S.J.Budd

  This book really blew my mind! I'm not into science fiction at all, but I bought this book as I'm a big fan of Paul Sheppard after reading The Night Crawler which was released by Aphotic Realm. I'll admit some of the science bit went over my head but it is clearly very well thought out.  The plot is just wild, this book is a thrilling ride through space and bodies! The story starts off with a baby who is very sick and only very desperate measures will save them. Then we are introduced to Eve, a woman on the run through space trying to escape with her life she escape from one source of danger only to find herself in an impossible situation. This is a brilliantly bonkers book. It's so hard to explain the outline of the plot it something you'll have to read for yourself to know. All I can say is that this is a great book that I read in one sitting as it's so gripping and I couldn't  put it down as I had to know what was going to happen next!

  I've been a big fan of Theresa Braun for a long time and finally she has released her debut short story collection featuring 13 tales of horror! One of Theresa's many talents is that she's a master of creating characters you can really connect with. These stories fell really real to me like they could be real accounts! She's also great a sprinkling a little humour in her tales too. What I really liked with this collection was the variety. There's a lot of horror covered in these tales from a variety of tropes, we have vampires, serial killers, crazy conspiracy theories, the darkness within us all. In here you'll find short tales that pack a punch and longer tales to really sink your teeth into. Whilst I loved all these tales my standout favourites were Stillborn, this tale had me enthralled it was so out there and very cleverly written. Celestial Assignment had a lot of heart as well as darkness. Guilty as Cell was also a joy to read, of a fun night out gone v...

  In this original take of a murder mystery, we meet Isobel a young woman who should have her whole life ahead of her but she is forced to live in the shadows quietly. To survive she must avoid the other people in her village. People want her gone but her life will be the same no matter where she goes. Her only refuge from the harsh life she has, are books. She reads them with a voracious appetite and takes the advice to join a local book club that meets every two weeks to discuss their favourite books. Finally she has found some friends, but soon one of her friends is murdered, then another, and she is somehow their prime suspect. This isn't the first book I've read by Sarah Jane Huntingdon. I'd read Iron Maidens and loved it which gave me high expectations for The Colour of Evil. Readers, it did not disappoint!  I've come to love Sarah's style of writing, she has a really unique of bringing her characters to life of making you care about them from the first page. ...

  In the wake of her beloved brother's death Adelaide Frost escapes her troubled home life by taking a position at Ashthorne, once a grand stately home now in the wake of The Great War it is now a convalescence home for wounded soldiers. Upon arrival doubts and suspicions begin to creep in for Adelaide. There are only four patients despite the house being huge. Adelaide is not allowed to participate in the clandestine treatments administered by Doctor Roskopf and his assistant Nurse McGovern in the damp cellar of Asthorne House. Adelaide doesn't even think Doctor Roskopf is a real doctor, the patient's conditions seem to be getting worse, she should leave this place and find employment elsewhere but then she meets Evelyn Asthorne, the daughter of the owner of the house. Quickly they fall in love and discover there are many more secrets waiting for them in Asthorne House. This is was a really quick but enjoyable read. Perfect for fans of gothic horror. I liked how the plot m...

  I've very recently watched the rather excellent Netflix series, Black Summer, a dark relentless ride of what life could be like following an apocalyptic wave spreading across the globe, and The Growth by Adam Hulse is very similar. Would society stick together when faced with a situation that could wipe out the entire human race or would they turn on each other with anger and malice? In Adam Hulse's The Growth it's definitely the latter. Trouble starts when a growth is found in the sewers, the biggest fatberg ever to be discovered. A specialist team is sent down to deal with the matter but their attempts are feeble against it. Nothing can stop the growth as is travels across the UK! As readers we get to witness this atrocity through the lives of different people fighting for their lives and for their loved ones. A woman desperately searches for her missing girlfriend, in these times its very dangerous to be on the streets as a woman, but she is a boxing champion ready to ...

  Do you love All Hallows' Eve? Ghost stories? Tales from beyond that leave you feeling unsettled while walking to the kitchen at night? The orange-and-black vintage aesthetic? Haunted houses with shuttered windows? Edited by Gaby Triana with John Palisano, this anthology of 19 short stories by some of the most terrifying name son horror is the perfect collection for a dark and stormy October night. Featuring tales to make you hide under the covers by; Jonathan Maberry, Gwendolyn Kiste, Catherine Cavendish, Tim Waggoner, Jeff Strand, Sara Tantlinger, Lee Murray, Alethea Kontis, Lisa Morton & more I already knew before I read this that I would enjoy this, this anthology has an amazing line up of lots of authors I greatly admire. Literally Dead did not disappoint I had so much fun reading this. Some stories will make you cry, some will leave in you in stitches but beware of those that will strike terror in your heart! There wasn't one story I didn't like in here. When You...

  Welcome aboard the Venus, a space ship deep in space looking for old wrecks to salvage. It's run by a very colourful all female crew and a cat. The ship badly need repairs the women need to make some money. A perfect opportunity presents itself but will they strike it rich or find disaster. Science Fiction isn't my thing but I really enjoyed reading Venus Falling by Sarah Jane Huntingdon. She's a natural story teller and adds plenty of fun and humour. It's full of really funny moments particularly from Jonesy the headstrong adrenaline seeking pilot! This is a short read so perfect for when you're between books.  The Venus is a salvage ship roaming through space searching for salvage so they can get rich. Each member of the all female crew has been made an outcast but together they form on mighty strong team. One day they are on the cusp of striking it rich when they encounter a strange cloud. Another ship is approaching also after the same prize and they must go t...

  Anchorage, Alaska. A place where people don't care if someone goes missing. A place where Leia Walker tries her hardest to hide from the world, wanting a normal without anxiety and OCD. But Leia's bubble pops when an old friend is back in town and twists Leia's reality. A bloody event proves what Leia is scared to learn - Sophie Gardner, her old high school friend and saviour from the bullies, is a vampire. Forced to run away with Sophie, Leia's life takes a terrifying turn when vampires and hunters come after them. The only thing preventing them from losing themselves is their friendship... But will it be enough to escape the inevitable blood bath? Nocturnal Blood is a vampire book like no other. I love vampires in fiction and as a a result have read so many books based on vampires. I adore Anne Rice, Dracula and even Twilight (sorry) but this book is so different to those. This is a horror book with a lot of heart and tenderness that left me with a tear in my eye. T...

  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...

  Throwing Shadows is a collection of 9 creepy stories that have something for everyone. A woman develops an unhealthy obsession with a scarecrow. A boy plays with an Ouija board and receives a terrifying warning of murder. A down-on-his-luck- father learns what happens when you die in your sleep. These stories and six more frightening tales await the reader within the pages of Throwing Shadows: A Dark Collection. Throwing Shadows will feed that hungry dark side that lives in your cellar. This collection of horror, thriller and science fiction has something for readers seeking tales of suspenseful fiction. With a vintage paperback feel, along with a modern sensibility, these short stories will take readers down a dark path of pulp dread.  I have never read any fiction by Jerry Roth before but with Brigid's Gate Press putting out so much amazing fiction I had really high expectations, and Jerry Roth certainly delivered. This was a great collection. This is a collection of nine ...

Welcome to Buenos Aires, a place of nightmares and twisted imaginings, where missing children come back from the dead and unearthed bones carry terrible curses. Thrumming with murderous intentions, family betrayals, and morbid desires, these stories shine a light on a violent city gripped by urban madness; giving voice to the lost, the oppressed, and the forgotten. Lucid and darkly poetic, unsettling and otherworldly, these tales of revenge, witchcraft, and fetishes are a masterpiece of contemporary gothic and a bewitching exploration of the dark inclinations that threaten to lead us over the edge. This was one of those books that I just can't stop thinking about. I was worried I'd feel disappointed after reading as this book has had so much praise and adoration but after I read it, I realised the hype was real. It me just a day to finish and five minutes before I decided to read it again straightaway. The second read was just as scary as the first. Mariana Enriquez is an autho...

  A 13 story collection of twisted tales, all featuring killer women. Supernatural creations hell-bent on revenge. Cosmic terrors form beneath the surface. Women with unusual afflictions. The kind housewife with a collection of pickling jars. The beginnings of a serial  killer and more. Villains, Vigilantes, Voyeurs and Vengeance. You won't forget these women in a hurry Straightaway I knew I would love this collection of short stories when I read the introduction. Particularly in the horror genre it is always the women who suffer the most particularly when faced with being the final girl but here in this anthology the women rise up and take their revenge against the world, taking down the patriarchy one by one! In Iron Maiden we meet women who are broken down but then they rise up stronger than ever returning the hate dealt out to them. Sarah Jane Huntingdon is an incredibly powerful story teller. Very quickly the reader is completely absorbed into the mind of a predator. In e...

The blurb! When Cabot Howard's ex-wife, Leana and their son, Porter, flee the pandemic to the backwoods town of Rookfield, Cabot sets off after them. Once there, however, Leana is in hiding, her family won't hand Porter over, and the townsfolk are deadly serious about always wearing masks. The children all dress like little plague doctors and the adults are hellbent on getting Cabot out by nightfall. Despite being alone and under attack, Cabot won't leave without his son. Nothing - not ex-in-laws, not the sheriff, not even whatever monstrosity might lurk in the woods behind the barn- will stop Cabot from getting them out of ...Rookfield. Cabot is on a mission to find his son and bring him home. Set during the pandemic Cabot doesn't care about the virus and certainly not the lockdown rules and regulations. It doesn't take long to conclude he's a bit of an arsehole. He's furious that his ex wife Leana has taken their son away from the city and back out across ...