Mystery
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[Book Review] The Dead House By Dawn Kurtagich & Gloria Jean’s Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Coffee With Inclusions
The Dead House is a fantastically dark, chilling mystery told in a very unique case-file style that uses newspaper clippings, transcripts, reports, and very detailed diary entries to tell the story of a very unique girl, two “sisters” trapped in one body, and the horrifying events involving her at Elmbridge High, an English co-ed boarding school, that ended in death and destruction.
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[Novella Review] Nightlife: Hazardous Material By Matthew Quinn Martin & Joe Coffee Wake Up Joe
If you've never heard the real life urban legend of the Polybius arcade games, I highly recommend Googling it before reading this novella – I really think it will increase your enjoyment of the story. According to the legend, which may or may not have some basis in reality, in the early 80’s a handful of Polybius game cabinets were placed in a select few arcades in Portland, Oregon. Apparently, the game was highly addictive, to the point of long lines forming and fights breaking out over who got to play next game, and reports were made of players exhibiting symptoms such as blackouts, amnesia, and night terrors. Periodically “men in…
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[Book Review] Renovation By Lane Robins & Aroma Ridge Cinnamon Mocha Twist
JK Lassiter can pick up psychic atmospheric readings just by walking into a room and with the touch of his hand, assimilate memories, good and bad, along with the overpowering surge of physical and emotional feelings attached to them. These gifts have proved to be more of a curse to JK, one he has to manage with medication and protective gloves to stop from being completely overwhelmed by. Now 28 years-old, he’s tired of his life being ruled by his abilities – which is why he’s excited when a new career path flipping houses opens up, offering a road towards independence and a chance towards a new, normal life. The…
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[Anthology Review] Lovecraft’s Monsters Edited By Ellen Datlow & Boca Java Spiced Vanilla Bean Coffee
I've only ever been a casual fan of Lovecraft, having never delved much into his work or Mythos, but I love his monsters – their intense otherness, the fear of the unknowable they strike in the heart of readers. An anthology paying homage to these monsters, kicked off with the work of Neil Gaiman, was a perfect fit for me.
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[Book Review] Crane By Stacey Rourke & Coffee Shop Of Horrors Ichabod’s Dame
Crane is a very unique and imaginative take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that manages to stay true to the essence of the original while adding in its very own dark twists and turns. The story unfolds in chapters that alternate between present day, with the return of the murderous Headless Horseman, and flashbacks to when the original tale took place in the late 1700's, telling the real story of what transpired all those years ago in Sleepy Hollow.
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[Book Review] The Dark Victorian: Risen By Elizabeth Watasin & ReAnimator Coffee Foundation Blend
The Dark Victorian is a steampunk paranormal detective series featuring senior agent Jim Dastard, a top hat-wearing talking skull, and his new partner, an artificial ghost named Artifice (Art for short). Both are resurrected criminals who have been given a “second life” working for Prince Albert’s Secret Commission, dedicating their talents to protecting crown and country from supernatural threats. The Dark Victorian: Risen is the first volume in the series and sees Jim and Art being assigned as partners and working their first case together – a string of gruesome deaths attributed to a rogue re-animator.
