As The Plot Thickens

Now THIS is old-school horror. The Charnel House is creepy, bizarre, disturbing, and the kind of story that starts with something strange and just keeps getting worse. The whole thing has this wonderfully unsettling feeling hanging over it. You know pretty early that something is seriously wrong, but figuring out exactly what is happening is where the fun begins. And because this is Graham Masterton, things eventually get weird, gruesome, and completely over the top. Which, h

Well, this was toxic, glamorous, completely unhinged…and I kind of loved watching the whole thing fall apart. Social Creature drops you into this glittery New York world of parties, money, beautiful people, bad decisions, and friendships that probably should come with warning labels. At the center of it all are Louise and Lavinia, and let me just say—this is NOT the kind of friendship where you exchange cute bracelets and meet for coffee. This is obsession, jealousy, manipula

Well… this book was WEIRD. And I mean that as a compliment. Plain Bad Heroines is basically what happens when you throw a creepy old boarding school, a possibly cursed book, mysterious deaths, Hollywood drama, queer romance, a whole lot of yellow jackets, and approximately 472 layers of storytelling into a blender and hit GOTHIC CHAOS. The story jumps between the early 1900s and the present, revolving around the infamous Brookhants School for Girls, where two students were fo

Rachel Harrison has a special talent for taking something that seems fun and slightly ridiculous and somehow turning it into something creepy, clever, and completely entertaining—and Kiss, Slay, Replay was no exception. This book was weird in the BEST possible way. It has horror, humor, messy characters, plenty of WTF moments, and that slightly unhinged energy that kept me wondering exactly where we were headed. And honestly? I was happy to just go along for the ride. There w

Give me witches, secrets, a creepy atmosphere, and women who don't quite fit where society thinks they should, and I'm probably going to read it. We Call Them Witches pulled me in with its dark, unsettling feel. There’s something almost eerie hanging over the story from the beginning, and I loved that sense that you’re never completely sure what’s hiding underneath everything. What I really enjoyed was the way the book played with the idea of what it actually means to call a

Well… this book is absolutely unhinged. And apparently, that’s exactly what I was in the mood for. The Order is dark, twisted, obsessive, and full of characters who should probably come with giant flashing warning signs. There are secrets, power games, questionable decisions, and enough toxicity to make you wonder why you’re still reading… while simultaneously refusing to put the book down. Angel Lawson definitely doesn't ease you into this world. She basically grabs you by t

Okay, this one was FUN. And by fun, I mean creepy, twisty, slightly stressful, and exactly the kind of book that makes me suspicious of absolutely everyone. Dead Fate by Vincent Ralph has that wonderfully unsettling feeling where you know something is wrong, but you can't quite figure out exactly what. Every time I thought I had a handle on where the story was going, it gave me another reason to change my mind. I really liked the tension in this one. There's a constant feelin

Shifting Sun was one of those books that surprised me. I went into it not really knowing what to expect, and before long I was completely caught up in the story. What I liked most was the emotion behind it. The characters felt messy and complicated in a way that made them feel real. They make mistakes, they don't always say or do the right thing, and there were definitely moments when I wanted to reach into the book and shake somebody. 😂 But honestly, that's usually a good s

Okay… creepy kid drawings? Say no more. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak hooked me pretty quickly. Mallory takes a job as a nanny for a little boy named Teddy, and everything seems pretty normal at first. Then Teddy starts drawing pictures. And those pictures get WEIRD. What starts out as innocent little kid drawings slowly turns into something much darker, and I loved how the illustrations were actually part of the story. There's something especially creepy about turning the

I really didn't know much about Barbara Graham or this case before picking this up, but once I started reading, I was hooked. And the more I read, the more frustrated I became. Barbara Graham was definitely no angel. She made some bad choices, ran with the wrong people, and lived a pretty complicated life. But that doesn't necessarily make someone a murderer. What bothered me most was how quickly everyone seemed to decide she was guilty. Between the media, the prosecution, an

I honestly wasn't sure what I was getting myself into with Dungeon Crawler Carl. This is definitely not my normal type of book, and I'm not much of a gamer, so I was a little worried all the game stuff was going to lose me. Somehow, it didn't. The whole thing is completely ridiculous—in the best way. The world basically ends, Carl gets thrown into this insane underground dungeon, and his sidekick is Princess Donut, his ex-girlfriend's spoiled show cat. And honestly, Donut sto

Whispers of Blue Ridge was one of those books that had a little bit of everything I usually enjoy—mystery, secrets, atmosphere, and that feeling that something just isn't quite right. I really liked the Blue Ridge setting. It gave the story this quiet, almost eerie feeling that worked perfectly with the mystery. There are secrets hiding beneath the surface, and the more I read, the more I wanted to figure out exactly what was going on. The characters were interesting, althoug

I really enjoyed The Dry Grass of August, although “enjoyed” feels like a strange word for a book that made me so angry and sad at times. The story is told through thirteen-year-old Jubie, who is growing up in the South during the 1950s. Her family may look perfectly normal from the outside, but behind closed doors there are plenty of problems. The one person Jubie can always count on is Mary, the Black woman who works for the family but is really so much more than that. She

Nick Roberts has a way of writing stories that are creepy, unsettling, and just weird enough to make me wonder what the hell I’m reading—and of course, I keep reading anyway. My Corpse Has a Heartbeat definitely fit that description. This one had such an eerie feeling from the beginning. There’s this constant sense that something is wrong, and I loved not knowing exactly where the story was going. Just when I thought I had a handle on things, something would happen that made

Caller Unknown was exactly the kind of thriller I love—the kind where you think you know what’s happening, start feeling pretty confident about your little theory, and then realize you actually know NOTHING. 😂 The story grabbed me pretty quickly. There’s this constant feeling that something isn't quite right, and I loved trying to figure out who I could trust. Just when I thought I had someone figured out, something would happen that made me question them all over again. Gil

The End of Forever was one of those books that had me thinking, well, this is going to hurt, and then I kept reading anyway. 😂 This story had a lot more emotion than I expected. I really liked the characters and became invested in what happened to them pretty quickly. Their relationships weren't perfect, their choices weren't always great, and there were definitely moments when I wanted to reach into the book and tell someone to PLEASE stop making everything harder than it n

Okay, the title The Scent of Crazy pretty much guaranteed I was going to pick this one up. 😂 And honestly, it was exactly the kind of strange, slightly unhinged read I was hoping for. This book takes you into some pretty interesting territory, and there were definitely moments when I found myself thinking, what in the world is happening here? But in a good way. The characters are messy, the situations get a little crazy, and just when I think I know where things are headed,

I wasn't completely sure what to expect from The Stolen Queen, but ancient Egypt, a mystery, and the Met? Okay, you have my attention. The story jumps between Egypt in the 1930s and New York in the 1970s, and I really enjoyed how the two timelines eventually started connecting. There’s archaeology, an ancient Egyptian queen, secrets, stolen artifacts, and plenty of mystery. Basically, there was a lot here to get me interested. I will admit it took me a little while to really

Old Bones had me at archaeology, buried secrets, and the Donner Party. Seriously, what more do I need? 😂 The story follows archaeologist Nora Kelly as she gets involved in an excavation connected to the Donner Party, and what startsas an interesting historical dig quickly turns into something much more complicated. There are old mysteries, missing people, murder, and plenty of secrets that apparently weren't meant to stay buried. This one was right up my alley. I loved the m

This book was seriously messed up…and I mean that in the best possible way. Rose Gold grew up believing she was sick. Her mother, Patty, spent years taking her to doctors, putting her through treatments, and convincing everyone that she was this devoted mother caring for her terribly ill daughter. Except Rose Gold wasn’t sick. Patty was making her sick. Now Patty has served time for what she did, and when she gets out of prison, Rose Gold does the unthinkable—she lets her mov