Ominous titles portrayed on stunning covers that fill me with a sense of dread are a sure fire bet to getting my attention. Whether the book is a science fiction epic, or short jaunt through a fantastical realm, I’m always game when that lethal marketing combination is aimed my way. Malcolm Devlin’s tale of horror…
Continue reading ➞ And Then I Woke Up – A Matryoshka Doll of Nightmares
I’ve remarked on how my movie habits tend to lean towards horror with a heavy helping of science fiction, and I can start to feel my reading habit slide in that direction too. Horror is the proverbial jam to the peanut butter that is science fiction. That is to say, yeah, I read another spooky…
Last year I read Light Chaser, a collaboration between Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell, and it birthed a desire to give Powell a deeper look. Having read a lot of Hamilton, my sense was that Powel’s work added a bit of blood to the sprawling imagination Hamilton usually provides. Instead of going with…
Continue reading ➞ Stars and Bones – Missing The Marrow For The Bones
After reading all of Wormwood last year, Tade Thompson became one of my to-watch authors because of his genre melding stories. While I haven’t made time to dive into his horror novella series Molly Southbourne, Thompson did decide to grace readers this year with a rollicking science fiction mystery, Far From The Light of Heaven.…
Continue reading ➞ Far From The Light of Heaven – Breaking Outside the Box
“If I needed to describe Empire of the Vampire, by Jay Kristoff, in one word, that word would be ‘extra.’ This gigantic epic fantasy, that reads like a cross between Interview with a Vampire and The Name of the Wind, does everything in its power to be edgier than the sharpest knife, louder than a…
Time for one last spooky book read before the end of October. Usually, it would be prudent to end this hallowed month with a bit of triumphalism. A reminder that all things spooky are good, and the genre's growing presence is reaffirmed. But folks, I have to tell you, I will not be able to…
Continue reading ➞ HEX – This Book Is Cursed And Not In A Good Way
Time for another horror novel folks, and I have to say this one left me in a bit of a tizzy. Slewfoot, by Brom, is a slow burn historical horror that captures Puritan culture vividly, but falters when delivering on the horror and its themes. Slewfoot is the story of Abitha, an Englishwoman sold as…
The Last Graduate, by Naomi Novik, is one of the best books of the year for many readers. I don’t think that will surprise anyone who has read A Deadly Education, which was one of my top picks of last year. The Scholomance series stands out from the pack with a unique narrative experience, fabulous setting,…
Halloween is upon us, and that means it’s time for the spooky and the ghoulish to come out and play. I decided to dive deep this year and breathe in the musty air that the dark basements of abandoned homes have in copious supply. The first book is truly a delight, with everything the casual…
Continue reading ➞ The Last House on Needless Street – Don’t Ding Dong Ditch This Book
When I picked up Gutter Mage by J.S. Kelley, I expected a fairly tried and true fantasy/mystery thriller based on the back of the book. What I got instead was a mix of horror, profanity, existential crises, and a tried and true fantasy/mystery thriller. The book is profound in that it manages to both be…
