I had no idea that ‘extreme haunts’ were a thing until I read this novel in which a team takes on the most extreme escape room of them all – Quigley House in Nebraska – a full-contact, (fake) blood-soaked, series of 5 cells with ‘actors’ in which contestants must find the hidden envelopes to progress Read More
Tag: Horror
Meat by Dane Cobain for RIP XVIII
Back in 2017, I had the pleasure of being on the Shadow Judges Panel for the PFD Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year with Dane. (More here and here). Dane’s own website can be found here. He writes mainly in horror/thriller/mystery genres, but has written non-fiction, poetry and is a musician too. He kindly Read More
Ira Levin and Jeff Vandermeer – #20booksofsummer23 nos 3 & 4
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin Decades ago, I first encountered Ira Levin when I read The Boys from Brazil, published in 1976, which was also the first time I’d ever heard of Nazi Josef Mengele – and what a chilling experience that was – and then to see Gregory Peck playing against type in Read More
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, Duke of York’s Theatre
My third West End theatre trip in a month, was to see the West End revival of this play by McDonagh – he of wonderful movies: In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin (which I loved, but forgot to review) and also partner of Phoebe Waller-Bridge – and I had Read More
‘Reading the Meow’ for #20booksofsummer23
Goodness knows, I’ve read enough books featuring prominent cats over the years, so when Mallika of Literary Potpourri announced ‘#ReadingtheMeow23‘ I went straight to my shelves. Whatever I read would have to also fit with Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer. However, I couldn’t initially find one there, and had to resort to some googling. I Read More
#NordicFINDS – Sweden Week – My Gateway Book – a different take
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist & its movie adaptations Although a rather baggy novel at over 500 pages, Let the Right One In, translated by Ebba Segerberg, blew me away when I read it back in 2009. My full review from back then is here. At the novel’s heart is the Read More
November Watchlist
Since my last update, I’ve been to the cinema twice. Last Night in Soho First on Halloween weekend was Last Night in Soho, which I thought from the trailer was going to be a thriller all about 1960s vice and conmen. I sort of gathered that there was a modern day strand to the movie Read More
Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver – Blog Tour
I only discovered Will Carver earlier this year when I read The Beresford for its blog tour in July. Wow! I loved that smart, funny, horror novel and have since acquired several of his earlier ones. Then, not even six months later comes another Will Carver novel! Psychopaths Anonymous is narrated by Maeve, a successful Read More
The Beresford by Will Carver – blog tour
I do love a horror novel that has a strong sense of dark humour, (cf my love for the books of Grady Hendrix here, here and here). Somehow I’ve not managed to encounter Will Carver before, but after reading The Beresford I’ll be exploring his back catalogue soon, for this novel is genuinely creepy but Read More
A novella for #NovNov and #SciFiMonth
The Strange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer Never has an idiom been less appropriate to apply to a book, than the opportunity with this one to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ as it fits two current tags! Jeff Vandermeer’s novels defy easy categorisation, combining SF with fantasy, horror, dystopias, eco-thrillers and more, demonstrating imagination in Read More
Grady Hendrix – a horror writer with style!
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires Firstly, my review of his newest book is up at Shiny New Books. Don’t you just love the cover above! Click HERE to read it. This one is set in the same milieu as his book My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which I reviewed here, cover to your Read More
20 Books of Summer #3 & #4 – Kurkov and Pinol
I’m already behind on reading and reviewing the pile of 20 books I selected (here), but I’m not a challenge completist! Anything that spurs me to reduce my TBR by a book or two is good. Today, I have two in translation for you. The Gardener from Ochakov by Andrey Kurkov Translated from the Russian Read More
RIP XIII – Book 2
Dead Funny – ed. Robin Ince & Johnny Mains Horror Stories by Comedians This little book is my second read for R.I.P. XIII (more about that here). It comprises sixteen ‘horror stories written by comedians’ and was published by Salt in 2014, and followed up two years later by Dead Funny: Encore. Short stories and Read More
RIP XIII: A Dystopian SF Horror Fantasy
Borne by Jeff Vandermeer I just adored Vandermeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy (see here). His ability to create a genre-defying, strange but real feeling version of our world is unparalleled, and he does it again with Borne. The setting is in the future after some kind of devastating event, involving the Company – a mysterious organisation Read More
One challenge ends, another begins: RIP XIII
The RIP Challenge is now in its thirteenth year! I’ve never signed up before, but the basic premise of this one should be a doddle for me given my penchant for dark books as autumn gets into full swing. Find out the full details and participation levels of the challenge here. The purpose of the R.I.P. Read More
1977 week – ‘Here’s Johnny!’
Twice a year, Simon and Karen host a club where we all read from a particular year. This time it was 1977. This turned out to be not the best year for me – the book I would have chosen, had I not read it before would have been Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym Read More
Review catch-up
I am still behind on my reviewing, even though I seem to have unlocked my reviewer’s block – so today, I have a trio of short reviews for you… The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick This is a rare case for me of having seen the film before I read the book. I loved Read More
A book with mischievous intent, that nearly lives up to its promise
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith As I’ve been reading and revisiting a lot of Austen-ish books, sequels, adaptations and novels inspired by Austen for Shiny New Books upcoming ‘Austen Week’ (from Mon 17th July), I thought it time to dust down, update and repost my review of Pride & Read More
Aickman for Halloween
The Strange Stories of Robert Aickman If you enjoy a strange story, then you should really check out those of Robert Aickman who was a master of the genre from the 1960s onwards. A couple of years ago, on the centenary of his birth, Faber reprinted most of his stories in four volumes of the Read More
High School Horror in the late 1980s
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix Grady Hendrix’s novel Horrorstör (reviewed here) was a triumph of style – a straight-forward but enjoyable horror story presented as a parody of an IKEA catalogue. This was such a brilliant conceit, it made my list of books of the year in 2014 for its amazing design. What would Read More
Catching up on reviewing…
My to be reviewed pile is larger than I like and I don’t want to forget the books – so here are some shorter reviews for you: Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics This is one scary novel – published as a YA book but is definitely not for younger teenaged readers! The story is narrated Read More
Something ‘that scares me’…
Republished into its original place in my blog’s timeline from my lost posts archive Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith One of the few remaining squares on my summer(!) book bingo card has been crossed off with this novel. I find few ghost stories truly scary and own few horror novels of the type that would Read More
The Southern Reach Trilogy – #3
Republished into its original place in my blog’s timeline from my lost posts archive Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer What began in Annihilation, follows on in Authority, concludes in Acceptance. Although I’ll give scant details of what happens below, discussing the third part of a trilogy will necessarily reveal small facts you may prefer not to know if you intend to Read More
The Southern Reach Trilogy #2
Republished into its original place in my blog’s timeline from my lost posts archive Authority by Jeff Vandermeer I had been planning to eke out my reading of Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy over three months but, after the comments on my post about the first volume (see here and third volume here), I couldn’t wait Read More
The Southern Reach Trilogy
Republished into its original place in my blog’s timeline from my lost posts archive Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer Having just read Annihilation, the first volume of Vandermeer’s series known as The Southern Reach Trilogy, I think I’m really going to enjoy the other two parts, Authority and Acceptance. This trilogy was published last year – with three months between volumes. They’re lovely Read More
Three Slightly Shorter Reviews
I’ve got a series of posts lined up for the week in between Christmas and New Year with my hits, misses, finds and stats, so it’s time to catch up with my review pile backlog and some shorter reviews… The Undertaker’s Daughter by Kate Mayfield For anyone who loved the TV series Six Feet Under, Read More
The Prisoner meets 1970s public information films – be very afraid…
Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler I love reading creepy novels in autumn, and this year I’ve had the pleasure of not only reading the fabulous Horrorstör (see here), but also the even creepier Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler. Anyone will be able to enjoy this book, but to really get the most out of it, Read More
A clever parody or a triumph of style over substance?
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix A couple of weeks ago, I got inordinately excited when this book I’d ordered arrived. For all its faults, IKEA is the booklover’s friend. Affordable shelving, in practical and/or posher versions, is what the bibliomane needs (I’m speaking as a 10x Billy owner here – I can construct those boys at Read More
A Trio of Short Reviews
I thought I’d sneak a couple of short book reviews into that week between Christmas and New Year. Too bloated with turkey, booze and chocolate to concentrate on reading, I often find I’m scouring the web at this time for stuff to read and do! The Last Kings of Sark by Rosa Rankin-Gee This is Read More
Mr Sandman, bring me a dream …
The Sandman by ETA Hoffmann, translated by Christopher Moncrieff I’m slightly familiar with the 19th century author E.T.A. Hoffmann through adaptations of his on the stage: the ballets Coppélia by Delibes, and Christmas evergreen The Nutcracker, also Offenbach’s opéra fanastique, The Tales of Hoffmann – but I’ve never read any of the source stories before. Alma Read More
