Why do people like this book? Am I missing something? I get it. Bad writing and an improbable plot that could also operate as a pasta strainer have united like a defective pair of power twins before to create cult successes (I’m looking at you Sharknado). And really, there is a whole genre of bad horror films…but does it work with books, too? I’m not a horror book reader, so I’m sincerely asking. Why do people think this book is so scary? Creepy kids? Scary. […]
We don’t need no water
I need to preface this by saying outright: I wasn’t disappointed by this book. But damn, if you’re looking for escapism from the current political climate (which I kind of was) this is not the story to read right now. Our hero Harper is our guide through the dawn of the probable extinction of man. A virus called dragonscale is causing people to spontaneously combust. A former school nurse volunteering at a hospital when skilled professionals become scarce, she makes an ally of the titular […]
“…do something to a cadaver, it will do something back to you.”
I have yet to be disappointed by a recommendation from the NPR best books concierge, and Three Moments of an Explosion may be my favorite so far. A collection of sometimes sci-fi, sometimes fantasy, sometimes horror short stories, Three Moments starts with a base of a very realistic world, and adds in each of its stories an element of something beyond, something more magical or sinister. The stories in the collection typically start with or are based in a real object, or a regular person, that has become corrupted […]
Stephen King – even his average efforts are still pretty good
According to Goodreads, I’ve read 33 of Stephen King’s books – since getting bitten by the bug through some of his best a few years back, I’ve been slowly working my way through the rest of them. Rose Madder isn’t one of his best, nor is it one of his worst. Instead it’s a decent book, albeit with a harrowing subject matter, that would have been a lot better had it been missing its supernatural elements. Rosie Daniels has spent fourteen years in an abusive […]
Old-School Horror for Kids
When I was a kid, my dad and I read books together. It’s a bittersweet memory, since we’ve been estranged for most of my adult life. My favorite author then was John Bellairs, who wrote Gothic horror set during the era of his own childhood in the 1950s. The early editions had covers and sometimes illustrations by Edward Gorey, and between Bellairs and Gorey, I grew up with a lifelong love of the macabre. This weekend, I had to do an assignment for my editing […]
Maybe don’t read this one alone in the dark?
So our leading lady, Leonora is out of the blue invited to an old friend’s bachelorette party. Only we’re in England, so it’s called a hen party. Or a hen do? Something henny. Anyway, she hasn’t talked to Clare (the hen / bride) in nearly a decade. She’s not really sure why she’s invited, but she asks another friend to go too (she’s also invited). The house they end up at is in the woods, and kinda creepy. Leonora is called Lee, Nora, and Leo, […]
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