R. A. Busby is my favorite body horror and other specific phobias, author. I've read a few of Busby's short, body horror stories in various anthologieR. A. Busby is my favorite body horror and other specific phobias, author. I've read a few of Busby's short, body horror stories in various anthologies and my first reading experience was "Bits" a short, sharp, shocks story about losing teeth and other "bits". HOLES by R. A. Busby- deals with a fairly well-known fear, trypophobia (of which I am a sufferer). This is the tale of a woman who suffers a fear of holes. She embarks on a series of therapeutic attempts to lessen or eliminate her fear but to no avail. This has a great ending. And of course, Corporate Body is part of the line of novellas I curated for Cemetary Gates called My Dark Library. It's medical body horror--scientific lab experiments.
You Will Speak for the Dead is about a man named Paul who professionally cleans hoarder houses. I loved all the conversation in the narrative surrounding hoarding and its connection to mental health, grieving, and loss. The last house Paul cleans is a real doozy...filled with SPORROR and I do NOT want to tell you anything else but prepare to: Read the whole thing in one sitting make cringing faces and gagging noises and never want to be around mushrooms ever again! I LOVED IT...more
3 stars! (started the last weekend in May, set it down for over a month, and picked it back up to finish) Full review for my Patreon on Monday but here 3 stars! (started the last weekend in May, set it down for over a month, and picked it back up to finish) Full review for my Patreon on Monday but here are some reading notes: Themes: Female friendships that evolve over time Opposites attract/female friendship highlights women who chose very different paths in life Infidelity/Staying in a loveless marriage/settling (kind of the main thrust of the book, hence the title) Traveling/Retreat w/ a bestie Toxic relationships Vampires Paranormal Romance Identity Consequences .. Summing this one up in my own words, based on my reading experience, I would say that So Thirsty is in line with Harrison's other friendship-centered books like Cackle and The Return. The main character/narrator Sloane is unhappy with her marriage/life choices and goes on this retreat with her lifelong best friend, Naomi, who lives her life more independently and unhinged. The two women struggle to make sense of each other as they navigate traveling and making decisions--it seems like the gap between them is wider than it has been before so it's causing tension. To complicate things further, Naomi insists on going to a house party with some strangers--eager to step out of her comfort zone, Sloane acquiesces. This leads to a pretty significant, life-altering event.
(view spoiler)[Personally, these two women did not feel real to me, they seemed like caricatures/stereotypes. The vampires were underdeveloped and introduced a paranormal insta-romance that felt rushed. I don't think there was anything fresh or new added to either the whole "girl retreat" trope or vampire lore. We've all read books or watched movies where one friend is the wild child and plays everything fast and loose much to the annoyance of the more conservative, "play-it-safe" friend who is slightly jealous or resentful of the wild child. And long to be more independent and carefree but feel trapped in the life they have settled into. Reminded me a lot of the friend dynamic between Rayanne and Angela on My So-Called Life. In fact, the vampire Sloane hooks up with is kind of a Jordan Catalano/Lestat hybrid. (hide spoiler)]
I was entertained, that's why I finished. And I'm thankful for the Epilogue, but I honestly wanted more from this one. Recommending to Rachel Harrison fans, fans of horror centered around the female experience, and paranormal romance/Twilight fans (this one will satisfy)...more
Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch by Emily C. Hughes
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Quirk
Other BookHorror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch by Emily C. Hughes
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Quirk
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Debut book but I have been a fan of Emily's for a long time going back to her Tor Nightfire blog days and her website, Read Jump Scares https://readjumpscares.com
What You Need to Know: This book is for a really specific audience--people who are too afraid to watch horror movies but still enjoy knowing everything they can about them--including spoilers and plot details because they know for sure they're too scared to watch. In other words, ME!
My Reading Experience: This book was made for me. I am that person who hears people talking about the scariest movie they just saw and runs to Wikipedia to read the entire plot summary, spoilers and all, just so I can know all the grisly, gruesome details without having to actually experience them in real time. The problem with horror movies are the visuals that get stuck in my brain and haunt me while I'm trying to go to sleep. My mind will replay the worst scene from a movie over and over again on repeat. It's no use trying to make my brain stop--it won't listen to me. It tries to assault me with terrifying visuals until I just give up and turn the light on or watch Spongebob Squarepants. The best thing for me to do is just not watch horror movies. Sometimes, I try to be courageous and I make myself go to a big, exciting release (like Hereditary) or my daughter peer pressures me into watching something (like Midsommar) and I always regret it. This book explains the whole movie for weenies like me who refuse to watch it. Weirdly enough, I have seen over half of the movies in this book, but I only enjoyed the experience for like 10 of those. Ha! .. I refused to watch several of the movies
.. I saw and hated myself afterward two of the movies
I loved Emily's plot summaries, asides, and personal anecdotes. It was like talking about scary movies with a best friend. Plus I tucked away all the fun facts and things I would have never known if I hadn't read this book. So much to learn here!
Final Recommendation: Even though this book is supposed to be for scaredy cats and weenies, I think horror movie buffs will enjoy Emily's commentary, fun facts & trivia, and all the jokes and asides. A great bedside or coffee table book. Makes a great gift for cinephiles.
Comps: 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered by (me), Paperbacks From Hell by Grady Hendrix, and Necessary Death: What Horror Movies Teach Us about Navigating the Human Experience by Preston Fassel and Chris Grosso...more
“Some things are best left buried.” A debut novel by Del Sandeen Release: October 2024 From @berkleypub .. Just finished this morning and I will drop my re“Some things are best left buried.” A debut novel by Del Sandeen Release: October 2024 From @berkleypub .. Just finished this morning and I will drop my review on Patreon tomorrow. But I want to make sure the right horror readers pick this one up so here are my hooks & comps: Read if you enjoy… ...more
*please check the TWs in the back of the book before reading
MEWING taps into particular tropes that I enjoy. I love that whole, "Behind-the-Scenes, se*please check the TWs in the back of the book before reading
MEWING taps into particular tropes that I enjoy. I love that whole, "Behind-the-Scenes, secret, dark life of social media influencers", the "get-rich-quick" schemes, the ugly side of beauty and wellness culture, that whole "Black Mirror" dark technology and social media gone awry, and body horror. This one has it all! There were a few times I needed to suspend disbelief for the sake of wholly investing. My brain was asking many questions about obvious red flags. There were a few threads that didn't quite get tied off or circled back to--also a few scenes that needed more; they were slightly underdeveloped but the overall reading enjoyment is there. That's undeniable. I was turning those pages and I had to see where this was all going to end up.
THIS SKIN WAS ONCE MINE And Other Disturbances by Eric LaRocca Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And OTHIS SKIN WAS ONCE MINE And Other Disturbances by Eric LaRocca Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes, You’ve Lost A Lot of Blood, The Trees Grew Because I Bled There
What You Need to Know: A collection of four stories, similar to LaRocca’s first collection. One titular tale stands out as the clear favorite with a few other tales to anchor it as a “collection”
My Reading Experience: THE SKIN WAS ONCE MINE- a woman tortured by her self-image as a ‘monster’ returns to her childhood home after the unexpected death of her father. Her emotionally unavailable mother is being cared for by a mysterious man who seems like more than just a caretaker. This story is insidiously dark and disturbing. So much going on in the sub-text–that readers are left wondering about what truly happened. Triggers for child abuse SEEDLING- A young man’s father calls to tell his son that his mother has passed away and to come and pay respects. When he gets to his parents’ home, he realizes that his mother’s dead body is still in the house. This story, clearly, was symbolic of shared trauma and grief between father and son expressed through these strange wounds that opened up on their bodies. But then it takes a dark turn and I’m not entirely sure what to make of the ending–pretty gruesome!
ALL THE PARTS OF YOU THAT WON’T EASILY BURN-I don’t know exactly what it is about the writing style of this story but it reads almost like a long parable? It has this whole, “One day there was a man named Enoch and he goes to a shop to buy an expensive knife for his husband. The shopkeeper was a strange man who convinces Enoch to pay for the expensive knife with an expereince instead of money. He wants to cut Enoch and put a tiny piece of glass in the wound.” Do you know what I mean? And this one trigged my trypophobia, BAD. So be aware of that…(holes!)
PRICKLE- I honestly didn’t finish this one.
Final Recommendation: Horror readers who enjoy sampling a variety of speculative, grotesque, gruesome, body horror/emotional trauma, short stories you can finish in one sitting will enjoy this book. The first story is worth the price of admission–not every story will stick the landing for every reader.
Comps: Nineteen Claws and A Blackbird by Augustina Bazterrica, Full Throttle by Joe Hill, Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman ...more
Loading...
