book reviews

Book reviews for horror fans; weather a sleepless night with literary accounts of hauntings, possessions, zombies, vampires and beyond.

Book Review: "The House of a Hundred Whispers" by Graham Masterton
You have probably heard of the haunted house stories - we have got everything from the book that scared yours truly as a child, "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James all the way to the subversively chilling "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson. We have all read the stories of children being gone in the night with a kidnapper somewhere far away. But then you take the crux of these two stories and you combine them to get Graham Masterton's "The House of a Hundred Whispers". A chilling and eerie masterpiece filled with descriptions of old, creaking staircases that throw you back into classic horror until you realise that the child that has gone missing never left the house. He went missing inside the house.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Horror
The Umbrella Lady by V.C. Andrews - BOOK REVIEW
A young girl who has lost her father finds herself at the mercy of a mysterious woman who is not quite what she seems. Left on a train platform in an unfamiliar village, little Saffron Faith Anders is certain her father will return shortly, just like he promised. She holds out hope even as the hours pass and the station grows dark. When a strange old woman with a large umbrella approaches and inquiries about her situation, Saffron doesn’t immediately trust the imposing do-gooder, but with the chances of her father returning growing ever slimmer, she agrees to rest at the old woman’s house.
By Ted Ryan5 years ago in Horror
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
Where should I start? This book takes you on a wild adventure. From horror, to ghostly, to immaculately written. This book was one of the best books I have ever read, and I grew an emotional attachment to the ghostly character. It takes a lot for me to grow an attachment with any book I read, seeing how I give away my books after I've read them. I don't find that I enjoy rereading any books, but this specific book I could read for the rest of my life and still love it, even if I can guess what's going to happen before it happens.
By Michelle White5 years ago in Horror
Shapeshifting Night Owl
Eeringly hooting, silently gazing, & territorially possessing, Malor is waiting in bone penetrating darkness for his prey. His focus and will are without flexibility in this moment. His readiness of action is still and immaculate. Malor has been waiting to devour his prey with joyable ruthlessness. How could Malor feel any mercy for a man that abused his mother, privately molested him, and cowardly got rid of his dog that his mother and father bought him for his fifth birthday?
By I AM5 years ago in Horror
ROSE
ROSE is a fantasy-horror novel by Rami Ungar that tells the story of Rose Taggert, a 21-year old sociology graduate, specializing in criminology who awakens in a greenhouse with no clear memory of the past two years of her life and discovers that her body is in the process of transforming into a human/plant hybrid. Root-like tentacles are emerging from her neck; a crown of rose-buds is growing out of her head and her skin has turned green.
By Eric B. Ruark5 years ago in Horror
Reed's Literary Horror Review of 'Through The Deep Forest' by Russell C. Connor (2021)
Yeah, this is a pretty good dark fantasy. It's not my favorite read coming out of 2020, but then this is my first for 2021 and had its hooks in pretty deep. Already I'm giving this one my ADHD seal of approval. I found it easier to consume than most of the books I read in 2020 which is an impressive feat, in of itself. Seriously, getting me to throw back 100 pages in a single sitting just never happens. Due to my severe ADHD, it can take me a good week to read a whole book, this one I took down in three days.
By Reed Alexander5 years ago in Horror
The Psychology of The Haunting of Hill House
It's rare for a novel to genuinely earn the term “psychological horror.” Haunted house stories, along many others in the horror genre, tend to rely on our more primal responses to make an impression. Vampires, serial killers, and demonic spirits can be used effectively to disturb us, but rarely do creatures like these confront a person's identity, persona, and insecurities so palpably. With Shirley Jackson's novel, however, these are the essential elements at play. Through the delicate language used to express her characters' thoughts and feelings, built up with layers of personal experiences exacerbated by inexplicable forces, we're given a story that turns out the psyches of those characters for us to feel, empathize with, and above all, to share in their terror.
By Sanya Walma5 years ago in Horror
The Worm and His Kings
A friend of mine gave me this book knowing what a fan I am of all things Gothic, Horror and Fantasy. And from the get-go, let me just say that I wasn’t disappointed. Hailey Piper’s novella transcends the LGBTQ niche in which it is usually placed. It is truly a magnificent story.
By Eric B. Ruark5 years ago in Horror
Upcoming Book
The horror genre has always been close to my heart. A child of the 80’s I grew up among some of the most disturbing horrific characters that have ever come across the big screen 📺 as well as the tv screen. Kudos to Stephen King for his “It” that either instilled in me a fear of clowns 🤡 or it exacerbated it.
By Erin Geil5 years ago in Horror
Reed's Literary Horror Review of 'While The Witch Whispered a Prayer' by Alan L. Perkins (2020)
Is Historical Urban Fantasy a thing? That's what this comes down to; a Historical Fiction that is also a Dark Fantasy. While it definitely has a hard horror edge, I wouldn't classify it as horror. It's more of an action-adventure which is why I consider it Dark Fantasy. But GOOD LORD the historical accuracy of this Dark Fantasy is engrossing.
By Reed Alexander5 years ago in Horror
Fallen by Lauren Kate - Book Review
This review was originally written in 2016 and published on Goodreads: This is a book was sitting on my bookshelf since I was sixteen, but I never got round to actually reading it and as I was recently given the rest of the series and the film adaptation is due for release this September, I thought I should finally read it.
By Ted Ryan5 years ago in Horror
BloodLaw by Blaise Ramsay
The chills. The thrills. The overwhelming sense of impending dread that conjures images of pure nightmare fuel. This is what makes a good monster story.
By Warren Johnson5 years ago in Horror