Genre: Horror

A queer M/M take on the classic haunted mansion with a historical forbidden love premise, Ben Alderson’s the Haunting of William Thorn is a paranormal romance book that has a lot of great ideas and concepts. Featuring a gothic and eerie setting, a layered multi-generational mystery, and light horror elements that aren’t overly graphic, with its attractive cast of male characters and pining attraction, by all accounts this book should be an appealing and accessible read. Unfortunately, like its hallmark mansion, despite its good bones and a promising start, the execution leaves a lot to be desired across the board and despite giving it my best effort, I struggled to finish this book only to arrive at an eyebrow-raising ending. Set in a rural small-town village of Stonewall, the story follows William Thorn who has been gifted the decrepit Hanbury Manor by his late boyfriend Archie. Not long after arriving, what was meant to be a weeklong stay of isolation is intruded upon by an overly friendly man named Edward who has his own connection to the Hanbury Manor and its past. The book’s strongest element for me was the intrigue behind the manor’s history and presumed death of Robert…

What if it was just you and me, in an eerie library, with a demon haunting our hopes and dreams, not two but three? More successful than my poor excuse for poetry, the Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino is a YA fantasy book that mixes and matches a variety of inspirations from across various genres. Part dark academia fantasy, part psychological suspense thriller, part paranormal horror, this book blends together its different elements to tell a story about two private academy lone wolves who accidentally unleash a demonic presence while navigating the challenges of their family life. Set at a prestigious private academy, the overall story revolves around the unexpected release of a demon-like entity from the depths of an academy library that Tess and Eliot work and study at respectively. When taken at face value, the Devil Makes Three sounds like it’s going to be about occultic research and evading said devil. While the book certainly follows this expected storyline to a certain extent, the rest of the book revolves around Tess and Eliot’s personal struggles, conflicted home environment, and familial difficulties that had led to their attendance at the school. For Tess, her story is about her…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by St. Martin’s Press. Love, guilt, judgement, and paranoia, all within the four walls that may or may not be alive and angry, You Did Nothing Wrong is psychological thriller and explores Elodie’s twisted descent into madness. C.G. Drews’s adult novel debut, rather than simply serving as a straightforward haunted house narrative, this book instead is a horror story of an entirely different monster. Compared to Drews’s past books that had a more paranormal and fantasy angle to their stories, You Did Nothing Wrong instead plays off the monsters in our head and the horrifying ways love and devotion can spiral into something dark and unrecognizable. While featuring Drews’s signature macabre metaphors and stylistic prose, this book is very different from past YA books for those that enjoyed their past books. Marketed as a pulse-pounding and clever take on the haunted house novel, I went into this book expecting something along the lines of Drews’s past books that mixed elements of paranormal horror with fantasy flair. As a strong cautionary disclaimer upfront, You Did Nothing Wrong is very different and was not at all what I was expecting. While…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley. Magically captivating while simultaneously dark and harsh, Julia Alexandra’s debut novel Midnight on the Celestial is a well-paced and solid YA fantasy story that effortlessly walks the line between the fantasy and thriller genres. Prominently featured on both the book’s cover and in its blurb, the focal luxury cruise line enchanted with opulent and imaginative magic immediately catches attention but there’s a lot more to this story than what meets the eye. A dark fantasy thriller featuring a likable group of found family friends paired with a great plot and excellent age-appropriate character writing, Midnight on the Celestial is a great all-rounder book that tells a compelling standalone story with dazzling visuals. The land of Tamarynth is overseen by the elected Council and system that regulates those with magical powers. Referred to as morphia, this substance possessed by certain individuals grants them a variety of powers, in Roe Damarcus’s case the power of resurrecting spirits from the afterlife. As the famed daughter of one of the councilmen and only member with magical powers, her powers are largely used…

Book #3 in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series, What Stalks the Deep features a great premise of mysterious occurrences and a disappearance at a long abandoned mine in the rural West Virginia countryside. Those that have been keeping up with the series should know what to expect, namely its frank and sarcastic narration courtesy of sworn soldier Alex Easton, a good sense of ambiance, and a grounded approach to paranormal horror beings. Compared to the previous two entries, this one feels like it has snappier pacing and a style that leans more towards a mystery thriller vs foreboding horror. While generally interesting and an overall quick read, I personally found this one to be less stylistic and atmospheric than the previous two books and the series in general, giving me diminishing returns with each new entry. Picking up a year or so after the events of the second book What Feasts at Night, What Stalks the Deep sees Alex Easton and Angus reunited with the American surgeon Dr. Denton, investigating the disappearance of his cousin Oscar in a poorly charted mine inherited by their family. While the eccentric mycologist enthusiast Miss Potter was the popular scene-stealer of What Moves the…