Reviews
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[Anthology Review] The Monstrous Edited By Ellen Datlow & Dark Matters Coffee Giant Step Dark Roast
The Monstrous is a collection of some truly dark tales, but they're not just tales of horror and depravity for the sake of shock value - these are stories that will stick with the reader and make them think, even though the thoughts conjured may not be truly comfortable to contemplate.
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[Book Review] Goosebumps Most Wanted Special Edition #1: Zombie Halloween By R. L. Stine & Coffee Shop Of Horrors Hare’m Scare’m Demented Harvest Autumn Spice
It’s a Goosebumps Halloween! Back in the day, I used to watch Goosebumps on tv and read the books - all in broad daylight and they still scared the bejeezus out of me (the ones with that living dummy gave me nightmares). They recently added the show to Netflix and I marathoned it in the days before Halloween this year (don’t judge me). I was completely surprised by how...cheesy it seems to me now, but cheesy in fun way. That’s how Zombie Halloween felt to me – cheesy, but in a fun, nostalgic way that totally brought me back to my childhood when Halloween was scary in that fun, innocent…
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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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[Book Review] Taking A Chance By A.M. Arthur & CoffeeAM Orange Coconut Flavored Coffee
The Restoration Series follows three best friends – James, Boxer, and Elliott – all finding love after experiencing some major setbacks in their lives. Each book features one of the three finding love, with the other two friends playing their own important roles in their friend's story. Taking A Chance is Elliott’s story and, oh my goodness, does Elliott experience some heartbreaking setbacks! After the year from hell, Elliott Quinn is fresh out of rehab and trying to get his life back on track. His confidence is at an all-time low and all his focus is on getting back on his feet – that is until he lays eyes on…
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[Book Review] The Suffering By Rin Chupeco & Deadly Grounds Coffee Hell’s Fury
Okiku, the 300 year old vengeful spirit of a murdered Japanese teenage girl, and Tark, a seventeen-year old Japanese-American high school student/spirit magnet, are back in The Suffering, a companion novel to The Girl From The Well. In The Girl From The Well, Okiku helped Tarq fight the evil living within his skin. Now the two are inseparable (literally). They make a bit of an odd team, what with one being a vengeful spirit who often looks like a rotting corpse and all, but the two are actually the best of friends. Okiku helps Tark with his hobby of exorcising spirits and Tark helps Okiku carry out her bloody vengeance…
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[Book Review] Led Astray: The Best Of Kelley Armstrong By Kelley Armstrong & Ghost Town Coffee Roaster Stonehouse Espresso
Kelley Armstrong is a master storyteller, a fact made abundantly clear in this “best of” collection. There are 23 stories featured in this book, 21 previously published and 2 brand new, never before seen tales. Fans of Kelley Armstrong will recognize some familiar characters and settings, and some new, from the author’s Otherworld, Cainsville, Darkest Powers/Darkness Rising, and Age of Legends series. The only series I have read is the Darkest Powers (and that was years ago), but I was able to enjoy every story in this collection, so no worries for readers who are unfamiliar with any or all of these series.
