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Showing posts from February, 2020

Forest Underground by Lydian Faust

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Luna was lost. Hospitalized following an incident in a local grocery store, she finds herself volunteered for treatment by the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr Sizemore. As the doctor’s interest in her new patient grows, Luna reveals shocking details of her past. Ailing grandmothers, seductive strangers and a blood-soaked childhood are only the tip of the iceberg as her revelations paint a picture more akin to a twisted and nightmare-fuelled fairy-tale. Detailing this case for the publication of a book, Dr Sizemore’s fascination reveals a dark history of her own. One that continues to haunt her to the present day. The pair take a journey, twisting and turning through the labyrinths of their psyches. Through lands, fertile with anguish and dread. Join them if you dare, to a place where glowing eyes are forever watching, lurking in the shadows of this internal woodland; of this forest underground. Wow! This is a hard review to write as I think not knowing too much about the st...

The Invention of Ghosts by Gwendolyn Kiste

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"From the Nightscape Press Charitable Chapbooks line. One third of all sales of this chapbook will go to support the National Aviary. It starts with rapping in the ceiling and spirit boards that know them a little too well. Everly and her best friend aren’t your typical college students. Instead of raucous Saturday night parties, they spend their weekends conjuring up things from the beyond. Ectoplasm, levitation, death photography---you name it, and Everly knows all about it. But while this obsession with the supernatural is only supposed to be in good fun, the girls soon discover themselves drifting deeper into magic and further from each other. Then when one evening ends with an inadvertently broken promise, everything they’ve ever known is shattered in an instant, sending them spiraling into a surreal haunting. Now Everly must learn how to control the spectral forces she’s unleashed if she wants any chance of escaping a ghost more dangerous than all the witchcraft she c...

The Celestial Assignment by Theresa Braun

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After a sudden death, Will, a misguided angel, is tasked with protecting a baby girl. Watching over her as she grows up and navigates the world appears a harsh punishment for his past failings. Can he redeem himself, or will he fall further from grace? Theresa is a really interesting writer with great range, she is able to write really scary spooky stories such as her debut novel, Fountain Dead (Unnerving) as well as tender touching stories as The Celestial Assignment. Will, is our very unlikely hero. At the beginning of the story I couldn't stand him but grew to really like him over the course of the story. Theresa does a great job of really bringing him to life with such great humour! This is a really cool take on guardian angels and where they come from. I love the idea in this tale that there is someone looking out for us even when we feel really alone.  After his death, Will is sent back down from heaven to watch over the life of a young girl, Celes...

Remains by Andrew Cull

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Grief is a black house. How far would you go? What horrors would you endure if it meant you might see the son you thought you'd lost forever? Driven to a breakdown by the brutal murder of her young son, Lucy Campbell had locked herself away, fallen deep inside herself, become a ghost haunting room 23b of the William Tuke Psychiatric Hospital. There she'd remained, until the whispering pulled her back, until she found herself once more sitting in her car, calling to the son she had lost, staring into the black panes of the now abandoned house where Alex had died. Tonight, someone is watching her back. I think this may be my favourite book of 2019. The most emotionally charged book I have ever read. This is a book so dark that I often had to take breaks whilst reading it and actually had nightmares over it. Read with caution if you have kids, or ever lost a loved one. This is a brutal book on grief.  This is a heart wrenching tale drenched in horror. Remains starts off as ...

Cold Comforts by Marianne Halbert

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Haunted objects. Haunted places. Haunted people. Creatures otherworldly and places where looming shadows bring dread to your door. A school bus stops at the home of an isolated family whose unusual children have a unique way to scare off their enemies. A vacationing couple discovers something deeper than their love resides within wine country. Objects in the attic of an old farmhouse come to life seeking retribution. A peculiar girl discovers she has a strange ability. These thirteen tales will take you from the farms and woods of the heartland, to prison and the south of France. Whether you're crunching through the snow wondering what's moving behind you, or sitting by a campfire listening to a tale of revenge, pull a blanket tight around your shoulders and be prepared for an impending chill to race down your spine. All you'll find are cold comforts here. This is an author that just popped out of nowhere and now I'm completely hooked! This is her second collection...