horror, The Lost Village by Camilla Sten is also worth checking out, due to the protagonist

Top Five Wednesday; Covers with Dresses

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It's Wednesday and time for a new Top Five Wednesday courtesy of the  Top Five Wednesday on Goodreads and the theme of the week was covers with dresses. Here's my five picks for the occasion. Maplecroft by Cherie Priest Description from Goodreads Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.... The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny. But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares

Mailbox Monday; March 4th 2024

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As I've recieved a few books in the mail recently, I thought it was time for a new Mailbox Monday post courtesy of the book blog fittingly named  Mailbox Monday . Here's the books I've recieved lately. Those by Matt Shaw are even signed. The Haunting of Leigh Harker by Darcy Coates Description from Goodreads From bestselling gothic horror author Darcy Coates comes a chilling story of a quiet house on a forgotten suburban lane that hides a deadly secret... Leigh Harker's quiet suburban home was her sanctuary for more than a decade, until things abruptly changed. Curtains open by themselves. Radios turn off and on. And a dark figure looms in the shadows of her bedroom door at night, watching her, waiting for her to finally let down her guard enough to fall asleep. Pushed to her limits but unwilling to abandon her home, Leigh struggles to find answers. But each step forces her towards something more terrifying than she ever imagined. A poisonous shadow seeps from the lock