The House of Last Resort

Becchina, a small Italian town, is dying. Its youth move to the cities as fast as they can. Its elders are dying of old age. To counter this trend, the town’s mayor is selling abandoned villas for only a single euro. It is a deal that Kate cannot pass up.Continue Reading

Hemlock Island

Hemlock Island begins with an intriguing, but not very original, premise. Laney has recently divorced her husband, Kit. She refused alimony but agreed to keep the remote private island where they lived. Unfortunately, she cannot maintain such an elaborate estate on her teacher’s salary. She has been renting out theContinue Reading

Looking Glass Sound

Looking Glass Sound is a chameleon of a book. It begins as a coming-of-age tale set in a creepy, almost gothic setting. There is, of course, a serial killer and a child peeper loose that may or may not be the same person. It also has a literary fiction styleContinue Reading

Maeve Fly

Maeve Fly is the type of character that quickly divides readers into lovers and haters. Beware what is lurking behind a theme park princess’ facade! Maeve plays a Southern California theme park princess during the day. But at night she lets her freak flag fly in the clubs of LosContinue Reading

The Marigold

Is it a horror novel? A social commentary? A new, or revamped older, mythology? An eco-novel (if there is such a thing)? Who knows but The Marigold is definitely a different type of genre mashup! The real question is whether you will enjoy reading it. The novel is set inContinue Reading

The Drift

Three groups of people are trapped on a stopped sky cable car, an overturned chartered bus, and at a rural resort working on a secret science project. While the snowstorm is not helping, the raging pandemic making huge swaths of the population both epically contagions and into modern zombies isContinue Reading

A Sliver of Darkness

The author of the great horror mystery book, The Chalk Man, writes eleven short stories showing us A Sliver of Darkness. The tales were mostly written during the recent Covid pandemic and so are apocalyptic in nature. However, many also speak to the resilience of mankind. I usually don’t likeContinue Reading

Sacred Lamb

Sacred Lamb is a place where serial killer survivors are placed by witness protection. If a gang of undead serial killers is looking for a challenge, I’m thinking this town is the perfect location for their next party. I’m not sure if this graphic novel is an homage to myContinue Reading

Black Paradox

Four oddballs meet on a website called Black Paradox to plan for their mass suicide. When that doesn’t work out for them, the comedic horror turns into a bat poop crazy science fiction plot. It’s definitely not a boring twist, but not entirely comprehensible either. I think Black Paradox wouldContinue Reading

Little Eve

Little Eve is both truly terrifying and totally believable as well as being creepy af. It’s the perfect way to get into the Halloween mood regardless of the month you are reading it. In these modern times, it is hard to believe in vampires or other traditional horror tropes. CatrionaContinue Reading

Leech

In the cold windswept North, a doctor has come to replace a fallen comrade. But the doctor is not alone. She is hosting a Leech, an organism living in a multitude of physicians simultaneously in this eerie future world. The organism was also within the fallen doctor. But it cannotContinue Reading

Wait Till Helen Comes

In Wait Till Helen Comes, Michael and Molly are siblings who have a troubled younger stepsister named Heather. When their blended family moves to the country, Heather appears to have found an imaginary friend, Helen. Molly thinks Helen is a malignant ghost bent on killing children. But, Michael, their momContinue Reading