Woman Eating by Claire Kohda explores the life of a vampire through the lens of a millennial and the struggles unique to that generation: someone who is struggling with living on their own, providing for themselves, reconciling who they are, all while dealing with a parent in a care home. Although I wouldn’t call the…
This is my second-to-last Halloween book that I’ve got on my shelf, and now that I’ve been reading horror for a few straight weeks, I’m feeling a bit sensitive to all the violence I’ve been exposed to, but I’m also more attuned to the critiques of society that this genre often employs. The Book of…
I was in search of a new Canadian-authored Halloween book to read during October, and had trouble finding something, as I typically do. Luckily, I stumbled upon this terrifying little novella, Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, who was a new-to-me author living in Montreal. Just looking at this frightening cover (which I had…
I got about halfway through The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward and debated closing the book for good – I just wasn’t sure I could handle it anymore. The writing itself was not the problem, it was what the characters were doing to each other, or at least, what we are led…
It was only a year ago that I reviewed Stephen Graham Jones’ last book, The Only Good Indians, which I really enjoyed, so I jumped at the chance to read his latest release (just in time for the beginning of the spooky season) My Heart is a Chainsaw. Don’t like blood and guts? You’ll want…
Boy oh boy this book scared me. Scared me to the point of avoiding my dark basement kind of scary. I chose it to go with my ‘dangerous water’ segment that I’m putting together for my next radio column, and I thought I was being clever by choosing this particular theme while I was on…
One of my upcoming segments for radio is a focus on debut authors from independent presses in Canada, because the Simon and Schuster acquisition by Penguin Random House is a scary one for many Canadians. Although it won’t be all bad for the reader, it will certainly make things harder for booksellers and authors, so…
This is probably one of the oldest books on my shelf. Hachette shipped me a copy of In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt two years ago, and every time Halloween came around, I vowed to read it. I finally got the chance in 2020 because *gestures wildly at everything*…
As I continue to read through my recently-released spooky books for Halloween collection, I’m treated to a wide variety of genres that incorporate elements of horror into their narratives. Today’s novel, The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox leans heavily into the historical fiction arena, with a healthy dose of supernatural to allow this…
I don’t normally review YA books, which is why I wasn’t familiar with the author emily m. danforth. She’s the writer behind The Miseducation of Cameron Post which is apparently quite popular, so I have no doubt her name is familiar to many who read YA widely. Plain Bad Heroines is her first novel for…
Caught up in the buzz of Fall book season again, I jumped at the chance to review Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia which seemed to be on everyone’s must read lists for 2020. My blogger bud Melanie over at GTL reviewed this book a few weeks ago with a warning that the first 150 pages…
I’m getting a head start on my Halloween reading this year, and I think I’ve begun with two of the scariest books released this Fall. The Residence was a spooky ghost story I finished last week, then I dove right into The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie. Reflecting back on this decision, I’m…
