”People who’ve been hurt often think they have some sort of right to go around hurting other people. They think trauma is a toy to keep handing down f”People who’ve been hurt often think they have some sort of right to go around hurting other people. They think trauma is a toy to keep handing down forever. But the fact that someone hurt you and tied you up in knots, doesn’t give you the right to do it to anybody else.”
I CRIED. New favorite in the series I think, but definitely not one of the more "stand alone" ones. I love where this series is going, love the way we're getting to see new worlds that have so much depth and life to them, LOVED learning about Seraphina's world and hope we get to see it as well as the Trenches explored more in future books. We definitely haven't visited water-related worlds enough!
Loved the lessons & bits about trauma here, in terms of both surviving & inflicting it. I feel like there was some foreshadowing here about stuff going on at Eleanor's school, so I'm wondering where that's going to go, but overall loved how this wrapped up so much!!
I loved this so, so much - wow! This is a retelling of an old Edgar Allan Poe story, but the old story leaves so much up to the imagination that I've I loved this so, so much - wow! This is a retelling of an old Edgar Allan Poe story, but the old story leaves so much up to the imagination that I've never found the reading of it to be a satisfying experience. Where that one lacked in explanation, this one more than makes up for it, and I think this is probably one of my favorite retellings of all time - it's just so good!
My favorite things from the classic are all here - the creepy house, the weird siblings, the mushrooms! And then there's just so much more here, more depth, more explaining, more reasons for why things are what they are. While explaining can sometimes take away the mystery or horror of a thing, this didn't for me - it just made me like it more!
The way the movements in this are described made me wish so badly for it to get an on screen adaptation - I think it'd be so creepy and unsettling to watch!
Merged review:
I loved this so, so much - wow! This is a retelling of an old Edgar Allan Poe story, but the old story leaves so much up to the imagination that I've never found the reading of it to be a satisfying experience. Where that one lacked in explanation, this one more than makes up for it, and I think this is probably one of my favorite retellings of all time - it's just so good!
My favorite things from the classic are all here - the creepy house, the weird siblings, the mushrooms! And then there's just so much more here, more depth, more explaining, more reasons for why things are what they are. While explaining can sometimes take away the mystery or horror of a thing, this didn't for me - it just made me like it more!
The way the movements in this are described made me wish so badly for it to get an on screen adaptation - I think it'd be so creepy and unsettling to watch!...more
my first 5 star book of the year!!! also this made me cry like 4x, despite how short it is. this is cozy and sweet, and i think it's really great espemy first 5 star book of the year!!! also this made me cry like 4x, despite how short it is. this is cozy and sweet, and i think it's really great especially for anyone who maybe feels a little lost in their lives, or like they're lacking in a specific direction. very much looking forward to the next book in this little series!...more
Loved this, it was weird and sad and funny and silly and horrifying - lots of things I've come to expect from Danger Slater's books after reading a feLoved this, it was weird and sad and funny and silly and horrifying - lots of things I've come to expect from Danger Slater's books after reading a few of his most recent releases.
The tone in this is a little difficult to describe - it's like a super unique blend that's part "melancholic philosopher" but also a little "burnt out circus clown" -- it's deep and meaningful at times, but crass and silly at others. I love this combination, although I think it might not be for everyone - still, even if the style isn't your 'cup of tea', the writing ability is solid & impossible to ignore.
If you're going into this expecting any real science, adjust your expectations - you won't find it here. A lot of the stuff in this is completely made up, which was fun 'cause it keeps the story feeling surreal and wacky; it's difficult to get your footing in a story where you don't know what the fuck is actually going on because it's all made up, and I think the lack of grounding worked especially well considering the themes of isolation and belonging.
Overall, loved this & would highly rec it or anything else by Danger Slater. His writing is unlike anything else being published right now, and I want more of it....more
I liked most of this, but there were bits that I feel were just in there for the sake of shock value. I didn't feel any sort of emotional connection tI liked most of this, but there were bits that I feel were just in there for the sake of shock value. I didn't feel any sort of emotional connection to (or between) any of the characters, but I do like the way LaRocca writes -- the vibes are immaculate, the plot not so much.
THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! I love classic horror slasher films, and this book had such similar vibes that it's a near crime for it to not have already beenTHIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! I love classic horror slasher films, and this book had such similar vibes that it's a near crime for it to not have already been adapted to the screen.
There are fun characters to both love and hate, things that'll stick with you for ages after reading (I kept craving the gum and M&Ms!), and a twist - which I looove in my horror.
This was my first book by Jessica Guess, but I'm looking forward to reading more - so much gory, campy fun! ...more
One of my absolute favorite things about the horror genre is how wide the range is in potential subject matter, both in terms of overall theme as wellOne of my absolute favorite things about the horror genre is how wide the range is in potential subject matter, both in terms of overall theme as well as the emotional impact that the creator is trying to have on their audience. From blood-coated slashers with little real emotional connection (but a lot of gore-soaked fun!) to achingly sad ghost stories that make you hurt inside, there’s something for everyone in horror and that’s a very beautiful thing.
I love everything the genre has to offer, but if we’re being honest, I have to say that I’m partial to the stories that hit me hard right in the stomach. Stories about suffering, about pain, about grief: these are the ones that suck me in, and stick with me long after I’ve finished reading them. This is my second book by Laurel Hightower, and I can definitely say that she’s already solidified in my brain as an author who will hurt me terribly – and I love her for it.
In CROSSROADS, we meet Chris two years after the unexpected and accidental death of her son, a tragedy from which she’s still reeling. As a grieving mother, Chris copes with Trey’s loss by creating a routine of visiting the spot where he died, spending time feeling as close to him as she can with him gone, talking to him and telling him about each day’s events. Through an accidental injury, Chris stumbles upon something she can’t share with anyone else: a few drops of her blood on the ground, and suddenly she can actually talk to Trey again, for real, and even sometimes see him. But how long will just a few drops of her blood keep him there? And what would Chris have to give up to bring him back completely?
I’m going to warn you before you go into this one that it’s a heavy-hitter emotionally, and it may wreck you. The way the author portrays Chris, with all her strengths and flaws and grief and relatability, is incredible; she seems to almost leap off of the pages with everything that makes her such a compelling character. Her pain and desperation are palpable, and even if you’re not a mother (I’m not!), you’ll feel the heartbreaking impact of the story like a sledgehammer to the gut.
This is a story primarily about loss and sacrifice, yes. However, while Hightower’s storytelling abilities aren’t here to spare your feelings, that doesn’t mean that sad vibes are all you’ll find with this one. Along with Chris are a few other smaller characters – a love interest, an ex-husband, and the wife of said ex-husband – that are also fully realized to the point of effectively showcasing how many different kinds of relationships can coexist and be balanced beautifully in a well-rounded life, as well as what a healthy support network looks like.
Still, as many of us know, sometimes the people around you just aren’t always fully capable of helping a person deal with certain traumas or situations, and I think the truth at the heart of CROSSROADS is a large part of what makes it such a phenomenal book: it’s completely honest, even if that honesty is brutal, ugly, and painful.
CROSSROADS is in my Top 10 of 2020 for sure, and I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking to bawl your eyes out while reading your next favorite novella, definitely check this one out and thank me later (but I’m not responsible for the amount of tissues you’ll need to get through it!). Huge thanks to Off Limits Press for sending me an early release copy of this one to read & review!...more
If you're not heavy into the book Twitter scene, the idea popped up to do a bunch of books about different animals with covers by Kealan Patrick Burke, owner of Elder Lemon Design, to benefit wildlife. This one was the first (I think?? that I know of?!) in that whole thing, and a bunch of us bookish community folk jumped in to give very emphatic YES votes to the ideas being thrown around.
As a gift from the Author Gods for our services (aka, wildly yelling from Twitter to 'PLEASE KILL ME, ALAN, OMG!!!', not even joking!) a bunch of folks within the community were actually WRITTEN INTO THIS BOOK!!! So if you read it, you'll recognize a few awesome fellow fans of horror fiction! INCLUDING ME!!! HOW FLIPPING COOL IS THAT?!?! Some of my favorite people within the community are in the book - and lots of us die horrible, brutal, amazing deaths!! Wanna know if I live or die?! You have to read to find out!!
Fangirling aside, this is one heck of a creature feature. Even if my name didn't appear on the pages, I'd have had a lot of fun reading this one. The combination of gore and bloodshed mixed with small town life in Australia made for a unique reading experience for me - I especially loved that the book comes with its own glossary for those of us who don't know what the heck some of that Aussie lingo means!
This novella is short, and because of the length of the story, you're thrown into the action right away. The cast of characters is pretty large, but I didn't have any trouble keeping folks straight. I loved the close-knit, small town vibes, and especially loved seeing folks band together to defeat the Big Bad Roo. The storytelling is fast-paced and over the top in the best way, and if you're looking for something to pull you out of a reading slump by kanga-pounding you over the head with a ter-ROO-fic (heh heh) good time, let this be the one to do it!...more
Another Night Worms book party happened recently, and I know I've said this before, but I'm so glad to be a part o3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads!
Another Night Worms book party happened recently, and I know I've said this before, but I'm so glad to be a part of the team! These book parties are so much fun, and I love seeing all the different reactions and ratings from some of the bookworms whose opinions I value most in the community!
I didn't know much about this one going in, as I typically prefer not to read much about a book before reading it. I did see a lot of comments in our group chat, and started it right away 'cause everything I heard sounded great! And wow, what a ride! This is a super short little novella, but it makes a big impact by not holding back in terms of action and excitement going on.
When starting, you're put immediately into the main character's life. We're privy to the conversations she hears, we learn about her family - all in just a couple of short pages. From there, we're thrown right in to a horrific tragedy, and the subsequent chaos and bloodshed that ensues from a group of Firefly's Reaver-esque murderers taking over. I loved the Dead Space vibes I got from some of the scenes - scary stuff in space is absolutely terrifying to me, folks!
I really enjoyed this for what it was: a short, fast, action-packed sci-fi horror thrill ride. I wouldn't say there was a whole lot of character development or that the plot was completely original, but I enjoyed the time I spent reading the pages, and I was thoroughly entertained throughout.
I will admit that I may have enjoyed this a bit more as a fully fleshed out novel rather than a novella where we're thrown in, given little detail other than what's happening in the moment, and then having that end while being left wanting to know more. On the plus side to that, this is actually a prequel novella to a book called THE HEMATOPHAGES, which I assume expands more on the universe created here - and I've already added it to my wishlist, 'cause based on this alone, I absolutely want to check it out!
Overall, if you're a fan of horror sci-fi, check this one out. It's quick, gritty, and accessible even if you're not a huge science fiction nerd!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: novellas are probably my favorite format for storytelling. There’s something about being given enough to wI’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: novellas are probably my favorite format for storytelling. There’s something about being given enough to want more, but not enough to leave you feeling totally sick of the world built by the writer, that really gets to me and keeps me coming back to these short gems for more.
When I saw the cover for The Festering Ones, I knew I wanted to own it – the cover is super cool, and I wasn’t surprised to find that it was made by Kealan Patrick Burke of Elderlemon Design, since he’s become a prominent book cover designer – and author – in the horror community as of late.
Since it was already on my radar, it’s no wonder that I jumped at the chance to receive a copy for review shortly after its October release last year. And the convenient size allowed me to push it up on my TBR, which made it one of the first few books I read this year! Talk about starting off with a bang – I loved it!
The Festering Ones is fast-paced enough to have pulled me in from the very first page, and held on so tightly that I didn’t put it down until I finished it an hour and a half later. The action and pacing are so well done that I found myself flipping through the pages quickly, eager to find out what Faith, the main character, was going to get into next.
I really enjoyed Faith’s character, and the amount of life-altering change that occurs for her in such a short book. While going through her recently deceased mother’s possessions, her entire world is turned upside down, and she’s fierce enough to charge head first into the unknown – a quality I really admire in my protagonists! Having your entire life and childhood based on lies is such a gripping theme, and the realistic nature of what Faith deals with in the book juxtaposed against the otherworldly horrors that await her later in the plot makes for some seriously compelling storytelling.
Along with strong women characters, I also really love creepy creatures, and there are plenty of them here. It’s almost wild how much happens in this novella, and I don’t want to say too much ’cause I’d hate to spoil something I went into nearly blind and ended up thoroughly enjoying. I’ll say that if you enjoy Lovecraftian creature horror, or scary un-god worshipping cults, stop reading this review right now and click this link to buy the book – you won’t be sorry!
This was the first thing I’ve read by the author, but it won’t be the last. Her ability to completely engross me in a fun, gory, entertaining read has put her on my radar for one to watch all new releases from, and I’ve added what I could find that she’d already published to my wishlist TBR already! The only single negative I could say is that I wish there were a little more to it – not necessarily that it were longer, but that a few things were more fleshed out, and that the world, creatures, and cult were expanded upon more. I love the world she created – I just want more, haha.
Overall, an excellent introduction to a new author, and one I’ll be recommending to fans of creepy creatures, quick & absorbing reads, and to Lovecraft-lovers seeking to expand their reading horizons a little bit!...more
Wow, what a book. I only discovered this one because of clipping.’s song – which you can listen to by clicking here – which I absolutely love, and wanWow, what a book. I only discovered this one because of clipping.’s song – which you can listen to by clicking here – which I absolutely love, and wanted more of. I read about what inspired the song, and love that this story has been creatively interpreted by so many different people in different ways. Such a cool thing, and I’d definitely recommend listening if you’re into really cool but sort of experimental music!
So, back to the story. I read this one back in February for Black History Month, and while I understand this is fictional and about mermaid people, it still had a lot of really important messages and themes regarding race and the differences between types of people. The narrator gives you a lot of information and sort of throws you into the rich world of the Wajinru, a mermaid-like race that are descended from pregnant slave women thrown overboard while en route to the ship’s destinations. This premise of an entire race and culture being created from the poor women thrown off the ships is so intriguing and incredible to me, and the resilience and uniqueness of these people – especially of Yetu, the memory keeper – was amazing.
When reading, this one reminded me a little of The Giver in terms of a single person in a society being responsible for some secret and incredible knowledge that keeping the rest of the community ignorant to somehow benefits. Here, Yetu is the one who stores the memories of her people’s pasts – of the African mothers that lost their lives, of the whales they lived with and learned from, of the magic and power that created them. She does this so that the rest of her people can live happy, free lives, without the burden of the past’s horrors bogging them down. Much of the story is told from her perspective as their Historian, and we’re able to travel through different points in time to learn how the Wajinru came to be.
I loved the varied chapters, and the way the story seemed to struggle to keep focus on a specific aspect of the narrative by jumping around between past/present. While I can understand how this might be confusing for readers expecting a more linear story line, I thought it was really authentic considering how unstable and torn apart Yetu feels as the Historian responsible for all of her people’s memories. They’re pulling her attention apart very similarly to how the story seems to, which was really fitting for me during the reading experience. I related to Yetu’s confusion and her distraction.
This is a strong story with strong characters, and the representation throughout was wonderful. While the story itself is quick – the book is pretty short at under 200 pages, pushing it more into novella length – the emotional impact I felt when reading and the fact that I still vividly remember the story and characters several weeks later should speak for themselves. Highly recommended!...more
“Our deaths deserve no other meaning than to be devoured.”
Writing like this is why I fucking love horror, and I honestly can’t pay higher compliments “Our deaths deserve no other meaning than to be devoured.”
Writing like this is why I fucking love horror, and I honestly can’t pay higher compliments to a writer than the ones I’d give to Sara Tantlinger. I’ve read her poetry before, and it blew me away with how hauntingly melodic it was, in the most beautifully visceral way. I would use that exact same term – beautifully visceral – of her novella writing as well.
She has such a gift for taking horrible, ugly, heartbreaking things and making you ache for them, and with them. Her descriptions are full of color and texture, making things feel tangible in a way that other writers just aren’t able to do.
I mean, in her very first paragraph of this novella, she describes the early morning sky as, “morphing periwinkle clouds into buttery tones of the rising sun”. Her writing is just so pretty, and the fact that she’s able to write both gorgeous descriptions like this, as well as stomach-turningly horrible stuff like what comes in the later pages is mindblowing and totally worth my fangirling and awe.
This novella is not only one of my favorites of 2019, but of everything I’ve read in horror fiction as well. While I wouldn’t be able to recommend it for everyone due to how extreme and graphic some of the more disturbing parts are (some people just don’t do well with those sorts of things), if you don’t have a weak tummy and are not faint of heart, I’d definitely urge you to seek it out.
I love the unreliable narration that comes with a character struggling with their mental health, and this novella is no exception. Andi’s character is flawed, and tragic – a horrific past trauma haunts her, and the feelings she expresses early on in the story about her rage and pain are completely relatable. There’s a particular scene where she describes her feelings of rejection after a gift she tries giving her girlfriend, Luna, goes awry, and my stomach actually physically hurt because I felt so bad for her, and for how humiliated and hurt she must feel.
Despite how relatable she is at times, Andi takes a turn and quickly becomes quite unrelatable as she slips down a steep slope into the darkest parts of her innermost thoughts. She becomes strangely obsessed with vultures, and with the dead – particularly, with eating dead flesh and wondering if that would help fix the emptiness she feels. Reading about this girl’s struggle upped the emotional aspect of the novella for me; you can tell that she doesn’t realize how far gone she is, or how unreasonable she’s become, and it’s almost like watching someone you’ve begun to care about slip away into madness.
I won’t say anything else, ’cause I really don’t want to spoil this one for you, and it’s one I’d definitely recommend reading (with the disclaimer about how intensely graphic it gets above). The scenes and story will stay with you for a long time – it’s been almost two months since I finished it, and it still pops into my mind from time to time, unsettling me and making me want to read more of Sara’s writing all at once.
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