Tag: horror

Flash Fiction: Across The Woods

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Darkness cradled me in its arms.

There was a tickle at the back of my neck as the woods stood still. Not a single sound was heard across the vast forest. I waited for my eyes to adjust, both curious and afraid of what may lie before me. Gooseflesh prickled my exposed arms, but all I could think about was the cake that would be waiting for me at home. Sweet sixteen. I hope it was red velvet with a heavy dose of cream cheese frosting. I wondered if my sister had made the special punch that I loved. But I couldn’t go home until I finished what I came here for.

I took another tentative step, well aware that only because I couldn’t see them didn’t mean that the red eyes weren’t watching, hidden behind brush or gnarled limbs. Again, I felt a tickle at the back of my neck. I stopped. Not yet. My fingers wrapped around the only weapon I had brought along with me.

Sometimes I despised my family’s eccentric traditions. This was one of them. Every Myrige daughter was tasked with crossing Ember Woods on their sixteenth birthday. It was a rite of passage. Why? I could only find out once I was on the other side. My ears perked for any sounds and when it was clear that there were none, I started to half jog down the worn path that now, after my eyes adjusted to the darkness, could see.

How many Myrige girls had walked blindly into the woods not knowing what would lie before them? When had the tradition begun and why were the origins such a huge secret whenever I tried to ponder?

Then I heard it.

Footsteps.

I stopped. There was a tickle at the back of my neck. Only this time it was different. This time teeth followed. I yelped quickly turning around to meet the offender.

“Drew!” I exclaimed when I caught sight of who had nipped me.

He laughed unable to contain himself. “You should’ve seen your face, Marlo!”

“I told you not to follow me!”

“I know, but when you said that I thought you were ditching me to see another boy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please, I told you that I had a family affair that I needed to tend to.”

“Honestly, who isn’t allowed to spend their most important birthday with their boyfriend?”

“This girl,” I said and turned around. I continued walking, watching the moon slowly peek through the clouds. I clutched the weapon hidden in my letterman jacket. It’s almost time. Dread seized my chest, stifling it like a set of bricks.

“What’s the hurry?” Drew chuckled, grabbing hold of my free hand to spin me around to face him. “I’d almost say these creepy woods could be romantic,” and his lips grazed my own. I allowed myself to abandon in the kiss before I sunk the blade deep into his belly. Blood spilled from his parted lips. Confusion knitted his brows.

“I’m sorry,” I shrugged. “It’s a family tradition.”

Then the eyes came out from the woods and everyone was dressed in black robes.

“About time,” my mother stepped out. Then she knelt down and dipped her fingers into Drew’s wound and rose up to meet me.

“Happy birthday, now you’re a true Myrige witch,” she said carefully painting an upside-down cross on my forehead with Drew’s blood. Some of it trickled down to my lips and my tongue flickered at the metallic liquid.

“Tastes just like red velvet,” I smirked.

*This short story was recently made into a short film! I’ll share the video once it’s available.

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Book Review: Crime Scene by Cynthia Pelayo

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What lives in dark woods
What emerges from depths
What creeps within alleyways.

PLOT SUMMARY:

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.

GRADE: A+

REVIEW:

This poetry collection recently won the Bram Stoker for best poetry collection of 2022 and with good reason. But this isn’t your typical collection, as it reads more like an epic poem in the way one would read Homer’s classics like The Illiad or Gilgamesh. This collection opens with a horrific discovery of a body, and soon Agent K is tasked with trying to find the killer of the victim, and it’s a race against time. Each poem is titled as police report numbers, which packs a punch as a reminder that this isn’t just a story, this is real life. As we learn more about Agent K, we know that she had her own tragedy that sparked her reasoning to become a detective. Pelayo paints such detailed, dark imagery that stays with you long after you’ve reached the end. This is an excellent, heartbreaking tale, that sadly feels very close to many of the true crime stories we see time and time again, adding to the tragedy of how no matter how many victims there are, there never seems to be an end to this kind of story.

I absolutely recommend this if you love horror, true crime, and lyrical poetry with dark imagery.

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3 Horror Movies to Stream Right Now!

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EVIL DEAD RISE

A reunion between two estranged sisters gets cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

Now streaming on MAX.

CLOCK

A woman enrolls in a clinical trial to try and fix her seemingly broken biological clock after friends, family, and society pressures her to have children.

Now streaming on Hulu.

WATCHER

As a serial killer stalks the city, a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street.

Now streaming on Shudder.

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Book Review: Rouge by Mona Awad

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If I told you it wouldn’t be a secret, now would it?

PLOT SUMMARY:

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror—and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.

Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, Rouge explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry—as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, Rouge holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.

GRADE: A

REVIEW:

A fever dream, a fairytale, a nightmare. This book is all those things and more. As someone who is as skincare obsessed as Mirabelle, this novel resonated a lot with me. Awad writes some of the best mad, unhinged women in literature, and I’m absolutely here for it. When her mother unexpectedly dies in a tragic accident, and Mirabelle leaves Montreal for So-Cal, her descent to madness doesn’t take that long. Much like her previous books, Awad manages to capture the protagonist’s slip from reality in a way that is both poetic and terrifying. This novel is steeped with silent rage, mommy issues, and the color red. Often, as the reader, you can’t tell what is real and what is madness, a bit of an Alice in Wonderland moment, if you will. But one thing is certain, you can’t look away, and you continue down the proverbial rabbit hole along with Mirabelle, trying to make sense of the craziness as best as you can. This is one wild ride that explores our obsession with beauty and youth and to what lengths one might go to be beautiful.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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3 Horror Books to Read by Bi-Authors During Pride Month

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RELUCTANT IMMORTALS by GWENDOLYN KISTE

2023 Lambda Literary Award Finalist
2023 Bram Stoker Award Finalist for Superior Achievement in a Novel

Reluctant Immortals is a historical horror novel that looks at two men of classic literature, Dracula and Mr. Rochester, and the two women who survived them, Bertha and Lucy, who are now undead immortals residing in Los Angeles in 1967 when Dracula and Rochester make a shocking return in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.

Combining elements of historical and gothic fiction with a modern perspective, in a tale of love and betrayal and coercion, Reluctant Immortals is the lyrical and harrowing journey of two women from classic literature as they bravely claim their own destiny in a man’s world.

TO BE DEVOURED by SARA TANTLINGER

What does carrion taste like? Andi has to know. The vultures circling outside her home taunt and invite her to come understand the secrets hiding in their banquet of decay. Fascination morphs into an obsessive need to know what the vultures know. Andi turns to Dr. Fawning, but even the therapist cannot help her comprehend the secrets she’s buried beneath anger-induced blackouts.

Her girlfriend, Luna, tries to help Andi battle her inner darkness and infatuation with the vultures. However, the desire to taste dead flesh, to stitch together wings of her own and become one with the flock sends Andi down a twisted, unforgivable path. Once she understands the secrets the vultures conceal, she must decide between abandoning the birds of prey or risk turning her loved ones into nothing more than meals to be devoured.

THE REYES INCIDENT by BRIANA MORGAN

A local legend gone haywire.

A small-town cop.

An impossible eyewitness testimony.

Which is easier to believe—that killer mermaids exist, or that one person is worth risking everything for?

For fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Into the Drowning Deep comes a chilling horror story steeped in urban rumor.

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Book Review: The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

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I have suffered, but it is the suffering of a man who has created his own torture chamber.

PLOT SUMMARY:

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can’t. But it also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people.

Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn’t spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is the God Puzzle, a cryptic ancient prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are powerful forces at work that he cannot escape.

Ranging from an upstate New York women’s prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.

GRADE: A-

REVIEW:

Having read Trussoni in the past, I was well aware that I would be in the hands of an expert author. Trussoni has a way with words and blending history with mystery, in a way that’s very gripping. The Puzzle Master is a thrilling novel that races against time. There’s much to love about this book, it’s action-packed and atmospheric, and the doll lover in me was thrilled that it also included creepy dolls.

After a traumatic brain injury, Mike acquired a rare condition known as savant syndrome. He uses this new skill to solve and create complex puzzles. Everything changes once he meets Jess Price, a woman convicted of murder who hasn’t spoken for five years. When Jess begins drawing strange puzzles with religious undertones, that’s when Mike gets involved and the enthralling journey begins.

For someone who loves multiple POV’s, this novel delivers in so many ways. It includes alternating timelines, letters, journal entries, and transcriptions. Trussoni expertly weaves so many genres into this novel, mystery, thriller, horror, and science fiction – so if you’re a fan of any of those genres, you will enjoy this novel. The Puzzle Master is a pulsating, addictive read that I highly suggest taking along with you when you go on holiday this year, you won’t regret it!

*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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Exciting Summer Book Releases You Won’t Want To Miss!

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Summer has so many new book releases, that I’m looking forward to these titles so very much. Many of these I’ve already read ARCs for, so I’ll be thrilled to pick up physical copies to add to my ever-growing library once they’re out into the world.

Here are a few of my fave Summer picks:

MISTER MAGIC BY KIERSTEN WHITE

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.  

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has. 

Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since. 

After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap? 

Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship. . . .

101 HORROR BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU’RE MURDERED BY SADIE HARTMANN

Curious readers and fans of monsters and the macabre, get ready to bulk up your TBR piles! Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann has curated the best selection of modern horror books, including plenty of deep cuts. Indulge your heart’s darkest desires to be terrified, unsettled, disgusted, and heartbroken with stories that span everything from paranormal hauntings and creepy death cults to small-town terrors and apocalyptic disasters. Each recommendation includes a full synopsis as well as a quick overview of the book’s themes, style, and tone so you can narrow down your next read at a glance. Featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman and five brand-new essays from rising voices in the genre, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone who dares to delve into the dark.

EVERYTHING THE DARKNESS EATS BY ERIC LAROCCA

An insidious darkness threatens to devastate a rural New England village when occult forces are conjured and when bigotry is left unrestrained.

After a recent string of disappearances in a small Connecticut town, a grieving widower with a grim secret is drawn into a dangerous ritual of dark magic by a powerful and mysterious older gentleman named Heart Crowley. Meanwhile, a member of local law enforcement tasked with uncovering the culprit responsible for the bizarre disappearances soon begins to learn of a current of unbridled hatred simmering beneath the guise of the town’s idyllic community—a hatred that will eventually burst and forever change the lives of those who once found peace in the quiet town of Henley’s Edge.

THE BEAST YOU ARE: STORIES BY PAUL TREMBLAY

A haunting collection of short fiction from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club, A Head Full of Ghosts, and The Cabin at the End of the World.

Paul Tremblay has won widespread acclaim for illuminating the dark horrors of the mind in novels and stories that push the boundaries of storytelling itself. The fifteen pieces in this brilliant collection, The Beast You Are, are all monsters of a kind, ready to loudly (and lovingly) smash through your head and into your heart.

In “The Dead Thing,” a middle-schooler struggles to deal with the aftermath of her parents’ substance addictions and split. One day, her little brother claims he found a shoebox with “the dead thing” inside. He won’t show it to her and he won’t let the box out of his sight. In “The Last Conversation,” a person wakes in a sterile, white room and begins to receive instructions via intercom from a woman named Anne. When they are finally allowed to leave the room to complete a task, what they find is as shocking as it is heartbreaking.

The title novella, “The Beast You Are,” is a mini epic in which the destinies and secrets of a village, a dog, and a cat are intertwined with a giant monster that returns to wreak havoc every thirty years.

A masterpiece of literary horror and psychological suspense, The Beast You Are is a fearlessly imagined collection from one of the most electrifying and innovative writers working today.

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Book Review: Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

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Do I have to smash a glass over the head of every single man I come into contact with, just so I leave a fucking mark?

PLOT SUMMARY

Exiled from the art world and on sabbatical from her dead-end bar job, Irina obsessively takes explicit photographs of the average-looking men she persuades to model for her, scouted from the streets of Newcastle.

But her talent has not gone unnoticed, and Irina is invited to display her work at a fashionable London gallery. It is a chance to revive her career and escape from the rut of drugs, alcohol, and extreme cinema she’s fallen into. Yet the news instead triggers a self-destructive tailspin, centered around Irina’s consuming relationship with her best friend, and a shy young man from her local supermarket who has attracted her attention. . . .

GRADE: A

REVIEW

If Patrick Bateman were a hot girl living in Newcastle upon Tyne, he’d definitely be Irina Sturges. Despite being a narcissistic and deeply flawed individual, Irina is a trainwreck you simply can’t take your eyes off of. You’re compelled to continue reading what degrading things she has her so-called “models” do in the name of art, as she takes photos of them. I loved how every photograph she had saved unlocked new memories and we got to see what she had been up to in those years prior to us, readers, getting to know her. Clark’s writing is razor sharp, and although we can agree that Irina isn’t the best person and her relationships are all terrible (her mother is evil, her best friend is awful, and the men in her life are either simps or losers), you can’t help but feel some bit of empathy in the way that she’s the way she is because both society and her interactions with people have shaped her in this way (I don’t want to delve too much into her past because of *spoilers* ).

The horror isn’t smack dab in your face, but it’s there and it’s vicious when it comes to the surface. But overall, this is a crazy adventure of human depravity, looking for artistic approval, and trying to leave a mark in the world however fucked up that may be. I totally recommend this if you loved books such as American Psycho, Maeve Fly, and Into The Miso Soup.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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Book Review: Monstrilio by Gerardo Samano Cordova

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I wanted to eat them all…

PLOT SUMMARY

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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Film Review: Living with Chucky

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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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