Synopsis: If drinking mercury from a thermometer didn’t kill him, maybe spray painting in an unventilated garage would. Or so Nolan’s father thought. One inspired yet failed suicide attempt after another, each with a note to his son—with only a hint of accusation. But as Nolan sits in an empty office building, the last customer […]
Grief
Review: Kill Your Darling by Clay Mcleod Chapman
Synopsis: The body of Glenn Partridge’s 15-year-old son was discovered in a vacant lot nearly forty years ago. The police are still no closer to finding the murderer decades later. Glenn refuses to let the memory of his son fade—or let anyone else within this small working-class community forget. His long-suffering wife signs him up […]
Review: Gone to the Dogs by Mark Towse
Synopsis A Northern Town in England. It smells, prospects are grim, and the sun never shines. Each day blends into the next, and residents have settled into a resentful acceptance, assuming things cannot get any worse. So when the sky starts raining blood and a sinkhole appears in the middle of the main road, spitting […]
Review: At Dark I Become Loathsome by Eric Larocca
Synopsis: “If you’re reading this, you’ve likely thought that the world would be a better place without you.” A single line of text, glowing in the darkness of the internet. Written by Ashley Lutin, who has often thought the same–and worse–in the years since his wife died and his young son disappeared. But the peace […]
Review: Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror Edited by Xueting Christine Ni
Synopsis An anthology of chilling tales from contemporary China, translated into English for the very first time. An anthology of unsettling tales from contemporary China, translated into English for the very first time. Fourteen dazzling horror stories delve deep into the psyche of modern China in this new anthology curated by acclaimed writer and essayist […]
Review: And He Shall Appear by Kate Van Der Borgh
And He Shall Appear is very much a spec-fic character and psychology study, with few and unexpected answers, beautiful if at times self-indulgent prose (which fits perfectly in context) and very lyrical narration carried out by an unreliable and (very cleverly) unnamed narrator.
Review: House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
Synopsis In this “stunningly visceral” (New York Times Book Review) novel, a group of young men seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered in a Puerto Rican slum; STAND BY ME with a haunted, obsidian-dark heart. For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo, death has always been close. Hurricanes. Car accidents. Gang […]
Review: Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman
Synopsis: Erin hasn’t been able to set a single boundary with her charismatic but reckless college ex-boyfriend, Silas. When he asks her to bail him out of rehab—again—she knows she needs to cut him off. But days after he gets out, Silas turns up dead of an overdose in their hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and […]
Review: All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper
Synopsis: What really happened to Cabrina Brite? Ivory’s life changes irrevocably when she discovers the body of Cabrina Brite on the sands of Cape Morning, along with a mysterious poem. How did she die, and why does it seem she was trying to swim to Ghost Cat Island, the center of so many local mysteries? […]
Review: Stay On The Line by Clay McLeod Chapman, with Illustrations by Trevor Henderson
Synopsis: After a small coastal town is devastated by a hurricane, the survivors gravitate toward a long out-of-service payphone in hopes of talking out their grief and saying goodbye to loved ones, only for it to begin ringing on its own. As more townspeople answer the call, friends and family believed to have been lost […]
Review: 8114 by Joshua Hull
Synopsis: 8114 is a terrifying horror novel investigating the mysterious death of a high school friend through an embattled podcast and hallucinatory hauntings at the abandoned house of his childhood. After returning to his hometown, Paul, the beleaguered host of a small-time podcast, discovers a longtime friend committed suicide in the dilapidated ruins of Paul’s […]
Review: The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
Synopsis This genre-defying, Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker award-winning thriller follows a father desperate to salvage what’s left of his family—even if it means a descent into violence. Buried in debt due to his young daughter’s illness, his marriage at the brink, Mario reluctantly takes a job as a hitman, surprising himself with his proclivity for violence. […]