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Maggie’s Grave by David Sodergren | Review
If you haven’t added Maggie’s Grave to you TBR, then why the hell not? This is in my opinion the best example of a witchy folk tale horror out there. It brings it all to the table, Sodergren slaps it all down, liquified organs and all. The first couple of chapters are usually enough to decide whether a book is going to be for you…the author nailed it in one. I had a keen sense of foreboding, that small time village feel, residents knowing everything about you, talking about you, judging you. Sodergren nails it. The shades of darkness is quite literally written on the wall. “Was this parenthood? Love…
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The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins | Blog Tour Review
The Wife Upstairs is an absolutely stonker of a Jane Eyre retelling. Compulsive, enthralling but be prepared with that body armour because you are going to need it! Tragic and astounding. The story immediately calls for audience participation. You want to jump into the book and knock some sense into a lot of people but that is what’s just brilliant about this story. This story is an escape, it made realise just how boring and dull my everyday life is. Dependable husband. Three kids. Nice house. Quiet. Something that the protagonist of the story has dreamed of her entire life. The Wife Upstairs had everything that I adore about mystery…
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The Malan Witch by Catherine Cavendish | Review
The Malan Witch reminded me that I don’t read enough witchy stories. This story had the eerie creepiness that made you realise that witches aren’t so ugly old hag with warts on her face, a long misshapen nose, and a pointy hat. It was easy to imagine sitting around a campfire having this story read, it was cosy and mildly unsettling. The Malan Witch has central themes of grief and loneliness being at the epicentre. Robyn has lost the love of her life in the most traumatic of consequences. Her husband died of cancer. She had to endure watching him be fit and healthy and robust what seemed like one…
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The Balance by Kev Harrison | Review
The Balance epitomises everything that I love about folktale horror. It’s a story of balance, order, the coming full circle. There’s secrets at every corner, an unknown set of scales allowing harmony and control. What happens when humanity grasps for more control, more power? Will that balance tip and allow everything to come crashing all down? Time doesn’t exist whilst reading this book. Yes, you can hear it whittling down, each tick getting louder and louder until it beats furiously in your brain, making the tension all that more palpable. The balance is a work of art. This book crept up on me and felt like a sledgehammer on the…
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Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone | ARC Review
Mirrorland…first that cover told me about all the blows it would deliver. It’s dark, it’s intimidating and the abyss you’re staring at? Yeah, it’s going to pull you all the way under. Not going to lie, I always wished I had a sister, but a twin sister? Shouldn’t that just come with a health warning, plain and simple? Your sense of identity is shrouded around being part of a pair. Mothers of twins the world over tend to dress them the same, do their hair the same and treat them the same. How to you break free when your treated as half of a whole? The first chapter of Mirrorland…
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The Lament of the Silver Badger by Oli Jacobs | Review
The Lament of the Silver Badger is a collection of horror short stories by Oli Jacobs. Once again, the author has knocked it out of the mother-fucking park! I’ve read more than a few short story collections of late and can hand on heart say that this is the best one I’ve read to date. Let me just clarify my feelings and thoughts during my read of this awesome collection. WHAT THE HELL? WHAT DID I JUST READ? IT’S COMING, ITS TOTALLY COMING NO WAY… THAT CAN’T BE THE END!! THIS IS AWESOME These were my thoughts while reading Oli Jacob’s highly imaginative short story collection. You know you’ve found…
