Cruel Castle by Bryony Pearce

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Little Tiger Group in exchange for an honest review.

THIS IS A SEQUEL TO SAVAGE ISLAND. SPOILERS FOR SAVAGE ISLAND AHEAD.

I am a huge fan of Red Eye, a lesser known YA horror series following in the footsteps of Point Horror and other 90s teen horror but with a distinctly modern feel and a much creepier tone overall. Cruel Castle is the sequel to Savage Island, focusing on three surviving characters from the first book: Grady, Ben and Lizzie. After Grady killed Carmen at the end of the previous book, it turns out he faked the deaths of Ben and Lizzie and helped them go on the run. Grady works for Gold in a team of fellow psychopaths and the plot kicks off when he displeases Gold and they are all sent on a 'team bonding exercise' which might involve a few deadly escape rooms in a remote castle.

This was pretty much everything you could want from a sequel to Savage Island. It initially felt like a bit of a copout that Lizzie and Ben were still alive, but Pearce manages to make it work and create a plot which justifies it happening. The use of escape rooms to continue the theme of the previous book whilst also making it new was a genius move and those were definitely my favourite sections to read about. The rooms get pretty creative and offer a lot of fun (and genuinely intense) horror. The new characters were inventive and intriguing, and my only complaint is that some of them didn't stick around as long as I would have liked as I was enjoying learning about them.

Overall, Cruel Castle is a fantastic horror book for teens or adults alike. If you're a fan of the first one or even just a fan of the 'horrific games' subgenre, there's a lot to like here. I really hope a third one of these gets released as there is huge promise here, and I am always glad to see new Red Eye books released.

Overall Rating:

Horseman by Christina Henry

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

Christina Henry is one of my favourite authors without a doubt. I have enjoyed her recent journeys into entirely original work but a part of me has sorely missed her ability to adapt traditional tales with that fantastic horror spin and tone. Horseman satisfied all of those cravings and more.

Horseman is the story of Ben, a trans teenager from the town of Sleepy Hollow. The headless horseman legends have always plagued his town but things become a bit too real when the corpse of a child is found with his hands and head missing. Ben decides to investigate but is held back by his grandma and grandfather, the former of which thinks it is unladylike to traipse around the woods and the latter of which seems to have secrets of his own.

This is a largely original horror story which only uses elements of the Sleepy Hollow mythos, often to great effect. Ben was a fantastic main character and I felt the trans identity stuff fit well with the themes of the novel (take this with a pinch of salt as I am not trans). Parts of this book felt a little slow or like not a huge ton was happening, but the creepy atmosphere was always there and I was never entirely sure what was going on in a good way. The characters as always are incredibly strong and they really helped add to the compelling nature of the book.

Overall, this is a solid effort from Henry and one I definitely recommend checking out, especially around the spooky autumn season. It's an interesting story with plenty of creepy elements and a strong main character, with added trans rep as a bonus. It's not my favourite book by Henry but it's a fantastic horror book and well worth the read.

Overall Rating:

.5

Trigger warnings clarity: Lots of gore/graphic descriptions of dead bodies. Transphobia comes from characters aimed at the main character, not from the nature of the book itself. There is attempted rape

Halloween Night on Monster Island by Clark Roberts

I was offered a free copy of this book by the author. However, it was available on Kindle Unlimited at the time and so I read it through that. All opinions are my own, genuine ones.

I was the biggest fan of Goosebumps back in the day and honestly, I still am. I was really intrigued by the premise of this book as evil theme parks and Halloween check a lot of my horror boxes, and the promise of Goosebumps-like thrills drew me in. Delightfully, this book managed to provide everything I could hope for and more.

Halloween Night on Monster Island is the story of a group of children who go to stay with their mysterious Uncle Victor for Halloween. Victor happens to own a spooky theme park called Monster Island which the kids have all to themselves, except for Victor's young assistant and the creepy park caretaker. Things start to get a little too spooky though as it seems like real monsters might be on the island.

I mean it as the biggest compliment when I say this book perfectly captures the tone and unique feel of Goosebumps. I'd actually argue it's a little better than the modern books. The cliffhangers for each chapter are more subtly done, the characters a little more fleshed out and less interchangeable. I had an absolute blast reading this book and it is perfectly designed to read to your child at night. The chapters are very short which makes it easy to make sure you can time readings and they don't go on too long, and the aforementioned cliffhangers would make a child want to keep reading on.

Overall, I cannot recommend this book more. It's perfect for the spooky season or just for the child/child at heart who loves old school Goosebumps-type stories. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this book was and it is well worth checking out.

Overall Rating:

.5

Beyond the Veil edited by Mark Morris

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.

It's somewhat rare for me to enjoy the majority of a horror anthology, despite my love for horror short stories. I am pleased to report that Beyond the Veil is one of the best ones I have read in a while. There is no strong theme or link between the stories but most are supernatural and all have the same kind of 'feel' to them, which makes for a great reading experience. I also appreciated the distinct lack of erotic horror as it's a genre I find often isn't done well (or maybe doesn't mesh with me personally) and can dominate anthologies without any warning that it's there. 

There are tons of stories included and I can't talk about them all without a super long review, so I'll just mention some of my favourites.

The God Bag by Christopher Golden-A man discovers his dying mother has a secret prayer bag with a dark twist. This is the first story in the anthology and it really set such a strong precedent for the others. I was completely absorbed by this one and, though it wasn't surprising, it was a fantastic short story.

Caker's Man by Matthew Holness-A creepy neighbour obsessed with feeding the narrator cake fuels this story. I wasn't super keen on how it ended, but the atmosphere was great and it's one of the most unique horror stories I've read in a while so I definitely appreciated that.

A Mystery for Julie Chu by Stephen Gallagher-A woman buys a strange object at a car bootsale with spooky results. This was one I really wished was a full-length story as I was desperate to read more. Great characters and a setup which made for a nice break from the darker stories in this collection.

Overall, I couldn't recommend this more. This really is a solid collection of horror stories and there is something here for most tastes. It would serve well as an introduction for someone looking to branch into reading horror, or just as Halloween reading for a longterm horror fan.

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The Therapist by B A Paris

 I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.

The Therapist is the story of Alice, a woman who moves into a new home and becomes obsessed with the woman who lived there before her. Convinced by a visitor to investigate, she starts to suspect that her new neighbours aren't all what they seem.

This was a decent, well-crafted thriller if a bit basic. I read it two months ago and don't remember a ton of the details now, but I enjoyed it quite a bit as an audiobook experience. I remember confusing two of the characters/not being quite sure what was going on at certain points, but the ending was satisfying enough and it had a decent amount of tension. Sadly I can't remember much more detail than that but I've definitely read worse thrillers.

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Whispers and Screams by Kerri Lapierre and Nadia Teoli

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher BooksGoSocial in exchange for an honest review.

This collection was short and sweet. The stories are very short which might put some people off, but I appreciated the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark vibes. The stories felt similar to those ones but a bit more sophisticated: still for children but not quite as basic. This definitely isn't a collection for older readers but I found it had a lot of charm and I really enjoyed it as an adult reader knowing what I was getting in for. I can see this being a nice change of pace to read to kids before bed to introduce them to the horror genre without them being too scared by it. Some of the stories are a bit basic but others have nice touches to them. Given it was co-authored by a 12 year old, this is a decent anthology for sure.

Overall Rating:

.5

Midsummer Mysteries by Agatha Christie

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK in exchange for an honest review.

Having enjoyed Midwinter Murder, I was intrigued to see how this summer collection compared. I think on the whole it is a decent collection of stories, albeit it with less strong theming than the previous collection. There are certainly stronger summer stories which could have been included to rectify this but I actually think the way the collection ended up is better this way. It is clear that sacrifices have been made in terms of theme in order to present a more unique and varied collection, and I do appreciate that. Instead of 12 Poirot stories, every detective gets an outing and there were plenty of stories I'd not read before as a seasoned Christie fan which was nice.

If you enjoyed the previous book in this collection or else you just want a chance to read more of Christie's short stories, you can't go wrong here. The cover is beautiful as always and I really enjoyed the selection of stories here. It's the perfect gift for the Christie fan in your life, or for you to take away on holiday with you.

Overall Rating:

.5

Autumnal by Daniel Kraus

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Independent Publishers Group, Vault Comics in exchange for an honest review.

It's rare for me to dislike a graphic novel but trust me when I say Autumnal truly blew me away. Focused on a single woman and her daughter, the story begins when she inherits a house from her mother and returns to her childhood home. Upon returning though, it quickly becomes apparent that something weird is happening with the leaves, and an old rhyme from her childhood might have more than a kernel of truth to it.

The atmosphere of this graphic novel is astounding. The art, the characters, the general story all come together in a wonderful way. There are strong Stephen King vibes here in terms of story and tone, but it also manages to be much more unique than that and bring an atmosphere all its own. The characterisation is so strong and this really helped drive the horror. I was so completely absorbed by the story, I read it all in one sitting and I know I will be thinking about this for a long while.

If you want a new creepy graphic novel for the spooky season, you can't go wrong here. It's perfect for getting you in the mood for Halloween, but also more generally is just a solid tale of horror. I would love to read more stuff like this and I can't wait to see what the artists/authors do next.

Overall Rating:

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

I go back and forth on Stephen Graham Jones as an author and sadly, this was one of the misses for me. I am giving it 3 stars because I think a lot of the reasons it wasn't for me are just personal, and I definitely urge you to give it a try if you like his other work.

My Heart is a Chainsaw is the story of Jade, a teenage girl obsessed with horror films. When a new girl arrives at her school, Jade dubs her 'a Final Girl' and becomes excited that a real-life slasher event is about to begin. The story mostly focuses on Jade trying to determine the nature of the slasher she's in while she copes with finishing school and other aspects of her unhappy home life.

I got about 40% of the way through this book before giving up and skipping to the last 20%. I enjoyed it immensely at first, but there was just too much unfocused rambling and not enough plot happening for me. Normally I love character-focused books (especially with horror) but the writing style made it hard to tell what was going on, something I've struggled with from this author in the past. I liked the elements of horror tropes that were brought up and discussed, but I think the interesting parts did get bogged down by the writing.

Overall, I think if you've enjoyed other stuff by this author then this is definitely worth a try. I loved The Only Good Indians but I think I will stick to trying the shorter works from now on. For me, this book had some great ideas and a lot of promise in the plot, I just sadly didn't gel with the execution.

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The Decagon House Murders Vol 1 by Yukito Ayatsuji, Hiro Kiyohara

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Kodansha in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the novel version of the Decagon House Murders earlier this year and being very impressed, I was really excited to see a manga was being produced. I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint! This is a fantastic adaptation of the book's content and a really fun way to experience the story. The character designs are great and, as someone who struggled a little bit with character names in the book, I found it actually helped me tell characters apart much more easily. I also found the subplot a lot more interesting in this format than in the novel. This volume covers a decent amount of the first book and seems like fantastic value as it told more of the story than I was expecting. I 100% recommend this, both as a way of consuming the story and for the story itself. This is a brilliant murder mystery and the manga format only adds to the enjoyability. I am eagerly awaiting the other volumes.

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Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an absolute delight from start to finish. It is very short but I quite enjoyed being able to read it in one setting. Essentially this book is exactly what it says on the tin: a delightful comedy book told in the style of a guidebook parodying all manner of British murder mysteries. I mainly noticed references to Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie, but it covers a lot of mystery tropes so there's bound to be something here for everyone. The illustrations are brilliant and the humour is very reminiscent of Lemony Snicket, which suits the style and genre perfectly. I would be delighted to get this as a gift as a mystery fan and I'm so glad I got the chance to read it.

Overall Rating: