A horror novel should hold my attention sooner than eighty percent of the way through the book.
Shakespearean Horror: Review of All’s Well by Mona Awad
Mona Awad’s newest horror release, All’s Well, is a masterpiece of Shakespearean hyperbolic metaphor.
Through Twists and Timelines: Review of The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Stuart Turton’s debut novel, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, is a book filled with surprises.
A Paean to Otherness: How Shirley Jackson Makes the Supernatural a Safe Haven
I saw myself and my sister in Merricat and Constance - two sisters from a deeply troubled family, survivors of traumatic experiences who rely on each other to make it through the day.
Read Your Fear: Short Stories to Get You into the Halloween Spirit
My year-round default pastime of choice is reading horror fiction. Thus, you can imagine my excitement when October comes around and horror recommendations are in demand for 31 delightful days.
Short Story: Move-In Day
Walking back up the stairs towards her apartment door, she held her head high, determined to enter her new home feeling confident and prepared. Yet, once the door shut behind her with a bang, a noise much different than the one her door at home made, the breath rushed out of her and so did … Continue reading Short Story: Move-In Day
Short Story: The Machine Room
A slimy, oatmeal-like, little blob is reacting to the edgy riff of the electric guitar. ”The very unpleasant little creature” from the Flight of the Navigator. Its cells are just beginning to awaken from their inert slumber as they begin to do little flips and contortions, throbbing together as they bathe in the fluid that … Continue reading Short Story: The Machine Room
Personal Essay: Secondhand Horror
I have never read The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. Since I spotted it for the first time in my parents’ bookshelf sometime in grade school, I have regarded it more like a piece of furniture than a book – a staple of the house, too heavy for me to lift let … Continue reading Personal Essay: Secondhand Horror
Short Story: The Beltane Fire
Ritsa watched the witches gather. The yew forest behind the hills bordered an absurd shade of green and were scattered with wildflower growths from the spring, which trilled with laughter in the warm dusk breeze. In a small valley within it there was dirt—a great brown clearing of soft decay that felt the absence of … Continue reading Short Story: The Beltane Fire
Short Story: Where She Belongs
He fell in love with her sitting on a park bench. Her skirt, decorated with small pink flowers, rustled and flowed softly in the wind as she sat alone, absorbing the chirps of the birds and the ripples in the pond. It seemed to him as if she belonged there, as if she were born … Continue reading Short Story: Where She Belongs
