Bar Fridman-Tell’s Honeysuckle: A Flower Girl’s Gilded Cage A Review of the Dark Botanical Fantasy Taking Root in Readers’ Minds The most unsettling stories often start with the gentlest of premises. In her debut novel Honeysuckle, Bar Fridman-Tell presents a premise that could be plucked from a child’s sweetest daydream: a … Bar Fridman-Tell’s Honeysuckle: A Flower Girl’s Gilded Cage needs final edirtRead more
horror fiction review
Dead Silence Book Review: A Strong Sci-Fi Horror Novel
A Haunted Spaceship, A Desperate Crew, and the Terrifying Reality of Corporate Greed Have you ever wondered what happens to the people society leaves behind when they are pushed to the absolute brink of survival? Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes answers that question beautifully. This sci-fi horror book takes the … Dead Silence Book Review: A Strong Sci-Fi Horror NovelRead more
Defensive Wounds by James Everington: A Collection That Changes You
Your home is safe. Your mind is not. James Everington has a habit of misplacing your expectations. (along with T shirts, yeah it still hurts James) His previous collection, Falling Over, introduced a writer who prefers the unsettling angle, the quiet moment that turns strange. With Defensive Wounds, his second collection from … Defensive Wounds by James Everington: A Collection That Changes YouRead more
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher: A Gothic Horror That Crawls Under Your Skin
The horror doesn’t jump. It settles in. And by the time you feel it, it’s already under your skin. Wolf Worm sits comfortably in the top tier of Kingfisher’s work. It shows an author who has refined her craft, who knows exactly what kind of horror she wants to write and … Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher: A Gothic Horror That Crawls Under Your SkinRead more
Drone by Dan Howarth Review: Rural Horror at Its Most Relentless
The sound is driving them mad. The silence is even worse. Dan Howarth writes with a specific kind of fury. It is the sound of a steamroller on asphalt, relentless and flattening. For fans of horror fiction, being caught beneath it is a privilege. His latest novella, Drone, proves he is … Drone by Dan Howarth Review: Rural Horror at Its Most RelentlessRead more
The Brentford Trilogy (All 9 of Them): A Resplendent Robert Rankin Retrospective
Robert Rankin called it a trilogy. He wrote nine books. He was right to do both Robert Rankin’s Brentford is a strange place. On the surface, it’s a quiet West London suburb. Below that surface, it’s a cosmic battlefield where aliens land, popes return from the dead, and the end … The Brentford Trilogy (All 9 of Them): A Resplendent Robert Rankin RetrospectiveRead more
The 2025 YA Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot: Every Book Ranked and Reviewed
The 2025 YA Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot: Every Book Ranked and Reviewed The 2025 YA Bram Stoker Award preliminary ballot is out, and it is a stronger list than most years. Ten books. Four spots on the final ballot already confirmed. And a clear frontrunner that arguably deserves to … The 2025 YA Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot: Every Book Ranked and ReviewedRead more
The Ghost Is the System: Tamika Thompson on The Curse of Hester Gardens and the Horror America Built
The haunting was always real. Thompson just gave it a name. Social horror has always worked best when the monster points somewhere. At something. At us. Tamika Thompson’s debut novel, The Curse of Hester Gardens, published by Erewhon Books in March 2026, does exactly that, and it does it with … The Ghost Is the System: Tamika Thompson on The Curse of Hester Gardens and the Horror America BuiltRead more
Unshod Cackling and Naked by Tamika Thompson: 13 Short Stories That Refuse to Behave
Continuing my series of reviews that fell victim to my darkest depression days, today I bring back from the dead Tamika Thompson’s Unshod, Cackling, and Naked. In time for the release of her excellent debut novel, The Curse of Hester Gardens. And on the day we publish a fascinating interview … Unshod Cackling and Naked by Tamika Thompson: 13 Short Stories That Refuse to BehaveRead more
Nowhere Burning Review: Catriona Ward’s Brilliant Premise, But Blurry Execution
The concept burns bright. The novel, unfortunately, smoulders. The prose is beautiful. The thematic ambition is undeniably massive. The execution simply falls flat. Some sanctuaries demand a price in blood, and this one simply asks for too much of your patience. Nowhere Burning Review: Catriona Ward’s Brilliant Premise, But Blurry … Nowhere Burning Review: Catriona Ward’s Brilliant Premise, But Blurry ExecutionRead more
The Butcher of Nazareth Review: David Scott Hay’s Violent Theological Masterpiece
What if saving the world meant killing its saviour? What happens when a man convinced he’s hearing the voice of God sets out to murder Jesus Christ before the ministry can begin? David Scott Hay’s The Butcher of Nazareth (check out our interview with David here) takes this provocative premise and … The Butcher of Nazareth Review: David Scott Hay’s Violent Theological MasterpieceRead more
The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru: A Novel of Ghosts and Exile in 1920s Paris
A ghost story about exile, family secrets, and the things we leave behind. Olesya Salnikova Gilmore’s third novel, The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru, trades epic mythology for something quieter and more potent: a ghost story about exile, a grandmother’s buried secrets, and a young woman learning that the dead … The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru: A Novel of Ghosts and Exile in 1920s ParisRead more
Bless Your Heart Review: The Cozy Horror Novel That Serves Blood and Sweet Tea in Equal Measure
Forget what you think you know about vampire fiction. The Evans women run a funeral parlor, bury the dead, and handle the ones that won’t stay down. The thing about small towns is that they all have a family people whisper about. The ones who’ve been there forever, who run … Bless Your Heart Review: The Cozy Horror Novel That Serves Blood and Sweet Tea in Equal MeasureRead more
Hysterical by Amber Dean: When Obsession Eats Itself Alive
She’s Not the Final Girl. She’s Why There Isn’t One. Amber Dean’s debut burns with the kind of dark energy that doesn’t ask for permission. This is not a book for everyone. It will bother some readers. It should. The kind of female rage explored here is not the kind … Hysterical by Amber Dean: When Obsession Eats Itself AliveRead more
Cabaret in Flames, Consent, Consumption and Chattering Teeth: Hache Pueyo’s Return to the Monstrous
Some monsters wear sequins. Some wear scalpels. Hache Pueyo writes about both. We carry our childhood horrors in the strangest places. In the hitch of a prosthetic limb. In the way we flinch when someone touches us too fast. In the quiet acceptance that the monsters who broke us might … Cabaret in Flames, Consent, Consumption and Chattering Teeth: Hache Pueyo’s Return to the MonstrousRead more