Shattered Ravings: May 2024

Reading horror never gets old for me.

You would think, after reading the genre for 40 years, that things would start to get stale after a while. I'm happy to report that, despite a couple of misfires here and there, the majority of my horror reading over the years has been mostly positive.

This year, I've had more opportunities to read than in decades past, and I've taken full advantage of the fact. The fifth month of the year is ending, and I've already been able to cross off 10 books from my reading list. I've compiled them here along with my opinion of each.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.

Hidden Pictures was a nice surprise; it's not excellent, but it's good. I thought I knew where the story was taking me, but I was only partially right. My sole complaint is that the "big reveal" was not quite as revelatory as I would have liked.

Nightmare Man by J. K. Markert

Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of Crooked Tree. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.

Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.

As the series of “Scarecrow crimes” continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.

As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.

Nightmare Man is a hell of a good horror novel. It starts off with a bang and never lets up. It is a great read, and I would LOVE to see what it would look like on the big screen. Brutal and engaging stuff. Highly recommended.

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer

This trip is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her geologist friend Clay has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, Dylan is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing.

Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed.

But Dylan is still missing—and no trace of her, dead or alive, has been discovered.

Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force?

This dread-inducing debut builds to a bloodcurdling climax, and will leave you shocked by the final twist.

This was my least favorite book of the year (so far). I initially started reading this book because I used to climb, and that's one of the foundations of the plot. But the "shocking final twist" wasn't really that shocking. I saw it coming way before (about halfway through the book). My other complaint is that there's no explanation for what happens; I understand vague endings and how they can make certain books even more menacing...but that doesn't work here.

Breed by Chase Novak

Alex and Leslie Twisden lead charmed lives-fabulous jobs, a luxurious town house on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a passionate marriage. What they don't have is a child, and as they try one infertility treatment after the next, yearning turns into obsession. As a last-ditch attempt to make their dream of parenthood come true, Alex and Leslie travel deep into Slovenia, where they submit to a painful and terrifying procedure that finally gives them what they so fervently desire . . . but with awful consequences.

Ten years later, cosseted and adored but living in a house of secrets, the twins Adam and Alice find themselves locked into their rooms every night, with sounds coming from their parents' bedroom getting progressively louder, more violent, and more disturbing.

Driven to a desperate search for answers, Adam and Alice set out on a quest to learn the true nature of the man and woman who raised them. Their discovery will upend everything they thought they knew about their parents and will reveal a threat so horrible that it must be escaped, at any cost.

This was a minor dud for me. Although the premise sounds interesting, the execution kinda dragged. The book is about 80 pages longer than it should have been, and my interested tapered off here and there. Still, I enjoyed it for the most part as a whole.

Deep Freeze by Michael C. Grumley

The accident came quickly. With no warning. In the dead of night, a precipitous plunge into a freezing river trapped everyone inside the bus. It was then that Army veteran John Reiff’s life came to an end. Extinguished in the sudden rush of frigid water.

There was no expectation of survival. None. Let alone waking up beneath blinding hospital lights. Struggling to move, or see, or even breathe. But the doctors assure him that everything is normal. That things will improve. And yet, he has a strange feeling that there's something they're not telling him.

As Reiff's mind and body gradually recover, he becomes certain that the doctors are lying to him. One by one, puzzle pieces are slowly falling into place, and he soon realizes that things are not at all what they seem. Critical information is being kept from him. Secrets. Supposedly for his own good. But who is doing this? Why? And the most important question: can he keep himself alive long enough to uncover the truth?

More science fiction than horror, it still merited a read, and I liked it. The pacing reminds me of Blake Crouch's "Dark Matter", as does the suspense as the story unfolds. I recently found out this is the first of a series, but I'm not sure how many books the series will contain.

A Cold Place for Dying by Kristopher Triana

It's Christmas Eve. Having lost his wife, Joe Whitaker is spending the day hunting deer with bow and arrow. Wanting to free himself from the everyday world, he even leaves his phone in his truck. But his peace is soon interrupted by Nicole, a frantic woman running barefoot through the snow. She claims she was kidnapped and managed to escape, but now, the man who imprisoned her is on her tail.

Joe wants to help Nicole, but when he comes across the man pursuing her, he's told Nicole is delusional. The man says he isn't Nicole's kidnapper—he’s her husband. As a snowstorm bares down, Joe finds himself in a deadly triangle with a mysterious man and a panicked woman, not knowing who to trust.

If he makes the wrong choice, it might just cost him his life.

This is a novella that should be turned into a movie. The plot sounds like it's ripped straight from M. Night Shyamalan's imagination, meaning there's a twist in there somewhere. And when the twist is revealed, it doesn't disappoint. I had no idea which way this story was going to go, and I had a fun time navigating it. Recommended.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

From beloved internet icon Chuck Tingle, Camp Damascus is a searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community faces in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down.

Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold.

Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.

And they’ll scare you straight to hell.

This book is one of my top favorites for this year so far. I'd never read anything by Tingle before, but I will definitely watch for his upcoming work. The plot of the story is original and the pacing is perfect. Not to mention, it has a sorta' twist that you might see coming but it is still satisfying as it unfolds. High recommended.

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.

Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.

When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.

Here's another one that I really enjoyed. This book takes a familiar trope and sorta turns it on its head. I didn't foresee how the story was going to play out, and I found that fact both refreshing and satisfying. The character development is outstanding, and the ending is nice and tight. Recommended.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the kidnapper knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man he’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this life or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how will Jason make it back to the family he loves?

From the bestselling author Blake Crouch, Dark Matter is a mind-bending thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.

This was technically a re-read for me because I tore through it a couple of years ago. But when I learned it was turned into a series that premiered on Apple TV, I wanted to give the book another look before I watched the show. It was just as excellent the second time around. Crouch is one of my favorite authors (his Wayward Pines trilogy is a MUST READ series!), and he had not disappointed me with anything thus far. Highly recommended.

The CreepyPasta Collection by MrCreepyPasta

A terrifying, thrilling collection of must-read horror stories chock-full of nightmarish supernatural beings and the murderously disturbed that are sure to keep you up all night long.

There are stories that scare you. And then there are the dark and disturbing creepypasta stories that will leave you seriously freaked out. The Creepypasta Collection is an unsettling anthology of terror, full of nightmares and dangerous creatures—from unearthly supernatural beings to the murderously disturbed. So, lock the doors, check under the bed, turn up the lights, and get ready for an unforgettable, up-all-night journey into the heart of darkness.

While technically not a novel, this collection of terrifying short stories is worthy of your attention regardless. I had no idea what CreepyPasta was until my kids explained the term to me years ago; according to Google, it means: "Creepypasta is a term for horror-related legends or images that are shared online and intended to scare or discomfort readers." And boy oh boy, these stories don't disappoint. There's plenty here to make you uncomfortable...in a good way. Recommended.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.

And they were liars.

For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods―no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.

I'd classify this as more of a thriller than horror, but it's still a great read. It's a twisty-turny story that makes you think you know where it's going...and then it shifts gears and throws you off. I really enjoy books like that when they are done well, and this book pulls it off just fine. Recommended.

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My only problem right now is what to read next! Any suggestions?

How is your reading going? Have you read any of the titles above, and if so, what did you think? Or do any of these sounds interesting enough to go on your reading list? Drop me a line!