tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60307370761395144602024-03-18T20:48:23.747+01:00The Smell of Ink/Lukten av TrykksverteA book blog focusing on horror, paranormal, and spooky talesGothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.comBlogger3573125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-70141247824257674682024-03-16T08:00:00.000+01:002024-03-16T08:00:00.249+01:00Review; The Folcroft Ghosts by Darcy Coates <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580225971i/51611004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580225971i/51611004.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>A while ago, I read the horror novel The Folcroft Ghosts by Darcy Coates and today I'll post my review of the book.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>When their mother is hospitalized, Tara and Kyle are sent to stay with their only remaining relatives, their grandparents.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>The plot was nicely paced with a few twists, and the characters were well-written and relatable, especially Tara and Kyle. The way the book was written, it's fairly suitable for young adults without too much blood, guts, and gore.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-73343915120767092412024-03-13T08:00:00.035+01:002024-03-13T08:00:00.241+01:00Top Five Wednesday; Spooky Books Everyone Should Read Once It's Wednesday and perhaps time for a new Top Five Wednesday post courtesy of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22757331-march-2024" target="_blank">Top Five Wednesday</a> Goodreads group. The theme of the week was books everyone should read once and I decided narrowing it down to spooky reads.<div><br /></div><div>Here's my five spine-chilling picks.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660881708i/62018506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660881708i/62018506.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>Sallow Bend by Alan Baxter</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Something old and deadly has awoken.<br /><br />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.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394828802i/588495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394828802i/588495.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div>Dracula by Bram Stoker</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries in his client's castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his 'Master'. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre, probing into questions of identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653417511i/61160832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653417511i/61160832.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div>The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>This psychological thriller follows a family to their Appalachian farmhouse, where they encounter an unimaginable horror.<br /><br />In the summer of 1994, psychologist Daniel Hill buys a rustic farmhouse nestled in the rolling hills of West Virginia.<br /><br />Along with his wife and teenage daughter, the family uproots their lives in Ohio and moves south. They are initially seduced by the natural beauty of the country setting. That soon changes when they discover a hidden room in the basement with a well, boarded shut and adorned with crucifixes.<br /><br />Local legends about the previous owner being an exorcist come to light, but by then, all Hell has broken loose.<br /><br />This 1990s horror novel is perfect for fans of family thriller books, stories of demonic possession, exorcism fiction, the occult, or thrillers like The Exorcist, A Head Full of Ghosts, and The Amityville Horror.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338298031i/10692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="303" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338298031i/10692.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div>The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>For centuries, the story of Dracula has captured the imagination of readers and storytellers alike. Kostova's breathtaking first novel, ten years in the writing, is an accomplished retelling of this ancient tale. "The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper... As an historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it." With these words, a nameless narrator unfolds a story that began 30 years earlier.<br /><br />Late one night in 1972, as a 16-year-old girl, she discovers a mysterious book and a sheaf of letters in her father's library—a discovery that will have dreadful and far-reaching consequences, and will send her on a journey of mind-boggling danger. While seeking clues to the secrets of her father's past and her mother's puzzling disappearance, she follows a trail from London to Istanbul to Budapest and beyond, and learns that the letters in her possession provide a link to one of the world's darkest and most intoxicating figures. Generation after generation, the legend of Dracula has enticed and eluded both historians and opportunists alike. Now a young girl undertakes the same search that ended in the death and defilement of so many others—in an attempt to save her father from an unspeakable fate.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316834341i/584843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316834341i/584843.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div>The Woman in Black by Susan Hill</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor in London, is summoned to Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, and to sort through her papers before returning to London. It is here that Kipps first sees the woman in black and begins to gain an impression of the mystery surrounding her. From the funeral he travels to Eel Marsh House and sees the woman again; he also hears the terrifying sounds on the marsh.<br /><br />Despite Kipps’s experiences he resolves to spend the night at the house and fulfil his professional duty. It is this night at Eel Marsh House that contains the greatest horror for Kipps. Kipps later discovers the reasons behind the hauntings at Eel Marsh House. The book ends with the woman in black exacting a final, terrible revenge.GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-26984091047057935402024-03-10T08:00:00.080+01:002024-03-10T08:00:00.158+01:00Book Recommendations; Ten Horror Books By Female Authors 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.<div><br /></div><div>Anyway, here's some horror books I would recommend.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597078201i/54872811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597078201i/54872811.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div>The Night Silver River Run Red by Christine Morgan</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>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.<br /><br />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 excitement in quiet, peaceful Silver River, a once-prosperous boom town slowly gone bust.<br /><br />Worth risking a whipping, sure. Worth risking life and limb, and maybe more? Worth risking being ripped to pieces by ravenous, inhuman brutes? Worth crossing paths with those strange, silent cult-folk from the high valley? Worth all the fire and bloodshed and horror and death?<br /><br />Because something far worse than any ordinary traveling show has come to town, and one thing is for certain: those who survive, if any, will never forget The Night Silver River Run Red.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658234630i/61613689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658234630i/61613689.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations. The sprawling old house has long been perched on top of a hill overlooking the nearby town, jealously guarding the estate's secrets. Their wine wins awards. Their business prospers. Their family thrives: until Hugh and Maria Hull enter the dark halls of Gallows Hill one last time…and are found dead the next morning.<br /><br />People whisper that the curse has awakened once more.<br /><br />It’s been more than a decade since Margot Hull last saw her childhood home. She was young enough when she was sent away that she barely remembers its dark passageways and secret corners. But now she's returned to bury her parents and reconnect with the winery that is her family's legacy—and the bloody truth of exactly what lies buried beneath the crumbling estate. Alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, Margot is forced to come face to face with the horrors of the past—and realize that she may be the next victim of a house that never rests...<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496768542i/35342740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496768542i/35342740.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><div>The Well by Marie Sexton</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>Twenty years after prom queen Cassie Kennedy is brutally murdered, six teenagers break into the house where she was killed to hold a seance. Haven knows his cousin Elise only wants to scare the crap out of him and his friends, but he's willing to put up with one of her pranks if it means a chance to spend a few hours with the new kid in town, Pierce Hunter.<br /><br />But when morning comes, Elise has disappeared without a trace.<br /><br />Twelve years later, Pierce and his twin brother Jordan are professional paranormal investigators, starring in their own ghost-hunting TV show. When Pierce calls Haven, insisting they return to the supposedly haunted building one last time, Haven reluctantly agrees. He's nervous about seeing Pierce again, but he's determined to get some answers. Did they really speak to Cassie's ghost that night? What happened to Elise? And the biggest mystery of all - how did she know the secret of the well?<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1648405990i/60701250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1648405990i/60701250.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div>Below by Laurel Hightower</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO HELP A STRANGER? While driving through the mountains of West Virginia during a late-night snowstorm, a recently divorced woman experiences bizarre electrical problems, leaving her with little choice but to place her trust with a charismatic truck driver. But when an unexplainable creature with haunting red eyes gets between them, she is forced to make one of the toughest decisions of her life. Will she abandon the stranger who kept her safe-or will she climb down below, where reality has shapeshifted into a living nightmare?<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595716329i/54675210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595716329i/54675210.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div>You Are Invited by Sarah A. Denzil</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>"There are those who claim the ghosts walking the corridors of Sfântul Mihail are not ghosts at all."<br /><br />During a midnight journey snaking through the Carpathian Mountains, these are the words whispered to Cath Fenwick. It is the warning she will later wish she'd taken more seriously.<br /><br />When Cath receives her invitation to The Event--a monetised retreat for social media influencers--she can't believe her luck. Irene Jobert is the most famous influencer in the world, and now Cath will be one of the five participants chosen to stay with Irene in a renovated Transylvanian monastery.<br /><br />The catch? Their every move will be live-streamed to millions of people around the world. Patrons pay for constant access to their favourite social media stars: Irene, the model, Nathan, the gamer, Jules, the blogger, Daniel, the fitness guru and Cath, the writer. Nestled halfway up a mountain, surrounded by forests teeming with nature, the five are isolated, with nothing but the internet to connect them to the world. That is, until eagle-eyed live-stream followers all around the globe notice a sixth participant. A dark figure lurking in the background. Who--or what--is in the monastery with them?<br /><br />Wolves roam the nearby forests. Shadows haunt the long corridors of Sfântul Mihail. Slowly, five lonely people begin to lose their minds. You are invited to The Event.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638153679i/57693443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="261" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638153679i/57693443.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div>The Lost Village by Camilla Sten</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense.<br /><br />Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.<br /><br />But there will be no turning back.<br /><br />Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:<br /><br />They are not alone.<br /><br />They’re looking for the truth…<br />But what if it finds them first?<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1650470600i/58438554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="530" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1650470600i/58438554.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div>The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>A genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, which brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us.<br /><br />1978: at her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she's home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.<br /><br />Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.<br /><br />Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.<br /><br />2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.<br /><br />The Children on the Hill takes us on a breathless journey to face the primal fears that lurk within us all.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338298031i/10692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="303" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338298031i/10692.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div>The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>For centuries, the story of Dracula has captured the imagination of readers and storytellers alike. Kostova's breathtaking first novel, ten years in the writing, is an accomplished retelling of this ancient tale. "The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper... As an historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it." With these words, a nameless narrator unfolds a story that began 30 years earlier.<br /><br />Late one night in 1972, as a 16-year-old girl, she discovers a mysterious book and a sheaf of letters in her father's library—a discovery that will have dreadful and far-reaching consequences, and will send her on a journey of mind-boggling danger. While seeking clues to the secrets of her father's past and her mother's puzzling disappearance, she follows a trail from London to Istanbul to Budapest and beyond, and learns that the letters in her possession provide a link to one of the world's darkest and most intoxicating figures. Generation after generation, the legend of Dracula has enticed and eluded both historians and opportunists alike. Now a young girl undertakes the same search that ended in the death and defilement of so many others—in an attempt to save her father from an unspeakable fate.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316834341i/584843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316834341i/584843.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div>The Woman in Black by Susan Hill</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor in London, is summoned to Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, and to sort through her papers before returning to London. It is here that Kipps first sees the woman in black and begins to gain an impression of the mystery surrounding her. From the funeral he travels to Eel Marsh House and sees the woman again; he also hears the terrifying sounds on the marsh.<br /><br />Despite Kipps’s experiences he resolves to spend the night at the house and fulfil his professional duty. It is this night at Eel Marsh House that contains the greatest horror for Kipps. Kipps later discovers the reasons behind the hauntings at Eel Marsh House. The book ends with the woman in black exacting a final, terrible revenge.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607462569i/53152636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="528" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607462569i/53152636.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br /><div>Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.<br /><br />Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.<br /><br />Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.<br /><br />And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-85368407234358848702024-03-08T08:00:00.041+01:002024-03-08T08:00:00.139+01:00Let's Talk Bookish; Favorite Female Protagonists It's Friday and perhaps it's time for new Let's Talk Bookish post courtesy of the book blog <a href="https://booknookbits.home.blog/2024/02/29/lets-talk-bookish-march-2024-topics/" target="_blank">Book Nook Bits</a> and the theme of the week was favourite female protagonists as it's International Women's Day today.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://booknookbitshome.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="800" height="168" src="https://booknookbitshome.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/6.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the further prompts of this week's discussion.</div><i><blockquote>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!</blockquote></i><div>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). </div><div><br /></div><div>If you're into Swedish thrillers/horror, The Lost Village by Camilla Sten is also worth checking out, due to the protagonist named Alice Lindstedt.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-74601439161179717462024-03-06T08:00:00.049+01:002024-03-06T08:00:00.130+01:00Top Five Wednesday; Covers with Dresses It's Wednesday and time for a new Top Five Wednesday courtesy of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22757331-march-2024" target="_blank">Top Five Wednesday</a> on Goodreads and the theme of the week was covers with dresses.<div><br /></div><div>Here's my five picks for the occasion.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394209050i/20821288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394209050i/20821288.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div>Maplecroft by Cherie Priest</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div><i>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....</i><br /> <br />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.<br /> <br />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 and madness.<br /> <br />This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607462569i/53152636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="528" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607462569i/53152636.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br /><div>Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.<br /><br />Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.<br /><br />Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.<br /><br />And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607456567i/51075464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="503" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607456567i/51075464.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><br /><div>Blood Countess by <span class="ContributorLink__name" data-testid="name" style="border-radius: 0.3rem; box-shadow: 0 0 0 0.2rem var(--color-shadow-button-focus); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline !important; flex-basis: auto; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Lana Popović</span></div><div><span class="ContributorLink__name" data-testid="name" style="border-radius: 0.3rem; box-shadow: 0 0 0 0.2rem var(--color-shadow-button-focus); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline !important; flex-basis: auto; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="ContributorLink__name" data-testid="name" style="border-radius: 0.3rem; box-shadow: 0 0 0 0.2rem var(--color-shadow-button-focus); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline !important; flex-basis: auto; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Description from Goodreads</span></div>A YA horror novel based on Countess Elizabeth Baathory, the infamous, real-life inspiration for Countess Dracula.<br /><br />In 17th-century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Bathory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the countess begins to groom Anna as her friend and confidante. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess takes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancee, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583967958i/50261993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="558" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583967958i/50261993.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /><div>Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Powerful shipping magnate Evelyn Perdanu lives a tight, contained life, holding herself at a distance from all who would get close to her. Her family is dead, her country is dying, and when something foul comes to the city of Delphinium, the brittle, perilous existence she's built for herself is strained to breaking.<br /><br />When one of her ships arrives in dock, she counts herself lucky that it made it through the military blockades slowly strangling her city. But one by one, the crew fall ill with a mysterious sickness: an intense light in their eyes and obsessive behavior, followed by a catatonic stupor. Even as Evelyn works to exonerate her company of bringing plague into her besieged capital city, more and more cases develop, and the afflicted all share one singular obsession: her.<br /><br />Panicked and paranoid, she retreats to her estate, which rests on a foundation of secrets: the deaths of her family, the poisons and cures that hasten the dissolution of the remaining upper classes, and a rebel soldier, incapacitated and held hostage in a desperate bid for information. But the afflicted are closing in on her, and bringing the attention of the law with them. Evelyn must unearth her connection to the spreading illness, and fast, before it takes root inside her home and destroys all that she has built.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1659263955i/61793275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="499" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1659263955i/61793275.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Cotton Cleopatra F VIII: The Abbess's Tale by Dominic Selwood<div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>In World War Two, Oxford academic Dr Iana Jenkins discovers an unknown medieval chronicle by the nun Mary of Shaftesbury. Mary confides that she was at Glastonbury Abbey in 1191 when its monks exhumed the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. However, the great abbey's celebrations turn to terror when the mortal remains of Arthur and Guinevere turn out to be not what they seem, and horror reigns. When all else fails, can Wulfrun - a priestess of the Old Religion from the forest - save the abbey from what has been unleashed.GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-28670304529392408892024-03-04T08:00:00.038+01:002024-03-04T08:00:00.146+01:00Mailbox Monday; March 4th 2024 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 <a href="https://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Mailbox Monday</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Here's the books I've recieved lately. Those by Matt Shaw are even signed.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622425676i/56987332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622425676i/56987332.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div>The Haunting of Leigh Harker by Darcy Coates</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>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...<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />A poisonous shadow seeps from the locked door beneath the stairs. The handle rattles through the night and fingernails scratch at the wood. Her home harbours dangerous secrets, and now that Leigh is trapped within its walls, she fears she may never escape.<br /><br />Do you think you're safe?<br /><br />You're wrong.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660825192i/62011920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="494" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660825192i/62011920.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><br /><div>Loch Ness by Matt Shaw</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>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.<br /><br />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 it, on the first day he's in town, a half-chewed-upon body washed up on the muddy banks. The culprit? A creature of unknown origin. Have the scientists missed something? Could the Loch Ness monster be more fact than fiction?<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677873935i/67900803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677873935i/67900803.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><div>The Cabin by Matt Shaw</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>“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.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672667486i/75508982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="486" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672667486i/75508982.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><br /><div>The Cabin 2: Asylum by Matt Shaw</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>The hugely anticipated follow-up to Matt Shaw's best-selling horror story 'The Cabin'.<br /><br />"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."<br /><br />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.GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-3120654453946350692024-03-01T08:00:00.018+01:002024-03-01T08:00:00.250+01:00Book Blogger Hop; Gateway Book It's Friday and perhaps time for another Book Blogger Hop post courtesy of <a href="https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank">Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer</a> and the question of the week was "<i>What was your gateway book—the book that made you want to read more—into reading or into a specific genre?</i>".<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; width: 100%;">
<span style="border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid lightgrey; display: inline-block; margin: 5px; padding: 5px;"><a href="http://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html" rel="_nofollow"> <img height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEbp31-mLgMcvaRX3V01dMxbCAOOpPsLuuFVuj294KIyVwugbnDM8D4M80ypty6CuTR90W92H1Wdn_YoOGghvqi2F4hyphenhyphenngmEjDCJt7ATvVC4GFXFvuI1kQzlZx95AgsC-p_tNmojioTc/w320-h268/BBH+2021.png" style="border: 1px solid gray; height: px; width: px;" width="320" /> <p style="allign: center;">
Book Blogger Hop</p>
</a></span></div>
<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I've loved books and reading for as long as I remember, but a gateway author in terms of horror was Edgar Allan Poe. In my early teens I stumbled across a short story collection of his at a library and I've loved horror ever since.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-71028765868829019002024-02-27T08:00:00.091+01:002024-02-27T08:00:00.137+01:00Top Ten Tuesday; Covers with Things Found in Nature It's Tuesday and perhaps time for another Top Ten Tuesday post courtesy of <a href="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/" target="_blank">That Artsy Reader Girl</a> and the theme of the week was covers/titles with things found in nature. Personally I decided focusing on horror books and covers.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TTT-Transparent-768x308.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="768" height="128" src="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TTT-Transparent-768x308.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>With no further ado, here's my top ten list featuring some spooky tales. Some a bit more frightening than others.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1325805077i/12063443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1325805077i/12063443.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div>The Ritual by Adam Nevill</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn't possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. As the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn't come easy among these ancient trees . . .<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601469052i/55479351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601469052i/55479351.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Homeless, hunted, and desperate to escape a bitter storm, Keira takes refuge in an abandoned groundskeeper's cottage. Her new home is tucked away at the edge of a cemetery, surrounded on all sides by gravestones: some recent, some hundreds of years old, all suffering from neglect.<br /><br />And in the darkness, she can hear the unquiet dead whispering.<br /><br />The cemetery is alive with faint, spectral shapes, led by a woman who died before her time... and Keira, the only person who can see her, has become her new target. Determined to help put the ghost to rest, Keira digs into the spirit's past life with the help of unlikely new friends, and discovers a history of deception, ill-fated love, and murder.<br /><br />But the past is not as simple as it seems, and Keira's time is running out. Tangled in a dangerous web, she has to find a way to free the spirit... even if it means offering her own life in return.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677885189i/70550160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677885189i/70550160.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>Camp Firwood by Boris Bacic</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>If the counselors of Camp Firwood send you into the woods, you're as good as dead.<br /><br />When the rebellious teenager Kevin gets sent to a summer camp by his parents, he initially has no idea what's in store for him. Every two weeks, the camp organizes an event called The Trial. The campers all dread it. They don't want to spend the night in the woods with the Firwood Wraith roaming around. And the more they misbehave, the higher the chances they'll be chosen.<br /><br />By the time Kevin realizes what Camp Firwood really is, he is trapped - and every week, more and more campers go missing.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338015065i/14578407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338015065i/14578407.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div>Penpal by Dathan Auerbach</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel!<br /><br />How much do you remember about your childhood?<br /><br />In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629216006i/58794685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="525" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629216006i/58794685.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><div>The Haunting of Las Lágrimas by W. M. Cleese</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Argentina, winter 1913.<br /><br />Ursula Kelp, a young English gardener, travels to Buenos Aires to take up the role of head gardener at a long-abandoned estate in the Pampas. The current owner wishes to return to the estate with his family and restore the once-famous gardens to their former glory. <br /><br />Travelling deep into the Pampas, the vast grasslands of South America, Ursula arrives to warnings from the locals that the estate is haunted, cursed to bring tragedy to the founding family of Las Lágrimas. And soon Ursula believes that her loneliness is making her imagine things – the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door, the touch of hands on her shoulders when there’s no one there. Most strangely of all, she keeps hearing the frenzied sound of a man chopping down trees in the nearby forest with an axe, when all her staff are in sight. <br /><br />As the strange occurrences intensify – with tragic consequences – Ursula questions if there’s truth in the rumours about the cursed estate. The family’s return is imminent – are they in danger? And the longer Ursula stays at the estate, the more she realises that she too is in mortal danger.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516283472i/33814257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516283472i/33814257.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div>Thin Air by Michelle Paver</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>The Himalayas, 1935. Kangchenjunga. The sacred mountain. Biggest killer of them all. Five Englishmen set out to conquer it. But courage can only take them so far. And the higher they climb, the darker it gets.<br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495336102i/35150361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495336102i/35150361.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>Swamp Monster Massacre by Hunter Shea<br /><br />Description from Goodreads<br />The swamp belongs to them. Humans are only prey. Deep in the overgrown swamps of Florida, where humans rarely dare to enter, lives a race of creatures long thought to be only the stuff of legend. They walk upright but are stronger, taller and more brutal than any man. And when a small boat of tourists, held captive by a fleeing criminal, accidentally kills one of the swamp dwellers’ young, the creatures are filled with a terrifyingly human emotion—a merciless lust for vengeance that will paint the trees red with blood.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574736099i/52880714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="257" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574736099i/52880714.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><div>Boy in the Box by Marc E. Fitch</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Ten years ago a mysterious and tragic hunting accident deep in the Adirondack Mountains left a boy buried in a storied piece of land known as Coombs' Gulch and four friends with a terrible secret. Now, Jonathan Hollis and brothers Michael and Conner Braddick must return to the place that changed their lives forever in order to keep their secret buried. What they don't realize is that they are walking into a trap - one set decades earlier by a supernatural being who is not confined by time or place: a demon that demands a sacrifice.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569726382i/42653319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="523" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569726382i/42653319.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div>Trolls by Stefan Spjut</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>What if our forests are inhabited by beings we do not understand, creatures neither animal nor human, living there in the shadows . . .<br /><br />In Stefan Spjut’s Trolls an uncannily large wolf escapes its captors. A mysterious cult leader breaks out of psychiatric care. A disillusioned woman is forced to end her self-imposed exile.<br /><br />Trolls is a thriller, it is horror fiction, it is suspense. It is storytelling that feeds on fairy tales, myths, and our deepest folklores. Set ten years on from hit novel Shapeshifters, it revisits the far-north world of Susso Myrén, whose life once again risks being turned inside out.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1366276324i/17465323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1366276324i/17465323.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div>The Jack in the Green by Frazer Lee</div><div><br /></div><div>Description from Goodreads</div>A nightmare made real.<br /><br />On Christmas Eve, six year-old Tom McRae witnessed an unspeakable atrocity that left him orphaned, his childhood in tatters. Now in his mid-thirties, Tom still has terrifying nightmares of that night. When Tom is sent to the remote Scottish village of Douglass to negotiate a land grab for his employer it seems like a golden opportunity for him to start over. But Tom can’t help feeling he’s been to Douglass before, and the terrible dreams from his childhood have begun to spill over into his waking life. As murderous events unfold and Tom’s feverish nightmares escalate, he will discover the hideous truth behind the villagers’ strange pagan ritual of The Jack in the Green.GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-45891012171056583262023-09-06T22:14:00.006+02:002023-09-09T14:23:30.486+02:00Review; The Prettiest Girl in the Grave by Kristopher Triana <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672192328i/75361215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="377" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672192328i/75361215.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>I read the horror novel The Prettiest Girl in the Grave by Kristopher Triana earlier this year and today I'll post my review of the book.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>From the author of international horror sensation Gone to See the River Man comes a new tale of terror that will drag you to the darkest corners of the soul.<br /><br />Some girls are fearful, others are brave. One girl’s a princess, the next one, a slave. But all girls are equal, when they’re down in this cave, until just one is left standing—The Prettiest Girl in the Grave.<br /><br />It’s only supposed to be a game.<br /><br />When Bella, Celeste, and Rose meet with new friends at a graveyard in the woods, they soon realize they’re unprepared for what’s planned. At twenty-four, Aubrey is older than the high schoolers, and she knows of a secret game that’s been played by local girls for decades.<br /><br />It starts with personal questions, but quickly moves on to a test of courage as Aubrey guides them into an underground crypt. But even Aubrey doesn’t know what they’re really getting into. Bella’s mother, Holly, may be the only one who does.<br /><br />As a teen, Holly and her friends also played the game, and Holly barely survived. When she discovers her daughter has gone to the graveyard, she fears Bella will get lost in the mysterious catacombs just as she had . . . and face the same sinister forces.<br /><br />As the girls search for a way out, Holly must return to the dreadful crypt she swore she’d never come back to, and finally face her own dark secrets.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>Personally I really enjoyed reading this creepy read, that among other things deals with fitting in (or not), true friendship, mindgames, and the shallowness of beauty. As the girls are so different, it makes the dynamics interesting, and the plot was fast-paced and engaging.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall it was a fun book to read.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-77639206764312263882023-09-06T22:14:00.004+02:002023-09-06T22:14:50.801+02:00Review; Horseman by Christina Henry <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633898711i/59284981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="524" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633898711i/59284981.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>As I've been fascinated by the whole Sleepy Hollow due to a certain <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RsKwn_Je1k">Tim Burton movie</a> from 1999, I couldn't resist reading the retelling Horseman by Christina Henry and today I'll post my review.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>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.<br /><br />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 near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods?<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>Horseman doesn't have the fastest pace, even if there's things happening here and there. I enjoyed Ben and a few of the characters a lot though, especially the relationship between Ben and his grandfather. Another bonus is that Ben is trans, considering it's so few trans characters in horror and/or (dark) fantasy.</div><div><br /></div><div>That said, sometimes a slower pace can be a good thing, if one puts build-up into consideration, and it's an overall enjoyable spooky read.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://37.media.tumblr.com/cd96645d4806436d9adc408e5d793def/tumblr_n5sdhi5avs1s4wbdoo1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="500" height="298" src="https://37.media.tumblr.com/cd96645d4806436d9adc408e5d793def/tumblr_n5sdhi5avs1s4wbdoo1_500.gif" width="500" /></a></div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-3389736946571159522023-09-06T22:14:00.003+02:002023-09-06T22:14:42.807+02:00Review; Cackle by Rachel Harrison<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616026294i/56558878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="268" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616026294i/56558878.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Ages ago, I read the paranormal novel Cackle bt Rachel Harrison, and today I'll post my review of the book.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.<br /><br />Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>For me, Cackle wasn't that scary, but I found it enjoyable nontheless. Annie was a relatable character, Sophie was intriguing, and overall, the characters were well-written and fleshed out. Oh, I can't forget about Ralph. I wouldn't mind having such a friendly spider as a pet.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, it was a charming book with autumnal vibes to it, so it's the perfect read for October in that sense.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-23701644645469148472023-09-06T22:14:00.002+02:002023-09-06T22:14:30.861+02:00Review; Louisiana's Haunted Plantations by Jill Pascoe <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1178890354i/849242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1178890354i/849242.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I decided going a bit Non-Fiction November this month, so today I'll review Louisiana's Haunted Plantations by Jill Pascoe here on this blog.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>New Orleans has been called the most haunted city in America, and with good reason. But there are more ghosts in Louisiana than can be held in one city and the plantations of this state, with their luxurious buildings and centuries old trees, are the ideal resting ground for spectral inhabitants. In some places there are questions about the existence of ghosts. At Louisiana’s plantations the question is how many? In this collection of thirteen chilling tales you will explore the ghosts along the River Road at some of Louisiana’s best known plantations, and also along the back bayous of the state. You will encounter the ghosts of the most haunted house in America, meet ladies in white and black who refuse to leave, learn of spectral children who continue to play, Civil War soldiers trapped where they died, pirates guarding buried treasure and even the ghosts of homes that met a fiery end. These true tales will delight and frighten you during your unique journey through the bayou state. Never before has a collection of ghost stories focused exclusively on the plantations of Louisiana. Every site featured in this book is open to the public either through tours or as a bed and breakfast. In addition to providing enjoyable stories, Louisiana’s Haunted Plantations also serves as a unique guidebook to the plantations of the state complete with contact information for all the sites featured. Jill Pascoe lives and writes in Louisiana. She has worked in other states at several historic homes reputed to be haunted. This work combines her interest in history and love of a good ghost story. This is her first book.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>For me, it was a quick and enjoyable read. Sometimes though, I wish there was a bit more information, such as background/history or whatever, in addition to more photos, but in general, it was worth the read. If nothing else, the book has tempted me even more travelling to Louisiana, checking out some haunted locations.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-2212636255244590872023-09-06T22:14:00.001+02:002023-09-06T22:14:17.489+02:00Review; Life with the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned about Ghosts by Amy Bruni <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1661217325i/60383032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1661217325i/60383032.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>As a fan of Kindres Spirits, I couldn't resist reading the book Life with the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned about Ghosts by Amy Bruni with Julie Tremaine and today I'll post my review.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>Star of Kindred Spirits and paranormal investigator Amy Bruni shares stories from her years of experiences with ghosts, organized around thirteen truths that guide her approach to the supernatural. Amy Bruni, co-star of Kindred Spirits and one of the world's leading paranormal investigators, has learned a lot about ghosts over her years of research and first-hand experience. Now, in Life with the Afterlife , she shares the insight she has gleaned and how it has shaped her unique approach to interacting with the spirits of the dead and those who encounter them. From her earliest supernatural encounters as a child, through her years appearing on Ghost Hunters and the creation of her company Strange Escapes, which offers paranormal excursions to some of America's most notoriously haunted destinations, and into her current work on The Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits , this book is full of astonishing and deeply moving stories of Amy's efforts to better understand the dead but not yet departed. With Amy's bright humor and fierce compassion for both those who are haunted and those who are haunting, Life with the Afterlife is an eye-opening look at what connects us as people, in life and beyond.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>Considering how many episodes I've seen of Kindred Spirits, I almost had Amy's voice in my head reading this book, abeit with fewer F-bombs. Some of the things I really enjoyed in this book, are the fact that even Amy doesn't take everyone and everything at face value - including big names in the paranormal field such as the Warrens, in addition to the fact that she shows that there's more than one way to do things and one can learn a thing or two from other paranormal investigators. I also enjoyed all the references to various Kindred Spirits episodes, obviously.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-41756023369672181032023-09-06T22:14:00.000+02:002023-09-06T22:14:09.267+02:00Review; Haunted Healthcare: Medical Professionals and Patients Share their Encounters with the Paranormal by Richard Estep <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552860286i/44456602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552860286i/44456602.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>Earlier this year, I read Haunted Healthcare: Medical Professionals and Patients Share their Encounters with the Paranormal by Richard Estep and today I'll post my review of the book.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>Many of those who have chosen the medical profession are no stranger to the paranormal. Ghosts walk the hallways of hospitals both old and new, haunting the wards and operating rooms. Join Richard Estep, paramedic, paranormal investigator, and cast members of TV's "Haunted Case Files" and "Haunted Hospitals," as he talks to EMTs, nurses, medical professionals, and patients alike, documenting their most intense and chilling encounters with ghosts and spirits. Dare YOU walk the hallways of some of the world's most haunted medical facilities? Welcome to the world of Haunted Healthcare...<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>Considering how much trauma and death that occours at hospitals, I'm not surprised there's a few paranormal encounters. Haunted Healthcare was a fascinating read about such encounters and the book also doubles down as a love letter to nurses and medical professionals. Some of the stories in the book are spine-chilling, while others were a bit more heartwarming.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you're into the paranormal and/or have an interest in healthcare, it's a book worth the read.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-33498767184734814972023-09-06T22:13:00.001+02:002023-09-06T22:16:22.333+02:00Book Tag; Autumn Activities Book Tag I came across the Autumn Activities Book Tag over at <a href="https://portobellobookblog.com/2022/09/24/autumn-activities-book-tag-autumn-booktag-booktwitter/" target="_blank">Portobello Book Blog</a> and I decided to play along as it looked like a fun tag.<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Apple Picking</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book on your TBR that looks so delicious you can’t wait to take a bite out of it.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568558183l/51551127.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568558183l/51551127.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Long Shadows of October by Kristopher Triana</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Corn Maze</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that’s so much fun to get lost in.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601469052i/55479351.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601469052i/55479351.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Haunted Houses</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that scared you silly.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653417511i/61160832.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653417511i/61160832.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't get scared easily, but The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts is a bit creepy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Pumpkin Patch</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The latest book you picked up (purchased).</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1656386943i/61363389.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1656386943i/61363389.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The House On The Pumpkin Farm by Sarah Shadi</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Scenic Drives</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that is lyrically beautiful.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1425722109i/25090513.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1425722109i/25090513.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Voivod: A Ghost Story by Dominic Selwood</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Pumpkin Carving</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book you didn’t like and wouldn’t mind carving up.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574401125i/48912157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574401125i/48912157.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A Class of Conjuring by Evie Wilde</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Hiking</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that was a highly enjoyable romp.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585662163i/52850401.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585662163i/52850401.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Greyfriar's Reformatory by Frazer Lee</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Drinking Apple Cider</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A sweet book to curl up under the covers with.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338298031i/10692.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="303" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338298031i/10692.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Jumping In A Leaf Pile</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that reminds you of your childhood.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">The entire Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Scary Movie Night</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Your favourite spooky read.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316834341i/584843.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316834341i/584843.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Woman in Black by Susan Hill</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bonus! Costume Party</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book with an eclectic cast of characters.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479342976i/32998129.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479342976i/32998129.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Loch Ness Revenge by Hunter Shea</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-40023103159281925782023-09-06T22:10:00.000+02:002023-09-06T22:10:04.879+02:00Review; The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646277985i/60539819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="224" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646277985i/60539819.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>I can admit that I binge read the three first books in the Gravekeeper series by Darcy Coates, so today I'll post my review of The Twisted Dead.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>Keira is ready for her life to return to normal. Though, to be fair, normal is a tall ask when your ability to see ghosts has landed you the job of groundskeeper in a small town’s cemetery.<br /><br />When Keira receives an invitation to dinner at Dane Crispin’s crumbling ancestral estate, she knows she can’t refuse. The last living descendant of the Crispin family is reclusive. Keira only met him once…on the night he tried to kill her.<br /><br />The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody. Keira senses the presence of restless spirits the moment she steps through its door. And Dane, waiting for her inside, wants to ask for her help.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>The Gravekeeper series is still an engaging series and I love the dynamics between Keira and her friends. There's some more clues to Keira's past in The Twisted Dead, but I'm not going to spoil what the clues are in any way.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, if you're interested in reading an engaging and fast-paced series, feel free to pick up the Gravekeeper series by Darcy Coates.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-76410219018475929402023-09-06T22:09:00.002+02:002023-09-06T22:09:53.311+02:00Review; Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1661641607i/35758494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1661641607i/35758494.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>A little while ago I read the horror novel Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell and today I'll post my review of the book.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>A romantic cabin getaway doesn’t go exactly as planned. High up on the windswept cliffs of Pale Peak, Faye and Felix celebrate their new engagement. But soon, a chorus of ghastly noises erupts from the nearby the screams of animals, the cries of children, and the mad babble of a hundred mournful voices. A dark figure looms near the windows in the dead of night, whispering to Faye. As the weather turns deadly, Felix discovers that his terrified fiancée isn’t just mumbling in her sleep – she’s whispering back. Originally a contest-winning story on reddit.com’s horror community NoSleep , Stolen Tongues has received widespread acclaim and is now being adapted into a feature film.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>Stolen Tongues certainly has the creep factor and I loved the atmosphere in the book. Don't get me wrong, even though I love splatterpunk (blood, guts, and gore), it's those horror novels with a creepy atmosphere I truly enjoy and this one has it. Although a little bit repetitive at times, it builds up the tension and Stolen Tongues overall a book worth the read.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not quite sure if it's a bright idea reading it in an isolated cabin though. Just so you're warned.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-19760160680177939842023-09-06T22:09:00.001+02:002023-09-06T22:09:42.054+02:00Review; The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcy Coates <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473685978i/28870482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473685978i/28870482.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>As I've got a weak spot for the haunted house trope in horror fiction, I ended up reading The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcy Coates and today I'll post my review.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>How long could you survive?<br /><br />As the daughter of spiritualists, Mara's childhood was filled with séances and scam mediums. Now she's ready to start over with her fiancé, Neil, far away from the superstitions she's learned to loathe...but her past isn't willing to let her go so easily.<br /><br />And neither is Blackwood House.<br /><br />When Mara and Neil purchased the derelict property, they were warned that ever since the murder of its original owner, things have changed. Strange shadows stalk the halls. Doors creak open by themselves. Voices whisper in the night. And watchful eyes follow her every move. But Mara's convinced she can't possibly be in danger.<br /><br />Because ghosts aren't real...are they?<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div><div>The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcy Coates is one of those novels that's suitable for a rainy day with a lit fireplace and you want to curl up with a typical haunted house horror. It has the classical haunted house story-vibe to it, it's paced nicely and I enjoyed the build-up in the plot. I also actually liked Mara for being a skeptic and a bit pig-headed when it comes to all thing paranormal, even if I wanted to smack her on the head a couple of times.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, The Haunting of Blackwood House was a fun book to read.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-54168950915817115912023-09-06T22:09:00.000+02:002023-09-06T22:09:33.183+02:00Book Tag; The Autumn Book Tag As it's finally September and thus an autumn month, I figured out it was time I played along on The Autumn Book Tag I came across over at <a href="https://portobellobookblog.com/2019/09/25/autumn-booktag/" target="_blank">Portobello Book Blog</a>.<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What is your favourite thing about autumn?</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">As I love all things autumn, I struggle to pick just one thing, but a few highlights include the beautiful foliage, the crisp air, curling up under a blanket, making use of my woodburning stove, and read spooky books.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>September brings back school memories. Which book reminds you of your school days? What were your favourite and least favourite subjects?</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328867798i/125553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328867798i/125553.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I can't deny the Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine reminds me of my school days, as it was in part that series that got me into horror in the first place. In school, while I somewhat enjoyed Norwegian, English, and history as subjects, I have no issues admitting I had a dislike for math. Needless to say there's reasons why I did a history minor and English major at university, and not studied STEM.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What cover reminds you of autumn?</b></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672192328i/75361215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="377" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672192328i/75361215.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Prettiest Girl in the Grave by Kristopher Triana certainly reminds me of autumn and Halloween.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>October brings Halloween. What is your favourite horror or Halloween book? What’s your fave horror/Halloween film?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">When it comes to horror novels, one can't go wrong with the classic The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. In regards of movies, this one may not be too scary, but Bram Stoker's Dracula directed by Francis Coppola is a good one.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>With November it’s time for bonfire night & firework displays. What’s the most exciting book you’ve read that really kept you gripped?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">I've read plenty of books that kept me gripped, but I want to recommend the Gravekeeper series by Darcy Coates, which I read this year and it certainly kept me on edge.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What book is your favourite cosy comfort read?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">I really enjoyed reading The Vampire Knitting Club series by Nancy Warren. Vampires and witches who knit and solve murder mysteries? A nice combination in my opinion.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Curled up with a good book, what is your hot drink of choice?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's usually tea, as I for the most part read in the evening.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What plans are you looking forward to over the next few months?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">A major plan is visiting London, UK, in late November with one of my Welsh cousins I haven't seen in over 20 years, so that's going to be fun I think. If anyone has any recommendations on fun hidden gems to check out, feel free to let me know, as I've visited London so many times over the years, that I'm a bit tired of the tourist traps there.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What Autumn book release are you most anticipating?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not sure really, as there's lots of interesting books that's getting released.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What Autumn movie release are you most looking forward to?</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Honestly? None, as I rarely watch movies these days.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-59006987145953134362023-09-06T21:28:00.000+02:002023-09-06T21:28:13.632+02:00Review; The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658116107i/35652872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658116107i/35652872.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>As Darcy Coates has written plenty of haunted house horror novels, I ended up reading The Haunting of Rookward House and today I'll post my review.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>She's always watching...<br />When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?<br /><br />The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week.<br /><br />But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem…<br /><br />A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous… and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>Although The Haunting of Rookward House is an atmospheric and creepy read, I felt it was one of the weaker books I've read by Darcy Coates. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but compared to the others I've read, it's not as good. I also wish there were a bit more about the 1960's story in this book. That said, it's still a fairly good read though, with the mentioned creepy atmosphere.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-60021028418591189122023-09-05T08:00:00.069+02:002023-09-05T09:36:11.338+02:00Top Ten Tuesday; Horror Books That Defied My Expectations<div style="text-align: center;">It's Tuesday and perhaps time for another Top Ten Tuesday post courtesy of <a href="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/" target="_blank">That Artsy Reader Girl</a> and the theme of the week was books that defied my expectations.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TTT-Transparent-768x308.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="768" height="128" src="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TTT-Transparent-768x308.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">As I'm focusing on horror and paranormal books, here's my ten picks that defied my expectations in a good way.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584575595i/52491066.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584575595i/52491066.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Misfits by Hunter Shea</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>During the height of the 90s grunge era, five high school friends living on the fringe are driven to the breaking point. When one of their friends is brutally raped by a drunk townie, they decide to take matters into their own hands.<br /><br />Deep in the woods of Milbury, Connecticut, there lives the legend of the Melon Heads, a race of creatures that shun human interaction and prey on those who dare to wander down Dracula Drive. Maybe this night, one band of misfits can help the other. Or maybe some legends are meant to be feared for a reason.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629216006i/58794685.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="525" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629216006i/58794685.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Haunting of Las Lágrimas by W. M. Cleese</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Argentina, winter 1913.<br /><br />Ursula Kelp, a young English gardener, travels to Buenos Aires to take up the role of head gardener at a long-abandoned estate in the Pampas. The current owner wishes to return to the estate with his family and restore the once-famous gardens to their former glory. <br /><br />Travelling deep into the Pampas, the vast grasslands of South America, Ursula arrives to warnings from the locals that the estate is haunted, cursed to bring tragedy to the founding family of Las Lágrimas. And soon Ursula believes that her loneliness is making her imagine things – the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door, the touch of hands on her shoulders when there’s no one there. Most strangely of all, she keeps hearing the frenzied sound of a man chopping down trees in the nearby forest with an axe, when all her staff are in sight. <br /><br />As the strange occurrences intensify – with tragic consequences – Ursula questions if there’s truth in the rumours about the cursed estate. The family’s return is imminent – are they in danger? And the longer Ursula stays at the estate, the more she realises that she too is in mortal danger.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653417511i/61160832.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653417511i/61160832.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>This psychological thriller follows a family to their Appalachian farmhouse, where they encounter an unimaginable horror.<br /><br />In the summer of 1994, psychologist Daniel Hill buys a rustic farmhouse nestled in the rolling hills of West Virginia.<br /><br />Along with his wife and teenage daughter, the family uproots their lives in Ohio and moves south. They are initially seduced by the natural beauty of the country setting. That soon changes when they discover a hidden room in the basement with a well, boarded shut and adorned with crucifixes.<br /><br />Local legends about the previous owner being an exorcist come to light, but by then, all Hell has broken loose.<br /><br />This 1990s horror novel is perfect for fans of family thriller books, stories of demonic possession, exorcism fiction, the occult, or thrillers like The Exorcist, A Head Full of Ghosts, and The Amityville Horror.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646772422i/60543883.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646772422i/60543883.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Cursed Among Us by John Durgin</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>It has been twenty years since the serial killer known as The Black Heart Killer terrorized the town of Newport in 1979. Life mostly returned to normal after the killer was captured. All the townspeople have to do is stay out of the woods where the bodies were abandoned—their chests ripped open, and their hearts torn out...<br /><br />Howie Burke and his friends decide rules are meant to be broken. That’s what fifteen-year-old kids do. On a beautiful fall day, they decide to go out in the woods to film a horror movie when they stumble across a mysterious grave. What they don’t know is that they are about to release an evil on the town unlike anything in their home-made movies. They will soon uncover the secrets of the Black Heart Killer, and what it truly means to be cursed.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1656517170i/60430364.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="531" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1656517170i/60430364.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sallow Bend by Alan Baxter</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Something old and deadly has awoken.<br /><br />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.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581134296i/51064319.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581134296i/51064319.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Midwives by Duncan Ralston</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>A killer on the loose. A writer on the run. A town plagued by an ancient evil.<br /><br />On tour with his latest book, true crime writer Martin Savage discovers one of his most-dangerous subjects has escaped. The so-called "Witch Hunter," a delusional murderer of women and their unborn children, holds a deadly grudge. He'll stop at nothing to get his revenge, and destroy everything Martin cares about.<br /><br />With nowhere to run, Martin and forensic psychologist Sheila Tanner flee to the town he left when he was a boy, after his mother was locked away in a psychiatric facility. A town hidden deep in his past, where no one would think to look for them.<br /><br />But things are not what they seem in Barrows Bay. The idyllic island holds terrible secrets. An ancient evil lived here long before the first Irish settlers crashed upon its shores in a coffin ship. An evil wearing the innocent faces of elderly midwives who've delivered every child in the Bay for two hundred and fifty years.<br /><br />Martin and Sheila think they’re safe in his childhood home. But Martin’s mother has plans for them. Plans that require sacrifice.<br /><br />And sacrifice requires blood.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585662163i/52850401.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585662163i/52850401.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Greyfriars Reformatory by Frazer Lee</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>Nineteen year-old Emily's acute dissociative disorder causes her to be institutionalised - again - at Greyfriars Reformatory For Girls. Caught in the crossfire between brutal Principal Quick and cruel bully Saffron Chassay, Emily befriends fellow outcast Victoria. When the terrifying apparition of the mysterious 'Grey Girl' begins scaring the inmates to death, Emily's disorder may be the one thing that can save her.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609724667i/56543804.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609724667i/56543804.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Thirteenth Koyote by Kristopher Triana</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>An evil has returned to the town of Hope’s Hill.<br /><br />When a grave robber unearths the corpse of Jasper Thurston, a piece of the body is stolen, one that will call the Koyotes from across the plains. They are a vicious company of outlaws, part madmen and part wolves. Their leader is Glenn the Dreadful, and he’s out to gather the power of the Menhir, a particle from an ancient evil.<br /><br />The fate of Hope’s Hill—and perhaps the world—rests in the hands of unlikely heroes. A rugged U.S. Marshall, a teenage girl out for revenge, an emancipated slave, a nun with a dark secret, and a mysterious half-breed with the number thirteen tattooed on his neck.<br /><br />The Thirteenth KoyoteGone to See the River Man and Full Brutal. Filled with gunfights as well as ghouls, it is a horror epic as big as the open range.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638153679i/57693443.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="261" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638153679i/57693443.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Lost Village by Camilla Sten</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense.<br /><br />Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.<br /><br />But there will be no turning back.<br /><br />Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:<br /><br />They are not alone.<br /><br />They’re looking for the truth…<br />But what if it finds them first?<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677885189i/70550160.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677885189i/70550160.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Camp Firwood by Boris Bacic</div><br /><div>Description from Goodreads</div>If the counselors of Camp Firwood send you into the woods, you're as good as dead.<br /><br />When the rebellious teenager Kevin gets sent to a summer camp by his parents, he initially has no idea what's in store for him. Every two weeks, the camp organizes an event called The Trial. The campers all dread it. They don't want to spend the night in the woods with the Firwood Wraith roaming around. And the more they misbehave, the higher the chances they'll be chosen.<br /><br />By the time Kevin realizes what Camp Firwood really is, he is trapped - and every week, more and more campers go missing.GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-58301186410404537082023-09-03T08:00:00.023+02:002023-09-03T08:00:00.138+02:00Review; The Ravenous Dead by Darcy Coates <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1619844318i/57906990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1619844318i/57906990.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>As soon as I finished the first book in the Gravekeeper series by Darcy Coates, I had to read The Ravenous Dead too and today I'll post my review.<div><br /></div><div><u>Description from Goodreads</u></div>He'll never let go...<br /><br />Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard’s new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They’ve been desperately waiting for help moving on—and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved.<br /><br />Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace.<br /><br />As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard’s oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He’s furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim.<div><br /></div><div><u>My Thoughts on the Book</u></div><div>The Ravenous Dead was an enjoyable read as The Whispering Dead, especially as Keira's friendships with Adage, Mason and Zoe grows. I also like the small hints and such about something bigger like a bigger plot line and/or stuff from Keira's past before her memory loss.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-26058466320039461942023-09-02T08:00:00.022+02:002023-09-02T08:00:00.149+02:00Monthly Recap; August 2023<div>August is officially over by now, so it's perhaps time to take stock of what spooky books I managed to read, as well as my book haul. August wasn't my most productive month reading-wise, but at least I managed to read a little bit.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS23moI6h2xDjbmzQfw0z7LfkgyaRLyAE_mng&usqp=CAU" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS23moI6h2xDjbmzQfw0z7LfkgyaRLyAE_mng&usqp=CAU" width="275" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> Books I've Read<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Prettiest Girl in the Grave by Kristopher Triana</li><li>The House on The Pumpkin Farm by Sarah Shadi</li><li>The Haunted Bookstore by Shinobumaru</li></ul></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Book Haul</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The House on the Pumpkin Farm by Sarah Shadi</li><li>The Long Shadows of October by Kristopher Triana</li></ul></div></div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-83587685368700523872023-08-31T08:00:00.071+02:002023-08-31T08:00:00.129+02:00Book Tag; TBR Book Tag I came across the TBR Book Tag over at <a href="https://feedthecrime.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/tag-tuesday-tbr-book-tag/" target="_blank">Feed the Crime</a> and I decided to play along as it looked like a fun book tag.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media0.giphy.com/media/S9oMkLr1KDyfe/giphy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://media0.giphy.com/media/S9oMkLr1KDyfe/giphy.gif" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>How do you keep track of your TBR list?</b></div></b><div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't have a proper list, but I've got my TBR books seperated from the books I've read.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?</b></div></b></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">As I don't have an e-reader, my entire TBR is print.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?</b></div></b></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">It's mainly based on my mood and whatever strikes my fancy at that point.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that has been on your TBR the longest.</b></div></b></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm honestly not quite sure, but Red Dragon by Thomas Harris has been on my TBR for a while.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book that you recently added to your TBR.</b></div></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Long Shadows of October by Kristopher Triana.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book on your TBR list strictly because of it’s beautiful cover.</b></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394209050i/20821288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394209050i/20821288.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Maplecroft by Cherie Priest</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book on your TBR that you never plan on actually reading.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Let us just say that I've at the very least wary of reading Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler as I'm terrified of getting into his thought process.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Reformatory by Tananarive Due</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book on your TBR everyone has read but you.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hell House by Richard Matheson</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book on your TBR everyone recommends to you.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ghostland by Duncan Ralston</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A book on your TBR you’re very excited to read.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Brother by Ania Ahlborn</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The number of books on your Goodreads TBR shelf.</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">For me, my Goodreads TBR shelf functions more as a wishlist more than anything, but my physical TBR shelves in my living room contains over 500 books, so I'm not going to run out of reading material anytime soon.</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030737076139514460.post-6193403134892553472023-08-29T08:00:00.038+02:002023-08-29T08:00:00.140+02:00Top Ten Tuesday; Horror Books Where Water Somehow Plays A Role<div style="text-align: center;">It's Tuesday and perhaps time for another Top Ten Tuesday post courtesy of <a href="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/" target="_blank">That Artsy Reader Girl</a>. The theme of the week was water, so I decided narrowing it down to horror books whree water somehow plays a role.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TTT-Transparent-768x308.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="768" height="128" src="https://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TTT-Transparent-768x308.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's my ten spooky picks.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673058088i/75624063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="511" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673058088i/75624063.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Inside the Devil's Nest by John Durgin</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547499886i/43564604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547499886i/43564604.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Resort by Bryce Gibson</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525161544i/40013564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525161544i/40013564.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Blood Cruise by Mats Strandberg</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479342976i/32998129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479342976i/32998129.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Loch Ness Revenge by Hunter Shea</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580770961i/46158592.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="520" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580770961i/46158592.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Deep by Alma Katsu</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1427908379i/25263927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1427908379i/25263927.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498344328i/35510328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498344328i/35510328.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Harkworth Hall by L. S. Johnson</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549254530i/43229540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549254530i/43229540.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495336102i/35150361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495336102i/35150361.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Swamp Monster Massacre by Hunter Shea</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496768542i/35342740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496768542i/35342740.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Well by Marie Sexton</div>GothicVampersteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604247865892167628noreply@blogger.com5