S.J.Budd

  My Top Twenty Horror Reads of 2022 The following books are my top twenty horror reads in no particular order. This has been a great year for horror I have read only a fraction and can't wait to find more gems to read.  Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments section. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." Ancient beautiful Manderley, between the rose garden ad the sea, is the county's showpiece. Rebecca made it so - even a year after her death, Rebecca's influence still rules here. How can Maxim de Winter's shy new bride ever fill her place or escape her vital shadow? A shadow that grows longer and darker as the brief summer fades, until, in a moment of climatic revelations, it threatens to eclipse Manderley and it's inhabitants completely... Rebecca is a gothic masterpiece, a book that I make a point of reading each year, it's one of those rare magical books that seems to change with each read. 

  Betrayal brings grave ending to a noble bloodline. Forced to flee, its sole surviving heir is spared this fate by the timely intervention of a haunter of the wilds. In his charge, the maiden embraces the lore of the dark arts and rises to become the watch-keep of the woods. As decades pass, with her legend growing, the 'witch of root and earth' weaves subtle deceits in a tangled web of vengeance. But will there be a fairy ending, or will poisoned legacies and pacts with dark forces see ambition unravel in her relentless pursuit of power? Bloody and brilliantly realised, Baird's dark fantasy nightmare spins a lavish tale of dread, desire, and fantastical fury. I'm not sure where to start with this review, other than it's absolutely fantastic. I'm really struggling to think of another book that it is similar too but can't. It's such an original book! As a child I loved fairy tales, I really liked the dark ones such as Hansel and Gretal, Little Red Riding

  London 1971: Harry Undine is psychic and its tearing him apart. When his so-called gift kicks in, the pain can be deep and soul-wrenching - a pain nobody would understand, even if Undine revealed the truth. Which he won't. That sort of sensitivity might be considered 'cool' by hippies and New Age freaks, but its a million miles away from the tough Rat Pack image Undine aspired to when he was growing up. So Undine keeps his mouth shut as he hunts for a cure- a personal quest more important than the research he is supposed to be carrying out as a paranormal investigator for the Corsi Institute. Out in the suburbs, WPC Jo Cross is determined to do right by the terrified old lady she promised to help. Jo approaches the Institute for assistance, and soon Undine's sixth sense is screaming a premonition of danger. But the location Jo describes is notorious, and the Institute team leaps at the opportunity to investigate Mitcham's most infamous haunted house. Undine cannot

  Jessica ad Nicole think they've finally found their dream house- by the sea, in the West of Ireland. 17 Montpellier Street has history, character...and so many rooms you could easily lose your way, if you don't tread carefully. It has memories, too- so many memories. The new owners haven't learned them yet. But the girls who lived there decades before, when the church-used Montpellier Street to hide away its secrets- they've never forgotten. The ones who survived, anyway. Montpellier Street remembers every one of the horrors those girls suffered at the hands of the priests, nuns and doctors who should have been their carers. And Jess and Nicole...they're about to start reliving them, night after night. Sleep may never come easy again. This book immediately jumped out at me, set in Ireland, an old creepy house with a dark past and strange goings ons which a nice new couple have moved into. I knew straightaway this would be a great read and I wasn't disappointed

  This Is  Where We Talk Things Out This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau, author of Palimpsest: A Collection of Contemporary Horror, follows the gut-wrenching journey of Miller and her estranged mother, Sylvie, who have always had a tense relationship. After Miller's father dies, she agrees to a girls' vacation away from the city to reconnect with the only family she has left. Although she's eager to make things work. Miller can't help but worry that her mother is seeing their countryside retreat as a fun weekend getaway instead of what it really is: a last ditch effort to repair their relationship. Unfortunately, that quickly becomes the least of Miller's problems. Sylvie's trapped in the past and if Miller's not careful. she will be too. A cross between Stephen King's Misery and Stephanie Wrobel's Darling Rose Gold. This Is Where We Talk Things Out explores the horror of familial trauma, mother-daughter relationships, and what happen

  What's it about? Return to the Weald, the world Stephanie Ellis introduced us to in The Five Turns of the Wheel. Reborn is the story of Cernunnos, the Father of all, who has risen. Born of the blood offerings, he travels to the Layerings - one of those places, like Umbra, which sit just beyond the human veil. Reborn is the story of Tommy, Betty and Fiddler, the infamous troupe whose bloody rituals were halted by Megan, Tommy's Daughter. Rendered weak by Megan's refusal to allow them to hunt in the human world of the Weald, they seek their rebirth and forgiveness from the Mother and Cernunnos. Reborn is the story of Megan, who follows Cernunnos and Hweol's sons on a pilgrimage of hope - one that would see her husband restored to her and the dark presence of Hweol removed. Ultimately, though, Reborn is the story of Betty, the most monstrous of the three brothers. He is Nature, red in tooth and claw. He is what the Mother made him. And who are we to judge? With Reborn, E