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.

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?

Why I'm Waiting: Cause this sounds like it might freak me right out!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

This celebration of forgotten magical women, from Salem to WitchTok, is a fascinating and empowering read for anyone interested in occultism or feminist history.

Meet the mystical women and nonbinary people from US history who found strength through the supernatural—and those who are still forging the way today. From the celebrity spirit mediums of the nineteenth century to contemporary activist witches hexing the patriarchy, women have long used magic and mysticism to seize the power they’re so often denied.

Organized around different approaches women have taken to the occult over the decades—using the supernatural for political gain, seeking fame and fortune as spiritual practitioners, embracing their witchy identities, and more—this book shines a light on underappreciated magical pioneers, including:

• Dion Fortune, who tried to marshal a magical army against Hitler
• Bri Luna, the Hoodwitch, social media star and serious magical practitioner
• Joan Quigley, personal psychic to Nancy Reagan
• Marie Laveau, voodoo queen of New Orleans
• Elvira, queer goth sex symbol who defied the Satanic Panic
• And many more!

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!

Grayson Hale, the most infamous murderer in Scotland, is better known by a different name: the Devil’s Advocate. The twenty-five-year-old American grad student rose to instant notoriety when he confessed to the slaughter of his classmate Liam Stewart, claiming the Devil made him do it.

When Hale is found hanged in his prison cell, officers uncover a handwritten manuscript that promises to answer the question that’s haunted the nation for years: was Hale a lunatic, or had he been telling the truth all along?

Unnervingly, Hale doesn’t fit the bill of a killer. The first-person narrative that centers this novel reveals an acerbic young atheist, newly enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to carry on the legacy of his recently deceased father. In need of cash, he takes a job ghostwriting a mysterious book for a dark stranger but has misgivings when the project begins to reawaken his satanophobia, a rare condition that causes him to live in terror that the Devil is after him. As he struggles to disentangle fact from fear, Grayson’s world is turned upside-down after events force him to confront his growing suspicion that he’s working for the one he has feared all this time—and that the book is only the beginning of their partnership.​​

A History of Fear is a propulsive foray into the darkness of the human psyche, marrying a dread-inducing atmosphere and heart-palpitating storytelling.

HAPPY READING!!

The Icepick Surgeon - Review

 

Author: Sam Kean

Genre: Nonfiction

Format: ebook

Pages: 12 hours

Sam Kean's books have been on my TBR for a very long time. So it's a good thing that books don't expire! Because I would have been disappointed if these books slipped through my fingers.

Now, I'm always a little nervous to pick up a new author. Especially ones where they sound right up my alley, and even more so with nonfiction. I don't want it to feel like I'm reading a textbook, or not like the author's writing style. Or, in this book's case, the narrator.

Thankfully I had nothing to worry about The Icepick Surgeon. Not only did I enjoy the way Kean wrote this book, but I enjoyed the narrator, Ben Sullivan. There was something kind of soothing about his voice. It was perfect for while I was opening at my job, or doing household chores. 

Sullivan's voice had a way of keeping my attention while not feeling like I was being talked at. Which, might also speak to how well Kean wrote this book. It doesn't feel like a textbook, or like I'm thrown information left and right. Kean weaves these little histories so well that there's never really a dull moment.

And, there's so much research that went into this whole book. Because there is a lot of information in each chapter, but I never got bored. Maybe because some of these things were so horrible that they kept my attention. Maybe because when I thought it couldn't possibly get worse, in some cases it does. But, Kean has weaved all this information, dates, people, and horrid deeds in a way that I managed to keep up.

I even managed to take set this book aside while I was as sick, a little halfway through, and I was able to pick it right back when I was on the mend. All the information just came back to me as Sullivan started talking. 

A plus, because I've never had a great memory. So that's how I know this book had my full attention even at work.

My only sort of hang-up with this book is a personal one. I wasn't sure why there was a conclusion and an appendix. The last part personally felt like too much. I had to back up and start it three different times before I just gave up and called the book done.

I don't know, I felt like it could have just been added to the conclusion without the addition of the fraud case and it would have been fine. Something about that last few minutes that I was like, why aren't we don't yet?

But, despite that one thing I'll be picking up another of Sam Kean's books!

HAPPY READING!!

Young Adult Horror Favorites

Not another throwback favorites that absolutely no one asked for! That's right, another one. Because when I saw I love all things spooky, I mean it. Once I hit middle school I was spending summers with my Great Grandparents, helping them with this and that. And, they lived not far from the local library. It was then I discovered Christopher Pike books and the tie-in novels to Buffy the Vampire Slayter. I also read the few Fear Street books my library had.

I was also starting to watch scary movies for the first time. A lot of Wes Craven, who is still one of my favorite directors. Though I love those movies for a whole different reason now as an adult.

The same can be said about the Young Adult horror. Not just from the 90s either. Though, the old-school books hit a little different the one's published in the last few years. Though I love them both. 

I love how the Young Adult Horror as shifted through the years. Yes as an adult it's perfictable and occasionally way into the left field on what is probable. But that's what I like about it. There are spooky moments, jumps scares, but as a whole it's pretty time. It makes a nice change from some of the more intense books in Adult Horror. 

The old school 80's and 90's (I don't think  I've read anything older than the 80's), I enjoy for just how weird they get. Some have ages fairly well. Some have defintely not, but they always fun to read. Though some of the ones from the 90's get a little more graphic than Middle School me remembers. 

Though, my favorite Christopher Pike book (Die Softly) has a pretty intense ending. I'm not sure it would be allowed today in Young Adult. Either way, these books hold a special place for me, and I love that I get a chance to collect them as a adult. A way to sort of remember those summers with the Great Grandparetns.

HAPPY READING!!

Vintage Hallowe'en Party Book - Review

Author: Robert Pandis

Genre: Cookbook

Format: Hardback

Pages: 184

Every once in a while I found a gem of a book thanks to Instagram. I follow a book museum in California (Mystic Museum), and it's on my bucket list to visit if I'm ever in Burbank. A couple of weeks ago this popped up on their page. Sadly I missed my chance to get one, but luckily demand was so high they got more copies in.

And, I got one!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. And, I love the old vintage decorations. Plus, I love old cookbooks. Because there are always some gems hidden underneath all the questionable recipes.

This was an absolute delight. Not only is it filled with some recipes I plan on trying. It's also filled with some that should have stayed in the past, but they were fun to read about. My roommate's face when I read some aloud was hilarious. Because if I have to know about them, she does too.

There were also some fun party ideas including some old-school costumes. I was especially fond of the crepe paper dresses. Some of them were really cute. The centerpieces were also super cute and creative. Some of the games sounded interesting,  but others didn't age so well. I did like the idea of instead of bobbing for apples, just dangling them from the ceiling. While this makes it harder, it's less of a mess all around.

All around this was a fun and quick read that I enjoyed. I'm really glad I managed to snag a copy. It makes a great Halloween coffee table book, a great conversation starter, and it'll make a great addition to our Halloween mantlepiece.

This is also filled with great photos from Halloween past. So you can get a visual on some of the amazing table set-ups, old school costumes, some of the food, and some super creepy, but awesome, Halloween decorations!

The downside is these are a limited printing. So if you love Halloween and this is your jam, the author has a page on Amazon where there are still copies available!

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.

A sinister novel based on the real Bloody Benders, a family of serial killers in the old Westbound by butchery and obscured by the shadows of American history.

The winds shift nervously on the Kansas plain whispering of travelers lost and buried, whispering of witches. Something dark and twisted has taken root at the Bender Inn.

At first the townspeople of Cherryvale welcome the rising medium Kate Bender and her family. Kate's messages from the Beyond give their tedious dreams hope and her mother's potions cure their little ills—for a price. No one knows about their other business, the shortcut to a better life. And why shouldn’t their family prosper? They’re careful. It’s only from those who are marked, those who travel alone and can easily disappear, that the Benders demand their pound of flesh.

But even a gifted seer like Kate can make a misstep. Now as the secrets festering beneath the soil of the family orchard threaten to bring them all to ruin, the Benders must sharpen their craft—or vanish themselves.

Why I'm Waiting: I grew up in Southeast Kansas not far from where the Bender farm was located, so I'm a little obsessed.

HAPPY READING!!

Something is Killing the Children Vol 5

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 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.

HAPPY READING!!

Book Mail

This was the best weekend for book mail! Not only was it a Night Worms weekend, which is one of my favorite parts of each month. Mostly because I get so busy with other things I forget which books are coming. One day that will bite in the backside when I double buy a book, but so far it's just a fun little surprise when I open those packages.

But, I got two other book packages this weekend. Once was a vintage Halloween cookbook I bought from the Mystic Museum out of California. I saw the book on their Instagram a few weekends ago and I was sad I missed them. But, they were amazing, and due to high demand did the second go of them, and I snagged one. I've only had time to flip through because work was so crazy. But, it's adorable and I can't wait to sit down and give it my full attention!

Lastly, Quirk Books surprised me and send me an early copy of Toil and Trouble by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson! This sounds like a really fun and interesting read. I'm hoping to get it as soon as I wrap up my current reads (I've started so many this weekend and finished none). 

Four new books have joined my TBR which is getting so much closer to just toppling over on me and crushing me. But I adore everything that just came in, and the goodie bag through Night Worms was so good this week. I loved the hot beverage, Bones is one of my favorite coffee companies!

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!

A ghost-hunting reality TV crew gains unprecedented access to an abandoned and supposedly haunted mansion, which promises a groundbreaking thirteenth episode, but as they uncover the secret history of the house, they learn that “reality” TV might be all too real — in Bram Stoker Award-nominated author Craig DiLouie's latest heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense.

Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost-hunting reality TV show. It’s led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin and features a dedicated crew of ghost-hunting experts.
 
Episode Thirteen takes them to Matt's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This crumbling, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about the bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also haunted, and Matt hopes to use their scientific techniques and high-tech gear to prove it. 

But, as the house begins to slowly reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. 
  
A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, correspondence, and research files, this is the story of Episode Thirteen — and how everything went horribly wrong. 

HAPPY READING!!

Hanging with Vampires - Review

Author: Insha Fitzpatrick

Genre: Humor/Nonfiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 124

A huge thank you to Quirk Books for sending me an early copy of Hanging with Vampires for my honest review! 

This was absolutely adorable! I enjoyed every single second of this book. Vampires have been my favorite creatures. I would say I spent a hunk of my youth obsessed with vampires. Mostly because I grew up in the age of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but also because they're cool. 

And, while this book does have a few throwbacks to my childhood love of vampires. It also mentions a few of my adult love of vampires. It was only the smallest nod to Henry Sturges, but I saw it and I loved it.

For me, the best thing about Hanging with Vampires is just how much fun Insha Fitzpatrick seemed to have to put this book together. Yes, it is jammed packed with vampire facts, history, lore, and stories. But it's also filled with jokes, personal comments, and joy. The author had fine writing this book and you can tell throughout the pages.

The next thing I enjoyed was how Fitzpatrick touches on more than just the European lore. Vampire lore is found throughout the world in different degrees, and I loved that so many of those different versions got touched on inside Hanging with Vampires.

I also really enjoyed the breaks between chapters with the interviews of not only the most famous vampire but the father of the vampire story as well. Those were a fun way to tell a bit of vampire history. There are interactive pages as well. I knew so many of those vampire books! I also will bust out the spooky story builder as part of our Halloween fun this month!

And, I will be trying that garlic bread. I have the perfect red sauce recipe to go along with it.

Hanging with Vampires is a must-have for vampire fans of all ages. It was a lot of fun and I read quite a bit out loud to my roommate. I cannot wait to see the final copy and see all the artwork that filled the pages. If you have vampire lovers in your life, this book is something they definitely need to read!

Hanging with Vampires will be released on March 28, 2023!

HAPPY READING!!