Tag Archives: Horror

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for coraline neil gaiman book cover

Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Book to Film, Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Horror
Dates read: 16th – 22nd May 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Year: 2002
5th sentence, 74th page: “The one who says she’s you other mother,” said the cat.

Synopsis

In Coraline’s family’s new flat there’s a locked door. On the other side is a brick wall – until Coraline unlocks the door… and finds a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only different.

The food is better there. Books have pictures that writhe and crawl and shimmer. And there’s another mother and father there who want Coraline to be their little girl. They want to change her and keep her with them….Forever.

Coraline is an extraordinary fairy tale / nightmare from the uniquely skewed imagination of #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman.

Thoughts

I picked up this book because I absolutely adored the movie. Just seeing the title makes me want to watch the movie again and again and again. Which meant that I was seriously hoping that the book would be just as good. I was a little wrong. For starters, the book is so much creepier and horrifying than the movie. For another thing. It was just better.

I really expected an easy, fun slightly twisted read when I opened this book. After all, it is described as a children’s twisted fairy tale. And it’s a tiny novel! I was wrong. So very, very wrong. I finished this about 10 o’clock at night… and then just lay there, imagining a creepy hand crawling across the bed towards me in my sleep… I’m really not sure that I would have read this when I was a child. And even if I did… I’m not sure that it would have been a great idea. There are certain downfalls to having such a vivid imagination…

As children, we all have moments when we feel that our family just doesn’t care about us. That we belong somewhere else. And that it could just be so much better if we just had someone who understood us more. Or at least, I felt that way frequently throughout my childhood. I like that Coraline plays on this and gives us a reality in which everything is far more fantastic, fun and just plain exciting than the real world. But at a cost, and it’s one that Coraline just doesn’t want to pay. After all, she realises that real life just isn’t too bad after all…

 <- Angels & VisitationsFragile Things ->

Image source: Goodreads

Sympathy for the Bones by Marjorie M. Liu

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for an apple for the creature book cover

Title: Sympathy for the Bones
Author: Marjorie M. Liu
In: An Apple for the Creature (Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Horror, Witches
Dates read: 7th May 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Ace Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: All my teaching will be for naught if you keep up this way.

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Synopsis

Ruth thought she was raised by someone who loved her. But now she realises that that’s just not quite the case… and she’ll do anything to get out of this sticky situation.

Thoughts

I haven’t read many stories about voodoo or hoodoo (I know there’s a difference, I just don’t know what that difference is…). Yet, it’s something that fascinates me. Which of course immediately drew me into this short story. Especially when the lead female voice was so strong and obviously unhappy with her trainer. Unhappy with the atrocities that she is committing over and over again because the elderly woman is asking her to.

I knew that there would be a bit of blood and death in this story – after all, the title is Sympathy for the Bones. What I didn’t expect was the grave digging, the darkness and the ability of the lead female to turn this darkness to her own advantage. Though I’m not sure if she’s good and was going to walk of into the sunset and live happily ever after. Actually, it kind of felt like she was just following in her mentor’s footsteps and not really pursuing the freedom that she so dearly wished for.

 <- Academy Field Trip ReviewLow School Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Black Feathers edited by Ellen Datlow

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Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Black Feathers
Author: Ellen Datlow, Sandra Kasturi, Nicholas Royle, Seanan McGuire, Paul Tremblay, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Bowes, Alison Littlewood, Jeffrey Ford, Mike O’Driscoll, Usman T. Malik, Stephen Graham Jones, A.C. Wise, M. John Harrison, Pat Cadigan, Livia Llewellyn & Priya Sharma
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Short story collections
Dates read: 23rd January – 27th April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: A sudden croaking cry, and she turns to see the great blue heron flying overhead.

Synopsis

A dazzling anthology of avian-themed fiction guaranteed to frighten and delight, edited by one of the most acclaimed horror anthologists in the genre.

Birds are usually loved for their beauty and their song. They symbolize freedom, eternal life, the soul. But there’s certainly a dark side to the avian. Birds of prey sometimes kill other birds, destroy other birds’ eggs, and even have been known to kill small animals. And who isn’t frightened by birds who eat the dead – vultures awaiting their next meal as the life-blood flows from the dying.

In each of these stories, you will encounter the dark resonance between the human and avian. You will see in yourself the savagery of a predator, the shrewd stalking of a hunter, and you will be lured by birds that speak human language, that make beautiful music, that cypher numbers, and seem to have a moral center. You will wade into this feathered nightmare, and brave the horror of death, trading your safety and sanity for that which we all seek – the promise of flight.

Thoughts

This is my first collection of horror stories. Actually, it’s really my first ever horror novel. So reading this has been a very interesting journey. One that I was surprised to enjoy so much. And, although I didn’t really read any of these stories late at night, I also didn’t get any horrifying nightmares from the tales either. Unlike some of the crime, mystery and thriller novels that I’ve read.

Birds have always fascinated me. And I’ve been wanting to get a parrot for a little while. This collection definitely cured me of that desire. Actually, it cured me of really wanting anything much to do with birds for a little while if I’m being honest. This story not only used the symbolism and activities of birds as a catalyst for the tales of horror, but also pulled them out of your worst nightmares.

Pick this book up if you want a great introduction to the horror genre. And if you have a bit of a fascination with the avian community…

 <- The Best Horror of the Year Volume ElevenO Terrible Bird ->

Image source: Amazon

The Crow Palace by Priya Sharma

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Crow Palace
Author: Priya Sharma
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Family, Horror
Dates read: 27th April 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: It was when she realised that she didn’t sound like other children.

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Synopsis

Julie has returned home to the Crow Palace after years away. Her father’s loss begins to uncover secrets and horrors from the past, making her question everything she is and knows.

Thoughts

This final story in the Black Feathers collection gave me a very uncomfortable feeling. It was a good story to end on, but it was definitely one that made me seriously uncomfortable. It had that open-ended finale that makes you think that the spawn of crows will continue off into the sunset without anyone to stop them.

One of the creepiest things about birds is their tendency to kill their siblings. The oldest and strongest often kills the smaller, younger sibling. And quickly. It seems so normal in the avian world, but when you graft that onto humanity, it’s just a little too spine tinglingly horrifying. Especially when you create a young, innocent and soulfully beautiful younger sibling to match the older, more detached one.

Family is difficult. Even when you are born into a good family, it’s difficult. But when you have one with some incredibly scary secrets and a haunted history… cue the goose bumps people!

 <- The Acid Test ReviewBlack Heart, Ivory Bones Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Acid Test by Livia Llewellyn

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Acid Test
Author: Livia Llewellyn
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Wordplay
Dates read: 27th April 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Outside in the hallway, the telephone rings over and over, crying out like a hungry abandoned bird, while beside me the radio on my headstand cackles with the news, and sometimes in the low afternoon light I think I see a faint movement behind its grooved surface, as if the machine is struggling to free itself from the invisible information pouring in and extruding out of the black plastic and metal of its captive brain.

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Synopsis

A tripped out journey through thoughts, misconceptions and the world around us.

Thoughts

I’ve never done acid. But I imagine that the tripped out experience is a lot like this story. Incredibly confusing, unreal and tangentially jumpy. With lots and lots of long, run on sentences.

I didn’t necessarily love this short story. It was very clever and intriguing. But it was also so convoluted and tripped out that I’m not entirely sure what the point and storyline of this tale was. Actually, I turned the last page and just really didn’t know what I had just read at all. It was all very, very confusing.

 <- A Little Bird Told Me ReviewThe Crow Palace Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Heathcliffs I Have Known by Louisa Young

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Heathcliffs I Have Known
Author: Louisa Young
In: I Am Heathcliff (Kate Mosse)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Twisted romance
Dates read: 17th April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Borough Press
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: “Get off.”

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Synopsis

Who are the Heathcliffs have you known? Are your relationships about love? Or is it something far more sinister?

Thoughts

This made me so damn uncomfortable that I just wanted to put the whole book down. Multiple times. Possibly set it on fire. And the reason that it made me so uncomfortable? It wasn’t fantasy. It wasn’t some far off time. It wasn’t something that I couldn’t quite conceive of. It was about men who take a twisted view on romance and attack us. It is something that happens to everyone. At any time. And it is so damn uncomfortable that I honestly don’t have the words for it. Disgustingly uncomfortable is the closest I can come.

What I hated most about Wuthering Heights was the fact that it is often considered a romance. And some of Heathcliffs actions (if not all) are excused because he was “in love”. Which is bullshit. Complete, total and utter bullshit. And apparently Young agrees with this. After making you squirm more and more and more as you read about the different “Heathcliffs” that have been known, you come to her take on Wuthering Heights. And it is exactly how I felt, making this a not so uncomfortable ending to a story that I don’t think I necessarily want to read again.

 <- The Cord ReviewAmulet and Feathers Review ->
Image source: Harper Collins Publishers

A Little Bird Told Me by Pat Cadigan

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: A Little Bird Told Me
Author: Pat Cadigan
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Death, Horror
Dates read: 22nd April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: “There’s no actual paper-“

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Synopsis

She’s a pen-pusher for the Reapers and Death. But when the birds decide to get involved, things start to get a little confusing.

Thoughts

I have a bit of an obsession with stories about death. Especially ones which personify the collectors of souls which are ready to pass on. There is just something about them that sits so… right with me. Which meant that from the beginning of this story, I was finding it thoroughly enjoyable. If not a little bit odd – after all, I normally tend towards the urban and paranormal fantasy retellings of death, not the horror ones…

Birds have never seemed especially creepy. After all, they’re kind of intriguing, have an intelligence all of their own and can do the cutest, most engaging things. That is until I read this story. Which kind of has a bird uprising against the current system of death. And one that I think could be of both benefit and horror to the masses. It certainly left me feeling a little confused and not at all comfortable with the birds that like to hang out in my front yard…

 <- Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring ReviewThe Acid Test Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Catch Me When You Can… by M. Christian

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: Catch Me When You Can…
Author: M. Christian
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 11th April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: Nah, not that daft piece o’ shite.

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Synopsis

Flashes of life fill out this short story as you take a journey with the victims of Jack the Ripper.

Thoughts

This was a bit of a harder tale to follow than some others. It was kind of jumpy and a little hard to follow. I’m not even 100% sure I understood what was actually going on… I think this was a tale about the five different known victims of Jack the Ripper. Their experiences and the huge gaps in our knowledge of their lives beforehand. The reasons for their murders… and if I’m right, this was actually kind of well done. Leaving me feeling quite confused and as though there is so much more information out there… which is exactly what people who are fascinated by Jack the Ripper feel (I would imagine).

The part that I liked the most about this short story was the very last line. It highlights that there are five known victims, but kind of hints that there is a high possibility of many more…

 <- A Mote of Black Memory ReviewRipper Familias Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring by M. John Harrison

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring
Author: M. John Harrison
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Horror, Mental health
Dates read: 12th April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: London was as quiet as a nursing home corridor.

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Synopsis

China loves Isobel. But Isobel is aiming for something higher. Something that might end their lives together and create a new world view.

Thoughts

This story made me think of anorexia and other eating disorders. Although the storyline features Isobel Avens trying to turn into a bird, her constant weight loss and wish to be something else has serious echoes of an eating disorder. It made me incredibly uncomfortable reading this too, especially since I know a lot of women who have suffered with such horrible body issues…

Unrequited love is a bitch. And honesty, I think it’s what shifts this story into the horror realm for me. It feels like one of the more terrifying things that anyone can experience… China gives his everything to Isobel. And yet, at the end of the tale, that is not enough and he must find a way to either move on in life or be miserable forever…

 <- The Secret of Flight ReviewA Little Bird Told Me Review ->
Image source: Amazon

A Mote of Black Memory by Josh Reynolds

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: A Mote of Black Memory
Author: Josh Reynolds
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Fantasy, Horror
Dates read: 1st April 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: They had not revealed the truth, or perhaps they had, and, like a wound growing gangrenous, fiction had become fact.

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Synopsis

Asking someone to find the presence and aura of a mystery figure from history seems like a good idea. But, when that figure is Jack the Ripper, the terror of Whitechapel… maybe things should just be left as they are…

Thoughts

I’m a big believer in the idea that things that we do in an area leave residual energy. It’s why if I’m ever sick or have bad mental health moments, I don’t rewear those clothes until they have been thoroughly washed. I don’t want the residues to continue hanging around my body. So it makes total sense to me that there is a story which focuses on the residual energies of Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel. And just how dangerous this can be to those who seek it out.

Luckily I didn’t finish this story just before bed time. I read it nice and early in the morning when the sun was still out and shining. The depth of depravity and darkness in this story was almost astounding, and it was certainly terrifying. Even writing this review, I can imagine a black cloud in the distorted shape of the Ripper reaching out his ghoulish hands, rending my soul, piece by little piece…

 <- Jack’s Back ReviewCatch Me When You Can… Review ->
Image source: Amazon