The Gathering by C.J. Tudor

 "Black clouds bristled on the horizon. The white snow undulated like a vast frozen sea. A storm was coming, something foul on the air. .... They were back. It was about to begin again."

Plot summary:  When a teen's throat is ripped out in Deadhart, Alaska, Detective Barbara Atkins, a homicide detective and doctor of forensic vampyr anthropology, is called in to investigate his murder. But she's walking into a powder keg. And no one is happy to see her. Because Deadhart is a town full of secrets. The citizens want to cull the nearby vampyr Colony. The vampyrs are fueling for a fight and very ready to defend themselves. The current murder resembles one from 25 years ago. The town's fanatical preacher has her own agenda. The nights are getting colder...and longer. And if the boy's murderer wasn't a vampyr, Barbara just might have a psychopath on her hands.

My thoughts:  The Gathering is a compelling mix of police investigation and psychological thriller with a touch of supernatural horror. And it reads fast. I really like the way Tudor writes, and this book is no exception. It's atmospheric and suspenseful. And Tudor has created an interesting world where vampyrs are a segregated but protected species, although one very much feared and disliked by humans. I did feel like there were A LOT of characters (and even more secrets!) to keep track of, some going far back into Deadhart's past, which made it feel a little convoluted at times. But everything gets wrapped up in a satisfying way at the end, which I appreciated. Though once again I could have done without the epilogue. All in all, I'd give this one 4 stars. 

Happy Reading!

Other books by C.J. Tudor that I've enjoyed:

The Burning Girls

The Chalk Man

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

 Storm strands amusement

park employees who form tribes

and go Lord of the Flies.

The framework of this novel is a journalist investigating the events that occurred at the Fantasticland amusement park in the aftermath of Hurricane Sadie when over 100 college-age employees were killed at the hands of others. It's told through a series of first-person interviews with the various survivors, from the older Mole Men hiding in the tunnels, to the Shop Girls and their deadly archers, and even the leader of the violent tribe of Pirates. Each eye-witness account offers a different perspective on what happened, and why things went so wrong so fast. The stories are haunting and horrifying. I thought it was an interesting way to tell a story, and one I ended up liking a lot. And I always love that amusement park setting. If you're in the mood for some suspenseful psychological horror that unfolds like a documentary, give this book a try. I gave it 4 stars. 

Happy Reading! 

Similar amusement park read:  

    Hide by Kiersten White

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

 

An abandoned planet.

An isolated crew.

Dark secrets.

Looming madness.

And unsettling horror.

My thoughts:  I don't even know how to begin to summarize this one without giving away any spoilers, so I'm not even going to try. I think it's best to just let this story unfold on its own. What I will say is that Barnes has once again written a very compelling and suspenseful science fiction novel with hints of mystery and horror in it. Her main character, Dr. Ophelia Bray, comes from a very prominent and rich family who have practically disowned her; she has some demons and secrets from her own traumatic childhood that make her a sympathetic character. I also loved the impending sense of doom that Barnes creates as the six-person team starts to explore the abandoned planetary station, and strange things start to happen to them. She keeps you guessing about the truth of it all right to the end. This one's creepy and atmospheric and it reads fast. An entertaining summer read (even though it's not quite summer yet). I gave it 4 stars.

Happy Reading! 

Previous S.A. Barnes' novel:  Dead Silence

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert

 

Ben Bookman writes horror novels inspired from the nightmares of his childhood. Now those nightmares are coming to life as several recent murders in Crooked Tree, the town where Ben and his wife and daughter live, uncannily mirror the murders in his book. When the police come to question him he doesn't have many answers for them. Because Ben has secrets. And sometimes he sleepwalks. And something happened when Ben was writing the end of his novel out at his grandfather's secluded Blackwood Mansion that he can't quite remember. But he knows it wasn't good, and it's made his own wife suspect the worst.

The two main detectives on the case are Detective Winchester Mills and his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue. Mills has a reputation for solving some pretty bizarre cases over the years, but this latest murder investigation is the most gruesome. And if Bookman's novel is anything to go by, the murderer isn't done. Mills also has the ability to see the nightmares of others. But the nightmares he's seeing now seem to lead to Ben and his family.

My thoughts:  This thriller is atmospheric, unexpected, and riveting, with a supernatural element that I loved. Markert's take on nightmares is deliciously creepy, and I really liked the way he weaves together Ben's dark childhood memories and his family's long-buried secrets with the present investigation. Detective Mills, with all his flaws and his strange ability, is a fascinating character. I enjoyed his interactions with his daughter, Sam, as well as Ben's interactions with his young daughter, Bri. Their family dynamics added a nice layer of normality to this compelling thriller. And while the murders that take place in this one are disturbing, the author never gets graphic or too gory when he describes them, which I appreciated. This book hooked me right from the beginning and kept me engaged all the way to the end.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Happy Reading!

Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates

 "Gallows Hill is cursed."

From the blurb:  It's been more than a decade since Margot Hull last saw her childhood home. And she was young enough when she was sent away that she barely remembers its dark passageways and secret corners. But now she's returned to bury her parents who died in her childhood home from mysterious circumstances. She's also inherited Gallows Hill and the winery that is her family's legacy...along with all the dark secrets that lie buried beneath the crumbling estate. Secrets she was never told.

My thoughts:  Margot should never have returned to Gallows Hill, not even for her parents' funeral. The name alone hints at its macabre past. And there are worse horrors hidden within. This book is seriously scary. From the ringing of the bells throughout the house, to the blood in the attic, to the reflection Margot keeps seeing in the mirror of her own corpse. And that's just the beginning! The house may be haunted, but what emerges from the tunnels beneath Gallows Hill is like a disturbing nightmare come to life. Coates does an amazing job of building suspense throughout the book, and creating an atmospheric and haunting setting. It gave me chills. And what an ending! I loved this one; it's a great October read.

Happy Reading!

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

 "Strange noises, bad vibes, your mom and dad recently passed--Your house is haunted and I'm not selling it until you deal with that."

 

The plot in brief:  Louise and her brother, Mark, don't get along. They haven't even spoken in years. But when their parents die, Louise flies back home to Charleston to help with the funeral. Only it's not just Mark she has to deal with, or getting their childhood home ready to sell, it's also the haunting memories from her past that she's been repressing. Oh, and all of her mother's dolls and puppets...the ones that always seem to be watching...and waiting. 

My thoughts:  I struggled with this one...partly because of my mood and mental state, and the fact that I've been running tired and stressed lately. It's been hard to enjoy any book that's not super light or fluffy. And this book is neither. But I thought the premise of this one sounded ghostly and fun...and I like the way Hendrix writes. Usually. 

Only I found it difficult to connect with the main characters in this one; Louise and Mark are both pretty unlikable at the beginning, though by the end I did like them a little more. And for a horror story, I thought the book's pacing was pretty slow. All the internal dialogue and flashbacks made it drag, especially at the start, although it does pick up about halfway through. And the ending does have some good moments of suspense. Then there's Pupkin, their mom's favorite puppet; he was truly creepy! So there are good things about this one. I just didn't love it as much as I hoped I would. But maybe you will.

Happy Reading!

The Hendrix novel I loved:

The Final Girl Support Group. 

This one is fabulous!

Bookish horror...

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ That's what I'd give this book. 

The Final Girl Support Group riffs off of the best slasher film franchises, from Halloween to Scream, while author Grady Hendrix manages to create his own unique non-stop thrill ride complete with a flawed, paranoid and unforgettable final girl in Lynette Tarkington. Like every good horror movie heroine, Lynette fights to survive, no matter how many plot twists arise. And, like in every horror movie I've ever seen, crazy plot twists abound. I liked Lynette and the other four final girls. And I liked how Hendrix has written an entertaining thriller, but one with an edge to it, too; one that questions why society delights so much in seeing women killed off in these kinds of horror movies...and all their sequels. Suspenseful and compelling, this book is as good as everyone says.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes to give you a taste of just how good a writer Grady Hendrix  is:

"Men don't have to pay attention the way we do. Men die because they make mistakes. Women? We die because we're female."

"If diamonds are a girl's best friend, then reliable handguns with stopping power are a final girls."

"Tell me how I chose this," I say. "I was minding my own business and a monster came through my door. Not because I ignored the Keep Out signs and snuck into the old asylum, not because I built my house on top of an Indian burial mound. I didn't 'ask for it', this was done to me."

"None of us have to be defined by the worst thing that ever happened to her. Unfortunately, those things have a bad habit of coming back and trying to kill us again. After awhile, you start to realize that your life isn't the thing that happens between the monsters, your life is the monsters."

"Dying isn't the important thing. It's nothing more than the punctuation mark on the end of your life. It's everything that came before that matters. Punctuation marks, most people skip right over them. They don't even have a sound."

Happy Reading!

Similar reads:

The Never List by Koethi Zan

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Clowns vs. Spiders by Jeff Strand

 

"People just don't like clowns. ... If you went around and did a survey and asked a hundred random people if they thought clowns were funny or scary, ninety-eight of them would say scary. That's the way of the world now. ... I'm not renewing any of your contracts. You can still be clowns, but not at my circus."

After eighteen years entertaining people, Jaunty, Guffaw, Wagon, Bluehead and Reginald just got fired. Middle-aged, and with no other skills but clowning, Jaunty and the others are forced to take jobs at the Mountain of Terror haunted house in Mount Tulip, Virginia, as scary clowns in the Scary Clown Room. But scaring children is not why Jaunty or the others became clowns (though Bluehead seems to be exceptionally good at it). But just as Jaunty is having a crisis of conscience, the haunted house and the entire town of Mount Tulip are overrun by thousands of very big spiders. Jaunty is horrified. The only thing he wants to do is jump in the car and drive away. But there are innocent people that need saving. Besides...

"Clowns didn't run."

I couldn't resist this book, even though both clowns and spiders freak me out. And if you don't take this one too seriously, it's a very fun read. The clowns made me laugh and shake my head in equal measure. Jaunty was my favorite. Whenever the clowns draw imaginary straws to see who has to go and do the scary thing, Jaunty somehow always ends up with the short straw. And he always goes. The neverending swarm of very large spiders on the other hand was very creepy. I was definitely rooting for the clowns, though when it comes to saving the world, or any one in it, they're more like buffoons. But they try hard. And they never give up.

"It was time for clowns versus spiders, and the spiders were toast."

Happy Reading!

To the Center of the Earth

In 1485, Arkady Saknussov, a Russian alchemist and explorer, supposedly found his way down to the hollow center of the earth. In 1972, a group of Russian cavers decided to follow in his footsteps, venturing into Krubera Cave, one of the deepest caves on earth. Only one, Katya, made it back out alive. After spending almost a year underground. And her talk of a strange world with a red sky and a multitude of monstrous creatures landed her in a mental asylum.

But Mike Monroe believes her story. Of course, he's always believed in the possibility of a hollow center deep inside the earth. And now he's got Katya's own diary as his guide. He and his friend Jane Baxter along with four other cavers head into Krubera Cave on an expedition reminiscent of Jules Verne. Only what they encounter living in Krubera's depths just might kill them. Especially when their way out gets caved in. 

Greig Beck's To the Center of the Earth is a fast-paced, entertaining ride. There's suspense, adventure, large carnivorous plants, and gigantic insectoid monsters. I've always loved expedition stories that take place in deep, unexplored caverns and caves. That cave environment is so foreign and primordial, and the world Beck creates deep beneath Krubera Cave is evolutionarily freakish and inventive. And also very deadly. Though there were things that happened to some of the characters that made me cringe and want to close my eyes, I really enjoyed this one. Beck's books are always a lot of fun. I can't wait to check out the sequel. 

Happy Reading!

Similar reads:

Beneath the Dark Ice by Greig Beck

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

Blind Descent and Beyond the Deep (Two awesome nonfiction reads.)

Next up:

Bloodwalker by L.X. Cain

 A little girl taken from a park in northern Italy.

A boy taken from a playground in Slovenia.

And now a girl from Budapest.

No one had put it together except Rurik. No one realized that each child had vanished on the day of the final performance of the Zorka Cyrka.

Rurik is chief of security at the Zorka circus. With his lightning-scarred face and body he's often mistaken for a monster himself, but he knows the real monster is hiding among the circus performers. And he's determined to stop them before another child is taken. But he doesn't know who he can trust. And other things at the circus keep going wrong.

Then there's Sylvie Dinescu. She's one of the bloodwalking women of the Skomori Clan. She knows there's death and danger at the circus, but she has no idea how she can help find the killer, not when she's just been married off to a stranger. Besides, she knows no one is going to want the help of a Bloodwalker, especially not one who's been cursed.

There's a lot to like about this one! The writing. The circus setting. The characters. The suspense. The strange traditions of the Bloodwalkers. The mystery itself and the horror at the end. I thought it was an entertaining read. And Rurik and Sylvie? I liked them both. All in all, I'd give this one 4 stars.

Happy Reading!

P.S. And no, there aren't any vampires in this one.

Supernatural suspense...

Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

From the blurb:  "Sara's sister disappeared one year ago--and only Sara knows where she is. Becca went to find the ghost of Lucy Gallows and is trapped on her road. ... When Sara and her skeptical friends meet in the forest to search for Becca, the mysterious road unfurls before them. All they have to do is walk down it. But the path to Lucy has its own rules. Every mistake summons new horrors. Vengeful spirits and broken, angry creatures are waiting for them to slip, and no on is guaranteed safe passage. The only certainty is this:  the road has a toll and it will be paid. "

My thoughts:  A small town legend. A missing girl. A haunted road. Eerie atmosphere. Nightmarish creatures. And documentary-style storytelling. What's not to like? This compelling story is a dark and suspenseful puzzle. And that road Sara and her friends are traveling? It's a waking nightmare. I've never read anything by Kate Alice Marshall before, but I really liked her lyrical prose and the way she chose to tell this story. This book doesn't unfold in a traditional linear way; instead, this narrative is a collection of interview clips, cell phone videos, and personal narratives pieced together in a way that builds the mystery and suspense layer by layer. And I really liked it. For me, this YA novel was fun and entertaining. And I can't wait to see what Marshall writes next. 

Happy Reading!

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

       "You're that guy ... The You Tuber. That archeologist guy. Unsolved mysteries and stuff."

       This, I should note, seldom happens. My grin in response was charming, and the accompanying shrug could have been used as a Wikipedia illustration of self-deprecation.

       "Guilty as charged," I said. "I am indeed Nolan Moore."

Nolan Moore is a failed screenwriter who is now the face of The Anomaly Files, a small-time YouTube show that seeks to uncover unexplained phenomena and other strange mysteries. This time he and his crew--his producer, Ken, assistant producer, Molly, and cameraman, Pierre, as well as a journalist and one of their new backers--are on the trail of a 1909 explorer who claims to have found a mysterious cavern hidden somewhere high up in the Grand Canyon reportedly full of wonderful things. This time their expedition is backed by the Palinhelm Foundation, and they have a shot at making the move to cable TV if they can actually find this cavern. Despite his immense amount of research on this project, Nolan doesn't really believe it'll be there, so when they do find a cave where he predicted it would be, he's as surprised as everyone else. Eager to enter and explore, none of them stop to question if what's hidden deep inside this lost cavern should be shown to the world...or if there's a reason what's inside should stay hidden forever.

It felt strange to be standing in a place where at some point -- hundreds or thousands of years ago -- there had been an intense fire and great heat. That was gone now, along with any hope of understanding what had caused it. All that remained was an unpleasant olfactory echo. And us, stuck, with no way out.

 The suspense mounts slowly in this one, but I thought it was a fun escapist adventure. But then, I've always liked survival stories that take place in mysterious caves. And you'll never guess what's in this one! Nolan is a fun character who doesn't take himself too seriously but is a surprisingly good person to have around in an emergency. I liked him and his crew (even though I thought Ken used the f-word a little too much.) There are some good twists along the way as they explore the cave, and some tense and suspenseful moments as they try to find a way back out. I liked Rutger's writing, though I did think the ending was a bit fantastic and out-there. Still, The Anomaly is a pretty entertaining read. (And it'd make a great Syfy movie.)

Happy Reading!

Spine-tingling Suspense...

"Shadows were seeping out of the trees like spilled molasses, coiling through the grass and sweeping up their trunks. The deathly quiet was broken by the hum of incoherent murmurings. dozens of whispered voices swirled around him as the shadows continued their steady march towards the driveway and his only means of escape .... He sucked air audibly through his teeth as the shadows took on the shape and form of people, an eerie queue of obsidian men and women without faces. He was going to die."

The book:  Forest of Shadows by Hunter Shea

The setting:  a log cabin in Shida, Alaska, a remote village where the native Alaskans know more than they're willing to say.

The main characters:  JOHN BACKMAN, a widower, lottery winner, and paranormal hunter who lives to investigate strange phenomenom. JESSICA, John's precocious and fearless six-year-old daughter who's the first to see a ghost at the log cabin. EVE, John's sister-in-law, and her young son, LIAM. And JUDAS GRAVES, an outsider in Shida who loves to read, smoke pot, and who experienced the terror residing in the log cabin firsthand. He's the reason John's come to Alaska with his family. Then there's the rest of the town, who really don't want John and his family there.

The end result:  a creepy and entertaining supernatural mystery with murderous shadows, ghosts, buried secrets, suspense, evil, terror, revenge, love, sacrifice, and death.  Do I recommend it? Absolutely!

Happy Reading!

For more Hunter Shea reads and reviews, check out Barb's review of Antarctic Ice Beasts, and watch for her upcoming review of Shea's newest novel, Ghost Mine. She's also posted a great interview with Hunter Shea about his books, which everyone should go and read. And then go read a Hunter Shea book for yourself!

Like one of these:
The Dover Demon
Megalodon in Paradise
They Rise

Frightening fun!

Welcome to the First Annual Haunted Forest Halloween Tour!

"Nobody has ever been eaten on one of our tours, and nobody ever will!"

Four years ago, an entire forest sprouted up out of nowhere, engulfing the town of Cromay, New Mexico, and killing hundreds of people. Rescue teams went into the forest to search for survivors and never returned. What lives in the forest now is an array of fanged and fierce nightmares come to life, the kind of creatures cryptozoologists love to study and crazy tourists love to view. That's why H.F. Enterprises installed a track and built reinforced trams to transport tourists of all ages through the monster-filled forest. And their safety record is impeccable. Until the first Halloween tour enters the forest. That's when everything goes horribly wrong.

This horror novel has everything you could possible want:  freakshow monsters that want to chomp everyone in sight, characters to root for...and against, a dark and eerie forest, explosions, bloody battles, that timeless fight of good vs. evil, supernatural suspense, and some great one-liners. Great literature it's not, but it is entertaining and scary good fun. (Good nightmare material, too.) 

Happy Reading!

A chilling read...

For our first buddy read of the year, Melody and I chose to read The Hunger. In this novel, Alma Katsu relates the haunting history of the Donner Party but with a supernatural twist. She also explores the evil that lies within men ... and without. All of her characters, from Tamsen Donner, to James Reed, to Charles Stanton, carry their own dark secrets. But there's another kind of darkness stalking them along the trail. One that hungers. And kills. And as they near Lake Truckee high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, that awful darkness closes in on them.

"...evil was only an arm's length away, waiting to swoop down on them, whether animal or spirit--or man."

There's a lot to like about this novel: Katsu's compelling prose, her attention to historic detail, the authentic voices of her various characters, and her quiet building of suspense. Then there's the tension and horror she creates as the party gets trapped and the number of deaths starts to mount. I really liked the combination of historical fiction and horror in this novel. The one flaw for me was that I felt Katsu tried to juggle too many characters. Some of her characters showed up once at the beginning only to then disappear for the rest of the book except for one brief mention at the end; and a few other times, a character wouldn't be mentioned for several chapters in a row and then they'd suddenly show up again in the narrative. It was a little jarring. But all in all, The Hunger is an atmospheric and gripping novel, and I liked it a lot. And did I mention that I really appreciated the lyrical way Katsu writes? Here's just one example:

"The children were turning into strange, stalking insects, all eyes and spikes and desperate twitches. Stanton, in comparison, looked like a man in color among a wash of wraiths."

Reading this book with Melody made it even more fun. She always has such good insights and comments. And she asks some great questions, too. Here they are, along with my answers. And be sure to check out her excellent review. 

Happy Reading!

Melody's questions:

Q. Many of these characters become unlikable as the story progresses. However, there are still one or two characters whom we sympathized with. Who do you think is the most pathetic?

A. I think all of my sympathies were with some of the younger characters like Elitha Donner and Mary Graves, who had no choice or voice in any of the decisions that were made concerning the Donner Party, but who then had to live with the tragic consequences of those choices. I also sympathized with the young Paiute guide, Thomas, who also got caught up in something he didn't choose or deserve. I had a lot of sympathy for Charles Stanton, too. Of the many adults in this book, he was by far the most likable. 

Q. What mistakes do you think the Donner Party made that can account for the tragedy? You may choose to answer this question based from the true event or the fiction aspect of the story.

A. Where do I begin with this one? So many mistakes were made! Starting too late. Loading their wagons with unnecessary weight. Not heeding the advice of others who told them to turn back or take another route. And not traveling faster. Fighting among themselves. It's like a domino effect how all these seemingly small decisions led to one large and unforgettable disaster. 

Thanks, Melody!

The Dover Demon

As teens, Sam Brogna and three of his friends encountered the Dover Demon on a deserted country road--something they never talked about later, not even with each other. Was it a cryptid, an alien, or something else? Now, thirty years later, they're about to find out.

This book doesn't have the big in-your-face monsters like some of Hunter Shea's other novels (think They Rise and Megalodon in Paradise to name just a few), but I liked the subtler sense of horror and suspense in this one. And I loved the characters, especially Sam and his 17-year-old son, Nicky. They have such a great relationship, from working together in their comic book store to binge-watching horror movies. They were my favorite part. The non-stop action in the last half of the book is pretty good, too. But what the "Dover Demon" turned out to be in actuality wasn't very surprising or unexpected. And I have to say, I didn't love the ending. Not that it was unwarranted, it just wasn't very satisfying to me. But I can totally see why Shea ended it the way he did! (I'd be more specific, but I don't want to give anything away.) So, while this particular book will never be my favorite Hunter Shea novel, I do think it's a pretty fun and entertaining horror story. (If you like that kind of thing.)  😊

Happy Reading!

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper

It's a tricky business, ghost trapping. Ghosts have a funny way of not showing up when you want them, but instead creeping up on you when you don't. When you're alone in the house late at night, minding your own business, that's when you're likely to hear the unexplained footsteps, walk into a cold spot, or feel invisible fingers touch the back of your neck. When you're actually trying to find them, they can hide silently for days, even weeks. The ghost at Treadwell house, fortunately, did not keep us waiting long.

What I loved:

           ❤ It's funny!  Especially Ellie's little comments and asides all through the book.

            ❤ It's awesomely scary!  What's haunting The Treadwell house down in Savannah, Georgia is mysterious, malevolent. dark and completely terrifying.

            ❤ The ending doesn't disappoint!  Some ghost stories just peter out at the end, leaving you with a lot of unanswered questions. Or else, the ending feels unfinished and unsatisfying. But Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper by J.L. Bryan doesn't do that. The ending of this book is awesome.

            ❤ Plus, it has great characters.  I really liked Ellie and Stacey, her new, untested ghost-trapping partner; I also liked Jacob, the psychic/CPA who helps them out on this case. Which makes me even more excited to read the next book in this series. Go Ellie!

Happy Reading!

Rereading Dracula...

The impulse to reread this classic novel came while I was reading Cat Winters' The Cure For Dreaming. It's a YA novel set in 1900 and her main character, Olivia Mead, loves Dracula and has read it several times; and the more she referred to it, the more I wanted to read it again myself.

Out of all the classics I've read, Dracula is one of my top ten. First of all, I love epistolary novels; and the way Stoker spins out the mystery of Count Dracula through the diaries and letters of Jonathon and Mina Harker, John Seward, Lucy Westenra and others is masterful. When I read this book I feel like I'm watching a movie play out in my head. I also really like the eerie atmosphere and the quiet build-up of suspense...especially where Lucy is concerned. Then there's Mina Harker--Mina is intelligent, beautiful and brave, and one of the most memorable female characters ever created. And let's face it, no one writes vampires better than Bram Stoker:

"As we burst into the room the Count turned his face, and the hellish look that I had heard described seemed to leap into it. His eyes flamed red with devilish passion; the great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge; and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth, champed together like those of a wild beast. With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us."

Happy Reading!

R.I.P.

 "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY."

I bit my lip and stared at the mirror. Jess claimed there was a right way and a wrong way to summon Bloody Mary. This time we were doing it the right way. ... The candle on the vanity cast eerie shadows, our forms tall and distorted against the walls. Our hands were clenched together so tightly our fingers trembled. This time, it took only seconds for condensation to cover the glass. A thick fog swirled, gray tendrils of smoke spinning in a maelstrom, before a black figure appeared, the vague outline of a woman...

Title: Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan
Genre: Supernatural/Ghosts/Horror
Length: 248 pages
The Peril: A candlelit bathroom. A line of salt under the mirror. Four teen-age girls holding hands. Let the summoning of Bloody Mary begin. It's Jess's idea, but Shauna, Anna, and Kate all agree to the plan. And the thrilling fear of seeing the ghostly Mary through the fog of the mirror is a lot of fun until the ritual goes wrong and Mary gets out. Now she's gotten a taste of Shauna's blood, and she wants more. The girls have to figure out how to get Mary back in the mirror before time runs out.

My Thoughts: I remember playing the Bloody Mary game at sleepovers when I was growing up. None of us actually believed in ghosts, or in the legend of Bloody Mary, but there was always this inch of doubt when it was your turn to stand in front of the mirror. If I'd read this book back then, there's no way I would ever have considered saying Mary's name out loud even in fun. This book is that scary, especially when Mary claws her way out of the mirror and attacks Shauna. I don't recommend reading this book late at night if you're home alone. Mary is genuinely creepy and the absolute last ghost you want following you around in every and any shiny surface (from car windows to shower doors). Monahan does an excellent job of building suspense and I liked the mystery she created around Mary Worth, and how and why she became Bloody Mary in the first place. This is definitely a R.I.P.-ping read (my third!) and a book that will haunt you. I loved it.

Happy Reading!