Synopsis When a transphobic woman bombs Frankie’s workplace, she blows up Frankie’s life with it. As the media descends like vultures, Frankie tries to cope with the carnage: binge-drinking, sleeping with strangers, pushing away her friends. Then, she meets Vanya. Mysterious, beautiful, terrifying Vanya. The two hit it off immediately, but as their relationship intensifies, […]
Occult
Review: Mister Magic by Kiersten White
Summary Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent […]
Review: Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds
Summary Heart-Shaped Box meets The Haunting of Hill House in Schrader’s Chord , Scott Leeds’s chilling debut about cursed vinyl records that open a gateway to the land of the dead. I told you they were real. After his estranged father’s mysterious death, Charlie Remick returns to Seattle to help with the funeral. There, he […]
Review: Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Synopsis Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood. Then Tristán […]
Guest Review: Mosaic by Catherine McCarthy
Synopsis SOMETHING WICKED WAITS. When Robin Griffiths embarks upon the restoration of a stained-glass window in a thirteenth-century church, little does she comprehend the stakes involved. The more slivers of glass she pieces together, the more she realizes things are not what they appear to be in the seemingly cozy hamlet of Bilbury. Piece by […]
Review: Whisperwood by Alex Woodroe
If you go down to the woods today… you’re in for a fairly terminal surprise Synopsis When curious nomad Anna hears about Whisperwood, a town that’s not on any maps, that nobody goes to, and nobody comes from, she sees an opportunity to hide from her violent witch-hunting ex. But not everything is peaceful in […]
Review: Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert
Our Crooked Hearts is a double tale of mother and daughter coming into magic and its consequences, when they were each 16-17 years old. The mother’s half of the story is told in flashbacks so as to create parallelisms with her daughter’s present storyline, cleverly woven in such a way that what happened in the past is slowly revealed to optimally fit and complement what is happening in the present.
Review: Equinox by David Towsey
Towsey has created a deeply atmospheric and captivating book that brought together the aging inspector Adamat from McClellan’s Powdermage trilogy, the ambience and eerie feel of the tv series The Alienist, as well as that near constant sense of the uncanny present throughout Neil Gaiman’s the Sandman comics. Talk about a right mix huh?
Review: Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
I have had a copy of Summer Sons in my possession for quite some time, but I was waiting until spooky season to read it. I wanted to ensure I had a few reads ready that would really put me in the mood. All in, from the cover to the story and writing, Summer Sons definitely fits the bill.
Review & Interview – Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
Slewfoot is an intriguing horror story that is both extremely unsettling and utterly satisfying. It is both a tale of finding oneself and pure, unadulterated vengeance. It is both exactly and not even close to what I was expecting upon completion, and I thoroughly enjoyed my gateway drug to Brom’s library.
Review: The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater
The Liar of Red Valley is listed as an “occult fiction” book and “magical realism”. I guess that makes sense, because it probably falls short of horror, even though there is a lot of creepiness. I really enjoyed it, and I have no problem saying it is an early entry into spooky season.
