I’m not an expert on the
horror genre and haven’t read much recently but I’d like to recommend a few
books I’ve read for October – or in general, though the below list will mostly
focus on witches, the scary and the paranormal.
Thirty
Scary Tales by Rayne Hall
Strings (collection of 33 short stories) by Darren Gallagher
The Witches of BlackBrook by Tish Thawer
Shadow, Shadow by V.B. Marlowe
A
Fistful of Evil by Rebecca Chastain
Family
Secrets by Kat Nichols
Revelations by Jennifer Carole Lewis
Necrophilia by Sherine Hanaay
This novella is written in
Arabic, but I’m including both the English and Arabic reviews for it. Although it
is not a horror story, it is intensely dark and mainly falls under the psychological-thriller
genre. It is worth the read, especially if it’s ever translated. It is certainly
new topic in Arabic literature.
Happy/Scary reading! : )
Titles will be accompanied
by link to my reviews of these books. Don’t worry I won’t recommend anything
below four stars : )
They are in no order
whatsoever.
Thirty
Scary Tales by Rayne Hall
http://nadanessinmotion.blogspot.com.eg/2013/10/30-scary-tales.html
Thirty Scary Tales by Rayne Hall is a collection of short stories encompassing an array of settings, narration styles and topics with theme of ‘scary’.
Thirty Scary Tales by Rayne Hall is a collection of short stories encompassing an array of settings, narration styles and topics with theme of ‘scary’.
Including real-life and
supernatural tales, this collection includes vampires, ghosts, magic, dreams,
evil birds, fires and more. Some of the best titles in the collection are: The
Grey Walker, Arete, Through the Tunnel, The Colour of Dishonour, Burning and
The Painted Staircase – just to name a few.
There are also a few
stories set in Rayne Hall’s dark epic fantasy novel Storm Dancer, with exceptionally
vivid characters and settings as well as strong creativity and unfathomable
twists! You have no idea what you’re up against!
“But
his actions had not been water drops that evaporated in the sun without leaving
a trace. They had been cruel flames, scorching deep holes into Laina's
defenceless heart.”
Seasons of Time opens
with an eerie prologue of a jealous unnamed mystery woman and possible
spell-casting that is the essence of the novel. Lara Voight is sent to spend
the summer with her step-mother's grandmother Gracen, a rude combination of
grudge and age.
As soon as Lara arrives at
Gracen's mansion, she experiences burning pains and emotions as well as a
fragrant familiar scent that often results in a vision of the past. Soon, she
discovers that she is the "spitting image" of a murdered Penelope Le
Rose 'Pen' and comes across her diary.
"My
hand immediately traced my mattress for Pen's Diary, a book that was my
revelation, my retreat to the real me, my beginning with the people I would
always cherish whether I knew them or not."
Strings (collection of 33 short stories) by Darren Gallagher
Strings by Darren
Gallagher is a collection of 33 mostly scary short stories spanning different
eras, worlds, themes and places. The stories encompass a variety of topics
ranging from vampires and werewolves to swarms of spiders, to newly-made up
creatures to cowboys even.
Among the titles I enjoyed
were: Ruby Red Soldiers, A Hiker’s Life, The Wishing Well, A Bag Full of Ashes,
Hustled, Sinsu; just to name a few.
The Witches of BlackBrook by Tish Thawer
The Witches of BlackBrook is
a quick-paced and easy-to-navigate story about three witches: Karina, Kara and
Kenna, who lived in the late 1600's, when magic was practiced freely. Mischief
befalls the three, when a woman tricks the elder sister, claiming her baby is
ill. After that, Karina is accused of killing the baby and being the devil's
daughter. She is sentenced to burn at the stake, where she performs a spell to
protect her and her sisters. Karina casts a spell that takes the sisters across
time, to be reborn in different bodies every time.
Opening with a short but powerful
prologue, we see a witch's sacrifice from the first page, which immediately
gives an idea about the character, even though we are not sure who that
character is from the beginning but later learn that it is Karina.
There is also the use of
tarot readings. "Trin acknowledged the
Magician card as her past, no surprises there. But the present and future cards
had her undivided attention.
The
Seven of Swords indicated deceit and deception surrounding her present, while
the reversed Tower forewarned her of major changes, where she could no longer
count on those close to her."
Shadow, Shadow by V.B. Marlowe
Shadow, Shadow, the first instalment in The Shadow Pines trilogy, is an
amazing multi-faceted becoming-of-age novel about four school students given
four Shadow Boxes on their sixteenth birthday.
Harley, Teaghan, Gianna
and Brock, are told that they have the power to remove one person from their
lives by giving them to the shadows, which need to be fed. However, they are
later told that they must use the Shadow Boxes or someone close to them will be
killed/taken by the shadows.
“The four of you have
been blessed with a great gift. Well, it’s a gift for you, but a curse for
someone else.”
The Huntress: The
Beginnings, the first instalment in the The Huntress series, is about Ada, whose life is turned upside down when she is told that she is destined to become a Huntress.
Unathletic, ordinary Ada is told to leave her life, get in shape and fight monsters and demons. Narrated in the first person from Ada's perspective, the novella opens with Ada telling the reader that she is pregnant and is going to meet with a reporter (Dan Meyers) to tell the world her story and get them to realise that there are monsters on the streets that they need to be careful of.
Unathletic, ordinary Ada is told to leave her life, get in shape and fight monsters and demons. Narrated in the first person from Ada's perspective, the novella opens with Ada telling the reader that she is pregnant and is going to meet with a reporter (Dan Meyers) to tell the world her story and get them to realise that there are monsters on the streets that they need to be careful of.
"So, when I can't
make my rounds, who else is there to protect all those people from what's
lurking in the dark?"
The story is in the form of flashbacks about Ada, her transformation and her relationship with Father
Michael.
A
Fistful of Evil by Rebecca Chastain
There is evil and
there are Enforcers to do something about it. Madison, the protagonist and
narrator in Rebecca Chastain's A Fistful of Evil, possesses an ability
she calls "soul-sight", with which she can switch her vision to see
people and the world from a different view and perspective, literally.
Narrated in the
first person from Madison's perspective, the novel is full of sarcasm, humour
and snarky comments.
“A cell phone
yesterday. A video conference today. Watch out, world. I might get a Twitter
account next!”
Madison is thrown
hard into this world of Primordium or “soul-sight” and soon she has to battle
blobs of evil and bigger problems. The book is a combination of fun, fighting
(without major weapons) and self-discovery.
“Mr. Pitt snorted. He
redirected his gaze to Rose. “Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“That’s above my pay
grade.”
Family
Secrets by Kat Nichols
The first instalment in The
Secret Societies Collection, Family Secrets is about Sophia, who discovers
that she comes from a long line of witches. She has to learn everything within
five months for her initiation on her eighteenth birthday. She is also to be
named the next matriarch of the Blackthorne Coven.
The family and coven are
loaded with secrets, rivalry and lust for power. Sophia is to be trained by her
cousin Alexa, who is not an easy-to-deal-with character. At school, Sophia
meets Connor, who has a secret of his own, and who is named by Alexa as the
'enemy'. But who is really the 'enemy' in Family Secrets?
Revelations by Jennifer Carole Lewis
Although
it is not a horror or scary read, it is certainly a dark one.
"Wherever there is prey, there are hunters.
Jungle, ocean, city – the location doesn't matter. Predators will always find
the vulnerable." – The opening line for
Revelations and one that rings true on several characters and lines in the
story.
Revelations (Book I of The
Lalassu), by Jennifer Carole Lewis, is a quick-paced action-packed
adventure mainly about a dancer with super human abilities. For years, Dani has
been fighting her family's nagging that she take up the role of High Priestess
for the lalassu people in order to serve as their guide and connection with the
goddess. We later learn that that connection, known as the Huntress, seems to
have been "corrupted".
Necrophilia by Sherine Hanaay
This novella is written in
Arabic, but I’m including both the English and Arabic reviews for it. Although it
is not a horror story, it is intensely dark and mainly falls under the psychological-thriller
genre. It is worth the read, especially if it’s ever translated. It is certainly
new topic in Arabic literature.Happy/Scary reading! : )
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