The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

It's Wednesday and perhaps time for another Top Five Wednesday post courtesy of the  Top Five Wednesday Goodreads group and today's theme was books I wish my library had. The list is a bit influenced by the fact that I'm living in a small coastal town in Norway, so it's not like the library has the best selection of books in English in the first place. Here's anyway my five spooky picks. Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw Description from Goodreads NEW ORLEANS FANG FEST, 1995. MINA'S HAVING A SUMMER TO DIE FOR. 17-year-old Mina, from England, arrives in New Orleans to visit her estranged sister, Libby. After growing up in Whitby, the town that inspired Dracula, Mina loves nothing more than a creepy horror movie. She can't wait to explore the city's darkest secrets - vampire tours, seedy bars, spooky cemeteries, disturbing local myths... And it gets even better when Mina lands a part-time job at a horror movie mansion and meets Jared, Libby's gorgeous

Another Tuesday and another Top Ten Tuesday post courtesy of  That Artsy Reader Girl and the theme of the week was unread books on my shelves I want to read soon. Here's my top ten list of unread horror and paranormal books I hope to read sooner rather than later. White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson Description from Goodreads The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson! Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper. The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting b

As I've got a weak spot for cryptid fiction, horror, and Scotland, I couldn't resist the horror novella Loch Ness by Matt Shaw and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads For decades the Loch Ness monster has been a creature of legend. Seen by only a few but doubted by many, is there really something lurking beneath the waters of Loch Ness? According to scientists who have studied the waters for years, the chances of Nessie being anything other than a giant eel are slim to none. Even so, that doesn't stop millions of people travelling to the loch on a yearly basis in the hope of seeing the creature for themselves. Today, Reece Walker - an author in desperate need of a best-selling book after his recent ones haven't quite hit the market where they needed to be - is one such visitor. Staying next to the loch, he hopes to use the beautiful scenery - and legend itself - as inspiration for his own Nessie-based book. And, as if luck would have i

It's Wednesday and time for a new Top Five Wednesday post courtesy of the  Top Five Wednesday Goodreads group and the theme of the week was favourite villainess. Here's my five (spooky) picks. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill Description from Goodreads Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose. Blood Born by Renee Lake Description from Goodreads Maddie is excited about the new adventures college life will bring. She dreams of rallies, weird roommates and exciting courses of study. She's living

It's been a little while since the last time I wrote a Mailbox Monday post, so I figured out it was time for a new post. The weekly meme is created by the blog named  Mailbox Monday and here's the books I've recieved in the mail lately. The Haunting of Gillespie House by Darcy Coates Description from Goodreads Elle can't believe her luck; she's spending a month house-sitting the beautiful Gillespie property. Hidden near the edge of the woods and an hour's drive from the nearest town, its dark rooms and rich furniture entice her to explore its secrets. There's even a graveyard hidden behind the house, filled with tombstones that bear an identical year of death. If only the scratching in the walls would be quiet… The house’s dark and deadly history quickly becomes tangled with Elle’s life. At the center of it is Jonathan Gillespie, the tyrannical cult leader and original owner of the house. As Elle soon learns -- just because he’s dead, doesn’t mean he’s gon

As I was eager to figure out what happened next after finishing The Cabin by Matt Shaw, I had to read The Cabin 2: Asylum. Today I'll post my review of the latter. Description from Goodreads The hugely anticipated follow-up to Matt Shaw's best-selling horror story 'The Cabin'. "I sat up and rested my back against the soft padded wall. I wonder whether the padding on the wall is to stop me from hurting myself, as they had explained when I first got here, or to drown the sounds of my banging and screaming as I beg for them to let me out; not that they ever will." Deemed unfit to stand trial after murdering his family, Craig was sent to the very Asylum (centred around the ghost stories) which led to his downfall. Here he hoped for nothing more than peace and quiet, as he struggled to get to grips with what he'd done, but the vengeful spirits had other ideas as they set about revealing their secrets to him. My Thoughts on the Book The Cabin 2: Asylum is one o

It's Tuesday and probably time for a new Top Ten Tuesday courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl . As it was freebie week in terms of themes, I decided writing a top ten list of horror books where the woods play a role. Here's my top ten list that just might make people want to stay clear of the woods for a little while. The Shapeshifters by Stefan Spjut Description from Goodreads Summer 1978. A young boy disappears without a trace from a summer cabin. His mother claims he was carried away by a giant. He is never found. Twenty-five years later, another child goes missing. This time there’s a lead, a single photograph taken by Susso Myrén. She’s devoted her life to the search for trolls, legendary giants known as stallo who can control human thoughts and assume animal form. Convinced that the trolls are real, she follows the trail of missing children to northern Sweden. But humans, some part stallo themselves, have been watching over the creatures for generations, and this hidden so

Recently I read the supernatural horror novella The Cabin by Matt Shaw and today I'll post my review of this book. Description from Goodreads “You’d never see the ghosts, not properly. You’d only catch a glimpse of their shapes out of the corner of your eye and you’d hear their stolen, vengeful scream; an ear-piercing shriek to steal the lives of anyone who heard it.” * * * * * For Craig, the trip to the cabin was supposed to be a quiet retreat from his hectic city life where he could concentrate on writing his latest novel. For his wife, Susan, and his two kids, Jamie and Ava, it was supposed to be a weekend vacation. For all of them, it became a nightmare. My Thoughts on the Book As The Cabin is more of the psychological horror rather than "blood, guts, and gore"-type of horror, it can certainly creep you out a little bit. Even though it's a quick read, it's also slow-paced, which I found a bit neat and the ending made me pick up the sequel rather quickly as I

It's Wednesday and perhaps it's time for a new Top Five Wednesday post courtesy of the  Top Five Wednesday Goodreads group and the theme of the week was books I dropped only to come back and love it the second time. As I'm focusing on paranormal and horror books on this blog, it's only natural I write a list of spooky reads. Here's my five spooky picks. Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry Description from Goodreads Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt's grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that's just legend, the village gossips talking. Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play Sleepy Hollow boys, reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods

It's time for a new Book Blogger Hop post courtesy of  Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer and the question of the week was " Which has more power over readers: a book blogger or a professional critic? ". Book Blogger Hop The way things are now, with BookTok, Bookstagram, and everything, I'd say book bloggers have more power than professional critics, especially when it comes to younger people while middle-aged and/or older people might rely a lot more on the professional ones. While it's totally great that social media can inspire people to read more, I'm at times a bit wary of some of the book bloggers there's a minority  that actually have a bookish background so to speak, whether it's as librarians, a major in English, or whatever. Not that I'm saying that there isn't any good book bloggers without such a background, but "just because" someone has read a handful of books, it doesn't make them exper

I came across the Easter Book Tag over at  Rosie The Reader and as it's Easter, I figured out it was the perfect timing to do it. Rabbits – A book that you wish would multiply – So a book you want a sequel to (that doesn’t have one) The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon   Egg – A book that surprised you The Prettiest Girl in the Grave by Kristopher Triana Hunt – A book that was hard for you to get your hands on Some of Matt Shaw's books, such as Loch Ness, was a bit hard getting my hands on, as I had to order from the author's website and get them imported to Norway. Lambs – A children’s book that you still enjoy It's probably a bit more middle grade than strictly children's book, but I do enjoy The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Spring – A book with a cover that makes you think of spring Fair Isle and Fortunes by Nancy Warren Jesus – A religious or spiritual book that you love The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty somehow fits the bill, right? Rising from t