Welcome to Litsy!

Oooh I was so spoiled — and by a fellow Buffy fan at that!!

Thanks so much @Lauranahe (from me AND my pups), it was like opening up a box of pure and spooktacular joy!!

And thanks @wanderinglynn for organizing the fun!
#HHS #HauntedHollowSwap #HHS24

An incredible standalone vampire book rec for #hauntedshelf today!

#skeletoncrew

Marion tries to escape the slums by becoming a blood donor to a vampire but it doesn't go quite how she imagined.
It seemed a little rushed at times but I still thoroughly enjoyed it 🖤

I loved the Year of the Witching, so I was excited for this gothic vampire fantasy. Felt like a YA Anne Rice, in a good way, as I'm having a really hard time getting through IWtV. More fantasy rather than horror imo, but there is a lot of blood, cuz I mean... vampires. An enjoyable read.

A sapphic vampire story with a twist! In a dark, gothic setting, an ominous atmosphere, and prose that‘s somehow lyrical and beautiful, while also being gory and repulsive. Underlying themes of wealth, race, class, obsession, and toxic relationships. Check CW. Solid 4 stars from me! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Stuck in bed for the foreseeable future. 🤧 I‘m so sick, but this book is making me feel a little bit better. Perfect October gothic vibes! #currentlyreading

Alexis Henderson is the Queen of Gothic tales! A great read for October.
#Readyourtbr #Halloweenread #spookyoctober

I went away for a long weekend but I did get some reading done. This is my current audiobook and I‘m digging the vampire vibes

Vampire-ish. gothic. sapphic. Loved it. Very well paced while still being very atmospheric. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love a good Erzsebet Bathory and bloodmaidens retelling and this one did not disappoint. This is the 4th retelling I've read and I love how different it was since it was more so told by the bloodmaids rather than Erzsebet herself. Thank you so much @ShelleyBooksie for sending this my way. I've pre-ordered the paperback version for a future re-read.

Loosely based on Elizabeth Bathory, a fascinating historical figure. This is a different type of vampire story. She is certainly an interesting character. Life in the house is one of extreme decadence. This may be horror adjacent, but not a scary story. It is very descriptive and draws you into Marion's life. I enjoyed the book, but I didn't feel 100% invested in the story. Even with the sex scenes, the book felt very YA to me.

This really wasn‘t for me. I‘m waiting for @Findabhair to read it and let me know what she thinks.

No chance to listen to my audio book today as we have workers in the house……so I‘m borrowing this from my daughters TBR pile.

Book 65📚 2.8⭐️

This one was ok. It didn‘t really get interesting for me until the last hour or so. But it was a nice listen as an audio.

Poor girls sold off as Bloodmaids to the rich in the North. See how deep the hunger goes!

“Sometimes I feel like I've been building you a House out of my own bones. And still, you look at me with so much contempt and mistrust. You complain because there are gaps in the roof of my ribs, and you ask me to give more of myself to fill them.”

This moment right here was interesting & I honestly felt it. I might not be a fan but I think some of us have been with in relationships where this has been felt. #woc #horror #poc

On another episode of what hell am I reading and goodreads is a lie — lol I am not the target audience for this book. If you like other works by this author, I am sure this book is up your alley. I am more or less kept saying “what in the hell” - see image above for how I felt during this book.

#woc #poc #horror #queer #historical

This cover number 2 —- ummm who has read this book because, this might not be for me. Like I am not sure how I feel about this book. Does it get better or am I set up for “don‘t trust goodreads” again lol? This cover is haunting and makes more sense than the first one. I realize this not a vampire story, I thought that‘s what this will turn into. Just bloodmaids & twisted human hunger.

So Libby sent me this from my hold list. This is 1 of 2 covers. I am not sure how I feel about this book. It‘s suppose to be horror fantasy based on the history of the Countess of Bathory (known for bathing in the blood of virgins to stay young). I think it will be more fiction than anything historical. #historical #horror #poc #woc #fantasy #blood

Catching up on House of Hunger today. It's so tanzalizing and frightening. I want to know more about the bloodmaids, the houses, and the Countess; I'm sinking my teeth into this book.

Doing some reading and annotating before switching books with my co-worker.

The book is intriguing. Henderson's craft with horror is so engrossing. It feels like I'm drinking fine wine as I read the book.

I really liked this super engaging story…the air of mystery surrounding whether these characters are actually vampires or something else had me glued to my phone, listening. At first, I thought this was YA…since the girl on the cover looks so young, but I can safely say that this isn‘t YA. All in all this book really surprised me with how much I liked it.

NARRATION
🎙️ Jeanette Illidge 📣 She was really quite good!

Erszebet Bathory And Interview with a Vampire clearly inspired this briskly paced lesbian Gothic tale.

Beach reading 🙃

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks #free #21

🌟🌟🌟 1/2

Dark Gothic atmosphere, a female MC who‘s a bit more headstrong from the start than usual. It‘s a quick read & the last 1/4 of this really got my horror fever going! Very detail oriented on the house itself. The only thing that felt off was that things happened too quickly. It seemed to jump forward at other times. Besides that I really enjoyed it.

#2022Book101
This was a fun, quick read. It would have been more effective as a Gothic horror novel, though, if the story had been drawn out into a suspenseful slow-burn. As it was, everything happens so fast the reader doesn‘t really have time to wonder what‘s going to happen next.

This was a dark atmospheric different take on the vampire mythos. Our MC finds herself in desperate need of a new situation and takes the offer to become a blood maid, one who bleeds to feed the wealthy. I wish this wasn‘t YA, for a lot of the book it doesn‘t feel that way. However the main character is annoying at times and there are a few young feeling moments, in an overall very adult book. I would still recommend. 3.5⭐️
#bodycountbingo - bingo

Carmilla meets Countess Bathory, House of Hunger is making vampires dangerous and sexy again. And the atmosphere here is just top notch gilded fever dream.
https://youtu.be/_4RL30jqO14

Some of the many spooky and magical books on my October TBR 🎃

I‘m having intestinal resection surgery in a week and a half and wanted to purchase an abdominal binder for recovery. Well, purchasing one thing off Amazon definitely meant I also needed to get some books . . . I mean, I‘m going to be off work for about a month recovering. I need something to do (and clearly don‘t have enough books already 🤥)

Here is a sample of some of the vampire books I'm hoping to read before Halloween! Not pictured is Dracula, which I'm planning to start on October 1st! 🎃❤️

An interesting spin on the vampire tale. It started off strong, dragged a little bit in the middle, but then had a great end. It took a turn about 2/3 thru that I wasn‘t expecting, which really picked the story up for me. The gothic vibe is strong with this one and the story was very easy to visualize in my head while reading. I don‘t think it is as good as her atmospheric debut (tagged), which I LOVED, but still a great fall/Halloween read.

Just started the new one by Alexis Henderson! I‘ve been looking forward to this for ages. I LOVED The Year of the Witching. This one has a dark, gothic vibe to it and I think it‘s going to be great.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ace Books for the early copy! On sale date is 9.27.22.