The Haunted Stacks

Since around November 2023 I made a change and a decision. The decision was that I’d like to eventually run a horror book shop (meaning that I’d need to be able to recommend books by dint of having read them), and the change was that I gave up the remaining social media I was on (Instagram/BlueSky/Reddit), freeing up a lot of doom scrolling time.

Since January, I have read 60 books. Here’s the wrap up:

January

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix – 4 ★ – page turner, found the way the support group talk to each other quite draining. If I’d read this later in the year (after loads of excellent horror novels) it might not have been so highly rated, but I’d recommend it if you’re into horror movies.

The Year of Witching by Alexis Henderson – 5 ★ – this one really got me back into reading in earnest. It reminded me how good a book could be, honestly. It was GRIPPING, it was SPOOKY, it had a girl claiming her agency, amazing.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix – 3.5 ★ – Grady Hendrix has a great talent for writing men I love to hate. Some good spooks, but this was less interesting than How to Sell a Haunted House / Final Girl and also has a weirdly graphic and pointless sexual assault 2/3 of the way in which knocked it down a star.

Dawn by Octavia Butler – 2 ★ – the first half was baffling in a really intriguing way, but it lost me in the 2nd half.

Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher – 4.25 ★ – starts of so slowly that I nearly quit the book, but once it gets going it is fantastic. Very entertaining dialogue, good demon hen content.

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson – 3 ★ – I found the podcast format chapters deeply annoying so I just skipped those entirely and didn’t feel like I was losing anything. Pretty depressing, as you might expect.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix – 1 ★ – what a load of bollocks. This put me off his work entirely for a while.

Blackberries, Blackberries by Crystal Wilkinson – 3.25 ★ – more like vignettes than short stories, probably the most I’ve liked a short story collection.

February

Demon Seed by Dean Koontz – 3.5 ★ – never trust a man, digital or otherwise. This was pretty good, however it did send me down a rabbit hole of learning that Dean Koontz has bought up the rights to a bunch of his older stories and rewritten them, letting the original versions go out of print. My husband kindly tracked down the previous version of the story for me so I have that on the TBR now.

Blood on Satan’s Claw, or, The Devil’s Skin by Robert Wynne-Simmons – 4 ★ – very visceral body horror, gets to the point, love the illustrations.

Silverweed Road by Simon Crook – 5 ★ – super compelling, each chapter follows a different resident on this road but it’s all interconnected. There are ‘Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction’ style interludes between the chapters which are chefs hand kiss.

Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow – 3 ★ – had to skip big chunks of the first 150 pages because it’s so slow, after that it was fine. Probably more effective if you know the original story.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman – 3 ★ – this is outside my comfort zone and it took me a while to get through. Some of the cringe scenes in this (played purposefully) caused me physical pain.

Welcome to Hyunam-dong Book Shop by Hwang Bo-reum – 5 ★ – this is outside my comfort zone and I DEVOURED IT. More ponderous than novels I usually enjoy, but the slow unfolding of characters and their motivations really drew me in. This is a restful book but also a page turner. Buy a copy for your grandma and your depressed cousin.

Come With Me by Ronald Malfi – 2.5 ★ – Ok first half, very boring 2nd half.

The Silver Coin (number 1) by Chip Zdarsky – 3.5 ★ – if you want to read a comic series about an evil coin, I’d recommend this one.

Necroscope by Brian Lumley – 5 ★ – I will fight anyone who rates this under 4 ★ to the death and tear out their heart with my bare hands. Taught me how to pay attention to a long story again. Best book of the year. Gross disgusting squishy horrid ponderous weird fantastic. Please please let the sequels be comparably excellent.

The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick – 3.5 ★ – this is a Point Horror novel (aimed at teens). Surprisingly gruesome with very squick lines from Mr Creepy. Gets to the point. Relatable issues faced by the main character of not being listened to as a young woman when men are being creepy. I really thought two way mirrors would be more of a day to day issue as a teenager, which this reminded me of.

Shiver by Junji Ito – 4 ★ – I love the Twilight zone style ‘no resolution, just vibes’ of this. Basically just saying ‘what if this happened? Wouldn’t that be gross?’. The spot squeezing was especially repulsive. Great work. Also the paper feels great in my edition.

I Put A Spell On You: The Bizarre Life of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – 2 ★ – this is maybe an unfair rating because I hate biographies but I read this one for a reading challenge. There’s too much names and dates! Biographies are boring! I’m sorry!

March

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt – 3 ★ – very important but repetitive (mentions the same studies like they’re new information 3 or 4 times). I’d recommend avoiding the audio book (which is how I read this) to make it easier to skip the duplicates.

The September House by Carissa Orlando – 5 ★ – absolutely excellent, I really felt for the main character and the setup was so unique. This was definitely the scariest book of the year so far for me. Can’t say I’d recommend the audio book (lots of yelling) but definitely read this one somehow.

Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims – 4 ★ – I really enjoyed all the individual stories. To be honest by the time everyone came together late in the book I had forgotten most of the earlier characters but still found the ending satisfying. Janek is king.

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones – 5 ★ – fantastic. Werewolf story but more like a character(s) study than a novel in some ways. Just so rich and engaging and understated. Some deeply gross scenes played very casually (The owl!). Some beautiful turns of phrase in here also. I’ve picked up a few of SGJ’s novels for the TBR off the strength of this.

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison – 4 ★ – super engaging, I liked the main character a lot but I want to live in the evil mom’s ‘furnished by Killstar’ house so much.

The Ritual by Adam Nevill – 4 ★ – blows the film out of the water. Good spooks and creepy vibe with some very unsettling imagery. This would have been a 5 ★ but the way women are spoken about in the prose gave me the ick. The characters are low to high key misogynist, that’s allowed, but so many of the descriptions in the outside-their-thoughts text equate femininity with or assign it to something bad, e.g. his too-feminine lashes, his feminine hips, his vulval mouth, his feminine hands, his lustrous feminine hair, his girlish wrist. Pacing is good at the start and end with a bit of a lull in the third quarter, but it’s worth pushing through to the end.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due – 4 ★ – very depressing (on purpose). Starts off a bit slow but really picks up momentum in the 2nd half. The balance between eerie ghost stuff and just alive racists being horrifying is really well done.

Nod by Adrian Barnes – 2 ★ – like all extreme horror written by men, it is boring.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata – 3 ★ – Convenience Store Woman (horror edition) ((but not as good)).

Ankle Snatcher by Grady Hendrix – 3.5 ★ – I needed a short story for a prompt and this was cromulent. It has a boogie man in it.

April

The Watchers by A.M. Shine – 4.25 ★ – really cool twisty turny business. Great atmosphere, great characters. Goes on about 50 pages too long in my opinion but just the experience of getting to ‘the end’ and still having 40% of the book left was so cool. Don’t watch the film, the film is dog shit.

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin – 2.5 ★ – I read this because modern horror is so often compared to it so I wanted to know what was up. I’m sure it was amazing at the time.

Nineteen Claws and a Blackbird by Agustina Bazterrica – 1 ★ – Lame. Seems to suffer with translated fiction robot-itis.

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins – 3 ★ – I was in moth-mode at the cool cover and didn’t realise this was YA. Probably better if you’re the intended audience.

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson – 4 ★ – great, the audiobook narrator was really putting the work in with the unique accents for every character too. I don’t need to read any more of them.

Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine K Albright – 2.5 ★ – fine but (after the first 2 chapters) too many names names names and dates dates dates in big blocks which turned off my brain. Author seems very preoccupied with making sure we all know presidents come to her birthday parties, how dictators don’t dare be rude to her, how she’s been a very important decision maker, etc.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – 5 ★ – deeply engrossing. Very rich and textured world. Cool and interesting lore. Twisty turny. Great.

Keeping Chickens for Dummies by Pammy Riggs – 3 ★ – told me some of what I needed to know but seems a bit outdated.

Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken – 5 ★ – very sensitively written, doesn’t hate fat people or poor people which is refreshing. Anti-evil-company which we love.

The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren – 4 ★ – a gory slasher? With a sense of humour? Which doesn’t hate women? Delicious. I liked the point of view changes. Your guy really knows how to write a detestable man. The monkey bit…disgusting. Great work.

Semiosis by Sue Burke – 3 ★ – cool sentient plant premise with some pacing issues. Could have been shorter.

Old Country by Harrison and Matt Query – 2 ★ – like 10 pages of interesting scenes in a 300 page book. Found the characters annoying and the dialogue felt like it was written by an AI. The idea is cool but most of the book feels like padding. Limmy-I-Dont-Get-It.gif

May

The Spite House by Johnny Compton – 5 ★ – beautiful and creepy with a few really good scares and a compelling mystery. Really touching to read about a family who love each other this much and would sacrifice so much for each other. The audio book narrator was fantastic. I will read anything this guy publishes.

Bunny by Mona Awad – 2.5 ★ – delirious in a way which would have been more fun if any of the characters were likeable.

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben – 4 ★ – very interesting and informative but chill enough to have a chapter of the audiobook on timer at bed time. Narrator has Paddington vibes (compliment).

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Naylar – 5 ★ – I read this in 2 big gulps with a break to lovingly hairdryer the pages after I dropped it in the bath. So compelling I found it basically hypnotic. Such an interesting story and cast. I was getting a bit worried 40 pages from the end that the ending would be rushed, but it was great.

The Vessel by Adam Nevill – 3.5 ★ – if you need a domestic folk horror, this is one of them.

The Rig by Roger Levy – 3.5 ★ – very cool and nuanced story. Could have been 150 pages shorter. Knocking a ★ off for time wasting.

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey – 3.5 ★ – read this because she is the hippo alternate history author. Middle third is very slow but the ending makes up for it.

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby – 3.75 ★ – A couple of big tough guys being big and tough and saying quips. Some emotional bits. Thumbs up.

Black Hammer Volume 1: Secret Origins by Jeff Lemire – 3 ★ – feels like a continuation of a story but apparently it’s the first one. I was in the mood for a comic and this was on the library app.

Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker – 3 ★ – enjoyable and strange. Lost interest around 60% to 80% but ended well.

June

No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill – 3 ★ – first two thirds: enthralling, terrifying, scariest book I have read all year. Love to read a brum based book, and the men and other spooks were top notch. Last third: pointless chaff. It had an ending at the 2/3 mark.. could have carved off 150 pages and had a better story.

My Throat an Open Grave by Toni Bovalino – 2 ★ – tricked into reading another YA! This one via a horror novel subscription box. Probably good if you’re the target audience, I dunno.

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer – 3 ★ – some very good gore in places but slow otherwise, with a lot of boring repetition. I get it, you’ve seen that tree before.

Maggie’s Grave by David Sodergren – 4 ★ – over the top gross gory fun. Really enjoying having this kind of read available to me without the misogyny, cheers David.

Near the Bone by Christina Henry – 4 ★ – more gory thriller than horror. Page turniest page turner. Characterisation is mid but the story is so moreish.

Cunning Folk by Adam Nevill – 2.5 ★ – had to skip 100 pages near the start to avoid quitting the book, it was so slow. Feels very cinematic near the end.

The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry – 4.5 ★ – great characters, great dread, my few quibbles/distractions aside (e.g. 3 different characters describing different stuff as ‘like a broken robot’) this is just fantastic. Best final chapter ever.

The Life of Birds by David Attenborough – 4 ★ – I need a just-boring-enough to sleep to audiobook for bedtime and this one really hit the spot.

Thanks for sticking with me for Jan-June wrap up, see you in December for the next 6 months worth!