“I took Jack his slippers this evening and lay at his feet before a roaring fire while he smoked his pipe, sipped sherry, and read the newspaper. He r“I took Jack his slippers this evening and lay at his feet before a roaring fire while he smoked his pipe, sipped sherry, and read the newspaper. He read aloud everything involving killings, arsons, mutilations, grave robberies, church desecrations, and unusual thefts. It is very pleasant just being domestic sometimes.”
This was such a clever, humorous, darkly magical October read! I need to let it simmer for awhile before I write a proper review! But I am shocked I didn't know anything about this book until this year (it originally came out in 1993)! Now I want to recommend it to everyone I meet. ...more
“We’re surrounded by ghosts, and all stories are ghost stories.”
This might just be my new favorite from Gabino Iglesias! A gritty, violent, coming-of-“We’re surrounded by ghosts, and all stories are ghost stories.”
This might just be my new favorite from Gabino Iglesias! A gritty, violent, coming-of-age crime thriller merging with horror and filled with heart! If you love books about strong bonds, obsession, retribution, and vengeance, this felt similar to author S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears but set in Puerto Rico and dripping with Caribbean folklore. Absolutely LOVED it....more
“Our house is haunted and we tried to leave it. We tried. But it’s us. It’s me. We tried. We tried to leave the haunted house. But we’re haunted. It’s“Our house is haunted and we tried to leave it. We tried. But it’s us. It’s me. We tried. We tried to leave the haunted house. But we’re haunted. It’s us.”
"And yet, all to often women's traumas are treated as a kind of madness, something that takes a life of its own, thereby exonerating the society that "And yet, all to often women's traumas are treated as a kind of madness, something that takes a life of its own, thereby exonerating the society that made them that way."
Absolutely loved this contemporary retelling of Dracula from the perspective of Mina Murray!
**major trigger warnings for trypophobia!!!!!...more
“The world is full of rattlesnakes. Sometimes you step on them and they don’t bite. Sometimes you step over them, and they bite anyway.”
I can’t stress“The world is full of rattlesnakes. Sometimes you step on them and they don’t bite. Sometimes you step over them, and they bite anyway.”
I can’t stress enough how much I adore Stephen King’s storytelling. The stories in this collection will make you want to settle into them at the end of each day. And I do mean "settle in" because many of the so-called “short” stories in this book actually could’ve been novellas. But that’s because King takes his time developing worlds that feel familiar and characters that feel real, be they the protagonist, the monster, or the one-scene side character.
Throughout my experience reading this book, the stories simultaneously felt like a warm sunset and an ominous storm on the horizon. Yes, these stories are dark as the title of the book suggests, but they also carry themes of grief, obsession, human relationships, unanswered questions, mystery, and grappling with the unknown.
In Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream, a man whose nightmare featuring a murdered woman turns out to be a psychic premonition, one that gets him in a world of trouble. (I was over-the-moon thrilled to discover this story was set in my home state of Kansas!) The Fifth Step opens with a man approached by an addict who claims he must share a story with a stranger as part of an AA recovery assignment (loved this one)! Two Talented Bastids begs the question of whether talent is something humankind naturally possesses or if the lucky ones are simply chosen by a supernatural fate. In Red Screen, a conspiracy theory leaves the protagonist and the reader uneasy about what to believe (this one was a personal favorite of mine). And we even get a sequel to Cujo in the story Rattlesnakes!
Whether you end up loving every single story in this collection or simply find some of them to be lacking, what I know for certain is that there will be something in YOU LIKE IT DARKER that will stick with you and leave a lasting and haunting impression as King’s writing always does....more
“We do ourselves a disservice by clinging to stereotypes and make-believe rules about what a ghost can and can’t do, or can and can’t be. We simply do“We do ourselves a disservice by clinging to stereotypes and make-believe rules about what a ghost can and can’t do, or can and can’t be. We simply don’t know.”
The sequel to Amanda Desiree’s Smithy is here and it’s a chonky 600+ pages!!!
After an ASL research study involving a young chimpanzee ends abruptly and tragically when the location of the experiments (Trevor Hall) is rumored to be haunted by a ghost, our furry friend Smithy (officially known as Webster) is relocated to a research facility where he is further studied as a test subject amongst other chimps. But whatever was haunting Smithy back in Rhode Island seems to have clung to and followed him all the way to California. Throughout this story a question still lingers. Can Smithy the chimpanzee see and communicate with ghosts, or is it all a conspiracy?
Bouncing around decades (from the 1970’s to the 2000’s) this is an epistolary/found media novel to the max—made up of diary entries, letters, radio transcripts, courtroom transcripts, audiotape recordings, camera footage, articles, scientific data, news broadcasts, etc. And from a wide range of perspectives—scientists, lab technicians, grad students, radio show hosts, psychic investigators, paranormal experts, animal rights activists, cult members…everyone has a say on whether Smithy the signing chimp is communicating with the other side or simply a fraud. Stakes are made higher when Smithy is under threat by inhumane scientific practices and the courts–as well as public opinion– must decide whether the animal’s ability to communicate with humans merits him basic human rights and protections.
Readers will be introduced to new characters both lovable and despicable while also reconnecting with characters from book one--such as the imperceptible and yet unproven presence of the "Dark Lady".
I felt I needed to knock off a star for the story being maybe 200 pages too long. Some readers unaccustomed to the epistolary storytelling might find the size of the book a bit intimidating. There were also a few areas in the plot that felt a bit repetitive. However, I loved the serious questions about the existence (or lack thereof) of an afterlife as well as the curiosity on where the hazy line is drawn on communication between intelligent animals and humans. If you're like me and are a big fan of epistolary storytelling, multiple perspectives, paranormal science or simply just an animal lover, the Smithy duology is an unconventional paranormal experience you ought to jump into!
**Trigger Warnings: animal cruelty/death
(Thanks so much to Inkshares Publishing and author Amanda Desiree for my chilling review copy!)...more
Nina The Wandering Reader
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