Review; Danse Macabre

5 stars. I'd recommend this for King fans and horror fans and horror writers... anyone who enjoys reading about horror as much as they enjoy reading the genre itself. King's (delightfully) recognizable voice has been such a comfort during these strange times. In this extraordinary piece of nonfiction, he presents an overview of the horror genre from the 1950s through the 1980s, exploring its origins, mediums, archetypes and all stars. It's an outdated chronicle that I highlighted the shit out of, because I'm an obsessive and I find that this sort of thing charges my batteries. Brain food.

I want to touch on the outdated part - not because it took away from my reading experience, only that it made me thirsty for more. Dear Santa, the only thing I want for Christmas this year is for Stephen King to write a Part II about my last thirty years. Let's talk podcasts, found footage, and creepypastas. Let's talk about the internet, and fan fiction, and STREAMING. I would kill to read this.

Not everything is outdated, though. Many of his theories about why horror is produced and consumed ring true today. Maybe even moreso, today. It was incredibly interesting to read him argue that horror on television never truly took off because it could never be scarier than the news. The way he identifies and characterizes economical horror (using a scene from Amityville Horror as a brilliant example) made me think of, well, Squid Game. There's a reason why that show hit #1 when it did. And the way he describes feeling a sort of maniacal glee destroying the world when he wrote The Stand. Why do you think I read it in mid-2020?

Another idea that stood out to me: "that disbelief is not like a balloon, which may be suspended in air with a minimum of effort; it is like a lead weight, which has to be hoisted with a clean and a jerk and held up by main force. Disbelief isn't light; it's heavy." Only notable because I have had two recent conversations with folks who stay away from fantasy, science fiction and horror because "it isn't real." Devastating, if you ask me.

King is the best, but he's also an expert. As much as he hates on overanalysis and the so-called "critical reading" certain college professors employ (wringing a story dry, essentially), he offers a lot of fantastic writing on the classics. Some of which I agreed with, some of which I did not. But he really, really knows his shit, and I learned so much. I have a long list of books to read and movies to see... I clearly know my way around maybe just one corner of this world. I'm eager for more.

Danse Macabre on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Nothing But Blackened Teeth

Quick status update: I decided at the very, very last minute that 2022 is going to be all about catching up on books that I have or have around but haven't read yet. I desperately need to clear out my KU and my library shelves and also like 100+ books I own - both physically and digitally - that are unread. So far, so good... I'm down to 3 on KU and 2 loans from the library. We'll see if I can keep it up. I'm still on my neverending quest to catch up on series that I started, so that'll be a priority as well. Otherwise I'm going easy on myself this year. Just living is challenging enough.

On to my review...

4 stars. I went in with really high hopes for this, kinda skimmed my way through it dejectedly, but then it ended with a bang that I loved and that shot my rating way up? Not sure that's ever happened before, but here we are. I absolutely adore horror novellas, and Japanese folklore, so this was right up my alley... despite some tortured writing and try-hard vibes.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth features a gathering of old friends, tangled romantic histories very present and very alive, in an ancient mansion so two of them can get married. Immediately it's clear that this web of friendships is unhealthy and tense, which sets things up perfectly for a little supernatural intervention. Okay, a lot of supernatural intervention. Things get crazy fast. Horror is inevitable. Tragedy is inevitable.

The unfurling of this plot is dragged down a bit by prose absolutely dripping - sopping wet - with metaphors (see what I did there?). But it's lightened by the occasional self-aware/meta comment by a character, and by what's left unsaid, which is a whole damn lot. A full-length version of this story might've been a lot of things: scarier, more intimate, less confusing. But the short length crisps up nicely and lets us as readers be smart enough to draw our own conclusions.

The imagery is on point if not a little repetitive, though what stands out to me is the ending. It's so difficult, maybe almost impossible, to land perfectly with horror... but the final pages of NBBT left me relieved, satisfied, and unsettled (in a good way) all at once. Not to sound too much like a weird neighbor or a toxic boss, but I'll be keeping an eye on Cassandra Khaw. This book is badass.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Between Two Fires

5 stars... the easiest 5 star rating I've ever awarded. I highly, highly recommend this exquisite book of religious, medieval horror. Wow. My high expectations were absolutely blown to smithereens. I wish I had read this in school because the urge to dive into these words and do the whole analysis/dissection/discussion thing is very strong.

Between Two Fires takes place in mid-1300s France; the Plague Years. Thomas, a disgraced knight who has fallen into thievery with a group of brigands, encounters a young girl in a Norman village. She is alone and innocent and he feels, almost inexplicably, protective of her. But then she starts spouting religious lore and prophecies, and seems to know things - and possess skills that she shouldn't. Despite his questions, Thomas follows the girl on a sort of pilgrimage for the sake of his soul and for the sake of the world.

While I could definitely argue that this book hit me so right because it checks a lot of personally-interesting boxes (medieval horror, religious horror, plague stuff, disturbing monsters, found family), I would also say that it is simply on its face a tremendous and successful story. There is lightness and humor and hope written in ways that don't seem cheesy... these elements just add to the fullness and richness of the narrative arc. And the details! Christopher Buehlman really knows what he's talking about. The world he drops us into is immersive and vivid.

I don't usually gush over characters (I read a review on this godforsaken website recently in which the reviewer wished a certain male hero would "slap her ass like a drum"), but I really, really love Thomas, Matthieu and Delphine. They are as admirable as they are askew, and lovable in that I know you are doomed sort of way. Thomas especially ... oof. Not saying he could slap my ass, but I'd love to give him a hug, lol.

I can't go without mentioning that I happen to be a non-religious person who really enjoys religious stories, especially religious horror. I mean look - an epic battle between heaven and hell over the souls of earth? That just makes for a damn good story. It's good vs evil, a classic, and it simmers with fun, disturbing possibilities. But there is a quality to the war as it is depicted in this book that is especially heartwrenching and gorgeous. I studied art history in school, and I swear I could see the angels and demons fighting like in the paintings I've memorized.

My first read of 2022 and I already know it'll be on my Top 5 list for the year. I can't wait to read it again - was tempted to turn back to page 1 the second I finished it. Phew. Again: wow. This is so my fucking cup of tea. More, please? How about a Between Three Fires, just for the fun of it?

Between Two Fires on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Lost Village

4 stars. This is pretty much a perfect thriller, or at least, perfectly suited to my reading interests (Scandinavian, well-paced, super dark and super spooky). It reminded me of an elevated slasher - cinematic in tone but sophisticated in premise, execution and resolution.

The Lost Village is about a group of five filmmakers who travel to an isolated ghost town in remote Sweden to make a documentary about an old mystery: in 1959, the murdered, mutilated body of a resident was found in the center square, and all other residents of the town had disappeared. Alice, whose grandmother's family vanished along with the rest, is determined to trace her way from the past to the present and find some answers along the way. Narration alternates between the present and the past... throwing that out there because I know flashbacks are an annoyance for some readers.

I'll say upfront that I docked a star because I absolutely could not stand the protagonist (being inside her head made me itch), but I wonder if the author intentionally made her a little naive/prickly/selfish because she's more realistic that way... insecurities battling headstrong determination at every turn. I can relate to that. Something about her just didn't quite click, though. I suppose she acted when it mattered, in the end.

Beyond that, I completely admire the author's presentation of mental illness. We owe mentally ill women especially patience, time, and comprehensive, accessible care, even in fictional worlds that are often dominated by men, or by inappropriate villainizing. It's a shame that such a stigma still exists around something that causes so many so much suffering, and we should reckon with the past by doing better in the future. I'll look to authors like this for hope when I feel like I'm screaming into the void.

LOVED the atmosphere. LOVED the creepy moments and the dread - this felt full-on horror during certain moments. A story like this must go horribly wrong for the characters at some point, and the author really went there, painfully. I could barely put this down except when I needed a breather. LOVED the ending.

The Lost Village on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Last House on Needless Street

5 stars. WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING MOTHERFUCKING MESSED UP MEMORY PALACE DID I JUST READ?! I could only DREAM of developing a story like this, let alone WRITING IT and WRITING IT PERFECTLY. I am all heart-eyes after that sublime, scary, sad, spectacular reading experience. HIGHLY recommend, and highly recommend going in as blind as possible. Normally I don't care about spoilers, but this time: AVOID THEM.

At the beginning of The Last House on Needless Street we meet Ted. Ted is struggling to keep it together in order to care for his daughter, as well as his cat Olivia. He drinks too much, can't keep a job and suffers from mysterious gaps in his memory. We know immediately that something is wrong in Ted's world, but the truth isn't revealed until we've bobbed and weaved through the twists and turns of his mental landscape. And it is a fascinating journey.

For a book that tackles such dark subjects - abuse and murder, in all their horriflying shapes and sizes - it's really, really funny. Olivia serves as a hilarious narrator with all her cat-titude and superiority. Even Ted has his moments of wry irony and... dare I say it, adorable self-awareness? The depictions of mental illness, addiction, even criminal behavior were done with astute understanding and even compassion. It all works together, in the end, like one of Ted’s ridiculous recipes.

But I can't go without praising, beyond the brilliance of the premise, the brilliance of the plotting. This is, without a doubt, one of the most perfectly paced, perfectly plotted books I've ever read. I saw nothing coming and loved it. The layers are revealed almost lovingly, and they all made perfect sense in the big picture. Nothing felt cheap or too far or too convenient. This book demands a re-read, which I may do almost immediately, because I want to bask in the awareness of what the clues mean this time.

When you read a lot of horror like me, you tend to recognize the landscape. I'm so happy to report that this book took me somewhere entirely new. I'm excited to see what comes from Catriona Ward next. (Can we talk about the US cover though? Not exactly... the choice that I would've made. Don't judge this book by that cover.)

TEAM OLIVIA.

The Last House on Needless Street on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Chasing the Boogeyman

3 stars. Interesting! I'm not sure I would call this horror, exactly, or even a thriller... it's more like a uniquely formatted memoir/mystery. I've never read anything by Richard Chizmar before, but 10 pages in I was like ... okay, this guy loves Stephen King. And Ray Bradbury. Sure enough, he references and admires both loudly. I think that's awesome, and those authors are the absolute masters, but I wish horror authors would channel someone else every now and then, lol. It was just so obvious.

Chasing the Boogeyman is a fictional story written as though it is a new edition of a non-fiction true crime book "originally published" in the 90s about a series of murders that "take place" n the 80s. The setting, and even some of the characters, are real. The killings/circumstances are not, but that doesn't matter. It's still a strong narrative and a real pageturner. I read it in one day. Think I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

Unfortunately this didn't... really meet my expectations. It read like a slightly more elevated creepypasta, like something you'd find on r/nosleep, which isn't a bad thing, it just didn't blow me out of the water. I can't relate to the deep nostalgia Richard Chizmar felt for his childhood and adolescence, not just because I didn't grow up in a small town, but because I wasn't as, well, privileged. Bradbury admittedly looks back at the 50s with rose-tinted glasses, but at least he chose to express a profound sense of humility and gratitude over a sort of feaux-aw shucks attitude and melodramatic posturing about growing up.

Eesh, that sounds really harsh. I'm sorry! This is one of the highest rated horror books of the year, and probably deserves it for the creativity of the premise alone. The chapters about the murders were well-written - although I PICKED OUT THE KILLER ALMOST IMMEDIATELY! Why does my brain do that! I was so bummed when I found out I had been right ... I was really hoping for a better twist.

I'd better stop before I complain this into oblivion. Listen, I recommend it. I liked it! I'd like to read more by Chizmar. It's perfect for fans of King and Bradbury and true crime books. It has clever moments. I loved the pictures, as staged as they looked haha. The blending of the real and the fictional is very well done. It just didn't ... you know, thrill me.

Chasing the Boogeyman on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Dark Histories: Season Three

5 stars. Absolutely wonderful as ever, Season 3 starts off with a bang with The Green Bicycle Mystery (a classic) and carries through with more entertaining, compelling, dark stories. Honestly picking this up was one of the best things for my brain during this anxious time and I wish I had an unlimited supply! Recommended, as always, for fans of the podcast or for fans of true crime, creepy history, etc.

Ben's writing went from great to even better in this one. I always have a favorite, and this time it was The Dodleston Messages (not terribly creepy but for some reason super fascinating/funny to me), but I also really enjoyed Death Raft and Harry Price & the Seance of Rosalie - both unfamiliar to me prior to reading. The details in Death Raft are so vivid and dreadful and disturbing I couldn't get the images out of my head for a few days and researched further.

What a time for those of us into all things creepy! Ben is like my own personal curator of the Wikipedia articles I consumed as a young person. MORE PLEASE!

Dark Histories, Season Three on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Razorblade Tears

5 stars. Absolutely electrifying - about as real as it gets. These characters are not extreme caricatures - the real folks they're based on are just that extreme. Virginian born-and-raised here and I got goosebumps recognizing the divides - generational, race-based, minority-based, class-based, etc. - I have witnessed and experienced in this state all my life. To depict a story like this without using obnoxious symbolism, without stumbling over political tripwires, without leaning too much toward condemnation, without allowing even a whiff of insecurity over the subject matter... is super impressive. It's just a real book. It's a real thing, a real scenario. These characters, and these situations, exist.

Razorblade Tears is about two fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, who have very little in common except for their homophobia and the fact that their sons were married to each other before they were shot and killed. Driven to work through their grief and regrets, the fathers set out to find answers and avenge the sons they never defended or accepted when they were alive. It's a book about masculinity, sexuality, race, fatherhood, loss, and fear, set importantly in the complicated Virginia south. It's also a damn good thriller.

S.A. Cosby writes with a sharpness I admire. Insanely painful subject matter aside, his word choices and frank sentences complement the tight pacing and wry storytelling. Razorblade Tears is incredibly cinematic and violent and touches the very heart of what has gone so wrong in this dreadful experiment that is America. It is written with deep understanding, sensitivity and respect for circumstances and context and for multifaceted characters who simmer with contradiction and hypocrisy, even sometimes with self-awareness. And with the capacity for growth.

That sounds like so much, and it is. Just like living here in today's day and age is so much. But Cosby manages to blend in just enough humor, lightness, and a satisfying crunchiness that reading this isn't without closure, or hope. Oh my god, it's so good. It just strikes me as a story that landed in the right hands at the right time and out came something painfully perfect. I cannot recommend it enough. Looking forward to the inevitable adaptation already!

Razorblade Tears on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Death of Jane Lawrence

5 stars. By far one of my most exciting reads of 2021; Caitlin Starling is officially on my radar as an incredibly innovative horror author and I can't wait to read her other work. My expectations were absolutely shattered - the thing is, everyone tries to do Rebecca. Everyone. But no one can quite get there, because Rebecca is Rebecca and that's what makes it so great. Starling knows this, so she takes the basics and slams them into a messy pulp, mixes in a touch of Vita Nostra, and pops a magical cherry on top.

The Death of Jane Lawrence opens with our logical Jane determined to pursue a marriage of convenience with doctor Augustine Lawrence. She's run the numbers (literally), and figures that he is the perfect candidate for a mutually beneficial arrangement... to be husband and wife but only in name. And then Jane meets the good doctor, and encounters a deep attraction that wobbles her carefully crafted existence. Quickly Jane discovers that desire cannot be measured, or predicted, or controlled.

Even more mysterious is Dr. Lawrence's rules: he must spend every night at his manor without her. It suits Jane just fine until an unhappy accident lands her with no other option than to join him for a night. But she finds the manor to be a woeful and neglected place, not to mention her new husband's frantic paranoid reaction to her presence there. Normally I'd stop the synopsis with that, but I'll include: as Jane attempts to navigate her new marriage under such dark circumstances, she encounters an arrogant group of doctor/magicians, a new metaphysical philosophy, impossible hauntings and terrible ghosts and a quest that takes her to the most extraordinary limits of her mind, body and soul.

A big part of my strong reaction to this book has to do with how refreshingly unpredictable it is. My heart was pounding by the time I reached the final pages. Usually I can see where things are going, you know? As a frequent reader of gothic horror it can be easy to see where twists and turns typically lead. BUT NOT THIS TIME. Nope, get ready for a wild, mind-bending, thrilling, weird ride. I absolutely loved it. What could've been heavy with tropes absolutely flew out of this world and into another.

I also loved Jane. Of course she's annoying, especially in the beginning - normally I hate characters who poke their nose where it doesn't belong. But the more I read the more I realized that Jane is a perfectly formed character who is perfectly suited to this particular journey. A lot of reviewers harped on the fact that she grew so obsessed/dedicated to a man she had basically just met - and I agree, that's a bit of a stretch. But to me it's a narrative way to demonstrate how Jane's world both narrows and expands at the same time. She prefers a controlled, logical existence, but she is drawn to the strange fire she feels for Augustine; he is an opportunity for her... plus, she's stubborn AF. Jane isn't really the type to just let things go, you know?

I wanted more, but I really appreciate the lingering questions. I can't wait to re-read this one again and again. (The writing, the flow of the words, is also really beautiful.) I cannot emphasize enough: The Death of Jane Lawrence is so much fun.

Further reading:

Vita Nostra
Jane Eyre
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Rebecca, LOL

The Death of Jane Lawrence on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: You Love Me (You #3)

4 stars. I liked this one a lot better than Hidden Bodies; it’s like Joe slipped back into the game we all know and loved in You. That was really smart of Caroline Kepnes, as I don’t think this series would succeed as one long arc. I love that each book is episodic… it keeps Joe’s adventures fresh and exciting. And I think, realistically, Joe Goldberg wouldn’t be able to stay in one place for very long anyway. So he’s done New York, he’s done LA and now he’s tackling the Pacific Northwest, trying and hoping to be good and normal and as upstanding as possible for the sake of the son he’s never met. Trying. Hoping.

He meets someone new, of course. A new You. And from there we get a front row seat to his obsession as he schemes and manipulates and applies old tricks in new ways. As expected, it’s wild and refreshing and his voice is entertaining and the twists and turns keep the pages turning. There’s that itch again - that itch that makes me want to scream at Joe while knowing, deep down, in so many ways, that he’s right. His observations and criticisms are … shit, I don’t want to say valid or justified. Truthful, maybe. Honest in ways we might have trouble admitting to ourselves.

I love when books exist in a universe where other books exist - where pop culture is a tool used for humor or context or self-awareness. Here it gives the You books a sort of wry opportunity to wink at the reader… mentions of Dexter are nothing short of meta genius. Poor Bainbridge: no place is safe from Joe’s judgment. (I can’t WAIT for him to absolutely crucify Florida in the next book, but can we get one where he ends up in Washington, D.C.? I want to see Joe bitch about WMATA and mock Capitol Hill interns for wearing their badges on the weekend and rub shoulders at the Kennedy Center with the Washington Elite. I would love to see Joe in the world of politics - he’d fit right in.)

Anyway, I’m all in. Sure the ending got a little weird/rushed, but we all knew that a happy one wasn’t in the cards, right? I knew something was coming, because our dear Joe likes to work. He likes projects. I don’t see victory tasting sweet to him, or as sweet as he’d hope.

You Love Me on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads