The Night of the Living Dummy - Review

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: Middle Grade / Horror

Format: Paperback

Page: 134

Throwback read! I devoured this series as a kid. In fact, by the time I graduated High School I had an entire plastic tub full of them stored under the stairs. Sadly, I think college let my Mom give them away to cousins or some garage sale. 

Now, a decade, and some change later, I've been digging through thrift stores to rebuild that collection! 

And, I couldn't think of a better time to start reading them again than the start of Spooky Season. Naturally, I had to start with the one that creeped me out the most as a kid. 

This book is the reason I jumped into bed as a kid because I swore Slappy was living under my bed. It was a hundred percent the cat, but small me was convinced otherwise.

I will say enough time has passed I remember zero of this book, its plot, or its characters. So it was like reading this again for the first time. I will say it's more fun reading this as an adult because they aren't on the scary side. Instead, I can enjoy the cheese factor and little jump scares that I know would have gotten me as a kid.

As a whole, it's a solid story, and even adult me enjoyed it, curled up on the couch in my fuzzy blanket. The story moves along quickly enough that it's hard to get bored or sidetracked, especially for younger readers. I had forgotten this was the start of a series, so the end caught me off guard as I remembered why this creeped me right out.

The only real complaint I had with this book was the parents. I don't know if it was because the book was told through the girls' point of view that they seemed so mean, but I remember this kind of being a theme with the Goosebump series, lackluster parents that shrugged everything off.

As I kid I never noticed, too focused on the story, the mystery, and the characters. As an adult, I did notice it, and I was kind of hoping Slappy got a hold of the parents.

Other than that it was a great break from more intense nonfiction reads. I remember why I loved these as a kid!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

  

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

Welcome to the reality game show that'll scare you to death! Have you got what it takes to last the night?

On the reality show, It's Behind You!, five contestants competing for prize money must survive the night in the dark and dangerous Umber Gorge caves, rumored to be haunted by the Puckered Maiden, a ghost who eats the hearts of her victims. But is it the malevolent spirit they should fear, or each other?

As the production crew ramps up the frights, tensions rise and the secrets of the cast member start coming to light. Each of these teenagers has hidden motives for taking part in the show. But could one of them be murder?

HAPPY READING!!

Latinx Heritage Month

Thursday the 15th kicked off Latinx Heritage Month! I couldn't think of a better time to show off some of my books by Latinx authors! All of these are horror novels, and all but one are new authors to me. All of these books are sitting on my TBR shelf. 

I do need to give the ladies of Night Worms for bringing most of these books into my life. Without them, I don't think I would have ever known about these books! And, Bookstagram brought Camp Slaughter into my life, which I need to pick because I just saw it's getting a second book!  

Monster I found tucked away at a small little Indie bookstore in Seattle. I'm thinking it's a satire of monster horror novels, but I don't know exactly. It just sounds like it'll be a wild read.

Last, but not least, is Edgar Cantero! I discovered him through my local library. I fell in love with his Supernatural Encounters, it's trippy and an amazing read. It's one of those books that has stuck with me, and I need to read it again. His books are trippy, weird, and a lot of fun. I always suggest his books to people who like creepy and stranger reads!

So most of these are sitting on my hopeful TBR shelf for Spooky Season. A couple seems intense, Jawbone, and I haven't hyped myself up for the pain they will cause.

HAPPY READING!!

The Church Supper Cookbook - Review

Author: David Joachim

Genre: CookBook

Format: Hardback

Page: 288

This fell into my hand's thanks to a friend of mine. We both work in the restaurant industry and they always find some cookbook gems. This was no exception to the rule. I covered this book in tabs of recipes to try, to fix, and things that were absolutely crazy. Some of these should have stayed in the decade they were created.

Or, just not be created at all. Because raisins are not a catch-all to make a dish better. Please stop adding raisins to nonbaking dishes. It's weird.

I will say this cookbook was a lot of fun. While there were a lot of recipes in here I won't try, my roommate and I had a lot of fun flipping through this one. And, she made a good point. We've probably eaten some of these recipes growing up in the middle and never knew it.

Sometimes you don't want to know what makes a dish good. 

On the other hand, I did find a lot of recipes here I wanted to try. A few of them need some tweaking. Like raisins were removed from the recipes. Why would put those in chili, why? A few of them just need a few more seasonings. Others sounded pretty solid and I will definitely have to give them a go.

There were a lot of solid baking recipes in though. If I ever feel adventurous I'll give some of the bread recipes a try. Bread has never been my strong suit. There were some cookie and bar recipes though that I really want to try over the winter when it's cool enough to have the oven on. 

So yeah, I"m glad to have this on my shelves. It's a fun little conversation starter, and it had enough solid recipes in it I'm keeping it around.

HAPPY READING!!

Book Haul

I went to Goodwill to look at their Halloween selection over my weekend. You never know when you'll find treasure, and I had thirty minutes to kill before my only meeting that day. While I didn't find anything new Halloween decorations I couldn't live without. So like always I wander over to the books because I'm me and I have a serious problem. My goal is to have a library like Merlin's from Sword in the Stone, seconds away from crushing him. 

Anyway, while I was sorting through the books I came across some gems! I have never heard of the Point Horror series by Scholastic in the 1990s. And, I'm a little bummed about that because Middle School me would have loved these. Adult me is also very excited because they seem absolutely ridiculous. I do know what of the authors, Caroline B Cooney. She wrote The Face on the Milk Carton which I did read back in Middle School.

These will have to happen over Spooky Season. I'm not expecting anything amazing, and I figured that probably haven't aged well. But, I do figure they'll be a fun and quick read.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Erica Slaughter strikes out on her own in the bestselling, award-winning series!

After a year since we last saw her in Archer’s Peak, Erica Slaughter resurfaces to take on the case of a girl who’s seen a new kind of monster, one with terrifying implications. But Erica’s broken ties with the House of Slaughter and that can have deadly consequences. The Order of St. George does not forget nor do they forgive. Even as Erica goes on the hunt, she must keep an eye out for the mysterious figure on her trail in order to survive the coming storm. Erica Slaughter returns after the Archer’s Peak Saga in this volume of the Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated series from GLAAD Award-winning author James Tynion IV (The Woods, Batman), artist Werther Dell’Edera (Razorblades), colorist Miquel Muerto (Bleed Them Dry), and letterer AndWorld Design (Nightwing).

Collecting Something is Killing the Children #21-25.

Why I'm Waiting: I'm in love with this series! That's why I'm waiting.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Her city is under siege.

The zombies are coming back.

And all Nona wants is a birthday party.

In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back.

The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces has surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would prefer to live an ordinary life with the people she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, but she also knows that nothing lasts forever.

And each night, Nona dreams of a woman with a skull-painted face...

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

  

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

In this daring tale of female agency and revenge from a New York Times bestselling author, a girl becomes a teenage vigilante who roams Victorian England using her privilege and power to punish her friends' abusive suitors and keep other young women safe.

Adele grew up in the shadows--first watching from backstage at her mother's Parisian dance halls, then wandering around the gloomy, haunted rooms of her father's manor. When she's finally sent away to boarding school in London, she's happy to enter the brightly lit world of society girls and their wealthy suitors.

Yet there are shadows there, too. Many of the men that try to charm Adele's new friends do so with dark intentions. After a violent assault, she turns to a roguish young con woman for help. Together, they become vigilantes meting out justice. But can Adele save herself from the same fate as those she protects?

With a queer romance at its heart, this lush historical thriller offers readers an irresistible mix of vengeance and empowerment.

HAPPY READING!!

Book Haul

Not that I need an excuse to buy more books, but last Wednesday was Buy a Book Day. How I could not, it's a National Holiday after all. It was also the day after my Spotlight Book, The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson, hit shelves, which means it was a win-win for me. So I met up with a friend during our lunch break and we did a bit of book shopping at our local bookstore. We are both very lucky to work just a few blocks from the bookstore. An upside for me, a downside for my wallet. But at this point, my bank account should be used to it by now.

I also picked up a new Grady Hendrix book for my shelves. Thanks to Horrorstor I adore Hendrix's writing and now I have a mighty need to collect them all. Including his new book when it finally comes out because that one also sounds so good. But, first I must make it through My Best Friend's Exorcism and The Final Girl Support Group!

HAPPY READING!!

Hollow - Review

Author: Shannon Watters

Genre: Graphic Novel / Retelling

Format: ebook

Page: 178

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Boom!Box for an early chance at reading this!

I'm a huge fan of Lumberjanes, so I jumped at the chance to read something new by Shannon Watters. What made it impossible to pass up is that Watters was putting a more modern twist on one of my favorite Spooky Season reads. So really, there was no way that I could have been disappointed. Too many of my favorite things were converging on top of each other.

I was in fact not disappointed, and I'm so glad I started more Spooky Season reads off with Hollow. 

My favorite part of Hollow is the characters. Of course, we have the staple characters of any Sleepy Hollow retelling, the Van Tassel's and the Crane's are present. Even Washington Irving gets a small mention at some point in the story. I liked that Vicky was the descendant of the original Van Tassel family like Iriving just used an existing family to set his story around. But, like the story, Izzy Crane was new to town. I felt it was a fun play on canon. Hands down though my favorite character was Croc. He's had such golden retriever energy. He honestly was the sweetest guy and I'm so glad he got himself a lady at the end of the story.

Of course no Sleepy Hallow retelling without the Horseman, and say this is my favorite version of the Horseman. I love the way that Watters changed his story, it's a nice twist and I thought it added a lot of comedy to the story. Gordo's responses to things Croc would say were my favorite moments. 

The storyline is also really good from start to finish. It's a lot of fun, it's heartwarming and full of a bit of teenage angst! The kind of story where everyone, except for the villain, gets a happy ending. Where one character finds their voice, another finally finds real friends, and Croc gets to have an adventure. Plus, the cutest sapphic romance of the Spooky Season.

Hollow is perfect for anyone looking for a non-spooky read this Spooky Season. This is definitely it, but it still gives off those Fall vibes.

I also can't close out this review without mentioning the artwork in Hollow. It was really good. This is one of those stories where the artwork helped tell Watters' story. From the amazing facial expressions from Gordo to Croc's master prank that almost worked. Every panel was amazing and the color palette worked perfectly not just for the spooky season vibe but kept the story from getting too dark as well. The story definitely has Scooby-Doo vibes and the artwork helps sell that.

I don't have a single issue with the Scooby-Doo thing, it did my 90s kid heart good! Hollow is for fans of the Lumberjanes series, Sleepy Hollow, or just cute Spooky Season reads, this is the book for you!

 

Hollow comes out on October 4, 2022!

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

The Witch in the Well is a dark Norwegian thriller from Camilla Bruce, author of You Let Me In.

When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions, and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend.

Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen.

When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with—and feeling inspired to write about—Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years.

What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they could ever imagine.

Why I'm Waiting: I really liked In The Garden of Spite so I'm really excited for Bruce's next book!

HAPPY READING!!