Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son Santiago’s lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her family’s decaying Mexico City estate. Eventually, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was, but his innate impulses—though curbed by his biological and chosen family’s communal care—threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.
GRADE: A
REVIEW:
What’s there not to like about this book? It was a beautiful family drama with hints of Gothic horror almost. When two parents lose their only child at a young age, the mother, Magos, simply can’t grieve the same way her husband does, and decides to go back to Mexico City. Once there, her mother’s housekeeper tells her a tale of how someone was able to get back someone they lost, and Magos takes that to heart. This is when the story truly takes off, and we’ll go on a journey with this family over the years and over various cities such as Mexico City, New York City, and Berlin. I loved that the book was written from the POV of four different characters, and it wasn’t in alternated chapters, no, you spent several years with each character and you go to see how they grew and how they felt. This was a really moving story, and I love how the “monster” in question wasn’t shown to be evil but at the same time, he couldn’t shirk away from his true nature. This is a beautiful tale of unconditional love, grief, loss, and family. I absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves quirky, dark films but with heart, such as Edward Scissorhands.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Zando for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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“The family that slays together, stays together,” is the motto of the Child’s Play documentary. I watched this several weeks ago, however, wasn’t able to post about it earlier due to March being dedicated to the Women in Horror Month interviews I had planned. I’ve always been a huge fan of killer dolls, ever since I watched the 80’s horror Dolls. Then when I was younger, my mum’s friend had me watch Child’s Play for the very first time, and I became obsessed both with the character of Chucky and the trope of killer dolls.
What sets this documentary apart from other horror documentaries is that you soon start to notice that many of the crew members that began working on the franchise are still working on the franchise and series today. It’s almost as if Chucky has somehow created a big horror family out of Don Mancini’s creation. Even the actors, like Jennifer Tilly who claims to be retired from acting, will make an exception to be on the Chucky series.
The documentary doesn’t explore the new SyFy series, but it doesn’t go in-depth about each film from the franchise, and how Chucky has evolved over the years. It was really interesting to see how the first screenplay came to be and how it has grown as a franchise. If you’re a fan of Chucky, I suggest that you don’t miss this one out. You can currently watch Living with Chucky on Screambox or Blu-Ray.
*Thank you so much to Emma Griffiths & Cinedigm for an early screening of the movie.
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Such a pair we make. I don’t know what I’m going to do either, what with the kingdom being eaten to nothing.
PLOT SUMMARY
You may think you know how the fairy tale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.
On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three “saints” who control them.
The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
GRADE: C-
REVIEW
I truly wanted to love this novella, because I’m a huge fan of mermaids in general and the premise sounded so damn exhilarating and dark. However, same as the previous book I read from this author, Nothing But Blackened Teeth, the purple prose made the reading experience truly tedious. Yes, I can understand trying to make the text sound old-timey when the protagonists are a killer mermaid and Plague Doctor, but one can do that without continually using words that are obscure to mean simple concepts. If there were a few thrown in the text it wouldn’t be so terrible, but the fact that the short novella was littered with them, it truly took away from the reading experience. I will say that I loved the ending and it truly aches me that the novella was kind of dull until then. This novella could’ve been so much more, especially if it hadn’t begun in medias res, but we would’ve gotten a bit more history or flashbacks of what went on prior to the mermaid running away with the Plague Doctor. The ending was truly beautiful and it’s sad that this story couldn’t have been so much more. The author is talented and has excellent ideas, but executing them seems to be an issue. I don’t know if I’ll read another work from this author since this is the second one I’ve read and wasn’t truly a fan. Maybe I’m not the right audience, but many people who love horror did enjoy this novella, so I don’t want to discourage you from checking it out.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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What It Is: A retinol and Vitamin-C-infused moisturizer that visibly smooths, hydrates, and brightens for radiant, refreshed skin.
What It Does: Resurfaces, firms, and brightens skin during sleep.
Active Ingredients: Retinol, Vitamin-C, and Wild Gooseberry Extract
Verdict: I’m a big fan of Kate Somerville skincare products because not only are they effective but have some of the best ingredients for your skin. This moisturizer is no different. From the very first moment that I applied this I was in LOVE. The texture is rich and hydrating but also lightweight and not greasy. I saw results within a few days where small dark spots from previous blemishes visibly vanished and helped even out my skintone. I know it’s on the pricier side, but at the same time, it’s very effective and you only need a dime-size amount for your whole face. I highly recommend adding this moisturizer as a step in your night time skincare routine.
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If the remainder of your life was only as long as your ability to avoid your own reflection, how long would you last?
PLOT SUMMARY:
An hour? A day? Perhaps a week?
It’s been said that at the core of every legend lies a seed of truth. For four American tourists vacationing in Greece, this is a lesson learned the hard way.
When the group sets out to find a subterranean pool that’s rumored to be the one by which the demi-god Narcissus once wasted away in self-obsession, what started as a fun excursion quickly escalates into a full-blown nightmare. After looking into the waters of the pool, they come to find their own reflections have become infected by an ancient evil. As they’re picked off one-by-one by a malevolence that resides in the reflective world, those remaining race to find a way to bring the nightmare to an end before it takes them all.
In the meantime, all they’ll have to do is avoid their own reflections.
GRADE: A-
REVIEW:
I’ve always been a big fan of Greek mythology, so I was totally pulled into the premise of this novella. What I love best about novellas is that we’re pulled right into the action, the friends are looking for a secret cave that has the famous waters that Narcissus gazed upon. Only these waters are cursed, and the four friends soon find out that going there was a huge mistake. The deaths were really gory and I liked the myth behind the reasoning as to how the curse worked. I can see this novella becoming a horror movie, it would be cool to see, especially one death in particular that was the most extreme/gory and happened at the beach. This is a fast-paced horror that explores insecurities that we all may have, through the lens of a curse and the demi-god Narcissus. A must for fans of Greek mythology and vacation horror.
*Thank you so much to Night Worms and Shortwave publisher for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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Cynthia Pelayo sings a song for the least of us, the victim we want to forget as soon as possible, the one who disappeared before ever really appearing. With a fairy tale gaze and a heart bigger than the world, her siren song insinuates itself past our defenses, past the hardened calluses and apathy we’ve erected to protect ourselves from the everyday horror of another missing girl.
Pelayo relates the familiar story, poem by poem; a body is found, a brutal crime investigated, clues take us in circles, and lead us nowhere. We are on an epic journey, the hero’s journey, and it must play out to the end in all its painful, ticking moments. Pelayo imbues her hero, Agent K, with the entirety of our dedication and that crumb of hope we’ve been hiding, saving for later. We will need to save for years, for decades, if we want to come out the other side. The job takes its toll, the answers are never complete and whys fracture, crack and spread. Still there is no turning away. We must bear witness, though it changes and contorts us.
Fans of true crime will love this, although these poems are very heartbreaking and brutal.
LOVE FOR SLAUGHTER by SARA TANTLINGER
This debut collection of poetry from Sara Tantlinger takes a dark look at all the horrors of love, the pleasures of flesh, and the lust for blood. For discerning fans of the macabre, look no further than Love For Slaughter.
A must for readers who love their love poems with a dash of violence.
I AM NOT YOUR FINAL GIRL by CLAIRE C. HOLLAND
From Claire C. Holland, a timely collection of poetry that follows the final girl of slasher cinema – the girl who survives until the end – on a journey of retribution and reclamation. From the white picket fences of 1970s Haddonfield to the apocalyptic end of the world, Holland confronts the role of women in relation to subjects including feminism, sexuality, violence, and healing in the world of Trump and the MeToo movement. Each poem centers on a fictional character from horror cinema, and explores the many ways in which women find empowerment through their own perceived monstrousness.
Fans of slasher movies will love this collection of poetry about some of the most famous female horror icons.
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“She is such a writer that she puts words in my mouth while I’m standing right here, rewriting life in real time, and no, she can’t do this to me, to us.”
PLOT SUMMARY:
Joe Goldberg is ready for a change. Instead of selling books, he’s writing them. And he’s off to a good start. Glenn Shoddy, an acclaimed literary author, recognizes Joe’s genius and invites him to join a tight-knit writing fellowship at Harvard. Finally, Joe will be in a place where talent matters more than pedigree . . . where intellect is the great equalizer and anything is possible. Even happy endings. Or so he thinks until he meets his already-published, already-distinguished peers, who all seem to be cut from the same elitist cloth.
Thankfully, Wonder Parish enters the picture. They have so much in common. No college degrees, no pretensions, no stories from prep school or grad school. Just a love for literature. If only Wonder could commit herself to the writing life, they could be those rare literary soulmates who never fall prey to their demons. Wonder has a tendency to love, to covet, but Joe is a believer in the rule of fiction: If you want to write a book, you have to kill your darlings.
With her trademark satirical, biting wit, Caroline Kepnes explores why vulnerable people bring out the worst in others as Joe sets out to make this small, exclusive world a fairer place. And if a little crimson runs in the streets of Cambridge . . . who can blame him? Love doesn’t conquer all. Often, it needs a little push.
GRADE: A-
REVIEW:
I’ve been a fan of Joe Goldberg since book one, and although he’s a crazy stalker serial killer, he’s also somewhat charming and hella funny. Not to mention that he seems to put himself in the craziest situations that offer a lot of dark humor. Now, Joe finds himself being the recipient of a writing fellowship at Harvard and instantly falls in love (as usual) with a fellow autodidact and fellowship classmate Wonder. Maybe I’m a little biased when it comes to this book being a writer myself, but I found so many things relatable to both the writing process and being in critique groups with other writers. I know non-writers may find some of the scenes boring, but I enjoyed the classroom scenes a lot. I’ll say that I was a little bummed at first thinking that Joe had turned over a new leaf and was giving up his murderous ways, however, he didn’t! Although, he didn’t kill as many people as he has in the past. I don’t know if I really liked his love interest Wonder that much, she was very family orientated, obsessed with her job at Dunkin’ Donuts, and didn’t seem to really care about her writing as much initially. And honestly, she never seemed that interested in Joe either. Then again, other than Love Quinn, I never felt like Joe’s love interests have really been that crazy about him. Having said that, I know the ending hinted at a certain type of ending, but I really hope that Joe decided to take a different approach and if there’s ever a sequel, I do hope to see a certain thriller writer in it! Sarah Beth was by far, the most interesting character in the whole bunch. My only gripe about the novel is that the True Crime podcast was only mentioned a few times and quickly forgotten so that plot wasn’t explored as much as I had hoped. This book didn’t have as many crazy plot twists as book three had, and at some point, the book did feel like it was dragging along for too long for no apparent reason. But I enjoy Joe, so I didn’t mind being in his head again for this adventure.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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What It Is: A mascara that weightlessly lifts, lengthens, curls, and adds subtle volume for the most natural-looking lashes.
What It Does: Curls and lengthens.
Active Ingredients: Four vegan waxes wrap each lash for precise definition and weightless volume.
Verdict: Let me preface this by stating that I’m extremely picky when it comes to mascaras. Did this mascara perform the way it should’ve? Absolutely. It did curl and add lots of volume to my lashes, which I cannot deny, however, there were some things I wasn’t completely sold off on. First of all, the formula felt really dry – as in the mascara itself didn’t feel wet, so trying to maneuver the wand through the lashes wasn’t that easy, even because the wand’s bristles were the classic type and not spiky, so there were more instances of clumping. So, yes, I liked how my lashes looked overall with this mascara but the application wasn’t as satisfying because the formula felt so dry and not hydrated at all. If you’re going to purchase mascara from Milk, I would recommend their Kush, mascara instead. I think that one is infinitely better.
Price: $28
Where To Buy It: Sephora, Milk.com, and Ulta
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Adrenaline surged through every nerve ending, her fingers digging into the tree branch jutting from the cliffside.
This was a nightmare. It couldn’t be real.
But it is real.
Anna had been atop the cliff, taking in the breathtaking panoramic view of the river, forests and mountains. Then in a heartbeat she was falling, falling some twenty feet, crashing into the big twisting branch sticking from the cliff face, catching herself, seizing it, struggling to hang on as it bent, now threatening to give way.
Gasping, she looked in horror a hundred feet straight down to the rocks at the banks of the rushing river below.
Wind gusted up, nudging her dangling legs. As she hung on for life, the branch cracked, her body jolted.
“Oh God!”
Anna glanced up at nine-year-old Katie Harmon looking down at her from the clifftop.
“Katie! Get help!”
Transfixed, Katie stared in wide-eyed silence.
Anna strained to move along the weakening branch closer to the cliff face to find a hold on the craggy rocks.
But pulling herself caused the branch to bob and shake, crackling more under her weight. Her hands landed on short branch spikes, like protruding nails piercing her palms with electrifying pain.
Suddenly the branch split and Anna jounced a few feet lower, clawing, clinging on to the fibrous remains.
“Katie!” she shrieked. “Oh God!”
Anna looked up.
Katie was gone.
The branch cracked again.
Run!
Every part of Katie’s brain screamed at her to run.
She flew along the trail, twisting, turning through the dense woods, hoping to catch up to the others who had continued moving ahead.
Anna’s fall had happened in a terrible instant.
So real and so frightening.
And no one else knows! No one was with us to see!
Katie willed herself to run fast, faster than she’d ever run in her life.
She felt like she was moving in slow motion but she blazed along the trail, coming to the clearing where her group from the Sunny Days Youth Center was setting up.
Katie glimpsed the joyful calm, nearly thirty kids and a sprinkling of adults supervising the day trip from the city, oblivious to the horror now on the cliff they’d all just passed. The boys were moving picnic tables together, others tossed a Frisbee. The girls were opening backpacks,
tearing into snacks and drinks while others took pictures.
It all stopped when Katie screeched: “Help!”
Heads turned, smiles melted, the Frisbee crashed.
“What’s up, Katie?” said Jackson, one of the supervisors.
“Anna fell!” Katie’s chest heaved; she was gasping for air. “Taking a selfie. Fell off the cliff! Hanging on to a tree!”
It took a moment for Jackson and the others to absorb the alarm and snap to attention.
“We’ll need ropes,” he said, glancing at the other supervisors, Adam and Connie, who’d grabbed a canvas bag, unzipped it and yanked out tent ropes. They turned to Katie, who’d already fled back on the trail, her sobbing echoing in her wake.
“Everyone stay here!” Connie said, starting to run with the two men as she called to another adult with the group: “Dakota, keep everyone here!”
The supervisors struggled to keep up with Katie, all of them racing back on the trail to the area of the cliff. Two backpacks on the ground marked the point where it happened. Katie stood there horrified when she looked down.
Only spear-like remnants of the branch reached from the cliffside.
Katie stepped back while Jackson, Adam and Connie, breathing hard, looked down, their eyes ballooning in disbelief.
“Oh God!” said Connie, her voice breaking.
“No! No! No!” Adam yelled.
Anna’s body was splayed on the rocks of the riverbank.
Ribbons of blood were webbing to the water.
******
IN THE TIME that followed, events unfolded like a tragic opera.
Connie’s 911 call went to the King County Communications Center. Panting with panic, she struggled to report the emergency.
“A girl fell off a cliff! We need—please, we need—”
“Take a breath,” said the operator, calm, professional, taking control. “Tell me exactly where you are and what happened.”
Connie collected herself, answering questions and following instructions, enabling the operator to dispatch paramedics and deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office North Precinct. The deputies then made a callout for Search and Rescue, setting the response in motion.
“I can’t look anymore.” Katie covered her face with her hands. Sobbing and trembling, she lowered her hands and asked: “Is Anna dead?”
“We don’t know.” Connie put her arm around her. “Help is coming.”
For their part, Jackson and Adam had found a safe route to hurry down from the cliff. Moving as fast as they could along the rugged riverbank, they came to Anna’s motionless body.
Her arms and legs were bent and twisted like a rag doll. She was lying faceup with her eyes open, staring skyward, blood dripping from the back of her neck. Jackson and Adam knelt next to her.
“Anna!” Adam said, knowing the worst but saying her name again.
Her stillness terrified them. They heard nothing but the river’s rush while Jackson felt her neck, warm but no pulse.
He began CPR.
Adam saw her palms, bleeding from branch fragments projecting like quills in testament to her fight to hang on. Gently holding her hand, Adam surveyed Anna, almost glowing on the rocks in her bright yellow T-shirt. He didn’t know that her mother had had it custom-made for her last birthday with the embroidered motto crowned over her heart: All We Have Is Today.
A small tattoo on her inner right wrist said Fearless, and on her inner left wrist was a small heart. Her jeans were faded, stylishly torn at the knees. One of her pink sneakers had been ripped away by the impact.
Anna’s head nodded in time with Jackson’s rhythmic pumping. But both men knew that the effort to save her was in vain.
Still Jackson refused to quit.
Adam’s phone rang—it was the emergency operator. She’d gotten his number from Connie.
“Yes… A lot of blood… No pulse… We both have CPR and First Aid… He’s doing CPR… Unconscious… Not responding… Tell them to hurry.”
Staying on the line to provide directions to the scene, Adam held Anna’s still-warm hand while watching Jackson’s unrelenting CPR. Blinking back tears. His gaze went from Anna to the rock face, his stomach lifting at the magnitude of the drop, his focus traveling up beyond the broken branch to the cliff, seeing Connie looking down at him.
Adam shook his head slowly.
Connie’s hand flew to her mouth. She turned, nearly doubling over before somehow getting enough control to pull Katie closer, comforting her. Slowly they started back to be with the others at their day camp.
Connie’s mind swirled as they returned to the clearing; twenty-four kids, aged nine to fourteen, were in the Sunny Days excursion, along with four adult supervisors and three older teen assistants—now, only two.
Moments ago they were all starting a blissful outing, only to see it turn into a day of horrible heartbreak, a day they would remember for the rest of their lives, Connie thought. Everything at their day camp came to a halt when Connie and Katie emerged.
“Is Anna okay?” asked Dakota, one of the supervisors.
Connie searched the group, meeting anxious, expectant faces, feeling Katie’s sobs against her. Holding her tight, Connie brushed at her own tears.
“I want to see!” said Dylan Frick, a boy who was also in Katie’s class at school.
“No!” Connie said loudly, then softened her voice. “We don’t know anything yet. We just have to wait.”
Some of the kids got on their phones, texting and calling their families, while a few of the girls rushed to Katie and Connie, encircling them in a group hug, their sobbing soon mingling with the tragic operatic chorus of distant sirens echoing over the treetops.
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A lifetime of hard work has put Lydia Chass on track to attend a prestigious journalism program and leave Henley behind—until a school error leaves her a credit short of graduating.
Bristal Jamison has a bad reputation and a foul mouth, but she also needs one more credit to graduate. An unexpected partnership forms as the two remake Lydia’s town history podcast to investigate the Long Stretch of Bad Days—a week when Henley was hit by a tornado, a flash flood, as well as its first, only, and unsolved murder.
As their investigation unearths buried secrets, some don’t want them to see the light. When the threats escalate, the girls have to uncover the truth before the dark history of Henley catches up with them.
GRADE: A-
REVIEW:
Mindy McGinnis has been an auto-buy for me ever since I read The Female of the Species and fell in love with her raw, unrelentless prose. I’ve followed her across genres and never have been let down. This was my first time receiving an ARC for a McGinnis novel and so I was very excited. Now, McGinnis is known for edgy novels where batshit crazy things happen and I dig that. Perhaps because her latest novel last year was The Last Laugh (which was incredibly crazy and awesome), this novel was more of a slowburn thriller mystery. However, it did have the usual McGinnis quirky characters (we all stan Bristal and the cat Uneven Steven) so it was still a fun ride.
Every small town has its secrets, and Henley does too. Aspiring journalist Lydia and Bristal partner together when they both find out they’re missing a credit in order to graduate. They decide to do a podcast together that will have them investigate what exactly happened during the “stretch of bad days” when a tornado hit the town and a girl went missing. But trying to find out what happened during that time might end up being more dangerous than both teens had bargained for. The mystery was compelling and the characters were worth rooting for. If you love mysteries, small-town thrillers, and true crime podcasts, then this novel is for you.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Katherine Tegen Books for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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The Inkblotters 