Supernatural Horror and Adults

King, S. (2007).  The mist.  Signet. After a devastating storm, David Drayton, his son Billy and the neighbour Brent Norton go to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies. Things quickly go south as they and the other shoppers are trapped by a thick mist that has engulfed the town. The first to try and leave are quickly torn asunder by otherworldly creatures inhabiting the mist. To make matters worse the local religious zealot, Mr Carmody, begins to convince others that this is a sign from God that they need to repent for their sins…with a sacrifice. Can David and his son make it out alive? In my whole life, I’ve only read one horror book and it was by Stephen King, not this one though, one of his lesser-known works. From what I was able to read, the Mist is better. The details of the thunderstorms that were the precursor to the story had me on edge somehow. There were no fluffy, fancy words, just straight to the point for everything, allowing the reader to immediately be...

Lovecraft, H. (2016).  The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft (Chartwell Classics, 2) . Chartwell Classics. Before Stephen King, there was H.P. Lovecraft, master, and creator of eldritch horror, leading supernatural horror author of the twentieth century. Dive into his classic tales of terror in the second installment of Chartwell Classic, in which you will find a plethora of famous short stories and novellas such as ‘The Call of Cthulhu, ‘The thing on the door step’ and ‘The shadow out of time’, as well as many more. When it comes to the complete collection of one of the greatest horror writers in history, you’ll be hard-pressed not to find a story that will make you shiver. I’ll admit, I’ve never read any of Lovecraft’s works, this doesn’t mean I don’t know of him though. It took him barley twenty years to forever leave a mark in history and I aspire to do the same. The way he writes in the first person is one of my favourites, elegant, poetic in a sense that makes you spellboun...

Trussoni, D. (2020).  The ancestor . New York: William Morrow. Inheriting a noble title, money and a castle in Italy, sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? Well for Alberta “Bert” Monte, it’s just become a reality. With the chance to escape her stressful New York life she takes the plunge. However, Bert soon discovers that her family has a dark and complicated past. As she begins to unravel the secrets of her ancestors, she soon realizes that her true inheritance doesn’t lay in simple treasures, but in her very genes. While the story does begin with a little exposition, the author hasn’t hunkered down the story with too many details to be considered boring, and they even manage to make a few pieces of paper seem fascinating. Sadly, there is no horror present in the small sample I did read, but I still came away with a sense of suspense and mystery, already beginning to feel somewhat attached to the main character – Bert. Though the pacing could have been a little quicker, an...

Ripley, R. (2021). Shadows' end . When retired Marine Corps sergeant Shane Ryan and his friends are forced to fend off a supernatural attack at a nearby orphanage, he plans to destroy the person responsible for the terror and carnage caused. There’s a problem though, the one behind the attack is a deranged young boy who had gained the ability to command restless spirits of the dead, and the only way to stop him…is to kill him. Can Shane bring himself to do what must be done? For the first few paragraphs the story seems normal, then the character we’re following – Sally – discovers someone has shaved off all her hair. From there it’s a rollercoaster of questions, uncertainty and then the boy and a ghost appear. The eeriness of the way the boy talks about tests and experiments combined with the sudden death of Sally at the hands of the ghost really help set the tone for the rest of the story. The only downside was when the main character – Shane – talked a lot like some 80’s action m...

Duga, L. (2021).  Ghost in the Headlights . Scholastic Inc. Brianna Jenson has just moved in with her uncle Shale in rural Pennsylvania. Every afternoon, when she walks home from school, as the sun begins to set, she can hear footsteps behind her. Yet when she turns to look, there’s no one there. Then a car races along the narrow country road, headlights blinding as it almost runs her over, but there’s no one driving. As she digs into the past of Shadowrun Road, she discovers a tragedy that was never resolved. Can Brianna unravel this ghostly mystery before it’s too late? A disappointing and cliché start right off the bat, with the main character – Brianna – being startled awake, forgetting where she is and then going into a long explanation on why she’s there; this is just a cheap scare in movie format. And the long explanation? The first rule of writing – always show, don’t tell, otherwise, it’s just a boring information dump that could’ve been spread throughout the story. I don’...

Martin, N. (2021). Dark Solstice. Hey there, name’s Fergie Thompson, I’m just like any other man living in Northern Ireland…that is until my dead dad-in-law’s ghost shows up and says I need to kill a witch to save my ex-wife from being sacrificed to summon some great evil. Just like that, with nothing but a bottle of Buckfast wine and the ability to swing a Hurly stick, I’m pulled into a world of witchcraft, murderous ghosts, and cosmic horrors in a desperate struggle to save our wee tow, maybe even the whole world. Not too sure what to do about saving the ex-wife though…she probably can take care of herself. Saying I was merely sceptical with the idea of humour mixing with supernatural horror in writing is an understatement, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out how wrong I was. The bland/dry humour that one would expect to find in Northern Ireland truly came to light in the writing. Thanks to the story being in first-person with the main character being Irish, there is so. M...

Koontz, D. (2020). Devoted . Seattle: Thomas & Mercer. Woody Bookman is scared, he’s only eleven years old and he is certain there’s a monster after him and his mother, one that killed his father. Yet in all his eleven years of life, he’s never spoken a word, but thankfully he’s not alone. A Golden Retriever named Kipp has the unique ability to communicate to people without speaking, just like Woody and when he hears the boy speak to him, Kipp knows he must save Woody. But Woody’s fears are real, someone is coming, a man filled with darkness and a twisted plan in mind for the boy and his mother. Can they be saved from his primal power? I couldn’t help but feel deeply and personally offended by this book, saying that Woody has been diagnosed with autism but without any of the trials and pains that come with it, the mother even going so far as to call it an ‘affliction’. Even after some research, I found that the author has either no or very little connection with anyone on the spect...

Katsu, A. (2020).  The Deep . New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. Everyone knows the tragedy of the Titanic, the lack of boats and organization leading to the deaths of over one-thousand-five-hundred people, including one a man named Mark Fletcher. So, when a survivor named Annie Hebbley is working on the Titanic’s sister ship - the Britannic - discovers the unconscious body of Mark Fletcher, it’s defiantly something to be alarmed about. The author’s writing style is not unique, it dips in and out of the main character’s mind and their surroundings. This is normally the very first sign of good writing, but rarely is that the case as many let other aspects of their story fall into the shadows – such as grammar and coherent plotlines - while trying to focus on this one particular attribute. This is not the case here, however, yet I was unable to find any figurative language that stood out. Don’t get me wrong, they’re there, they just don’t have that wow factor that other books do.

Miller, K. (2021).  Don't Tell a Soul . New York: Delacorte Press. Louth, a tiny town on the Hudson River – seemingly quaint, yet, like all with everything in the world things are not as they seem. Bram wants to disappear, so that’s where she goes to live with her uncle, James. But the town is plagued by a dark past and the manor Bram now calls home may just well hide the darkest of them all, something the local legends call: the Dead Girls. In the first paragraph, the author made an interesting impression with the use of alliteration and commands your attention from there. My greatest weakness is a well-written story in the first person, many can write in the third person and do it justice, but to do so from the first takes true skill. The opening is rather grim and eerie, yet the author has also made such detailed descriptions seem enchanting. The reader is left with many questions by the end of the first chapter, egging them on to read more.

Maberry, J., Collins, M., Clemens, M., Kontis, A., Anderson, K., & Malerman, J. et al. (2017). Hardboiled horror . JournalStone. From the writers of ‘Infected’, ‘Phantom Evil’, ‘Dead in the Water’ and the critically acclaimed ‘Bird Box’ along with many others, comes a series of tales like no other. With fifteen original stories of noir mystery filled with horror and supernatural elements, each written by a different author in their own unique style, there’s little doubt you won’t find something that piques your interest. From occult detectives to paranormal investigators, seedy P.I.s to amateur sleuths – as well as some ghost hunters - there really is a story for everyone here, in Hardboiled Horror. The book opens up with a deeply confusing yet equally gripping description and holds you from that point on. The character of interest – a teenage boy – continues to ask himself the same repeated question as he talks to himself over his next victim, who is tied to a lamppost with thei...