Tag: horror books

Book Review: What Stalks the Deep – T. Kingfisher

Book Review: What Stalks the Deep – T. Kingfisher

by Nicole Sweeney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment


Series: Sworn Soldier #3
Release date: September 30 2025
Publisher: Titan Books
Pages: 192
Find it: Goodreads Waterstones
Source: The publisher kindly sent me an E-ARC via Netgalley
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis

Alex Easton does not want to visit America.

They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.

But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do…

Review

What Stalks the Deep is the third instalment in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series. In this one, we’re back following Alex Easton and Angus as they travel to Boston. Alex has received a mysterious telegram from his old friend Dr. Denton, asking for his help. When they get to Boston, they learn that Denton’s cousin Oscar has gone missing in a coal mine. Before he went missing, Oscar sent some very strange letters, raving about strange lights and missing belongings in the coal mine. Can they discover what happened to Oscar before it’s too late?

This is my third T. Kingfisher book this year, and it was another brilliant, atmospheric read. This is a pretty short one at less than 200 pages, and I ended up reading it more or less in one sitting. It was fast paced, well-plotted, and full of tense, creepy moments. I loved the claustrophobic, dark mine setting, and Kingfisher did a fantastic job of bringing that eerie setting to life. I loved that the story went in ways I wasn’t expecting, and the story comes to a satisfying conclusion.

I’ve grown quite attached to Alex and Angus over the course of the three books, and it was lovely to be back with these characters again. Easton is a brilliant protagonist; he’s witty and sarcastic but also brave and loyal to his friends. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of reading books about Alex Easton and his adventures (though he does deserve a bit of a break from the supernatural goings on). Overall, this is a compelling sequel, so if you’re looking for a fun series of horror novellas to sink your teeth into, What Stalks the Deep (and the other books in the series) should absolutely be on your spooky season TBR.
 

Blog Tour: The Gift: Eleanor – R. A. Williams

Blog Tour: The Gift: Eleanor – R. A. Williams

by Nicole Sweeney ♥ 1 Comment


Release Date: 9th December 2021
Publisher: Whitefox
Pages:  443
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis

The North Atlantic, 14 April 1912. Amid the chaos of the sinking Titanic, a young Eleanor Annenberg meets the eyes of a stranger and is immediately captivated. As the ship buckles around them, she follows him down into the hold and finds him leaning over an open sarcophagus, surrounded by mutilated bodies. She catches but a glimpse of what lies within before she’s sucked into a maelstrom of freezing brine and half-devoured corpses.

Elle is pulled out of the water, but the stranger – and the secrets she stumbled upon – are lost. Unintentionally, however, he leaves her a gift; one so compelling that Elle embarks on a journey that pulls her into a world of ancient evils, vicious hunters and human prey to find the man who saved her that fateful night.

From trench warfare at Cape Helles in 1915 to a shipwreck in the tropical shallows off the Honduran coast, from a lost mine beneath the towering Externsteine in a Germany on the verge of war to the gothic crypts of Highgate Cemetery in London, Elle gets closer to a truth she has sought for most of her life. But at what cost? Gifts, after all, are seldom free.

Review

The Gift is a dark and intriguing tale that follows Eleanor Annenberg. Traveling with her parents back to America onboard the Titanic, Eleanor is captivated by a mysterious stranger. She follows him to the very depths of the ship where he opens an ancient sarcophagus. There are corpses everywhere and Eleanor only catches a glimpse of what lies inside before she is swept away in the vicious waters. When she awakes she has been pulled from the water and has a chance to survive that fateful night. The events on the Titanic leave Eleanor with so many questions and she embarks on a journey to uncover the truth – who was the man who saved her and what evil thing killed and mutilated the people on the ship that night? The journey will take her from the tropical shallows off Honduras to a lost mine in Germany. Will she be able to uncover the truth and will it be worth the cost?

The Gift is a brilliantly addictive adventure story, one that pulls the reader in from the very beginning. The book was excellently plotted and I loved the slow unraveling of the mystery. Williams has a gorgeous writing style and the different locations really came to life. The writing was very compelling and I found myself getting sucked deeper and deeper into this gothic tale. The story gave me Dracula vibes and it was the perfect book to get lost in on a dark and stormy evening.

The Gift easily hooks you in with its first chapter set on board the Titanic. It was a clever and compelling tale and I felt like I was right alongside Eleanor, desperate to know more about Balthazar. Eleanor was a really fascinating main character, she’s incredibly sharp and clever and I liked her immediately. She’s determined to uncover the truth, even if that puts her in danger. The Gift is a dark and addictive gothic adventure and a book I could not put down. The Gift is a brilliant start to the series and I cannot wait to see where things go in book two.

Book Review: It’s Behind You – Kathryn Foxfield

Book Review: It’s Behind You – Kathryn Foxfield

by Nicole Sweeney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment


Release Date: July 1st 2021
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 352
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of the book to review
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis

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

Five contestants must sit tight through the night in dark and dangerous Umber Gorge caves, haunted by a ghost called the Puckered Maiden. But is it the malevolent spirit they should fear … or each other?

As the production crew ramps up the frights, secrets start to be revealed. These teenagers have hidden motives for taking part in It’s Behind You! and could some of them be … murder?

Review

It’s Behind You is the chilling new YA thriller from Good Girl’s Die First author Kathryn Foxfield. The story follows a reality TV show where five contestants much spend the night in a haunted location. This time around they’re at the Umber Gorge caves, a place rumoured to be haunted by the Puckered Maiden. All the contestants have to do is last the night and the money is theirs. Everyone has their own motivations for being on the show and Lex is determined to win that money. When things start to go wrong the contestants wonder – will they make it out alive?

I absolutely love horror movies and I think I picked this up at completely the right time. I was in the mood for something fun and fast-paced and that was definitely what I got. The story also has some real spine-tingling moments and I got completely captivated by this creepy story. I read it in a single sitting, and there were quite a few surprise moments I didn’t see coming. I really liked Foxfield’s writing style and her descriptions of the dark and eerie caves did freak me out. The dark, claustrophobic setting really comes to life in the story and as the tension increased I found myself turning the pages quicker and quicker, it felt like a race to know how it was going to end.

Foxfield has created some brilliant characters for It’s Behind You. They’ve all got their motivations for why they’re on the show and people are more than they appear. Our main character Lex is determined to win and she’s not above scaring her fellow contestants into quitting. At times she is quite unlikeable but by the end, I was definitely rooting for her. Jackie was another character I was fascinated by. She has everything riding on making this show a success and nothing will get in her way. This is a pretty chilling read, but there are quite a few humorous moments in there too. If you’re looking for a fast-paced and spooky read this Autumn, I highly recommend It’s Behind You.

Book Review: Wicked Little Deeds – Kat Ellis

Book Review: Wicked Little Deeds – Kat Ellis

by Nicole Sweeney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment


Release Date: 5th August 2021
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 400
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: I received an E-ARC to review via The Write Reads
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis

From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well – since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she’s been plagued by nightmares.

But when someone close to her is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.

Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there’s a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…

Review

Wicked Little Deeds is the new book from horror writer Kat Ellis. The story follows Ava Thorn, a resident of the small, superstitious town of Burden Falls. Ava is plagued by nightmares since witnessing a horrific accident a year ago, but when someone close to her is murdered, Ava is the prime suspect. Burden Falls is a town full of secrets and whoever is behind the murder has a grudge against Ava’s family.

Harrow Lake was one of my favourite reads of last year so when I heard Kat Ellis was releasing a new creepy horror book full of family secrets and a creepy small town, I was absolutely desperate to read it. The story had me hooked from the very first page and it was just as addictive as Harrow Lake. I ended up reading this book in a single day because I just couldn’t look away and I had to know how it was going to end. The story is full of twists and turns and there were lots of moments I didn’t see coming.

Kat Ellis has a really brilliant writing style, and I found myself completely captivated by this story. I won’t say too much about the plot as it’s definitely one of those books where you should go in knowing as little as possible. Ellis really knows how to give a scene that chilling atmosphere and there was definitely a few moments that sent a shiver up my spine. Wicked Little Deeds is a fast paced story – one you might not want to read with the lights off.

Wicked Little Deeds has some really fascinating characters and I really liked our protagonist Ava – she’s still dealing with the loss of her parents as well as the pain of knowing her Uncle Ty has sold the family home to their enemies. Ava is a complex character, one that felt realistic and well developed. She’s the prime suspect in a murder and she’ll do anything to find out who’s really behind it. One of the things that I enjoyed most about this story was the urban legend of Dead Eyed Sadie, it made for some very spooky moments that had me on the edge of my seat. Wicked Little Deeds is a brilliant read, one that blends mystery and horror (and even has a bit of romance too!). If you’re looking for a chilling story that will keep you hooked right till the very last page, this is absolutely what you’re looking for. I enjoyed every second of Wicked Little Deeds and I can’t wait to see what Kat Ellis writes next! 

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Book Review: Horrorstör – Grady Hendrix

Book Review: Horrorstör – Grady Hendrix

by Nicole Sweeney ♥ 2 Comments


Release Date: September 23rd 2014
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pages: 248
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: I ordered a copy of this from Book Depository.
Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

Review

Horrorstör is a book that caught my eye online and as soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to order a copy. A haunted house story set in an Ikea type store? Where do I sign up? I expected this to be a fun, entertaining read but what I didn’t expect was for it to be genuinely quite creepy and spine tingling. Horrorstör is a gripping and compelling read, and one I absolutely did not want to look away from.

I absolutely love the concept of this book. It’s laid out like an Ikea catalogue, with a map of the store and diagrams of the furniture on sale – that became increasingly more menacing as the story progresses. It’s clever and well executed and definitely made me intrigued to read more from Grady Hendrix.

The story itself is quite a straight forward one. Amy is an employee of Orsk, a cheap knock off of Ikea. The store has been getting vandalised at night and when her boss Basil asks Amy and another employee to work an overnight shift in attempt to find out who’s causing the trouble, Amy needs the money desperately enough that she agrees. What they find in the store is a lot darker than they expected and not everyone will survive the night.

The story is a really addictive one and I absolutely raced through it. It’s fast paced and full of atmosphere and I really liked the characters Hendrix has created. We don’t get to learn too much about them apart from Amy but I liked them all. Parts of the story are pretty funny, particularly as Amy goes through her day as a retail employee. Overall I really enjoyed this one, it was plenty of fun and incredibly creepy. If you’re looking for a unique and engaging book to devour in a weekend, this is definitely it.