Book Reviews

The Witch of Willow Sound is an atmospheric, quietly weird debut from Nova Scotia–Newfoundland author Vanessa F. Penney, and I had a lot of fun with it. There’s something about a Canadian coastal setting that already feels half-enchanted, half-dangerous, and Penney leans into that beautifully.

This was my second pick for this month’s Richard Laymon read-a-thon. As with many of his novels, I was not sure if I had read this before

For the first week of June, and a first week of the Richard Laymon read-a-thon I chose Among the Missing as I was sure I’d not read this one before.

Nothing better than a serial killer story, which I adore, coupled with something that might be creepy on a different level. Roaches. Bugs and pests of all kinds can be creepy and to see a bug or snake unexpectedly can jar in real life.

A theme of rebirth and renewal – in the most extreme and violent ways – becomes apparent. Then the blue sky is dark, the music is replaced by screams, and flames replace flowers.

I was instantly drawn to the morose character Ashley Lutin. If you’ve ever lingered too long over the bloodied, discarded wings of a mourning dove on the concrete steps of your office.

We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer: Expertly wrought slipstream horror with video game logic that gets under your skin.

There was promise there, and while the rest of the story sort of fizzled and underdelivered on the genre I wanted to see more.