Alright – time to get some rapid fire reviews shared! Horror books to kick off spooky season in September. Lots of horror this last month and there will be a part two coming.
Thanks to the publishers for any gifted copies in exchange for my honest reviews
GODS OF THE DARK WEB – Lucas Mangum
From the author of Engines of Ruin, comes a dark suspenseful novel for fans of Black Mirror, Edward Lee and cosmic horror.
The internet is a scary place. Beneath Facebook and Twitter is another world. One in which anything can be obtained—for a price. A community of black markets, depraved pornography, and death. This is the dark web.
Leon was just curious, he heard the stories of the secrets and forbidden fetishes that the dark web offered. He was an activist, protesting against war and hate. But after a protest became violent, he felt he needed protection. Being a teenager with no way to buy a gun legally, he had no choice but to turn to the dark web.
This rash decision sends Leon spiraling down into a dark side of humanity that most don’t know, or even want to know, exists. A world of murder, torture, and cannibalism. But behind all that there is something worse, something stalking him and intent on ruining every aspect of his life. Now Leon is fighting for his life and reputation as he is being hunted by vile and arcane forces. They are…Gods of the Dark Web
My Thoughts – 4/5 stars – More horror novellas! I’m proud of myself, I got through so many of my hopeful TBR while Jeremy was gone. This was a super quick and creepy read. The internet can be a wonderful place when it comes to finding certain communities (like Bookstagram, which brought me to meet some of my closest friends). However, there is an incredibly dark and evil side to it as well.
Curiosity killed the cat, and Leon should have taken that to heart before he tried looking through the dark web. You never know who’s watching or who can grab your information to use against you. Within all the horror and gruesome parts, there’s almost a cautionary tale when it comes to exploring all areas of the internet.
SLEWFOOT – Brom (Thanks to Tor Nightfire for the copy)
Set in Colonial New England, Slewfoot is a tale of magic and mystery, of triumph and terror as only dark fantasist Brom can tell it.
A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past.
Enter Slewfoot, a powerful spirit of antiquity newly woken … and trying to find his own role in the world. Healer or destroyer? Protector or predator? But as the shadows walk and villagers start dying, a new rumor is whispered: Witch.
Both Abitha and Slewfoot must swiftly decide who they are, and what they must do to survive in a world intent on hanging any who meddle in the dark arts.
Complete with 8 pages of Brom’s mesmerizing full-color artwork and chapter illustrations throughout, his latest book is sure to delight.
My Thoughts – 5/5 stars – If you want an incredible witch story, then this is what you need on the TBR for spooky season. This is atmospheric and deliciously dark. Having read Krampus, I was excited to get immersed in another Brom book.
Abitha, a young widow, and Slewfoot, a pagan spirit, form a bond. Together they go to take down the Puritanical colony and the havoc Abitha wreaks is so satisfying. Brom sets an eerie vibe and you truly get lost into the story. The illustrations are always stunning and help add to the atmosphere. That ending? I couldn’t put it down!
THE SEPTEMBER HOUSE – Carissa Orlando (Thanks to Del Rey Books for the copy)
A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.
Margaret is not most people.
Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.
My Thoughts – 5/5 stars – Ahh haunted houses, my favorite because there are SO MANY possibilities. Now, if my house was completely normal for 11 months out of the year, I think I’d be in the same boat as Margaret. I’m not going to be scared away so easily – have you seen all my books?
In all seriousness, though, bleeding walls and scary stuff in September wouldn’t be so welcoming. It would explain the killer deal, though, on the house. There are so many twists and turns throughout the book and a lot that I was not expecting. Which I love in my horror. You’ll find some gore in this story, but nothing too much to handle (at least for this extreme horror fan).
THE BUCK STOPS HERE – Sean Seebach
Abigail Laine is comfortable being the sheriff of Rockbridge. She only conducts a few traffic stops a week, has minimal paperwork, and cruises the town’s mostly vacant streets. This leaves her plenty of time to read and keep her living space and work area orderly. But when Caleb Welsh gets murdered on his way home late one Friday night, she’s forced to blow the dust off her badge and find the killer. And what kind of animal has the ability to decapitate someone?One that is half-human of course!With the help of Rockbridge’s finest civilians, Laine must a draw a line in the salt lick and assure that The Buck Stops Here.
My Thoughts – 4/5 stars – The second I saw the cover while helping Chandra organize her shelves, I told her I needed to read it. As someone whose husband hunts, this was incredibly entertaining to read because it felt like one of those B rated creature horror movies. Who doesn’t love those?? The back of the book mentioned the weredeer, and I was sold. If you like some creature horror, grab this novella!
THE SALT GROWS HEAVY – Cassandra Khaw
From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.
You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.
On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three ‘saints’ who control them.
The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruellest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
My Thoughts: 3.5/5 stars – I feel like I haven’t had a ton of mermaid books, let alone horror, in a while! I did enjoy the fact thhis was a story examining what happened after the mermaid came ashore and stayed with the handsome prince. Not all stories have a fairytale ending, and I did enjoy the bloody journey.
Jessicamap Reviews 