Horror

Book Review: DIAVOLA by Jennifer Thorne

| Jessica Crawford

Oooh, there was so much to love about this chilling Gothic ghost story set in Italy!

Anna has long been the black sheep of her family and has prepared for the usual complaints and judgment when she joins them for a trip to Italy. They are staying at a picturesque villa that includes a modern addition built onto the original architecture…and a tower they are instructed to never unlock or enter.

Soon, it becomes clear that there is more than irritating relatives threatening what should be a peaceful vacation.

The setting was wonderful and evocative, and Thorne was able to make me feel like a tourist in Italy myself. Bellissimo!

I liked Anna a lot. She was smart, caring and compassionate to those who deserve it, and answers the insults slugged her way with perfect snark. I enjoyed the fraught interpersonal dynamics at first, but eventually they got on my nerves a bit, when everyone started blaming Anna for things it made no sense to blame her for.

The supernatural elements were deliciously creepy. The stressful family gathering introduced a feeling of tension, which only ratcheted up by increments as evidence of a haunting begin with the sounds of disembodied voices and doors slamming shut of their own accord, working up to Anna and her family being in real and imminent danger.

The pacing in different parts of the book seemed a bit unconventional, but it was quite engaging all throughout. And the story wound up going places I could not have imagined. 4.75 stars from me!

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Book Review: THE BAD ONES by Melissa Albert

| Jessica Crawford

Wow, I couldn’t get enough of this supernatural YA mystery!

Four people go missing during the course of a single night, the only apparent connection among them being that each is either a student or a teacher at Palmetto High School. Nora’s best friend is one of the vanished. But Becca has left clues for Nora, as if she knew she was about to be gone. The clues all lead back to the goddess game, a local childhood tradition based on urban legend. But what if it’s actually more than a game? And what if the thing called goddess is actually something much darker?

I found Nora to be a refreshing main POV character, and in general I appreciate how the author writes teens. I liked the fact that Nora’s friendship with Becca was complicated. I did balk a bit at the style of prose (for example, I recall a line that went something like: “The wind tasted spiky and wild.”) But that didn’t stop me from having great fun reading the story! It’s deliciously spooky, intriguing, mysterious, and emotional, with just a splash of romance. Wonderful!

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Book Review: SLEWFOOT: A TALE OF BEWITCHERY by Brom

| Jessica Crawford

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom was a highly appropriate addition to my October reading.

Newly widowed in 17th century New England, Abitha attempts to keep the farm running by herself, something the members of the Puritan community she lives in are not entirely sure is what a Godly woman would do. If only they knew about the things her mother, a “cunning woman”, taught her, they would be even more horrified.

Nearby, something has awoken in the darkest of shadows. He can’t recall who, or what, he is. Is he a devil, as some would have him believe? But then why does he feel such joy using his powers for healing and nurturing?

Abitha and Slewfoot become friends who help one another find their way, even when that way includes bloody retribution.

This book, which includes several pages of the author’s own artwork, is a perfect choice for spooky season reading!

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Book Review: DEAD ELEVEN by Jimmy Juliano

| Jessica Crawford

Clifford Island is a memorial. Something tragic happened, and the people never moved on.

A grieving mother finds herself traveling to a little known island for reasons not even she can fully explain. When she goes missing, her brother travels there to try to piece together what happened. The people of Clifford Island seem stuck in the 90’s; in fact, they seem to be reenacting the same day over and over again, but no one is talking about why.

Jimmy Juliano’s debut, DEAD ELEVEN, is a decent psychological horror story. I found it a bit silly in some ways–like when a pastor says something along the lines of “I let God guide me,” the POV character thinks, “OMG, was that a threat?” simply because the author wishes to set a tense, vaguely threatening tone. This is just one example of characters drawing exceedingly random conclusions for the sake of the story.

But overall the story was original and compelling. Is the odd behavior of the islanders the problem, or is it the solution to something much, much darker?

She got to her mailbox and raised her right hand to Gloria, who, of course, was dead and tethered to her own mailbox.

Chilling, creepy, and strange (in a good way), this story wasn’t executed perfectly, but it was interesting nonetheless. It presents multiple points of view in a mixed media format. I appreciated the exploration of expressions of grief, and the threat of an ancient Evil, but could have done with less of the teenagers’ sections of the book.

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Book Review: LEECH by Hiron Ennes

| Jessica Crawford

Leech by Hiron Ennes is Gothic horror set in a post-apocalyptic future. After climate disaster and the backfiring of man-made technology drove people underground, they finally resurfaced when it was safe(ish) and rebuilt, reclaiming some of the knowledge that was lost through records that were spared.

The main character is actually a gestalt intelligence formed by a parasite that takes control of the human hosts it infects. It hoards the world’s recovered medical knowledge for job security, in order to stay relevant and needed by humanity, and to maintain its evolutionary niche.

While working as a doctor for the draconian baron in the frozen wilds of the North (stalked by beings with unknown origins, but plenty of mythological possible origin stories), they discover a new (probably ancient but newly resurfaced) parasite that threatens everything.

The world-building here is truly impressive!

Of course the baron lives in a crumbling chateau and his family is comprised of a strange cast of characters (and ghosts?). Consent and bodily autonomy are big players in the story that unfolds.

Not for the faint of heart, this tale is creative, creepy, and really quite wonderful! I can’t wait to see what this author does next.

Between this book, Mexican Gothic, and What Moves the Dead, I’ve learned that apparently parasite horror is my jam!

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