Undertaker's Moon by Ronald Kelly

 

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Five "Howling & Ripping" Stars

Snarling Suspense! 

A small taste of what lies within:

Old Hickory, Tennessee becomes the backdrop for this story as it is an old mill town. Things seem peaceful until the O'Shea family move into town along with Squire McManus and they take over the funeral home.

As they become involved in the town, deaths start happening to the point of bodies being ripped apart. No one wants to believe one of the local boys that saw his friend being attacked by some type of beast.

No one seems to think anything about the mystery of how the beast seemed to appear after the family arrived. Soon though it becomes apparent that they are somehow involved and when the family feel threatened they will not go down without a fight as when their secret is revealed is when the crap hits the fan!

Thoughts:

Southern gothic horror along with a touch of the Irish is what author, Ronald Kelly stirs up in this book and the atmosphere of the story just grabs a hold of you from the first page taking you on a "snarling" ride all the way to the end of the book! Lots of fur and fangs along with a small town homey feel makes this book a very fun read! This was my second reread of the book and I enjoyed it immensely the second time around!

Attached is the author, Ronald Kelly, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/783444.Ronald_Kelly

Attached is the author, Ronald Kelly, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ronald-Kelly/e/B0055Q14YK

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3469083666

Usher's Passing by Robert McCammon

 

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Five "Thumping Pumpkin Man" Stars

Wild and Spooky!

A small taste of what lies within:

Rix Usher is informed that his father is not well and that he needs to come home to Usherland so that all the family is gathered before his father passes on. Rix doesn't really want to go home as he doesn't want anything to do with his father or his family as they are crazy loonies and Rix has been writing horror books under a pen name as he didn't want any problems to arise from his family. 

Rix does decide to head home though as he feels that he needs to wrap up loose ends, but things go slowly nutso for him as he remembers from his past a being called the Pumpkin Man and a building on the property called the Lodge. Rix hooks up with a local newspaper reporter (Raven) and as he starts learning more than he wants to know what really lies within his family tree, Rix has to make sure that he doesn't descend into madness as what is pulsing throughout Usherland is pure evil in its truest form! 

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more about this book, then go read it! 

Thoughts:

This was a great book that took a little while to get into it because of some world and character building within the story but it finally slowly drew me into the world of the Usher family. 

This was my second book by author, Robert McCammon and I can see why so many readers love to read his work. The writing style is easy to read and the words flow along smoothly. There is nothing disjointed within the story to even cause me to deviate away from what is happening - it is like smooth as silk with capturing what is going on with the story as it unfolds with scary suspense. 

The book started out a little slow but picks up speed after the 50% mark and then once I hit the 70% mark the speed increased to overdrive which I read the last 30% within a few hours! Suspense, tension, spookiness, and crazy intensity was folded into the story in the last half of the book where I was wanting to munch on something! 

This was definitely another great book by this author and I will be putting it on my favorites shelf. Looking forward to reading more works by this author!

Attached is the author, Robert McCammon, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5244478.Robert_McCammon

Attached is the author, Robert McCammon, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Robert-R-McCammon/e/B000AP7UZS

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2161152201

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

 

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Four "Freaky Folklore" Skulls!

Twisted Terror!

A small taste of what lies within:

Melissa (a/k/a Mouse) along with her dog, Bongo go out to the backwoods of North Carolina as her grandmother passed away leaving a house that needs to be cleaned out, but with a warning from her dad that the house could be bad as her grandmother was a hoarder of all things. Mouse just decides to "step into it" and do what needs to be done to help out her dad no matter what. 

Not too long after "tackling the dirty job of cleaning the house" Mouse takes a hike out into the woods with her dog, Bongo and stumbles across an area with some freaky stones. From that point on in the story, things go totally weird and spooky things start happening around her grandmother's house. 

Mouse eventually meets her neighbors (Foxy, Tomas and Skip) which tell her crazy stories about "things out in the woods" and when Mouse discovers an old journal from her step-grandfather, Cotgrave and his ramblings of what he thinks is out in the woods, the creepiness hits the fan!

That is about all I can give on a small taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more about this book, then go read it! 

Thoughts:

This was a great tension twisted (definitely a great title for this book "twisted") edge of the seat - no holds barred creeped out crazy horror thriller! Wow! First time reading this author and this book just took me into an insomnia fueled freaky dreams a couple or so nights as it dug deep into my psyche! 

The story is told from the pov of Mouse throughout the whole book and what she goes through with finding the "things" out in the woods. I really liked all the characters and loved the dog, Bongo. 

The book had some creepy moments kind of in the beginning of the story but it was spotty here and there throughout until I hit the 50% mark then it totally went "bonkers" and I had a hard time putting it down! Total overdrive scary stuff right after the halfway mark and totally kept me wanting to read the story without taking a break! I have been wanting to read this book for awhile so I am happy that I finally dived into it as it was one creepy ride into the unknown backwoods filled with spooky things!

However, having said all that this book went totally into the twilight zone strange after the 70% mark as I wasn't expecting the story to go the way it did which drops this book down a star. The story does a complete 360 degrees from spooked scared out of my pants to hyperventilating let me out of this book zone! 

I know one thing for sure and that is if I find any weird stones in my backyard I am leaving the damn things alone! Not adventuring into the wild woods to locate any sources of where they came from as that is what happens in this story. Like the old saying "ignorance is bliss" would have worked well in this story! 😅

All in all though the book has plenty of spook moments and the characters dialogue kept me giggling as I would find myself laughing while reading the book as the character quips were priceless. 

Attached is the author, T. Kingfisher, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7367300.T_Kingfisher

Attached is the author, T. Kingfisher, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/T-Kingfisher/e/B00LBKVU3E

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3585499613

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Five "Awesome Adventure" Stars

Spellbound Quest!

Thoughts:

Everyone that reads fantasy stories knows the details of this book no doubt so I am not doing a backstory on it but will give my thoughts on it instead. 

I have seen all the movies and have watched them over and over again but I have never stepped into the book till now. I thought that the book had way more detailed storyline than I saw in the movie so that made the book more enjoyable. 

The quest of Bilbo Baggins and what he learns on his journey with the dwarves made him grow up quickly with seeing things outside of the Shire. A quest for adventure is definitely filled with tons of things happening to Bilbo whether it was good and bad, but I felt that the book really holds more emotion within than what was portrayed on the big screen. 

I am happy that I finally stepped out onto the road for my own adventure with this story as I was quite pleased with the book and will reread it in the future. Another awesome book by Tolkien added to my favorites shelf. 

Attached is the author, J.R.R.Tolkien, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/656983.J_R_R_Tolkien

Attached is the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien/e/B000ARC6KA

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5033143204

Hobbomock by Ryan C. Thomas

 

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Four "Wicked Evil Witch" Stars

Blood and Gore Action!

A small taste of what lies within:

Four teenager friends (Josh, Hunter, Gemma and Kailyn) want to spend some time together out at a cabin that Josh's dad owns. The cabin is so far out in the woods that cell phone reception is spotty, but the teens don't care as the guys are wanting to play a card game and the girls are wanting to study star gazing. What they don't realize is that some other teens show up crashing the solitude thinking there is a big party going on out at the cabin. 

All of the teens are in for a evil surprise though as a witch is roaming the woods and she is out to cause harm to anyone that steps onto the land. When the teens realize that she is on the hunt for them it becomes a need for survival for all of them to stand against her!

That is about all I can give on a small taste and if you want to know more then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was my second book by this author and I have been wanting to read it for awhile. There is lots of blood and gore action throughout most of the book and it is all described in graphic details. 

The pace of the book is fast as I could hardly put it down! Not too long after the teens get to the cabin the mayhem begins with the witch and most of the book is the teens just trying to survive. 

I really enjoyed this story as the witch character is about the evilest witch I have ever read and the things she is capable of doing to the teens kept me on the edge of my seat along with staying up late reading it. 

However, there are trigger warnings in this book too for animal lovers. So however you would want to handle reading about pets being harmed you might want to skip over that part. I could not read those parts myself. 

The only other complaint I would have is that the story dragged on too long as 80% of the book is about the witch attacking the teens and the teens trying to figure out how to kill her. Though the book does fall under the 200 page mark I still thought that it could have been made shorter with all what was transpiring within the story. It just seemed to meander way too long with the things that were happening with the characters. 

All in all though the book was great and I am looking forward to reading more books by this author. I have a few more on my kindle by him to dive into at some point. This is a great book to read around this time of year and a great book to read for Halloween. 

Attached is the author, Ryan C. Thomas, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/457864.Ryan_C_Thomas

Attached is the author, Ryan C. Thomas, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ryan-C-Thomas/e/B002ZOBAQW

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4284548519

Clown In A Cornfield by Adam Cesare

 

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Five "Crazy Creepy Clown" Stars

Screaming Tension! 

A small taste of what lies within:

Kettle Springs is a quite small town where everyone knows everyone, so when Doctor Maybrook and his daughter, Quinn move there it seems just to be the place for them to start over. Quinn seems drawn to some of the teenagers that like to cause trouble but it is more mischievous trouble than anything and when she ends up getting tossed out of class along with the new friends is when things go awry. 

The town's mascot is Frendo the clown but when something dresses up like the clown and starts stalking the students at a party out in the cornfield is when things go south quickly. It turns into a survival of the fittest as the party goers have to endure Frendo!

That is about all I can give on a small taste as if you want to know more than you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

It has been a long time since I read a book by this author and this was a fun gory ride into the cornfield! The very beginning of the book is a little slow as Quinn and her father get settled into the town, but as soon the party gets started then the book picks up speed quickly. It goes from zero to sixty in seconds and I was having to buckle up for the ride of my life! 

Lots of violent mayhem and pools of blood splash across the pages of this book as the pace of the book goes into overdrive. The tide turns quick in this book as the story goes from calm to a twisted mess of carnage right after the 30% mark and then stays at a high level of intensity throughout the remainder of the story not once letting up or slowing down! Another book to add to my favorites shelf and it is a perfect read for the Halloween season! 

Attached is the author, Adam Cesare, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5623119.Adam_Cesare

Attached is the author, Adam Cesare, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Cesare/e/B0074VA0JY

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5062023552

Scarecrows by Michael Bray

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Three "Scarecrow Spooky" Stars

Spooky Strawmen! 

A small taste of what lies within:

When three friends (Dwayne, Randy, and Kenny) trespass on an old man's property (Jorell Samsonite) they get more than they bargained for when they start exploring the property as Jorell has scarecrows guarding his house and land. The friends find out real quick that the scarecrows are not ordinary and once they are on the property the friends might be stuck there with no escape!

That is about all I can give with a small taste without giving away spoilers, so if want to know more about the story then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

The story starts out creepy especially when the friends arrive on the property then things kind of escalate with some spooky happenings surrounding the scarecrows. This story is a short novella with about 44 pages so it was kind of quick read. 

The pace of the book picks up through the last half of the book but I wasn't happy with the ending of the story which that is why this book is getting three stars and not four. I was planning on giving it four stars but then when the ending hit me it left me wondering what happened. 

I know sometimes things are not wrapped up with a bow in horror books but I was thinking there would be more to the story and it just totally ends with a crashing boom leaving me with a "what was that ending about" look. Trust me - you would not want to see my face when I finished the book. Most of the time this author writes some cool books as I have read a few by Bray but this one isn't up there with those other cool books he has out there. 

Attached is the author, Michael Bray, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2301413.Michael_Bray

Attached is the author, Michael Bray, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Bray/e/B009GH9XCO

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2184569577