Tag: horror

When Jen Monroe hears her father’s remains have been found, she returns home to disprove his death, only to find the forests of rural Washington are hiding something ancient and dangerous…

Seven years ago, Jen Monroe left behind her hometown of Barrow, Washington after her father, a forest ranger passionate about protecting old trees from the aggressive logging business that runs their small town, vanished seemingly into thin air. She vowed never to return…until she gets a text from her estranged mother. Her father’s remains have been found.

It seems impossibleto Jen who has always believed her father is still alive, and she returns home, determined to find out what really happened. When her ex-boyfriend proposes a camping trip into the woods in her father’s memory, it feels like the opportunity Jen had been hoping for: to find her father. To find the truth.

But what she finds lurking in the forest may be deeper, darker and deadlier than she could have ever imagined. And it has no intention of letting her leave.

Unsettling, tense, and atmospheric, this is a feminist suspense novel for those who have always known there’s something hungry waiting in the woods.

My thoughts: If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise…sadly not a teddy bears’ picnic but the forest fighting back. Those ancient trees of the Pacific Northwest of America, thousands of years older, possibly growing before any humans set foot on the land.

The town of Barrow is a logging town, her ex-boyfriend’s family own the company that cuts down the trees and employs many of the residents. Her dad was an employee of the forest service and loved the ancient trees the most, fighting to protect and preserve them.

Jen’s return and the decision to head into the forest to find out what really happened to her dad, accompanied by her old friends and a few new faces ends in something dark and terrifying (if you’re not nice to the trees, why should they be nice to you?).

There are some pretty old trees near me, here in the UK, might go pat them gently and ask them not to sacrifice me to the hulderfolk please. I’m quite fond of woods and trees so hopefully they’ll be nice and not eat me. Genuinely creepy book, this. Don’t read it on a camping trip or you won’t sleep.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Horror author Tyson Parks thinks his best days are behind him. He misses the heydays of the 1980s and 90s, when he was ruling the horror fiction charts, and now finds himself scrambling to remain a relevant author. He hasn’t had a hit in years, his agent won’t take his calls, and he’s never felt older.

Then, on his 59th birthday, his girlfriend gives him the gift of a lifetime: a monstrous antique desk. Rejuvenated by the desk’s mysterious energy, he begins writing with an all-consuming passion-and a savage darkness–he hasn’t felt in decades, and is eager to get his career back on track. Unfortunately, the desk, and the evil spirit that harbors within, has other plans. It won’t stop until it gets what it wants–even if it must destroy Tyson, and everyone he holds dear, in the process.

In this terrifying novel of art, obsession, and the horror of creation, Fracassi shows why he’s become a fan favorite among contemporary horror authors. Now in a brand-new edition, which includes a never-before-seen excerpt, Gothic is a dread-fueled dive into what a writer is willing to do to serve the muse, and his own desires.

My thoughts: I think every writer has felt the dreaded writer’s block at some point, but I don’t think any of them have wound up solving it by becoming a conduit to evil via a haunted desk.

Tyson Parks’ partner Sarah has bought him this incredible, intricately carved one for his birthday, to finally replace the battered desk he’s had since college. Unfortunately it’s actually a portal to some sort of hell dimension. And the things trapped it, well, they want him to tell their stories, and they also want blood.

As things inside the house go from bad to worse for the inhabitants, a strange woman who has been searching for the desk for years arrives in search of it, and she will not let anything stop her quest.

One of the characters describes it as “Christine, but with a desk” which made me laugh. For a horror novel, it’s actually pretty funny at times. I really enjoyed it, I can’t stand horror films, but books I can get into, especially as Fracassi is a great writer, the premise might sound a bit silly, but the story is clever and entertaining. Is Tyson particularly susceptible to the manipulation of the evil within, or would it work on anyone? You decide.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

A haunting, atmospheric modern Gothic horror tale based on traditional Irish mythology, from the author of smash hit The Watchers.

Ancient evil is awakened on a lonely isle off the coast of Ireland.

TO LEARN THE TRUTH WOULD YOU DESCEND INTO HELL?

Off the west coast of Ireland lies a lonely island, isolated and wilfully forgotten. Some say there hasn’t been a child born on the island for thirty years. Others speak of strange deaths there, decades ago.
But no one really knows what happened. Locals believe that the dark times are behind them.
They are mistaken.

Grace, adopted at four years old, has never known where she came from. A mysterious phone call leads her back to the island where she was born – and where a terrible evil has been disturbed.

As the evil starts to spread, Grace finds herself dragged back into a living nightmare that threatens to engulf anyone who steps into its path.

Grace is perfect for fans of horror classics, Paul Tremblay, and Kealan Patrick Burke.

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A.M. Shine writes in the Gothic horror tradition. Born in Galway, Ireland, he received his Master’s Degree in History there before sharpening his quill and pursuing all things literary and macabre. He is a member of the Irish Writers Centre. His debut novel, The Watchers, has been made into a major motion picture produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Follow him on @AMShineWriter and
http://www.amshinewriter.com
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My thoughts: This is a weird twisted and creepy book set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. When Grace receives a call telling her that her biological mother has died and left Grace her estate, she closes up her bookshop and goes to the island, despite it being against her late mother’s wishes. She will wish she had taken the advice and let the solicitor sell the house.

The island is home to an ancient evil being that torments the remaining inhabitants. There are no children on the island, just a handful of older people who really should have left. They’re terrified and traumatised by events in the past and now the creature has reawakened and wants to finish what it started all those years before.

The youngish parish priest wants to help his remaining parishioners but he’s not really equipped to deal with monstrous demonic beings or ghosts, and by the time he learns the truth, it may well be too late.

Dark and full of the horrors of things hidden by the mist and darkness, this will put you off going to explore creepy islands with a tiny population. Which is probably a good thing!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Driving a logging truck through the Romanian mountains, smuggler Rosi and her crew come across a radio signal that hints at impending doom. As the world goes completely dark, their truck becomes a vessel sailing across a sea of nothingness. But they’re not alone: transmissions trickle in through the radio from similar isolated islands across the country, from amateur radio hobbyists and police cars and customs facilities.

Attempting to rescue survivors and find a way out, the group save more lives, but soon discover that something hungry lurks below, and it’s sending up agents – and transmissions – of its own.

Comparison Titles: Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess, The Boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgson, Void 1680 AM by Ken Lowery, The Vast of Night (2019 film directed by Andrew Patterson)

Alex Woodroe is a Romanian writer of dark speculative fiction and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated editor-in-chief of Tenebrous Press. She’s the author of Whisperwood, as well as several short horror, fantasy, and science-fiction stories and non-fiction articles published in venues like Nightmare Magazine, Horror Library, the Nosleep podcast, and more.

She lives in the heart of the Transylvanian region of Romania, and lets her country’s culture and unique natural landscapes influence her work. She’s been a translator, a beermaid, a teacher, a copywriter, and a dog trainer, but ultimately realized she wouldn’t be happy until she terrified people for a living. alexwoodroe.com / X: @alexwoodroe / Instagram: @alexwoodroe

My thoughts: This gets quite sinister and dark, but is very clever and enjoyable. As the logging truck becomes a place of refuge against the strange plant like creature trying to make every human part of itself, Rosi becomes a hero in the valiant struggle to make it through the disintegrating world and darkness towards salvation. Her allies are unlikely, and not everyone will survive this strange journey, but if they can parse the messages in the radio transmissions and find the one that will lead them safely to a refuge that the creature can’t reach, perhaps the future has hope.

Rosi’s contraband goods aren’t all useful, no one needs jeans at the end of the world, but the food and booze help them get through the endless night, especially when things seem impossible. She will also realise some things about herself and find a strange happiness on board the truck they christen the Night Ship.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.